434 – To Get It Back, You Have to Pay the Price. -2-

I observed Ruin with a small smile, watching his expression.

“…You… You…”

His expression, eyes wide like a broken cuckoo clock, was quite the spectacle.

“How…”

A shattered visage I’d photograph and treasure for all eternity, if only I could.

To see Ruin, so full of himself in the novels, break down with a mere word filled me with a quiet satisfaction. I raised my glass with a small smile.

“Shall we toast?”

After all, the best drinking accompaniment was someone else’s dark history, especially when it had nothing to do with me.

“Shu…Shut up!!”

“Hmm?”

“Erase my memories… right now!”

“Oh, my? Isn’t memory-erasing magic considered black magic? I thought you were a simple mage, but it turns out you’re a black magic user who knows how to erase memories… I might just… shed a tear.”

“…!!”

“Ah, but I’m not really crying, you see.”

Ruin, biting his lip in shame, roughly grabbed his glass and shouted.

“Cheers!”

-Clang!

He slammed his glass against mine with all his might, then gulped down the liquor, his face flushed crimson. He glared at me, speaking in a whisper so faint.

“Don’t say a word.”

A voice so quiet, even an ant wouldn’t hear it.

“Pardon?”

“I said, shut your mouth…”

“What was that? I can’t quite hear you?”

“…!!”

My booming voice echoed loudly across the table. Ruin’s eyes widened in panic, and he hastily clamped a hand over my mouth.

“Shut up…!”

“Mmmph…!!”

“Please…!”

If someone has something to say, they should say it clearly and distinctly. I hated hearing him speak in that dying-breath voice. If he’s a man, he should at least say, ‘Shut up!’ like a man.

Ah, of course, even if he did say that, I wouldn’t stop.

“Do you want to see someone die of humiliation!?”

“What is it that you want me to say quietly?”

“…That thing, that thing!”

“Hmm?”

“…Oh, come on!!!”

“Huumm?”

“You know already. That I… cried.”

“Ah ha! You mean the part about Ruin-ssi crying?”

“Hey!!!”

I found myself becoming addicted to Ruin’s fluctuating voice and body language. But it was time to stop. As a fellow man, mocking a man’s tears was something I shouldn’t do.

Of course, I planned to torment him with it for the rest of his life, but I felt it was necessary to restrain myself, just for now.

“I’m begging you…”

“Hmph…”

“Please…!”

Ruin needs to live long, so I can tease him plenty.

I smiled faintly, whispering to Ruin in a low voice.

“Is this voice level alright?”

“…You don’t have to go that far.”

“Then, how about this?”

“Don’t mess around…(Don’t mess around.)”

Satisfied by Ruin’s gritted teeth, I asked him in a moderate tone.

“So.”

Because today felt like there was a story to be told, man to man.

“Why were you crying?”

“…”

“As a fellow man, I have to hear it.”

Today, I was feeling particularly generous to be Nokjo’s relationship counselor.

Zero relationship experience.

Zero experience with even flirting.

But, I was convinced that if *I*, who had countless counseling experiences in a past life, were to counsel Ruin about his love life, he would be reborn a new man.

It’s probably better for him to confide in me, someone who can wholeheartedly curse him out, rather than pouring his heart out to someone else, considering Nokjo’s filthy personality.

So, with good intentions…

“…Mind your own business.”

“…”

“It’s none of your concern.”

“…Ah.”

Watching Ruin reject my offer of goodwill, I smiled.

“Is this how it went?”

Because sometimes, goodwill needs to be forced.

“…Yuria, why do you never hesitate?”

Of course, only to Ruin.

“YOU b*stard!!!!”

Watching Ruin react fiercely, I said.

“If you don’t tell me why you were crying, I’ll ask someone else.”

“…”

“Perhaps a student from the Magic Department who knows nothing.”

“…”

“Or maybe Mr. Hans, who would probably love to hear Ruin’s story…”

“Hey…”

“Ah! It would be best to ask Yuria herself, the person involved.”

“Fine…! I’ll tell you, will that do?”

Ruin became polite.

Ruin, having surrendered to his fate, cleared his throat with a look of resignation.

“How much did you see?”

“…Hmm?”

“The fight with Yuria and me. How much did you see?”

“Not much, truthfully.”

“But you know the general gist, right?”

“Well… from when you said, ‘I’ll win,’ and fired the Seed Shot?”

“Then you saw it all…”

Ruin gnashed his teeth at my brazen expression and let out a deep sigh, slowly beginning to recount a story he’d told no one before.

“The reason I cried was…”

“…”

“So…”

“Yes~”

“Haa… do I really have to say it?”

I fixed Ruin’s pained expression with a steady gaze, answering as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. After all, this was why I’d sat down in front of him.

“Yes. Emotional wounds need to be healed through honest conversation.”

Having avoided a drinking session with pretty ladies and trekked all this way, I considered it a rather legitimate demand to at least be provided with decent conversation as an accompaniment.

“…You’re not just trying to mess with me, are you?”

“Caught me?”

“I really want to kill you.”

“If you can manage it.”

“…You insufferable b*stard.”

“Only as much as Mr. Green Algae over there.”

Ruin emptied his glass once more and let out a sigh that seemed to threaten the withering of the green algae sprouting from his head.

“Fine, whether I tell it or you tell it, I’m screwed either way.”

“Ooh… a man of resolve, I see.”

“It’s all your fault!!!”

“Haha!”

Ruin adopted a serious expression and began to speak.

“You asked why I cried, right?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you think? Between a man and a woman…”

“…Hmm?”

“I got rejected.”

“Pathetic.”

“…You son of a b*tch.”

“A slip of the tongue. I just haven’t seen someone cry over being dumped before, haha!”

“…Where’d the guy who was going to comfort me go?”

“Am I not right here? An angel with wide, innocent eyes right before you.”

“More like a devil, isn’t it?”

“Even the Devil has wings, you know.”

“…”

Ruin wanted to land a solid punch on Ricardo, who never backed down an inch.

“Anyway, that’s why I cried.”

“Hmm…”

“If someone you liked beat you up, wouldn’t you cry too?”

“Never been beaten up.”

“…Yeah, you’re so great.”

“But, how can you say you got rejected when you didn’t even confess?”

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“Have you ever been hit?”

“No?”

“I thought I was going to die.”

It was Ruin’s honest answer, devoid of any pretense.

“If he hit you that hard, there’s no hope, that’s for sure.”

Feeling forlorn, Ruin emptied his glass and asked me a rather emotional question.

“Hey.”

A question about what I thought of him.

“What do you think when you look at me?”

Ruin spouted a question that ranked within the top ten of questions a man never wanted to hear. For a moment my brow furrowed, but I calmly regained my composure and replied.

“Algae bloom?”

“You b*stard.”

“There’s no other answer, though.”

“Not like that. How do you see me, person to person?”

“Hmm…”

“Don’t worry about my feelings. Just say what you really think.”

If you insist.

I didn’t refuse Ruin’s invitation and spoke my mind freely. One shouldn’t refuse such invitations anyway.

“Honestly… I think you’re trash.”

“Hey.”

“Top-tier trash. The kind of food waste that can’t even be recycled. Oh, but it can be used as fertilizer, so not the worst, I guess.”

“…Don’t you hate me a little too much?”

“You told me to be honest, didn’t you? When I look at Ruin-ssi, ‘trash’ is the only answer that comes to mind.”

“You should say the good things first. Then the bad things.”

What’s this green algae going on about?

“There are no good things, though.”

Shocked by my answer, Ruin was silent for a while, then asked me again.

“There are no good things?”

“No.”

“Not even one?”

“Not even if I were born again.”

-Grip tightens.

“Think carefully. There must be at least one thing. Like, he’s handsome, or sometimes, reliable.”

“Is that all you’ve got?”

“Should I just kill you?”

“If you can manage it.”

Ruin felt the world turn sour.

I, with some trepidation, offered Ruin a sliver of hope amidst his dejection. Spoke of how he had invited this misfortune upon himself.

“What else could I do? You haven’t exactly shown me your best side, have you?”

“…”

“I’ve saved your life countless times, and instead of thanking me, you just fly off the handle and whine about ‘getting revenge’ – would you expect me to sing your praises after that?”

“…”

“Your personality… no, you as a person, seem to be fundamentally flawed. That’s you, Ruin.”

Ruin, watching me beam with a newfound sense of relief, clicked his tongue in disbelief. He couldn’t deny the truth of it, though.

“…Shit.”

He hadn’t expected to learn anything from Ricardo, of all people.

“Hmm?”

The guy was being such a pain today, yet everything he said was undeniably correct, rendering Ruin speechless.

Resigned, Ruin refilled my empty glass and spoke in a low voice.

“Ha… Hey.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t you have a woman you like?”

Just the sort of thing men always talk about at drinking sessions.

The thought of Ruin asking such a question hadn’t even crossed my mind, and seeing him suddenly ask something so fundamentally human, I smiled faintly and answered with the utmost sincerity.

“A woman I like?”

A question like this deserved an honest, heartfelt response.

“Well, I…”

“Go on.”

“I like all pretty women.”

“…Shit.”

“My dream is polygamy, you see. To be surrounded by beauties. That is my ambition.”

“Is it really alright to say something like that so brazenly?”

“It’s better to be honest from the start than to reveal it later and face the consequences. Just like how Ruin here insists he isn’t a green algae.”

“I really might kill you.”

Ruin, battered but unbowed, found the world unbearably bleak today.

I raised my glass toward his, clinking them together with a cheerful, “Cheers!”

“It’s less lonely to drink together than alone.”

“…”

“Especially after being rejected by a woman you like.”

“Son of a b*tch.”

“Pwahahaha!!!”

Ruine, wiping the foam from the corners of his mouth, glanced at Yuria with mournful eyes and said,

“Since when did you know?”

“Know what?”

“That I like Yuria.”

“Huh?”

Could it be? Did that oblivious fool really think he’d been hiding it well all this time?

“I thought I hid it well.”

‘…’

Staring at the ecosystem-disrupting species who seemed to have learned romance through magic, I let out a dry laugh and answered honestly.

“I’ve known since the beginning.”

Everyone knows except you.

Of course, Yuria probably doesn’t know.

“Who wouldn’t know when someone who screams bloody murder at everyone else is only nice to a certain person? Everyone knows.”

“When did I scream like a madman…?”

“Put your hand on your chest and think about it.”

“…”

“At least you have a conscience.”

I smiled at Ruine’s impressive growth of acquiring a conscience, and continued what I was saying.

“So you were crying?”

“…”

“Because you got beaten up by the person you like?”

“…”

“‘I didn’t cry!!!’ while screaming like a fool.”

“…Stop it. It hurts because I got hit too much.”

“Hahaha!!! Good experience. People usually come to their senses after getting hit, you know.”

“Haa… Son of a b*tch.”

Ruine asked quietly, with a bitter smile.

“Doesn’t Yuria seem interested in me…?”

“No.”

“Is it hopeless?”

“If you were to be reborn, it might go up by 1%.”

“Is it that bad?”

“Of course. Algae can’t escape the cycle of algae.”

“That damn algae… Haa…”

I asked Ruine the opposite question.

“What do you think, Ruine?”

“What?”

“Why do you think you got rejected?”

Ruwin, his face as if burdened with all the world’s woes, spoke with his head bowed low.

“I don’t know.”

“…”

“I don’t know if she likes someone else, or if she just doesn’t see me as a man.”

“Maybe Yuria likes me.”

Ruwin made a face that genuinely conveyed his dislike for me and said,

“Bullshit.”

“…I suppose not, huh?”

“Why would Yuria like you after the way you acted in the academy?”

“…”

“We’re both the same kind of guy.”

“Don’t curse. It makes me feel bad.”

“Son of a b*tch.”

Ruwin, refilling my glass, said with a small smile,

“If Yuria likes you, I’ll shave my head and call you ‘hyung’.”

“Hm? Really?”

“Really.”

“No backing out later.”

“Does a man go back on his word? That’s how unlikely it is.”

Ruwin, having dug his own grave, took a deep, refreshing breath and raised his glass.

“Thanks.”

“…You’re welcome.”

And so, one glass.

Two glasses.

Past five glasses.

-Pyomin!!!

Shuen, having dealt with Belian, called out to me. I slowly rose from my seat and bid Ruwin farewell.

“Looks like… someone’s looking for me.”

“Go on.”

“Such is the life of a popular man, Ruwin.”

“…Son of a b*tch.”

“Well, I’ll be off then.”

“Alright.”

Someone had a story they wanted to tell more than me, after all.

“Then, have a good talk, the two of you.”

“The two of us?”

“Yes.”

Looking behind Ruwin, I said in a low voice,

“He’s been waiting since a while ago.”

Ruwin, looking at where I was looking, saw a man approaching with a glass in his hand, and his pupils widened considerably.

“…Hey.”

Hans spoke, a small smile gracing his lips.

“It’s been a while, Ruin.”