There Is No Hidden Villain in This Novel Chapter 87

The auspicious luminosity, with my fingertips at its center, was overwhelming the entire area. The light swallowed me and devoured Ryuseong, and not content with that, it consumed the corpses of the dead black foxes and shot up to the treetops, expanding in volume. Just as it seemed the excessively extraordinary curtain of light was spreading beyond the horizon, out of sight, it vanished without a sound.

It was as if I had been dreaming.

Only when the gentle sunlight calmly shone down on my skin did I realize that the black mist that had filled this forest had disappeared.

The realization that the malice had faded came from the sunlight, which was ill-suited for the bitter cold. That’s what I thought.

“…Uh, it seems to have ended well, doesn’t it? Still, since I’m not an expert, it would be best to leave a word with a nearby government office…”

“…Can I stop the bleeding now?”

Hearing a voice unlike Ryuseong, I turned to look once. I did so because it felt uncharacteristic of the Ryuseong who, under normal circumstances, would have forcibly stopped the bleeding by pressing me down or holding me captive. When I looked back, Ryuseong’s face was stiff, as if he had finally stopped sobbing, and besides his pale complexion, he showed no other abnormalities.

Come to think of it, I wondered if I, the one who had squeezed out a hell of a lot of blood, shouldn’t be the one who was pale, but I decided against saying so, fearing that his already wan face would turn deathly dark.

“Just let me finish writing this letter.”

I lowered my hand, letting blood pool on my fingers, then took out a piece of parchment from a subspace and wrote a message to be sent to the government office. At the same time, I kicked at the pile of black fox corpses.

To be precise, it wasn’t just a pile of corpses. One or two living ones were mixed in.

Leaving only one of those that would soon die if left alone, I pried its jaws wide open. I dropped a few drops of blood into it and then chanted a spell.

“Scale weight. Shovel and sickle. Pulse and breath.”

Then, the black fox began to have a seizure. To be exact, the corpse became like a zombie, convulsing its entire body, barking hoarsely, and drooling foamy spittle… before it finally submitted, kneeling and bowing its head.

‘I succeeded on the very first try. My talent is insane.’

Letting out a breath of relief along with some self-praise, I tied the letter to the black fox’s back and sent it off. Now, that thing cannot die until it has carried out its orders. If it wants to die, it will have no choice but to deliver the letter.

This was none other than a trick for me, who didn’t know the coordinates of the government office, to report the raid without a cell phone. I struggled not to show how nervous I was, since it was my first time using the spell, but it seems to have turned out well…

“…Are you done with your business now?”

I responded to his seemingly impatient face with a small smile.

“Yes. I’ll allow you to hold me.”

In any case, Ryuseong was an interesting guy. He was worthy of making me fall in love.

To be tormented just because he witnessed the other side of an enemy he should despise. To be so desperate to care for this flesh and blood, one way or another…

‘Is he really the picture-perfect good protagonist?’

If so, then it seems the honor of splattering ink on that good protagonist’s character should be mine.

That’s because Ryuseong had harbored murderous intent right before my eyes just a moment ago. Around the time he had just broken free from the memory.

‘You, who said you would never harm a human no matter what.’

Just for the reason that someone had harmed Cassis de Millang, you revealed indiscriminate murderous intent.

‘You’re making me laugh.’

Because you’re like that, I…

Ryuseong prided himself on the fact that he had never found all of creation this hateful before.

That was a surprising thing in Ryuseong’s life.

As everyone knew, Ryuseong had not lived a smooth life, and those times had broken his personality. The grace that allowed him to think like a human was all received from the sect leader. In other words, Ryuseong had to be educated starting from why one should not kill people.

“…That thing is not a human child. Even if it was born human, it was not raised as one. An untamed beast will bite people, sect leader. Please…”

The elders who had to look after Ryuseong in his childhood still regard him with unease. It is because they remember him trying to bite people to get food.

The newly rescued Ryuseong was a beast.

Even when given the rice that people eat, he didn’t eat it, having no awareness that it was food. After starving constantly, he tried to devour an elder who, with good intentions, had tried to teach him how to eat.

The young one, born with a different fate, was born with a five-star talent terribly specialized for murder.

To be precise, his five-star talent was so, but his fortune was not.

‘Then what is a five-star talent and what is fortune?’

A five-star talent means intellect, and fortune means the luck of a lifetime.

In short, Ryuseong was born with the intellect to slaughter people. His fortune, well. Although it might have been harsh, it wasn’t a heavenly killing star.

The problem was that he wasn’t even a human child.

“Look at my forearm here. Does the one who bit this look like a human to you, or a beast? Does something that bites a person’s forearm so gruesomely look like a human? Sect Leader! This cannot go on. Do you think this brat will be able to respect his senior brothers and junior disciples? Our disciples, what sin have they committed to have to associate with this brat? It’s not right, Sect Leader! Absolutely not!”

The elder spoke passionately, but he could not persuade the sect leader.

Still, that day was vivid. He didn’t realize anything at the time he heard it, but later, only after that person passed away while protecting him.

It was deeply embedded in his heart. A person.

‘People, I must not kill them…’

He had harmed too many lives. He had regarded too many lives as insignificant. No more. If he were to regard human life more lightly than he did now, Ryuseong would once again become a good-for-nothing human who chooses murder simply because it is convenient. The kind who kills people simply because it is beneficial. He did not want to become trash who killed people to quench a desire that was not even self-defense.

Ryuseong wanted to remain human.

‘…Humans…’

But are those things human children?

Those goddamn things that abused a child to this extent, breaking him so much that even as a grown adult, he can’t even perceive what was done to him as pain.

…Those things that instigate their supposed lover to assassinate their partner…

‘Are they even human?’

Suddenly, Ryuseong wanted to rip apart and kill the past where he had hated Cassis de Millang as easily as breathing.

More than that, he wanted to kill the clan called de Millang.

‘The ones who trampled you…’

The ones who made you accept this kind of thing as if it were nothing.

‘If I crush them all.’

Will you smile then? Properly.

His head was filled to the brim with just that thought.

The night air was cold, and the darkness was deep. We were walking along the tracks toward the station, ahead of the train.

But then, it occurred to me that Ryuseong must be wearing a crappy robe that offered no insulation right now.

Is he okay?

“Tell me if you’re cold. I’ll switch robes with you.”

“You wear it.”

“You must have been cold this whole time, though?”

“I’m not cold from just this.”

“Such a bluff.”

When I pointed out the truth, Ryuseong’s brow furrowed in annoyance as if he was about to snap something at me, but then he seemed to remember something again and his face fell. But I have a rather strange taste, and I liked it when he was defiant. I’d rather he act arrogant and give unsolicited advice than be dispirited and feeble like this. I’d welcome it as an occasional event, but I’d get tired of it if it was like this every time.

“I know what you’re thinking. But for me, it’s all in the past.”

How many times do I have to tell you for you to understand? When I looked up while being held, I could see the side of his face, and your expression was stained with sorrow and grief.

But still, I don’t know what’s so sad. I saw the same thing, but it wasn’t enough to make me shed tears like Ryuseong did.

Isn’t being forcibly separated from your parents something anyone can experience? The tragedy that followed is indeed painful, but as one lives life, one comes to accept that not everyone can belong to normalcy. If some people can be normal, can’t some people be not normal?

It’s just that something that could happen anywhere happened to be concentrated on Cassis de Millang.

It’s just that elements that would have been moderate tragedies if laid out individually all came together at once.

‘Is that something to be so sad about? Is it really.’

I once again felt like I was broken. It was a feeling I hated. Since I didn’t want to carry this feeling with me, I decided to bring up a different topic.

“It’s something that will all be resolved once I become the family head. So just cooperate well.”

Huh? At these words, Ryuseong’s gaze changed. I guess changing the subject was effective?

I was thrilled that my words had worked. I was smiling brightly and saying something else at that moment.

“So there’s no value in you worrying about it…”

“From now on, I will cooperate with all my strength.”

“Pardon? Ah, thank…”

“When is the next raid?”

“It’s not decided yet…”

“Decide quickly.”

“…”

Why is this crazy bastard more enthusiastic than me?