Save the Villainess (2)
It was a strange thing.
Never once in her life had Yuria thought of herself as someone who was struggling. And yet from the moment Eugene appeared and pulled her into his arms, the tears would not stop.
Yuria knew. If she collapsed and grieved like this, moving forward would only become that much harder. If she turned her back on sorrow, endured with her jaw set, and seized the happiness she had longed for — then all the pain she had suffered until now could be told, someday, as nothing more than a memory.
And so Yuria —
"...I shouldn't be doing this."
— clung to Eugene and tried to swallow her sobs.
But ■■ knew. That it was better to shatter completely, just once, than to keep enduring until you finally bent out of shape. If you acknowledged where you stood, accepted the grief, and let it run out of you as tears — you could move forward better than you ever had by merely holding on.
And so ■■ — no. Eugene.
"No. You're allowed to."
He pulled off his mask, met her eyes, and gathered her even tighter against him.
...Won't someone...
Because he had been the same.
...Please. Anybody.
Because once, when he had been left all alone, he had wished that anyone at all would lend him a shoulder.
And so he lent her his.
"...It was hard. It was so hard."
"You've been through so much."
"...I was so scared, actually."
"I'll beat the hell out of every last one of them."
He comforted her, and he waited.
What was it I wanted back then...
Recalling his own painful past, he gave Yuria everything he had once wished someone would give him. He held her tighter. He wiped her tears. He looked at her with gentle eyes.
Eugene had never received such things himself, so he didn't know.
"...Thank you."
He didn't know how much strength his actions were giving the woman in front of him.
"Thank you so much... Eugene."
He didn't know how much he was coming to mean to her.
"Open it already, you bastards!!"
"I-it won't break!!"
"Fuck, is this magic or what!?"
Outside, the enemies hammered at the barrier. Inside that dim place, lit by nothing but ashen aura, Eugene comforted the villainess with everything he had.
"You did well, Yuria."
The villainess, Yuria.
Noble though her blood might have been, Yuria was, at her core, a child of the backstreets.
"Aaaagh!! That monster bitch!!"
"She bit my arm off!!"
"Get her!! Catch her and kill her!!"
Until Ian had taken her in and raised her, Yuria had lived a life in which she had to take. If there was a chance, she had to seize it. If she failed to close her hands around it, the world made her suffer for it.
And so Yuria —
Just a little... just a little longer...
— burrowed into the arms Eugene had opened for her.
"Yuria. My beautiful girl."
"Mama!"
"The dark is going to swallow you up. Come here. Let me hold you."
A mother of whom she remembered nothing but the voice.
"Grandpa!!"
"Oho! Look how much you've grown already!"
Ian, who had stood over her like a wall.
"Yuria! Want to try this?"
"It's not Yuria! It's Lady Yuria!"
"Pffhah! Fair enough — ten years old, that makes you a young lady, doesn't it! Very well, our Lady Yuria. Would you care to have a taste?"
Even the people of the backstreets.
She had leaned on someone, once. And without her noticing, more than ten years had slipped by since then.
It really was...
So unbearably hard.
"Please, just let me work."
"Look, we don't hire brats!"
"I'm strong, too!"
"Ah, just let her try! We're already short-handed enough to drop dead as it is!"
"This is a site even the men run from! Fine! Let her give it a shot!"
"Thank you!"
By day, she earned money however she could.
"Yuria, this is...?"
"It's all right. Eat."
Because of her, some thirty people at least did not starve.
By night, she trained her mana beneath the moonlight.
"...Nngh."
Learning magic without a scrap of help was a thing that bordered on impossible. But Yuria had talent.
"...There."
That was the shape of her life. Over and over.
"...You were a mage?"
"I learned, yes!"
"Cassler. Starting tomorrow, don't bother borrowing gear. And give Yuria half of what you were paying for it."
"See? I told you it was a good call putting her to work!"
Work by day.
"..."
Research magic by night.
And then, one day —
"Y-Yuria!!"
"Cassler, you idiot!! Call a recovery mage first!!"
"Do you know how much that costs? It looks like simple exhaustion, so let me check her first."
"Fuck, I'll pay for it, so call a recovery mage!!"
The day she collapsed from overwork. Yuria couldn't go out for about a week, and it happened to be winter.
"...Someone died, you said?"
One of Ian's old comrades was gone.
"He asked me to give you this."
"...Honey candy?"
He was someone Yuria had known — someone whose life had overlapped with hers more than most.
"I-I need to see him with my own eyes."
"Yuria! You still shouldn't be moving!"
"I said I need to see him!!"
"What are you all standing around for! Stop her!!"
A few days later, when Yuria learned that malnutrition had been listed among his causes of death, she clenched her teeth and got to her feet.
...If I go down, everything ends.
She had to endure. If she disappeared, not a soul would look after the shantytown. And if that happened, any number of people would lose their lives. That much was certain.
"Yuria. Are you all right?"
Of course.
Yuria became more perfect than before.
"Would it be all right if we followed you?"
Go ahead. I'll be walking my own road anyway.
"Yuria."
Yes?
"...If it's hard, you can tell me. Anytime."
I don't know. It's not as if anything would change.
Yuria simply smiled.
That was how she had lived, all this time. She helped other people; she had never once been helped. Help from others? Don't be stupid. That was only a debt you'd have to repay someday. She had never wished for anyone to notice her. She had never wished for anyone to help her.
And yet. Why?
"...It was hard. It was so hard."
"You've been through so much."
Why was it that, with this man, she found herself pouring everything out?
"...I was so scared, actually."
"I'll beat the hell out of every last one of them."
Why was it that, without even meaning to, she found herself hoping he would help her?
And why, of all things —
"You did well, Yuria."
— were the tears she had always held back so well now running down her face without end?
No matter how she thought about it, she didn't know.
So.
"Just a little longer... just a little..."
"As long as you want."
It would be all right to cry a little more.
"Open it already, you bastards!!"
"I-it won't break!!"
"Fuck, is this magic or what!?"
Outside, the enemies hammered at the barrier. Inside that dim place, lit by nothing but ashen aura, Yuria was comforted for the first time in her life.
"Thank you... Thank you so much..."
How much time passed like that?
"...I'm okay now."
Yuria, having finally managed to stop her tears, gave Eugene a small push — a very small one. Eugene met her eyes and asked,
"Are you really okay?"
Yuria's mouth closed.
...Why?
For some reason, she couldn't lie. She had no choice but to give him the truth.
"...There's too much I have to do to just sit here crying."
The worries were a mountain unto themselves. Even a conservative count put the enemies beyond Eugene's barrier in the dozens.
If you include the unidentified mercenaries, and Paloma's people — the strong ones...
A hundred at the least. They had to assume they would be punching through a force of that size just to run.
And that wasn't all. Ian, who would be alone. Babel, who had fought beside her until he collapsed. The people of the backstreets, still in the shantytown, who knew nothing of any of this.
"Tell me. One thing at a time."
In the end, Yuria laid it all out.
"That's where we stand. I think we can somehow manage to run from here, but... after that, I don't know what we're supposed to do..."
Eugene nodded, and he smiled.
"Yuria. I've got a plan."
"What is it...?"
Golden light sparked in the eyes of a girl who had looked, a moment ago, like she was well and truly cornered.
"Tell me. What's the plan?"
Eugene pried a gap in the barrier and pointed at the figures standing at the heart of the enemy force.
"Let's kidnap that bastard."
"...Paloma?"
"Yeah. Kidnap him and squeeze him. He's the boss over there right now."
Yuria let out a sigh before she could stop herself.
"Catching the leader would make things easier, sure. But we're not in a position to do that."
She dropped down beside him.
"Look, Eugene. From here to the center you've got dozens of them, and inside that you've got mercenaries, and inside that you've got the Lamis family's personal knight-guards."
"Bet it's nice and cozy in winter."
"That's not—!!"
Urgency climbed through her, fast.
"I really don't have time, Eugene... Grandpa and the others are in danger. Whether we run or whatever else, we need to get moving. Now."
"No..."
Eugene cut himself short, looking about as frustrated as she felt.
"Alright. Then just one question."
"What?"
"If we just grab that blue-haired bastard, we can settle everything that's gone down here. Right?"
Yuria nodded at once.
"Of course."
"Then that's all I need."
And the timing, as it happened, was perfect.
Iron Prison(A+)
The skill has expired.
Remaining Rental Tickets: 0
The ashen sphere that had been holding the two of them safely inside began to crumble from the top down.
"H-huh?! E-Eugene, this—!!"
Dozens of enemies ringed them in. Yuria stumbled back in a panic.
"W-what do we do?!"
"Yuria, listen carefully. You have to do exactly as I say."
"Huh?! What?! Just tell me already!!"
Eugene, who had already pulled his mask back on, leaned in and whispered against her ear.
"Run. As far as you can."
"Runasfarasyoucan!!"
"Don't repeat what I said — do it!!!"
"Ah!!"
An explanation, it seemed, was going to be necessary. He sighed, then whispered again.
"Okay. I'm only going to explain this once, so listen quietly."
"Got it!"
"I said listen quietly."
"Okay!!"
"...I'll just explain."
And then, a short while later.
Overpowering(S+)
The strongest being in this world had manifested.