Save the Villainess (Complete)
Despite the three of them trying to stop him, he kept right on with the beating.
"Please... st...op..."
Thud.
At last, Paloma's body went still.
"See? Nothing's impossible if you just put in the work."
In the end, he'd even managed to wring the guy dry of every last scrap of information he'd been hiding.
"It's the Rank Assessment Exam!!"
"Keep it down. Quiet enough that only I can hear."
"Y-yes...! I heard the 2nd Apostle and the 4th Apostle would make contact then...!!"
The information he'd extracted was the timing of when two of the Evil God's Six Apostles would appear.
The Evil God's Six Apostles.
The monsters who handled all the cult's dirty work—every last one of them pushing A+ rank.
We're more short on time than I thought.
He was wiping the sweat from his brow when Cheolsu approached, wearing a thoroughly fed-up expression.
"So. What the hell is all this?"
"I'm handling a succession."
"That's supposed to mean what, exactly..."
"If you don't know, then get out of the way."
He walked straight past the flustered Cheolsu and held out a medicine bottle to Ian, who was checking on Yuria.
"Drink this."
"And this is?"
"Medicine."
"I asked you what kind of medicine."
Wariness was written all over Ian's face.
Is it because of the mask?
Fair enough. Paloma was out cold—there was no reason to keep hiding anymore.
Click...
To put Ian at ease, he pulled off the mask and flashed a bright, open smile.
"It's good for you."
The next instant.
"You little braaaaat!!!!"
Ian exploded.
"Offering me medicine with a look like that!! What exactly are you trying to feed me!!!!"
"Excuse me!? What's wrong with my face!!"
"That's the exact same smirk as that wicked, filthy villain—the sycophant who clouded the Sun's eyes, the dirty traitor who fed me deadly poison!!!!"
The sheer injustice of it was enough to drive him insane.
But Ian was a proper old man.
"Just shut up and drink, sir."
When it came to the elderly, a preemptive strike was just common sense.
Pop!
With a quick flick of his hands, he yanked the cork free and jammed the bottle into Ian's mouth.
"Mmph!?"
The medicine vanished at a ferocious rate.
"Mmph, ghhhhh!!"
"H-hey, Grandpa!!"
It took Ian less than ten seconds to swallow the entire liter of medicine.
"Pwaaah!! Cough!Cough, cough!! You—!! Khack!! You lunatic!!"
"Stop it!! I don't like this!! Don't!!"
"I'll— cough! I'll kill you!!"
What the hell? It isn't working?
He looks furious, but that doesn't matter.
What he'd fed Ian was a medicine that would purify the thing eating away at the old man's body.
He batted Ian's hands aside and asked,
"So. How's the body feeling?"
The moment the question left his mouth—
"W-wait, now that you mention it..."
Ian's eyes went wide.
"It doesn't hurt at aAAAAAAAAALL!!!!"
And then he started rolling around on the floor?
"Uh. Huh?"
Was the medicine supposed to do that?
"G-Grandpaaaa!!"
While he stood there stunned, Yuria tried to rush to Ian's side—only to be stopped by Ian himself.
"Stay— khack—stay back, Yuria!!"
Veins swelling. Eyes bloodshot black. Dark crimson blood pouring from his mouth.
"Eugene!! What's happening to him!?"
Tears welled in Yuria's eyes.
Guilt surged at the sight of those trembling, watery pupils—but he was certain he'd brought the right thing.
What had seeped into Ian's body was neither a deadly poison nor an ordinary curse.
The Holy Blood of the Evil God.
To those who believed in the Evil God, it was sacred. To everyone else, it was formless death.
Something closer to a curse than a poison. Breaking it required an item of equal caliber—or the direct intervention of a Saintess.
He should have had it. He knew what it was and he was holding onto it.
He snatched up the empty bottle in a hurry and examined it.
"Where is it."
"H-huh? Where is what, sir!!"
"The Yuria bargaining chip."
"Ah!! Th-that would be...!"
A small amount of liquid still clung to the bottom of the bottle. It looked like liquid, but what he felt from it was something closer to a warm light.
The Tears of Ariel. The previous Saintess.
A high-grade curse-breaking relic, crafted twenty years ago during the war against the demonkin. There was no mistaking it.
No way it's a fake.
In the original story, Ian had the curse broken too—then learned the whole truth, and died for Yuria's sake.
Which means the Tears of Ariel are genuine.
In that case, all he had to do right now was—
"...ghting."
"What did you just say, Eugene?!"
"Fighting, fighting!! You got this, Ian!!!"
Cheer. That was all.
Yuria thought:
"Come on, Ian!! You can do it, old man!! Show us what the former Shadow King is made of!! Show us the grit of a veteran who's going to be Shadow King again!! Shake it off, get up, and bless this wonderful world!!!"
"Cough, cough!! Please...!! Please shut that mouth of yours, you brat!!!!"
"If you're thirsty, dig the well yourself!!! What kind of Shadow King just sits there flapping his gums!! You're a Sob-dow King!! If that pisses you off, stop crying, get up, and shut my mouth yourself, Shadow King!! Disagree and you're a beta!!"
"You son of a—!! Cough, bleeeegh!!!"
What even is that...?
That was what she thought.
Come to think of it, he'd been like this from the very beginning.
The exam will be conducted publicly, and you will attack an "indestructible" scarecrow with everything you have...!!
He pretended otherwise, but wasn't he just running his mouth so that everyone would know the exam contents?
You already have a lot of friends.
The more, the better, you know.
I don't know about that. You just look overwhelmed.
Didn't he see straight through people in a single glance?
It's okay now.
You did well, Yuria.
...And from the first time they met, he hadn't even bothered with "miss" or any kind of title. He'd just gone ahead and called her by her name.
A man she couldn't predict. A man she couldn't understand. A man for whom everything was strange.
And yet—why was it that...
"Hah... I might just live after all..."
"Mmph, mmph!"
"You alright there, Shadow King?"
"Yeah. Having him shut up in person does wonders."
...at the end of every last one of that man's eccentricities, her happiness was waiting?
"Grandpa!!"
Yuria threw her arms around Ian.
"Oho. When did you get this big?"
"Grandpa..."
Ian was a mess of blood and sweat, but Yuria knew—everyone there knew.
"Thank goodness... I'm so, so glad..."
The old man who had looked ready to crumble away by tomorrow was gone without a trace. In his place, the Shadow King who had once dominated the entire underworld had returned.
"Yuria..."
Ian hesitated.
The one who had suffered most because of his failure was none other than Yuria herself.
And so, without meaning to, Ian looked at Eugene.
"How am I supposed to... with what face..."
The one who had healed him, the one who had saved Yuria—it had all been Eugene.
Eugene let out a sigh.
"Still hurting?"
"...That's not it."
"Then why are you acting like a sick man?"
Pffah.
Ian laughed before he could stop himself.
"I'll take that to heart."
He mouthed something only Eugene could see, then pulled the child in his arms as tight as he could.
"All this time... you've had it so hard because of this sorry old grandfather of yours..."
"That's not true. I made it through because of you, Grandpa."
"Ah... my Yuria. I did nothing for you, and yet look how wonderfully you've grown..."
They tried to hold the tears back, as if determined not to let the other see—but it didn't last.
How could it?
Until now, they had swallowed it all so as not to sadden each other. But there was nothing left that could sadden them anymore.
"Thank goodness... I'm so, so glad..."
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..."
The two of them cried for a long time.
How much time passed like that?
"So, uh. How long are you two planning to just sit there crying?"
Eugene wedged himself right between them.
"?"
"...?"
Wedged himself, in the most literal sense.
Both of their lips were now perched precariously against his cheeks.
"You first."
Eugene turned his head toward the Shadow King.
"How long will it take you to get things in order?"
"In order how?"
"The underworld."
Ian considered it for a moment, then asked back,
"By when does it need to be done?"
"The sooner the better."
"Then..."
His body was in peak condition. He'd checked the moment he recovered—his skill hadn't fallen off from his prime in the slightest.
And he'd already gathered his people for one last stand. Ian answered without a shred of doubt.
"I'll have it cleaned up by sunrise."
"You can manage that?"
"Don't take the former Shadow King lightly."
Eugene huffed a quiet laugh and nodded.
"Next, this one."
He turned all the way around—
"Hyeek!"
—and found himself face-to-face with Yuria, close enough to count her eyelashes.
"...Whew. This one's pretty too."
"W-what are you saying all of a sudden?!"
Admiration (Ex) is activating.
He dismissed the system window the instant it appeared, then held out a badge to Yuria.
"What's this?"
"A recommendation token for the Flora Scholarship Foundation."
The Flora Scholarship Foundation.
The largest scholarship institution in the Marcia Empire, famous for sparing no expense when it came to supporting those with talent.
Which was why Yuria asked,
"...Why are you giving this to me?"
"Don't worry. They said anyone can be recommended with this badge. Take it to Professor Eldora and she'll take care of the rest."
"Th-that's not the problem!!"
If what he said was true, this was something anyone would covet.
A badge that could recommend anyone at all.
For someone with even a sliver of talent, this single badge might be worth more than a minor noble's entire fortune.
With this...
She'd never have to lose sleep over tuition for as long as she attended Zion.
And that wasn't all, was it?
A place to stay. Equipment. She wouldn't even have to worry about feeding the people in the backstreets.
But Eugene just said,
"I don't have the talent to deserve that thing. You take it and buy me something tasty once in a while."
"No!! This isn't something you can just hand over like it's nothing?!"
"Fine, then I gave it to you the hard way."
"That's not—!!"
"Anyway. Next, this."
He brushed it off like it barely interested him, reached into his coat, and held something out.
No—
More precisely.
Click.
He fed it to her.
Honey candy!! I finally bought it!! I'm saving this for a happy day!! This one I'm not rationing like everything else—I'm eating the whole thing at once!!
It was a honey candy.
Eugene smiled and asked,
"So. You happy now?"
Yuria's mouth pressed shut.
She tried to say something, again and again, but her lips only trembled. No sound came out.
Yuria thought,
...You really are a strange person, Eugene.
She was this glad. This happy.
And he was making her cry.
"W-wait!? Why are you crying!?"
"Yuria!! That bastard Eugene!!"
"Shadow King, sir. Please aim for the spots that hurt."
And so Yuria cried for a long time.
"Y-Yuria!"
No matter how hard Ian tried to pull her away,
"Thank you. Thank you so much, Eugene."
"...Yeah. Thank you too."
she just held Eugene tight.
To put it plainly from the start:
Yuria Marcia was dying.
"I knew it... I hate you."
After shielding Rania from the 2nd Apostle, a blade found her heart, and she died a hollow death.
"Why would you even..."
That was all Rania could say.
"I wonder. Why did I do it..."
That was all Yuria could say, too.
After a moment's thought, Yuria looked at the hesitating Rania and made a request.
"If you make it out of here... the shantytown in the capital's backstreets... the people who live there... haah... could you... buy them a meal?"
Rania nodded.
"Go."
"...But. At least let me stay until the end."
"I told you. I hate you."
"...Alright then."
Yes. This was enough.
In a crumbling temple, beneath a sky stitched with darkness, amid acrid smoke and a deep, drowning dark—
"Ah... ah."
Yuria barely managed to stretch out her hand.
"I just... wanted... to be... happy..."
If she died like this, and could be born again somewhere and find happiness—she would give up everything she had now.
So the her who lived in that world...
And so the villainess breathed her last.
Desperately hoping that her final wish would come true, even in some far-off place.
Due to caster <Eugene>'s unique trait, borrowing 1 random skill from the detected target.
Borrowed ■kill:Spirit Art – ■Evil (■+)
Rem■ining Uses:0 (+1)
After it was all over, he was heading back toward the dorms when—
"Hey! Number 2!"
A woman appeared right in front of him.
"...Who are you calling that?"
"Me? I'm Number 4."
"No, not you. Me."
"Ah~. You really are a special one, huh."
The woman snickered as she answered.
"Number 2. I said Number 2."
Wait a second. Don't tell me this is—