The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 128

The Magic Tower was shrouded in darkness.

The magical tool meant for restraint had been shattered along with the magic stone, and the barrier painstakingly prepared by the Master of the Magic Tower had been erased, rendered useless by someone’s foolish mistake.

A foolish mistake, indeed.

If they had any sense.

Traces of a mistake that no one with a functioning mind would have made were scattered across the floor.

Under the flickering light, Heinrich, the Tower Master of the Magic Tower, stood with a grim expression, his long white beard cascading down.

Having wiped away his usual gentle smile, Heinrich exhaled cold breath and spoke in a low voice, his icy gaze fixed on the corner of the room.

“I hope you understand what you’ve done.”

“Understand? What’s there to understand? It’s a complete disaster.”

“You should know that’s not what I’m asking.”

It was a complete mess.

The lights flickered.

The wizards stationed to guard the area had collapsed, and broken flasks littered the ground, further irritating Heinrich.

What angered him most of all.

Was the absence of the prisoner who was supposed to be here.

A prison break in a magic prison accessible only to high-ranking officials—Heinrich let out an empty laugh.

“How fascinating. This is the first time in my life something like this has happened, and I’m at a loss for words.”

Heinrich looked down at his disciple, who was leaning against the wall, breathing heavily.

His disciple, whose face was smeared with blood and whose body bore the marks of an intense battle, hung his head low.

It wasn’t out of guilt, but out of the humiliation of defeat. The sight of his disciple bowing his head in shame was utterly pathetic.

The humiliation of defeat reflected in his disciple’s eyes ignited a deep fury within Heinrich.

“Ruin.”

Ruin cut Heinrich off and muttered irritably.

“Old man, if Hans hadn’t run his mouth, I could’ve won. That bastard brought up the ranking tournament…”

“Why are you comparing me to that bastard who can’t do anything but whine like a young lady?”

Ruin clenched his fist.

“Next time, I’ll win. Right, old man?”

Heinrich let out a deep sigh at the sight of his disciple, who showed no sign of remorse.

“It seems you don’t understand the gravity of the situation.”

The magic should have been impenetrable if no foolishness had occurred. The barrier he had created couldn’t even be broken by the Empire’s Sword Master.

It was like an unyielding fortress wall.

Strong on the outside.

But fragile and weak on the inside.

The fortress had crumbled helplessly because of an internal spy. Heinrich’s feelings were beyond words.

It was an incident born of his own poor judgment.

-Old man, give me authorization to enter the underground chamber.

-Ha… What nonsense.

-What are you saying?

He shouldn’t have granted Ruin the authority to enter the underground prison, even when Ruin claimed it was to monitor Hans.

He had judged that Ruin, who would one day succeed him as the leader of the Magic Tower, was capable of rational thought.

Had he placed too much expectation on Ruin? Heinrich, now realizing that the disciple he had been grooming as his successor could only see what was right in front of him, spoke in a bitter voice.

“Thirty.”

“Thirty what?”

“The number of people Hans has killed. It might even be more.”

“So what do you want me to do about it?”

“I’m saying that because of your foolish decision, that number could increase. Ruin.”

“Oh, come on…!”

Ruin, as if annoyed by the nagging, stuck a finger in his ear and spoke to Heinrich.

“I’m telling you, I didn’t let him out! I was just trying to ask him why he did it, and that bastard hit me from behind.”

“You’re choosing to believe whatever suits you, Ruin.”

Heinrich addressed Ruin in a manner entirely different from how he had treated him until now.

A kind master.

At times, a father to the parentless Ruin. He erased the lightheartedness of a friend and asked him in a solemn voice.

“You’ve unleashed a devil. A devil that survives by consuming human souls.”

Ruin responded to Heinrich’s nagging with a hollow smile.

“Old man… don’t you think it’s strange? Hans, of all people.”

“…”

“Hans, who can’t even kill a bug, killing people? Maybe he was being blackmailed or had some reason he couldn’t talk about.”

“The outcome is proving otherwise.”

“Stop exaggerating.”

Ruin roughly shook the dust from his hair and spoke. He said it was no big deal and that they could just capture Hans again.

And he insisted that Hans wasn’t the type of person to do such a thing.

This time, Hans might have won by a narrow margin, but if they fought again, Ruin was certain he would win. He stood up despite his weary body.

“Anyway, didn’t you bring Hans here to protect him, old man?”

“…”

“Weren’t you trying to find the real culprit?”

That was true.

Heinrich had placed a sliver of hope in Hans. That’s why he had gone so far as to make an unreasonable request, indebting himself to that red-haired individual.

But not anymore.

Hans had slipped out of his grasp.

Heinrich had decided not to consider Hans his disciple any longer.

And Ruin showed no guilt for his actions.

Ruin’s words, filled with a desire to cling to his delusions for strength, lacked any sincerity.

Ruin, his voice full of irritation, spoke to Heinrich as if he couldn’t understand.

“Why are you so worried? I don’t get it.”

“I don’t understand you either.”

“No… Hans didn’t kill anyone… Can’t you trust your disciple’s words, old man? Damn, even if you think about it for a second, you’d know he wouldn’t…”

-Smack…!

Heinrich’s fist struck Ruin’s cheek, cutting off his baseless hope. Though it was the feeble punch of a wizard who hadn’t trained, the weight of their relationship and the years they had shared made it feel heavier than any blow Ruin had ever received.

Ruin, his head turned to the side, stood still.

He stood there for a long time, his head still turned, harboring anger toward a master who wouldn’t trust his disciple, and trying to understand why he had been struck.

Heinrich, looking at Ruin, who refused to meet his gaze, spoke.

“Ruin.”

“…”

“Shut up.”

“…”

“Didn’t you call me a foolish master who doesn’t trust his disciple?”

Suppressing the anger welling up from deep within his danjeon, Heinrich spoke.

“I’ve seen many disciples…”

Memories of the day he had confronted Hans alone flashed through Heinrich’s mind.

Hans, wearing the Magic Restraint Sphere on his wrist and bowing his head, appeared vividly in his thoughts.

The slumped shoulders of the disciple he had raised as if he were his own son lingered in Heinrich’s mind.

-Hans. Was it truly you? Did you learn dark magic with your own hands?

The words Hans had spoken back then had left a profound impact.

-Yes.

-Why?

-They said I could become stronger. Stronger than I am now… That I could surpass Ruin without being bound by mana.

-So you turned to dark magic for that?

-Yes. After all, you only ever favor Ruin. What could I possibly do? I might as well dream big too, don’t you think?

-Was it someone else who made you…

-Hey…

Hans spoke with a hollow smile, his tone candid.

-Who would pass up such a great opportunity? I have to take it.

He was already a disciple who had left.

Heinrich had raised countless disciples.

He had seen disciples abandon magic.

He had even let go of disciples who, like Hans, had turned to dark magic.

Because of this, Heinrich could come to a painful conclusion: Hans was no longer the disciple he once knew.

“I’ve raised excellent disciples, but I’ve also had to let go of those consumed by desire, like Hans.”

Everything was his responsibility.

It stemmed from the shortcomings of a master who failed to provide proper guidance, and so he wanted to end it with his own hands.

Whether by handing him over to the Imperial Army or by stripping him of his magic himself.

However.

He no longer had the confidence to witness Hans’s final moments, now that Hans had slipped from his grasp.

If.

If Hans were to appear before that red-haired one again, that person wouldn’t hesitate for even a moment to kill him.

Heinrich left Ruin, who was frozen in place, behind in the prison and turned away.

“Reflect on your actions for a while.”

Having shown the best mercy he could offer, Heinrich resolved to capture Hans as quickly as possible.

*

“Ricardo, your smile is so sly.”

The Young Lady, holding a spoon in her mouth, suddenly burst into laughter as she looked at me.

Why are you laughing?

“You look like a crazy bastard.”

“That’s a bit hurtful, you know.”

“Really? Then, um… You look like you’ve lost your mind.”

“That’s even more hurtful, though.”

“Hmm…”

The Young Lady placed the spoon on the table and sank into deep thought, seemingly searching for kinder words.

But it seemed she couldn’t come up with any good alternatives, as she furrowed her brow in contemplation.

Watching her, I smiled and entertained a pleasant thought.

About how much I could extort from the Tower Master.

It was obvious without even needing to see.

The reason Hans had escaped from the Master of the Magic Tower’s grasp.

For an Archmage like the Tower Master to let go of a mana-depleted Hans—it was an absurd notion.

That narrowed the suspects within the Magic Tower who could freely exploit the Tower Master’s authority to less than ten, and the Vice Tower Master or high-ranking mages wouldn’t pull such a stunt.

So the conclusion was Ruin.

It was highly likely that he was the one behind it.

Which meant.

‘It’s only right to hold Ruin accountable, isn’t it?’

I’m thinking of stealing one of Ruin’s spells.

One of the reasons Ruin became the strongest in the latter half of the novel.

White Magic, to be precise.