SWNOVELXO Chapter 132
TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 132
Let’s think about this.
“Let go.”
“I am letting go.”
“Then hold on.”
“Okay.”
What kind of situation is this?
The guy who said he was going home is terrified.
The Young Lady is furious.
Hmm…
It seemed something had happened while I was briefly away.
I cautiously asked the Young Lady, who was glaring at Ruin with cold eyes, what had happened.
I was quite curious about what he had done to make that prideful guy completely lose his composure. I knew Ruin felt uncomfortable around the Young Lady, but I also knew him to be a crazy bastard who wouldn’t easily back down. So, I was very curious about what had been said to make him like this.
“Why is he acting like that?”
“He’s sulking.”
“What did you say to make him sulk?”
“Hmm…”
“Hmm…?”
“I told him he’s ugly.”
*
10 minutes ago.
Olivia was glaring at Ruin with cold eyes.
Because he had disrespected her estate.
She was quite displeased that someone, seeing the estate Ricardo had carefully designed for the first time, would dismiss it.
His appearance was as unattractive as dried seaweed, and his blunt words, spoken as if his mouth were a hole to spew nonsense, greatly annoyed Olivia.
She was already on edge from skipping meals, and the sudden arrival of someone who disrespected her estate had seriously gotten on her nerves.
“Why are you disrespecting someone else’s house? Is your house made of gold?”
“…”
“Why are you picking a fight? Are you rich?”
“Ha… Why do both this guy and that guy keep getting on my nerves…”
“Answer me, you ugly bastard.”
“Ha… This is ridiculous.”
“I find this even more ridiculous.”
Olivia was genuinely curious.
She wondered why the guy who had started the fight was now the one getting angry. Ricardo had told her that speaking kindly was a good thing, so she was trying her best not to use bad words and to speak politely. Yet, he was the one picking a fight. Olivia was genuinely curious.
So, she asked.
If he was crazy.
“Then why are you speaking so rudely?”
“Because you’re annoying.”
“Shouldn’t I be the one annoyed? You barged into someone else’s house and insulted it. That’s disgusting.”
“…”
“Why can’t you speak? Are you mute by any chance?”
Olivia asked Ruin with genuine curiosity, implying that if he didn’t have a valid reason, she would be very angry.
“You look like crap, and you’re throwing a tantrum. It’s pissing me off.”
“So what?”
“Hmm… Speak nicely. I’m the only one allowed to curse in this estate.”
“What nonsense. Absolute nonsense.”
The green-haired person let out a long sigh and spoke to Olivia.
“I’m annoyed by your behavior. You’re getting angry as if you’re so great when you’re not. It’s… f*cked up.”
Olivia responded to the green-haired person’s retort as if it were obvious. Not great? If she wasn’t great, she might as well be a corpse.
“I’m beautiful.”
“Bullshit.”
“Ricardo said I’m beautiful.”
“That’s because his eyes are broken…”
“Ricardo is never wrong.”
As the green-haired person’s harsh retort reached Olivia’s ears, she responded to him in a cold voice.
“That’s your first warning.”
“…”
“I’ll tolerate up to three times. Ricardo said it’s good to hold back anger up to three times.”
“That damn Ricardo… Oh, I’m so scared.”
“That’s your second warning.”
“…”
With the warnings piling up, the green-haired person remained silent, staring at Olivia with a look that suggested he was thinking about what kind of provocation would deal the most damage.
Having found the correct answer, the green-haired person smirked sinisterly and spoke.
“Hey.”
“Yeah.”
“Honestly, it’s childish, isn’t it? What’s with the pink? Pink? Is this a kindergarten?”
“I’m prettier. Much prettier than the color of your hair.”
“I thought your head was full of flowers, but it turns out your mental state is a flower garden too.”
Olivia didn’t like the sight of the green-haired person, who, perhaps sulking, was pouting his lips and muttering to himself.
She didn’t like his continuous provocations.
She didn’t like his tone, which grated on her nerves.
From start to finish, she didn’t like a single thing about him.
Most of all, what infuriated her was his disregard for the things Ricardo had poured his heart into creating.
Olivia was starting to get angry.
“That’s your third warning.”
“Third warning? What can you even do?”
Olivia spoke with conviction.
“I can do anything. Anything at all.”
“Bullshit.”
Green-haired person.
Ugly face.
Academy uniform.
Olivia quickly ran through her memory, comparing him to someone she knew, and concluded that he was the Disciple of the Tower Master.
The only flaw of the Tower Master.
His disciple, Ruin.
While Olivia didn’t have any particularly impressive memories of Ruin, she did know a few of his weak points that could get under his skin.
He had a terrible personality.
He had lost to her in the past.
He was defeated by Ricardo.
And.
He had no friends.
When it came to fights, Olivia’s mind worked quickly.
Memories she had forgotten would suddenly resurface, and her nasty temper, determined to tear someone down, would ignite. This was one of Olivia’s talents.
Thus, Olivia asked again in a cold voice.
“Loser.”
“…What?”
“Loser.”
“Did you just call me a loser? Damn it, this guy and that guy…”
“Why? Does it hit a nerve?”
Olivia asked Ruin with genuine curiosity.
The faint memory Ruin had of himself was of someone who never quite fit in.
He had many friends, but there weren’t many who truly liked him. After all, who would like someone who lived solely for their own ego?
He didn’t have the backing of a powerful household, and since the Magic Tower raised its disciples with a laissez-faire approach, all he had was a slight knack for magic.
He recalled having a rather unpleasant time at the Academy.
“Is it because it strikes a nerve?”
“…You’re really pissing me off.”
“It’s not about being pissed off. That’s just how you’ve always been.”
“…”
“Apologize. If you apologize, I’ll let it slide.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Hmm…”
Olivia hesitated, gently stroking the handles of her wheelchair.
“If you don’t apologize, I’ll get angry.”
“Pfft. You?”
“Yeah.”
“You, who can’t even move your legs?”
Ruin taunted Olivia.
Then, with a scoff full of disregard, he laughed at his past self for ever being afraid of a woman like her.
He wondered why he had ever been scared of a woman who couldn’t move freely or use magic.
Ruin looked down at Olivia with a sneer, recalling their accursed karma.
“You’re… just a useless cripple.”
“…”
“Without Ricardo, you can’t do anything—”
“This is your last chance. Choose your words carefully.”
“What?”
“I’m not very good at controlling my anger.”
Ruin slowly extended a finger toward Olivia’s forehead.
The Olivia who had once terrified him now seemed utterly insignificant. The devil who had once wielded overwhelming talent and treated him with nothing but scorn and disdain now appeared laughably small.
Ruin intended to flick her forehead with his finger and mock her. That way, Olivia would finally understand her place.
So, should he give it a try?
The moment his finger lightly touched Olivia’s forehead—
-Saaaak…
Ruin felt an inexplicable killing intent.
A frightening killing intent, as if it would tear his entire body apart, began to crawl up from the tips of his toes.
It was the first time.
The first time he felt as though his legs might give out at any moment.
The feeling was even more overwhelming and chilling than when he had faced the Archbishop of Despair in the Hamel Mountain Range.
‘What is this…?’
Trembling from the unknown killing intent, Ruin looked at Olivia, who was seated before him.
Olivia, who emitted no mana, simply stared at him with her lips tightly shut.
“I’ll say it one more time.”
“Gulp…”
“I’m not very good at controlling my anger.”
And then.
“I’m speaking kindly right now.”
He was terrified.
The Olivia who was supposed to be nothing was utterly terrifying.
He didn’t know if it was the fear from losing to her in the past or the anger he harbored toward her that was creating this dread, but one thing was certain—Ruin couldn’t do anything.
It was a black, suffocating fear, as if staring into the abyss.
Even though Olivia in front of him was clearly a powerless, immobile fool, his heart kept pounding as if he were being dragged into the abyss.
-Haa… Haa…
Ruin exhaled heavily.
A warning bell rang within him, saying, ‘If you provoke her any further, you’ll die.’
He denied there was any reason to be afraid, but his trembling legs betrayed him.
And the moment Olivia’s lips parted—
“Die—”
“Why are you still here?”
Ricardo had arrived.
*
Snow fell on the Academy’s male dormitory.
In the dark of night, a soft boyish voice echoed faintly.
A student, drenched in cold sweat, clutched his blanket tightly as he dreamed.
“No… It’s not true…”
“I didn’t… do it on purpose…”
“So please… run away…”
In the depths of his nightmare, the face of his close friend was painted black.
A friend who always smiled.
A friend who had shared food with him with a happy grin now had a face obscured by darkness.
-What’s this? Why are you alone again?
-…I miss my mom.
-That’s a tough request to grant.
-Sniff… Mom… I miss my mom.
-Me too, Mom~!! Oh, right. I don’t have a mom…
It was a bittersweet memory of his childhood. The boy who had planted the dream of the sword in him always sat beside him, brimming with hope.
In the dream, the boy handed him a piece of chocolate with a smile.
-Eat it all by yourself.
-Aren’t you going to eat?
-Nah. I don’t really like chocolate.
-Why not?
-Hmm… It’s too sweet, I guess?
At that moment, the boy’s stomach let out a growl.
-Whiiiiiistle~
-…
-What are you doing? Aren’t you going to eat?
The boy, pretending not to notice and whistling awkwardly, unwrapped the chocolate for him with a kind smile.
It was a face he could never forget.
The boy’s smile.
It was the smile he had loved the most and wanted to see forever. Back then, he had asked the boy for the first time—
-What’s your name?
-Me?
-Yeah.
-My name is…
The dream, as always, ended just before the words he most wanted to hear.