I’ll Make It A Bad Ending Like A Villain - Chapter 38

***

Hugh, who had been facing the wall, turned his head at the sound of Filina’s voice.

“Huh? What brings you here?”

He approached her, smiling as if he’d met someone he missed. Filina frowned and mumbled.

“What’s going on? Of course, I’m here for class.”

She turned her head to the side to where Hugh was looking at. She wondered what on earth he had been looking at so intently.

“Did you see that picture? Look at the faces of the cadets. They’re so full of enthusiasm.”

He playfully extended his finger in the direction of the picture frame on the wall.

Hugh was looking at a picture of a group of students training in an outdoor field.

At first, she thought it was absurd that there was a camera in this era, but it was not a reality, so she was able to pass it.

The picture, as he put it, was of a group of cadets aiming their blades at each other with passionate faces.

“Who was it that so many cadets were dealing with as a group?”

Hugh spoke, looking at the pictures on the wall.

“I’m sure they faced a tremendous one.”

He suddenly snickered slyly. Huey’s voice spread through the quiet annex.

“It’s an interesting scene, but doesn’t it give you goosebumps? The way you rushed to take a picture of this in a life-threatening situation?”

Hugh lifted the thin edge of his mouth and shook his head as if it were pathetic.

“Anyway, they’re all insane.”

Finally, Filina looked carefully at the faces of the students in the picture.

She thought it was simply a figure of enthusiasm, but their tightly knit lips and hard-looking jawlines looked rigid.

Their training clothes were undisturbed, but their hair was wet with sweat. It seemed to be before they started fighting, seeing that there was no common dirt and dust on them.

Everyone seemed to be nervous. What in the world were they looking at?

She stared at the picture in silence and then looked at Hugh with a strange look on her face.

“By the way, what are you doing here?”

He feigned an awkward glance at Filina’s words.

“Well, I was out for a walk?”

The words were oddly raised. She turned her head and asked.

“Where do you belong?”

Hugh’s red eyes folded in half and he spat out proudly.

“I’m in the First Order.”

Seeing his arrogant face, Filina frowned. Hugh, who was smiling, didn’t care about her expression and said.

“Where do you belong?”

Filina replied lightly with a bit of a scowl.

“The Second Order.”

Hugh nodded plainly.

“It’s a shame. If we belonged to the same Order, we would have met more often.”

Huey smiled and said jokingly, but Filina asked as if she didn’t care.

“Is class over for the 1st Order?”

Huey said with a somewhat unsure voice.

“…….. I think they probably are?”

That was the vague reply. Filina looked at him with an absurd expression.

“You’re walking around without taking your classes properly, aren’t you?”

At her words, Hugh averted his gaze and moved his body in the other direction.

“I have to leave now.”

He walked toward the door, reciting his awkward lines. Filina looked at Hugh’s back with a ridiculous face and turned her head.

Looking at the picture on the wall quietly, she took off the steps that had stopped for a while.

***

A white crescent moon shone brightly in the black sky where the deep night had fallen.

A crazy party was going on in the newly moved residence.

The reason was not important. They had heard that the old building where they had stayed before had been invaded by the Imperial Guards and had been abandoned.

“I knew Leon had good eyes! Where did you bring that demon from?”

A guild member, who had gulped down a bottle of liquor, said as he looked at Filina, who was sitting next to Leon, cracking peanuts.

She had been listening to him with a blank look on her face and opened her mouth with an absurd expression.

“You never listened to me when I was talking.”

Filina said with an angry look on her face, so the guild member awkwardly laughed and made an excuse.

”Well, it’s not long since we moved, and now we have to move our residence again. How did the imperial palace find out where we live so quickly?”

“…So what I said just sounded like a joke, and Leon’s story was trusted at once?”

He opened his eyes with a puzzled face at her blunt voice.

Then, with a staggering step, he approached where Filina was sitting.

It’s not that I didn’t believe you, it’s just that everyone was too lazy to do so, and you know the truth that even Rion didn’t know…’

”So I told you from the beginning. I don’t know about anything else, but I’m the one with the widest connections among the people here. I told you that I could help. By the way, if you guys don’t believe me, what do you expect me to do?”

Hearing her cold voice, the guild member’s shoulders slumped with a wistful look on his face.

“Okay, I’m sorry. So don’t be angry.”

He looked like a dog who was scolded by his owner. Normally she wouldn’t be this depressed, but the alcohol was making her feel like she couldn’t control her emotions.

Filina stared at him with her chin propped up on her hand.

On her way to have tea time at the Imperial Palace, she happened to overhear the Knights.

They called Leon’s unknown guild a “rebellion army” and exchanged words tonight that they would attack their residence.

Until now, the Imperial Knights had been trying to catch them at regular intervals.

If they attacked today, they would not make any move for at least a week.

Of course, it might have taken them some time to find a new place, but they had a separate period of time to re-establish their equipment.

However, this was just Ian’s trick of waiting for the rebels to let their guard down.

With their attack, the rebels moved to their next residence, and the guild members had a loose atmosphere, saying they would sleep with their feet stretched out for at least a week.

Then, the next day, late at night, the Imperial Knights sought out the building where they had gathered.

If Filina hadn’t told them beforehand, there would have been many casualties. Hundreds of soldiers came and attacked, which was incomparable to anything before.

The guild members were sleeping without proper weapons, and fortunately, Filina woke them up and said they had to move to another place of residence immediately, so they were able to avoid the fight in a flash. At first, the guild members wouldn’t listen to her, but as soon as Leon started to pack his things, they started to force themselves to move.

“Filina.”

She turned her head to the side at the voice calling her. Leaning on her shoulder and closing his eyes, Leon said in a low voice.

“He’ll cry if you keep doing that.”

His words caused Filina to look in front of her again. The guild member was still in place with a tearful face. Other guild members who were playing loudly also apologized to her, saying they were sorry.

Filina snickered as she chewed on a peanut. Then Leon, who was leaning on her shoulder, raised his lips smoothly.

“How about you forgive me just this once?”

He looked up at Filina. The black pupils stared into her red irises. Filina, who was staring into Leon’s eyes, replied with pursed lips.

“I will forgive you only this time. Next time there will be no mercy.”

Everyone cheered at her heartless voice. Looking at them, Filina also drew an amused smirk. Leon nuzzled his face into her shoulder again and closed his eyes. His lips raised gracefully.

“….!”

Filina woke up quickly in the deep darkness and breathed heavily.

Her heart was pounding so hard it hurt. As soon as she woke up, all she could see was a high ceiling and a stifling night.

Filina slowly raised her upper body in bed and swept her hair, which had fallen down her forehead.

It was a dream filled with lively memories of the past.

It could not be undone any more, nor should it be repeated.…

Filina bit her lower lip gently and tried to suppress a whimper.

The nightmare that had been repeated so often that she had grown tired of it for some time had always come in the form of her own near-death. But now it was different. It was a memory that brought up a faint memory. Perhaps it was because she had met Leon.

Filina let out a small breath and stepped onto the floor.

Bessie was in a deep sleep. She checked the time and saw that it was 2 a.m. She had to stay a while longer for the night to dawn.

Filina pondered for a while and then left the dormitory. She wanted to get some air to calm her mind.

When she went out alone at dawn, she felt awkward. Enoch was always with her. She walked to the practice field not too far from the dorm. The cool breeze ruffled her hair.

She had only lightly thrown on the jacket Laura had prepared for her, and she didn’t organize her hair, which fell to her waist. It didn’t matter because she was going to go right in anyway.

She sat on a bench in the outdoor performance hall and looked up at the sky in a daze. Then she noticed a bright light leaking from a building on the other side.

It was the building where the training room was located.

Would there be people there at this hour?

Filina got up from her seat and walked slowly to the front of the building.

As she approached the dark blue building, she heard the faint sound of a wooden sword.

She quietly looked around the window that was leaking light. Then she went inside the building. The sound of wooden sword clashing spread even louder.

The training room inside the building was divided into several rooms. A particularly bright light was glowing from the room at the far end of the building.

Filina took a step toward it without much thought.

She was just curious. Who would be practicing until this hour…

She didn’t think it was a freshman. Because even the seniors sometimes trained with wooden swords.

But Filina’s expression immediately hardened at the sight of silver hair through the window. It was Henry Argeny.

The wooden sword was hitting the wall while maintaining its center in a straight posture. There was no slight disturbance in the sound of collisions at regular intervals.

Clank ! Clank!

It was a sustained gesture, as if he was working with a machine. A faint smile escaped Filina’s lips as she watched Henry through the window.

He was born with the ability anyway, so what’s the point of pushing so hard to practice?

He would be the only Swordmaster in the Alvar Empire anyway. It was an absolute law set by this world.

Her eyes, as she gazed at Henry, did not show any special emotion. She was just looking at a familiar scene.

But that didn’t last long.

Filina turned and tried to leave the building. At the same time, the sound of constant clashing wooden swords shifted.

The noise of the wooden sword falling to the floor spread through the desolate space.

Filina, who had half turned her body, looked back inside the practice room and saw Henry collapsed through the window.