Fated to Be Loved by Villains

“...You didn’t have to go that far and say all that.”

Dowd sniveled as he said that. Seeing his reaction, Iliya finally let out a deep sigh.

After hounding him for a while, she felt better than before.

“So don’t do something like that ever again. Got it?”

“...Got it.”

Only after obtaining his affirmation did she back off while letting out a sigh of relief.

It was the first time she had ever hounded on someone this harshly, but then again, he totally deserved it.

...But still, how could he do that?

She already knew that he wasn’t someone who cared much about his own well-being. Oftentimes, even she felt that it was too much.

So much so that she felt like the extent of his ‘change’ was far faster than she expected.

As she thought so, Faenol, who had her hands behind her back, approached Dowd with quick steps.

“It seems you got scolded pretty hard back there, Mr. Dowd.”

“...Shut it.”

On her face was a playful smile that completely matched her teasing words.

Iliya could sense that she seemed very relieved, though.

“...”

Thinking back, Iliya realized that when Dowd was practically trying to off himself back then, she was panicking even more than Iliya was.

-We need to help him right now!

-Wait, Teach told us to wait…!

-But, at this rate, that man might die—!!

The way Faenol cried out such words were still clear in her memory.

Since the woman almost never expressed her emotions in the first place, the sight left a strong impression on her mind.

Faenol was someone who always seemed to put on a facade, as if she never meant the words she said while always masking her expression. But back then, Iliya could tell that her feelings were genuine.

“...”

Iliya remembered that scene once again.

The red flame Faenol used to sweep away the Demonic Creatures was quite the remarkable one.

It seemed like she was in such a rush that it gave Iliya the impression that she was ‘pushing herself to use’ something she wouldn’t normally use in front of others.

Except there was a problem with that.

The flame specifically…

Iliya could have sworn that she had seen the flame with that color somewhere.

...It was red.

Memories of that day, she couldn’t forget them even if she wanted to.

A pillar of flame, setting the black night sky red, as if the whole universe was burning, flashed through her mind.

Her father, mother, friends.

On that day, everything was burnt to ashes.

The Crimson Night Incident.

That was the day when the Red Devil took those she hold dear away from her.

“...Iliya? What’s wrong?”

As she was drowning on such memories, Talion, who was nearby, asked her in confusion.

Perhaps he could tell with a glance that Iliya’s face had turned unusually pale.

“...N-Nothing.”

She forced the word out, letting out her usual smile.

Of course, inside, she was thinking of the accursed being’s name.

...The Red Devil.

She didn’t really have an interest in Devils in general.

But the Red Devil was different.

After all, it was an accursed being who had turned her past into ashes.

“...”

And, even though she wasn’t sure…

The person in front of her, Faenol Lipek, had a scent that resembled that being strongly.

While she couldn’t detect it even while she was using her ‘Eye of Truth’...

“...”

She kept staring at her quietly.

Her gaze was filled with suspicion.

Last night was a total disaster.

Her head was dizzy from all the screams echoing around her and the scent of blood that permeated the forest all day long.

She heard that the majority of people were fatally injured while trying to hold on until the end with only their bravado. They didn’t end up dying, but they’d have to deal with the PTSD for the rest of their lives.

Well, for her, Lana Rei Delvium, all of that didn’t matter at all.

Aftereffects or whatever, everything was just words to her, nothing more, nothing less. Even though her clothes were in tatters because of the wolves that were biting her wildly, she couldn’t care less about anything else.

She was so sure that no one could have scored higher than her when it came to ‘surviving as long as possible’.

No one, except for this one guy in particular.

“...Hmmm.”

Lana looked around while stroking her chin.

There were dead bodies of the Demonic Creatures that Dowd and his colleagues had struggled to carry piled up nearby.

“... Did you kill all of this?”

“Yeah.”

“...”

Hearing him casually answer her like that, she could only stare at him speechless.

Killing all of these Demonic Creatures? The ones who were specialized in hunting and tracking inside the Nullifying Shroud?

She was confident that she had the chance to score the highest, but when her competitor was like this…

Now she was sure that he and Iliya would be in the lead. Overwhelmingly so.

“...Where did such a monster like you came from, Mr. Dowd? Are you sure you aren’t the one who’s supposed to wield the Holy Sword instead of Miss Iliya?”

“...I can’t wield the Holy Sword.”

For some reason, he insisted on that point specifically.

As if it was a given that the Holy Sword would belong to Iliya.

Even though anyone with eyes could see that he was the one who showed extraordinary feats, not Iliya, who was supposed to be the Hero Candidate.

“...By the way, what’s with those people?”

Lana asked another question.

The reason being because she noticed several bulky-looking adult males standing idly around Dowd.

Their eyes were blank, as if they had downed a bowl of drugs each, scaring her a little.

She couldn’t understand why such people came to the Hero Selection Ordeal in the first place.

“Ah, well.”

Dowd answered while letting out a bitter smile.

“...They are gifts for Archbishop Luminol, I guess.”

“For my father?”

Lana tilted her head as she scanned the blank-eyed people.

She could tell at a glance that they were a group of people who had done dirty work more than once.

What she couldn’t tell was that, how exactly could they be a ‘gift’?

“...I’m asking just in case, but are you going to do something bad to my father using these people?”

“...If I were, do you think I’d let you see them, Lana?”

His answer was reasonable enough for her.

But, if that wasn’t the case, then what the hell was he going to do exactly?

As Lana thought so while tilting her head…

“I am sure he will like it.”

Dowd said those words with a chuckle.

“He’ll appreciate it by the time the Last Ordeal begins.”

“...”

There wasn’t a hint of emotion in his voice.

But even Lana, who had often heard from people how slow-witted she was, could feel the frighteningly dark intention behind his words.

Obviously we had the highest score after all that.

It was worth going through all that to see Archbishop Luminol look as if he had eaten shit.

[...But, you were the one who started it first.]

“...Yeah, I guess.”

I agreed with Caliban’s words without even trying to deny it.

As Lana’s father, he literally had no reason to see me in a good light.

Still, he did try to recklessly kill me at any cost, so I had some justifications in my self-defense.

Therefore, I planned to do something to that person later without feeling much guilt.

“...Eugh.”

As I thought so, I let out a low cry from the throbbing sensation all over my body.

While it was nice that Iron Man blocked my sense of pain, I still needed to deal with the aftereffects of my injuries.

The pain was not lethal enough to completely disappear due to such a Mastery, so it seemed I still felt it. And despite the somewhat marginal dulling of pain, it still hurt like a bitch.

“...I need to come up with the next plan…”

While dragging my feet to my assigned accommodation, I blurted out such words.

Now that the First and Second Ordeals were over…

The only thing left to do was the Last Ordeal that would be held in the Holy Land and the Succession Ceremony of the Holy Sword, which was stuck near the Sanctuary.

In other words, the highlight of the entire Chapter 4.

“...”

Also…

There was a high chance that it would be filled with variables.

The Prophet.

This person had been abnormally quiet all this time.

During the First and Second Ordeals, she hadn’t made any move.

Rather, she helped me by sending the Cursed Speech User back in the First Ordeal.

I couldn’t guess what she was up to, but I could tell that she was going to do something this time.

So, I’d need to run over everything to ensure that Iliya could wield the Holy Sword and become the Hero.

As I thought so while walking down the corridor…

I ran across someone unexpected.

“...Uh, Your Excellency?”

As if waiting for me, the Golden Chancellor, leaning against the wall, slowly looked up.

I looked around. There were no entourages or bodyguards in sight. She was all alone.

“Congratulations on your outstanding achievements in the ordeal. You are amazing, Dowd.”

“...Thank you.”

Well, getting the congratulations from her was good and all.

But there was no way the most powerful person in the Empire would visit me alone, without bringing any guards, just to congratulate me.

“The Last Ordeal will be held next week, so I’m here to deliver something to you before it starts.”

Sullivan said as she stepped closer to me. She took out a letter and handed it over to me.

“-This is an invitation from the Imperial Palace.”

“...Excuse me?”

“Cecilia the 11th has requested to have a private meeting with you.”

I looked at the letter the Chancellor was holding out while listening to the words that she said while gritting her teeth.

A dark brown seal engraved with the Imperial Household’s logo was stamped on the outer cover of the letter.

...What?

The Empress?

Cecilia the 11th?

Why would she?

“...”

I knew that she was interested in me somehow, but for her to directly summon me to the Imperial Palace through an ‘Empress’ Edict’ was a whole different matter entirely.

This was none other than the Empress’ command. I could end up hanging on the gallows if I refused it.

...But, like, why?

I started racking my confused brain.

Why would she want to see me in such a hurry?

Honestly, I wasn’t very interested in meeting with her at the moment.

Cecilia the 11th.

She was someone who had the most influence on Eleanor’s corruption, along with Gideon.

Considering Eleanor’s corruption occurred at the point when her own mental state collapsed, I could tell easily that this person didn’t have a positive psychological impact on her.

“Dowd.”

As I fell into deep thoughts, Sullivan called me quietly.

“...You can refuse if you want to.”

As soon as I heard that…

I turned my gaze at her. Surely I heard it wrong, right?

“Sorry?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you with all my might. By any means necessary.”

That was when I realized…

The reason why Sullivan had come to deliver this letter on her own despite it coming from the Imperial Household.

This person…

Wished to say that to me privately.

“...”

I looked at her with a dumbfounded expression.

Seriously, was she for real?

Did she really say that I could just ignore the ‘Empress’ Edict’?

Given the level of compelling power it held politically…

It was terrifying to hear the person who held half the power over the entire Empire said that.

After all, ‘refusing’ to follow the Empress’ Edict meant that she wasn’t acknowledging the Empress’ dominion.

In other words…

This person…

Had just said…

That she would put the Empire, no, the entire continent, into a fiery pit of chaos for me.

Just for me.

It didn’t matter if dozens, hundreds, thousands or ten thousands of people died.

She’d take all the responsibilities for it.

“...”

Understanding the depths of her words, I looked at her. My whole body stiffened.

Sullivan continued her words, her gaze was firm.

It was as if…

“...Something might happen to you, Dowd.”

She was confident that she could bear that much burden compared to what she was ‘expecting to happen’.

“Please.”

And from her words, I knew…

“Please do not leave my side this time.”

That she was pleading earnestly.

***

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