The Villain Who Will Kill Me Is Too Handsome, It's Troublesome - Chapter 88

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 88.
“Artiela?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Something unpleasant just occurred to me.”
Kirien’s eyes widened. But he understood what she meant quickly enough and showed her the mirror again.
“It’s not that—it’s your mother’s Aura.”
“What? No, why would that be here?”
Had she misread the situation? This wasn’t a Black Mage’s lair after all, was it?
“It’s at the side gate.”
“Ah…….”
Looking more closely, that was indeed the case. It wasn’t at the main entrance.
If that was so, then this held no particular significance, did it? And yet he wasn’t the sort of man to do anything without purpose.
“Should we try opening that first?”
If the children were locked away in the annex, it would be better to open that gate now and smuggle them out quickly. Then they could slip away without being detected.
“All right, let’s do that.”
With Artiela’s approval, Kirien stepped forward. He carried himself with newfound confidence, as if the knowledge that he was a member of the Holy Knight Order and could take action had bolstered his sense of self-worth.
But his attempt was thwarted.
“Welcome, Captain of the Holy Knight Order.”
The villain appeared first.
Still, wasn’t this man supposed to be a lord in his own right? So why was he dressed like a beggar?
True to Lazy’s description, he wore a black robe turned inside out, which looked rather tattered. What were those stains?
‘Blood stains?’
It was unclear.
“We’ve received reports that you’ve been illegally gathering Mage Apprentices.”
At Artiela’s question, the man laughed—hehehehe.
“Who on earth said such a thing?”
“You’re saying it’s a lie?”
“I brought the children here with fair compensation and parental consent.”
“If you’re teaching Black Magic, it’s a crime regardless of parental consent.”
“Me, teaching Black Magic? Good heavens, that’s a misunderstanding. Truly.”
He spoke with complete confidence.
“I’m genuinely not such a wicked man. If necessary, you may verify it with the Holy Sword.”
A man unfearing of the Bardo. If he wasn’t merely bluffing with empty words, then most likely he was truly innocent.
“Then I shall verify.”
Artiela wrapped her Aura around the Bardo and manifested it before her eyes.
“Ah…….”
His claim was true.
A Black Mage’s soul would be darkly tainted and murky. But his soul was merely worn and exhausted, its color faded. He had committed no grave sins.
“What do you find?”
“I beg your pardon for my suspicion.”
Artiela had no choice but to bow in apology.
And yet doubts still lingered.
“Not at all. Your suspicion was understandable.”
Where had the money come from to pay the Mage Apprentices? The profits from selling Magical Tools should have been considerable.
Yet he wore such a shabby, tattered robe, and his house was dilapidated.
“No, I acted rashly and must atone. Please, allow me to offer compensation.”
“Money? Well, that would be most welcome. Hehehehe.”
Did he love money so much? Though it made sense—raising Mage Apprentices would naturally require substantial funds.
For his wife’s medical treatment as well.
“No—I hear your wife is unwell. Please, allow me to treat her with Holy Power.”
Artiela gently pushed Kirien forward.
“This is our newly appointed Holy Knight, and his healing power rivals that of the priests.”
“Is that so? But both physicians and priests said there was nothing to be done…….”
The lord regarded Kirien with skepticism, yet his eyes shone with cautious hope.
Kirien, bewildered, was pushed forward. He glanced back at Artiela for a moment.
‘Kirien, you understand my meaning?’
Kirien nodded.
“My Holy Power is born from love. If the lord’s love for his wife is true, it shall work a miracle.”
The knights behind them let out strange exclamations of admiration.
“Ah, so that’s why.”
“That explains his rapid growth.”
“Jealous, are you?”
Artiela turned back, gritted her teeth, and spoke.
“Stay quiet.”
Fortunately, the Lord’s credibility seemed to have risen thanks to the knights’ exclamations of admiration.
“Is that so? Then might I ask a favor of you?”
* * *
Artiela and Kirien followed the Lord into the building.
The two heightened their senses with their Aura, then spoke in voices too low for the Lord to hear.
“Why did you agree?”
“I think we need to see inside for ourselves.”
“Still suspicious?”
“Yes. It’s strange that he appeared the moment we arrived.”
Kirien nodded.
Just then, the Lord walking ahead turned around.
“Was the Holy Knight Order Commander the young master of the Soltis family?”
“Yes, my mother spoke of him often. She said he was busy cultivating later generations.”
The Lord nodded slowly, a melancholy expression crossing his face.
“Yes, it was my wife’s wish.”
The Lord’s story went like this.
His wife, a commoner mage by birth, had been sickly from her youth. But since the cause of her illness remained unknown, no amount of money could cure her.
So he had surrendered his position as Magic Tower master to another and devoted himself entirely to her care.
“Then, when Black Mages ran rampant in the Magic Tower, the Territory itself fell into ruin.”
The family mages blamed him, the household head, for the mismanagement and left. They said he had failed to manage both the Magic Tower and these lands properly.
“When the family’s fortunes declined, the Headmaster extended a hand to me. He said he would support my wife’s medicine and the costs of restoring the devastated Territory.”
“I see.”
If all this were true, Artiela silently vowed to perform penance and confess everything to Bardo.
And yet, the unease refused to fade.
“I scraped together what little money I had to train mages, but it seems I was too harsh with them—they keep running away.”
“Ah….”
“With support from the Imperial Court and the Academy, I spent money on the Mage Apprentices, but with no results, I grew anxious. And my wife’s illness… so I stopped.”
That’s why he had given up.
‘Artiela, you’re a terrible person.’
Without the ability to read people, should she simply continue forward, using Bardo to glimpse souls first before anything else?
“But there is something I’m curious about.”
“Please, ask.”
“Why did you tell the children they wouldn’t be able to go home?”
The Lord walking ahead flinched and stopped. Then he turned with a kind smile and spoke.
“I thought that level of resolve would keep them from running away this time.”
Hmm.
It made sense and didn’t, all at once.
The more she questioned, the more impatient she would seem, so she decided to set her questions aside for now. Except for one last thing.
“But has Bertia ever visited this Manor?”
“Bertia? Ah, that Holy Knight from twenty years ago?”
“Yes.”
“He did visit. And he took an Ancient Book with him.”
Kirien’s ears perked up at his mother’s words.
“What sort of book?”
“Was it Transformation Magic, or Illusion Magic? My memory grows hazy.”
“But he wasn’t a mage.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know much beyond that….”
The Lord soon led them to a Bedroom tucked in a corner of the second floor—the cleanest and brightest room in this shabby, dilapidated Manor, yet suffused with the miasma of illness.
“My dear, we have guests.”
A woman of Artiela’s mother’s age lay in the bed.
Motionless.
“She’s fallen asleep.”
“It shouldn’t matter for the treatment, should it, Kirien?”
“No, I’ll do my best.”
The holder of the Holy Sword and the most virtuous soul in the world spoke in perfect unison, like a pair of swindlers.
“Then I’m grateful. I have no much to offer, but I’ll bring tea.”
Were there no servants at all?
The Lord went to the Kitchen himself. Seizing that moment, Artiela closed the Bedroom door. Kirien immediately poured Holy Power into the Ring with all his strength.
“Stop pretending to sleep and wake up, Black Mage.”
Artiela’s voice cut through the air, cold and sharp.
At her words, the woman beneath the blankets slowly opened her eyes.
“How did you see through me, Master of the Holy Sword?”
The truth wasn’t written on her face alone. It was the Cloth Fragment lying open beside the woman’s bed—that’s what gave her away.
“So the right hand of the Origin of Evil was here all along. I didn’t expect that.”
She’d seen that Cloth Fragment twice before.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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