A Villain's Will to Survive novel Chapter 360

Chapter 360: Epilogue (3) Part 2

#10. Cabin in Winter

Whooooooosh—

Ria was climbing the ridgeline of a snowy winter mountain peak, where a harsh, frigid cold was raging. As an adventurer who had received a request from the Empress, and as a player seeking an answer to her own questions, she wandered in search of the villain of the age.

“... There it is,” Ria muttered.

And at last, having reached the highest and roughest peak of the mountains in Freyden, Ria looked down and sighed with relief, grateful that the man had not fled any farther.

“Where?!”

Then, someone in heavy furs rushed toward Ria, their eyes fixed on her line of sight, and let out a shout.

"Where! Where are you talking about?!"

With such an impatient nature, she was the current Head of the Family of Yukline, and publicly, she was Yeriel—a national hero of the Empire who saw through Deculein’s evil and exposed him.

"I can't see properly!"

Yeriel, who was always calm and collected—and was sometimes even said to have no emotion—was now in a state of excitement. It was a sight that could make anyone on the continent fall over in shock, but she cared nothing for such propriety.

“Where?! I mean, where?!” Yeriel continued.

"Miss Ria, I can't see anything either~!"

Beside Yeriel stood Ellie, the hero of the Scarletborn and a savior who had been a tremendous help in the search for Deculein.

Had it not been for her talent, it would have taken an eternity to climb this malicious mountain, which is also a renowned magical space, Ria thought.

“It's over there. The cabin's chimney is sticking out a little bit,” Ria said, pointing at the cabin.

The cabin was buried under the snow at the foot of the mountain peak and was barely visible, but something that looked like a chimney was, in any case, poking up from it.

“Oh! Oh! Yes, there it is—I can see it, I can see it!” Yeriel exclaimed, her wide eyes locked on the spot as she bit her nails, a rush of excitement making her breathe hard. “Let’s go, then! What are you waiting for?!”

A hand grabbed Yeriel, who was thrashing and about to rush out, a hand that held her in place so she couldn't move a single step.

“... What? Why? Let go of me,” Yeriel said, glaring at Ria, the owner of the hand that had grabbed her.

“Lord Yeriel, would you mind... waiting for just a little while longer?” Ria said, shaking her head at Yeriel’s chilling glare.

Yeriel blinked blankly for a moment, unable to understand Ria’s words or what was wrong with this adventurer.

What kind of nonsense is this—being told to wait here by some mere adventurer who is neither Deculein’s family nor anything else? Yeriel thought.

“... What for?” Yeriel asked, her curiosity completely innocent.

Ria was so flabbergasted that she couldn’t even be angry, left at a loss for words and, in her shock, strangely curious about the reason for her confusion.

"Well..." Ria replied, scratching the back of her neck with an apologetic look. "I just have something I'd like to say to him, just the two of us."

"What nonsense. Hah, who do you think you are? I want to be alone with him, too—"

Then, Yeriel’s anger flared up a moment too late.

The moment Yeriel’s eyes, nose, and mouth sharpened like spikes, as she was about to snap at Ria...

"Miss Yeriel?" Ellie interrupted, approaching with a gentle smile and linking arms with Yeriel. "Just let her go. It won't take long, will it, Miss Ria? Right?"

Ellie held Yeriel in a tight grip and gestured to Ria with her eyes.

“Yes. It won’t even take five—no, ten—minutes. I’ll come out as soon as I’m finished,” Ria replied, nodding quickly.

“Wait—“

“Go ahead and do it. After all, we practically found the Professor because of Miss Ria, right~?” Ellie said.

"... I mean, what's wrong with both of you?" Yeriel said, looking back and forth between Ellie and Ria.

To Yeriel, Deculein’s sister, the entire situation was absurd and unfair, yet these two bitches were strangely serious, their faces making it clear they wouldn’t listen to her tantrums, and in this desolate mountain with no human in sight, she knew she couldn’t beat them no matter how much she thought about it.

“... Hurry, and finish as soon as possible,” Yeriel continued, grinding her teeth.

“Yes, thank you. Thank you, Lord Yeriel,” Ria replied with a bow.

"That’s enough, hurry. You have five minutes, no, three. Finish in three minutes. If Deculein isn't there, you will be responsible."

“Okay!”

"Enough talking, just go!"

Immediately, Ria sprinted, leaping from the mountain ridge and advancing as if gliding at a superhuman speed until she reached the cabin door.

“Hoo...”

Because the moment was far more nerve-wracking than she had expected, Ria took a deep breath, glanced back at Yeriel who was glaring at her, and began to count the meager three minutes she had been given.

Creeeeeak—

Ria opened the wooden door of the cabin.

Crackle— Crackle—

The first thing she felt was the cozy warmth of a bonfire.

Crackle— Crackle—

The sound of flames crackling was heard.

Then...

“You are here.”

At the sound of the voice of a noble who was as dignified and imposing as ever, Ria placed a hand on her pounding heart and turned to look in the direction.

“Deculein...” Ria muttered.

Deculein was sitting in a rocking chair near the bonfire, staring at her with his usual relaxed expression, as if he had known she would come.

"You've found me at last," Deculein said with a smile.

His appearance was no different from the Deculein of the past, yet Ria could tell, for she clearly felt that something about him was different... that his life was now nearing its end.

“You are on your way to dying,” Ria said, her bluntness bordering on rudeness.

“What is the use of saying what everyone already knows?” Deculein replied, merely raising an eyebrow.

"I've read the diary."

The diary was the notebook that Deculein had given to Ria before the destruction of the continent.

“... Is that so?” Deculein replied, with an air of indifference.

“I read it over and over again,” Ria said, taking out the diary from inside her robes, an object so worn from being read that it was stained with her fingerprints. “But there wasn’t anything of note.”

The contents of the diary were nothing special—only fabricated evidence Deculein had made himself to prove his own misdeeds, and that was all it really was.

There was no other meaning in it, nothing at all. I was made to feel like a fool for worrying so much about what was inside of it. But there was nothing there...

"But for some reason, it feels like this is something that happened a long time ago."

However, it was late, but Ria had finally realized that it was a hint.

"Someone gave me a letter like this once before."

It was a long time ago—before we were dating, even before we knew how we felt about each other. He gave me a letter, not with a real message, but with his thoughts and feelings from that day. No, it was less a letter than a diary, Ria thought.

“Back then, I used to worry about the same thing—what was the hidden meaning in this letter? I would stare at it for hours every day.”

But in the end, there was no hidden meaning in that letter—of course.

“But in the end, the letter had no meaning, because he only sent it to mess with me.”

It was a joke—nothing but his mischievous prank.

“Heh,” Deculein murmured, a mischievous, boyish laugh slipping out with his smile.

Ria’s eyes sharpened into a glare.

“Indeed, there was no special hidden meaning in that diary. However, it could have been used as evidence to prove my crime.”

"... Do you not regret it?" Ria asked.

"About what?” Deculein inquired, his face alight with laughter.

"Dying here like this."

“... I’m unsure whether I merely have no regret, or if I was designed to be without it,” Deculein said, smiling at Ria as if she were charming.

Ria was confused as to whose voice she was hearing, as Deculein’s voice had become suddenly gentle.

Is he Kim Woo-Jin, or Deculein, right now? Ria thought.

“However, this death does not fear me.”

Ria paused for a moment.

"I've got a ticket," Ria said.

I don't have enough time to wait for a better moment. The promised three minutes will be over soon, and I won't be able to be with him alone anymore.

“... A ticket?” Deculein repeated.

In response to Deculein’s question, Ria pulled a sheet of paper from her inner pocket, the final reward for the main quest—smaller than her palm, yet to her it was the ticket she had desperately longed for, the one that would send her back to the real world.

“You can survive it with this,” Ria said.

With today’s encounter, Ria was convinced that the man looking at her right now was undoubtedly Kim Woo-Jin.

“Hmm, would you come over here for a moment? I find that my body won't move,” Deculein said with a smile, gesturing to Ria even as he felt his heartbeat slowly coming to a stop.

Is this supposed to bring me comfort? Probably—but a comfort that offers none at all, Ria thought.

He’s really... really trying to ruin the mood right up to the end...

Crackle, crackle.

Creeeak—

I probably look completely blank and dumb right now, don’t I? My eyelids are swollen from crying, my lips chapped from biting, and my hair a total mess—I wonder if I look like the Yoo Ah-Ra of the past, Ria thought.

#11. Time

Fwish—

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