The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 57

The Student Council Room at the Academy.

The Student Council Members sitting around the Round Table were letting out Deep Sighs.

Chartia, the Student Council President, sighed deeply.

Mikhail, present as a witness.

Ruin, irritated, and even the Crown Prince.

The Student Council had gathered because of the incident during the Final Evaluation.

Chartia was not in a good mood. There was too much to do. She had to come up with measures for the interrupted exam and personally conduct an investigation to confirm the facts as the Princess. It was impossible for her expression to be pleasant.

-Bang!

“This damn Academy never runs properly.”

Chartia was angry at the thought of having to write letters to reassure the parents once the meeting was over.

Chartia calmed her anger with trembling breaths. To conduct a proper meeting, she needed to think rationally.

She took a Deep Breathing exercise and looked at Mikhail in front of her. Mikhail, whose face was covered in wounds, still bore a poor expression, likely due to the lingering shock from the Cultists’ Raid.

Even though a week had passed since the incident, Mikhail still hadn’t recovered… He must have been greatly shaken.

Seeing Mikhail, who was always full of confidence and composure, with such an expression left Chartia feeling conflicted.

“Mikhail, can you tell us what happened back then? We need your account to proceed with the meeting.”

Mikhail gave a small nod.

Mikhail stood up and began recounting the events of that day in front of the executives.

“It started with the groaning of a man.”

He explained in detail.

How they ended up going deeper into the Dungeon, why they tried to save him—Mikhail spoke honestly without hiding anything.

But when the story reached its Climax, Mikhail’s lips wouldn’t move.

“We were almost killed, and at that moment…”

Mikhail couldn’t continue.

Chartia let out a Deep Sigh.

She understood why Mikhail couldn’t speak. The fact that he had been helped by someone he disliked must have been holding back his Pride.

Chartia, seeing that Mikhail’s testimony was no different from the Report, gestured for him to sit down as he struggled to speak further.

“Alright, you’ve done well. Let’s discuss the rest while reviewing the Report.”

Chartia pointed to a section of the documents on the desk. It was the Report containing details of the incident.

Mikhail’s testimony and Yuria’s testimony.

At the end of the Report summarizing the testimonies of the Knights who suffered at the hands of the Cultists, Chartia gazed meaningfully.

When Mikhail saw the part Chartia was pointing to, he lowered his head. It was something he didn’t want to say aloud.

He could close his eyes tightly and recount being attacked by the Cultists and Yuria being in danger, but that particular part was too difficult to speak of.

Was it because of shame?

Or was it simply embarrassment?

Mikhail kept his head down.

Chartia spoke to Mikhail.

“Ricardo saved you, didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“Haa…”

Frustrated, Chartia rubbed her face.

Ricardo…

Does he only show up at times like this?

From the circumstances, it was hard to see Ricardo as being connected to the Cultists. No, if anything, if Ricardo had been on the Cultists’ side, it would have made more sense for him to kill Mikhail.

And knowing the Ricardo she was familiar with, he wasn’t the type to bother with something as troublesome as mingling with the Cultists.

-Is the Student Council Room your personal chamber? Haa… What brings you here this time?

-Assault on Classmate!

-…How about calming down a bit?

-If I suppress my anger, I’ll get sick. Longevity without illness is my dream…

Though he was always tied to suspicious incidents, every case involving him somehow avoided the Worst Outcome.

Even when there was a fire at the Academy.

Even when a Cultist disguised as a Student was caught.

Even when Yuria was being bullied—it was always Ricardo who was involved, but the Outcomes were positive.

To the point where seeing his name in a Report brought relief. Chartia, seeing Ricardo’s name appear after a long time, felt both a sense of welcome and a Deep Sigh escape her.

“Are you certain it was Ricardo?”

“Yes.”

Mikhail lowered his head.

Chartia, too, pressed her throbbing forehead and let out a Deep Sigh.

“We’ll send someone to discuss the matter concerning Ricardo, so keep that in mind.”

Though she was sure he would say, “We were just lucky,” Chartia still thought it was fortunate.

One death. Thirty injured.

All of it was Ricardo’s doing.

If Ricardo hadn’t shown up, the death toll wouldn’t have stopped at just one Cultist—it would have been dozens.

Chartia let out a sigh as she silently turned the pages of the Report, glancing at Mikhail, who kept his head down.

‘Mikhail… You’re no longer interesting.’

Mikhail, who had always brought excitement with his righteous actions, had been a source of vitality in the otherwise dull school life.

But perhaps because of meeting Ricardo, Chartia’s favorability toward Mikhail as a man had diminished.

His rigid, frustrating, and overly principled nature didn’t sit well with her.

In the past, she had a bit of admiration for Mikhail, who wasn’t intimidated by Nobles, but after seeing a Crazy Bastard who casually threw gloves at Nobles for fun, she could no longer find anything appealing about Mikhail.

Reading Mikhail’s straightforwardly written Report felt suffocating, and Chartia thought she might get annoyed.

If it were him, he would have written, “I hit him because I couldn’t stand it.”

Smirking inwardly, Chartia turned the page.

-Rustle.

This page contained the details of the Cultist who had died in the Dungeon.

[Vigny]

[Age: 32]

[Affiliation: Cultists]

[Criminal Record: Yes]

[Details]

-Murdered three Adventurers in Selena Village.

-Murdered two civilians in Rubini Village.

-Suspected of killing eleven Adventurers in Selena Dungeon.

·

·

·

Chartia muttered.

“Crazy Bastard.”

Robbery, kidnapping, murder—there wasn’t a crime he hadn’t committed. It was as if he was trying to earn a criminal certification. Faced with his densely written Criminal Record, Chartia couldn’t help but curse.

The thought of such a person being in the same space as the Students made her heart drop, but at the same time, she felt relieved that they had rooted him out.

Chartia read the Report aloud at a volume everyone could hear.

As she began reading the perpetrator’s crimes, the expressions of the executives seated at the Table began to change.

Some looked horrified, like her.

Others furrowed their brows in disgust.

And some let out heavy sighs—Chartia could see the variety of expressions on the executives’ faces.

The one who seemed to take it the hardest was Mikhail.

Mikhail’s face was growing pale and stiff.

He seemed unable to believe what he was hearing. Chartia, thinking Mikhail must have been shocked to fight such a criminal, offered him a few words of consolation, but the man himself was lost in complicated thoughts.

Mikhail thought to himself.

‘A murderer?’

He had heard rumors that the Cultists were villains, but he had dismissed them as exaggerated.

He had tried to convince himself that it was all due to misunderstandings or a grim upbringing, but now, imagining what would have happened if Ricardo hadn’t appeared and he had let the man go, the consequences played out vividly in his mind, leaving Mikhail’s face pale and frozen.

Mikhail thought to himself.

‘Was I wrong..?’

***

After everything was over, the Student Council Members, wearing exhausted expressions, sighed as they discussed the events of that day.

-We really almost had a disaster. They said he was a murderer… Wow.

-Seriously, we’re lucky. If it weren’t for Senior Mikhail, we’d all be dead meat too!

-Yeah, yeah!

Amid the students laughing and chatting about Mikhail.

-Bang!

Hanna slammed the documents onto the desk and stood up.

Hanna forcefully hit the meeting minutes she had written like an essay on the desk, tidied them up, and glared at the students who had been chattering about Mikhail one by one.

The female students flinched in surprise.

Hanna muttered as she looked at them.

“Are your ears clogged?”

Hanna was not pleased.

The final agenda was centered around Mikhail’s achievements.

Mikhail had saved a student in danger.

Although someone else had offered assistance during the process, it was a very minor contribution, and while Mikhail, along with Yuria and his ally, achieved victory, he had committed an Inevitable Killing in the process.

The conclusion was this.

Let’s give Mikhail an award.

Mikhail is a hero.

What nonsense.

As the Secretary who recorded everything in the meeting, Hanna was annoyed.

Although she didn’t know the exact details of That Day’s Incident as a third party, one thing was certain: the butler had helped Mikhail.

Hanna had a hunch that the push-over butler would be drained of Every Last Drop and discarded.

Hanna started to feel angry.

Because it was unfair.

She was furious that the real hero who resolved the issue was being overlooked while an undeserving person was being awarded.

Hanna raised her hand and looked at the Student Council President.

“May I make a suggestion?”

Chartia, weary from the meeting, turned her gaze to Hanna. Hanna glared sharply at Mikhail and confidently voiced the words she had prepared during the meeting.

“I believe Senior Ricardo deserves the credit for this incident.”

-Bang…!

“Hey. Shut up and sit down.”

Ruin glared at Hanna as he spoke.

Using profanity, Ruin dismissed her words as nonsense.

Hanna didn’t budge. If someone wanted to intimidate her, they needed the ability to back it up.

Ruin’s threats, after losing to Hanna in the last Ranking Selection Tournament, were less frightening than a passing cockroach.

Although Hanna coldly ignored Ruin, irritated by his junior’s defiance, Ruin glared at her with sharp eyes and said.

“A senior is speaking. I said shut up.”

“You should keep your mouth shut. It’s embarrassing.”

“…Ha, you f*cking b*tch!”

Ruin began to rise from his seat.

Hanna gathered Aura into her hand, but at the sharp glare of Chartia, accompanied by a loud bang, she unclenched her tightly held fist.

“What’s with the fighting in this sacred meeting room…?”

Ruin flinched. Though he had much to say, under Chartia’s piercing gaze, he kicked his chair and stormed out of the meeting room.

Chartia looked at Hanna.

“What is it you want to say?”

Hanna spoke confidently.

“Please approve the re-enrollment of Seniors Ricardo and Olivia.”

Chartia let out a Deep Sigh and said.

“Dismissed.”