Stone Mage: Revenge of the Villain System

After that encounter, Calla, Edelweiss and ‘Don’ returned to the school by carraige.

‘Don’s’ eyes were restless, and he seemed to be unable to be at peace with what way he must sit. He shifted from time to time, until Edelweiss placed a hand on his shoulder.

Edelweiss was worried. “Is there something wrong, Don?”

“Nothing.”

Calla was less worried with her own friend, and simply raised an eyebrow.

“Did you hear anything from our meeting earlier?”

“Nothing.” ‘Don’ repeated. “The door was too thick.”

He went silent, confusing the girls who expected him to ask more questions or say anything.

But he simply said:

“I’m hungry. How much longer till we get back to school?”

—————————-

Cermin never liked theater performances, but when he saw that Marigold would be watching, he resolved to watch too.

He ended up just feeling envious as he saw her happily clinging to Don’s arms the whole time, unable to focus on the story if how the Moon god Skollhati and Sea goddess Nereid fell in love.

Why must he focus on romance of other people after all when his was a total failure?

Marigold was supposed to be his. Calla and Edelweiss and Belladonna too.

But its not the fact that he had ‘lost’ them that matters anymore. It was the fact that for the entirety of this world…..

He was alone.

And not to mention that this was more than he signed up for. This endless pain and conflict and burden…..

This wasn’t he expected from being transmigrated. He wanted an escape.

Something to make him forget about the real world. His real life.

But it was just as bad here as it was back then. Even more terrible in fact. And deep down….

He was always very scared. Scared of the villains, scared of not being able to save everyone, scared of even getting hurt. Somehow, he managed to pull through, but how long will that last?

How long will that last in the face of an enemy lurking in the shadows, who doesn’t directly attack him and spout villain nonsense all of the time? An enemy that was leagues off his level, who he was not match to?

Should he give up and just go back to the real world?

No…..

“Then who will save Ronin from the villain? I can’t leave him alone.” Cermin said to himself.

And as he left the theater gloomily…..

He did see Ronin.

But he was not alone. There were 6 boys with him, all from their 6th year and close to graduating like him.

Cermin’s eyes lifted up and he waved. “Ronin—“

But he got distracted by the laughter at his side. A familiar laughter.

“Haha! That is really funny, Don.” Marigold’s laughter was like the chiming of bells, still light and graceful.

“I try sometimes. You are practically one of the only few people I can amuse, along with Calla and Edel.” Don smiled.

Cermin clenched his fist, and forced himself to look away.

He needs to let it go. It would be for the best for him to let go of romance completely, and focus on just getting out of this world alive.

For his own sake….. And the sake of their safety as well.

He turned back but Ronin and the strange boys were gone. They seemed to be Artisans from the uniform. He looked left and right, and found someone in that uniform going towards the boy’s dormitory building for Scholars.

(Huh? Why Scholars? Are they going to Ronin’s room?)

So Ronin had other friends after all. Why didn’t he tell him?

He thought that since Ronin was discriminated against for being a Commoner, he must be his one and only friend. They were both outcasts, both pariahs out of things beyond their control. But now he had led not 1 but 6 men to his room…..

He felt a little hurt, and followed after for an explanation. He thought that he would be able to talk to Ronin for a while to ease the pain of being alone. Now without his supposed harem that he spent so much points on…

But in the end, he felt just worse. His girls were gone, and his only friend was being taken away from him too.

He tried his best not to gain their attention. Once they have reached towards Ronin’s door and entered…

He walked closer and tried to listen in.

But he can’t hear anything. Only vague sounds.

They don’t seem to be talking either. What the hell are they even doing inside?

(What if they were not actually his friends, and that they were bullying him? Ronin is also very smart, maybe they’re forcing him to do their homework or something?)

Wait, was it really his business to know what was happing inside? Isn’t he being too overly protective of his friend?

Of course not! If Ronin needs help, he have to help!

He had been careless and blind to the sufferings of his friends for a long time. He shouldn’t do the same to him.

Cermin tried the knob but it was locked. He pondered over knocking, but then he heard—

“Ahhh! Ahhhh! Nnnngh….. Please! Mmm! Hel—“

Before the boy could ask for help after the gag had fallen off, Ronin stuffed it back to his mouth again.

He was at his 6th victim already when the knob suddenly rattled.

He was very much enjoying torturing these boys, to the point that he was sweating profusely and his skin was flushed red with the Flame he had eaten.

Some of his buttons popped out too because one of them struggled so hard, causing his torso to be revealed, and his hair was a mess.

He was hungrier than usual. Or perhaps…..

He wanted to distract himself by feeding on Flame. Distract himself from that memory of someone named Ou.

He was not Ou. He was Ronin.

Whoever that person was, he was long dead, and most likely had ended his life pathetically.

Ronin could not accept being that kind of pathetic person. No, he will never accept it.

But that also begs the question…

Who was that man standing by the streetlight on that dark alleyway where he died?

If he truly had killed himself, did he do it in front of that man? For him to witness it, to feel that guilt and trap him in it….

Was he that friend he was going to gift The Urgent Appeal to, then?

That friend that was cruel, who does not like to read, who Ou regarded as the Jesus to his Judas…

It doesn’t matter now.

Ugh, he was supposed to be distracting himself from falling into the deep trench of Ou’s memories.

But someone disrupted his distraction, and he could not help but growl a bit with a fatal glare as he asked:

“Who is it?”

Cermin was relieved to hear Ronin answer, and did not notice his anger. Perhaps his guess was wrong after all.

Though his voice did sound… Rough and ragged, like he had been exercising or doing an activity that exerted much of his energy.

“It’s me, Ronin. Is everything alright? I just came to visit.” He tried to ask in the usual jolly way but he was nervous.

Ronin sighed, and left his victims to open the door just by a peek.

He can easily come up with a lie to this gullible protagonist and he will just eat it up. He’s just that dumb.

“What is it?” Ronin asked, a bit huffing for breath.

Upon seeing the state that he was in, not to mention the ambiguous muffled sounds and shouts just now….. And the fact that this all happened in his bedroom…..

Cermin suddenly formed a conclusion that made him fall back.

“You…. Were you and those guys…..”

Ronin raised an eyebrow and frowned, but Cermin was already running away while yelling. “Sorry! Sorry to disturb you!”

Ronin read his thoughts, that’s why he raised an eyebrow.

‘He really thought….. Ah, who cares. As long as he doesn’t catch me stealing Flame.’

‘That’s bound to stop him from visiting without warning next time. Hah!’

He just found it hilarious, and went ahead to continue his feeding time. He was way into this to care about anything else at the moment, getting lost at the sensation of just slowly murdering people.

Cermin ran and ran, his heart beating as fast as a rabbit’s that was faced with a predator. He then stopped to catch his breath, and just think about what he think he saw just now, face completely red.

“So Ronin is…. It makes sense now…. Why he doesn’t seem interested in girls and wouldn’t accept my offer to him to go to a brothel…”

But 6 men all at once!? Was his friend’s appetite really just that big!?

His mind reeled, but he forced himself to calm down. After all, he had done much more too but with women.

He shook off the weirdness of it. “So what? He’s still my friend, I shouldn’t assume things….. Ah….. Why didn’t I realize sooner…..”

But he must keep his mouth shut about this. He musn’t start rumors for Ronin’s safety, he doesn’t want…

Something like that to happen again. That thing that ruined his gege, his once closest friend.

Which also ruined their friendship in turn.