The Villain Purchased the Heroine

"Still a bit short, huh?"

I calm the mana surging within my body. The cold night air brushes against my skin, making me feel alive. With my legs crossed, I take a deep breath and raise my head. My exhaled breath turns into a plume of white smoke.

The moon and stars shine brightly.

A breathtaking night sky, something I could never see back in my old world. The stars fill the sky, glowing vividly. There must have been this many stars in my previous world too, hidden by the bright lights of the city. It's surprising how much the city light could obscure such brilliance.

"You haven't gone to sleep yet, Young Master?"

"I'm just testing my power within my body."

While taking a moment's rest, Alicia, freshly done with her intense training, approaches to talk. Her white hair glistens with a hint of moisture she hasn't completely dried off.

"If you don't dry yourself properly, you'll freeze."

"…Ah, right. I still have some dampness from washing. I'll dry it off quickly."

Alicia activates her magic, sending warm air through her hair. I assume she's controlling the intensity to keep things gentle since I'm right in front of her. One mustn't appear disheveled, after all.

"All done. You're completely dry now."

"You'll become a hero after graduating from Academia. It would be ridiculous if this future hero caught a cold. Be careful."

"Yes, I'll be careful. Ah, Young Master? How much longer do you plan to stay here?"

Probably another hour, I'd say.

There's still much I want to check.

As I say this, Alicia asks me to wait a moment and quickly hurries away, only to return shortly with something different than her towel.

"It's cold outside. Would you like to wrap this around yourself?"

As always, Alicia wears a gentle smile. What she offers me is a blanket from the room. It seems she warmed it with magic, as it's pleasantly toasty.

"I see you're worried about me getting a cold and looking foolish, huh?"

"While it's your concern, I just thought it was my duty as a servant."

Alicia, usually flustered and nervous, surprisingly gives a proper response this time. Could it be she's getting used to me? How amusing.

"By the way, why are you still hanging around? You can go if you want."

"Knowing you're out here on a cold winter night, I can't just sleep warmly in the room. If it's not a bother, may I stay next to you? I won't say a word and will just sit quietly."

"Oh, so what you're saying is you want to rush to bed, kick back, and enjoy your slumber without a care, while I'm stuck here doing this nonsense? Is that right?"

"Is this what it means by growing up?"

"Oh, it's a misunderstanding, Young Master!"

Both lips part simultaneously as flustered hands roam about. She seems a bit accustomed to it, but it's still far off.

I wrap myself in the blanket she brought. The warm heat immediately transfers to my shoulders and back.

"Punishment, Alicia. Since you made an unbeneficial claim to your master, you will receive the corresponding punishment."

"Young Master… I really didn't mean it that way…"

"Sit here."

Tap, tap.

I lightly pat the empty seat next to me.

"Sit on the floor with me, exposed to the cold winter night breeze. I will only allow that thin clothing to warm you."

"Y-Yes…?"

Alicia hesitates to move, seemingly caught off guard by my words.

"Let's chat for a bit."

This trivial episode will become a necessary procedure for the developments to come. That's what I concluded.

*

"Um… Young Master? When you say talk…"

"It's nothing special. Just a report on your recent condition, I suppose. For the progression of our tasks, it's essential to confirm your growth."

"Y-Yes… but you already understand magic much better than I do, don't you?"

"There are things only one's self can comprehend."

Until now, Alicia has been unfamiliar with mana and was oblivious to her own state. Therefore, I never asked her about the bodily changes she felt, but now that she's beginning to grasp it, things have changed.

"Was my comment that surprising? You still have that silly look on your face."

"A bit surprising… Ah, it's not that. I just wasn't expecting you to ask for my opinion all of a sudden."

What nonsense.

Isn't that pretty much it?

Alicia furrows her brows, deeply analyzing her current state.

How did it feel during training just now? Has the flow of mana become smoother? Such processes are happening within her. How obvious her thoughts are when lost in contemplation. Unless her personality changes, she'll never be able to lie in her life.

"I don't think there's anything particularly odd. You must know the visible achievements well enough, Young Master, and as for the feeling of something changing within… Ah, now that I think about it, I've definitely felt my stamina improving lately."

"When you manage your magic, it naturally enhances. What else?"

"Something else, you say? Hmm…"

Alicia falls into thought once more.

"It doesn't have to be related to magic."

"Oh, is that so? I thought it was certainly about that."

That's needed too, but there's something far more crucial at hand.

"Even minor details, like feeling down recently or waking up sluggishly in the morning, are fine."

"Morning… Ah."

Her eyes widen, as if recalling something.

"You've got something, don't you?"

"Ah… it's… nothing significant. It's really just a trivial matter…"

Our eyes meet, and Alicia's crystal-clear eyes momentarily shift away from me to some empty space.

"I can't overlook the fact that you are hiding something from your master."

I add, if she doesn't speak up right now, I'll even use hypnosis to get it out of her, so she'd better say it nicely.

Alicia, feeling she couldn't ignore my coercive attitude, hesitantly began to speak.

"I… I've been having nightmares often lately, though it's rather childish to call it a concern."

"Oh? Nightmares, you say? What are they specifically about?"

"Memories from my childhood… Specifically, fragments from the moment my village was burning."

Alicia's head slowly lowers. The spark in her eyes starts to fade, and darkness begins to envelop that space.

"Keep talking."

"Keep… talking?"

"Why?"

Alicia, clearly reluctant, shows signs of hesitation. But I don't have to worry about that.

"You acted similarly at the breakfast table last time. Is there something you can't even tell your master?"

"…That's not it."

Alicia's voice shrinks to the size of a mouse hole.

"It's a boring story from the past. Yet, do you want to hear it?"

"I'll decide that myself. Don't jump to conclusions."

Her eyes dart around to avoid mine before finally giving up and settling down.

Then, her heavy mouth barely opens.

"…Actually, the person you met on the day you visited my house wasn't my biological parents. They're my second mother who adopted me, an orphan."

"I see."

Just as the original story goes.

I already knew this, but there's value in hearing it from her lips.

"Before I met my second mother, I was a member of a family consisting of my sister and my parents in a small rural village. We weren't wealthy, but I believe we were a very happy family."

Thinking of her family, Alicia smiled for a moment. The problem is, it didn't last long.

"Didn't you say yourself? That I'm not the first to touch mana? …That's right. Ever since I was young, I secretly tried to imitate my sister, who showed extraordinary talent in magic. I didn't know anything and thought I had no talent, so I'm not too sure, but I think I succeeded in touching it."

A talented sister and an untalented younger sibling.

Even if it's just her misconception, Alicia started to underestimate her worth because of that gap.

"Everyone in the village said my sister would become a hero and be the pride of the village. That's right, I thought so too. I admired my sister, who received everyone's expectations. But… it seems I was envious of her. …So, that's why God punished me."

Alicia's eyes tremble, and the fabric in her hand grows more wrinkled. For the first time, she speaks about the buried past.

"…One day, red monsters attacked the village. Everything burned and disappeared. My sister was the only one who could fight against them, and everyone wanted her protection."

Feeling her breath quicken, Alicia forces herself to calm down and continues. The emotional chain she started doesn't break.

"She was strong. No matter how many monsters poured out, she held her ground. I was pitifully crying beside her, clinging to her without being able to do anything."

And eventually, the story spirals toward tragedy.

"But no matter how strong she was, it was impossible to protect everyone. The villagers bled one by one, and my parents were the same. Sensing that the situation was becoming dire, my sister locked me in a nearby warehouse and continued to fight. Her body gradually became stained with wounds."

At first, the small wounds became so many that there seemed to be no place untouched.

"Ultimately, she couldn't hold out any longer. Is that it?"

"Yes… At that time, I peered through a small gap in the warehouse. …And I saw it. My sister's body… her heart…"

Being pierced.

Alicia gathered her thoughts. She wanted to see the end of this painful story as quickly as possible.

"After that, I lost consciousness, and I don't know what happened. I was the only one who survived in the village, and my sister's body was nowhere to be found. It must have been so badly mutilated that I wouldn't have recognized it."

"There was nowhere to be found. It must have been so severely damaged that it was unrecognizable."

Alicia didn't say it, but later she made graves for the entire village. For several days and nights, she couldn't eat or sleep properly as she mourned everyone. The unbelievable feat was accomplished by Alicia when she was only ten years old.

"The one who took me in while I was wandering through the ruined village was that person you met, Young Master."

A mother who sold her child for 100 gold.

A woman who selfishly made use of Alicia.

She must have her own excuses, in her own way.

Alicia says.

The scenes that appear in her nightmares are from the dark warehouse where she witnessed her sister's death. As she grew up, the frequency of her nightmares gradually decreased, but recently they had returned.

"Ah… I've burdened you with heavy tales, Young Master. I'm sorry, as I'm sure this is not what you want to hear."

"No. I wanted to hear this."

It could be considered somewhat cruel for Alicia. However, it was a point that I had to confirm, knowing the existing story.

"...."

I felt the flow of mana around me. Even without a clock, mana leaves evidence of the passage of time.

"It seems quite some time has passed."

I got up and casually draped a blanket over Alicia, covering her shoulders.

"I'm going to head in now. My servant's gloomy story has dampened my spirits. I'll have to postpone checking the mana."

"Surely… you're feeling down…."

"Don't dwell on it and return to your room. The night is too deep. Tomorrow will be even busier than today, so proper rest is essential."

"Ah, yes! Understood."

With that, she moved. I could hear Alicia folding the blanket clumsily. Glancing back slightly, she wrapped the neatly folded blanket around her arms and said,

"Goodnight, Young Master."

Alicia bowed her head in a graceful stance, like a wilting flower. Unless I responded, she likely wouldn't lift her head. There's no need to unnecessarily torment her.

"Okay."

I replied shortly.

*

The only light illuminating the room came from the moonlight streaming through the window. Leaning against a luxurious chair in that stillness, I faced my own shadow.

Alicia had told me about her past. Though there was a slight coerciveness, it was merely a gentle push; the rest was her own will.

What she shared matched what I knew from the story. This would not cause any changes in Alicia's schedule.

As I thought about Alicia, a specific word she uttered came to mind.

Nightmare.

The death of her sister, repeating every day.

I didn't ask when she began dreaming that dream again. It could become awkward if she caught on. I wouldn't take such a risky step without any real benefit.

She doesn't know yet.

Perhaps she won't know until it truly begins.

"Things are going well. …Well, that's only natural."

It is bound to be.

She must be having nightmares again.

"I laid that groundwork."

The day she collapsed in the Scavenger Bug pit.

I placed a curse while brushing her hair aside. I helped to resurrect her most horrifying memories to ensnare her.

Guilt?

I feel none of that.

For her exponential growth, I'd use every single trauma. Even if it puts Alicia in a fragile mental state.

I utilize everything available.

And I extract benefits.

That is the way of a villain in this world.