Struggling as a Villain

**BOOOOOOM**

A thunderous explosion erupted once again in front of the Sage Temple as Richard hurled the loaded baton at the charging Bate. The detonation sent the monstrous creature hurtling in a different direction, its twisted form caught in the violent blast.

*SWIIII*

In the nick of time, Richard dropped into a crouch, narrowly avoiding the lethal horizontal slash. With a surge of adrenaline, he plunged the other baton deep into the goat's massive torso, the force of the blow sending shock waves through its grotesque body.

**BOOOOOM**

Another explosion and another beast were sent into fairyland.

His blood boiled, and his body ached with searing pain as he faced the remaining three monsters. The ground was littered with the mangled corpses of their fallen brethren, a gruesome testament to the carnage. Yet, the human who had brought them to their bloody demise stood tall, a psychotic amusement burning in his eyes, an unhinged grin spreading across his blood-splattered face.

It was then that the Ambrobates finally felt it.

Fear.

"*GRUEEEEGH*"

The middle one suddenly jumped to turn around, intending to flee. The other two followed the suit, and tried to run away—however, before they could have taken another step toward life, the fury of death marched at them from behind.

"*GRUUUUUUEEEEEGHHHH*" The sound of howls of death resonated across the battlefield as the three Bates burned by fiery hot flames. Their body was enveloped in the embrace of death while the three ran around foolishly in hopes of escaping the anguish.

However, all they achieved was eternal rest as they fell to the ground with their body completely roasted.

The battle that began three minutes ago concluded with a flame magician's basic strategy—burn 'em until golden brown and crispy.

The small battlefield where a human and twenty-five Ambrobates collided, was covered with purplish blood and innards.

Both parties received damage but the human definitely incurred nothing in comparison to the dead beasts.

Lilia neared her master with a clean, thin fabric in her hand, which she tore from the bundle. She knew this trip was going to be nasty so she just bought a whole bundle of this fabric.

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Richard stood there while panting lightly and his eyes still fixated on the last Bate he executed. His adrenaline slowly came down and his muscles began to spasm a little.

'Fuck...' He held his left shoulder where a monster somehow landed a blow and created a deep cut.

The blood of the beasts contained Amebr and when it penetrated through his skin, it stung like acid.

Lilia softly called out, "Young Master, please sit here." She was crouching near a small stone and requested her lord to let her take care of him.

Richard left the batons, which he would clean thoroughly later, and listened to her request.

Sitting down, he realised that his back was hurting a little as well. His clothes were in tatters and he smelled awful...like the piss of a dog.

However, not even once did Lilia show any disgust or reaction that could suggest how tough her job was.

She just used the cloth to wipe his arms and legs before asking him, "Do you want some water, Young Master?"

Richard nodded before Lilia went towards the carriage and brought the leather container.

"Agh...fuck...." Just as he was about to raise his hand, he felt them trembling uncontrollably, and his muscles were aching a lot.

"Just as I thought, those many explosions took a toll on your body," Lilia remarked as she neared her master and held the tip of the bottle near his lips.

Richard wasn't an arrogant prick who couldn't drink water from his maid so he tilted his head and allowed her to pour some fluid down his throat.

"Lilia...wash my face." He demanded once he was done drinking.

Lilia felt her heartbeat slightly rising as she knelt in front of him and after taking some water in her hand, she began to clean his smooth and angular face.

His face didn't have any baby face left, and his skin was slightly stretchy, which urged her whole being to pinch his cheek.

However, suddenly her eyes went towards his shoulder and she dropped all the plans to play around

"You are injured, master." Lilia didn't wait for him to say anything and went towards the carriage to bring the first aid box.

Richard didn't say anything when she tore away his shirt sleeve and hissed in pain upon seeing the deep wound.

"How nasty is it?" Richard asked casually as he looked towards the temple

Lilia hesitantly responded, "Grave enough that the Duchess would have executed me on the spot."

Richard chuckled hearing that as he said, "You exaggerate her personality. She isn't like that."

Lilia didn't respond to that and apologized for speaking carelessly about the Duchess. However, inwardly, Lilia felt that her master was clueless about how dangerous his mother could become when it came to him.

She used the healing potion to stop the infection and the recovery potion to heal the burnt skin. There was still a big red patch of claw, but it would heal in one day if her master didn't get hurt again.

Richard lay down on the ground and relaxed for a bit before finally, he was able to move his limbs a little bit.

Lilia had already begun to prepare dinner since she knew her master required a lot of energy after his first real battle. (She considers the confrontation with Albert a one-sided showdown, so this, indeed, was a real battle.)

There was a lot of meat around, so she picked one, the least tortured mutated goat and threw away the others using telekinesis. They were just polluting the surroundings.

"You know skinning beasts as well, huh?" By now, Richard has discerned that his maid was more of an adventurer/warrior rather than a maid.

Lilia halted for a moment and used her wrist to swat away the irritating hair strands which were blocking her vision, before she responded, "I have learned survival skills from my mother. She was an adventurer before she got married."

Richard raised his brows, "Was she a high rank?"

A look of pride flashed in her eyes as she announced, "She was an S-rank. She was honoured by the Emperor for her services and a guild is named after her."

"That's awesome," Richard said with pure admiration as he got up on his feet and neared Lilia slowly.

"Young master you should rest for now...do you need anything?"

Richard shook his head as he slowly crouched down beside her, and used his trembling hand to tuck those hair strands which was annoying her since earlier.

"It was hindering me from seeing your face." He whispered in a husky tone, and from this close, his voice seemed to have given double damage as Lilia's face adapted the same shade as his hair.

Richard chuckled, seeing that reaction, before he looked towards the beast and asked, "Can you teach me how to dismantle them as well?"

Lilia vigorously nodded and decided to teach her master rather than being all shy like a maiden.

Seriously...what's wrong with her?

*************

"Ugh...." The Duchess groaned in her sleep as she slowly woke up from her slumber.

Memory rained down the lane as she abruptly parted her eyes and straightened her back.

"Richie!" She shouted but he didn't respond to her.....since Richie wasn't around her at all.

"Madame Duchess, you should sleep for now." The head maid said worryingly as she saw her mistress suddenly getting out of bed.

Bellarine was suffering from a high fever after she fainted upon hearing about her son's departure.

She had been asleep for the past twenty-eight hours, and when she woke up, her complexion told how sick she was.

"Don't come in my way," Bellarine warned the maid as she got up from the bed and with staggering steps she strolled toward the door.

The maid soon followed behind with tears in her eyes but she didn't say anything again.

The ominous aura Bellarine was radiating, surrounded the whole mansion. Those servants who came across the Duchess instantly paled in fear and gave her the space to walk.

Bellarine suddenly stopped, and while pointing toward a young maid with black hair, she said, "You...bring me Violet."

"Y-Yes, my lady!" The young girl dashed like she just teleported and advanced towards the kitchen.

It took less than a minute, and the blue-haired maid named Violet was in front of Bellarine.

Violet's face was covered in sweat as she faced the Duchess.

Bellarine, with laboured breathing, asked the girl, "You....where did that bitch take my son?" In a daze, and while supporting herself with the wall, Bellarine urged the maid to answer.

Violet went through her memories, and instantly replied, "T-T-The Sage Temple!"

Bellarine turned to look at the head maid before commanding,

"Prepare the carriage. I am going to bring my son back...."

**************

A/N:- A feverish Bellarine is a murderous Bellarine.

I hope you liked the chapter. Thanks for reading.