I Am a Villain, So What?

Chapter 230: An unexpected encounter

By the time the morning chaos settled and everyone scattered to their respective duties, the estate’s pantry had suffered massive casualties.

Lily stood in front of the storage shelves, her expression completely blank. She looked down at her inventory ledger, then back up at the shelves.

"...Alicia."

"Yes?"

"We need groceries."

Alicia stood beside her, glancing at the nearly empty flour bin. Then at the missing root vegetables. Then at the woven basket that had somehow been entirely cleared out in a single morning.

"..."

"..."

"You emptied the rations for next three days," Lily stated.

"I did not."

Lily simply pointed at the barren shelves. The evidence was irrefutable.

Alicia chose to stare blankly at the wall rather than comment.

The commercial streets near the Academy District were as lively as ever.

Cadets in their pristine uniforms navigated through the bustling crowds while merchants loudly barked their daily prices. The rich scent of roasted skewers drifted from nearby stalls, mixing heavily with the smell of fresh-baked bread.

For most people, it was just another loud, ordinary day in the Capital.

Alicia preferred days like this. Quiet in their own chaotic way. Predictable. Peaceful. It was infinitely better than dealing with monster hordes, deranged cultists, assassins, or whatever other apocalyptic nonsense somehow naturally gravitated toward the Boss.

She and Lily moved efficiently between the stalls, restocking the estate’s depleted reserves. Vegetables. Flour. Spices. Tea leaves.

Lily checked items off her ledger while Alicia mercilessly inspected the quality of the goods.

"These carrots are overpriced," Alicia said flatly, dropping one back into the wooden crate.

"They’re fresh," Lily argued.

"They are robbery."

"Alicia, the merchant has a family to feed."

"So do we."

"We are not starving. The Boss literally hands us gold."

"The principle matters, Lily."

Lily stared at her. The sweaty merchant stared at her.

Alicia remained entirely unyielding, her crimson eyes locking onto the merchant with the kind of oppressive authority usually reserved for executing traitors.

Five minutes later, they walked away with the carrots after successfully bullying the price down by twenty percent.

Lily sighed, massaging her temples. "You could’ve just paid the original amount."

"I could have," Alicia agreed.

"Then why didn’t you?"

"Because I was right."

"..."

Unfortunately, Alicia had a point. Again.

The two women continued deeper into the market. The crowds grew thicker as the afternoon progressed. A group of rowdy Academy students pushed past. Two rival merchants shouted over the price of silk. Somewhere down the alley, a shady vendor was loudly advertising a miracle elixir that was almost certainly just flavored water.

It was a completely normal afternoon.

Then, someone bumped hard into Alicia’s shoulder.

The impact wasn’t aggressive, but it was solid enough to force her half a step sideways.

"Sorry," a gruff, muffled voice muttered.

A tall man wearing a heavy, dark traveling cloak pushed past her without stopping.

Alicia barely paid it any attention. People bumped into each other constantly in the crowded lower districts. She adjusted her posture and prepared to keep walking.

Then, the edge of the man’s cloak shifted.

Just for a fraction of a second. A single, brief moment as the wind caught the heavy fabric.

Alicia’s entire body froze.

The crowd continued moving around her, a river of noise and motion. The cloaked man disappeared deeper into the dense street.

Yet, Alicia’s crimson eyes remained fixed on his retreating figure, her breath completely catching in her throat.

Because beneath that heavy cloak, strapped to his waist, she had seen something impossible.

A sword.

At first glance, it was just an ordinary, battered longsword. Old. Well-maintained. Nothing unusual for a wandering mercenary.

Except for the pommel.

Carved into the worn steel was a silver phoenix with broken wings.

Alicia felt her heartbeat physically stumble.

No.

That couldn’t be right.

The man vanished around a sharp corner. Gone. Completely swallowed by the hundreds of people in the market.

"Alicia?"

Lily’s voice seemed muffled, as if coming from underwater.

"Alicia!"

She blinked rapidly. The loud, chaotic noise of the market suddenly snapped back into sharp focus.

"What happened?" Lily frowned, stepping closer. "You suddenly stopped moving. You look pale."

Alicia stared at the empty corner where the man had disappeared. There was nothing there. Only strangers. Only merchants. Only the usual, suffocating crowd of the Empire.

Yet, the image remained burned violently into her retinas.

A silver phoenix. Broken wings.

A symbol she hadn’t seen in over fifteen years. The absolute, undeniable emblem of the Royal Guard of Valemont. The elite personal guard sworn directly to her fallen family.

A symbol that should have been wiped off the face of the continent alongside the kingdom itself.

"Alicia?" Lily pressed, her concern deepening. "Are you alright?"

For a brief, frantic moment, Alicia considered telling her.

Then, she slowly shook her head, forcing her rigid shoulders to relax. "...It is nothing."

"You don’t look like ’nothing’."

"I just... thought I saw something familiar."

"Oh?" Lily tilted her head. "What was it?"

Alicia hesitated. The answer felt completely absurd, even inside her own head.

Finally, she looked away, gripping the handle of her grocery basket a little tighter. "...Nothing important."

Lily clearly didn’t believe her.

Neither did Alicia.

Still... it had to be a mistake. Valemont was gone. Its army was dead. Its royal guards were slaughtered defending the capital. Everything connected to that kingdom should have turned to ash over a decade ago.

She must have mistaken a random mercenary’s crest for her own ghosts. Yes. That was the only logical explanation.

"...I probably just saw wrong," Alicia murmured.

Yet, even as they resumed walking toward the estate, Alicia found herself instinctively glancing over her shoulder one last time.

The crowd had swallowed the street entirely. The mysterious man was nowhere to be seen.

For some reason, however, a deep, uncomfortable coldness lingered in her chest. It felt exactly like the past had quietly reached out from the grave and brushed against her shoulder.

And for the first time in years... Alicia found herself truly thinking about Valemont.