How to Survive as a Trash Extra Villain

Chapter 182

Language.

It has a powerful force, capable of repaying a thousand debts or creating them with a single word. It has bones and thorns that can hurt another's heart, and at times, it can melt a person's heart like soft cream.

Humans know the power of words very well. The smarter they are. The higher their power.

The act of politicians seizing power begins and ends 95% of the time with 'language'.

But just as there is a saying that those who rise by the sword will fall by the sword....

'For me to end up like this...!'

The expression of the old man riding in the carriage heading to the border changed with every moment.

His face would turn red with anger, then pale like a person on the brink of life's cliff.

'I, I...!'

Frohadin.

A sinner and exile who had been stripped of the noble last name 'Deminiyan', which held the wisdom to see through meteorological phenomena and understand the principles of rain and clouds.

This was the end of one who had placed powerful strength and authority on his tongue and wielded it like a snake.

Karma that befell one who threatened and intimidated others. A just judgment.

'Where did it all go wrong...?'

The shabby carriage carrying him could not contain a single handful of the wealth and power he had amassed.

The things he had extorted by pressing down and trampling on others. He had coveted them so much. They had followed him tirelessly. But when his circumstances became dire, not a single one followed. Googlᴇ search novel{f}ire.net

'...It was from then.'

The beginning of the deviation was the academy. There was a cadet there who was equivalent to a high-class criminal.

His name was Martin. The abandoned hound of Ulvhadin. I had heard of his evil deeds and imposed a fine of 150 gold coins and compensation. Volunteer hours were a bonus.

I thought he would collapse from that, a fellow with nothing but a strong sense of pride and no ability to back it up.

'He came back.'

In fact, the ill-fated relationship with him had started when he was a child.

While William was away protecting the frontier, hadn't I specifically asked Vistavern, who was a count at the time, to turn a child into a fool with that noble hobby of his?

The reason? Simple. Who else would that damned puppy hound's high nose resemble? Martin's father, William, he too was a blockhead.

I had 'graciously' asked him to capture some of the frontier's ethnic minorities as slaves, but he dared to refuse without knowing his place, so I had only given him a fitting punishment.

'Yes, from then on….'

The talent that was called a prodigy died. Martin, not letting me down, committed evil deeds as if to show off, and I, too, passed judgment as if I had been waiting.

Up to this point, it had been perfect.

'What in the world happened?!'

Martin, who had returned to the academy after paying the fine, doing volunteer work, and even submitting an apology letter for some change of heart. I had taken the strong measure of a disciplinary committee to expel him, but it was thwarted by the sudden appearance of Hectia.

Yes, from then on, one by one... things started to go wrong.

A small twist gradually grew larger, and in the end, it brought down a great power.

'Damn it, damn it!'

Anger and emptiness washed over me simultaneously. I had lost power. My actions had been spread to all the people of the world. It was humiliating. I wanted to die.

“…”

Frohadin let out a deep sigh and... looked outside. It was about time to arrive at the border.

'It's not over yet.'

I will build my own force at the border. Even the Platinum Knights who are always on standby there will not be able to stop me...!

“…Wait.”

It was dark outside. And the road was also strange.

'Are we lost?'

The coachman driving the carriage was a trusted servant I had employed since long ago. I had neglected him for a time when I began to seize power, but when I fell into the abyss, he was the only one who remained by my side. He was a man of few words but meticulous and did his job well....

“Hey, are we going the right way?”

“…”

No answer came back.

'Are you ignoring me now too...!'

I stood up and opened the curtain blocking the front.

“Heok!”

A black mist was shimmering like a haze around the coachman's body. An ominous black smoke was coming and going through his eye sockets and nostrils....

'W-What is this!'

Startled, I opened the carriage door and found that we were running over a black swamp in all directions. The trees were laughing eerily like living ghost trees.

'Where, where in the world have I come?! Where is the carriage heading?!'

With a trembling hand, I threw a coin from my bosom and let it fall onto the swamp.

At that moment, the mouth of an unknown monster rose up and swallowed the coin. Then it disappeared back under the swamp..., and it became quiet as if nothing had happened.

“…”

I can't escape. If I make a mistake, I won't even be able to find my bones.

'I can't just stay like this. As long as I don't know where the carriage is heading, I have to escape now, even if it's dangerous.'

Frohadin, who was about to take action, paused.

Let's say I escape. It's still just the border. A shabby Humanity Alliance field camp. And I have to start from the bottom....

'On the other hand, this is an unknown land.'

A new place that humanity has never discovered. If someone had led him here, it wouldn't be a bad choice to submit to that fate.

The carriage continued to run. After passing through the dark swamp, it finally reached land, and even then, it ran for a long time.

'I see, this place is.'

During that time, Frohadin had figured out the identity of this place. The black swamp, the ghost-like trees, the animals that had been transformed into monsters. It was included in the knowledge he had accumulated as a mage.

'This is an erosion zone...!'

Beyond the border, the beautiful land that the great Cosmos Empire had ruled until 100 years ago. That was the identity of the bizarre land the carriage had been running on.

'What, what in the world is going on? We're running beyond the border, so why are we okay?'

In this land of death, there are more than one or two Time Chaos Dungeons that have grown so large they are the size of a metropolis.

If you are touched by the erosion that started there, you are eroded and corrupted like the monster I saw earlier. Like being contaminated by Maki.

'It's truly frightening!'

But the despair and fear were fleeting. After a day, then two, passed, I didn't care about anything and just wanted to arrive at the destination quickly.

'This is tiring. How many days has it been?'

I was going crazy with boredom, just sleeping and waking up in the carriage. Just then, the carriage stopped.

It was in front of a giant black mountain peak. Black thunder and lightning struck in the black sky, and a black wind blew.

'Was there a place like this on the continent...?'

It wasn't that I couldn't understand. Magic, too, is a miraculous study that makes the incomprehensible possible.

This is an erosion zone. A place beyond human common sense, contaminated by the distortion of time and space.

However....

'Still, this place is too, too evil!'

I wanted to leave this place right away, but the carriage didn't move any further, and the coachman didn't respond.

I had no choice but to get out of the carriage and climb the mountain peak on my own two feet.

On the way, I encountered humans and beasts who had lost their reason, but they showed no reaction to me.

'Their minds are being controlled.'

I had seen this method many times. It was mainly the method of demon worshippers.

But… they don't use such an obvious method. This is more primal than that.

“Hmm.”

As a test, I approached a person exuding a black haze and touched them, but as expected, no reaction came back.

The one who was affected was, on the contrary, myself.

‘Kgh.’

I felt a terrible sensation and immediately withdrew my hand.

‘This power is!’

For a moment, the energy of the black haze penetrated my mind and showed me something. The brilliant power and wealth. The sight of Elidore kneeling and Martin's head falling.

'It's an illusion!'

I shook my head violently. The hallucination broke. I feel dizzy. To exert this much influence on me, a Platinum Knight-class mage!

The source of this black haze was the top of the mountain. It was flowing from the summit. I swallowed hard. I wanted to turn back right away, but.

'I can't go back now….'

I climbed to the top of the mountain with fear. Up, up. After climbing for several days and nights, I reached the top of the mountain... and there was a giant temple. A black temple surrounded by black, strange-shaped rocks.

“This mountain was once called this.”

A voice is heard.

“The Heavenly Pillar Mountains.”

I looked around here and there, but the direction it came from was.

“It is also called the Sky Pillar Mountains.”

The front. The door of the black temple opened, and a person walked out.

“How do you find it, Duke?”

“Who…, no! You are!”

Frohadin blinked his eyes. The person he had encountered in this strange place was an educator known to be dead.

“You, you were alive?”

“I thought I was dead too.”

“How in the world….”

“If I had not received His grace, I would have died too.”

Him? Who is Him, to bring even the dead back to life!

“Chaos. He has made me his servant.”

“Chaos…?”

A name I've never heard before. …No, I think I've seen it once in an old book. Was it mentioned along with the holy star of the Cosmos Empire, Cosmos…?

“It was Lord Chaos who commanded me to guide you here. I am but a mere servant, but you have been called not as a servant, but as an Apostle of Chaos who will block order.”

“You….”

Frohadin swallowed hard. The eyes of the man looking at me... seemed to be staring at a distant place, not at me.

“Are you the same person I used to know?”

“Of course. I am the same as I was then. Oh, no. That's a misstatement. I have been reborn as an even more mature educator than I was then. Very nobly, I might add.”

The one who had been shot in the head and killed by Martin's bullet.

“It's me, me. I am Marquis Vistavern.”

It was the reappearance of the twisted educator.

***

After first possessing Martin, my greatest wish was to avoid the apocalypse. But the apocalypse was a later problem, and for now, I had to earn money to live. As a way to do that, I conceived of a café…, and after some time, it finally came to fruition.

I opened a café on the first floor of a two-story building overlooking a park. The 'Maid and Butler' café.

[One free drink per person for one week. Americano or instant coffee - Maid and Butler Café]

With a special event hanging.

Guarding the café are Nerjin, Bianca, and Savo. Lilac and I rode the coffee wagon around the capital, handing out Americanos and instant coffee.

“Keub, it’s bitter….”

“It’s called coffee….”

With coffee being in vogue now, the Americano was a sensational hit. When you drink the black, bitter beverage, your mind strangely becomes clear.

“This one is sweet….”

“I know, it’s so sweet…”

The same goes for instant coffee. You wouldn't know how many trials and errors I went through to recreate this taste.

…Actually, it wasn't a product I was going to release like this. Originally, I had a plan to generate a larger profit, but now….

“It’s bitter.”

“And sweet.”

It was enough as a comfort item for the grieving people of the Empire.

‘…It would be a lie to say there isn't a merchant's selfishness in it.’

It might seem like I'm promoting the store using people's sadness as a medium, but my intentions were pure.

‘But I also know how comforting a cup of coffee can be.’

Even when I was living as a recluse in my 30s, clinging only to my novel, how much comfort this cup of coffee had given me....

As I made the coffee and placed it on a tray, Lilac took it and went among the people.

“Everyone, please have this while you work.”

“Thank you. Thank you.”

“Oh my, doing such a good deed….”

Then, our regular customers would recognize us and come to place an order.

“One Zazara Tea Relaxer, please!”

“Yes, of course. Did you like it?”

“Of course!”

The new menu I developed was also quite popular. That's a relief.

We went around the grand plaza, the market, the residential areas, and so on, handing out coffee until evening.

As the sun was setting and it was time for smoke to rise from the chimneys of houses, we were about to close up shop when two people wrapped in robes approached.

“Maid, will you give us a Zazara Tea Relaxer as well?”

“Yes, I underst—, oh my?”