HONK

Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, “Genkaku-Sanbo” from Japanese Short Stories by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke

Olruggio is a character that I believe is often overlooked, despite his popularity in the fandom. His backstory is less flashy, and most of the insights we get from him are from dialogue he drops. Additionally, none of his backstory is told from his perspective, which makes it even more impersonal. The audience is kept separated from him as a character. There are three instances where we are shown his backstory. The bonus chapter in volume 11, where he experiences nightmares, chapter 76, where we learn about Noz, and chapters 89–93, where he meets Qifrey. Only one of these is told from his perspective, the nightmares, but he immediately shrugs it off and dismisses it. Otherwise, we only learn about him through the eyes of other people. Why tell Olruggio's backstory through Utowin, a character we barely know, and who only saw the aftermath of what happened? We see things happen to Olruggio, but we don't see him go through it. He has many hints to something, but we seem to be kept in the dark deliberately.

That being said, there's still a lot to glean from the little we are shown. Olruggio was a prodigy from a very young age. Before even being apprenticed, he was being used for jobs by the adults in the village. Despite laws against casting before being apprenticed and against casting in front of others prior to the second test, he was still being exploited. His youth was disregarded because of his talents. He was never truly viewed as a kid or even a person. Olruggio's worth was measured by his successes and what he could do for others. His peers resented him because of this, and prayed for his downfall. He was completely isolated because of the expectations of the adults.

After Noz, it becomes way more clear how much of a tool Olruggio was to his village. Like a tool, he is traded when he is no longer of any use. He is completely expendable and replaceable. It is the price of his failure. So right away, Olruggio knows his worth, he knows what his role is, and he knows how fast he will be traded for someone more useful.

The adults in his life do not validate his emotions or what he's been through, callously telling him "not to look so down" after witnessing the destruction of a village and being pawned off to someone else. This is part of the bedrock for some of the issues we see in Olly later on.

The fandom often looks at Qifrey as the one who masks and hides behind a wall of lies to protect himself, but it’s often failed to mention who taught him to do this. Prior to Olruggio, Qifrey wore his emotions on his sleeve. It was Olruggio who told him to hide behind a smile.

That alone tells us that Olruggio has been masking for longer than Qifrey, but there are several lines that point to Olruggio hiding something beyond what we know from his backstory. Reminder, we have not seen a full picture of Olruggio’s past.

With all these lines Olruggio has throughout the manga about lying, I find the line “we’ll be partners in pain” quite interesting. When Olruggio says this, it is following a line describing how Qifrey will be in a constant state of distress over the potential of his secret being revealed, before reassuring him that they will be in this together. However, the word “partner” implies something equal. As if Olruggio is also living in this state over his own secrets, rather than Qifrey being the only deceitful one. Olruggio mentioned twice “the kind of lies only a friend would make up” when referring to the lies Qifrey tells Olruggio to prevent him from being hurt.

Lying and masking is not the only coping mechanism that Olruggio taught Qifrey. Qifrey mastered water magic because he was frightened of it, and it was Olruggio who told him to do that. Olruggio mastered fire, and has a very similar fear of it. Throughout the manga, we see several instances of this fear manifesting.

The idea of causing harm to another creature is what triggers Olruggio in both of these cases. It’s almost certain this fear stems from whatever went down in Noz. We know that Olruggio watched many people die that day. It is my belief that during that trip when they were attacked, Olruggio attempted to fight the beasts that ravaged the village, only to end up casting a powerful fire spell that led to more people getting hurt. That’s why he worked to master fire, so that he would never make that mistake again, and that’s why using fire against living beings terrifies him.

Whatever happened in Noz, Olruggio’s failure to save everyone led him to developing a saviour complex. His need to help others is almost an obsession. He cannot see himself having worth if he is not lifting others up, even at the cost of himself. Olruggio is very quick to attack himself when he fails. He blames himself for the actions of others. When Qifrey lies to him, he believes it to be his own fault for not being someone Qifrey feels he can talk to.

Olruggio goes through great lengths to help others, regardless of what it takes from him. He sacrifices his body and health to provide community service wherever he goes, working himself sick. He sacrifices his memories for Qifrey without hesitation. When he’s unable to help someone, he feels completely helpless. Every life lost, animal or human, eats away at him as much as the day when it happened. He’s had expectations set on him about what he should be able to do, but the expectations he puts on himself to be everyone’s saviour and servant are far greater. 

Olruggio wants to be there for everyone, without ever letting anyone in to help with his own issues. He keeps an extremely tight lid on his emotions and trauma despite his resolve to always be someone that people can open up to.

Olruggio keeps his emotions and thoughts to himself, with the exception of when Qifrey endangers the girls. There are several times where he is obviously holding back emotions, or keeping words to himself. A pattern Qifrey notices, by mentioning how he chooses to bite back his words and comfort Qifrey. Olruggio keeps a smile on his face regardless of the circumstance for the sake of others. When he struggles with nightmares, he is quick to dismiss them and shrug them off even when alone. He is very flippant about anything he struggles with.

Olruggio does not have much of an identity outside Qifrey. Throughout the series, he rarely expresses his opinion or voices his desires or needs. With Qifrey, we learn plenty of his wants. He wants to be a teacher, he wants to live under the stars, he wants a family and to be a great witch, and yet we know nothing about what Olruggio wants. When Olruggio expresses what he wants, it has been centered around helping Qifrey. He wants to be someone Qifrey doesn’t have to lie to, he wants to be Qifrey to let him help him.

Olruggio latches on to Qifrey immediately. Olruggio saved his life right after failing to save the lives of others' in Noz, and Qifrey becomes a hope that shows he can still save people. Qifrey kind of became a kind of project for Olruggio. He learns that Qifrey is missing his eye, and immediately sticks by his side despite Qifrey’s displeasure.

Due to the circumstances of their first meeting, and the fact that Qifrey is the first person to not treat him differently for his prodigy status, Olruggio quickly becomes co-dependent. We see him over the next few chapters dedicating everything to Qifrey. He teaches him spells, tries to break past his walls, and follows him everywhere. He willingly sacrifices his own memories without hesitation for Qifrey. This is something that follows him into adulthood. His attachment to Qifrey is only shown to be more unhealthy in the light novel.

From the moment Qifrey had left, to the three days it took him to find him, Olruggio had begun to panic. Olruggio had been discarded by his village, isolated, and abandoned once already by Qifrey. We are unsure about where his parents are. It’s not hard to see how this would leave him with some deep-rooted abandonment issues. His separation anxiety is so severe that he searches for Qifrey in the mountains, without the proper clothing for the extreme cold. And in the end, Qifrey was fine. It was Olruggio's inability to be separated from Qifrey that caused him to be so frightened.