Chapter 20 - The Tsundere Villainess Dreams of Romance (1)
Chapter 20 - The Tsundere Villainess Dreams of Romance (1)
As I watched that clueless golden-haired twin-tailed noble girl boldly declare her identity to the bandits, two conflicting thoughts crossed my mind.
First… if it’s a ducal family, that changes everything.
If she were just some wealthy merchant’s daughter, I could simply extract some money and be done with it…
But a noble—and a duke’s daughter at that.
Of course, the expected return for saving her would be far greater than some random merchant.
‘This seems troublesome.’
That arrogant noble girl. If I handle this wrong, I might end up getting treated unfairly despite saving her, just because I rubbed her the wrong way.
And the second thought was…
“The daughter of a ducal family? Kehehehe! What a windfall! Boys! Escort her with the utmost care!”
“Huh? Wh-what? Didn’t you hear what I just said? I’m the young lady of Herthe Ducal House!”
‘I knew this would happen.’
Warnings only work on those with the intelligence to understand them.
Anyone with common sense would know that daring to lay hands on a ducal family as a commoner would bring unimaginable retribution.
“Kehehe!”
“Kihaha!”
But expecting such common sense from these perverted bandits, licking their swords and laughing creepily, was pointless.
‘Should I step in and help?’
Honestly, the current situation has more than a few suspicious aspects.
Why would a ducal family’s young lady be crossing a dangerous mountain path at dusk with just a single carriage and a mere seven guards?
And even if there were only seven, guards hired by a ducal family should be strong enough to easily wipe out a ragtag bandit group…
‘They’re far too weak for ducal guards.’
Only three of them wore proper armor. The remaining four, dressed in black suits, appeared to be butlers.
Even among them, the elderly butler had his right arm bandaged and was awkwardly gripping his sword with his left.
The other three butlers looked even younger than me, and their trembling sword hands suggested they had zero combat experience.
“…Fine. I warned you.”
At that moment, the girl who had introduced herself as Parmela Herthe stepped forward past her guards, glaring sharply at the bandits.
“My lady, it’s dangerous…!”
“Enough. It’ll be quicker if I handle this myself.”
Brushing aside the old butler’s protests, Parmela began chanting.
“O black flames that burn, O infernal fire dwelling within Herthe’s heart—”
As she recited the incantation, a sphere of black flame appeared before her, gradually growing in size.
“Uh, uh, boss! That girl’s a mage!”
“Dammit, run!”
“Burn Herthe’s enemies to their very souls!”
Fizz.
But after what seemed like a grand spellcasting, the crimson-black fireball fizzled out pathetically.
“…”
“…?”
The bandits exchanged confused glances before—
“Guess it was all just bluster!”
“Get her, boys!”
They charged at her in unison, now with nothing holding them back.
“Eek—!”
“My lady!”
“Tch.”
Thud!
I leaped into the fray before it was too late.
“Huh? Who the hell—”
Slash. Splurt—
I swung my sword at the chest of the bandit closest to Parmela.
“Gyaaah!!!”
The bandit clutched his spurting chest and screamed.
While the others were stunned, I spoke to Parmela.
“Are you alright, my lady?”
“Huh? Th-thank you. But who are you…?”
“Just a passerby! I happened to witness you being attacked by these bandits.”
Well, I had no choice but to save her.
If she had handled the bandits alone, I would’ve just looted their corpses afterward.
“Haah!”
But I planned to put on a bit of a show.
“Take this!”
Slash!
“Argh!”
I’d play the role of ‘a wandering swordsman with just enough skill to barely scrape by against small-time bandits, who coincidentally stumbled upon the scene and intervened.’
“Haaah!”
With a loud battle cry, I deliberately held back, swinging my sword just enough to overwhelm the bandits without revealing my true skill. Naturally, I didn’t use any proper sword techniques.
To anyone watching, I probably looked like a noisy amateur flailing his sword around clumsily.
“Everyone, fight together! We can defeat these bandits if we unite!”
I shouted at the bewildered guards.
Pick up your swords already. This is your fight, isn’t it?
“G-get your weapons ready!”
At the old butler’s belated command, the guards finally joined the battle.
As I expected, their skills were pitiful.
Even against bandits who could barely wield swords, they were being pushed back just because they were slightly outnumbered.
So, reluctantly, I played my part as the ‘clumsy swordsman,’ subtly intervening across the battlefield without drawing attention.
Never making it obvious—like ‘accidentally’ stumbling back and tripping a bandit who was about to stab one of the young butlers in the back.
For about ten minutes, I busily swung my sword and ‘coincidentally’ saved the guards in distress.
“What the hell are you doing?! There are only eight of them!”
Just then, I heard the bandit leader—who seemed to be their boss—yelling frantically at his men.
The path to him was clear now. Time to wrap this up.
“Haaah!”
With a loud shout to draw attention, I raised my sword and charged at the leader.
The bandits, too busy fighting others, easily let me close in on him.
“You bastard!”
The leader desperately thrust his sword at my throat.
Now.
“Ah, ahh!!”
I pretended to trip, narrowly dodging his blade while subtly grazing his neck.
Splurt!
Blood gushed like a fountain from the leader’s carotid artery.
“Guh…”
Clutching his wound, the leader staggered before collapsing dead.
Now to announce his demise to his men.
“I-I did it! I took down the bandit leader!”
Hearing my shout, the remaining bandits turned toward their leader.
“B-boss!!”
“No way, the boss is dead!”
Seeing his corpse, they panicked and fled.
“…Phew.”
I sheathed my sword and sighed in relief.
It was an exhausting fight—not because the enemies were strong, but because I had to hold back so much.
But even I had to admit it was a flawless performance. Not even a passing Swordmaster would see through my act.
“…Thank you. Though I don’t know who you are, thanks to you, we were able to protect the young lady.”
As I caught my breath, the old butler approached and bowed respectfully.
“Not at all. I just did what anyone would.”
Of course, you’ll have to reward me appropriately.
The next day, I was formally invited to the Herthe estate and headed to the eastern district of Bainwood.
Among the lavish mansions of the noble district, the Herthe estate stood out—a massive red-brick mansion of overwhelming scale.
As soon as I approached the main gate, a butler waiting for me stepped forward and bowed.
“Sir Theodor, welcome. I’ll escort you to the parlor where the young lady awaits.”
“Ah… Thank you.”
Following the butler to the parlor, I took in the sights of the mansion.
The neatly maintained expansive gardens, the grand chandelier in the central hall, the crimson carpets lining the corridors…
Truly befitting a ducal family. Every corner exuded opulence.
In that case, the reward from the ducal family’s young lady should be something worth anticipating.
Suppressing an involuntary smile, I entered the parlor under the butler’s guidance.
“Welcome, Mr. Theodor.”
Before I could even admire the parlor’s lavish decor, Parmela’s clear voice immediately drew my attention.
“Ah… It’s good to see you again, Lady Parmela.”
I didn’t know proper etiquette, so I simply bowed my head slightly.
“No need to be nervous. Please, have a seat.”
With the tip of her red fan, she gestured to the sofa across from her. I sat and studied her.
She was beautiful, but in every way that contrasted with Auriel.
Her overall demeanor exuded the aura of a haughty noble beauty.
Most striking were her sharp, crimson eyes and her twin-tailed hair—an unusual mix of red and gold.
“Empty flattery doesn’t suit the Herthe family’s customs, so I’ll get straight to the point.”
She placed a hand over her chest and gave me a slight nod.
“…Thank you. Thanks to you yesterday, I was able to overcome a grave crisis.”
Though I didn’t know etiquette, I could tell that gesture was the utmost respect a noble could show a commoner.
“Hahaha! Not at all. All I did was take down a few bandits. Killing the leader was just luck.”
The reason I hid my strength was simple: I couldn’t afford to stand out.
If I’d effortlessly slaughtered the bandits with flashy swordsmanship, she might have tried to recruit me as a personal guard or something. No thanks.
A kind-hearted passerby who coincidentally helped out.
That was the role I needed to play to receive my reward without getting further entangled with the ducal family.
“How modest.”
Setting down her fan, even that simple motion carried the elegance befitting a ducal lady.
“Let me reiterate—you saved me, the young lady of Herthe Ducal House. As such, I wish to reward you appropriately…”
‘Here it comes.’
“…Would you hear my proposal?”
‘Huh.’
This wasn’t what I expected.
If she’d asked, ‘What would you like?’ I planned to explain my situation and request a recommendation letter for the Adventurer’s Guild.
Well… no matter. I’ll hear her out first.
“Mr. Theodor, would you consider working for me?”
“Pardon?”
“…My lady. Are you serious?”
“Of course. Krabel, I intend to hire Theodor and keep him by my side.”
“But he’s a commoner we know nothing about…”
“Ugh! You’re so frustrating! A beautiful ducal lady in peril—and a dashing commoner swordsman appears in the nick of time, defeats the villains, and rescues her! If this isn’t fate, what is?”
“…I should’ve burned those romance novels in the study long ago…”