The Perfect Plan Backfires
Whoosh...
"Phew."
I closed my mouth and gazed down at the steaming, scorched earth. This should take care of everything.
The trick to firing breath without starting a forest fire is to erect a barrier. Among barriers, there's one that overlays a sort of "Domain Expansion" on reality—any changes inside don't affect the outside world. Meaning, even if I blast breath ten times, not a single spark flies out.
Of course, living beings are the exception. Die inside, and you die outside too.
"Feels nice and refreshing inside~."
Just moments ago, it was swarming like an ant hill, but now everyone was either dead or hiding—no sign of them anywhere. I grinned and shifted back to my girl form via polymorph, then lightly landed on the ground.
I was wearing my usual loose white clothes because laziness was starting to creep up on me.
I'm tired.
Maybe because I hadn't used my brain lately? I didn't expect to feel this wiped out from a mere Rank 2 magic-level barrier. Dragons really need their naps, huh.
Step, step.
Walking across the blazing ground brought back old memories.
'Lady Lea.'
'Yeah?'
'Next time you use breath, please warn us first.'
'Why? No humans died.'
'Lucky for us, everyone survived, but...'
'What do you take me for? I can see that much.'
'All the food burned up. Including the thirty boxes of strawberry cake you requested.'
'Oh.'
Sad memories like that... Or:
'Kuhahaha! No Bahamart in this land! Perfect! I'll wipe out this kingdom before that guy shows up...'
'Hey.'
'...?'
'Here for chicken too? It's delicious.'
'??? Why is a lizard here...'
'This is my regular spot.'
'...Looks like today ain't my day. Then I'll just...'
'Sit down.'
Sharing a table with a low-tier legion commander who'd come to raid the kingdom. The guy looked like a golem and ate like a beast—not undeserved of his rank. After we finished and were about to part ways, he tried to trash the place once I left, so I gave him a little lesson.
"He ate the chicken just fine."
Why complain like that? Demons are so incomprehensible. If they'd just stayed quiet up north, even the old hag wouldn't summon heroes and would leave them be. No Demon King getting beat down and beheaded.
"Hmm..."
Whoosh...
Strolling the scorched earth with nostalgic thoughts, I spotted my first survivor. A hero who'd lived through three breaths.
"Hey, run for it!"
"Domwangcha!"
Wait, two of them. Anyway, the heroes scattered in every direction, running like mad—one even tripped and rolled right into the flames.
"Gaaah!!"
He burst into blue smoke. I tilted my head at the sight.
"...Why run?"
I was gonna reward him as promised since he survived. Shrugging off the mystery, I approached the shaggy-haired one instead.
"Eek!!"
"Here's your reward."
"Huh? I'm not dying?"
"You survived."
Three breaths had wiped out 99% of the heroes. With fewer than five life signs left, this was good enough. Honestly, I wanted to fire a few more for total annihilation, but laziness won out.
The shaggy-haired hero scratched his head awkwardly.
"Aw, then I ran for nothing."
"Yeeup."
"Ooh! So what's the reward?"
"A quest you guys want."
Instead of the easy quests my disciples got, I handed him the notoriously tough "Century Herb" fetch quest. A rare herb that blooms deep in the mountains once every hundred years—used to cost a fortune. Never assigned it to my disciples, but if I had to pick the hardest, this was it.
This'll keep 'em away for good.
Perfect idea, if I do say so myself. They swarmed for easy quests? Give 'em an insanely hard one instead.
Flawless.
I crossed my arms and hummed smugly. He checked the quest and flinched, staring at me.
"R-Really? Fetch this and you give rewards like that?"
"Yup. It'll be super hard to find, though."
"...? R-Right! I'll definitely get it!"
After he saluted and left, I found the next survivor and gave him the same quest. They all reacted weirdly before leaving the domain.
And the fourth and final survivor.
"I pass?"
"Yup."
A straight-laced-looking guy named Evan. He stared into space and clenched his fist.
"Then your quest too... Hm?"
"Something wrong?"
"You're different."
"Pardon? Oh, haha. I've traveled a lot."
I tilted my head at Evan. Stronger than the others I'd met—pre-Ogre Lord disciple level, but close enough with effort. Unstable, but he had one mana star.
My tough quest would be a breeze for him.
"Hmm..."
"I'd gratefully take whatever's convenient. Or accept me as a disciple—that'd be amazing..."
"Nah."
I was trying to shoo him away. Disciple? No thanks. For a reward, I tossed him some gold coins from my pocket.
Too much for one go, and discipleship was a hard pass.
"Ooooh...! Gold coins... but they seem off? Not Legion Kingdom ones..."
"Gold's gold anywhere. Magic Kingdom mint."
"Magic Kingdom?"
"Yup. 99% pure, mana-alloyed real deal."
Alchemy-forged coins, discontinued due to value and rarity issues. Unobtainable now.
Rarer than regular gold, higher value.
Evan's eyes sparkled at my explanation.
"...You can just give these away?"
"Why not?"
"What if I mass-counterfeit or duplicate them..."
"You can't."
Replicating the enchantment needs at least seven stars or mage tower lord knowledge. Fakes look similar, but not real.
Evan nodded regretfully.
"That's the end of quests?"
"Yup. No more."
"...Changed your mind about taking me as a disciple?"
"Nope."
"Ah, got it."
"Hoo..."
After Evan left, I dismissed the domain. Seeing the warm natural landscape again soothed my soul. The hero swarm was gone, and rumors must've spread—the nest felt utterly deserted.
"Heh heh heh... Now I can sleep."
After all this, no way they'd come back. Their hero fantasies shattered.
Thought it'd be easy, but it's actually super hard?
If I were a hero, I'd feel tricked and never return. Dreaming of blissful peace, I settled into my nest and closed my eyes.
And the next day.
"Lady Lea!"
"Got the herb!"
"Century Herb here!"
"Century Herbs for sale~ 1 gold~"
"Heard someone hit level 15 off this."
"Lea! Is she a goddess?"
"...???"
Hundreds of heroes swarmed back. Each clutching one of those rare Century Herbs.