Building Rapport with Villagers

The world within a novel is inherently convenient. It is built upon settings specifically designed to facilitate the protagonist's success. If the protagonist is a magical genius, it implies that the world's general level of magic must be quite low. The romance fantasy novel The Villainess Doesn't Tolerate Magic is no exception. In this world, you would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be hard-pressed to find a single practical spell. It is entirely the author’s arrangement to make the heroine stand out.

Ailiya, the heroine, has no way of knowing this. Yet, she has always felt that something was off. "How on earth does the Empire function with nothing but this trash magic?" No one knows. Even the author who wrote the novel probably doesn't know. The important thing is how the heroine performs here. The main plot involves the heroine grumbling while creating all sorts of spells, receiving praise from every corner, having a budding romance with the prince, and normalizing the Empire. The underdog narrative—being treated as a nobody despite being from a Northern noble family decades ago, only to rise to the center of the Empire—is just a bonus.

Even as a transmigrator, she is ultimately just the protagonist of a transmigration novel. Ailiya is completely unaware of the truth. However.

'It's frustrating.'

Even without knowing the truth, she had always felt frustrated. Ever since she arrived in this world, it had been that way. But the paper in front of her eyes...! 'This is completely different from that.' Is this person really a noble mage? No, no. I’m a noble too, but seeing someone else who doesn't create useless magic makes me want to cry, and all that.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

'On top of that, the content is completely absurd.'

It’s not just at a mediocre level where it isn't useless. Looking at it through the lens of her transmigrator perks, the level of magic is on a different dimension. 'Since the magic continuously improves its own efficiency infinitely... eventually...' Perhaps it might completely overturn the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠entire discipline of magic.

'But he dropped out of the Academy? With this level of skill?'

Ah!!! I should have socialized with my seniors and juniors, gone to mixers, and all that! Thinking this far, Ailiya immediately jumped up from her seat.

Crash!

"Eek! You scared me!"

"Goggle. Let’s go."

"Does that mean you're going outside the laboratory?"

"Yeah. I'm going out."

Ailiya made up her mind. She would storm out of the laboratory. The fact that an innocent chair went rolling backward several times was just a bonus.

Goggle, the owl spirit used for searching, saw this and clicked its beak for a long time as if it couldn't believe it, before finally managing to speak.

"This can't be..."

"What. Why."

It has been a full two weeks since Ailiya last stepped outside the lab. In fact, you could say she never leaves unless the prince is looking for her. It’s not that this magic-obsessed freak likes the prince, but he drags her out by force, wielding immense power and the authority to allocate research budgets.

"I can't believe it."

Ailiya, of all people, was saying she would go out of her own volition. Goggle, who had been in shock, belatedly remembered something.

"Ail! I remembered. Why don't you wash up while you're at it? Before you go to meet people. Yeah?"

"What? I’m already washing!"

"Is it really possible to wash properly in just 3 minutes?"

"If I use magic to plan an efficient route, it's possible."

A short while later, a freshly washed Ailiya appeared in the Academy hallway. Shuffle, shuffle. There was no sound of clicking heels as she walked. Only the sound of slippers dragging along the floor. Behind that, the inquiries began.

"The Wintervalt daughter?"

"I told you to drop the title of 'daughter' at the Academy. Are you having a tea party instead of studying?"

"If you mean Rii, are you talking about that magic scholar?"

"Yeah. Do you happen to know where he went?"

"Is he a new boyfriend candidate!"

"I'll kill you."

"Ail? Is there a problem with your experiment? Oh, no? You're looking for someone?"

"Why. Did a problem arise in your experiment?"

"No. It's not that big of a problem..."

"Forget it, answer my first question."

"I'm not really sure..."

"Then next question, how did your mold-growing experiment go?"

"Ah."

No one can stop the Northern bloodline. Ailiya, who had relentlessly poked through every corner of the Academy, finally found the laboratory that Rii had supposedly used. Naturally, there was a security spell on the door.

"Hmm."

Nothing had happened yet. But Goggle was already spreading its wings wide to block the door.

"Ail. You know, that. Are you really going to do it?"

"......"

"You know that trespassing into someone else's lab is absolutely forbidden, right? We already have tons of demerits for skipping class, you know that, right? Is that fact reflected in your decision?"

"I know."

"Aah! That's a relief!"

Crackle-. Blue sparks flew from Ailiya’s fingertips. The laboratory’s security spell was easily hacked and neutralized. The owl spirit Goggle’s round eyes grew even rounder. It clicked its yellow beak frantically before finally screaming.

"You said you knew! You said you knew!"

"That's why. I'm doing it while knowing."

"Aah. We're doomed..."

And the shocking sight that unfolded before them.

"Ah..."

The desk was filled with nothing but blank paper. Among the hundreds of research notes that should have been densely packed, not a single character remained. Only blank, bleached white pages continued.

'There’s no research data at all?'

Faint traces of mana remained on the papers. Goggle analyzed the magic from the side in horror.

"It’s a document incineration spell. It looks like he used that to destroy all the research materials."

"This, son of a..."

How hurt must he have been? That mage named Rii. Just then, Goggle called out to Ailiya.

"Ail. Look at this."

Goggle’s wingtip pointed toward the trash can. Inside, there were a few documents left with letters still clearly inscribed on them.

Rustle-. Ailiya checked the documents and let out a deep sigh.

"They’re letters."

They weren't research data. They were letters from sponsors written in scathing tones. Ailiya could immediately tell what had happened.

"It seems he was constantly rejected by his sponsors."

As Ailiya spoke with a sigh, Goggle looked puzzled.

"Then why did he destroy all the research data but keep the letters?"

"He must have come to believe that he was wrong. So firmly that he erased all the research data that was as precious as his own life."

"Really? Is it that bad?"

"You want to erase the answer sheet where you got the questions wrong, right? It’s similar."

Ailiya’s fist clenched until it turned white.

"The answer he believed in... he must have left it right here in this lab."

Resentment mixed into her voice.

"Just how hurt must he have been? This human."

The feeling of silently researching magic that no one recognizes. She knew better than anyone what that felt like. Persecution and ridicule. And being ignored. Ailiya herself had been like that at first. When she first researched magic after transmigrating into the novel, the nobles were the same.

"Goggle. You’re a spirit that searches for knowledge, right?"

"That’s true, but why are you asking that all of a sudden?"

"Let’s try looking for a person once."

"Stalking is definitely a different field from information searching..."

Crush-. The letter clutched in Ailiya’s hand made a very scary sound as it crumpled.

"Can’t you just search for information about a person?"

"Eek!"

"Find him, no matter what."

* * *

This is the Solanium territory, a frontier region 15 days away from the Academy by carriage. I was currently facing off against a red-haired girl I had just encountered at the hot spring.

'I didn't think I'd run into someone this early.'

It was an incredibly early morning. Had I underestimated the diligence of the country folk? As I was lost in thought, the girl spoke first.

"I haven't seen your face before, who are you?"

Basically, she had a bold and sharp impression. On top of that, her eyes were a mix of wariness and curiosity. She seemed quite capable of manual labor, as she was carrying two tin buckets on her shoulders. I couldn't just pass by now that we had crossed paths. However, since I didn't yet know the public sentiment here, introducing myself as the lord right away was a bad move.

"My name is Rii. I was researching magic at the Academy, but I got burned out and came down here for recuperation."

"You, you were a noble!?"

She tried to put down the buckets and bow, so I stopped her.

"It’s fine. Make yourself comfortable."

In a healing game system, building rapport with villagers is somewhat important. I judged that acting like a noble or a lord right from the start wouldn't do me any good.

"But what brings you all the way here... It would be hard to find such a rural village."

"An acquaintance introduced me. They said the hot spring water was so good."

"Ah. That rumor... Actually, there are frequent landslides, and since it’s a rural village, there won't be much to see."

The girl belatedly introduced herself.

"Ah! I’m Gwen."

It was a name I had seen in the status window last night. At the same time I heard her name, a system message visible only to me appeared in front of my eyes.

Is this the structure where rapport is only reflected after we meet like this? I put the rapport-building ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠aside for a moment and started by assessing the situation.

"Then I have the same question for you. May I ask what brings you here? Carrying such large buckets up here. I was wondering what was going on."

"The village water supply has been completely cut off. Ever since the landslide, the pipes must be blocked, so not a single drop of water is coming out."

"The water supply is all blocked?"

"Completely."

The water being blocked wasn't just happening to my house. It seemed like the landslide had caused problems with the entire territory’s water source or pipes.

"So I had no choice but to come up the mountain to fetch water. And to check how far the pipes were damaged..."

She was incredibly diligent. If a girl could roam the mountain alone, she seemed quite strong in her own way.

"But by any chance, Rii, did you just wash in the hot spring? Is the hot spring water coming out?"

"Yes. The hot spring water is coming out very well. Thanks to that, I was able to wash properly."

At my answer, Gwen’s face brightened with relief.

"Wow. That’s a relief!"

"But are you planning to use the hot spring water for farming?"

"Then the plants would all die. It doesn't taste good and can't be used for farming, but since we need water for people right now, we have no choice."

The country folk weren't fools. They seemed to know well that it was difficult to farm with hot spring water.

"Originally, there is a separate water source besides the hot spring. It’s a lake surrounded by mountains, and I almost had to go all the way in there. Even without that, the roads are a mess because of the landslide, so it’s rough. It would be difficult and dangerous, wouldn't it?"

Hearing Gwen’s words, I roughly understood the situation.

"How long has it been since the landslide occurred?"

"It’s February, but the weather suddenly got warm and it rained, so it all came crashing down. So, it must have been about a fortnight ago."

Because of the landslide a while ago, there was a problem with the water source. So the village was experiencing a water shortage.

'Is it possible to build rapport like this?'

It wasn't that rapport only builds up when you clear quests thrown by the status window and choose options. In this case, rapport is updated in real-time without system messages. Since this was specified in the system I looked at yesterday, helping people was at least not going to be a loss. I might be able to solve the problem itself quickly if I improve the magic a bit more. Especially in a disaster situation like this, helping out is perfect for pumping up early rapport.

Rustle-. Just then, another person appeared from inside the bathhouse.

"Ah. Master? Maaaaster!!"

Perhaps because she had been soaking in the warm water and resting, her cheeks were flushed and her face was relaxed. It was hard to believe she was the same icy Northern maid as usual. Miroa, completely off-guard, was walking toward me like a puppy, but then she stopped in her tracks when she noticed someone standing next to me.

"......Ah."

She hadn't expected a stranger to be there. Miroa was incredibly embarrassed.