Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Villainess, Lucia
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Inspection.
Villainess, Lucia.
A few things came to mind about her.
While playing the game, you end up taking certain routes.
One of them features a scene where the protagonist connects with the main heroine, and that villainess subjects her to all sorts of slander out of jealousy.
'From what I heard, it didn't even seem like actual slander.'
Listening to the game story from the side a few times, it felt like the villainess wasn't Lucia, but the main heroine instead.
-No, wait. Just listen to the story!
The main heroine or whatever had been playing the field everywhere, and the protagonist ended up as the final pick in that harem.
Villainess Lucia had been engaged to one of the other guys floundering in that harem.
And it ended in a broken engagement, so doesn't that make the main heroine the real villainess?
-No, our Chloe isn't that kind of bitch!!
Whenever I said that, the guy would always deny it like so.
Anyway.
That's not the important part.
The quest referred to Villainess Lucia as a villainess.
I didn't agree much with that, but the title of villainess evoked an ominous feeling regardless.
"Excuse me?"
Lucia tilted her head, seemingly calling out to me.
'Excuse me, my ass.'
I recalled our first conversation with her.
-If it's not rude, I've taken an interest in you, so could you spare me a moment?
-It is rude.
Ah, this conversation must have been the problem.
"......We don't seem close enough for you to tell me your name."
"Hmm, is that so? But you can't tell me?"
Even to my curt reply, Lucia smiled with her eyes.
A seductive smile. Yet her two eyes brimmed with thick fondness.
'......This is a bit burdensome.'
More than that, a question arose.
With a woman like this around, there were guys falling for her harem games?
'What kind of idiot is that?'
I was getting curious about his face.
Of course, none of my business. I just wanted to get out of here right now.
"Judging by your outfit, you're an adventurer."
"Yeah."
"You look tired. I shouldn't have held you up. Ah, do you have a place to stay? If not......"
"I do. It's the inn where my party's gathering."
"I see. If there's any trouble with your inn, you can come to the Fairy Haven in the city center. Just mention my name, Lucia."
She flashed a bright smile.
A soft, gentle voice.
Her cheeks faintly flushed. She looked at me with eyes full of fondness.
The descriptor "villainess" probably suited her well if it meant one who enchants men.
At the same time.
'She seems better than I thought?'
She had said she was obsessed with me.
For some reason, she seemed more decent than expected.
"Lucia Phillihart."
"Hm?"
"If anything comes up, come find me. I do hold some power here, you know."
She said to me with an eye smile.
To me, it sounded different. Like hiding her name would spoil the fun.
I let out a hollow chuckle and sighed deeply inside.
"Han Yuseong."
"Han Yuseong...... Nice name."
Lucia smiled faintly.
Not a bad conversation.
If things went wrong with my plans, I'd need a fallback anyway.
And.
'She said she's obsessed with me.'
I didn't know what kind of obsession it was.
But.
Put differently, it was close to saying she held goodwill toward me.
"Then, since you must be tired, shall we call it a day?"
"Yeah."
We parted like that.
However, contrary to my expectations.
Her obsession went beyond what I imagined.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The most important loot from this expedition.
There was one thing I needed to secure.
'Rishiel's corpse.'
The reason was simple.
To negotiate with Rishiel's soul.
-You can get my body back?
"Yeah."
-Then right now......
"Why would I trust you?"
-Th-then, wh-what do I have to do?
Rishiel asked in a trembling voice.
It was nothing much.
I tapped my head with a finger and said.
"I want knowledge."
-Knowledge?
"Yeah. I lived in the mountains and just came out, so I don't know much about this place."
-What do you mean...... A being like you?
"A being like me, my ass."
-Isn't it obvious? From what you've shown. I thought you were one of the hero candidates......
Rishiel spoke in a voice full of disbelief.
'Hero candidate my foot.'
In reality, I was a hero candidate, and apparently one of the frontrunners at that.
'Wait, hold on. If even clueless Rishiel knows.'
Am I in more danger than I thought?
......Still, there's some hope. Living quietly as an adventurer.
'Impossible even if I die.'
But meeting Lucia seemed to have resolved some conflicts.
......My head was starting to hurt with all these complications piling up.
Let's put this aside for now.
More importantly.
'Since I don't know the basics of this world.'
I needed to make her spill the information she had.
And there were a few more important things.
'I need to gain the power to suppress her instantly, no matter how much she thrashes.'
This was the first.
And the second.
'How do I handle this corpse?'
I had to preserve Rishiel's body.
Normally, in these stories, putting it in a sub-space stops time automatically, like a cliché.
'Does it work here too?'
I asked Rishiel about it.
-......It does. Sub-space is a different dimension, after all.
However.
Rishiel added.
-The Sub-space skill is extremely rare. Even searching all of elfkind, there's only one who has it, and that person is a great one.
"Oh?"
So the Sub-space skill was that rare.
I looked out the window. There, Teresa was dragging Rishiel's corpse in a brown bag toward here.
-M-my body!! Y-you! You better take proper care of my body right now!
I ignored the screaming Rishiel and headed downstairs.
"......Making you run errands sucks. I'm tired too."
"Not exactly payment, but I'll give you some compensation."
"You're nice."
Quick switch in attitude.
I'd discuss with Ermé and give her a bit more; that should be fine.
'But I took the Whisper of the Wind.'
What if its contribution value is higher than mine?
If not, better to sell it.
"Since you're here, help me put it in my room too."
"Got it."
Teresa didn't complain and moved the bag with the corpse to my room.
'......I was preparing an excuse.'
Something like discovering something odd on her body during the fight with Rishiel, so I wanted to check for other items.
'Saves me the trouble, though.'
Why wasn't she asking?
Teresa didn't ask until the end.
She just left the corpse and went down.
Not asking is good for me.
I left Rishiel's corpse bag in the room.
I opened the bag and looked at Rishiel's body.
'Cold.'
Like a dead person, the body was stiff.
Golden hair, blue eyes.
I didn't like the wide-open eyes, so I closed them.
-Ah, I'm not dead yet!
I ignored Rishiel chattering on her own and pulled out the Whisper of the Wind.
A rapier with a silvery sheen.
An amazing sword that generates sword aura of turquoise wind when infused with mana.
'......Hmm.'
I wanted to use it if possible.
But it was better to sell the Whisper of the Wind.
The sword itself was too flashy. Using it would alert other elves immediately.
And above all.
'I have the Blood-Soaked Dagger.'
Since I had the higher-grade Blood-Soaked Dagger (B), it was easy to let go.
Unfortunately, the Blood-Soaked Dagger (B) had the condition of killing living beings.
That meant it had unlocking potential, so it'd improve as it unlocked.
'Time to sort things out.'
I couldn't leave Rishiel's corpse here forever.
1 and 2 for my use.
3 for miscellaneous stuff. Of course, I'd test putting Rishiel's corpse in there too.
'First, check how much it can hold.'
I put in a miscellaneous bag I'd bought in the village before coming to the Cradle.
'Good, it fits.'
What about the corpse bag?
I put the corpse bag in. It slipped right in without a feeling.
'Capacity seems bigger than expected.'
I tied the corpse bag and the misc bag together and put both in.
"......"
This doesn't work.
I looked at the misc bag that bounced out of the sub-space immediately.
-Is that a sub-space gift?
"Gift? No, mine isn't related to those."
-Then you picked up an ancient skillbook? You're a lucky man.
To Rishiel's words, I nodded casually.
-Ancient skillbooks are powerful one by one, but some are defective, so be careful.
"Defective?"
-For example, say there's a skill that makes flames. Activating it burns mountains, but also burns the user's body.
"......"
That's one defective skill.
'Better not learn ancient skillbooks.'
If I got the chance, I'd learn proper ones.
I noted to watch out for ancient skillbooks and started organizing.
Weapons: Blood-Soaked Dagger, Whisper of the Wind, bow and quiver of arrows, throwing daggers—all packed into 1.
'Just in case.'
I might need the Whisper of the Wind in an emergency.
Rishiel's soul stone and Lucia's Obsession in my pocket to 2.
Rishiel's corpse to 3.
'Next experiment.'
I tested the sub-space.
Pulled a weapon from 1.
'This works.'
Throwing dagger.
Even though packed in the bag, I could pull it out instantly.
'If this didn't work, I'd have to carry it due to capacity issues.'
Truly fortunate.
All weapons into 1.
I took a sword and throwing dagger.
'Blood-Soaked Dagger is a bit longer than the throwing one.'
If not, I'd survive without it; what can you do.
-You said you wanted knowledge as the trade condition?
"Yeah."
-Does swordsmanship count as part of that trade?
"Swordsmanship?"
-Yes, the swordsmanship you stole.
Stole what...... Ah, she means that?
I recalled the fight with Rishiel. I'd never learned swordsmanship, so I swung the sword according to the info from Rogue Mastery.
'During the fight with Rishiel, it felt like I was learning from her.'
I could respond because I knew in advance.
Every time she swung, knowledge combined in my head, feeling like my own swordsmanship.
'I really thought I was going mad back then.'
Dopamine rush or something.
My head heated up with all sorts of excitement. The joy of growth too.
'Ridiculous.'
I chuckled while heading to train with the sword.
A guy who never exercised before getting hooked on this game was heading out to train on his own.
As I tried to go out, Rishiel stopped me.
"......?"
-By any chance, do you want to learn dual wielding?
"Me, dual swords?"
-Yes. If you want, I'll teach you the Dark Moon family's secret swordsmanship.
"You know if I learn that, I could be in danger?"
-......No, you won't. Because that swordsmanship is already a forgotten art.
"Forgotten, yet you know it?"
-No elf knows it. So, do you want to learn?
"......"
Rishiel's expression looked deadly serious.
'Doesn't seem like she's plotting against me.'
Her top priority was survival.
But that depended on me releasing her.
No sense of hostility toward me for now.
"I'll think about it."
It seemed all upside for me.
I brushed it off for now. If she got anxious, she'd teach something good or suitable on her own.
'More than that.'
I wanted to head to the clearing and move my body a bit.