A Runaway Villainess, Now Healing In An Enemy Country - Chapter 40

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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【Chapter 40】

 

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The townhouse district where the Baltres Mansion was located was on 2nd Street, while the street with the inn we were staying at was on 7th Street—quite a distance apart.

 

We had rented a carriage to 3rd Street, and from there we were moving on foot toward the mansion.

 

Since we obviously couldn’t pass through the main gate, we were heading toward the back entrance I used to use in the past.

 

A shortcut and forest path leading to the back gate.

 

As I walked while surveying our surroundings, I suddenly muttered.

 

“I think teleportation is the best ability among all of them.”

 

There was no other power with such a strong sense of unfairness.

 

Jepi, that strongest ability user, had collapsed from the toll of moving from Belmayer to the Duchy, so we decided to only use his power when absolutely necessary.

 

“Wouldn’t teleportation magic be superior for movement?”

 

“Magic leaves mana traces.”

 

Traces left behind by magic.

 

Generally they disappear over time, but by tracking mana traces, one could easily pursue who used what magic and such.

 

In the case of objects made with magic, those traces don’t disappear, which is why counterfeit gold coins made by mages always get caught.

 

What I made wasn’t such fake trickery but the real thing, so that’s beside the point.

 

“Abilities can’t be tracked. Frankly speaking, even if you went into the Imperial Capital, stabbed someone and ran, they couldn’t catch you, right?”

 

“That would be true.”

 

Snap.

 

Davuer readily agreed, then broke off a tree branch that had been hanging over my face.

 

Since soldiers patrolled the well-maintained paths, we chose to cut through the middle of the forest, making the route quite rough.

 

It was too dark to see well, but he looked ahead clearly as if his eyes had built-in lighting.

 

“But you can’t easily enter the Imperial Capital. Protective magic circles are operating there.”

 

“I know that… but do magic circles block abilities too? You said abilities were some kind of divine authority or something.”

 

“They ‘were’ authority. Abilities are just derived from small fragments of that. And.”

 

“Ugh.”

 

Davuer paused his words and lifted me up.

 

Looking down, I could see tree roots protruding and embedded in the ground. I had almost tripped over them.

 

With my feet dangling in the air, I asked.

 

“…I’m grateful, but when are you going to put me down?”

 

“It might be better to travel like this.”

 

“Put me down!”

 

Only then did Davuer set me down and take my hand again. I cleared my throat awkwardly.

 

“Ahem. And, what were you saying next?”

 

“Those protective magic circles were installed by me long ago.”

 

“…So?”

 

“They’re that impressive. Those not permitted cannot even infiltrate, let alone attack.”

 

He naturally praised himself without his expression changing at all. The evidence was so sufficient that I couldn’t even argue.

 

Instead, I found fault with something else.

 

“Why did you go and install such magic circles for them?”

 

“It was necessary work at the time. I should have designed them to become invalid after time passed—what a shame.”

 

…He’s saying it’s a shame he can’t commit fraud, isn’t he.

 

Davuer spoke as if he truly felt regret.

 

“I could break them now if I tried… but it would require using magi, so it’s realistically difficult.”

 

“Right, since we’re on the topic, let me ask. What’s the principle behind using magi to cast magic? No, more than that, is it really okay?”

 

I voiced the doubts I’d been harboring.

 

His skill at wielding magic with magi was so mysterious that somehow it had gotten glossed over, but no matter how I thought about it, it seemed unnatural.

 

Davuer replied without particularly hiding anything.

 

“It’s not really okay.”

 

“What?”

 

“Using magi itself is a burden. The more I use it, the faster the magi erodes my body.”

 

It was a confession I couldn’t help but be shocked by.

 

I immediately screamed.

 

“If you knew that, why have you been using it all this time?!”

 

Then Davuer spouted nonsense in human words.

 

“I tried testing how far it would be okay with you around. That level of usage was fine.”

 

…he says!

 

‘What kind of challenging spirit is this strong?’

 

In his situation, wouldn’t it not be enough even if he chose the safest options? Am I the strange one?

 

“Hah, wow, really… you’re dying to die.”

 

“If we’re being precise, I’m more on the side of wanting to live.”

 

“You don’t look like it at all. Come to think of it, when that crazy tree was about to use its ultimate attack, you were also about to… huh? You were trying to use magi to cast magic.”

 

“I had to protect you then.”

 

I flinched.

 

His voice sounded as if it was no big deal.

 

I felt my throat constrict as I looked back at him. Our eyes met immediately.

 

“Magi resembles mana. So applying it isn’t difficult for me.”

 

Davuer spoke with an unreadable expression. In the same monotonous tone he used when teaching, explaining principles.

 

“If I had used that magic, I would have certainly been consumed by magi, but you probably could have survived.”

 

“…You said you wanted to live long.”

 

“It wasn’t a situation where that was possible. I didn’t think about myself.”

 

These words sounded to me like a warning that if a similar situation came again, he would do something similar again.

 

I couldn’t fathom at all why he would go to such lengths just to save me.

 

But the question that came out of my mouth wasn’t about that.

 

“…If you’re consumed by magi, do you know what happens next?”

 

“The magi would run wild and I’d become a Vermin. It could become the greatest disaster on record.”

 

Davuer was completely calm.

 

It was a ‘calmness’ that emanated from his expression, his tone, and even from deep within his heart.

 

I’m only realizing this now.

 

He doesn’t fear his own death.

 

He doesn’t even show the survival instinct that any living being should naturally have, so perhaps he’s even lacking such emotions entirely.

 

But, having struggled to survive for a hundred years.

 

Then why on earth did he endure without dying?

 

“However, that disaster would disappear before long. God will make the magi vanish from the world.”

 

…That’s not right.

 

If the ‘Demon Duke’s’ magi runs wild, no new god or anything appears and the world ends.

 

That’s the future of the original story I know.

 

It’s the opposite of the hopeful future he claims to have seen.

 

One is a bad ending, one is a happy ending.

 

I think the turning point that determines that ending is whether his magi runs wild or disappears.

 

“…I said I would liberate your magi.”

 

Giselle believes in that future completely, and whether it had transferred to me, I was gradually starting to believe it sincerely too.

 

“I said I would protect you.”

 

For some reason feeling a bit choked up, I spoke as if pouring out my words.

 

“We promised. That you wouldn’t do dangerous things again, that next winter you would again… make me an offer.”

 

“We did. However, at that time.”

 

“No, keep your promise in any situation. Keeping that is protecting me. I have trauma about broken promises.”

 

Davuer looked at me silently.

 

Whether he understood or accepted it, he just stared at me intently. As if he could see into my very soul.

 

‘Ah. He did say he could really see soul colors or something.’

 

Was that also because of the divine power left behind by the dead god?

 

I raised my free hand and carefully pulled his robe hood back over his shoulders.

 

And I warned him.

 

“Davuer. If you die, I’ll die too.”

 

“…What?”

 

For the first time today, ripples appeared across his expression.

 

I was about to add a warning that if he died, it would lead straight to a bad ending where everyone in Winter Castle would die, but I sensed people approaching and made a ‘shh’ gesture.

 

Just then, from a path separated from the forest road we were on, we heard the voices of male and female soldiers on patrol.

 

“Why is the atmosphere at the mansion like this today? It’s absolutely terrible.”

 

“I heard the Countess visited during the day, and she apparently had a fight with the young duke then. After that, the young duke drank too much…”

 

“What? Those two? Weren’t they on good terms?”

 

“Are you pretending not to know, or do you really not know?”

 

The female soldier’s voice dropped to a whisper.

 

“The young duke doesn’t see the Countess as a sister but… well, um, with a man’s feelings.”

 

“…Gasp.”

 

At this point, just advertise it. Just advertise it.

 

I knew the relationship between the two step-siblings had become gossip among the servants, but it seemed to have gone beyond that level now.

 

As their workplace turned into a front-row seat to a makjang drama, the male soldier asked with keen interest.

 

“So that’s why the mansion’s atmosphere is… Since the engagement is proceeding, the Countess will have a royal marriage, right?”

 

“Of course. She’s different from that cra… the eldest daughter. They’re holding a grand engagement ceremony and everything.”

 

She just stumbled over her words.

 

She definitely almost said “crazy villainess” before correcting herself.

 

“Come to think of it, what’s with that wanted notice anyway? She went missing, then did she end up killing someone somewhere?”

 

‘End up’? You, I remember your voice.

 

“Oh, that. I heard she tried to harm the Countess but failed? She’s already been caught and is in the Imperial Capital dungeon.”

 

“Ah, so that’s why the wanted notice was canceled.”

 

…Another ridiculous rumor has been attached to me.

 

At this point, it felt like a waste to just let those two go.

 

‘Before a home visit, you have to check where the landmines are first, right?’

 

Thinking I should shake them down for information, I slipped through the bushes like a ghost and emerged onto the path where they were.

 

“You seem to know a lot?”

 

“…! Wh-what!?”

 

Thud!

 

“Who are you! This is private property of House Baltres!”

 

The two soldiers who had dropped their magic lantern pointed their spears at me.

 

I threw back my hood and grinned wickedly.

 

“The eldest daughter of that house you were gossiping about.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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