A Strange But Effective Villainess Life - Chapter 16

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

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Chapter 16
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“Spy Maid.”
After everything was done, I sipped the juice the Spy Maid had brought me through a straw as I spoke.
“Keep this up and you’ll be fired soon. Can’t you even manage to keep me undisturbed for two hours?”
The Spy Maid bowed her head and answered.
“But I did everything I could to stop them, Miss.”
Well, to be fair, no maid could have stopped the Duke and the Prince. That much deserved consideration.
“I did manage to buy about ten minutes. I argued that now was the time to trust you, Miss.”
I was deeply moved by the Spy Maid’s efforts and immediately acknowledged the value of those ten minutes.
“Oh really? Since when has ten minutes been such a long time to brag about? Do you know you took over ten minutes every single time I asked you to bring coffee today? Hmm?”
“I even added a personal opinion that you might be able to cure Hou.”
I regarded the Spy Maid with a suspicious expression. When the juice made a slurping sound as I finished it, the Spy Maid quickly refilled it and continued speaking.
“Staying silent would only make me seem wronged, so I did a bit of self-promotion, Miss.”
“Well, that’s a good attitude.”
In any case, I decided to accept the Spy Maid’s self-promotion and not fire her on the spot. It’s not easy to find someone this capable anyway.
【Thank you, child.】
And now Hou, who had regained his energy, fluttered his wings and spoke.
【I thought I’d have to remain helplessly collapsed like this.】
Hou was so pleased he even spun around in a circle.
【I’m so glad I can be helpful to Scari again.】
Goodness. After absorbing all that poison and struggling, he’s only thinking about being helpful to Grandfather again.
I couldn’t summon a familiar myself, but I envied that familiar’s boundless affection for his master. So I gently pointed out his current condition and expressed my concern.
“Don’t act cocky when the poison hasn’t even fully left your system.”
【This much will be fully recovered in just a few days! I’m a purification familiar!】
Hou laughed loudly and tapped my shoulder with his wing. The force was so strong I nearly fell over.
“Kiana.”
And only then did Grandfather, who had been sitting motionless on a simple chair, carefully open his mouth.
“How on earth did you… manage this…?”
It had been such a long time since I’d seen Grandfather.
Grandfather was taciturn, though… or perhaps I couldn’t tell if he was now, but in any case, he was fundamentally a kind person. He never discriminated against me for being unable to summon a familiar.
But because of that possibility that I might not be his real granddaughter, I always felt small in front of him. Especially after being severely scolded over the Melissa incident, I felt too embarrassed to face him. Even when Grandfather didn’t contact me from the Academy, I thought it was only natural. I didn’t resent him. The possibility that I wasn’t his real granddaughter was too high.
Of course, now I felt very confident in having this conversation. Even if I wasn’t his real granddaughter, I seemed to have accomplished enough to face him with confidence.
I answered while sipping my juice.
“It’s not medicine, but the power of science and magic.”
And I picked up the magical tool to show him.
“I developed a targeted osmotic pressure magical tool a few days ago. The calculations were complicated so commercialization didn’t work out well… but anyway, I used that.”
“…Osmotic pressure?”
“Yes. It utilizes the difference in concentration, and the related formula is P=CRT…”
As I began rummaging through piles of parchment, Joshua quickly interjected.
“No. I don’t need a detailed explanation.”
It was rather disappointing.
But at the same time, it was a familiar situation. People despised talk of magical engineering, after all. If I went on about what I wanted to say for too long in moments like these, even my achievements would be buried. That was something only a professor could do, and I was no longer a professor.
So I offered a regretful expression and explained only the essentials.
“In any case, the concentration of poison in his body was too high for him to purify it on his own… so I used a magical artifact to reduce the poison’s concentration.”
Magical artifacts created through magical engineering had never performed particularly remarkable functions to begin with. Usually they had limited applications or were extremely complex to operate. That’s why there were no commercialized magical artifacts capable of revolutionizing civilization.
This artifact also had the limitation of requiring manual input of complex calculations for every operation. That’s why ordinary people found it difficult to use.
‘But since I developed it myself, naturally I can handle the calculations.’
In any case, with the internal osmotic pressure targeting magical artifact I created, I was able to draw out the poison Hou had absorbed. Though it was incredibly exhausting to calculate the constantly changing concentrations.
I had to maintain extreme concentration for fear that even the slightest mistake might injure Hou. If I got it wrong, I’d try again. If it didn’t work, I’d attempt once more. When I got stuck midway, I’d remain frozen in thought, and even when the answer seemed impossibly distant, I’d pick up my pen again.
But in any case, that was something effort could accomplish. That brought me peace of mind. Changing one’s appearance or summoning a familiar were not things that could be done through effort alone.
“Thank you….”
Grandfather muttered blankly.
“I haven’t really done anything for you.”
“No, you’ve done so much for me.”
I responded to Grandfather’s words with firm resolve.
“Thank you for allocating a monthly budget in my name. It was wonderful to have money that I could receive simply by breathing, just because I held Prelai’s Castle.”
“….”
He had always generously allocated funds to me, someone who wasn’t particularly affectionate and only caused trouble. Whenever the Academy’s budget ran short, I’d use that money to purchase expensive research equipment without hesitation.
Now that I thought about it, the Academy’s budget always seemed to be insufficient… and thinking about all the expensive equipment I’d invested in remaining at the Academy made me feel a bit bitter.
Grandfather coughed a few times before answering my words with some delay.
“Ahem, now that you mention it, that’s true. I did allocate it generously within limits that wouldn’t violate fairness. I hope you won’t forget that fact.”
Oh… It was almost the first time Grandfather had spoken at such length.
As I blinked with a bewildered expression, the Head Maid standing behind Grandfather’s face turned pale. Her lips moved silently, muttering to herself, ‘No, it’s not about showing off favors….’ before she even let out a deep sigh. It seemed the Head Maid had probably offered some unnecessary advice for the sake of our relationship.
“Well, anyway, welcome home. I would have sent someone to greet you if you’d only sent word.”
Grandfather continued awkwardly, rolling his eyes. It seemed he thought that since we were meeting for the first time in years, he should at least ask about my wellbeing first. The order of our reunion was already a mess, but we still needed to have the conversations that were necessary.
“What was the reason you suddenly returned to the Manor….”
Grandfather started to ask in a low voice but then shook his head and corrected himself.
“No, no. Of course this is your home, so you can come whenever you wish. It’s strange for me to even ask for a reason.”
“Yes. Though I did get severely scolded six years ago for wielding a sword and causing trouble, I wasn’t driven out.”
At my words, Grandfather smiled warmly and spoke as if impressed.
“Well, you’re even challenging a professor position at the Academy. How remarkable that….”
“Grandfather, I’m not going to become a professor.”
“A good choice. Who would recognize a professor from that countryside Academy anyway. Just pursuing a doctorate as a hobby would already have tremendous value….”
“I’m going to quit the doctoral program too.”
“Well done. Why bother with such useless things. It’s all pointless.”
“….”
And so Grandfather thoroughly criticized my life before the regression. I suffered tremendous internal wounds and couldn’t say anything, and silence hung between us for a moment.
In the end, we only toured the devastated Greenhouse. The poison we’d extracted had been so toxic that all the plants nearby had withered.
“But how did Hou manage to purify such an enormous amount of poison?”
Joshua asked in fresh surprise.
“A poison of this caliber would be difficult to obtain… If it weren’t for Hou, this would completely dissolve a person without leaving a trace, wouldn’t it? This is truly a poison I’ve never heard of before?”
Grandfather said nothing. Hou likewise remained silent, occupied with other matters.
【Anyway, Scari!】
Without answering Joshua’s words, Hou fluttered with a soft whoosh and nestled against Grandfather.
【I’m almost completely recovered! Of course, there’s still poison lingering in my body, but I can expel that much on my own.】
Since the expulsion utilized osmotic pressure, it couldn’t be one hundred percent complete. The more I expelled, the less the concentration differential became. However, as Hou said, the small amount of remaining poison could be purified by Hou’s own body.
Grandfather gazed at Hou’s vigorous wingbeats with renewed emotion. Indeed, just two hours ago, Hou couldn’t even open his eyes properly.
Grandfather, who had been gently stroking Hou’s wings, turned his gaze back to me.
“Kiana, thank you.”
“Yes.”
I nodded with satisfaction.

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

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