For the Young Villain’s Happy Ending - Chapter 26

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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 26

“A talking book is so fascinating-.”
“I wanted to catch it and give it to Master as a gift.”

Dan and Ban spoke with their ears drooping. Their tails, which had emerged at some point, hung limply until their tips touched the ground. Striped white and orange tails.
Behind them stretched the ruined corridor of the Separate Palace.

“….”

Raina Hart took a moment to compose herself at the sight of “Greenling 23,” which she had planted not long ago, having lost its pot and been crushed down to its roots.
Inanimate objects could be restored through magic, but living things could not be revived.
Raina Hart pretended not to notice her departed companion plant and asked the children.

“Dan, Ban. Did I ever say I wanted something fascinating?”

At Raina Hart’s gentle voice, their thick tails lifted slightly and swayed in the air.
Master doesn’t seem as angry as we thought.

“The Village Chief said we should offer precious things to Master!”
“Yes. He said to offer everything.”

The Village Chief again.
And “offer” no less. What am I, a land deity?

‘Village Chief, you’ve been teaching the children such strange expressions again….’

As Raina Hart developed a brief headache.

‘Hey, Kevenriak.’

Zikhard, who was bound tightly in Raina Hart’s vines once more, flicked Kevenriak’s shoulder with a long ribbon he had drawn out.
Kevenriak turned to the side.

“You know, right?”

The contractual candidate I had so desperately wanted to meet.
Zikhard whispered to Raina Hart, gauging her reaction, while Kevenriak stared blankly at me with those blue eyes.

“I… you…”

Zikhard began to babble in a small voice.
But Kevenriak wasn’t listening to those words. His attention was fixed elsewhere.
From the Grimoire of Magic, gripped tightly by vines rising from the ground, thick viscous liquid—green and crimson—dripped down with a sickening plop, plop.

“….”

I should ask my master about this.
Kevenriak pulled Raina Hart’s hand to the side, moving her away.

“Keri?”
“It’s dangerous.”

The pitiful Grimoire of Magic was wounded by the contractual candidate’s cold gaze.
In any case.
Raina Hart instructed Dan and Ban.

“Your master has many strange things, so next time you see something like this, you don’t need to try to grab it. You almost got hurt.”

Zikhard was at a loss for words at Raina Hart’s words. It was I who almost got hurt.
This was something that needed to be addressed immediately.

“Master didn’t see it, but those two—”
“You stay quiet.”
“Yes, ma’am.”

Something felt off.
I had intended to curry favor with Raina Hart.
But my response came out quicker and crisper than usual.
Zikhard tilted my upper edge uncertainly.
Meanwhile, Raina Hart patted each child’s head once before straightening her upper body.

“Still, thank you for catching that.”

The Arch Mage’s silver eyes, now turned toward me, grew cold. Zikhard’s spine chilled.

“It was necessary.”
“…Master?”

Zikhard called out to Raina Hart, trembling with anxiety.

***

“Keri, would you take Kin and the children to the Orphanage?”
“Then—”
“Yes. You don’t need to stay close anymore.”

At my words, Kevenriak gazed at our joined hands before slowly releasing mine. A pang of reluctance lingered.

“M-Master. We’ll head to the Orphanage. Will you come later…?”

At Kin’s cautious question, I nodded.
A brief glance passed between Kin and me.

“Yes. Go on ahead.”
“Yes…!”

Once my disciples vanished, only I and Zikhard remained in the Separate Palace corridor.
I restored the ravaged hallway with magic, then turned to Zikhard with a question.

“How did you escape from the spatial pouch?”

So the Arch-Mage was curious about this too.
Zikhard was immediately seized by a sense of superiority and smirked.

“Master, think about it. You don’t seriously believe I was trapped in there because I didn’t know how to escape? I manipulated the formula slightly from within the pouch. This Zikhard knows everything.”
“A Grimoire of Magic that knows everything, yet doesn’t know what I sprinkled on you.”
“I haven’t checked the information on that yet…?”

The temperature dropped.
Why was Raina Hart suddenly saying such things?
Zikhard hastily examined the information on the liquid that had been sprinkled on his body.
And then.

“A-A-A potion of servitude?!”

I jumped so violently that the pages nearly separated from the cover.
Of course, the vines held me fast, so I could only thrash about uselessly.
But that wasn’t what mattered right now.

Potion of Servitude
: A dragon’s heart dissolved in dragon’s blood.
Upon consumption, the drinker becomes enslaved to the one they swore loyalty to, for as long as that person lives.
The enslaved cannot disobey their master’s commands.
※ If the enslaved causes harm—direct or indirect—to their master’s life, they perish.

A terrifying liquid that even affects dragons, the most exalted beings in existence.
But I’m a book, aren’t I? A book without a digestive system? What could possibly happen if some potion seeps into paper?

“Master!”

Wait—how many times have I called that human “master” while drenched in this stuff?
No. It can’t be. It won’t be.
Zikhard opened his information window with trembling resolve.

Zikhard
: Grimoire of Magic created by ■■■■
Containing all the knowledge of the world….
…(omitted)…
※ ‘Pandora’s Box (Temporary Name)’ – Locked
※ Potion of Servitude – Active (Master: Raina Hart)

“KYAAAHHHHH!!!”

Upon reading the final line, Zikhard let out an unholy shriek.
How irritating.
Raina cast a Silence spell on the thrashing grimoire.
Once the grimoire stopped convulsing, Raina dispelled the magic and asked:

“So, who’s your master now?”
“Y-you wretched demon!”

Zikhard cried out like a tragic grimoire.
Good. Things were working out perfectly, Raina thought with satisfaction.

‘I wasn’t a hundred percent certain the Potion of Servitude would work on the Grimoire of Magic. Thank goodness it did.’

The Emperor’s other Secret Vault, located beside the one where Zikhard had been sleeping.
I’d done well to steal the Potion of Servitude from there.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t theft—it was reclaiming what was mine.
My master had taken it from young Raina Hart and given it to the Emperor.

‘Now the Grimoire of Magic won’t need to make a contract with Keri. The Grimoire can only serve one master, after all.’

While Raina felt reassured, Zikhard grew melancholy. It felt as though dried ink might suddenly dampen and flow once more.

Sigh.
What kind of contract was this?
He wouldn’t gain a single soul, yet he’d have to become the slave of that vicious archmage for decades.
What were mere decades?
That mage, whose very humanity was questionable, looked as though she’d live for centuries more.

“This is unfair. I’m reporting this to the Human Labor Union…”

Zikhard muttered that unpaid labor was unacceptable.

“Unpaid?”

At those words, Raina thought of places where she could put Zikhard to useful work.
Since she’d decided to hire Shukal and Fontepon, she’d need to pay them salaries starting next month.
To do that, she’d soon need to investigate a new source of income.

‘Lindraham Mine.’

My current objective was to avoid touching the original story’s past settings any further.
The diamond mine underground would belong to the male lead Tiernan Fargan, so I’d have to borrow from him.
But if other gemstones not mentioned in the original story appeared, they would be entirely mine.

‘I’d originally planned to dig deeper beneath the underground mine.’

If I asked Zikhard about the mine’s structure, wouldn’t I be able to skip the tedious magical investigation?
I’d saved myself some trouble. I spoke with a slightly excited tone.

“Grimoire of Magic, pull up information on the Lindraham Mine.”
“I can only access information within a certain range. Based on where my vault was located, that would be around the Imperial Palace?”

What was she talking about?
Raina Hart furrowed her brow.

“How did you know I reached the Fourth Circle? …Yes? I’ve been consistently accessing Kevenriak’s information ever since I awakened…”

Those were Zikhard’s words from the Secret Vault.
If he’d been consistently accessing information, then he must have accessed Keri’s information even when Keri was in Hibei.

“Are you just spouting nonsense because you’re annoyed? You said you accessed information even when Keri was in Hibei.”
“I can only access information within a certain range. Based on where my vault was located, that would be around the Imperial Palace?”

Zikhard repeated the exact same words.

“You already said that. Explain properly.”
“Me? That couldn’t possibly be the case. Anyway, that’s why I can’t access information on the Lindraham Mine.”

What was this? Raina felt bewildered.
Zikhard was acting as though he hadn’t heard her question at all.
She wondered if he was mocking her, but the subordination potion should have prevented him from lying.

‘Is this an error from the original story? In the original, Keri was always at the Imperial Palace.’

Though the Grimoire of Magic was said to know everything, it was still an entity defined within the system of a novel.
Perhaps this glitch had occurred because she’d removed Kevenriak from the Imperial Palace.

‘I feel like the culprit, but there’s no point in digging into what seems like an error.’

Raina didn’t mention Zikhard’s strange behavior further. Instead, she cleared away the vines and cleaned the Grimoire of Magic, which was covered in liquid.
Zikhard, freed from the vines, asked a question.

“Are you heading to the Lindraham Mine now?”
“No. Not today.”

Raina spoke with a delighted tone.

“Today is our disciple’s promotion celebration.”

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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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