I’m a Villain, but I Want to Live a Long Life - Chapter 70

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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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I stared blankly at the small creatures revealing themselves one by one from inside the box, my mouth agape.

 

Rubel was right.

 

‘They’re cute and pretty, just like Tinker Bell, aren’t they?’

 

What emerged from the box were none other than ‘Pincel,’ spirit-realm Sacred Sprites that inhabited the Cursed Land.

 

Sacred Sprites were, literally, sacred animals.

 

The finger-sized Pincels each had jewel-like black eyes that sparkled as they fluttered their transparent wings on their backs.

 

Every time their rainbow-colored wings trembled, pleasant bell sounds spread through the air.

 

“Wh-what is this?!”

 

Just then, a sharp scream came from across the room. I turned my gaze in surprise.

 

Meg was staring at the Pincels with a horrified expression, shrieking.

 

The Pincels seemed just as startled. They made chiming sounds as they flocked around me.

 

Several climbed onto my shoulders and buried their faces in my hair as if frightened.

 

“D-did you just bring demons into the sacred Imperial Palace?! How could you do something so shameless—!!”

 

Sacred Sprites were so rare and few in number that they were often unknown. So they were frequently mistaken for demons like this.

 

I let out a quiet sigh to myself.

 

When I glanced over, Father was indeed staring at Meg with the most terrifying expression I’d seen in recent times.

 

Worried about what might happen, I quickly stepped forward.

 

“Lady Meg, calling it shameless is rather excessive.”

 

Meg glared at me with trembling eyes.

 

“What’s excessive about it! I wondered what was in that filthy box… You’ve brought demons into the Imperial Palace! This is tantamount to treason!”

 

The crowd stirred at her shrill voice. I calmly looked at her and spoke clearly.

 

“What are you talking about? Are you saying the Temple is also a treasonous organization?”

 

Meg closed her mouth. She looked as if she had no idea what I was talking about.

 

“These children aren’t demons. They’re Sacred Sprites called Pincel. The spirits that deliver divine oracles to the Temple every year.”

 

Meg’s eyes hardened with shock. She stared at the Pincels flying around me with vacant eyes and muttered.

 

“Th-those hideous things deliver oracles?”

 

‘…They’re not hideous though.’

 

I slowly raised one hand.

 

One of the Pincels that had been fluttering around me landed on my fingertip.

 

Then it joyfully flew in circles over my palm, flapping its aurora-colored wings.

 

I looked up and stared at Meg Cline.

 

“Lady Meg, you know this too. Only His Holiness the Pope can see the Empire’s oracles.”

 

“Wh-what does that have to do with these monsters…!”

 

“I’m saying it’s these Pincels who show the oracles to His Holiness the Pope.”

 

Meg bit her lip. I calmly added.

 

“You know, don’t you? That oracles cannot be interpreted by human power. That’s why the Temple has been receiving help from the Pincels all this time. So these children are not demons, but sacred beings who show oracles.”

 

Meg’s face turned pale. It seemed she was finally beginning to understand the situation.

 

She still looked at the Pincels with wary eyes and said.

 

“D-do you think I’m a fool? I heard that the Sacred Sprites who deliver oracles never follow humans! But these things are acting like you’re their…”

 

I smiled brightly.

 

‘Right, they’re following me just like a mother.’

 

Because they really think I’m their mom.

 

Originally, Pincels never allowed humans to handle them.

 

But now the Pincels were rubbing their cheeks against me, showing all kinds of affection and trust.

 

I proudly tapped the cheek of the Pincel sitting on my palm.

 

In truth, all of this was thanks to Rubel’s ability.

 

‘How is something like this even possible?’

 

Just as I was smiling contentedly.

 

“Mother, look at this!”

 

A young child’s voice came from behind.

 

When I turned my head, a prince who looked about five years old was smiling brightly while watching a Pincel flying around him.

 

“Wow… this is so amazing!”

 

The prince exclaimed brightly. Then bright light burst from the body of the Pincel that had been joyfully flying around the prince.

 

The child paused for a moment, then opened his mouth in a daze.

 

Soon the prince’s eyes became entranced. The child moved his lips and quietly muttered toward the air.

 

“…It’s cake.”

 

The Pincel circled around the prince who was covering his reddened cheeks, making chiming sounds.

 

The prince was definitely seeing something different all by himself.

 

‘Well, the Pincel’s ability is hallucination after all.’

 

This was also why Pincels were used as a medium to ‘see’ divine revelations. Meg, who had been watching this, screamed frantically.

 

“What is that thing doing right now?! It’s bewitching Prince Edwin with dirty tricks! We need to stop it immediately…!!”

 

“It’s blessing a human.”

 

Just then, someone who suddenly appeared interrupted Meg’s words.

 

“High Priest?”

 

Meg turned her head and frowned.

 

‘High Priest?’

 

I also quickly shifted my gaze to look at the person called ‘High Priest.’

 

‘For a moment I thought it was Calista.’

 

He was a face I’d never seen before.

 

“I came to the Imperial Palace briefly on business, and felt tremendous sacred power from this direction, so I came to see…”

 

He swept the hall with wide-open eyes.

 

The Second Hall was filled with countless Pincels that had emerged from the box.

 

The Pincels were each making pleasant bell sounds as they flew here and there throughout the hall.

 

“Why are Sacred Sprites here…”

 

The High Priest’s gaze gradually turned toward me. Eventually, having grasped the situation, he muttered in disbelief.

 

“…Could it be that Lady brought all these Sacred Sprites here?”

 

I nodded.

 

When I raised one hand, the Pincels scattered in all directions instantly began flocking around me.

 

The prince who had been constantly muttering dessert names behind me also snapped out of his hallucination.

 

The prince clung to his mother’s skirt and blushed.

 

“M-Mother! I want to see it again! Please let me see it again.”

 

“Shh, Edwin. In a little while…”

 

The Lady calmed the child down, sensing the unusual atmosphere.

 

I turned my gaze away from them and looked at the High Priest again.

 

The High Priest’s eyes were fixed solely on my right hand. Precisely, on my right hand that was seamlessly surrounded by Pincels.

 

“H-how…”

 

I smiled awkwardly and gently lowered my right hand to point at the box.

 

Then the Pincels flew in an orderly manner into the box.

 

They looked docile, as if they had never been flying around the hall.

 

The priest’s face hardened as he watched the Pincel flapping its wings inside the box.

 

“How is this possible…!”

 

I coughed awkwardly with a slightly embarrassed expression.

 

‘How what? I just did what Rubel taught me.’

 

Raise one hand to gather here.

 

Point with the index finger to move there.

 

The method of controlling the Pincels was simple and easy.

 

“Wh-where did you bring so many Sacred Sprites from? No, how did you even think to display Sacred Sprites…!”

 

The priest stammered while glancing at Father who stood guard beside me like a mountain.

 

After I collapsed, Father had been researching ways to blow up the Temple without anyone knowing whenever he had time.

 

…He didn’t seem to be hiding it particularly well either.

 

So it made sense that the High Priest was intimidated by Father. I shrugged my shoulders and asked.

 

“Is there some problem? There was no clause saying living things couldn’t be exhibited.”

 

Across from me, Meg let out what sounded like a scoffing sigh with her face pale as a sheet.

 

The High Priest said restlessly.

 

“It’s, it’s not that it’s absolutely forbidden! It’s just hard to believe the sight before my eyes!”

 

I tilted my head.

 

“What’s so hard to believe?”

 

“To begin with, Pincel aren’t such human-friendly sacred sprites! Just think how much our temple struggles every year to find Pincel…!”

 

I nodded. The priest’s words were true.

 

The temple always set out for the Cursed Land to ‘capture’ Pincel on the first day of the new year, before the ‘Night of Janus.’

 

Without Pincel, they couldn’t interpret the divine oracle that descended on the ‘Night of Janus.’

 

‘This is a story widely known throughout the Empire in fairy tales, legends, and even songs, so there’s nothing surprising about it.’

 

The Pincel obtained this way would mostly die within a day after being used to interpret the oracle.

 

Due to the nature of sacred sprites, it was common for them to lose their divine power and die when touched by human hands.

 

“Moreover, with the number of sacred sprites decreasing over the past few years, we’ve been facing such difficulties…”

 

The priest stared with bewildered eyes at the Pincel sitting obediently inside the crate.

 

There appeared to be at least 50 Pincel.

 

“How could so many Pincel follow Lady so obediently like this…!”

 

Watching the priest’s astonished reaction, I secretly scratched my head.

 

‘Well, I couldn’t bring something more expensive than Ethyl stone armor…’

 

I was just trying to compete with something other than price.

 

To win at the charity event, I had to make the spectators offer their tickets to me.

 

So I pondered. What would be good.

 

Something that could steal people’s attention.

 

Something rare, mysterious, and preferably sacred.

 

Something that could earn the enthusiasm of nobles who were crazy about special objects.

 

‘This was the only thing I could think of.’

 

Fortunately, I happened to have a very capable person by my side who could obtain and even train Pincel.

 

But I couldn’t say this honestly.

 

I opened my mouth, cleverly packaging the truth just a little.

 

“I simply wanted to bestow the ‘blessing’ of Pincel upon everyone.”

 

The priest’s eyes widened as if incredulous.

 

I smiled sweetly and turned around to ask the Young Lord who had just experienced Pincel’s blessing.

 

“Young Lord, how was the sacred sprites’ blessing?”

 

The child’s face was still filled with happiness.

 

“It was so beautiful! I was in a castle filled with cakes and pastries, chocolate was flowing from fountains, and the floor was covered with candy!”

 

Smiling at the child’s answer, I said.

 

“Pincel’s blessing is said to be the greatest ecstasy humans can experience. Even setting aside the healing effects.”

 

“…”

 

“So I simply wanted to share Pincel’s blessing with many people for the thanksgiving festival.”

 

At those words, the Pincel emerged from their box and spiraled around the area, making lovely chiming sounds.

 

“These children will do anything I ask of them.”

 

Just then. Someone in the audience clutched their forehead and collapsed.

 

It was Madame Marie, who was renowned throughout the Estate for her devoutness.

 

“To think I could receive the blessing of spirits sent by God while still alive!”

 

Starting with those words, the audience began buzzing frantically.

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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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