That’s How I Became a Villainess - Chapter 17

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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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Episode 17

Bridget peered through the black haze, trying to pinpoint the patient’s exact location.
She could make out a man half-swallowed by a clump of Magical Corruption, crouched in on himself.
“Ugh… ah…!”
The patient writhed in agony within the liquid-like Magical Corruption, unaware of what was causing his suffering.
It was a grotesque and terrible sight.
“Eric, it’s me. You’re all right.”
Milea approached him cautiously. But he didn’t seem to notice her arrival, clawing at his own head and groaning.
“Help me… please… ahhh… no, no, no!”
“Can you heal him?”
Milea turned to Bridget, her face desperate.
Bridget surveyed the chamber, thick with clumps of Magical Corruption, then nodded.
“No problem.”
A soft luminescence poured from Bridget’s body.
‘Clumped Magical Corruption is difficult to purify.’
To eliminate it, she would need to separate it from its source and break it down finely over a long time in the right conditions.
Like a pebble worn smooth by a river.
‘I’ll absorb it and deal with it later.’
Rather than purify the clump of Magical Corruption, Bridget chose to condense and absorb it.
Whoosh.
The Magical Corruption touched by her light receded like a tide, gathering in one place to escape the glow.
The clump clinging to the patient’s body resisted, trying to hold on until the last moment, but it could not withstand the light and retreated.
As Bridget collected the clump of Magical Corruption in a corner and steadily reduced its volume, it compressed endlessly until it transformed into a pitch-black sphere.
A ball the size of Bridget’s head.
Black tentacle-like appendages kept trying to slip out through any gap, seeking to escape beyond her light.
The question was how to keep it from spreading.
‘Absorption.’
Bridget placed the sphere of Magical Corruption into her Shadow.
Remarkably, once inside the Shadow, it thrashed violently along the Shadow’s perimeter but could not break free.
Bridget knew how to handle Magical Corruption with practiced skill.
She had encountered such corruption before.
In her previous life, in the Convent Underground Prison.
The place where those who violated the Convent’s rules were sent.
A place filled with anguished screams and groans, and a terrible stench—where Bridget had once been confined for a time.
It was less than human existence.
She had eaten food mixed with filth and slept upon it.
Not even a moment’s washing or sunlight was permitted.
It was wretched and agonizing.
And it was in that terrible place that Bridget had awakened to the way of handling Magical Corruption.
‘No one ever taught me.’
Bridget’s ability had always been dismissed as a minor trick.
Those who had never known sleeplessness or depression could not understand how much suffering Magical Corruption brought.
Corrupted minds and diseased hearts were invisible, so people dismissed such things as unimportant.
“Heal a diseased mind? That’s an ability only weaklings need. If people just steel themselves, it’s nothing at all.”
That was the response Bridget’s ability received from those around her.
A talent harmless enough to keep around, but no great loss if discarded.
And so Bridget never had the chance to truly understand her ability or develop it properly.
But in that dreadful Convent Underground Prison, Bridget had encountered the true nature of her power for the first time.
That place was a hell overflowing with Magical Corruption.
Bridget, confined there, had time in abundance.
During every waking hour, she worked with Magical Corruption, experimented, and accumulated understanding and expertise.
‘My body grew weak, and I contracted an illness in that place and died.’
So in her previous life, she had never once properly wielded her ability.
‘To think I’d be reborn and use it like this.’
It was terribly ironic.
The groans of the patient, freed from the grip of Magical Corruption, began to subside.
Milea was the first to notice Eric had gone quiet.
“Eric has… fallen asleep,” she whispered.
She spoke softly, her gaze turning to Bridget in bewilderment.
Unable to sense the presence of Magical Corruption herself, she had watched Eric drift into what appeared to be sleep the moment Bridget made a subtle gesture.
“How did you…?”
“I’ve cleared away the malevolent presence that was pouring from his body.”
“I see.”
Eric looked peaceful, lost in a deep and genuine sleep.
Milea gazed at her son and released a sigh of relief.
Ever since returning from the Battlefield, Eric had been tormented by nightmares each day, his body wracked with strain.
And whenever he managed to drift off without thinking, it wasn’t long before the nightmares would strike—he’d bolt awake with a scream.
Watching her son suffer this way had broken Milea’s heart, but now, seeing him sleep, she felt as though she could finally breathe.
The two of them slipped quietly from Eric’s chamber.
“Will he suffer again when he wakes?”
“The painful memories will still trouble him, but not nearly as much as before.”
Magical Corruption had a nature that mired humans in their worst recollections.
The foremost emotion it drew forth was guilt.
Guilt bred despair, and where such emotions gathered, Magical Corruption took root and flourished.
Now that she had cleared away the Corruption, Eric would no longer be consumed by those tormenting memories as he had been.
Yet memories don’t vanish in a single day, and they would gradually invite the Corruption back in.
“Is there no way for him to fully recover?”
“Time will heal him. Let him bask in sunlight and eat well—that will give him strength to endure. And when the day comes that he cannot bear it alone, call for me again without hesitation.”
When Magical Corruption massed into a Clump of Magical Corruption and consumed a living being entirely, its final act was to devour the very survival instinct that all living things possessed.
A creature that lost that instinct would abandon life itself, and the Corruption would then seek another host, spreading to those nearby and repeating the same cycle.
A Clump of Magical Corruption could not be cast off through strength alone.
Therefore, my strength would be needed periodically, before the Corruption could mass together.
“How long will this repeat?”
Milea’s expression darkened at such a vague answer.
“I cannot keep imposing on you like this.”
Bridget assured her there was no need to worry so.
“It will only need to continue until his memories fade. The path may be slow and uncertain, which can feel agonizing, but there will come a time when he is truly well. Please don’t rush it.”
“Truly?”
“Yes, truly. Magical Corruption is stubborn, but it’s not as strong as all that.”
Only then did Milea find peace.
“Thank you, Bridget. If there’s anything you want, anything at all, tell me. It may not be enough repayment, but I’ll do whatever lies in my power.”
Milea had regained her usual composed bearing as she spoke with resolve.
“I am a woman who must repay every kindness. So please, don’t refuse me.”
Bridget, knowing Milea would say this, had no intention of refusing.
“There are two things I ask of you.”
Milea’s brow twitched—she had expected Bridget to demur, to say it was unnecessary, that she had merely done what needed doing, for Bridget seemed so quiet and unambitious. But instead, here she was, making requests.
“Tell me.”
“If there is anyone among those close to you who might need my gifts, speak of me to them. I will help them.”
Milea tilted her head.
“That would count as repayment for what I’ve done?”
“Yes.”
Bridget smiled without a word.
“You are truly difficult to understand.”
Milea had prepared herself to hear something greedy—after all, she’d asked for two favors—but it turned out to be rather modest.
Yet there was something refreshing about it all the same.
Milea had encountered many people in her years serving at the King’s side.
Most of them seized such opportunities without hesitation, their desires laid bare.
“Please speak well of me to His Majesty. I would like him to understand how great my service has been.”
“If you mention this to His Majesty, surely he’d grant you a position of honor, wouldn’t he?”
“I hear His Majesty has acquired considerable spoils from this war. Could you help me receive a portion of them…?”
Their demands always converged on three things: honor, power, and money.
They all sought Milea out hoping to snatch scraps of the King’s favor.
Each time, Milea would grow weary of their greed and deny her own influence, citing her limitations instead.
“That’s not true. I am a woman with neither strength nor authority. I am merely a servant attending to His Majesty.”
She had never met anyone who spoke as Bridget did, and she found it remarkable.
“Very well. And the second thing?”

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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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