The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 193

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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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Part 2, Episode 63
“Ha ha, you’re certainly happy to see me.”
*Growl!*
“Happy? More like being crushed to death…! Ugh, I’m going to be crushed!”
Irbon squealed like a child.
Rozelin rested her chin in her palm and watched him indifferently before her eyes widened.
‘Ah, so that’s why the High Priest looked subtly different—his hair is short.’
She’d wondered what was different about Irbon from how she remembered him; his snow-white hair and hazy grey eyes were the same, but his hair was noticeably shorter.
‘That’s why he looks younger.’
Rozelin bobbed her head slightly at this newfound realization.
“Wolf, stop.”
“Yes!”
At that, Wolf released Irbon cleanly, as though he’d never been latched onto him in the first place.
The creature quickly settled beside Rozelin again and lay down.
“Phew…”
Now that he could breathe freely, Irbon sighed deeply, his hair disheveled.
He rose unsteadily, gathered a beverage and some butter cookies, and sat down across from Rozelin.
“Ow… that hurts.”
Irbon muttered softly as he held a gold ingot in each hand, gently rubbing it against the arm where Wolf had bitten him.
Fortunately, the bite had been gentle enough—his clothes were torn, but there was no blood.
“…What are you doing right now?”
“Golden Healing.”
As if rolling an egg over a bruised eye—except he was rubbing a gold ingot against his arm.
Finding this absurd, she watched for a moment, then took a warm milk and a few butter cookies, munching them thoughtfully before speaking.
“How are things at the Temple?”
“Well… boring and tedious, I’d say. It’s actually a more serious situation than I expected, so I’m fairly annoyed.”
“It’s that serious? What’s wrong?”
“There’s not a single coin loose enough to skim off.”
“…”
“Sigh… A man should at least have the pleasure of cooking the books a little, moving money around. But this? The Temple barely stays afloat by relying on steady patronage from the old noble families—tightening belts year after year.”
His voice was heavy with regret as he added that any embezzlement would collapse everything.
“…”
Rozelin decided she shouldn’t have asked. She resolved to attend to her own business and leave.
Asking after someone’s welfare was never something that suited her, nor was it a habit.
“I’m curious about something, Irbon.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Do you know anything about sealing demons?”
Irbon, who had been trembling as he sniffed the gold ingot, went rigid.
He slowly turned his head to look at Rozelin and asked carefully.
“…What did you say?”
“You mentioned once wanting to seal the Abyss Demon—I’m asking if you know how to seal it.”
Irbon stared at Rozelin for a moment, then his eyes rolled as he fingered the gold ingot; after a long pause, he finally spoke.
“…What are you thinking, Rozelin?”
“Drop the honorific. It gives me chills.”
“Understood, Rozelin.”
The subtly uncomfortable Irbon readily accepted her irritation and corrected his address.
“I’m not thinking anything—I just literally want to resolve this chaotic mess. It’s loud and annoying, and I have work to do. It’s a nuisance.”
“…”
“You said it yourself—that you went into seclusion because you didn’t want to be tainted by the Abyss.”
Rozelin spoke as she placed a butter cookie in her mouth—soft enough to crumble between her fingers.
“So your conclusion is to seal that Abyss being?”
“That’s right.”
“Sealing is… it might be possible. But the real problem is finding someone who can seal it.”
“Why?”
“Rozelin, I don’t want to crush your hopes, but speaking plainly—how can a mere human stand against a demon?”
Irbon shrugged and let out a faintly cynical laugh.
He turned his head to look out the window and continued.
“These creatures have the power to commit atrocities on a world-scale.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“So what’s the method for sealing it?”
Rozelin held out a butter cookie to Wolf and asked again with perfect calm.
Wolf looked up at her with deeply moved eyes, then quickly took the cookie from her hand between his teeth and chewed it.
Rozelin stroked the top of his head gently.
“…Roze, you heard what I said, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. If it doesn’t work, what can you do?”
“You’ll die.”
“Probably not, though?”
“Why are you so confident about that?”
“That bastard of a father wouldn’t let me die, would he?”
Rozelin spoke matter-of-factly.
It was a little irritating, admittedly.
Actually, her pride was hurt more than a little.
But there was a strange certainty that Garren Wilbred wouldn’t let her die.
She was sure she would never have thought such a thing in the past, which didn’t sit well with her. Once she became aware that a name had formed in her for this relationship, she even sighed.
‘But if he does let me die, then there’s nothing to be done about it.’
He had told her not to touch it, that he couldn’t help her.
It was Rozelin who had gotten involved after one warning.
Still, if it came to that, she’d at least manage the aftermath out of basic loyalty. Whether by erasing the memories of those left behind, or by letting them know honestly of her death so they wouldn’t keep waiting.
‘That’s a bit sad, though.’
She’d find a way to make it back.
Rozelin thought this calmly.
“You’re still young, so you don’t seem to understand how terrifying demons are. If you examine the literature, you’ll see that….”
“The method.”
“…Abyss Demons don’t just do something like this for no reason. When cases have involved them and reached a proper conclusion….”
“The method.”
“…it’s no different from walking blindly into a death trap. It’s not something humans can possibly….”
“Yeah yeah, just tell me the method. Once I hear that, I’ll go.”
Rozelin cut off Irbon’s repeated explanations with a casual tone.
Irbon’s body trembled slightly.
‘It’s true—being young, her emotional expression is quite unguarded.’
The Irbon of twenty years later had seemed a bit more cunning, a bit more middle-aged.
Even more lifeless than she was now.
“Even if I tell you the sealing method, it’s impossible for Roze to attempt it!”
Irbon’s voice rose, apparently exasperated.
He startled at his own agitation, then held a gold ingot up close to his nose and sniffed at it loudly. She had a fundamental question about whether gold actually gave off a scent like this, but she held her tongue.
“Why?”
Irbon sighed at Rozelin’s question.
“Why? Well, because humans are created beings, so it’s impossible for us to touch demons born from the Abyss.”
Irbon said this.
‘But Garren Wilbred told me it was possible for me.’
If that man wasn’t planning to trick her deliberately, he wouldn’t have lied. Besides, while he was cunning enough, he wasn’t the type to say meaningless or nonsensical things.
“At best, only priests with the ability to be called true Apostles of God, or beings who transcended human limits—the ones history called Heroes—might be able to put up a proper fight.”
“Someone like you?”
At Rozelin’s question, Irbon paused for a moment.
His eyes widened slightly, then gradually met hers.
“…Why would I come up in that?”
“Because you’re that kind of priest. An extraordinary person.”
“I’m not sure what you’re looking at to say something like that, but….”
“You’re remarkable. You know a lot, and you’re righteous.”
At that, Irbon twisted his lips crookedly and furrowed his brow as if he’d heard something strange.
“Righteous? That’s the first time I’ve heard that in my life. I’m the type who’ll do anything for money.”
“And yet you’re here now.”
“That’s because I was paid….”
“Does liking money make you unrighteous? If you can die for someone other than yourself in the final moment, that’s what righteousness is.”
Rozelin spoke without hesitation.
She knew how Irbon had died when war came. That despite his love of money and gambling, he never truly walked the path of crime.
That he didn’t hesitate to use his divine power even for those who had no money.
“If you’d hated it enough to flee, yet came for a few coins anyway, then setting aside your values or personality—that means your fundamental nature is righteous.”
“That’s….”
“The truth is, you have plenty of ways to make money. Your Healing Ability is exceptional, and you’re no slouch in a fight either. You could sell just that and be rolling in wealth before long.”
Yet even when Irbon wanted to multiply his fortune through gambling, he never hawked his abilities carelessly.
His gifts existed not for the wealthy, but for the faithful who truly needed them.
“…….”
Listening to the child’s words delivered in that indifferent, matter-of-fact tone, Irbon’s face twisted into something strange—a tangle of conflicting emotions.

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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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