The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 61

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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 61
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“You’ve already resolved the disappearance case?”
The Emperor regarded Rozelin with astonishment as she appeared before him less than two weeks later.
“Yes.”
He had expected it would take at least several months.
That much was reasonable.
The Emperor, after all, could not entrust the matter to them alone, so he had mobilized Lavis.
If the perpetrator possessed an Abyss, it gave them justification to deploy their forces.
“So the arson and the disappearances are connected, then.”
“Yes.”
“And you also have a solution to the plague that’s spreading now.”
“Yes.”
Rozelin answered each question from the Emperor with quiet precision, then continued.
“The Duke Geren personally interrogated the perpetrators and located the missing persons at the places they visited as a result.”
She recited the facts with clinical detachment.
“Nearly all of them had been used in experiments and were dead.”
“Experiments…?”
“Yes.”
Rozelin placed the documents she had brought before the Emperor.
“They were conducting experiments to create a living Abyss Weapon.”
“Experiments to create an Abyss Weapon?”
“The Abyss typically awakens under extreme circumstances. If someone faced death by burning alive, anyone could awaken one.”
The Emperor’s expression tightened slightly.
“So they were deliberately creating extreme conditions to cultivate an Abyss?”
“Put simply, yes.”
The Emperor clicked his tongue.
He spoke with an expression caught between disbelief and irritation.
“It makes no sense. If you lock someone away and burn them to death, the Abyss dies too. An Abyss isn’t some miracle cure for everything…”
“But very rarely, those with exceptionally powerful Abyss can survive.”
Rozelin interrupted to add her explanation, and the Emperor’s brow furrowed.
“When two Abyss clash, the outcome depends partly on compatibility, but also on the specific nature of each person’s ability.”
“True enough.”
The Emperor nodded at Rozelin’s logical point.
“Water defeats fire as a rule, but a person with a fire Abyss powerful enough can overcome water, just as one with a water Abyss might……”
“You understand well. Then you also grasp how abysmal those odds truly are.”
“I do.”
“So the perpetrator committed these atrocities for the sake of awakening such an infinitesimal probability?”
The Emperor understood the situation clearly.
“Yes.”
“Thousands dead for such a trivial reason? That’s unconscionable.”
“One powerful soldier is far more efficient than a hundred mediocre ones.”
Rozelin nodded again as she replied.
‘In my world, one such child survived in Randarin.’
The sole survivor.
And that sole survivor vanished not long after.
Later, he appeared again as one of the Reapers loyal to Makluksa.
This was the boy whom Geren had found in Randarin based on Rozelin’s information and was now protecting at his estate.
Had Rozelin failed to stop Randarin’s rampage, that child would have become the only survivor amid the ashes of the ruined city, destined to become one of Makluksa’s Reapers.
In her world, the boy had been born with a powerful Storm Abyss.
That storm had protected him within the inferno.
Even after launching a major purge of Makluksa, the reason they never found him until the end was due to two young boys under the King’s watch, brainwashed to sacrifice their lives for him.
The boy with the Storm Abyss from Randarin was one of them.
Thus, whoever later slew such a King and took control of Makluksa must have been a figure of considerable ability.
‘In any case, with this, I’ve severed nearly all the King’s limbs.’
The original opportunities the King of Makluksa would have gained—eliminated. The means by which Makluksa earned its wealth—eliminated.
With a powerful imperial ally promoting alliance with Kaluta, the risk of war—eliminated.
The more preparations were delayed, the less readily he would surface.
“Even committing such acts, there’s no guarantee of gain. Why on earth resort to such madness?”
“What if there were an Abyss capable of performing prophecy? A prophecy that would inevitably come true?”
“Prophecy?”
The Emperor’s expression shifted to one of confusion at Rozelin’s words.
“What if that prophecy meant something like: a storm of revolution shall be born from the fire of hell?”
She continued quickly.
Revolution, after all, always meant the replacement of a king, so what they would create could only be the fire of hell itself.
“If prophecies never miss their mark, then a storm will indeed be born from that fire. The only question is what kind of fire it will be.”
“……So you kindled that flame yourself?”
“Yes.”
“By burning an entire village?”
“The fire of hell would hardly be a small spark, would it?”
At Rozelin’s matter-of-fact words, the Emperor’s attempt at laughter died, replaced by a look of exasperation.
Beneath his harshly furrowed brow, unmistakable displeasure flickered across his features.
Rozelin, sensing the rare display of emotion from the Emperor, continued.
After listening quietly to her lengthy explanation, the Emperor spoke.
“So the disappearances were about abducting children who’d just awakened the Abyss to obtain test subjects for Makluksa, and the arson was about acquiring superior weapons—is that it?”
“There were those reasons, yes. But there was also another—recruiting allies.”
“……Allies?”
Rozelin nodded.
The reason Makluksa was founded.
The reason Makluksa sought to overthrow the state, to foment revolution, to commit treason.
“Do you know what the condition is to become part of Makluksa’s leadership, Your Majesty?”
Information about Makluksa was not yet widely known in this world.
They scattered so thoroughly in all directions and were so skilled at cutting their losses that even with Lavis deployed, the Emperor had gathered little intelligence.
‘If this intelligence truly comes from the Abyss, she’s a talent I absolutely cannot afford to lose.’
As the Emperor contemplated this, Rozelin opened her mouth to continue.
“The Abyss tends to manifest more often in those of noble blood.”
“…….”
“The titles given to Makluksa’s leadership are varied.”
A faint smile played at Rozelin’s lips.
“The forgotten and cast out. Those who bear noble blood yet can never be noble. The shame of their house. Those who exist yet should not exist. Those condemned to live their entire lives hidden in shadow…….”
The Emperor stiffened.
Once, Rozelin herself had been in a position to receive such an offer.
“Those for whom birth itself became a sin, who were forced to grow up amid ridicule and contempt.”
When Rozelin reached this point, the Emperor, who had been leaning forward, straightened in his seat.
Rozelin met his gaze directly and spoke.
“Illegitimate children of the nobility.”
The moment Rozelin finished speaking, all trace of amusement vanished from the Emperor’s face.
* * *
“……We’ve run into interference.”
“Yes, it seems we’ll have difficulty proceeding as planned.”
Aximuus spoke to the figure across from him, scratching his head with an air of irritation.
A wide yawn.
His gaping mouth left nothing but tedium in its wake.
‘That little lady’s more capable than I expected.’
Aximuus rolled his eyes, thinking.
Because of her, matters had grown complicated in various ways, and the plan was falling apart bit by bit.
“Is it that Rozelin Bellion again?”
“Well…….”
At the words of ‘King,’ Aximuus nodded obediently.
He sat cross-legged in his chair, swinging his body loosely as he rubbed his chin.
“It’s really something. That gloomy, timid princess actually pulling off something like this…….”
He spoke in a light tone, chuckling.
“Show some dignity, Aximuus.”
At the other’s words, he pouted his lips carelessly and shrugged.
“As our King well knows, I grew up on the streets. This count title never quite sits right with me, you understand.”
“A position carries weight.”
“Well, they said I could kill off anyone who bothered me, so I was excited to grab hold of it—but this sort of thing’s no fun.”
Count Aximuus Baldur.
The man who gripped that rank solely with blood-stained hands muttered his displeasure and shrugged again.
“The plan is proceeding well. It won’t be long now.”
“That’s rich, considering you keep getting pestered by a pretty girl every time you turn around, isn’t it?”
Not that he was complaining, really.
The man who resembled a carefree drifter added this lightly, then let out a low chuckle.
Though his counterpart glared at him fiercely, Aximuus seemed entirely unaffected.
A sharp click of the tongue—the other man’s impatience showing.
Rarely blessed, he was among the chosen few born with two Abyss powers—one governing earth, the other fire—yet his arrogance proved a persistent problem.
“Simple enough. Make her our Queen, and the problem solves itself.”
“…A Queen? Just like that? It’s obvious she’s trying to interfere with us, so why would she accept?”
“That’s where your charm comes in. Besides, there’s a banquet coming soon.”
Persuasion was the word used, but the meaning was unmistakable: obtain her consent, by whatever means necessary.
“I like it. This should be amusing. I’ve been wanting another conversation with the lady anyway.”
Aximuus, who’d already been longing to see Rozelin again, smiled as he ran his hand along his own arm—the one he’d torn off and hastily reattached not long ago.
A few days later, the Khan of Kaluta arrived at the empire, leading his delegation.
The banquet in Kaluta’s honor was held the following evening.

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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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