The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 91

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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 91
Rozelin’s brow furrowed as she pulled out a couple of gold ingots from nearby and hurled them toward the High Priest.
“Five million Orang—will that do? Take as much as you want. But…….”
Rozelin’s words trailed off, and then she smiled brilliantly.
“If you dare interrupt me again without my permission and play such tricks in front of me…….”
The High Priest’s movements ceased abruptly at the chill in Rozelin’s gaze.
It was a gaze so glacial that one couldn’t believe it came from the same person who, mere moments before, had seemed indifferent, detached, and utterly apathetic.
“I can make you destitute with my own hands and cast you onto the streets. Of course, all aid to the Temple ends as well.”
“……Haha, so our master dislikes insubordination!”
Rozelin fixed her gaze on the High Priest, who had swiftly knelt upon the bed.
High Priest Irbon spoke up quickly.
“Basilisk always wears different forms and hides within the Human World, but there can never be two of him in any world-line. He is a traveler of world-lines, after all—born from nowhere that anyone knows.”
Rozelin’s eyes widened sharply at this.
‘Two of him can’t exist in any world?’
How had Geren Wilbrid ended up making a contract with such a creature?
“This demon can traverse world-lines. And since two identical people cannot exist in the same world…….”
Rozelin faltered at his words.
“His existence must necessarily be singular.”
“That’s rather fascinating.”
“Indeed. But from what I’ve heard, whenever he appears in any world-line, he becomes what originally existed in that world. That’s why no one notices.”
Rozelin nodded at the High Priest’s measured explanation.
High Priest Irbon’s eyes glimmered.
He rolled the gold he’d suspended in midair this way and that as he continued.
“I sense traces of that Basilisk in you, master.”
“……Is that so?”
Rozelin lowered her gaze slowly.
‘Why does this feel so unsettling?’
There was an irritation, as if something vital had been overlooked—like a splinter she couldn’t quite remove.
“I’ve always wondered why my eyes kept drifting toward you. Now I understand—it was because of this.”
Rozelin’s frown deepened as she watched him mutter to himself.
It was that form of address that had grated on her from the start.
“Stop calling me that.”
“Why? Everyone who pays me is a master.”
He rubbed the gold ingot against his cheek as he spoke. Rozelin shook her head, thinking him a thoroughly mercenary creature.
‘Still…… he lost his life in the war against Kaluta.’
He’d spent his life maintaining a barrier to protect the Empire.
His Abyss was one that burned his own life force, after all.
Since Rozelin herself had survived because of his sacrifice, she couldn’t bring herself to truly despise him, irritating as he was.
“So parallel worlds truly exist.”
He looked at Rozelin with wonder.
“So…… did you see the future, several years ahead, master?”
Rozelin studied the High Priest intently.
“And what good would that do you?”
“Don’t you have more substantial information?”
He crept closer, asking with careful nonchalance. With both gold ingots clasped in his hands, his greed was unmistakable.
Rozelin smiled, her eyes narrowing.
“I do.”
“Truly?”
Rozelin nodded.
There were indeed many things worth profit. That was what knowing the future meant, after all…….
‘I haven’t mentioned it, but Geren seems to have his fingers in various ventures as well…….’
He’d always been a man of considerable skill, and these days he seemed quite occupied with his undertakings.
What Geren Wilbrid took on required tedious work, but promised steady returns.
By contrast, what Rozelin involved herself in for profit was uncomplicated—admittedly capable of yielding a substantial sum at once, but offering no long-term gains.
She was, after all, a woman destined to leave, and she had no desire to entangle herself in troublesome affairs.
‘I’m not the sort to court hardship like Geren does.’
She simply had no wish to wade into work that would obviously prove irksome.
‘Money earned without labor—that’s the best.’
If there existed an occupation that generated income without effort, she would gladly pursue it.
By that standard, being born into the upper nobility was indeed a most excellent arrangement.
“Do you want to make money?”
“Of course.”
“Well… it seems to depend on how well you listen to me going forward.”
At Rozelin’s subtle remark, the High Priest’s adam’s apple bobbed prominently.
The man in pristine white robes—hardly the austere figure one might expect—swallowed visibly, his desire laid bare in a gaudy smile.
“What is it you need, my master?”
The guile that had flickered across his eyes vanished, replaced by something almost eager.
“You truly do love money.”
“It’s my only way to manage stress, really. When I pile gold high as mountains and spend it freely, there’s a thrill to it.”
The High Priest clasped his hands to his chest and spoke such mercenary words unselfconsciously, as though uttering a prayer to some deity.
Rozelin regarded him with frank incomprehension, and he laughed indulgently.
“Surely you enjoy spending money as well?”
“Not particularly.”
“But your clothes all appear to be new. And from Pluere, at that….”
“I squeezed these out of Geren. As for money—well, I was born with it, so I don’t quite understand a commoner’s sense of want.”
At such unbridled arrogance, the High Priest blinked once before bursting into genuine laughter.
He went on chuckling for some time, utterly amused, before wiping his eyes with the back of his hand and speaking again.
“A common human traveling the world means they died before reaching it… so your life before death was quite smooth, then?”
“Not particularly. I’ve never lacked for money, and even if I had, it wouldn’t have bothered me much.”
Even after leaving home, Rozelin had lived lavishly enough—earnings from blackmailing others or selling information kept her comfortable.
During her time as a fugitive, she’d known some scarcity, but it hadn’t made her especially unhappy.
“Ah, speaking of the Marquis Geren… he’ll be arriving in the Duchy soon.”
“Marquis Geren is coming here? Why?”
At Rozelin’s question, he rubbed the corners of his mouth.
“The Imperial Court issued orders to the Temple regarding a Monster Subjugation, but….”
He tilted his head in puzzlement, letting his words trail off.
“He said he wished to participate in the subjugation himself. Since he obtained permission from the Emperor, I had no grounds to refuse.”
Irbon rubbed his chin a few times, then finished restacking the Gold Ingot he’d been holding before speaking.
“The man puts me at ease, so I arrived here first.”
“Is that why grandfather came down to the Duchy….”
“Likely so. Since the Duchy needed to garrison forces here, the Duke’s permission was essential.”
Now that he’d shed his playfulness, the explanation came readily, and Rozelin fell silent in thought.
‘…I didn’t expect Geren to move.’
Both Geren Wilbrid and Rozelin knew the future that awaited ten years hence.
Yet unlike Rozelin, Geren Wilbrid hadn’t taken any particular steps to alter it.
‘Still, rumors of discord persist….’
From her recent conversation with Marquise Wilbrid, it seemed she was anxious about Geren’s changes.
He’d always been a creature of pleasure and amusement, and he’d neglected her for quite some time.
In fact, the Marquise’s devotion to Geren was so renowned that even Rozelin knew of it.
‘Though I can’t fathom why.’
Society whispered that at her first Debutante ball, the Marquise had seen Geren and fallen for him at first sight.
After that, she’d pursued him relentlessly, or so the gossip went.
She’d approached him repeatedly and, undeterred by his firm rejections, kept proposing until finally Geren Wilbrid had chosen her.
Yet his subsequent indifference had worn her down bit by bit.
‘No matter how I look at it, Geren is a worthless bastard.’
She’d have to keep rooting for a divorce.
Rozelin gathered her thoughts and opened her mouth.

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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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