The Male Lead Has Gone Mad Over the Troublesome Villainess - Chapter 24

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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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The Male Lead Has Gone Mad for the Villainess | Chapter 24
People began to move following the Cook’s hand signals.
“Don’t pour the oil all at once. We’ll need what’s left, so spread it thin across the bottom.”
“Spread it? Where?”
“On top of the cart.”
The Cook gestured with his chin toward the Supply Cart.
Everyone nodded and scrambled up onto the cart. The Coachman tossed up a rope, and the porters hauled the oil drums after it. The handmaids each took a Torch, lit from the fire, and held them ready.
Soon a dozen or so people had positioned themselves atop the cart.
Now it was just a matter of luring the creature between the carts.
But there was a serious problem.
“The thing is… how do we drag it through that gap?”
At Vanessa’s question, the top of the cart fell silent. Everyone exchanged nervous glances.
The Cook swallowed hard and adjusted his grip on the Kitchen Knife.
“I’ll do it. An old body like mine isn’t worth much anyway.”
“No, sir! You couldn’t even make it halfway through the Passage at your pace…”
Vanessa trailed off, unable to finish. No one could muster the courage to speak it aloud.
Then a small voice cut through the darkness.
“We’ll do it.”
Vanessa spun around in alarm. Behind her, other children’s eyes gleamed in the shadows.
“We’re really good at running away.”
“And we’re the fastest.”
The children spoke with quiet certainty.
Vanessa found herself at a loss for words.
Yet she could think of no alternative. Among the adults here, none could outrun the creature. And they couldn’t simply stay hidden forever. The Monster was clearly tearing through the Campsite in search of something.
The longer they waited, the more danger the children faced.
Vanessa bit her lip. She didn’t want to admit it, but the children were right. Small and nimble as they were, they had the best chance of slipping between the carts.
‘You’ll be able to do far more than you think.’
Rosana’s words came back to her. It wasn’t just Vanessa who had grown capable. The children too had learned to do so much. And now they all strived together, pooling their strength to survive.
Vanessa felt her nose prickling as she gave a resolute nod.
In the distance, the sound of another tent collapsing rang out.
It was coming.
Vanessa drew a sharp breath and opened her palm wide.
The children froze in place. They didn’t even breathe.
The creature’s massive form appeared beyond the cart. Eight red eyes glinted in the darkness. Now was the time.
Vanessa struck the cart’s wooden planks with her fist.
Bang, bang!
At the sound, the children immediately began striking whatever they held—Pots, Ladles, anything—in unison.
“Over here!”
“Here, here!”
The metallic clanging echoed through the Campsite. All eight eyes turned toward them at once. The creature reared up and charged straight at the children.
The ground trembled.
Vanessa watched, breath held tight, tracking every movement. She waited for her moment.
One finger.
The children scattered right in unison. The creature’s foreleg came down exactly where they’d been standing. Dust erupted.
Two fingers.
Left this time. The Monster tried to veer sharply, but its legs tangled. With a body that size, it couldn’t pivot as quickly as the children.
The children scattered and regrouped according to Vanessa’s Hand Signals, scattering again and again. Each time, the creature flailed with wasted movements, edging steadily toward the Passage. One child tripped over a stone.
“Ah!”
“No!”
Vanessa’s fist clenched reflexively. The child dropped flat to the ground. The creature’s leg swept past overhead, slicing away a few strands of the child’s hair, but leaving them whole. Before the Monster could turn, another child pressed against the wall lunged forward, grabbed the fallen one’s arm, and both rolled together under the cart.
Vanessa released the breath she’d been holding.
The creature chased the remaining children right to the Passage entrance. Vanessa gave the final signal.
Circle.
The children rushed toward the far end of the Passage in a cluster. Before the Monster lay what looked like easy prey bunched together in one spot. It surged forward without hesitation, forcing its massive body into the narrow gap.
In that instant, every child rolled under the cart.
The Passage stood empty now, with only the creature wedged inside. Its enormous frame was jammed between the carts, its eight legs thrashing and crumpled. The cart groaned under the strain, but laden with heavy supplies as it was, it held firm and didn’t topple.
“Now!”
At the Cook’s shout, the people atop the cart tilted the oil drums.
Black oil cascaded down like a waterfall, drenching the creature’s back. The Monster belatedly looked up. Eight eyes fixed on the people standing on the cart above.
“Everyone off the cart! Run!”
At Vanessa’s cry, the children darted away to the opposite side and fled toward the Barracks. They were safe. The Cook shouted.
“Burn it!”
Torches rained down like a deluge.
Whoosh!
The flames consumed the creature’s massive body in an instant. Its crimson fur blackened as it burned, acrid smoke billowing skyward.
“Keeeeee!”
A shriek unlike any she’d heard before. One of its legs lashed out, shattering the wooden planks of the Supply Cart. The porter standing atop it screamed and tumbled through the air.
“Are you hurt?”
“Phew—thank you for catching me!”
The people held fast to one another’s arms. The combined weight of their bodies kept the cart rooted in place, refusing to budge.
The creature, tangled in the cart and unable to escape, writhed in the flames. Not a single person abandoned their post to run.
“More Oil! Don’t spare it!”
As the last of the Oil poured out, the fire surged with renewed fury. A maidservant tilted an entire Pot of boiling Oil and dumped it over the creature’s head.
Only when the flames began spreading to the cart did the people leap clear and scatter. Vanessa gasped for breath.
How much time had passed?
The creature’s thrashing grew slower and slower. With one final convulsion, its body went still.
No one spoke until the flames had guttered to embers.
“…Is it… dead?”
Someone ventured the question cautiously. The Coachman poked at one of its legs with a long Stick, then collapsed onto the ground.
“It’s dead. Dead!”
A cheer erupted. As people embraced and clapped one another on the back, Vanessa’s legs gave out and she sank to the ground.
“Vanessa!”
The children rushed to her and threw their arms around her. They were caked in dirt, yet every face was flushed with triumph.
“We did it! We caught it!”
“Not one of us made a mistake, right?”
The children clung to Vanessa. She gathered their small bodies into her arms all at once. Only then did the tears she’d been holding back spill over.
“You did so well. So incredibly well!”
* * *
As we entered the Campsite, the first thing that struck me was the dark smoke rising into the sky.
My heart plummeted. Surely not. One had gotten past us?
“Vanessa! Lilia!”
I dismounted before my horse had fully stopped, sprinting toward the Campsite. I forgot the pain shooting through my legs.
Between the shredded tents, wedged among the Supply Carts, lay an enormous charred corpse. This was likely the fifteenth creature.
“…Who could have…”
Kael, who had followed behind me, trailed off as well.
“Rosana!”
A voice rang out from the direction of the Barracks. I turned to see Vanessa, covered in soot, rushing toward me with the children in tow. They were filthy with dirt, their hair disheveled, yet somehow their faces glowed with exhilaration.
“Rosana! It was us, we did it!”
“Sister! We caught it!”
“We caught the Monster!”
The children swarmed around me, hanging from my legs.
I stood dazed, examining each child in turn. They bore scratches here and there, but they were whole. Only then did the vise clamped around my chest release. My knees nearly buckled beneath me.
“You’re… all safe.”
The children nodded with pride. Vanessa too, her tension finally breaking, smiled with tears threatening to spill over.

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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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