The Male Lead Has Gone Mad Over the Troublesome Villainess - Chapter 29

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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 Over the Villainess 029
He steadied his breathing before speaking.
“The poison could be applied to arrowheads and spearpoints, the carapace could be affixed to shields. And the thread the poison spider spins—wouldn’t that serve as bowstring material?”
A few knights nearby stirred uneasily. One of them stepped forward with evident disapproval.
“You’re suggesting we coat weapons with monster poison. That is not work befitting a knight. You speak such things only because you’ve grown sheltered in a greenhouse, my lady, knowing nothing of the world.”
She exhaled softly. Such prejudice made the easy path treacherous. Did honor put food on the table? Did that wretched honor save anyone’s life? How could anyone function with such a detached sense of reality?
If anything, the one sheltered in a greenhouse was that knight, not her.
Then Kael spoke.
“What do you wear beneath that armor?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Wyvern Armor, I’d wager. Same as mine.”
The knight’s face flushed crimson.
“When His Majesty called it base, I did not follow that judgment. The fact that your neck remains attached is thanks to that choice. Do you deny it?”
There was no way he could. Kael was the Crown Prince, and it was undeniable that the Wyvern Armor worn beneath his own mail was doing considerable work. As the knight fumbled for words, Kael continued.
“If you wish to deny it, you need not follow my orders.”
Kael glanced once at the heap of corpses, then once at her. Then he issued his command.
“Stop incinerating the monsters.”
She trailed after Kael as he walked, pressing on. This was the crucial point—smooth, high-quality monster hides were fetching premium prices on the Black Market. The mercenaries of the Black Market might have the sharpest sense of reality of them all.
“We should sell anything we can spare, Your Highness. There are always those in need of Monster Hide. If we go to the Black Market……”
Kael cut her off and turned to face her. His eyes were cool yet held an undertone of benevolence as he spoke in an amused tone.
“The Black Market?”
“Money is always important.”
While she had the chance, she added one more thought.
Kael stepped closer to her.
“You mean to sell goods on the Black Market? You do know the Black Market is illegal, yes?”
“I… well……”
She hadn’t expected him to press that point here. As if he hadn’t procured things from the Black Market himself! But she couldn’t argue with him. Growing slightly timid, she spoke softly.
“Gracestone has a Black Market too, I’ve heard. Mercenaries openly work there.”
“That’s true enough.”
Kael gestured for everyone nearby to withdraw.
Then he spoke in low tones.
“The Wyvern Armor itself came from Gracestone’s Black Market.”
Kael smiled wryly as he revealed the truth.
“I’ve no idea why I never thought to sell it myself.”
It’ll come to that eventually. For now, just leading these people who can barely fight on campaign is consuming all my mental faculties. I know that well enough.
“A most helpful suggestion, my lady. I’m grateful.”
“You’re too kind.”
“While we’re at it, there’s one more thing I ought to clarify.”
“Yes, Your Highness?”
“……If you’re caught sneaking into the Black Market alone again.”
“Caught?”
She swallowed hard. Kael’s eyes flashed.
“You’ll share quarters with me from now on.”
“Absolutely not!”
What kind of female lead romance nonsense was he spouting!
* * *
Kael barely suppressed a laugh. As every eye turned toward Rosana at her sharp cry, the corners of his mouth trembled. He was almost relieved by her reaction, though part of him wondered if she really found the prospect so objectionable. Unsure how to respond, Kael paused, then spoke quietly.
“Then simply don’t sneak off to the Black Market again.”
At that, Rosana clamped her lips shut. Her eyes wide, they rolled from side to side—clearly she was not at all in agreement.
Kael glanced around. He felt eyes darting toward them from all sides. They were clearly curious about the conversation, but none dared approach under his gaze. Kael sighed.
“The Black Market you’ve been visiting so far is nothing compared to the one you’d encounter there.”
Rosana’s eyes widened.
“It’s not just a matter of losing your nose—your head would come off. Savage men run that place.”
Kael leaned toward Rosana, close enough to see the fine down on her cheeks. He spoke softly.
“You should be careful. You need to come back alive if you’re ever to have coffee at a café again.”
Rosana held her breath, listening to him, then swallowed.
“Coffee…… I should have some.”
“If you keep your promise, I’ll buy you that coffee.”
Rosana laughed awkwardly and stepped back. He wasn’t entirely convinced, but what could he do. Kael let her go without protest.
* * *
Dismantling the corpse proved far more grueling than anticipated. It took four strong men just to peel away the carapace, and the stench was beyond description. Even with cloth wrapped around their noses, everyone emerged with watering eyes.
One group stripped the carcass while another received the pieces and hauled them away on carts; the stripped shells were shoved down the slope. As we cleared them one by one, the blocked passage began to open gradually. Of course, there were those who grumbled.
“I’m not even sure this is worth anything.”
But Kael’s orders held absolute weight here. The spider silk the arachnids had spun was collected by the children, who wound it into spools. I was watching them work when Lilia held up a length of thread stretched long between her hands.
“Could we use this for slingshot strings?”
One of the boys tilted his head thoughtfully.
“Tom, our stable master, says you can hunt even very large birds with a slingshot.”
“…What?”
I paused for a moment.
I looked back at the children. It was an idea I’d never considered. Even Lilia could operate a slingshot. In a crisis, it could buy us a few precious seconds.
And a slingshot was a weapon safe enough for children to carry. Spider silk slingshots? There was nothing more to say about it—make them at once.
“All right. Who wants to learn how to make a slingshot?”
“Me!”
“I want to!”
The children crowded around. I taught them how to select suitable twigs, then how to bind cord to them. Seraphine, who arrived late, helped secure the strings firmly.
The children giggled as they learned to shoot the slingshots.
Lilia drew back a slingshot toward a dead monster corpse. The stone she released shot through the creature’s eye socket.
Lilia grinned and glanced at me.
“Is this how you do it?”
Mmm.
“Later, I want to learn archery too.”
Lilia had grown stronger. Her eyes held a harder gleam now.
* * *
The moment the path cleared, we pressed onward without delay.
As the sun began to set, we crested a hill and looked down into a basin where a village sprawled below. It was a substantial settlement, though roughly half of it showed no smoke rising from chimneys—abandoned homes.
But smoke still curled up from the remaining half.
“They call it Saltveil,” our scout reported after returning from his reconnaissance.
He said the name came from its former role as a waystation along the Salt Road, back when trade ran through here.
Everyone’s faces brightened at the sight of civilization after so many days. Mine did too. At that size, we should be able to buy whatever we needed.
But gazing down into the basin, my eye caught on one detail. A stream flowed down from the western ridge, cut past the village’s flank, and drained southward—yet the watercourse looked unnaturally narrow.
If that channel were blocked, this entire basin would become one vast basin of water.
Then I shook my head, dismissing the thought as pointless.

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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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