The Teddy Bear Sends the Insomniac Villain to Dreamland - Chapter 26

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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 26
“Eat up.”
“If you’re worried I might go hungry, there’s no need to give such orders. I take care of myself just fine.”
So such consideration isn’t necessary.
Despite her words drawing a clear line, I simply pushed the sandwich toward Nix.
“Yeah, yeah. You’ll eat well, I know. I get it—can’t work on an empty stomach.”
At my casual response, Nix’s brow furrowed slightly.
Her expression seemed to ask why I’d given such an order in the first place, so I reclined lazily, cradling the back of my head in my hands.
“But if you’re hungry right now, that’s a problem. You need to eat well to carry out orders properly. Besides, I have more favors to ask of you.”
“…Ah.”
“And honestly, if I’d just asked you to bring a sandwich, I’d have needed to explain all sorts of things. This way seemed best. It’s fun, don’t you think?”
A nod.
Apparently the Kitchen incident had been quite entertaining—Nix nodded slightly again.
“Now that I think about it, it was… rather fun. I’ve never done anything so quaint before.”
Quaint…?
What kind of work does she normally do?
I noticed her hands bore scars far too rough for her age, but I decided to let it pass for now.
I wouldn’t ask until Nix told me herself. I had no particular desire to pry anyway.
Instead, I decided to share my own story.
“Oh yeah? I like this method too. Back in the day, I used this approach for all the precious treasures I collected.”
Nix glanced at my decidedly ungainly form with mild surprise.
Though I look rather cute now, back then I was the very epitome of what people imagined when they thought of a sleek and magnificent witch.
“You did such things yourself?”
“Yep. I used to steal treasures from wicked people. And explaining it to them—’Well then, this treasure is now mine. I trust you don’t mind?’—was too funny to bother with.”
I had to escape before getting caught. I was quite the expert at running away.
“A fair point indeed.”
Nix nodded earnestly, sauce smudged at the corner of her mouth.
She’d asked for the most delicious sandwich, and it certainly seemed to be living up to that request.
Now that her guard had dropped compared to before, she looked rather like a little black kitten.
“You’re adorable.”
She must have heard my quiet murmur—Nix’s cheeks flushed softly. I couldn’t help myself and gently rubbed her small back.
At my touch, Nix docilely leaned into it. Interestingly, like Ronald, she showed no curiosity about my true identity.
She seemed to regard me as nothing more than a talking stuffed bear.
That was probably because of Blake’s orders.
I’d known from our first meeting that Blake Leblanc was Nix’s original master. He’d assigned her to watch me.
I wasn’t upset about it. Blake’s suspicion was only natural.
Besides, we’d quarreled over going out a few days ago.
Since he couldn’t stop me from going out, he’d probably stationed her here to make sure I didn’t cause any more trouble.
‘Though assigning her won’t actually reduce the trouble I cause.’
They know one thing but not the other, as they say.
‘Actually, this might be better.’
If Nix was Blake’s subordinate, she would know his whereabouts far better than anyone. I could turn that to my advantage.
And besides, Nix was rather cute.
If someone wanted to criticize me for being too soft, I’d accept it humbly.
There’s nothing wrong with being weak to cute things. After all, they say cuteness saves the world!
It was around the time these pointless thoughts began to pile up endlessly.
Whoooosh. The zelkova tree above my head danced in the spring breeze, whistling softly.
Well, this peace was something else.
It was a serenity I hadn’t felt when I first fell into this place.
Just as Nix took a bite of the last sandwich in the now-relaxed atmosphere.
I recalled something that had been bothering me since earlier in this drowsy mood.
Come to think of it, why wasn’t I hungry?
Good heavens. What on earth was this?
It was strange.
I hadn’t noticed it before since I hadn’t seen food, but thinking about it carefully, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to eat the sandwich—I simply wasn’t hungry at all.
“This doesn’t make sense. I’ve been starving for days now, so why am I perfectly fine?”
Sweet desserts, delicious flour-based foods from around the world—none of it even crossed my mind.
Since I’d been in the Human World for quite some time now, I should have been ravenous.
‘What exactly is this bear doll?’
It had magic powerful enough to confine a witch, and yet I didn’t need to eat to survive.
Was it some kind of spell designed to maintain a non-human, inanimate form?
I lay sprawled out, quietly watching Nix contentedly munch away at her sandwich.
Two facts I’d discovered while living as a bear doll so far.
First, my mana was preserved while inside the bear.
Certainly, being inside it was an excellent state for preserving mana.
However, there was a problem.
‘The mana storage has a limit.’
That was the second fact I’d discovered.
Unfortunately, once this doll was filled with a certain amount of mana, it wouldn’t accept any more.
The capacity it could hold was absurdly small compared to what I’d need to use going forward.
Feeling the mana rippling through my mana channels, I fell into deep contemplation.
With only this pittance of mana currently stored, it was difficult even to sense the demonic energy emanating from the portal.
If my original mana was 100, I hadn’t even reached 0.1 yet.
There was no way to fit all my mana into this tiny body.
“…This was the last one, but did you perhaps change your mind and wish to eat it?”
Perhaps because I’d been staring at the sandwich so intently while lost in thought, Nix misunderstood and hesitantly offered me the sandwich she’d been eating.
“It’s fine. I wasn’t staring for that reason. I don’t really like sandwiches anyway. You can finish it.”
“Ah, I see.”
Nix hesitated for a moment before asking again.
“Then what do you like?”
Like what?
There were plenty of things I liked. I enjoyed gleaming gold bars, and I savored aged wines.
I adored those sweet romance novels that made me punch my pillow in excitement, and I loved swimming with Max at the Oasis.
But what I liked most right now—what I craved most desperately—was….
“Blake.”
“…Hic.”
A hiccup escaped from Nix’s startled lips. Simultaneously, an inexplicable pang of regret bloomed within me.
It’s true, though.
I like Blake.
More precisely, I love the mana that pours out whenever I’m with Blake.
I adored that refreshing yet languorous flow of mana that sent delicious tingles through my entire body.
‘The problem is, I can’t seem to gather more of it.’
Ah, I only realized this recently—whenever I cast a sleep spell on Blake, the mana I’d accumulated would deplete.
It might seem inevitable, but it felt terribly unfair.
My mana storage already had its limits, so I couldn’t fill it any further anyway.
Did you really have to take it all just to satisfy yourself?!
Since my mana capacity had a ceiling, even the mana spent on a simple sleep spell felt wasteful, honestly.
Staying glued to Blake’s side all night wouldn’t help either way. Ugh, how irritating!
Staring up at the sky in this melancholic mood, Nix spoke to me again.
“This is the first time I’ve heard someone say they like the Military Legion Commander.”
Yeah, that does seem to be the case.
Just by observing the atmosphere in the Mansion, I could tell. Everyone who caught sight of Blake would either step backward or lower their eyes and retreat.
They looked terrified to even speak with him.
‘I understand that feeling.’
He wasn’t an easy person to converse with. He barely spoke to begin with, and those dark circles under his eyes combined with his expressionless face made approaching him quite the challenge.
On top of that, the responses you’d get were just “No,” “Get lost,” or “What are you staring at?”
Still, the boy had a good heart.
He wasn’t like the antagonistic secondary male lead in the original novel, constantly radiating cold indifference.
The fact that he assigned Nix to accompany me so I wouldn’t go out alone showed that Blake was genuinely looking out for me.
‘The white-mustached Advisor’s emphasis on Nix’s role as a maid made that clear too.’
He must have taken to heart how I’d stressed the maid role when discussing Max with Blake recently.
Telling me to think of Nix as a maid was quite endearing and amusing, actually.
And he doesn’t even brag about it to me.
My irritation just melts away, you know?
“That’s only because people don’t see him properly. Blake is more innocent and awkward than you’d think.”
“Innocent… awkward….”
Nix repeated the unfamiliar words as if hearing them for the first time, then squeezed her eyes shut and trembled.

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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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