The Villainess in the Childcare Story Doesn’t Hide Her Personality - Chapter 79

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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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My vision swam.
If I could have fainted, I would have welcomed it.
“…I am not a trainee. I am with the Imperial Bureaucracy.”
“Ah, so that’s the story this time?”
A small, frail voice drifted out, followed by a stifled laugh.
“Pretending to find a scapegoat before stabbing them? Or burning them instead? Either way, just do what you came to do and leave.”
My breath caught in my throat.
‘This isn’t the first or second time they’ve been through something like this.’
I forced myself to speak with composure.
“I am the Vice Director of the Child Protection Bureau. The Mage Tower Master asked me directly to investigate the Mage Tower.”
“Is that so?”
Unfortunately, my words seemed to carry no weight with them.
“So you’re the Vice Director. Then you should finish quickly and leave.”
“….”
I felt like I would go mad from frustration, but I couldn’t simply abandon this.
“May I know your name?”
I stepped closer as I asked.
“…Why?”
They seemed genuinely puzzled, as if they couldn’t fathom why their name would matter.
“So I can contact your family outside the Mage Tower.”
“…Heh.”
They laughed that broken laugh again.
“That’s a new approach. Where do you people keep learning these tricks?”
“I’m not trying to deceive you. Do I really look like a Mage Tower trainee to you?”
They blinked several times, as if considering something.
“I’m sorry, but my vision isn’t what it used to be… And even if you were telling the truth, you couldn’t take me out of here anyway, could you?”
Self-mockery tinged their voice.
“Look at the magic circle carved into my collar. Even the Mage Tower Master would hesitate to break it, so what could a bureaucrat possibly do for me?”
“Fortunately, I’m in contact with the Mage Tower Master right now.”
“…!”
Their body trembled violently for a moment. Seeing their scarred form show such visible distress for the first time, I clenched my fists.
Those who inflicted such cruel and merciless suffering on another person deserved punishment. No—I would ensure they received it.
“Ariel Molte.”
Finally, they—no, Ariel Molte—spoke.
“My name is Ariel. Ariel Molte.”
The completely sealed door to their heart creaked open, just slightly. At this rate, I would soon be able to convince them to leave with me.
In that moment of relief.
“Even if the Mage Tower Master comes, I won’t leave.”
“…What did you say?”
I asked again, wondering if I had misheard.
“I’m not leaving.”
A light sigh escaped from Ariel Molte. I could hear the reproachful tone in her voice, as if asking why I didn’t understand something so obvious.
“You’re a bureaucrat, so I understand you wouldn’t grasp this, but this position cannot be left vacant.”
“….”
“If I leave, another child takes my place. Someone must always be here. That’s how it’s been for a very long time.”
My breath caught.
So that meant if this person were to escape from here, someone else would have to be pulled into this position.
‘Just how long has this been going on….’
From the looks of it, Fabian Beiretz and Cedric seemed completely unaware of Ariel Molte’s situation. Given that they didn’t even suspect, this must be something carried out without any involvement from those two.
“So you didn’t leave? Even though you could have?”
“There are children in the Mage Tower too.”
Ariel Molte answered slowly.
“Could you, as a bureaucrat, pass this position to some twelve or thirteen-year-old who’s overjoyed that the Mage Tower accepted them?”
“….”
“If I leave, one of those children becomes the scapegoat. They’re the weakest among us. I can’t do that.”
I understood then.
Ariel Molte had chosen to become the sacrificial lamb herself.
“…No one should ever take Ariel’s place. Actually, this room shouldn’t exist at all!”
Ariel Molte shook her head weakly.
“Everyone who holds a position in the Mage Tower now thinks this scapegoat system is natural. They say it’s necessary to keep the apprentices obedient and to make them work hard so they don’t become the scapegoat themselves.”
My blood ran cold.
They reduced a person to this state for such a trivial reason.
Ariel Molte murmured as if to herself.
“The current Mage Tower Master is… Beiretz, so it must be different.”
“Beiretz is different?”
Ariel Molte nodded.
“I heard that long ago, the scapegoat system nearly disappeared because of Beiretz. After that, they apparently decided never to inform him about it.”
I was utterly speechless and furious.
I didn’t know how long ago this was, but despite opposition from the Duke’s Mansion, the scapegoat system had persisted all this time.
“Why on earth… No, first let me treat your wounds. I saw some bandages earlier.”
If I couldn’t rescue her before Fabian Beiretz arrived, at least I should treat her injuries.
Ignoring Ariel Molte’s murmurs that it was pointless, I went to the Medical Office, returned with bandages and ointment in hand.
Cedric was still standing at the door with his eyes closed, attempting to connect with Fabian Beiretz.
‘It will take a while longer.’
As I applied the ointment, Ariel Molte let out a small whimper.
“…Do the apprentices really stab Ariel like this?”
“Half of them do, half of them don’t.”
Ariel Molte murmured.
“And very occasionally, there are children who try to treat me. Or try to save me. Kind children… but children like that shouldn’t be here, and yet one came recently.”
Wait.
A single name flashed through my mind.
‘Mia.’
A girl who had wanted to gift a watch to someone in circumstances where they couldn’t obtain one themselves.
“Do you happen to know a child named Mia?”
Ariel Molte’s breathing quickened.
“I’m not sure about the letter, but you must have received the watch.”
“…!”
“That watch—Mia asked me to give it to you.”
Just as Ariel Molte was about to respond, a rumbling sound echoed from the sealed wall.
It came from the opposite direction of the Medical Office where Cedric was.
“Get out of here, quickly!”
Ariel Molte pushed me weakly with her blunt fingertips.
“Hurry, hurry… before they arrive.”
But it was already too late.
The wall crumbled completely, and three apprentices emerged.
They stared at me with vacant expressions.
“…That demonic bureaucrat?”
Was I really that famous in the Mage Tower?
The tallest apprentice among them snapped to attention and reached toward me.
“Since you’ve seen this place, we have no choice but to erase your memory…!”
That was when it happened.
“Hands off!”
From the entrance of the passage I’d come through, a small shadow burst in, breathing heavily.
It was Cedric.
The child’s small fists trembled violently.
“Hands off! My big brother… my big brother will kill all of you!”
The one standing at the front, upon seeing Cedric’s face, stretched one corner of his mouth into a long smile.
“Well, well, if it isn’t the young master himself.”
“….”
“Did you come along deliberately to lose your memory?”
Cedric froze stiffly.
“One brainwashing session and you won’t remember what you did for three days. If you resist too much, we can erase up to three years of memories, so behave yourself.”
Now the mystery was solved.
There must have been apprentices who refused to cooperate in attacking the scapegoat, but it would be impossible to silence them all.
So they used this method—erasing the memories of uncooperative apprentices for several days.
‘Then they probably tormented and drove them away. Just like they did with Cedric.’

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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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