Chapter 13 : A Night and Two Days with the Villainess (2)

Every time we found a marked location on the map and dug, we found a box, but they were all duds.

“Is there really anything here!?”

While soothing Clea, who was getting angry, we headed to the next location and accidentally met other students.

They looked at us with wary eyes, and seemed to be trying to hide the box they were holding tightly.

“What’s in there?”

“Oh, nothing!”

If they are acting like that, it means that there is definitely something there, and as a villainess, I can’t just let them go.

“If you give me the box, I’ll give you something better.”

I took out a jewel from my pocket and showed it to the students.

“It’s a pink diamond. You know its value, right?”

It was a precious jewel, with a price difference of 20 to 100 times compared to ordinary diamonds.

Just as they were about to trade for the jewel I offered, a male student stepped in.

“What’s so good about that? Do you even know how we found this!?”

“That’s worth so much money!”

When the two of them fought and couldn’t reach an agreement, I offered a helping hand.

“I’ll save your lives on top of it.”

As soon as I finished speaking, I used my mana to subdue the male student who pulled out his staff, and took the box.

Of course, the negotiation failed and there was no pink diamond.

“If you had just agreed to the trade, we wouldn’t have had to get angry, right?”

I looked down at the students who were unable to move with my mana and opened the box, and inside there was a marble.

The instructions inside the box said to keep it in the box.

I told them that the mana would be released after a certain amount of time and returned to the campsite with my party.

There was Clea, who seemed uneasy.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing. I’m just a little off.”

It was rare to see Clea, who is called the epitome of a villainess, make such an expression.

I reached my hand to Clea’s forehead, and she looked at me with surprised eyes.

“What are you doing?”

“Stay still.”

Her face was gradually turning red from the natural skinship.

Not satisfied with just my hand, I brought my forehead to hers, and Clea’s eyes went dizzy.

“Wh, what….”

“I think you have a slight fever.”

I hugged Clea in a princess carry, and she resisted.

Saying that she was okay.

“I’m okay, so put me down!”

“You’re not okay, so stay still.”

When we returned to the campsite, there were signs that something had swept through the area.

“What happened?”

[Nothing!]

After hearing her cheerful answer, the being hid its presence after I told her she could go back now.

It’s a being that can only stay in a designated area, but it has the best ability to defend a base.

It was perfect for keeping watch.

“I’ll prepare dinner.”

While Eve and Lucy were preparing dinner, I had some time alone with Clea.

Is it because I’m looking at the bonfire? I was overcome with emotion.

What is a villainess?

Is what I’m doing right now the behavior of a villainess?

My thoughts went on and on, and I looked at Clea, who is the epitome of a villainess.

“What’s wrong? Do you have something to say?”

“I was thinking about what a villainess is.”

She tilted her head at my words, it was cute.

“But why are you thinking about that while looking at me?”

“Because you’re like the epitome of a villainess, right?”

She looked at me with an absurd expression.

And then she touched my forehead with her soft hand, is she seducing me?

“You don’t seem to have a fever, were you tired today?”

“How did you know?”

I grabbed the hand that was touching my forehead, and when she asked why, I naturally interlocked her fingers with mine, and her face flushed.

“Y, you! Are you joking even in this situation?”

“I’m not joking?”

In the deepening atmosphere, I felt a gaze from somewhere.

I turned my head to check, and Eve and Lucy were walking over with food.

“Miss, dinner is ready.”

“Today’s menu is stew!”

What a shame. Well, there will be many chances.

After filling our stomachs with warm stew, it was time to decide on the most important thing, where to sleep.

“Okay! Raise your hand if you want to sleep on either side of me!”

Lucy raised her hand instantly, Clea looked at me with an absurd expression. Even Eve had a blank face.

I should sleep with Lucy tonight.

Natural skinship is a bonus.

I said that I would take the first watch and put the other members into the tent.

Trust me.

After closing the tent door, I looked at the bonfire and scanned the surroundings.

I could feel presences from all sides.

A lot of them, too.

“Contact with team 1 has been cut off.”

A 9th circle dark mage was included, so what could have happened?

I hope it’s not the worst-case scenario.

The information I received confirmed that the opponent was a 10th circle dark mage.

If that person is there, they can deal with the Golden Magic Tower Lord.

The moment the Magic Tower collapses. The era of dark mages will begin.

When I turned my head at the rustling sound, I saw a student wearing a school uniform.

A female student with suspicious eyes.

Just as I was about to eliminate the witness.

“Did you come looking for me?”

I checked her mana at the unexpected words, but I couldn’t feel anything.

Then, it’s one of two things, she either doesn’t have mana, or she’s more powerful than me.

At that moment, the mana began to fluctuate, and ten circles appeared in the world.

I kneeled down against my will.

“I have come to serve the Great One.”

“The Great One?”

My body was trembling.

The thought that I could die at any moment filled my head, but then the ten circles disappeared, and the pressure I had just felt vanished.

“Go back. We are not meant to meet yet.”

I was about to turn back after those words when I opened my mouth.

“Several people, including the 9th circle dark mage, have lost contact. Do you perhaps know anything?”

The moment she turned around after hearing those words.

I felt a sense of emptiness in the Great One’s eyes.

“I had a strange feeling, and it seems like someone caused an accident. Then, shall we ask the person involved?”

The mana began to fluctuate.

Space was torn, and a being of unknown identity that looked like a black sphere appeared.

『Transcendent Magic: The Guardian.』

[Did you call?]

The moment the Great One’s finger pointed at them, something black stared.

[There were more?]

The small being transformed into something huge and extended sharp claws.

“W, we are not the enemy!”

“Actually, I just want to send you back, but you’ve seen too much, haven’t you?”

After finishing the clean-up, I returned to the tent, and Eve was squatting in front of the bonfire, and as soon as she saw me, she stood up.

“Where did you go?”

“I went to the bathroom.”

I avoided Eve’s eyes, who was staring at me intently, and sat down next to her, and she covered me with a blanket.

“It’s cold, Miss.”

“Aren’t you asking me anything more?”

I smiled and looked at Eve, poking her cheeks, and she sighed.

“Oh my! Are you sighing in front of Miss!? This won’t do. You must be punished.”

I hugged Eve as I said this, and she was blankly putting firewood into the bonfire.

“Are you ignoring Miss right now? I’m going to sulk!”

When she turned her head and looked at me, I said that I would be embarrassed if she looked at me like that, and she had a dumbfounded expression.

“Seriously, Eve has changed a lot too.”

“Me, you mean…?”

The old Eve was truly expressionless.

Whether she was happy or sad, her expression was the same, but.

I’m glad to see these diverse expressions these days.

“I like it when you laugh when you’re happy and cry when you’re sad.”

I whispered in her ear, and she turned red, it was cute.

“Shall we spend some quality time together for the first time in a while?”

While I was flirting with Eve and trying to seduce her, I heard a rustling sound, and when I turned around, Clea, who had a flushed face, was watching.

“Did you see?”

“N, no, I wasn’t secretly peeking….”

“You saw, didn’t you?”

I got up and approached Clea, who was looking up at me with surprised eyes.

“A bad girl needs to be punished, right?”

“Wh, who’s fault is it!?”

She couldn’t admit her mistake and blamed someone else.

This requires education.

I hugged Clea and whispered in her ear that she should apologize if she was wrong, and her ears turned red with embarrassment.

Just as I was about to take things a bit further, Eve grabbed my shoulder.

“Miss, you need to go to sleep now if you want to get up early tomorrow.”

“I feel like I won’t be able to sleep today?”

“Even so, you have to sleep.”

She forced me into the tent.

She said that she and Clea would be on night watch, so I shouldn’t worry, and even locked the tent door, isn’t that too much?

And just like that, I was left alone in the tent.

No, Lucy’s here too?

When I approached Lucy, she was sound asleep.