Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I'm Not the Demon Lord Act 3 (Light Novel) E-Book

Satori Tanabata

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I'm Not the Demon Lord
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Seitenzahl: 408

Beschreibung

Things have calmed down since Duke Hillrose’s coup d’état, and now Yumiella can return to focusing on Dolkness County. Lady Eleanora has even moved into the Dolkness estate, making every day a little livelier as the county continues to flourish. Just when things seem to be back to normal, a mysterious boy that has been plaguing her dreams appears before Yumiella, claiming to be the god of darkness. The boy, called Lemn, says there are parallel worlds, and he knows that Yumiella isn’t really “Yumiella.” Will Yumiella have to reveal that she was from another world in a past life, and if so, what would that mean for her and Patrick? On top of that, Lemn reveals that one of his other selves was killed by...the Yumiella from that world?! Defeating a version of herself from another world would raise Yumiella’s level cap, allowing her to surpass level 99, but can she face this god-killing version of herself?

Leseprobe

Prologue

Several months had passed since I had graduated from the Royal Academy, and I’d slowly become accustomed to reigning as the lord of Dolkness County. The county lands had become somewhat derelict in the absence of attentive management, but after I assumed lordship, the demesne had gradually become a bustling and productive community.

This was only possible because of the aid of everyone around me. Patrick, my fiancé, helped me to communicate with the public officials and servants without being negatively misunderstood. Daemon, my deputy, made progress on various projects that he hadn’t been able to execute due to my parents’ interference. Ryuu, my dragon, became an iconic feature of the manor village, and he seemed to maintain order merely by flying around the place. Rita, my maid, worked hard managing all of the other servants.

As for me, the lord of this county... Wait. Thinking about it, I wasn’t sure I had made any contributions at all. I had continued to leave clerical tasks to Daemon, and I was pretty sure that Patrick handled almost all of our external affairs... Aha! I’d funded this entire operation. I had poured all of the funds I’d gathered from dungeon crawling into public works projects, spending them as freely as if the money just grew on the trees around the village. Other than that, I also... Besides that, I... It was no use. I hadn’t done anything of note. Even when it came to paperwork, all I usually did was give my stamp of approval with no further input.

“Am I unneeded in Dolkness County?” I murmured, without thinking about who might overhear.

“Yumiella?” The voice of the companion at my side jarred me from my thoughts. “Whatever are you muttering to yourself?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

The girl strolling down the streets of Dolkness Village by my side was Eleanora, the daughter of the (former) Duke of Hillrose. She had come to live with me following the revocation of her father’s title.

Eleanora and I were, well, something like...friends? So I didn’t mind helping her out for a little while. Because of that, Eleanora, as the daughter of a fallen aristocrat, was currently something of a freeloader—in other words, she was working even less than I was. There was no way a born and bred lady of the nobility like her could ever put in a hard day’s work.

With nothing better to do, she was consequently once again tagging along on one of my periodic inspections of the manor village, but wasn’t she bored spending time with me, going around such a humdrum town?

“I’m so happy that we get to walk together like this,” she sighed gratefully.

“I’ll support you for the rest of your life, Lady Eleanora. You won’t have to work a single day,” I assured her.

Who did this?! Who made Eleanora feel as if she were unnecessary? No matter how you look at it, I, in fact, am the most unnecessary person here.

“I’ve been helping out at the church, but... I don’t think that counts as working,” she admitted.

“What? Do you mean the Sanonist church?”

“Yes. Oh! What if we visited the church together, right now?”

“I’ll pass on going to church.”

I prefer to stay away from religion... Wait, no. That’s not my concern right now. What I’m surprised by is the fact that Eleanora felt the impulse to do something like that at all. Which brings me back to my point: am I actually unnecessary?

I continued my stroll through Dolkness Village while pondering the possibility of my uselessness. After all, as the lord of this county, it was important to see how the town was doing.

Is this actually important, though? Isn’t an inspection basically just a vacation for important people? I don’t think they actually do any work during an inspection. In fact, I’m not doing anything even approaching work right now.

I need to find something meaningful, some kind of work that only I can do...

Just then, Eleanora suddenly exclaimed, “Oh! It’s Sir Patrick!”

“Really? I wonder what he’s doing.”

Patrick had supposedly headed out this morning to take care of an errand. He’d said there was no need for me to go with him, but that had just made me wonder even more about what he was doing. This wasn’t the first time that he’d gone out without mentioning what he was up to. Where was he going?

“Let’s follow him, Lady Eleanora,” I said impulsively.

“That sounds like such fun!”

“What’s Patrick doing?” I wondered. “Could it be...that he’s cheating on me?”

“I am certain that cheating is the one thing he would never do.”

Eleanora’s confidence in Patrick was admirable. Truthfully, I had only mentioned cheating as a joke, because I also trusted him greatly. This trust truly ran deep, and if I had to compare it to something, I might liken it to—

“We’re going to lose him!” Eleanora startled me from my Patrick-based reverie. “Hurry up, Yumiella.”

“Oh, right.”

Luckily, he hadn’t noticed us at all. We continued to tail Patrick as he moved through the village.

Soon, we arrived at the outskirts of town.

“Patrick has something to do way out here?” I muttered.

“Whatever could that shack be?” Eleanora asked.

The building that Patrick had just entered was actually a guard station.

Oh, I see, he’s just doing his job.

The guards were soldiers hired by the Dolkness family, and the work they did largely consisted of maintaining order, much like a private police force. There were various stations scattered across Dolkness Village, and this particular one was positioned to observe anyone entering town. If someone suspicious-looking were to walk past, a guard would come out of the station and question them.

It occurred to me that it would probably be difficult for this small-time police force to handle an invasion from, say, a foreign army. I’d recently overheard somewhere that our guards weren’t actually very strong... That’s when it hit me—I had finally happened upon a job that only I could do.

I strode confidently towards the guard station, with Eleanora trailing behind.

“Oh, have we finished tailing Sir Patrick?”

“We’re done. I have found what I’m meant to do,” I declared. “I became the lord of Dolkness County in order to do it.”

I should have realized it sooner. I probably would have if I’d ever interacted with one of the guards, but... That’s right. Now that I think about it, I’ve never spoken with any of them before. On paper, I am their boss, so I probably should’ve come to see them ages ago.

For whatever reason, I had never found the time to come by for an inspection, nor had I ever passed by a guard in town during my walks.

Could it be that...the soldiers are avoiding me? That can’t possibly be the case. There’s no way that the heroes that protect this town would be afraid of me.

I continued my march towards the shack, and upon arrival, I vigorously flung the door open.

“Pardon me. I’m the lord of the county, Yumi—”

“Run!” a soldier shrieked.

Inside were seven men, and upon seeing me, everyone except for Patrick bolted for the back door in utter panic. The door in question was narrow—there was no way that the swarm of large men rushing towards it could escape easily through it all at once. As they piled up in an inevitable traffic jam at the exit, I cast a spell.

“Dark Bind.”

Black hands stretched out from the shadow of each man and bound their bodies. They screamed in terror, but there was nothing to worry about. Dark Bind was nonlethal, which was a rare quality for the spells that I tended to use.

“What are you doing here, Yumiella?” Patrick asked.

“I followed you.”

“I’m sorry, everyone. This is my fault,” Patrick apologized, bowing his head to the bound men for some reason. He turned to me and continued. “I’m the one who kept these soldiers away from you. I arranged things so that you wouldn’t come by for inspections, and I instructed them to run away if they saw you in town.”

Why would he do something like that? I would never do anything detrimental to the guards.

“I just wanted to help everyone,” I explained, trying to clear up the misunderstanding. “I thought I could help all the guards with their level grinding...”

Now that I had actually met them, I realized that our guards were much too weak. I wouldn’t expect them to be strong enough to beat me, but I wanted them to at least be able to deal with Dark Bind. How could anyone feel safe living in a town in which the people ostensibly meant to protect it were so easily restrained?

This was the one meaningful task I could take on.

I’ll round up all of the soldiers, and we’ll go dungeon crawling. If we’re fielding that number of people, we should have no problem pressing forward into the deeper levels. I can guarantee their safety too. Even if someone’s lower body gets slashed off and sent flying, I’ll heal them with my recovery magic.

I presented the gist of my level grinding plan. As Patrick let out a deep sigh and the guards violently shook in their boots, Eleanora wandered in late and curiously glanced around the inside of the guard station.

“This is exactly why I didn’t want you to meet the guards.” Patrick met my eyes and spoke as if he were trying to explain things to a small child.

“What do you mean by that?” I huffed.

“Their job is to maintain order. They don’t need your level of strength for that.”

“I’m not saying they should become level 99. I just think they should be a little bit stronger. Maybe...around level 50?”

If I remember correctly, the Commander of the Knight’s Order, who is said to be the strongest warrior in the kingdom, is around level 60. That seems like it would be a bit overkill, so I’ll just leave it at level 50. Maybe that’s actually too low?

The guards gulped as Patrick nodded to himself. “Yes, it does look like I made the correct decision.”

“Why—”

“Hold on, allow me to rephrase this: don’t take my work away from me. This is one of the ways in which we’re dividing up responsibilities. Please take a step back from this. For me.”

“If that’s what you want...”

I see, dividing up responsibilities. I guess it wasn’t right to try and take over someone else’s jurisdiction. I’ve heard many stories about different factions fighting over official positions in the Royal Capital. Public officials, military and civilian alike, trying to expand their territories... Oh, I get it!

“You’re a military official, and I’m a civil official!”

“You? A civil official?” Patrick snorted.

“Huh? Am I wrong...?”

“No, you’re correct, you’re a civil official. Anyone would agree. You lot think so too, right?” Patrick turned to the guards for affirmation, and one after another they concurred: I was definitely more of a civil official.

I see, I get it now. I’m the lord of this county and a civil official! It’s no wonder that the military wouldn’t like me getting up in their business. But...technically the guards are under my command. Oh, this must be what civilian control of the military is. I learned something new today!

On the way home, the three of us—Patrick, Eleanora, and I—walked side by side. All that talk about military and civil officials seemed to have been too difficult for Eleanora to keep up with. It appeared that she had enjoyed looking around the station, but still, I thought it would be best to apologize.

“I’m sorry, Lady Eleanora. That must have been boring for you, with all that talk about civil officials and such...”

“I enjoyed myself thoroughly. Though one thing I thought I might mention is that Daemon seems much more like a civil official than you do, Yumiella.”

“That’s true.”

Daemon was kind of like the ultimate bureaucrat. The title of civil official fit him several hundred times more than it did me. From managing taxes to planning projects, Daemon was in charge of everything that seemed like a thing that a civil official might do.

Wait... Doesn’t that mean I’m not doing the work of a civil official?

“Convenient lies do appear in unexpected places,” Patrick said, pressing his hand against his forehead in a manner which suggested he might be feeling somewhat stressed.

Once again, I felt unmoored in my lack of purpose. Could I force the guards to level grind after all?

Walking alongside me, Patrick noticed that I was agonizing over something.

“Is something bothering you, Yumiella?”

“I’ve been thinking that maybe I’m unneeded in Dolkness County. I’m not involved with training the soldiers like you are, I’m not able to manage taxes like Daemon does, I can’t do chores around the mansion like Rita, I can’t fly like Ryuu, and I can’t do...whatever it is Lady Eleanora does. I can’t... Um, well, yeah.”

“That’s not true. There are many tasks that only you can do.”

“Don’t lie! All I have going for me is that I’m the strongest person in the world, and I have a lot of money!”

“Aren’t those two things enough? ...Well, it’s clear you’re not satisfied with that,” Patrick said with a wry laugh. “Daemon, Rita, Ryuu, even Lady Eleanora, as well as I myself—we all wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you. It’s because you’re here that everyone can work hard for Dolkness County.”

Patrick’s words seeped into my heart, making it feel warm and full.

“You really mean that?”

“We need you. Everyone needs you, Yumiella.”

“Me too!” Eleanora chimed in. “I would never wish to be without you!”

To my right was Patrick, to my left was Eleanora, and back at the mansion, everyone else was waiting. In the past, I had been alone, but now I was surrounded by all of my friends. I’d never been happier, and it made me feel very proud to think I was the one who had built such a strong community.

I see now. Thank you, Patrick. I can’t believe I had been so anxious because I couldn’t see such a simple truth.

“Thank you. That must mean...that people are drawn to my overflowing virtue.”

“I don’t think that’s quite it...”

It seemed that others didn’t consider me virtuous. (Admittedly, truly virtuous people probably weren’t called the “Demon Lord” by parts of their social circle.)

In the end, I didn’t discover my purpose in my life in Dolkness County, but I did learn that I was surrounded by wonderful people.

I hope I can protect everyone with my level 99 strength, I thought to myself at the end of this perfectly normal day.

Chapter 1: The Hidden Boss Meets the God of Darkness

“I’m the god of darkness, Lemn. Wake up, my priestess.”

“You have the wrong person,” I protested.

I found myself in a space that was utterly dark, where a black-haired boy stood before me with a friendly smile on his face. He seemed to have mistaken me for a priestess.

I don’t blame him, since I give off exactly the same pure and innocent vibe as a priestess does.

“I’m sorry to say, you don’t seem like the pure and innocent type.”

What did you say? I consider myself to be a very wholesome person. I’m so pure that if I were to unify the continent into a single nation, they’d put the word “holy” before that country’s name.

“The Holy Empire of Dolkness, huh? ...Hm?”

I awoke in my own familiar bed, muttering the name of some nonexistent country. Imagining Dolkness as an “empire” was pretty weird on its own, even without the “holy” part.

Hm, I feel like I had a weird dream. A dream in which I was talking to a super important person or something... It’s no use. The more I try to remember it, the foggier my memory gets.

Since I was awake so early, I finished getting ready on my own and left my bedroom. It wasn’t unusual for me to have a dream I could only half remember, but for some reason, I couldn’t stop wondering about this one.

“It was someone really important. I feel like they were even more important than a king. Maybe an emperor? That’s why it was an empire?”

I realized that I wasn’t quite sure what the difference between a kingdom and an empire was, nor was I entirely certain who outranked whom, a king or an emperor. Whoever it had been, they had left such a vivid impression in my mind that this person must have been more important than the leader of any kind of sovereign nation.

“The only other thing I could think of would be a god...”

Me receiving a divine message in my dream? That sounded impossible. I wasn’t devout enough to become some kind of prophet, nor did I even believe in the existence of gods. It was probably nothing but a weird dream.

Telling anyone that I can hear divine voices is a terrible idea. Claiming to channel the voice of god seems like a great way to get burned at the stake.

I still had some time until breakfast, so I considered finishing up some of the work that I hadn’t gotten to yesterday. Just then, Eleanora rounded the corner and started heading in my direction. It was unusual to see her awake at this hour; she always overslept.

Upon spotting me, Eleanora scurried my way, chattering excitedly. “Yumiella! I heard a god’s voice!”

A fallen aristocrat and a heretic? I almost imagined that I could hear the mob coming for her now.

After the Duke of Hillrose’s plans for the coup d’état had come to light, his ducal status was revoked. This meant that Eleanora no longer enjoyed the privileges of nobility. Though she seemed cheerful on the surface, perhaps this was only to mask her distress. It was possible that her inability to handle the intense stress could have caused her to turn to a nonexistent god for salvation.

If only I had been more empathetic towards her... I shouldn’t have just brushed off what she was saying, thinking she was spouting some idiotic nonsense again. That was her way of sending an SOS.

“Lady Eleanora, how would you like to visit the Royal Capital?” I asked in the most upbeat tone I could muster, hoping to cheer this pitiful girl up. “I’ll buy you dresses, jewelry—whatever your heart desires.”

“Oh my! You’re being so kind all of a sudden! I suppose this proves that you can’t even trust the word of a god.”

“What do you mean?”

“The god said to be careful around you!”

This “god” is wary of me? Does that mean Eleanora’s subconscious dislikes me? Well, whatever. I suppose there’s no use trying to analyze Eleanora’s auditory hallucinations. I’ll just focus on doing my best to show her a good time.

“Oh, since we’re going to the Royal Capital, why don’t we visit His Highness as well? I’m sure he’s worried about you, Lady Eleanora.”

“Sir Edwin...”

“Yes, your beloved Prince Edwin!”

Until very recently, Eleanora could be convinced of anything by bringing up Prince Edwin’s name—which is why I had brought him up by force of habit, without thinking properly. Now that she was a fallen aristocrat and he was the second prince, they could never end up together, and I had accidentally reminded her of this unfortunate fact.

“No, we can’t,” Eleanora sighed, her expression clouding. “I’m no longer an aristocrat, and Sir Edwin is a member of the royal family. It would only cause trouble for him if I were to tell him how I felt.”

“Lady Eleanora...”

“It’s all right, though! I have you and Sir Patrick! There is joy to be had in this new life!” Eleanora said, mustering a brave smile.

Oh no, I feel like I’m gonna start crying. She’s so gracefully stepping back out of care for the person she loves. Eleanora’s such a good girl that it hurts. Maybe I should put everything I have into getting her and Prince Edwin together. With that thought, I visualized the prince’s face, imagining us standing by the altar, Eleanora on my arm... I won’t give away my darling Eleanora as your bride! You have no right to call me your father!

“I’ll provide for you for the rest of your life, Lady Eleanora! In fact, I’ll marry you!”

“What? Your partner is Sir Patrick, Yumiella.”

“No worries, I’ll leave him. I’m calling off our engagement. It’s the trendy thing to do these days.”

“What?! What are you even saying?!” Eleanora covered her face with her hands in shock and disbelief.

I’ll just have to end things with Patrick. If it’s for my dear Eleanora, I have no choice.

Eleanora’s hands leaped suddenly from her mouth to press against her head, and she let out a little scream. She scanned our surroundings wildly.

“Huh...?” She seemed dazed.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Did you not hear the voice that spoke just now?”

I hadn’t heard anything. Since my hearing was better than Eleanora’s, it was highly likely that she was having an auditory hallucination. Perhaps the stress was getting to her after all.

Eleanora explained that she’d heard a voice saying, “I don’t approve. I’ll be there right away.”

The voice of someone who would be against our marriage... I see. It must be that overprotective father of hers. So he’s coming here, huh? Hold on... I should just go and see him myself. I’ll let him know that his precious only daughter is all mine! Bwa ha ha ha!

“We need to go see the duke... I mean, the person who is totally not your father but just happens to look exactly like him.”

“Oh, wonderful! We get to visit father!”

He was, of course, only someone who looked like her father. After all, as far as the rest of the world was concerned, the Duke of Hillrose was dead. Various parties had a vested interest in the duke’s death, so it would be quite a mess if it got out that he was still secretly alive.

I scooped Eleanora up into my arms and jumped out of the nearest window, running to my adorable dragon Ryuu, who was asleep in the yard.

“Well then, let’s head out.”

“Eek! I can walk on my own! Put me down!”

◆◆◆

An hour later, we arrived at the village in which the ex-duke lived, one that had just been built several months ago. Granted, a full fifty-five minutes of that hour were spent waking Ryuu up, and only five were spent flying here. In retrospect, running would have been faster.

The sun was now rising, slowly warming the chilly autumn morning. We walked to the house we’d visited together several times before, and I knocked on the door with a perhaps overly exuberant violence.

“Come out! The lord of the county has arrived,” I called.

Eleanora’s father opened the door, irritation written plain on his face. “Shut up! Why do you always bother me...” His expression changed when he caught sight of his daughter. “Eleanora! Welcome, come on in. I’ll prepare some tea.”

“Father!”

The pair of them embraced and entered the house hand in hand.

Your daughter’s going to be nineteen soon. Aren’t you guys a bit too clingy?

I attempted to enter the house as well, following behind them, but Eleanora’s father swung his head back and shot me a glare.

“I have no need for you. Leave us at once.”

“I’ve come to notify you of a betrothal.”

“A betrothal? You mean between you and the margrave’s boy? I already know, and I have no plans to celebrate the occasion.”

“No, between Lady Eleanora and me.”

“What?! What’s the meaning of this?!” The man shoved his daughter protectively behind him. “Eleanora getting married?! Who is she marrying?! Who the blazes is the man?!”

Oh, he misunderstood me, and he thinks that I meant his daughter has a boyfriend. There’s no need to worry; she’s marrying me.

“Like I said, it’s me.”

“What?”

“I said, Lady Eleanora and I are getting married.”

“Wh—” my future father-in-law sputtered, his agitation briefly winning out over her his coherence. “I won’t allow it! I won’t have it!”

I guess he’s not going to give us his blessing after all. Maybe Eleanora’s auditory hallucinations were a subconscious manifestation of his unpleasant personality. But I have no need for his blessing. He can’t even leave the village without risking discovery. There’s no way he can get in the way of our true love.

“It’s perfectly fine if you won’t allow it. We’ll do what we please.”

“You don’t deserve Eleanora, and you’ll be a terrible influence on her! I’m going to keep my daughter away from you!” Eleanora’s father snatched up a hoe leaning against the entryway and took a battle stance.

Are you planning to fight me? Bring it on; I’ll take my bride from you by force.

Just as we were about to launch into combat, Eleanora interrupted us hesitantly. “U-Um... Father? Yumiella? I’m not marrying you, Yumiella.”

What, no way?!

We both returned to our normal stances and turned to her.

“I like Yumiella, but not in that way,” Eleanora explained.

“Is that true, Eleanora?!” her father demanded. “Does that mean you haven’t been violated by this despicable individual?!”

“No, I haven’t!” Eleanora confirmed emphatically, her face bright red. Did I just get...rejected?

The former Duke of Hillrose looked my way with a delighted grin. I was vexed.

“Ha ha, how pathetic, Countess.”

“Urgh...” I switched tactics. “Lady Eleanora, would you like to go on a trip? Let’s find a getaway destination with a beach. It’s autumn, but it shouldn’t matter if we’re not swimming.”

“How glorious! I’ve only been to the beach twice!” Eleanora sidestepped her father and made her way towards me.

I gave the former Duke Hillrose a smug look with a scornful chuckle. He couldn’t take his daughter on vacations; he couldn’t easily leave this village.

Why don’t you sit there and imagine us enjoying some seafood or something?

The man’s face twisted with animosity before quickly reverting to a kind expression.

“Eleanora, why don’t you stay here tonight?”

“How delightful! It’s a sleepover!”

I had lost. Eleanora left my side and went towards my opponent. To my annoyance, the sleepover card he’d played wouldn’t work for me because Eleanora and I already lived together.

But I do have a card with a similar effect. Draw!

“Lady Eleanora, would you like to have a pajama party tonight?”

“How splendid! We can stay up late and talk all night!”

“Eleanora, let’s make dinner together tonight,” her father offered. “I’ve learned how to make a few things since coming here.”

“How marvelous! I get to cook with father!” Eleanora kept bouncing back and forth between her father and me.

This was becoming a battle of endurance. There was a limit to how many more cards we could play, but holding back would result in an immediate loss. We had to keep picking the strongest cards in our hands.

“Lady Eleanora, would you like to have an imoni party?”

“How thrilling!” She seemed to consider a moment. “What is an e-moanie party?”

“It’s a party during which you make a dish that isn’t particularly good outdoors in a pot.”

“I don’t want to go to one of those...”

What?! I’ll admit, imoni is pretty much just miso soup. But, there’s something deep in my soul screaming out that I should never forgive those who make fun of imoni parties or who prefer soy sauce to miso in their imoni. It’s actually a fun autumn tradition once you’ve tried it. As far as other outdoor cooking activities go, I’m against barbecues, but I’m okay with imoni parties.

Eleanora, who had returned to her father, was now getting excited about a sleepover again. Had the winner been determined?

What’s something Eleanora likes...?

“I see, so you won’t be coming home tonight. That’s fine. Patrick and I will entertain ourselves. By adorably feeding each other. The two of us alone. Together.”

“Oh! I think I’ll pass on the sleepover after all,” Eleanora told her father. “I’ll be going home. Of course,” she gushed, turning to me. “I won’t bother you two, so please adorably feed each other all you like. I promise not to peek. I definitely won’t.”

I win. Romantic scenarios are her favorite. So much so that every time she catches me and Patrick alone together, she hides behind a pillar or a wall and stares at us with an almost terrifying intensity.

As expected, Eleanora was now sporting the biggest grin of excitement she had shown all day.

“Eleanora, I’ll spoon-feed you your dinner,” her father suggested as a last resort, unable to accept his loss.

Who wants their father spoon-feeding them? I’ve prepared the ultimate bait, romance between her two best friends. She would never turn on me now...

“How thrilling! Father’s going to feed me dinner!”

My best friend had betrayed me for her father.

I really don’t understand what makes these two tick. If it’s come to this, my next move is to...

And so, we waged a battle, fighting over Eleanora. In the end, it came down to a duel. I had no recollection of how we ended up settling on a duel. That’s just what war was like—it could be triggered by something so trivial. We passed the point of no return long ago. Looking back on it now, it might have already been set that we would be dueling from the moment I had arrived. No matter how many times we did this over, we wouldn’t be able to outrun our fate.

“Are you ready?”

“Of course,” the ex-duke said scornfully. “You’ll regret it if you depend on your high level to win.”

We were going to throw our strength at each other, and the winner would get Eleanora. It was the simpler, purer way to settle our differences. The arguing we had done up to now felt insignificant and pointless.

Eleanora’s father and I readied ourselves in his front yard. I was planning to fight with my bare hands while he was armed with a sword. Eleanora had left to roam the village, saying she was bored.

Her father and I were about ten steps apart from each other. With my physical capabilities, I could close that distance in the blink of an eye. I was ready to send him off with the strongest attack in the world the moment that the duel began.

“Well then, the duel begins the moment this rock hits the ground,” I announced.

“Certainly. That moment will be your end.”

I threw a palm-sized rock high up into the air and declared, “Lady Eleanora is my friend.”

“Eleanora is my daughter,” her father retorted.

Neither of us looked at the rock—we both had our gazes locked on our nemesis.

“My victory will be set in stone the moment I hear the rock hit the ground.”

“Say whatever you’d like while you still can.”

Surely, the rock would plunge to the ground soon. The time it was taking to fall felt like an eternity. The battle was certainly less than mere seconds away from beginning.

After waiting a bit more, I finally spoke up. “It’s not coming down...”

“Strange...”

We both looked up at the sky, but the rock was nowhere to be seen.

Huh? I definitely threw it.

I began looking for a new rock to start the process over. Just then, I heard a voice call out to me. I turned to find Patrick behind me.

“What are you doing here, Patrick?”

“What are you doing now...?” he asked with a sigh.

“The du— I mean, this guy and I are about to duel.” Patrick gave me a look that asked “why?” so I had to explain things from the beginning. It started when... “Um... I was going to marry Lady Eleanora. Oh, by the way, I decided to call off our engagement.”

“My engagement ended without me even knowing.”

“So I came by to let her father know and to say hello, but Lady Eleanora turned down my proposal. So I thought I could pretend that I’d never called our engagement off if I kept my mouth shut.”

“My engagement is back on without me even knowing.”

“After that, her father and I started fighting over Lady Eleanora, but we couldn’t decide on a winner, so we challenged one another to a duel.” Lady Eleanora herself was currently traipsing around the village. The more I listened to myself explain the situation, the more nonsensical I found it to be.

But how did Patrick know where we were? Does he have a tracker on me? As those thoughts flashed across my mind, Patrick opened his mouth to explain.

“Ryuu came to fetch me just now. He probably figured that you were in over your head.” Behind Patrick was Ryuu, looking a bit ragged after going back and forth between the estate and the village twice now.

Ryuu is such a good boy.

I couldn’t deny that there was a possibility that this duel would have developed into an actual battle to the death if Patrick hadn’t arrived.

The former Duke of Hillrose threw down the sword in his hand and spat out, “Hmph! Looks like your dragon is more intelligent than you are.”

“Oh come on, that’s a bit too much praise,” I demurred with a smile. “He’s still quite the handful, you know?”

Ryuu was complimented for being a good boy! It’s nice to hear regardless of who it comes from.

A blue vein throbbed in the ex-duke’s forehead as he turned to Patrick. “You’re the one in charge of her, right? How about you take responsibility and watch her a little more closely?”

“Um, well... You’re right. I’m sorry,” Patrick said apologetically.

There’s no need for you to apologize, Patrick. I’m the one who’s mostly at fault here.

After that, there was no escaping Eleanora’s father as he talked our ears off about topics ranging from how I was a bad influence on his daughter, to how he was worried for her safety in my presence, to how he felt sorry for her having to put up with me. This went on for some time.

We didn’t escape from the nagging duke until well past noon. The three of us returned home and rested for a bit before having lunch.

Eleanora stared, mesmerized, her eyes sparkling, as she watched me shovel hot soup into Patrick’s mouth.

“Hot! It’s hot! Stop it!” he exclaimed.

I want to sleep peacefully tonight. I think I’ll have the pajama party rescheduled for some time after tomorrow.

◆◆◆

“You seem to get into a lot of trouble. Or rather, you seem to attract trouble to yourself.”

“People are always getting me mixed up in their problems. It’s been a real issue for me.”

“I think it’s usually your fault.”

I was having this dream again. The one with the boy in the utterly dark space, the one who claimed to be the god of darkness, Lemn. He was dressed in black from head to toe, in high-quality clothing that lent him an aristocratic air.

Why did I forget all these details the last time I woke up?

The self-proclaimed god with black hair flashed a smile, showing his white teeth.

“Do you remember your dream from last night?”

“I believe we were talking about whether I was pure.”

“Well...as long as you remember it.” The boy tilted his head to the side as he smiled. The sight was cute, and he didn’t seem like a god in the slightest.

I’ve always wanted a brother like this. Dear god, please give me a little brother.

“Wouldn’t you be better off asking your parents instead of me?” he asked innocently.

“Never mind, I don’t want a little brother.”

If I were to suddenly gain a younger brother at this point in my life, it would be more than awkward.

I should accept things as they currently are and enjoy my life as an only child. Wait... Did I even mention wanting a brother out loud?

“I can tell even if you don’t say it out loud. This is a dream. There are no such things as truths or pretenses in a dream, are there?”

“Clear your mind, clear your mind, clear you mind,” I chanted under my breath.

Don’t think about anything. Don’t think about not thinking about anything. I’ve got to clear my mind. I can’t even think about clearing my mind. If I reach a state of enlightenment, then this demon enlightening the dark corners of my mind won’t be a threat.

Clear your mind, clear your mind, clear your mind.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if clearing your mind was that easy?” He paused and then said one word. “Patrick.”

Clear your mind, clear you mind, I like Patrick, I like him so much, I love Patrick... This is bad, Patrick is getting into my inner monologue. Even if it’s Patrick, anyone who gets in my way will be someone I’ll ha— There’s no way I would. I love him. Four turrets, a total of sixteen guns, fire the “I love you” barrage!

“What is an ‘I love you’ barrage...?” the boy asked after a short pause.

“Aaagh!”

Having my private thoughts read so closely by Lemn felt so horribly violating that I fell to my knees. I cried as I slammed my head repeatedly against the black floor made of an unknown material.

I want to wake up already. I want to flee from this public humiliation as soon as possible.

◆◆◆

I shot up, a pained groan escaping my mouth as I awoke. I was in my room. I wiped away the sweat that had been collecting on my forehead as I looked out the window and saw a soft beam of light pouring in from the gap between the curtains.

It was morning, and it appeared I had woken up early once again. I got out of bed and walked towards the source of the sunlight. I flung the windows open, my eyes squinting at the light shining on me. The cold, fresh air washing over me felt nice.

Though I’d woken up in the worst way, this morning sun felt like it made up for it, leaving things at a net zero.

I still can’t believe that a god showed up in my dream. Maybe it’s a sign that I’m going to die.

“What a weird dream...” I mumbled to myself.

“It wasn’t a dream.”

“What the?!”

I definitely heard a voice coming from behind me, at very close range. It was the voice of a prepubescent boy. I quickly turned back and scanned the room but couldn’t find the boy behind the voice.

Am I still dreaming? I thought to myself as I kept my guard up and pinched my own cheek.

“It...doesn’t hurt?”

“I don’t think that’s because you’re dreaming, but rather that your nerves that sense pain are dead,” the voice mocked. “I’m right here.”

There it was again. It was coming from the floor...no, from my shadow, cast by the sunlight shining on my back. As I stared at my shadow, the human-shaped silhouette slowly trembled. Ripples began to form on the shadow, like it was water, and a black-haired boy appeared from within.

“This is our first time meeting in the real world, my priestess. I’m—”

I was used to things appearing from my shadow. In the dungeon I used to frequent, there was a monster known as a Shadow Assassin, which would ambush people by jumping out of their shadows. It was annoying at first, but I had conditioned reflexes that could handle these monsters; the moment something came out of my shadow, I would automatically attack—that was just how my body was trained to react.

Of course, the same thing would happen even if the thing that appeared from my shadow was a young boy who looked nothing but human. Before I knew it, I had kicked the boy, who still hadn’t fully emerged from my shadow, in the chin.

“I’m the god of darkne— Whoa!”

“Oops, sorry.”

I caught myself just barely in time to reduce the amount of force I was using. The boy went flying, bouncing off the ceiling before falling onto my bed. His refined features seemed to survive my attack without getting destroyed.

Phew, glad he’s okay... He is okay, right?

The boy pressed his hands against his chin as he stood up. “Ouch... Jeez, I know how rough you can be, but wasn’t that a bit much?”

“I’m sorry, it’s muscle memory at this point. So...who are you?”

“Like I said in your dream, I’m Lemn, the god presiding over darkness, but you can just call me Lemn,” the self-proclaimed god said as his expression softened into a smile.

There’s no way he’s just a human when he appeared from my shadow. Is he really a god?

There were so many questions I had for him: what exactly a god was, why he’d called me a priestess, and whether I could also enter people’s shadows. The most important was, of course, finding out how I could enter shadows—everything else paled in comparison. Just as I was about to start asking my questions, I heard Patrick calling to me from outside my room.

“Are you awake, Yumiella? What was that sound?”

“Oh, that was, um...”

Patrick had heard the sound of Lemn slamming into the ceiling as well.

Maybe I should have him sit in on me questioning Lemn... Wait. A strange boy with a pretty face in my bed this early in the morning... There’s no doubt about it—he’s going to think I’m cheating.

Despite the fact that Patrick trusted me, I was fated to be constantly misunderstood. It would be terrible timing to be suspected of infidelity now, when we had a wedding coming up.

The door slowly opened as if ignoring the fact that I was frozen, leaving me panicking at the crisis I was facing.

“Yumiella? I’m coming in,” Patrick announced.

“Wait! I’m completely naked right now!”

“What?!”

The door that was about to open was shut vigorously.

All right, that should’ve bought me some time.

The culprit behind this dire situation himself was sitting on my bed, without a care in the world.

“What’s wrong? You’re dressed.”

“Hurry, you have to hide.”

Where should I hide him? The closet? That feels too obvious, I’m going to get caught. Why did this even happen? There’s no way Patrick would believe someone appeared from my shadow... That’s right, my shadow! He came from my shadow, after all—my shadow’s the best place for him to go. Return to whence you came!

I dragged Lemn off my bed and shoved him against my shadow.

“Come on, get back into the shadow.”

“Ow, that hurts! That won’t even work!”

Despite using my strength to press the boy into the shadow, all that I got was a creaking floor.

Do I need to use more force? I thought to myself before grabbing the boy and slamming him into the floor with all my might. I slammed him against the floor over and over, as if I were kneading dough.

“Come on!” I grunted.

“Ow! Hey! Stop!”

I repeatedly picked up the black-haired boy before throwing him at the floor. All that came of it was the sound of something hitting the floor.

Maybe I’m throwing him in the wrong direction? He appeared from his head, so maybe he needs to go back in headfirst?

I repositioned my grip to hold Lemn upside down and tried throwing him into the shadow from his head. I swung him up and down several times, like a drink labeled “shake well.” It looked like brute forcing this wasn’t going to work, so I had no other choice but to try a bunch of things and see what worked.

“Go back, go back. Please, go back where you came from,” I pleaded. Lemn didn’t respond.

It’s no use, he’s not going back in.

All the commotion caused by my trial and error until this point had been audible to Patrick on the other side of the wall.

“What in the world is that sound?! I’m coming in!” His patience had run out, and he barged into the room.

“No, wait, hold on!”

Patrick froze upon seeing me. Of course he would; his fiancée was alone with some strange, pretty boy in her bedroom. It was obvious why he would be suspicious of me cheating.

It’s okay, there’s nothing illicit going on here. I’m sure he’ll understand if I just explain things honestly.

“This isn’t what it looks like!” I exclaimed. “Come on, you help explain things too, Lemn.”

Huh...? Um, god of darkness? Can you please say something?

The boy that I was holding upside down was silent with his eyes shut. He almost seemed lifeless.

Patrick, who had been stunned, finally opened his mouth. “Y-You’ve finally gone and done it...”

I couldn’t fault him for suspecting me of infidelity after witnessing this scene, but he said I’d “finally gone and done it.” That meant he’d expected that I would cheat one day. I’d never realized that he trusted me so little. This shocking discovery weighed heavily on my chest as I was overcome with pain and sadness.

That’s not what happened at all... It’s just a misunderstanding...

“You’ve finally gone and...killed someone!”

“Hold on, that’s really not what happened!”

◆◆◆

Lemn was alive. There was no way I would let myself become a murderer—no, a god-killer. It was definitely bad to kill a god.

After the passed-out Lemn regained consciousness, I had him show Patrick how he could appear from and reenter my shadow. After finishing that exchange of information, we had him explain things.

“Hm, where should I begin?” Lemn wondered aloud.

“You should start with how to enter shadows, obviously. Can I do it too? Are there any tricks to getting it right?”

“That’s something only I have the power to do, so you wouldn’t be able to do it no matter how hard you tried.”

“I see... I have no further questions, then. You can go home if you’d like,” I said as I pointed towards my feet. As soon as I found out that I couldn’t enter shadows, my interest in Lemn quickly diminished.

Lemn returned my cold, disinterested gaze with puppy-dog eyes. “Aren’t you curious about who I am, miss? I don’t think you believe that I’m a god.”

“It’s not like I would treat you any differently whether you’re a god or not.”

“Hey, miss, you’re my priestess, you know?”

“Can you decide whether I’m ‘miss’ or ‘your priestess’?”

I don’t care anymore. The fact that I can’t enter shadows is all I needed to know.

“I’ve never heard of a god of darkness named Lemn; are you really a god?” Patrick asked, seeing how the boy was slightly tearing up.

“I know, right? Isn’t it all fishy?”

“We know that you’re not just a regular child since you can go in and out of shadows, but... I’m sorry for suspecting you like this.”

“You’re so kind, mister...” Lemn said as he gave Patrick a faint smile. Since they were both good looking, the scene was quite picturesque.

I’ll shut my mouth, then. I’m just a decorative houseplant.

“It’s understandable that you wouldn’t have heard of me,” Lemn continued. “My faith has long been lost...or should I say, had been lost.”

“Does that mean that faith in the god of darkness is being revived? Does that have anything to do with you calling Yumiella a priestess?”

“You’re sharp—that’s right. Um, how should I phrase this... There’s like, faith energy? And that energy is pouring into me through her.” Lemn and Patrick then turned to look at me.

Hey now, I’m not doing some religious-leader-type thing like that. I guess my time being a plant is over.

“I never even believed in the existence of gods until yesterday.”

“Many of my believers are near here, so I’m pretty sure that’s what’s happening.”

“Do you know exactly where these believers are?”

“Of course, I think they’re actually within walking distance.”

That meant they were definitely in Dolkness County.

I don’t like the idea of some unknown religion forming so close to me. It looks like I’m getting mixed up in it in some form too.

Why had this lost religion revived in my territory? Why had faith in the god of darkness even ceased in the first place? I hadn’t considered it because of his pretty face, but there was a possibility that he wasn’t a very good god.