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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Villainess, Rose van Darmian
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For two years, I learned swordsmanship, magic, and various other forms of knowledge from Daphne.
The process was anything but smooth.
Not a single day passed without her pushing me to my limits, and there wasn't a day my body wasn't covered in bruises.
To be frank, I'd faced death's door multiple times.
Each time, I harbored a reasonable suspicion that Daphne might actually be trying to kill me.
It was that grueling, those days that were so hard to endure.
Though, there are still many more days I'll have to endure.
Regardless, I endured for two years.
As a result, I achieved leaps and bounds of growth, incomparable to when I first started.
----
[Name: Kamel Hyacinth]
[Age: 12]
[Level: 10]
[Strength: 13]
[Stamina: 17]
[Agility: 13]
[Mana: 14]
[Traits: Vessel of Sin, Deceiver of the Scales (lv.3), Divine Insight Eye (lv.4), Swordsmanship (lv.5), Divine Sword (lv.1), Starlight (lv.1)]
----
The status window that never failed to bring a smile to my face whenever I looked at it.
Perhaps because of the brutal training, my stats had risen to an absurd degree.
Considering that the abilities granted upon character creation were all 10, these numbers were more than enough to enter the academy right away.
And that wasn't all. I'd also gained three more traits, all thanks to the Divine Insight Eye.
If not for the Divine Insight Eye, I wouldn't have been able to fully grasp Daphne's complex swordsmanship and magic.
Of course, it was still insufficient to stop the original protagonist or main villains like the Seven Deadly Sins.
However, it was also true that with this level of stats and traits, I wouldn't get beaten up just anywhere.
To what extent? Honestly, I could easily knock out most of the knights in the viscounty where I resided.
This had all happened in just two years.
With this rate of growth...
In six years, when the main episode begins, wouldn't I be able to easily beat up anyone?
Ah, everyone except one.
"Idle thoughts are forbidden, I have oft declared!"
"Ugh!"
Just as I was lost in thought for a moment, Daphne's wooden sword struck my abdomen.
An unspeakable pain flared as my body was sent flying backward.
-Thud!
My flying body slammed into a rock. The impact was so strong that rock fragments scattered everywhere.
"Agh!"
It hurt so much that tears welled up in my eyes.
It was always like this. Just a moment of carelessness, and I'd be slammed into a rock or have my bones broken.
"To think your progress is so sluggish, my disciple. This master is utterly exasperated. I dare say, even a passing slug would achieve more than you."
Her nagging voice reached me amidst the pain.
I lifted my head to see my master extending her right hand, casting a healing spell on me.
"No, Master. How am I supposed to react when you suddenly add a speed spell like that?"
"My disciple. Is that truly for you to say, you who have cloaked yourself in the speed spell five times? This master merely cloaked herself once."
When I flared up, Daphne retorted lightly, as if she had expected it.
"No, but couldn't you at least go a little easier on me?"
"A foolish question, indeed. Has this master not told thee countless times? A flower that endures no hardship shall bear no fragrance."
"Flowers are creatures that grow perfectly fine just with water, though..."
"Silence. And this master has been exceedingly gentle, verily."
I was utterly speechless.
Because, though I hated to admit it, it was the truth.
Daphne had truly hit me gently.
"At this rate, even a hundred years would not suffice. Such is your lack of talent in swordsmanship and magic."
Daphne sat beside me and began to prattle.
Seeing her like that, and the notification, filled me with a sense of despair.
[Receive Swordsmanship and Magic from Daphne. (Progress: 2.00232%)]
Daphne's words, which were almost mocking, were unfortunately factual.
Despite being worked like a dog for two years.
What I'd received from her was merely around 2%.
'This is frustrating.'
At this pace, let alone receiving everything, I don't even know if I'll be able to escape Daphne in six years.
"Let us conclude for today. With a body so frail, what good is a man? Tsk, this master is already plagued with immense worry."
"No, Master. Even if you just go to the village, it's hard to find a man more capable or handsome than me... Agh!"
Thwack, a sharp rap landed on my forehead.
"Of late, your insolence has grown, thou impudent wretch."
It was called a knuckle rap, but the mana imbued in her finger sent me, who had barely managed to get up, crashing back onto the ground.
God, that hurt like hell.
"Master, by the way, there's something I'm curious about..."
"Indeed. There is no nourishment more conducive to growth than questions, verily. What is it, the question thou wishest to ask?"
"Are you really going to keep using that strange way of speaking?"
"Strange, sayest thou? What blasphemy is this? Verily, there are customs that must be upheld between master and disciple."
"Sigh..."
Daphne replied with a benevolent smile, as if it were the most obvious thing.
'Customs, my foot.'
A sigh escaped me, and my expression crumpled.
I wasn't the only one who had changed in two years.
Daphne had also begun to change while living with me, and one of those changes was that strange way of speaking.
'I should just tear up that book entirely.'
The reason for Daphne's changed speech was simple.
She had been influenced by a book she borrowed from the library.
'Who would've thought there'd be wuxia novels in this world?'
The title was even 'Miredo.' To be precise, it wasn't wuxia, but a story from the Eastern lands beyond the continent.
"Ah, my disciple. Art thou perchance feeling hungry? Just in case, I have today prepared sandwiches..."
"Master!"
I was briefly lost in thought when I heard a dangerous sound, and I hastily called out to my master.
"Do you happen to know the saying 'Three-Day Reign'?"
"Know it I do, verily. Does it not signify the futility of power? Why dost thou suddenly speak of it...?"
Did she catch my drift?
Daphne, who had lifted her hand to open a subspace, replied with a slightly deflated voice.
"Yes, as Master knows, in this world, even power can be lost in three days. But what about food?"
"..."
"Master, I witnessed something. Was it about a week ago? Someone secretly entered the kitchen and completely burned a head of lettuce."
"Ugh..."
"Of course, I trust it wasn't Master, but those wouldn't happen to be the sandwiches made back then, would they?"
When I asked, Daphne pouted, lowered her hand, and then hung her head with a dejected expression.
'Sigh.'
Though she was my master, she was so unexpectedly cute in moments like these that I couldn't even get angry.
'Why is she like this?'
That's not to say I understood it. No, I simply couldn't understand it at all.
Why would she keep trying to cook when she'd just gag herself after eating her own food?
"Whither art thou going?"
As I stood up, Daphne poked her head out and asked.
"Where else?"
Seeing her like that, a blunt reply naturally slipped out.
"To earn back the cost of the ingredients someone burned, of course."
My age. Twelve this year.
It was an age when I should be earning my keep.
****
The closest territory to the log cabin, located deep within the forest, was the Darmian Viscounty, situated on the empire's outskirts.
In truth, though called a viscounty, it was merely a village slightly larger than an ordinary one.
Considering its location and size, it was practically a remote backwater.
Nonetheless, high-ranking nobles frequently visited the Darmian Viscounty, owing to the presence of a certain lake.
"Kamel, did you hear the news? The Count Cayden family came to the village this time."
"Why them?"
"Why else? They must be visiting the Lake of Mana."
The Lake of Mana, located near the viscounty.
It was rumored to be a lake rich in mana, capable of curing all ailments, and it was also the lake where I almost drowned on my second day of possession.
'Curing all ailments, my foot.'
From what I'd experienced, it was a baseless rumor, though.
Ah, of course, it was true that mana was abundant there.
"Shhh, this is a rumor circulating in secret, you see."
Mr. Zakel fussed, lowering his voice.
For your information, I was working at the beverage stall run by Mr. Zakel.
"They say Count Cayden's... *thing* hasn't been working too well lately."
"Good heavens. His *thing*?"
"Indeed. That's why his wife is worried sick, you see."
"That's unfortunate."
"So, let this old man give you a piece of advice. From today onwards, train your lower body diligently. Don't ask why."
I think I'm stronger than him in that regard.
Those words almost slipped out, but I had to nod with a forced smile.
Even if his lower body was weak, Zakel was my source of income... no, my boss.
'What's his game?'
An unrelated question arose, separate from my social duties.
'I distinctly remember him being a lecher.'
A fact I knew from playing the game. Count Cayden was definitely not impotent.
Quite the opposite. His lust was so strong that not only did he assault countless women, but he even became a subordinate of Lust, one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
'Who cares?'
Come to think of it, it wasn't my business.
Whatever he did, if I just left him alone, the main episode would proceed as I remembered it.
Rather than unnecessarily stirring up trouble, it was wiser to let him die by the hands of the original protagonist.
'What I need to focus on right now is...'
Learning swordsmanship and magic from Daphne.
And.
"Alright, then, let us begin preparations. Lady Rose's twelfth birthday is just around the corner, so customers will gradually flock in."
The woman who would become the villainess of the age. Rose van Darmian.
"By the way, you're also twelve, yet you're earning money. What a commendable fellow you are."
Mr. Zakel patted my shoulder and chuckled heartily.
This old man probably wouldn't know even if he died and came back to life.
The reason why I stubbornly insisted on working at this stall, even against my master's will.