I Thought I’d Reformed the Villainous Heroine. But Their True Nature Remained Unchanged, and They Were Still Being Doted On—I Just Don’t Have Enough Lives.

It Would Be Bad If The Party’s Average Level Got Checked

The three of us noticed the anomaly almost at the same time.

It was early morning, the night had passed and the air was turning damp. A slight tremor hit the cottage.

Myris was the first to wake up and get on guard. As expected from someone who lived in the darkness.

Ilza was next, and I was last. That part was just a small difference.

Ilza seemed to keep constant magical vigilance. Maybe because I’d been living with no peace of mind lately, I switched into alert mode right away too.

I changed clothes quickly, put on my sword and waist pouch, and asked the maid who was watching from the window.

“Myris! What’s it look like outside!”

“The area around the cottage is surrounded by water. The water isn’t coming in though~”

“It’s not some kind of magic… is it? Mana contamination?”

“Probably… what’s wrong?”

I was pressing my fingers against the spot between my eyebrows.

I was supposed to want ordinary, normal, peaceful days, yet somehow I’d gotten really good at switching into battle readiness.

“No, it’s nothing… really… heh heh heh.”

This wasn’t the time to worry about the future. I had to look at the present right now.

Then Ilza, still in her sleepwear, snapped her fingers.

Big Brother Number Three, which had been on standby, started up with a clack and clunk, and popped open the travel bag.

A pitch-black outfit floated up from inside, and my little sister changed in an instant like some kind of magical girl.

Myris quickly fixed the tiny bits of messy hair and clothes.

With those adjustments from the maid, Ilza headed toward the cottage door with a straight face.

Whoa— she looked super pissed off!

“W-wait wait wait! Let’s wait a second!”

I hurried and stood right in front of Ilza.

“Big Brother, please move aside. I can’t destroy the world.”

“Your tantrum scale is huge!! I’ll definitely make more time with you two later! So for now let’s calm down!!”

Scolded by me, Ilza puffed out one cheek.

Then she spread both arms and begged for a big hug.

“Yeah yeah, come here.”

I hugged her gently and carefully, like handling a fierce wild animal.

The tension drained from the shoulders of the girl who had been about to unleash disaster on the world.

“…………I can feel Big Brother’s warmth. …Mm, I’m calm now.”

When I let go, there was my little sister with her usual bottomless eyes.

Good, it was the usual cold Ilza. Well, not really good, but.

“Big Brother, let’s head outside the cottage.”

“Is it safe?”

“Barricading ourselves here feels too unreliable.”

I glanced at Myris, and she seemed to agree.

In that case, we decided to leave the cottage.

Big Brother Number Three carried the two travel bags, so Ilza and Myris could move light. Well, Ilza was a pure mage and Myris was more of a mage-type fighter, so they didn’t need weapons anyway.

Outside, everything had turned into a lake.

There was a bit of mist, so we couldn’t see more than a few dozen meters ahead. The surrounding forest was gone too, and it looked like only the cottage was floating on the water.

Ilza narrowed her eyes, then started walking toward the water surface.

“H-hey, Ilza.”

“…The water surface has solidified, so we can stand on the lake.”

Ilza walked across the lake with little splashes. Only ripples spread out and reached us.

Wondering if it was really okay, I stepped forward too, and sure enough I could walk on the lake.

“O-oh… we really can walk on it. I can step firmly.”

“Young Master Gant, we’ve gotten dragged into dungeon formation~”

Myris said it casually while leading Big Brother Number Three.

“Looks like it. But that’s weird… I heard the mana contamination in the lake was only slight…”

“It seems to be happening a lot lately, so maybe the investigation missed it?”

“I don’t think they’d overlook signs of this scale… What was it like yesterday?”

“Monsters were appearing, but I didn’t sense any serious contamination.”

Maybe the contamination level had shot up suddenly. I groaned in thought.

The game [Yggdrasil Defense Decisive Battle Odd] had mana as a core world setting.

Mana dwelled in all things and circulated so the world could function normally. When mana got contaminated, monsters appeared and the land got polluted.

Think of it like the human body.

The great tree Yggdrasil was the heart, the world was the body, and mana circulation was the blood vessels.

When mana got contaminated for some reason, the world would get sick. Dungeon formation was the prime example of that.

“Young Master, the mana contamination covers the whole lake, right?”

“Mid-level contamination in just one night. …No matter what, the level jumped way too much.”

Dungeon formation was like an irregular heartbeat in the blood vessels.

If left alone it would get worse and the world itself would change. Logic and reason would bend the rules, creating impossible things in impossible places. There were even stories of a golden fortress appearing right in the middle of a desert.

…As behind-the-scenes lore, if mana disappeared from the world, dungeon formation would stop.

But none of the characters in [Yggdrasil Defense Decisive Battle Odd] would ever aim for that. Because the origin of humans was mana, and also demons.

I asked Ilza, who in the original story tried to control the world’s mana.

“Ilza, for now let’s look for the spots with mana contamination. We can search for the cause later.”

“It turned into training without meaning to.”

“Yeah. I wish it was a bit easier training though.”

If the land itself was changing, it was mid-level mana contamination.

Humanoid monsters might appear and make it dangerous, but in terms of combat strength it wasn’t a problem. It would just be tough on me.

In the worst case, we could ignore normalizing the mana and just run away.

Still… Ilza’s eyes looked battle-hungry, and that worried me.

“You still seem in a bad mood.”

“Oh? …Sorry, I was a little worked up. Unlike Big Brother, I’m not very good at acting.”

“You make me sound like a villain. What’s up?”

“It seems a higher-ranked demonic nature has poked its nose in.”

Eh? Ah… ah… really???

Ah… so that’s it. They still haven’t given up on Ilza at all.

Yeah, that makes sense…

“N-no no, it’s not like—”

The moment I tried to deny it as an escape from reality.

A heavy rumbling shook the ground—ZUGOGOGOGO—.

The water surface shook violently, and I desperately braced myself so I wouldn’t fall.

The world changed even more.

Walls rose from the water, along with watchtowers, fortresses, huge towers, and all kinds of buildings. Water poured down with a big splash, and just like that, a massive labyrinth appeared.

It was like an attraction that would shock even Tokyo something-or-other.

Dragged into the giant water labyrinth, I almost passed out.

But instead of despair, I got angry at how unfair it was.

“Damn it all!! Hey! Take it step by step, okay?! This isn’t even skipping steps—the whole staircase is gone!!”

“Young Master getting mad in the opposite direction is pretty nice too~”

“Shut up!!”

Why do I have to clear something that looks like last-dungeon level!

That’s right! I don’t have to clear it at all! Let’s leave it to the adults!

In my previous life I was a salaryman, but now I’m just a kid! Full use of kid privileges!!

But Ilza’s eyes weren’t smiling.

“I was supposed to have a wonderful day with Big Brother… Yet they keep being this rude… It goes past unpleasant and now it’s actually funny.”

Ah, no good… My little sister’s pissed…

She was planning to fight the higher demonic nature with everything she had… Yeah, of course. She was the ultimate villain after all. If someone looked down on her, she’d go destroy them…

Myris had already switched gears and was smiling while getting ready for battle.

“Young Master. Looks like they have no intention of letting us escape anyway~”

“I know! I know, but still, understand me!!”

“I don’t really get it, but I feel like I do~”

You’re so strong, dark dweller! Meanwhile I’m just a cannon-fodder villain!

That’s right! As the cannon fodder I should just say ‘I can’t stay in a place like this, let me stay alone in the cottage!’

That’s what I thought, right at that moment.

The ground under the cottage swelled up, and a huge mouth full of fangs appeared.

A giant fish dozens of meters long bit the cottage to pieces, sent up a huge spray, and sank back into the water.

The handmade cottage was smashed, and Ilza laughed like it was the funniest thing ever.

“Hehe… oh no, that’s so funny. Just thinking about cleaning up the enemies after this makes me laugh this much. Hehe, it’s really funny~”

The air twisted with cracking sounds, and dozens of ripples spread out from under Ilza’s feet.