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. - Chapter 9

Branching Point

Myris grabbed my hand and we dashed out of the mansion.

Dozens of undead came swarming at us all at once, trying to devour our life force.

But she melted into the night like the darkness was her real home and struck back at them.

“Temporary Fix. Fly, sharp fangs!”

She picked them off one by one with perfect aim, even while moving at high speed.

It wasn’t just her magic—her movement skill was on another level. In the original story Myris’s magic power wasn’t that high. Her body control was what stood out.

While I was admiring how she’d reached that point, Myris bounced across the air in quick jumps.

“You can fly too?!”

“I just fixed the air to make footholds~ Young master, I’ll clean up most of them, but you gotta protect yourself, okay?”

Two skull undead decided I was an easy target and came at me.

I raised my magic output, swung the silver sword, and took down the first one.

While I adjusted my distance for the second, I remembered Bakudou-sensei’s lesson.

“Young master, you really want to improve your sword skills, huh?”

“I’ve tried a bunch of things, but this feels the most natural to me.”

“Then train with the sword seriously.”

“…I am being serious?”

The second skull undead didn’t rush me right away.

It must have realized I wasn’t a pure mage. It was planning to keep its distance and attack.

“No, that’s not it. Make the opponent think you’re someone who has lived by the sword.”

“…Oh! I get it! That’s why you do the long-range attack!”

The skull undead rattled its bones and looked totally relaxed.

It was underestimating me. I instantly switched my grip on the silver sword.

Then I threw it like a javelin. The magic-boosted throw flew fast and hit perfectly, taking down the second one too.

“You’re pretty good, young master~”

“I train like crazy every day!”

I quickly picked up the silver sword from the ground and ran toward the nearby forest.

Myris was handling the undead that chased us, but the deeper we went into the dark woods, the more undead seemed to appear.

I felt fear, but also a rush of excitement. It felt good that my skills actually worked.

At the same time, I really understood what sensei meant.

“Sensei! So you pretend to be a swordsman and then strike from a distance, right?!”

“Haha, being underhanded is totally fine if it makes them laugh. You’ve got the makings of a mercenary, young master.”

“Hehehe.”

“But listen, young master, first-rate opponents will see through it. A tiny movement, the way your muscles are built—they’ll realize you have another trick.”

I gripped the silver sword tightly and thought deeply about sensei’s words.

“Throw yourself into the sword for real. Make both the opponent and yourself believe that the sword is all you have. …The skills you train that way will probably become your pride, young master.”

“…You mean pride can get in the way sometimes?”

“Yeah, that’s the hardest part. The more you throw yourself into it, the more you hate losing. But to survive, sometimes you need the resolve to accept defeat.”

That was the first time I felt like sensei was really looking straight at me.

“Only then will swordsmanship that’s merely [upper-lower] become useful.”

Don’t try to win with simple strength.

That’s why I could take down the undead and even persuade Myris. Feeling a solid response from my own actions, I called out to her as she ran ahead.

“Myris, is this the right way?”

“Yup. Ilza young lady often sneaks out this way at night.”

“…You’ve been tailing her for a while?”

“I needed to know if she was a useful piece.”

Myris gave a wicked little “kufufu” laugh, then lowered her voice.

“Well, I found out she’s someone I can’t control.”

“…What exactly is Ilza doing deep in the forest?”

“Just playing with her friends. All those kids you told her to bury are in the back of the forest, y’know? There are even dead forest animals too.”

Wow… what a forbidden game…

Wait, she never actually buried them…

I’m so glad I didn’t follow her before… If I’d seen that scene I probably would’ve screamed from pure terror.

“I think Ilza young lady is sunk way deeper into darkness than I am.”

“You were watching her pretty closely.”

“So what are you planning to do with someone like that?”

It sounded like she was asking if I was going to try persuading her. What are you gonna do when you meet her.

Honestly, I’d rather keep pretending I didn’t know anything… but still.

“Looks like a demonic being got lured here by the scent of death. I want to interfere somehow.”

Demonic being. Creatures that lurk in darkness, dwellers of the eternal night.

Evil existences that toy with human souls.

The game [Yggdrasil Defense Final Battle] is also a fight against them.

The demonic beings are scheming in the shadows of the world, trying to return to the ancient era when darkness was deepest.

Ilza is like an ultra-promising rookie to them.

The swarm of undead probably got drawn here by the presence of the demonic being.

“Myris, can you beat a demonic being?”

“The strength of demonic beings varies a lot~”

“…Yeah, I figured. Upper-rank ones can wipe out even veteran extermination teams.”

“So I won’t know until I see it.”

“Gotta fight when it shows up, huh. I feel like crying. I’m crying.”

If Ilza gets tempted by a demonic being and falls deeper into darkness, it’s super bad.

She’ll get closer to the original Ilza, and my chances of hitting a death end will shoot way up.

Please let it be a demonic being that Myris can actually beat…

No, even better, just some weak upper-grade undead!

I’ve been having such a hard time all this time, so at least let this one be easy!!

“Young master, it’s that clearing up ahead.”

Mixed with the smell of earth, the scent of death drifted over.

A dense presence that froze my heart. Even as an inexperienced mage, my instincts screamed that this was an evil I had never felt before.

And then we burst into the clearing.

Moonlight poured down on the open space in the forest. Night flowers bloomed, covered in dew. Birds, butterflies, deer, bears—everyone looked like they were happily playing together.

All of them, every single one, were corpses.

They were all dead.

Ilza stood quietly in the middle of the dead.

Moonlight soaked into her silver hair and black sleepwear.

“…Oh? Brother-in-law and Myris, what brings you out so late at night?”

Ilza noticed us and spoke like she hadn’t done anything wrong at all.

“W-what do you mean what… W-who is that next to you…?”

My face twitched as I pointed at the person beside my sister-in-law.

There was a tall man. Clearly a demonic being.

His height was about two and a half meters. His head was a bull’s skull. His arms and legs were creepily long, and he wore a tailcoat. He stood there like he was protecting Ilza.

“Well well, everyone from the Eisenburg family. Are you out for a stroll too? Night reflects the darkness deep in the heart and lets dangerous beings creep close. …Welcome to our world.”

The tall man gave a polite bow with a hoarse, confident voice.

Waaaaaaaah, he looks insanely strong!!

I glanced at Myris.

She made a difficult face and crossed both hands in an X.

Gyaaaaaaaah! No way, no way!!

“H-haha… He seems very polite, Ilza.”

“Brother-in-law. He… Mr. Zasgate is a very unique person. We only just met, but somehow he feels like an old friend.”

Ilza introduced the demonic being like they were close.

“I am called Zasgate of Regret.”

Zasgate introduced himself neatly, but I felt pressure like he was saying “don’t interfere.”

What the heck is “Regret,” and why does it sound so evil.

“S-sorry my sister has been such a bother… excuse us.”

“Not at all. She is very intelligent… She doesn’t fear the dwellers of the night. She fits well with darkness.”

“T-thank you… B-but Ilza is usually a bright girl…”

“You had already seen through her true nature, hadn’t you? …There seems to be a difference in values. I heard you told her to bury her friends, for example.”

A suspicious aura drifted from Zasgate.

H-hiiiiii… So scary…

It was a different, ominous dark pressure from Myris’s. I felt primal terror and almost shut my mouth.

But I remembered that the original Ilza’s pressure was even worse than this, so I forced my mouth open.

“U-um! Our family policy is to refuse dark scouting…”

“Then we shall leave the territory and invite her again. Come with me, Ilza.”

“W-wait wait waaaaait!”

I hurriedly called for a stop.

The surrounding corpses stared at me and I didn’t feel alive at all.

Ilza was looking at me, but I couldn’t tell if I was reflected in her bottomless eyes.

“Gant brother-in-law, why are you stopping me?”

“U-um, you shouldn’t follow dangerous people…”

“I know exactly what he is. I’m not that much of a child. Even so, I wanted to hear what he has to say.”

Ilza smiled.

Even in her gentle voice, the rejection came through clearly.

T-this is bad… She got caught playing with corpses and now she’s doubling down… If she makes some kind of contract with Zasgate, she’ll sink deeper and deeper into darkness.

Thanks to him the undead swarmed the mansion and it was a huge mess. Let’s walk the path of light instead.

Saying that would probably be pointless.

After all, Ilza is the villainess.

“S-so, um, about that…”

Myris kept her hands in an X, and Zasgate sent a stinging pressure straight at me.

Aaaagh! What the hell am I supposed to do from here?!?!

Just let me stay a normal person who loves peace!!!