The Villainess is Retiring

Chapter 4

Magicians use the mana in their bodies to cast spells. However, the amount of mana they have can’t be increased through training. That means they only have the mana they were born with. Innate talent is the most important factor for a magician. A magician’s mana level is measured on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most powerful.

According to the novel, Everia’s mana level was only 0.5. Can you imagine her actually using magic to create fire? Her mana was so weak that she probably couldn’t even light birthday candles.

0.5? Everia only has... I mean, I only have 0.5?!

In contrast, Kathryn was a powerful magician with a mana level of 9. It was her strong mana that got her so much attention despite being the daughter of an irrelevant family. Thanks to that, Everia looked even more inconsequential. A female lead of lower status with powerful magic versus a villain of high standing who had no magical skill whatsoever.

It was such a predictable setup.

“Upon closer inspection, you do have a small amount of mana. A very tiny amount. It’s close to a Zero's, isn’t it?”

Harry scoffed after studying me for a while.

“Zero” is a slang term for people who were born without mana. It’s quite an insult among magicians, but since I came from a world where not having any magic was the norm, it didn’t offend me much. In fact, I wasn't hurt at all when Harry tried to tease me about it.

“You’re right. That’s what everyone says. That it’s nearly zero. That it would be less comical if I were a normal person and not a magician.”

Harry blinked at my calm response. It seemed like that wasn’t the reaction he was expecting.

“Doesn’t that make you angry? I made fun of you by saying that you're essentially the same level as a Zero.”

“What can I do about it? That’s how I was born. Being upset over it isn’t going to change anything. I just have to live with it.”

“Why are you so pessimistic?”

“You think so? I’d say I’m rather optimistic. Instead of the useless magician title, I was born with lots of money and a high status, so there’s no problem as far as I’m concerned.”

In truth, I preferred it that way. If Everia had a high mana level but was a poor, low-status person, I would’ve felt dejected the moment I took over her body. A poor person with outstanding abilities? Ugh, just thinking about that exhausts me. Incompetent people born into wealthy families live the best lives.

“I thought all humans were obsessed with having magical powers.”

Harry circled me slowly as if he were looking at an alien life-form. As he said, people admire magicians who have amazing skills since they were really quite rare. Regardless of social status, people measure the mana level of a child as soon as they’re born and hope that they have a special gift.

Harry pointed that out too as he tilted his head to one side. “Don’t humans measure someone’s mana right when they’re born? If that’s true, everyone knows your mana level already, so who’ll believe that you started the fire?”

“I don’t care. If I say I did it, who would dare say that I didn’t?”

“Where’s this confidence coming from?”

“What? I’m the duke’s daughter. There’s no one here who ranks higher than me.”

In Oberon Castle, there were two people above me: My father, Duke Oberon, and my brother, Archibald. But at Airelle manor, my rank was the highest. Of course, I only had the lofty status. I had no real authority to control things in the territory.

All the real power belonged to Baron Incentia, the head administrator of Airelle. He was the vigorous and loyal head of the vassal family that has served House Oberon for generations. He didn't have a big role in the novel, but according to what I heard on the way to the manor, he was very well-liked and very talented.

Even so, if I were to point to a rock on the ground and say it was a jewel, Baron Incentia would have to agree with me. I’m Everia Oberon, after all. In terms of title, the baron is higher than her, but she is still a direct descendant of the duchy. Even if Everia's surname were to change after marriage, her lineage wouldn’t. That’s how things work in a caste-based society.

“I have no qualms about using my status as a weapon and wielding it diligently.”

Everia Oberon is the villain. Could my role be any more convenient?

The more I think about it, being the villain is the best way to live in this world.

* * *

“It’s really burning. Oh, my.”

Emma’s mouth dropped as she watched the roaring fire. She had a blank expression like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

Baron Incentia, who I hadn’t seen since the first day he greeted me, and even the butler busy managing the house gathered in front of the fireplace in my room. It seemed the rumors had already spread that I was burning the black steel wood.

“The black steel wood is… burning,” mumbled Baron Incentia as he watched the flames.

The fire Harry created was a bit different from a normal one. The overall color wasn’t unusual, but there was still a strange blue flame at the center. Of course, it was hard to notice unless they looked very closely.

And even if anyone saw it, it was such a tiny difference. I was sure they’d just assume they were seeing things. Thus, no one could tell that it was the azure flame from the creation myth.

As I expected, Emma and the butler were simply amazed at the sight of the burning black steel logs. However, the baron was different. He looked at me with calm, sunken eyes as he spoke.

“I heard that you kindled this fire.”

“Yes, I did.”

“How did you do it?”

“Hmm... How did I do it?”

After thinking about it briefly, I clasped my hands together and looked at the baron.

“I put my hands together like this...”

“Like that?”

“...and I prayed! I prayed with all my heart!”

“What?”

The baron mirrored the serious expression on my face, then chuckled dejectedly as his energy drained out of him.

“You prayed earnestly, and it caught fire?”

“Yes, I'm a magician, so it's not that surprising, is it? Magicians often do amazing things.“

I tilted my head in a carefree manner. Of course, the baron wasn’t going to let it go that easily.

“You may not know it, but this is black steel wood. It does not burn in an ordinary fire.”

“I know. Emma told me about it, but when I tried lighting it, it started burning.”

The baron's neat eyebrows twitched subtly at my cavalier attitude. I shrugged my shoulders and ignored the uneasy look on his face.

“I needed the fire because I was so cold. My mana must have responded to my desperation. Is this what people call a magician’s miracle?”

[Look at you pretending not to know anything. You’re quite good at acting, you know?]

Harry's voice was like a whisper, and he sounded fed up with me. I smiled innocently at the baron as the demon’s voice echoed in my head. It was telepathy, which is the resonance between a contractor and their demon.

[Be quiet, Harry.]

[It doesn't matter. They can't hear us anyway.]

[I can hear it. Me! It’s distracting.]

To ensure that my conversation with the baron would go smoothly, I made another wish to Harry.

[Please don't interrupt when I'm talking to other people, Mr. Demon. This is my new wish.]

[Having to hide like this is frustrating enough. Now you want me to shut up too?]

[Harry, do you want me to make you stand and face the wall?]

[...You’re cruel. So cruel! I turned myself into a dog for you. I can’t believe you won’t even let me talk!]

[I see. I guess you don’t like this situation. Then maybe you should just stare at the w—]

Before I could finish my sentence, Harry cried out hurriedly, [Ugh, fine! I’ll shut up!]

I could finally focus on my conversation with the baron once he calmed down. But for whatever reason, he didn’t ask me any more questions. It was strange since there was no way he believed my ridiculous statement. But instead of inquiring further, he looked at me with a mysterious expression, then just nodded.

“Is that so? Indeed, you were born with mana, miss.”

Instead of being ambiguous like the baron, the butler made a huge fuss. “The lady's fire must have special powers! The black steel wood is... really burning! This is a huge deal. Think of how vicious the merchants have been to us!”

The butler grit his teeth as he spoke. “They took advantage of the fact that Airelle has no usable firewood and made unreasonable demands. We had no choice but to accept it!”

Hmm… So that’s what they’ve been dealing with.

I was listening to the story indifferently, but the butler's face was quite agitated.

“But now, we also have firewood! This great flame the lady created can burn black steel wood!”

No firewood in an extremely cold area was definitely a weakness. Since everyone knew about it, this weakness was completely exposed to the public. It was only natural that shrewd merchants would exploit this for their benefit. Was that why Airelle felt outdated despite being part of the duchy? As the butler watched me nod to indicate that I understood the situation, his eyes filled with tears.

What? Tears?

Stunned, I stared at him. There really were tears in his eyes.

“This is a miracle created by the lady’s desire!”

“Huh? A... ‘m-miracle’?”

“Oh, my! She only has a smidgen of mana... How earnestly she must have prayed for the cold in Airelle to be driven away to create such a mysterious and powerful flame!”

“No, I was just cold...”

I quickly denied it, but the already emotional and excited butler didn’t hear me.

“There was a significant meaning behind why the duke sent the young lady here. I didn’t understand his intention and just thought that he was pushing his troublesome daughter onto us.”

Well, he had a point. The duke simply threw away his burden. I was that burden.

“How shortsighted I was. Please forgive me, Lady Everia!”

“Forgive you? Is that really necessary?”

Everything the butler said was true, so there was no need to ask for forgiveness. However, it seemed the butler interpreted my words in a different way, and his face became even more emotional.

“You’re telling me that I don’t even need to ask for forgiveness. How generous of you! It seems that all the rumors about your uproarious notoriety were lies.”

There’s no internet in this world, but my notoriety spread even to this remote corner of the kingdom!

Everia, you really are a villain on a national scale.

I was momentarily reminded about my reputation after the butler’s words. He laughed awkwardly and lowered his head.

“Well, you know how rumors in the royal capital are. I shouldn’t have believed the stories of those unreliable southerners. It was shortsighted of me to believe them.”

“No, those rumors were all tr—”

“I will hurry and distribute these embers throughout the manor. We can finally operate here smoothly. Everyone will be grateful for your earnest prayers.”

Sharing the embers was no big deal. I had fire, and sharing it wasn’t going to wear it out or anything. However, the problem was that ridiculous illusion the butler had would also spread along with the embers.

I quickly reached out to stop him, but he was faster than me. I stared at his back as he lit a candle and disappeared.

Harry sounded excited.

[Do you want me to silence him? The surest way is to kill him. Then his silence is guaranteed forever. How about it? You want that, don’t you?]

[Shut up, Harry.]

[Fine. Forget it.]

I quickly took a step back, and Harry frowned with realization.

[Hey, don’t you think the way you speak to me has gotten harsher?]

[Harry, I told you to shut up. Unless you’d like to spend your whole life staring at a wall...]

[No! I don’t mind the harshness! How did you know shutting up was my specialty? What a clever master you are.]

He instantly shrank back. After the demon went quiet, Baron Incentia, who had been listening to the conversation between me and the butler, opened his mouth.

“Is that dog new? I didn’t receive word that you brought your pet dog when you came from the capital.”

The baron glanced over at Emma for confirmation.

She lowered her head. “I also haven’t seen that dog before.”

Upon feeling their gaze, Harry barked and wagged his tail like he was waiting for this moment. He acted just like a dog. I shot him a look of approval as I spoke to the two of them.

“I came across this dog while taking a walk in the garden. He seemed lost, so I brought him with me.”

“A dog that big was wandering around in the garden?”

The baron looked back and forth between me and Harry suspiciously, but I nodded shamelessly.

“Could you ask the people in the manor for me if anyone lost a dog? If no one claims him, I’ll keep him. It’s a bit lonely here, so I was thinking about getting a dog anyway.”

“If you need a pet dog, I will look for a gentle and clever one. That would be better than keeping a stray dog without a pedigree.”

Although he was saying it in a roundabout way, he was suggesting that I raise a purebred dog instead of a mutt. Harry understood what he said and grumbled in a fit of anger.

[Who’s accusing who about not knowing their pedigree?! Do you know what a great demon I am? I was once a king...]

Ha! He’s such a chatter mouth.

It seemed that Harry had forgotten his promise to keep his mouth shut and was blabbing again. I muted Harry's voice and communicated my intentions to the baron.

“Then would you like me to throw him out again? I feel bad for him. It’s so cold outside.“

I cocked my head toward the window, and the baron shut his mouth. If Harry had been an ordinary dog, it wouldn’t be unheard of for him to die in such weather.

“Sending him outside without looking for his owner is a death sentence. Don’t you have a heart?”

Aren’t all lives precious, Baron?

I thought I was saying something obvious, but the baron looked at me as if I was saying something foolish. It was the same with Emma. I even fiddled with my ears and wondered if there was something wrong with my hearing.

Ah!

I quickly realized why they were reacting that way. I guess it’s funny that a person who just got caught trying to murder someone was talking about having a heart. Just as I thought, a villain needs to act like a villain.