Akuyaku Reijou no Naka no Hito - CH 6.1

I decided to take revenge on Pina, but the odds were against me.

The act of what Emi called leveling initially requires a huge amount of money. Magic crystals are not that cheap. She was a commoner until last year, but she would not be able to do it. With her knowledge of the story, she would be an efficient money-maker, but her level as a Star Maiden is definitely still low for that woman who used to spend on love potions and perfumes of attractiveness.

Emi used to buy magic crystals for leveling when she was a child, but after learning alchemy and improving her skills, she started to make her own and use them in the last few years. Defeat the demons, recover the magic stone, process it to make a magic crystal, break the made magic crystal to recover magic power, and then defeat the demons again.「Oh no, haha, I’ve got a perpetual cycle machine, haha,」it was as if it were only yesterday that I recalled the smiling scene with such excitement.

In other words, the Star Maiden have yet to conquer a number of dungeons from the second chapter of the story. They have no power to conquer them, and the same is true for Williard and the others who are supposed to be party members. Thanks to Emi, he will be stronger than in the story, but there is no way he can take that woman with his limping status. In the first place, though, the crown prince and his entourage, who have now graduated from the academy, would not casually go out to the dungeon in the absence of a world crisis, as they did in the story.

Today, while drinking a cup of tea, I continue to process magic stones into magic crystals. The demand for this product will never disappear, as it can also be used to power magical tools. The more I make, the more I can sell, and I can accumulate a small amount of skill in magic in general, so it’s an excellent way to make money and increase my own power. If I have a little time, I can process magic crystal stones, three a day for a normal person, but if I am as proficient as I am, I can make a heap of them on the tea table in an hour.

I sell half of these through the owner of that store, and the other half I spend on my own「leveling」while visiting various dungeons to use them for the ultimate purpose. My hair, which used to hang long and luxuriant when I was a duchess, is now somewhat shorter and tied at the back of my head. I was dressed like a man for dungeon exploration, which makes me look like a female knight.

A few of the settlers hid their true identities and began to live in an abandoned village, where they began a modest but peaceful life using the materials and food that I had helped them with. I frequently ask the villagers who express their gratitude to me if they are in need, and I do all I can to help them. They need to be more indebted to me.

「The Villainess, Remilia, is an official cheat,」were the words Emi remembered. She is a perfect daughter who can do anything. She has never won anything but the first grade in academy. She is also a genius in magic. She also taught herself to recreate a demon summoning ritual that she had arrived at by unraveling the ruins and literature of an ancient civilization, and activated it using only her own magical power. In order to stand up to the protagonists, the developers of the story gave Remilia, the villainess, various abilities that eliminate the inconveniences that occur in the story.

She had a very rare talent for transference magic to appear anywhere and disturb, illusion and transformation magic to confuse the protagonists, tamer-like abilities to lead demons to confuse people, medical knowledge and skills to spread mutated plagues and destroy materials that could be used as a cure in advance, and more. She was also well versed in poisons and witchcraft to sprinkle problems on the protagonists.

In addition, in combat, she can handle everything from swordplay with rapiers to offensive magic, self-buffing, and healing magic to heal herself. In terms of status figures alone, she lightly surpassed even Williard, who grows up to be the strongest on the hero’s side and has the blood of a hero. Remilia was a sorcerer-type character with high magic power, but the damage she could do in the final battle was superior to Williard’s physical attack power.

Remilia is so strong that even with the advantage of the number of players and the number of moves, they can easily be defeated if they are not well trained.

That’s right, Emi’s favorite character,「Remilia Rose Graupner,」has that much potential.

Thanks to the leveling that Emi did along the way, I was strong enough, but not yet strong enough to achieve that middle of the road, which was necessary for my goal. That’s what leveling is all about. With my magic skills well honed and a mountain of potions and magical tools in my possession, I flew to the many ruins that Emi knew of to collect what I needed and further enhance my abilities.

The maximum effect in the shortest amount of time. First, I go deeper into the dormant dungeon along the border, which is thought to have already been conquered. There is a hidden part in the last room here, and if you step through the back of it as well, you will get a ring that will benefit your status. Pina, of course, must have known the existence of this dungeon, which is so easy to conquer that it was called a「bonus dungeon」and yet it provide strong equipment, and if she had not tackled this dungeon, she would have not have made any progress. She seems to be that woman who had abandoned her original role as a star maiden because she was obsessed with fishing for men.

I was slowly advancing the board for revenge. I can’t wait to see the destruction of that woman ahead.

The next step is to save the desolate village on the border, and then to take down the entire nest of demons that inhabited the area to the north of the village. They had repeatedly endangered the lives of the residents of the surrounding area, but had not received a proper response when they appealed to their lords. They were extremely grateful to me for throwing myself into danger without compensation, telling me that「God had guided me to do so.」

This was a former settlement, the first inhabitants, now old, were petty criminals who had been pardoned in exchange for settling the area. This is probably why the lords were not willing to move aggressively. I know that once the demons wiped out the former criminals and their families, the inhabitants, they were going to accept resettlement to the land that had been cultivated and the dwellings that were no longer inhabited.

Having ingratiated myself with them, I declined the money they were about to give me as a「thank you.」It would be to my advantage if they thanked「Remilia」rather than accepting such a small amount of money. Besides, Emi wouldn’t accept money at a time like this, she would help people in need.

They do not think as I do, that they are「dirty beings with the blood of criminals on their hands.」She is the kind girl who would serve dried fruit, a precious sweet, to scrawny children like this. Emi would have done the same.

Then people start calling me a「Saint.」Oh my, what a sight to behold. Yes, Emi’s「Remilia」is a lovely girl, kind and pure and deserving of her saintly name, as she is. I got caught up in the good mood and gave too much charity.

The demons I defeated were brought back to the village to be funded, and in return, I headed to appease the harsh water dragons in the neighboring country, which was suffering from drought. Of course, the prayers of the water nymphs who live in the oasis in front of them, which are necessary for the attack, have been calculated so that everything can be done in the shortest possible time after I get them on the road.

The water dragon was originally supposed to provide water blessings to the surrounding area. This long dry season brought about by the fury of their Lord. To appease them, I would have to ask permission to enter the temple, and I would have to make a loan to the chief priest of that desert country, which would solve the water shortage in his homeland. This will also be resolved on the way through.

In the story, they had to travel back and forth many times between the center of the desert country and the villages and oases suffering from the sun, to gather information, but I don’t need to do that because I know it all. If someone asks me why I know, I just say,「I had a revelation from God,」and then show them the rest of my actions, and it’ll be fine.

A former noble girl who received an oracle travels around saving people without compensation. When I learned that such a reputation was quietly because to circulate, I showed a hint of annoyance by saying,「I’m just doing what God wants me to do.」

Yes, if it was God’s will that brought me and Emi together, it is surely God’s will that I take revenge for her.

There is a lot of work to be done. I don’t think there is, but if I don’t get everything done before Pina, it won’t matter. Besides, I can’t keep stigmatized「Remilia」by false accusations for a long time.

When I think about it, I am truly glad that I have the gift of transition magic. Otherwise, I would not have been able to go back and forth so often, advancing the board in the country and simultaneously attacking the dungeons that came up in the story.

In the story, the villainess Remilia lost because of the…… turn-based system, which is as well behaved as a card game, but if I were to fight in the real world today, I would not use swordplay while unleashing offensive magic or put up a wall while recovering. It was impossible. Perhaps if I were a pawn of the Demon Lord, I could defeat the Star Maiden, even if it means one against more than one. Of course, I would not choose such a future.

It was hard to handle scouting, scouting, and combat all by myself, but it was not a problem because neither「The Villainess Remilia,」 whom Emi loved, was described as having minions even after she was placed under the control of the Demon Lord. In fact, with a little effort, I was able to do everything on my own.

Although I had taken a larger safety margin and honed my own skills, I was still able to follow the same path as the story at a faster pace than planned. It is probably significant that I visited at an earlier point than in the story, so the problems that might have worsened over time were in a relatively mild state. Above all, though, it is simply that I was more competent than the Star Maiden in the story.

When they thanked me, they tearfully apologized for their initial attitudes, saying,「We are the ones who are grateful to Remilia-sama, we never thought we would be able to live in the village in this way.」

I showed shyness in response to the appreciation, saying that I was just doing what I feel like doing. I’m just doing what Emi would have done, and I’m sure that it’s my sincere wish to fulfill her wish, to make her「The Villainess Remilia」happy, and to solve trivial problems to make it happen.

The materials for this next step were successfully collected by visiting dungeons in various locations. Feeling a bit tired as expected, I took a day off in the village that serves as my territory.

The next day I traveled to the land of the dwarves using transfer magic, and knocked on the door of the royal palace with a letter from the chief of a small tribe that was suffering from fire dragon attacks in a remote part of this country. Once I was turned away, but this was the same as from the story. After this, I give up and return to the castle, where I met a princess who is strolling the streets as a ninja. After getting to know her, she would ask me why I came to this country, and when I told that was I there to have「the sacred armor struck by the fire god who protects this country,」she would keep the letter for me to give directly to her sister, the princess-miko.