I Woke Up as the Villainess's Friend. I Don’t Want to Be the Next Dark Queen

We complete the dungeon. The chest, having had some time to replenish since our last run, contains gold and jewels but only one snow cloak, which we give to Mary.

Ronan and I share a knowing look, both reaching the same conclusion: it seems we have to let the dungeon rest more, we're overfarming it.

"Should we limit ourselves to going up to the third floor one last time on the final day of the trials?" I ask aloud. "See if they drop the third component of your set, or maybe a duplicate frost piece for me."

"That seems most logical, my lady."

"Meanwhile we can keep farming the trolls. They'll give us points for that."

So we exit the dungeon and camp in the forest outside to eat and rest for a few hours, giving it time to regenerate its creatures.

Mary and I are comfortable despite the light snow, thanks to our snow cloaks. Ronan has Petunia coiled around his body. I imagine she provides him some warmth. They don't mind staying back to chat while I take the opportunity to meditate and recover my mana pool. That's another consideration. Potions are ridiculously expensive, and even though we can afford them now, I think there's a limit to how many you can consume in a short period. You start feeling sick, poisoned. So my path to increased power isn't through an unlimited potion arsenal, but by leveling up meditation. Having the dog level up his lick ability wouldn't hurt either.

I used it once in the dungeon, discreetly in case any effects from that life and mana healing could be detected; since having the little pup give me a lick outside combat would be completely normal—he's supposed to be my pet, after all. However, Mary has high light affinity; just because Ronan doesn't notice anything unusual doesn't mean someone with different affinities can't spot a glow or something. I don't notice anything myself, but I can't see myself from the outside.

It's like with Vincent, I used it secretly then too.

By mid-afternoon, we're back at the academy and heading to turn in our missions.

We don't need any carts. It's another 70 flasks that we've filled with troll blood, earning us the same number of points, plus a single yeti hide worth 10. Since there are three of us, that's 26 points per person. The two leftover points are lost.

Ronan says goodbye and leaves. He wants to study for a while. Something about learning a curse spell.

Mary and I walk out of the auditorium together. We don't talk; each of us is lost in her own thoughts. I don't know about her, but I'm doing math.

Twenty-six more points puts me at 174 for the ranking counter and 121 for buying items. I'll definitely reach the 300 needed for the necklace.

Uh... I think.

Today is Tuesday. The trials end this Sunday. So, counting Sunday, I have five days. Since we're only doing the yeti once more, I have to count on 70 points per day for five days, plus 10 from the yeti hide. That's 360 points. Split three ways, 120 per person. I won't make it.

I'd be stuck at 241.

It's frustrating, because I'd like to achieve this without having to kick Mary out of my group.

My first impulse is to ask Ronan what he thinks. But since I'm with Mary, I should bring it up with her first.

Then I realize what I'm doing: delegating too much.

Let's see—it's one thing to lean on Ronan, who's my vassal and according to the system my sergeant, plus he's a better strategist than I am. It's completely different to fall into the trap of letting him solve all my problems.

"Mary..." I turn to her. "Do you think I rely on Ronan too much?"

The girl slows her pace and looks at me strangely. When she sees I'm being serious, she laughs softly.

"A little, yeah, honestly. I get it. He's very competent and you've won him over. He seems to enjoy helping you. But honestly, Bianca, I don't see you as the typical lady who delegates everything to her husband or subordinates. It doesn't suit you."

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Ouch. That stings.

"You're absolutely right. And I hadn't even realized that since I hold his skills and analytical ability in such high regard, I ask for too much help, and that can only undermine my confidence in myself."

"Wow, this is getting pretty deep. I'm really glad you've realized it."

Yeah... I have a goblin village and I've let the guy handle everything. He even has me making bricks, I think with bitter amusement. I think I'm running away from my responsibilities because I don't want to be the next dark queen; what a cop-out.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up," she says, seeing whatever expression I must be making.

And she's right, because I think I've confused my role. I'm the leader. It's fine to ask his advice for battles, but the guy is taking on responsibilities that are mine. Like the aforementioned goblin village.

Without stopping, I run my hand over my face, massaging my forehead for a moment.

It's just so convenient to have him handle everything. Very convenient and very selfish on my part.

In the fight against the ants, I felt good. My approach to their attack might not have been the most effective, but it was mine, and the goblins cheered for me. I need to get more involved with them, not leave it all to Ronan. After all, whether I like it or not, it's my village. I was the one who accepted them as vassals.

So if I can handle that, I can also handle something as simple as getting more flasks. We left a huge amount of troll blood uncollected.

"Don't worry. I'm just going to be more proactive."

I say goodbye to my friend and head off to get the flasks. Solstar would be the ideal place to buy them, but I don't want to waste time. I'll go to the points shop even if it means being even further from the 300.

"Your party partner, Ronan, already bought 70 for your dungeon run tomorrow," the vendor tells me.

"Yes, but either I buy more or I won't get the points for the necklace."

"I'm afraid I can't sell you more. Well, I could, but they wouldn't let you take them out of the dungeon. In fact, Tovan contacted me the other day. Says he's never seen students who clear the dungeon so quickly and efficiently, and he's already had to give you a warning about what you're taking out of it."

"Yes, but those were bodies raised as undead, not materials."

"If you take out so many materials, you're going to leave the dungeon core without resources. Remember the philosophy: farm today without overdoing it, so you can keep farming tomorrow. You have to let the dungeon regenerate."

"But what about other years? How have they managed it?"

Because I doubt the worm egg pouches mission is new this year.

"Do you really think students can just go around killing all the trolls in a village? They sneak around to grab the little worm egg pouches. Very few parties are strong enough to face several trolls at once, much less an entire village."

Oh. Right. That makes sense, but I'm not used to being this overpowered.

"What about the army?"

"Yes, the army clears it periodically to prevent a dungeon break. At those times, the dungeon has excess resources and they can extract more materials. But right now, you're decimating it. Be grateful they're allowing you 70 flasks per day."

I'm not going to argue by telling him we could clear it twice a day, giving it a few hours to recover. I understand that if we took out those 140 flasks, we'd be exhausting the core and putting it in danger.

I nod.

"That's unfortunate."

The merchant starts laughing.

"Your partner, the necromancer, already tried to buy all the ones I could sell him. He was planning to bring some kind of platform made with floating golems to transport them into the dungeon."

"If we don't take any hides or materials other than troll blood, could we bring more flasks?" it occurs to me to ask.

"No. In fact, I think when you go tomorrow, Tovan's going to tell you that material farming is over. Just the stuff for assignments and that's it. At this rate, next year they'll have to introduce higher-level dungeons just for you two. The rector must be thrilled. I don't remember any year where there were such brilliant students."

"Thank you."

I thank him, but I'm disappointed. I imagine Ronan is too. But 70 points is still far more than we can get per day with the other missions. And honestly, going to this dungeon in the morning and then looking for another one to clear in the afternoon for some points doesn't appeal to me. First, because it would yield few points, and second, because we already have this one down to a science.

I say goodbye to the merchant and, while heading to my dorm room, I do the math in my head.

Without buying arrows—which I don't buy anymore since I'm going to handle the initial golems with fireball so I can practice it—I need 179 points. Each day the three of us go, that's 23 points per person. If, for example, we help Mary three more days, that would be 69 points, leaving me with 2 more days that would give me 35 times 2 plus 5 from the yeti hide. That's 75. Added to the 69, I still wouldn't reach the 179 I need for the necklace. So either I ask Ronan to let me go alone on Saturday, or we help Mary fewer days. The problem with going alone would be having to collect the blood—the idea is somewhat repulsive—and, above all, how would I transport those 70 flasks? If I go alone, I'm doing it completely alone. I'm not going to ask him to lend me his skeleton friends.

If we help her two days, that's 46 plus 35 times 3 plus 5; that's 156 points. If we help her just one more day, that's 168. No matter how I look at it, I won't make it.

I sigh.

Since I refuse to stop helping Mary, I'm going to have to ask Ronan to lend me his friends and go alone on Saturday.

Mary is a sweetheart. I don't think she'll mind if we only help her three more days. And she's getting tons of experience; with just that much time coming with us, she has to improve significantly and gain several levels in total.

And tomorrow, I want to fight the wraiths alone, after they're already out of the dungeon.

I smile.

This seems like a good solution.