The Villainess Is Too Difficult

After Reinhardt left, I returned to my daily routine. I don’t think anything particularly unusual happened to call it a return, but anyway, it was a return if you could call it that.

“Hup!”

With a whoosh, the wooden sword moved. The target was a custom-made dummy, sized perfectly for an adult male. It was a special order prepared at my request.

Whack!

With a sound too vicious to be coming from a wooden sword, the dummy’s face part was completely shattered. Is this a sword or a blunt weapon? It’s a bit embarrassing. What I aimed for was to cleanly cut the neck. It’s not going as well as I thought.

“Good thing I’m alone…”

The training ground in the mansion is open for any of the duke’s retainers to use, but at this time, I’m the only one here. The knights under my father have already finished their morning training and are going about their daily routines, and father, being primarily a magician, rarely sets foot in this place.

Naturally, the afternoon training ground has become a place almost exclusively used by me, and others seem to be aware of this fact, avoiding it and coming later.

I don’t have anything particular to say about this fact. No matter how well I try to treat them, I’m still the duke’s daughter. From the perspective of others, especially the knights who frequently use this place, they’re regular employees and I’m the chairman’s daughter. If they don’t want to create unnecessary trouble, it’s right for them to avoid me.

“I’m reaching my limit though.”

Sword training, which I started with the desire to gain strength along with improving physical fitness. Until now, I’ve been practicing mostly basic exercises along with fundamental sword techniques. Just basic things like downward slashes, the most basic of basic stances.

The original Ariel didn’t really touch swordsmanship. From the start, Ariel in the Chronicle of Arsian was closer to an orthodox mage. Weak at close range but overwhelming with firepower from a distance, the very definition of a magician.

But I don’t intend to end it like that. What I want is to perfectly play the role of the villain to help the protagonist grow, and then quietly survive. And to surpass the original Ariel.

The original Ariel was like a ruined gem, wasting her precious talent by idling around. But I don’t intend to end up like that. If I end up half-baked, I might end up dead in the human-demon war that will start later. What was the reason I decided to become a villainess in the first place? Although various reasons have been added, the ultimate reason is to survive.

I need to become as strong as possible. Not just in magic, but in physical skills as well.

“But it’s daunting…”

It’s not like I’ve learned swordsmanship somewhere before. Ah, I did do Taekwondo briefly when I was young. Thanks to that, I was able to quickly get used to punching and kicking after trying a few times. It’s amazing that I could adapt so quickly with Ariel’s body even though I did it as a man.

“No, this isn’t right.”

What’s important now is that. I need to learn systematic swordsmanship. What I’ve done so far is essentially just preparing my body to learn swordsmanship.

Of course, it’s funny to say this when I haven’t even been doing it for a month, but it wouldn’t hurt to find a teacher early before taking the academy entrance exam. I’m prepared to redo everything I’ve been doing if my basics are lacking.

“The problem is who to learn from…”

It feels a bit off to learn from the knights. As I mentioned earlier, from their perspective, it’s like the chairman’s daughter suddenly coming and asking to be taught. It’s a disaster.

“But the knight commander is… well, that’s also a bit…”

The situation doesn’t change even if it’s the knight commander. It’s just that a regular employee has become a manager-level position. Is manager-level correct? Let’s move on from this.

Father is a magician, so that’s impossible. The knights are also impossible. Should I bring someone from outside? It seems that’s the only option right now.

I don’t particularly want to learn arcane swordsmanship or anything like that. What I want is just enough swordsmanship to use for self-defense. I’m planning to main as a magician anyway, so I think it would be good to have magic as my main and swordsmanship as my sub.

It might seem too greedy, but there’s an excellent example. It’s my brother, Theodore. He’s an excellent swordsman who joined the imperial knights at a young age, and at the same time, he’s an outstanding magician.

Of course, in his case, the sword is his main and magic is his support, so it’s different from me, but that’s why he’s an even better example. He’s essentially a swordsman from a family known for magic.

Anyway, with such an excellent example, no one can say anything even if I decide to learn swordsmanship. Rather, it’s even better as it can be considered minimum self-defense skills for a noble. Magic? Magic is magic and sword is sword. They’re clearly separate things.

“So what should I do…”

The dilemma returned to square one. Who should I learn swordsmanship from? The best method that comes to mind at this moment is to learn from the person I just thought of, my brother. But he lives in a dormitory and belongs to the imperial knights, so there’s no way he can spare time to teach me casually.

“Should I, try asking?”

Another method is to have a meeting with father and ask him to invite a teacher. I’m a duke’s daughter after all, can’t I get a swordsmanship teacher? But the biggest obstacle here is none other than having to talk to father.

I don’t intend to live like this forever. I need to resolve this awkward relationship someday. That’s what I think, but…

“Father doesn’t seem to care much either.”

For some reason I don’t know, father is pathologically avoiding me. When I discreetly asked around, I heard that he had been like this even before Ariel went astray, so it’s not because I did something wrong.

“He doesn’t hate me.”

Of course, they say the worst thing in human relationships is not hatred but indifference, but this case is a bit different. Even though it’s called indifference, everything I need is supported without fail, and he doesn’t stop me from going anywhere.

Father is avoiding me, but he’s not completely ignoring me. Then there’s a possibility. If I can somehow open a channel of communication, an opportunity will arise.

“Ugh, my head hurts…!”

This kind of thing doesn’t suit me originally. If I had my way, I’d just charge straight into the study and find out the truth. But if I did that, it might cause some problems. What if I end up being hated? I’m already planning to break off human relationships one by one later with my villainess act, it’s not right to do that at home too.

‘That’s the right way to go, though.’

To become a villainess, things need to fall apart starting from home. I know that fact well. I know, but no matter what, doing that even at home seems a bit much as a human being.

The reason I’m trying to become a villainess is for the protagonist’s growth. I’m not particularly resentful of the world, and it’s not like thorns will grow in my mouth if I don’t commit evil deeds. I shouldn’t confuse the purpose.

“Sigh…”

My head, which had cleared up while sweating, starts to become complicated again. I grab my throbbing head and leave the training ground. Ah, I don’t know. For now, let’s think after taking a bath. Let’s think about it later.

The Walpurgis duchy, due to its owner’s reputation, always strictly manages passage. Until now, the Walpurgis family had been far from corruption, so they always strictly checked everyone except for royalty, but there was one more exception that could pass through this inspection very quickly.

“W-Welcome, Young Master!”

“Hmm.”

A silver-haired man nodding silently on horseback. His long hair flowing past his shoulders and cold blue eyes easily reminded one of someone who wasn’t present.

Theodore Walpurgis. The eldest son of the Walpurgis ducal family and the heir who will inherit this duchy. For some reason, he who should be in the imperial knights’ dormitory appeared in the duchy.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yes, everything is normal!”

“Good work.”

“Yes!”

Leaving behind the highly disciplined guards’ greetings, Theodore rode his horse again. Even though the territory was close to the capital, Theodore rarely came home even on holidays, so his sudden appearance was enough to cause gossip.

“I wonder why the Young Master is here?”

“Could it be because of the Young Lady?”

“Were they that close?”

“Shh! Man, if you go around saying such things, you’ll be in trouble!”

The Walpurgis family was rumored to not have good relationships between family members, regardless of their character or abilities. At least the Duke and Theodore seemed to have minimal communication, perhaps because he’s the heir, but there were already widespread rumors within the territory that no one talks to Ariel.

“Maybe that’s why the Young Lady has changed.”

“But from what I hear, she seems to be quiet these days.”

“Who knows? She might suddenly return to her original self.”

“Man, I told you to shut up and do your work.”

“Tch, alright, alright.”