BJ Villainess

While I was removing the stakes, the villagers approached cautiously and asked, “Is it already finished?”

“Yes, although the land is still being purified, there are no monsters nearby. You can rest easy.”

The villagers were overjoyed and thanked me repeatedly. An elderly woman who seemed to be the chief handed me a cloth pouch and said, “I don’t know how we can repay this kindness. It’s not much, but please accept this, Princess.” It was clear that the pouch contained money.

“Instead of this, there’s something else I would like.”

“What is it?”

“I haven’t had a meal yet. Could I get some lunch? Even boiled potatoes would be fine.”

The chief was momentarily flushed, then smiled warmly and rolled up her sleeves. “We can’t serve something like that to such an esteemed guest. Come on, everyone, let’s prepare a grand meal for the princess.”

The young man who had seemed rather intimidated earlier stepped forward first. “I’ll help!”

I chuckled at the villagers, who were all eager to show off their skills.

Even just tasting the food they were preparing would keep me full until dinner.

And my expectations were correct. As the villagers brought out all the food, a feast was laid out. We sat around a large table and had lunch together. The chief served me a stew, carefully picking out only the meat with a ladle, and asked, “But how did someone of your status end up here alone?”

“I’m skipping school.”

Ding!

[The Constellation ‘The Ugly Side of 22 Years Old Theresa’ has sponsored 1,000,000 coins.]

[

, please! You were so cool until just now

ㅠ

. Why do you have to say that?]

The villagers looked at me in disbelief. “Skipping… school?”

I explained more clearly. “I don’t want to go to school, but I need a reason to avoid expulsion. So I’m skipping school under the guise of purifying monsters and helping eroded areas.”

“

…”

There was an oddly solemn atmosphere. Then, an older woman chuckled and shook her head. “It’s true that you’re doing a great thing, but you sound just like my son.” Her words made everyone laugh.

“Even the hero who saved the empire doesn’t like studying.

!”

“I like studying.”

My attempt to clear up the misunderstanding was met with more laughter.

“I’m serious.” I pouted and took a large bite of the buttery bread.

After the meal, I stepped outside and saw the horse, having finished the purification, standing proudly. The village children were too scared to approach but were fascinated by the magical creature hovering nearby.

Then, a boy ran up to me and asked, “That horse is a magical animal, right? Are you raising it?”

“Yohan! Don’t be rude to the princess!”

The boy’s father hurried over, trying to pull his son away, but I stopped him.

“It’s not rude at all. Is your name Yohan?”

Yohan looked at his father nervously, then nodded vigorously. “Yes! My name is Yohan. Please forgive my rudeness, Princess!” His words didn’t match his cheerful expression, suggesting he had hurriedly learned the formalities upon my arrival.

I chuckled and called the children over. “Magical animals understand everything we say. If you lie, they’ll know. So you must treat them with respect.”

“

.”

“And this horse is just a colleague helping me with my work for a while, not my pet.”

“I know! I heard magical animals don’t follow people! But they said Princess is the only one who can control them!”

The children’s admiring gazes shifted from the horse to me, clearly seeing me as someone extraordinary for being able to command such a majestic creature.

“That’s not quite true. I can communicate with magical animals, so they help me out more willingly.”

“

! What’s the horse’s name?”

“It doesn’t have one.”

“

.”

The villagers, who had been watching quietly, came over to restrain the children. “Now, now, enough questions. The princess must be on her way to other places.”

The villagers followed me to the village entrance, bidding me farewell.

“Please take this.” Before mounting the horse, I took out a pouch from my space and handed it to the chief. “It’s for the lunch.”

“What? Oh no, we couldn’t properly serve you, and you want to pay us? You saved our village. We should be the ones who give you more.”

At that, I took out another pouch. “Then use this for the village reconstruction. Now that the land is fully purified, you’ll need funds for many things.”

The villagers looked around in surprise.

“It’s true! The once blackened ground has turned brown again!”

“We can farm here again!”

The chief, seeing the delighted people, accepted the pouch with teary eyes. “Thank you so much, Princess.”

The villagers thanked me several times with heartfelt expressions.

I know how to handle such situations now. It was to make a quick exit.

“I must be going now.”

I mounted the horse and rode off to my next destination, leaving the villagers’ thanks behind. The next destination was Damian’s house.

* * *

When I was almost at my destination, I dismounted.

“Thank you for everything.”

“

!”

The horse neighed softly, and after a brief hug, I sent it away and entered the desolate village. Though it was somewhat isolated from the city, the roads were maintained, and the houses were more developed. The village, with its scattered buildings around a central square, was almost devoid of people.

I recalled Damian instructing the Squire Scholarship Foundation students to patrol noisily, which led me here.

“This should be Damian’s house.”

Ding!

[The Constellation ‘Damian, My Golden Child’ has sponsored 1,000,000 coins.]

[This is my first time seeing Damian’s house… How nice it would be if Damian were here…]

I boldly broke into the unoccupied house. For a wizard with SSS intelligence, unlocking the door was a piece of cake.

Since Damian lived in the dormitory, this house was rarely used. Consequently, it had a desolate atmosphere, with dust covering the furniture from long neglect.

“Should I do clean-up a bit?”

Planning to stay here for a bit, I used magic to clean the house and then sat by the window, checking the time on my pocket watch. It was 6:15 PM.

“Still almost six hours left.”

Ding!

[The Constellation ‘Question Mark Killer’ has sponsored 1,000,000 coins.]

[But why did you come here?]

Ding!

[The Constellation ‘Explanation Bug’ has sponsored 1,000,000 coins.]

[I think she’s here because today is September 30

th

? At midnight, the Gate of Paradise activates, so she’s here to get rewards.]

The constellation was right.

However, I had no intention of seeing the Paradise ending.

I stared out the window, then checked the time again. It seemed like a long time had passed, but it was still only 6:50 PM.

“Still a long way to go.”

Reading a magic book or researching new spells would make the time fly, but I deliberately avoided such tasks. I didn’t want to lose track of time and miss the midnight opening on October 1st. Or I might be too distracted by thoughts of whether the person I was eagerly waiting for would appear when the Gate of Paradise opened.

Yawning broadly, I moved to the bed and lay down, staring at the ceiling. It was the last day of September, and the early sunset meant it was already dark outside, but I didn’t light a lamp. I blinked slowly, waiting for time to pass when a notification popped up.

Ding!

[The Constellation ‘Son-in-law Damian’ has sponsored 1,000,000 coins.]

[You’re thinking about Damian, aren’t you?]

Not at all. I was trying not to think about anyone since I couldn’t even find the person I wanted to see.

Even without such thoughts, the situation was already frustrating enough.

I had no reason or time to dwell on stressful thoughts.

Enduring the drowsiness, I kept slowly closing and opening my eyes until I felt a significant amount of time had passed. I then lit a lamp and checked the time. It was 11:58 PM.

The Gate of Paradise in Damian’s house was hidden behind a large bookshelf that needed to be moved aside.

Using magic, I moved the bookshelf, revealing the door just as I remembered it.

“

.”

As I grabbed the doorknob, I unconsciously took a deep breath, feeling the tension rising. I must have been more hopeful than I realized that opening this door would bring forth Clyde instead of Paradise. Even if he appeared, I wouldn’t know what to say.

Still, hoping he would show up, I opened the door.