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Chapter : 7
I am the villain of a romance fantasy. That is what villains in romance fantasy are.
I was simply assigned the role of a villain whom the world must hate. That was all I thought—until now.
As I calmly met its gaze, I looked at the snake showing me affection, and without meaning to, I felt a sense of closeness.
“Of all things, the first being in this novel world to come close to me without any purpose and like me… is a snake.”
I laughed for a long while and gently stroked the snake’s head as it coiled around my arm, almost like I was patting it.
“I’m Aileen. Aileen Pontetia… well, the family name doesn’t really exist anymore.”
The surname no longer meant anything.
Ever since I was possessed into this body, I had never once thought of myself as the duke’s daughter.
The snake tilted its head as if listening to my words, and it was honestly quite cute, so I smiled.
Seeing it follow me so closely, I spoke aloud what I had already decided.
“Yeah, well… I guess I can protect at least one thing like you!”
It didn’t look poisonous, and it was so pretty—and it followed me this much. There was no way I could feel unhappy about it.
As the thought of living together came naturally to me, I couldn’t hide the joy spilling from my voice and expression.
I giggled and lightly poked the snake’s cheek with my finger.
For some reason, I was certain this thing would never attack me.
The snake’s lake-like blue eyes stared at me quietly.
“I didn’t have many people who protected me… but well. In this world, I can’t afford to raise just one snake?”
I lowered my finger and lifted my arm to meet its gaze, smiling slightly.
…Maybe I had been a little lonely.
I had been doing my best to live normally, but I had fallen into a novel’s world, possessed into someone else’s body, and was surviving while being chased with no one I could trust.
Now that I thought about it, it was strange that I had acted like nothing was wrong for so long.
I had been blamed for sins I never committed, exiled for crimes I never committed, and despised for them.
‘If no one believed me during all that time… it makes sense that it was hard.’
Only now did I acknowledge my loneliness.
Perhaps that was why this being that had come to me on its own felt so precious.
“I’ll protect you.”
Whether by coincidence or whether it understood human speech, the snake nodded slightly, and I laughed again.
I decided to protect this small being that had come to me.
At that moment, the snake’s lake-like blue eyes seemed to shine faintly.
I spoke again, brightly and excitedly.
“From today on, you’re Snake-Dol!”
For some reason, the eyes that had just been shining seemed to darken. Was it just my imagination?
The mercenary group <Scorpion> is poor.
They live off commissions paid in irregular bursts, and their leader is constantly forced to rush into monster subjugations without time to properly manage guild affairs.
“It’s all because the captain gives away too much money in the first place.”
“Shut up.”
A few days after leaving the inn ‘Libera,’ the mercenaries were grumbling endlessly in a forest that was a monster habitat.
Even while complaining, the clean arcs of their sword swings proved they were skilled fighters.
The captain, who wielded a greatsword, brought it down in a single strike, severing the neck of a large bear-shaped monster.
Contrary to his fierce appearance, his expression was filled with guilt.
“…I’m sorry.”
“Not again!”
Jack, the mercenary wielding a dagger, complained with a disgusted expression.
They bickered constantly, but their behavior showed clear familiarity.
“If the captain wasn’t like this, we’d already be dead.”
“He picked up stray kids from the streets and raised them, after all.”
“…He’s kind, but having such a scary face is quite a talent… ah! Captain! I’m sorry, don’t hit me! Ah!”
The captain struck Jack on the head with the flat side of his sword with a loud thud.
Even though he held back his strength, it was still a massive sword, and Jack screamed in pain.
“You said you were sorry—but also that you like the captain like that!”
“I agree with that, Captain.”
Hiss replied expressionlessly, and while they were bickering, he slipped behind a monster and drove his blade into its shoulder as he ran past.
A heavy thud followed as the monster collapsed to the ground.
Hiss shook the blood off his blade and looked around.
“There are definitely more monsters than usual.”
“That’s true. Even for a dungeon area…”
Dungeons are places filled with monsters.
They come in many forms—caves, forests, seas—but all share the same trait: they are the origin of monsters.
Sometimes, when monsters multiply beyond what a dungeon can contain, they spill out into the outside world.
<Scorpion> usually handled such dangerous missions.
“At this rate, we might even get a dungeon subjugation request. Should we go check the guild alliance?”
“…Not sure.”
The guild alliance, which serves various guilds, is filled with countless posted requests.
Assassinations, herb gathering—everything is mixed together without distinction.
Sometimes people directly submit requests to guilds, but the <Scorpion> mercenary group was not in a position to receive such commissions.
“No one directly commissions us anyway, so we just have to go out and find work.”
“…Sorry I—”
“Will you stop apologizing already!”
The Scorpion mercenaries could not ignore those in need.
They lent money to those who lacked it, and strength to those who lacked it, so no matter how much they worked, they never became wealthy.
They were not in a position to be picky about jobs. Yet none of them resented that, drawn instead to the captain’s nature.
Jack chuckled and threw his knife, striking a bird-shaped monster in one blow.
The monster that had been circling in the sky looking for a chance to attack plummeted to the ground.
Pulling his knife back casually, Jack laughed.
“Well, we always take dangerous jobs, but I don’t mind. It’s fun.”
“Teasing the captain is fun too, honestly.”
“Hiss, you’ve got a really bad personality.”
While they laughed and joked, the captain briefly planted his greatsword into the ground and looked around.
“Captain, what’s wrong?”
“…Strange.”
Tilting his head, the captain flexed his hand a few times and spoke cautiously.
“Today’s monsters are too weak.”
From his perspective, the monsters today were unusually weak.
A bear-type monster that should have been a struggle was cut down in a single strike, and a bird-type monster died instantly from Jack’s thrown dagger.
He could even sense the presence of monsters hiding their aura from all directions.
His body felt unnaturally light.
Slash—
“Ah!”
“I told you not to let your guard down, idiot!”
While he was distracted, a monster’s claw grazed Jack’s cheek.
It was only a minor injury, but normally it would have been much worse.
The monsters were clearly “weaker.”
They cut down the attacking monsters while exchanging confused glances.
“Still weak.”
“Maybe we just got stronger?”
“…In one day?”
Hiss looked at Jack like he was an idiot. Jack only laughed loudly and gave a thumbs-up.
“We had a good breakfast. Maybe that’s why we’re energized.”
“You idiot.”
They bickered again, but Hiss seemed to recall the breakfast they had eaten quite happily and jokingly began dissecting monsters with practiced movements, collecting valuable parts.
He pulled out the monster core and muttered:
“Well, the lady’s cooking was better than Belle’s.”
“Belle’s gonna get mad.”
“Oh—right, we got packed lunches.”
After collecting materials, they burned the remaining monster bodies to dispose of them.
Once everything was cleaned up, the three of them sat near a relatively safe stream to wash up.
“Ha… I’m hungry from all that movement.”
“…Should we eat the lunchboxes? We’ve got time today anyway.”
“Ah, totally agree—”
Huddled together in an oddly cute formation, they opened their bags and took out bacon sandwiches.
Inside the crispy bread were thick slices of bacon, egg, and tomato.
The paper wrapping the sandwich was slightly soaked with bacon grease, making it even more appetizing.
Jack took the first bite and shouted in admiration.
“What the—this is insanely good!”
“…It’s a simple dish, but it’s weirdly delicious.”
“Probably just good cooking.”
Grilling or something like that.
As they chatted casually, they laughed loudly and ate the bacon sandwiches without showing any signs of fatigue.
