A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

Chapter 88  The End of Childhood - Four (I)

"Sigh... Seri, how much coal does your family have left?"

In the Darkwater Forest, Rhiannon rubbed her hands wrapped in cotton gloves and asked through gritted teeth.

"Enough for four or five days."

Seraphina, with her bow drawn, showed no emotion as the sharp arrowhead pointed towards a spot in the forest.

"Ah, it's troublesome. Everyone's coal supply is running low."

Rhiannon frowned and said, "In this weather, we can't do without coal."

Seraphina was silent for a moment, then whispered:

"Haven't we always managed like this before?"

"Hm? Seri, you said that was before."

"..."

Seraphina didn't speak, and Rhiannon assumed she was focused on hunting, unsure of her thoughts.

In fact, no one knew what Seraphina was thinking; they only knew she was working hard for the village.

The reason they couldn't guess was that after yesterday, Seraphina seemed to have stopped smiling, becoming serious, yet not quite serious, more like... a suppressed rage.

Seeing Seraphina's efforts, the villagers also worked hard to leave a good impression in the eyes of Lord Hydral.

Rhiannon, fearing Seraphina was under too much pressure, often accompanied her without interfering with her work, chatting with her and keeping her company. Even if Seraphina had to travel far in a day, the young girl would grit her teeth and follow.

Whoosh!

In the silence, the whistling sound of the arrow piercing the air startled Rhiannon, and almost simultaneously, the muffled sound of the arrowhead sinking into flesh reached her ears.

Seraphina silently slung her bow and arrow over her shoulder, strode into the forest, and dragged out a thin, not-so-plump rabbit.

Rhiannon, undeterred, happily said to Seraphina, "We've already got something so quickly! That's great!"

"..." Seraphina shook her head, "This snow rabbit, which hasn't stored enough food for hibernation and is starving, isn't worth much."

"Ah, it doesn't matter. As long as Lord Hydral knows you're working hard, that's enough."

Rhiannon put her hands on her hips and said nonchalantly, "Relying solely on hunting wouldn't be enough for the village anyway... I don't think it would even be enough for one household."

"How can it not be enough?!"

Seraphina, holding the snow rabbit by its ears, suddenly raised her voice and stared at Rhiannon.

"For so many years... how have we managed all these years? Did we rely solely on the nobles' handouts?!" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I... I didn't mean it like that."

Rhiannon was frightened by Seraphina, who was known for her bad temper and frequent outbursts. However, she also knew that Seraphina's anger came and went quickly, and as a top-tier appeaser, Rhiannon knew how to placate her.

But this time, Rhiannon couldn't help but take a small step back, feeling... afraid of the friend she had lived with for sixteen years.

"Sorry, Rhiannon."

Seraphina lowered her eyes and whispered, "Don't take it to heart."

"Ah... okay, it's nothing."

Rhiannon scratched her head, not really bothered, but worried about Seraphina's state.

"Well… shall we go back today?" the girl asked tentatively.

Seraphina looked down at the snow rabbit in her hand, lost in thought.

After a while, she smiled at Rhiannon, "It's fine, you go back first. I'll hunt a little longer."

"Then I'm not going back either. I'll stay with you, Seri."

Rhiannon said without hesitation, "Don't worry, I won't get in your way."

"Alright."

On the second day after the nobles stopped supplying resources, Seraphina hunted four animals, earning a total of two silver coins.

While a small magic crystal, capable of supporting a heating array for six hours, cost one gold coin.

That night, Seraphina dreamt of Hydral again.

He still spoke those clichéd and hypocritical words, but Seraphina remained unmoved.

She felt she should be unmoved.

*

On the third day after the nobles stopped resource delivery, a family ran out of coal. Given the newborn in their household, they were compelled to maintain a heat source round the clock. Some villagers who had surplus coal shared a bit, but it wouldn't last long. Seraphina, adopting a new approach, made her way to the mercenary guild in the city of Darkwater, attempting to find a high-paying job. However, registration required a fee. Unwilling to ask for money from the village, she took on private work instead.

"See that fellow in the house," said the employer, clad in a thick cotton suit, pointing with his mouth. "Help me get my money back, ten silver coins." Seraphina glanced at the employer, then, with an expressionless face, walked towards the dilapidated house he pointed at.

As soon as she pushed the door open, a massive iron rod swung towards her head from the side. Without even looking, she sidestepped and kicked, almost completely breaking the ribs of the ambusher. Amidst the piercing screams, Seraphina stared at the man who had opened the door for her. Her dark red eyes, in the midst of icy silence, reflected a cruelty she had never shown towards humans before.

"Did you arrange this with the guy outside?" she asked.

"I... I don't know... ugh!" Seraphina punched him in the liver, "Is it, or is it not?"

"Yes, yes! Please, show mercy!" The thug knelt on the ground, howling in pain and begging for mercy, "Crofford is with us... he said he could trick a young girl into coming... Go find him!"

"I will." Seraphina, without a shred of sympathy, kicked the thug over, "How much money do you have here?"

"…What?"

Bang!

Her seemingly delicate and fair fist, grazing the thug's cheek, smashed into the floor.

"I asked you," her wolf-like eyes slightly distorted, the brutality unreservedly radiating through her gaze and words, "How much money do you have here?"

Five minutes later, Seraphina left the house with thirty-one silver coins and fifty-seven copper coins. Fifteen minutes after that, she politely received her rightful payment from her employer.

She discovered a basement full of torture instruments in that house, and female skeletons in the corner, so she casually tossed the employer's corpse in there as well. After leaving the Red Frost city , she, who had endured so much malice, had grown accustomed to taking lives. On her way back to the village, the young girl looked at the bulging money bag in her hand and suddenly felt nauseous. — She was disgusted by the thought that had crossed her mind at that moment: Making money this way was fast.

Seraphina rejected the idea of continuing this cycle of exploitation and decided to set aside a small amount from this money to register as a mercenary the next day.

"Everyone, look how many silver coins I made today!" Back in the village, Seraphina raised a smile, shaking the money bag in her hand.

"Oh! As expected of Seraphina! Amazing!" A young man's eyes widened, "You can earn so much gold... ah? Silver coins?" A slight twitch appeared on Seraphina's face, "Yes, silver coins, what's wrong?"

"Oh, uh... I thought they were gold coins, um, I'm not saying it's too little, I mean... when the baron helped us rebuild the village, he paid us with big bags of gold coins, I got confused."

"Ah, it doesn't matter, gold coins, silver coins, it's all the same."

Someone lazily said, "The more money Seri makes, the more impressive she is in the eyes of Lord Hydral, right? At this rate, we'll be living the good life thanks to Lord Hydral in no time."

"Right! We have to help Seri!"

"..."

Seraphina struggled to maintain the smile on her face, she distributed the money to those who were currently most in need in their homes, and with the cheers of the crowd, she went home.

To avoid seeing Hydral, she didn't sleep that night.

*