Taming The Villainesses

Episode 278.2

Snore, snore.

Was she asleep?

In the afternoon after all the ministers had left, Aira sitting alone on the sunlit throne in the wide, empty space looked like a painting.

Seuruk.

Queen Aira opens her slender eyes as if she has noticed my arrival. She then let out a long yawn and stretched her body.

“Yaaawn~.”

Watching her already slender figure stretch out gracefully like a black puma was quite a sight to behold. Soon, Aira returned to her dignified queenly demeanor and spoke to me.

“Theo, I’m so bored. Isn’t there any rebellion breaking out or some secret society of elves plotting conspiracies?”

“… I don’t think there will be any for a while.”

Aira couldn’t hide her disappointment at my answer.

“The country being too peaceful is also quite the problem. As the Queen, perhaps I should consider ruling my subjects wisely.”

“… That, what do you mean?”

“If it stays like this, there will be no problems, and people might start questioning the necessity of the guards and soldiers. Eventually, they might lose their jobs. Then the country could fall into chaos.”

That sounds plausible.

It does make sense.

While I nodded in agreement, Aira asked.

“What happened with those two strange nymphs that clashed? It’s been a while since I ordered them to be captured, yet there’s no news.”

“Well, Yujinoi and Punchinoi are particularly elusive, so it’s been difficult to locate them.”

“Hmm, catching nymphs should be as simple as filling a swimming pool with sticky honey. It’s not like you to have to be told these things, Theo.”

Even so, I doubt that those elusive battle nymphs would fall for such an obvious trap.

In the end, I followed Aira’s wishes and filled the court pool with sticky honey. I didn’t forget to tie candies to tree branches.

Was this some kind of indulgent paradise?

I felt an odd urge to jump into the pool, but I resisted because I overheard whispers around me.

━Look at that, the Queen’s eccentricities are starting again!

━Filling a swimming pool with honey and tying candy to a tree? I thought things had been quiet lately, but I guess a person can’t change completely.

━With the sugar factory and sugarcane fields being raided, sugar and honey are already as expensive as gold…

Whether she didn’t hear the whispers or chose to ignore them, Aira looked at the golden, shimmering swimming pool and said.

“I’m going to catch those peculiar nymphs and have them specially perform on stage during the martial festival. A fight between battle nymphs… People will surely flock to see it like cotton candy.”

“Like cotton candy?”

When I corrected her, Aira slightly furrowed her brow.

“Theo, there are times when you don’t seem like a nymph at all. I think ‘cotton candy’ is a bit more nymph-like than ‘clouds.’”

Well, I’m not a nymph—I’m a half-fairy. In other words, you could call me a half-human. But before I could protest, Aira clapped her hands.

“Come to think of it, I’m not sure if the preparations for the martial festival are going well. I haven’t heard from the officials in charge of the stage in the past few days.”

“Really?”

If we’ve lost contact with the people preparing the event, isn’t that a pretty serious issue? While I was still processing this, Aira hummed.

“It would be wise to send an inspector to check if the event is being prepared properly. As the Queen, it would be best if I went myself, but I need to catch those nymphs.”

She’s basically telling me to go.

Not a bad idea for me either.

After all, I was planning to visit the northern witch forest anyway.

Aira always seems to bring up things at such perfect timing.

Almost as if she could read my thoughts.

As I glanced at her subtly, Aira tilted her head curiously.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

No, I guess that’s not the case after all.

* * *

The next day.

I heard that the nymphs causing trouble in the city recently were found in Aira’s honey pool.

━The Queen’s ingenious plan actually worked.

━I knew it all along, she’s incredible!

It feels strange to see the same people who were gossiping yesterday now praising Aira’s wisdom. Seeing her being praised like this gives me mixed feelings.

Did they really catch them with the honey pool?

Anyway.

What’s important right now was packing up my belongings.

“Magic lantern, check. Magic purifier, check. Ice flower, check. And….”

After packing for a while, I strapped the magic scroll to my waist, and I felt a bit heavier.

Of course, it was just my imagination.

The items stored in the magic inventory don’t have any weight to them.

With light steps, I met Mirna’s eyes who was waiting for me in front of the palace garden.

She’s dressed in the adventurer’s outfit bought from last time, looking very active.

“Sir Theo, are you leaving immediately this afternoon? To the northern forest?”

I nodded in response to Mirna’s question.

“Yes, that’s the plan. It’s best to get things done as quickly as possible, you never know what might happen if we put it off.”

“I see. So, how many people are going?”

“If Miss Mirna joins me, it will be three, including myself.”

“Three… so that would be Lady Lioness, you, and me?”

“That’s what we planned, but since we don’t know what might happen, Miss Elga decided to stay in the capital for now. She also mentioned having some tasks to take care of for the Lioness family.”

“Tasks?”

“Something about a ceremony or some kind of event, but I’m not too sure.”

Reinhardt and Elga have been very busy these past few days.

Apparently, there were various matters to address within the Lioness family. It’s related to the hero weapon ‘Crusher’ that Elga inherited, so it must be something important.

“So instead of Miss Elga, a forest guide will be joining us. According to Aira-nim, this person is very knowledgeable about the geography and ecology of the Witch Forest….”

I looked around, thinking it was about time for them to arrive. Then….

“Sorry, did I keep you waiting long? This is the first time we’ve met like this since the lab, right?”

I saw someone waving at us from afar. Before I could react, Mirna’s brow furrowed.

“An elf? This is going to be a strange trip. I have a feeling something unlucky is going to happen, just like in Opal’s lab.”

“……”

I silently agreed.

Me, Mirna, and Professor Stella.

The combination of the three of us was indeed very peculiar.