Taming The Villainesses novel Chapter 392

When the morning sun rose.

I headed toward the training grounds located in the central area of the fortress.

The fortress, emptied of troops overnight, was now little more than a desolate ruin, with a chilling, ghost-town atmosphere.

“Is no one here?”

Was I the first to arrive at the training grounds? When I glanced around, I saw only abandoned scarecrows, sandbags, and charred remnants of firewood left from the night before.

Whooo—

A brisk autumn wind, still lingering with the chill of dawn, swept past, making me shiver a little. Just then, I saw someone in the distance waving at me.

“You’re up early! I thought I’d be the first one!”

It was the red-haired imp. The sunlight reflecting off his hair gave it a halo-like sheen, as if he wore an angel’s ring.

His energetic waving carried such vivid life that it was hard to believe he wasn’t of this world anymore—that he was a ghost.

As the imp arrived, one by one, more people began to appear from afar. The next to show up was Elga.

“What, it’s just you, Teo? Did everyone else oversleep or something?”

Elga couldn’t see the imp who was standing beside me, glancing around. When I subtly raised my palm in the imp’s direction, she quietly asked, “That imp’s here too, huh?”

I gave a slight nod, and right then someone called out from the distance.

“Teo! You’re here early!”

It was Narmee.

Behind her, Lady Mirna was doing light stretches, dressed in a practical leather tunic, her breath forming pale puffs in the cold.

“It’s only early October, but the mornings are getting chilly. If we start sweating in this weather, we might catch colds.”

Rustle, rustle.

Mirna and Narmee scanned the area, probably to see if anyone besides me, Elga, and the imp had arrived.

Soon after, Professor Stella showed up as well.

“What, you’re all here already? After the way we said goodbye last night? Guess everyone was a bit more motivated than they let on? You really are still a bunch of kids.”

Now the only one left was probably Ayra. It was getting close to the promised 9 a.m. hour. I started to get a little anxious, wondering if the imp would get mad if she didn’t arrive on time.

Maybe I should have stopped by Ayra’s room on the way?

Just as I was thinking it might not be too late to go fetch her, Ayra finally appeared in the training grounds, wearing a pair of light leather pants and a jacket.

It felt strange at first to see her dressed in such plain, commoner-style clothes—it had been a while. But before I could dwell on it, Mirna clapped her hands together.

“Everyone’s gathered before nine. Then, let’s move on to the main point of today’s meeting.”

As everyone’s attention turned to Mirna, I took a quick headcount. Me, Mirna, Narmee, Stella, Elga, Ayra, and the imp.

Seven.

An odd number—kind of awkward. Splitting into two teams might get tricky. Not that Elga or Ayra seemed to care—they both yawned like ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) it was no big deal.

“So, what are we doing now? I’m excited!”

“Yeah, this should be fun.”

Unlike them, Narmee and Professor Stella had their eyes sparkling with curiosity. Then Mirna looked at me. Was she asking me to explain?

Glance.

I checked the imp’s reaction before addressing the group.

“Well then, today we’ll be spending the day with this imp here. We’ll decide what to do as we go, based on the moment. For starters...”

Just as I was about to continue, the imp shouted out.

“First, we’re playing Jailers and Imps! Since there are seven of us, we can split into teams of three and four!”

Jailers and Imps?

The unfamiliar name left me momentarily speechless. Then Mirna, listening along with me, spoke.

“Sounds like he means we’re going to play heretic-hunting.”

Heretic-hunting? As I was wondering what that meant, Elga—still yawning from what must’ve been lack of sleep—curved her lips into a smirk.

“If we’re talking about heretic-hunting, isn’t that the cat-and-mouse game? Cats chasing mice. I used to play it a lot with my cousins as a kid. I was great at catching mice.”

I didn’t get all the details, but it seemed like a game where someone ran away and someone else chased them. Then Stella gave a thoughtful hum.

“Looks like the name of the game varies by region. When I was still a young elf—not even ten years old—we called it runaway slave tag. You played by catching runaway slaves.”

Narmee made a face.

“Runaway slave tag? That sounds like something old men from way back in the day would talk about!”

“What? Ahem. Anyway, yeah, catching someone who’s running away is a basic type of physical play that kids can do. Builds teamwork and cleverness.”

Stella, the most knowledgeable and seasoned among us, began explaining the rules, counting them off on her fingers.

It was a simple chase game where two teams took turns playing tag—one side ran, and the other chased.

If a runner was caught, they’d be locked in “jail” and couldn’t move until another runner came and rescued them.

Cops and robbers.

I’d played this sort of game so many times growing up that I grasped it instantly.

Back when there weren’t many computers and we played outside all the time—that kind of game? I’d played it so often I couldn’t even count. Just hearing the explanation brought it all back.

Kids’ games that rely only on the body really are the same no matter the world.

Then Narmee asked,

“So, if the chasers win by catching everyone, how do the runners win?”

“In our Borja region, we used to hide cheese. If the mice pulled out the cheese, they won. Of course, I never let them eat it even once.”

Elga puffed her chest out proudly as she said that. That’s when I noticed—her belly looked a little more rounded than I remembered, beneath her comfortable dress.

“Hm...”

Chasing and being chased could be a pretty intense game.

Depending on how it went, it might even get physical. Normal kids get hurt doing this kind of thing, let alone hot-blooded noble ladies...