Taming The Villainesses novel Chapter 393

After running around for a long while, we took a break to cool off our sweat in the chilly breeze.

All of us sat together in the shade, drinking water or eating the sandwiches we had packed beforehand. Maybe because lunch had long passed, the food tasted especially good as it filled our hungry bodies.

Stella said,

“This reminds me of the old days. I can’t even calculate how many years it’s been anymore, but my heart feels like it’s gone back to that time. What should we play next?”

She was the oldest among us, with the most worldly experience, but perhaps because of that innate elven free-spiritedness, Stella still seemed to retain a childlike sense of wonder.

Meanwhile, Mirna, leaning against a wall, was busy trying to catch her breath.

“Having so much stamina really is something to be envied. Aren’t the rest of you tired? I’d prefer a nice cup of tea to running around like this.”

At that, Stella clicked her tongue.

“Kids these days don’t even know how to play outside. They just hole up at home with books or dolls. That’s not good for their health.”

As everyone continued to chatter and laugh, I looked over at Elga. She’d moved around quite a bit today, too.

“It’s hot, too hot. I thought summer was over.”

She wiped the sweat off her brow with the back of her hand, so I pulled a towel out of my inventory and handed it to her.

“Please don’t overdo it.”

“This isn’t ‘overdoing it.’ When I was little, I could run around all day and still be fine. The more I moved, the sharper my mind became, and my body would blaze like a bonfire.”

They said that even as a child, Elga had such a fiery personality that even the boys her age couldn’t keep up with her. Apparently, she’d knocked down older boys, too.

“But still, I am a little tired. I don’t know how I used to run around without a care in the world back then. I feel like I could wash up and take a nap right about now.”

Streeetch—Elga let out a long yawn.

Beside her, Ayra was watching a butterfly perched on her fingertip. I wasn’t sure how she’d done it, but brightly colored butterflies sat on her fingers like rings.

Not just that—deer and rabbits, whose origins were unknown, lounged around her as if napping peacefully. That scene...

“She’s like a princess from a fairy tale.”

Was that Narmee who said it? I agreed with her.

I felt like I was catching a glimpse of the kind of princess Ayra once was—how she had drawn the hopes and attention of the entire royal court.

My gaze shifted to the imp, who was emptying out the sack of hardtack I’d brought. He was chewing the dry, crumbly rations like they were the best thing in the world.

“This is so good. I feel like I could eat this every day, forever!”

He looked so happy. Maybe that’s why, but his body had become even fainter—almost like a hologram, rather than a living person.

“......”

His legs had already faded past the ankles. Looking at him now, it was clear that he was no longer like us. Perhaps it was because his lingering regrets toward life were starting to fade.

I asked,

“How was it? Did you have fun today?”

“It was great! Let’s get up early again tomorrow and play together! Time flies by, and if we spend every day like this, then Master will come back soo—”

He trailed off mid-sentence.

He seemed to realize, just then, that his master—Isaiah Gospel—was no longer of this world.

The mood sank just a little.

Somewhere nearby, birds cawed as the sunset dimmed the sky. Was it four o’clock now? Maybe five?

By that time, after playing hard, we’d usually pack up our cards and toys and get ready to head home.

Kids would hold their mothers’ hands after a visit to the market and leave the playground one by one. And I... I used to watch them with envy.

The handfuls of folded paper cranes and game cards we’d clutched so tightly—once our friends disappeared, they lost all meaning in the empty playground.

Looking back, I guess even those things are memories now. But even those memories and feelings are beginning to blur with time. That’s when the imp spoke.

“Today was really, really fun! I hope tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that... are all just like today!”

He looked so happy. But at the same time... he looked lonely. Maybe he already knew that everyone would soon disappear into the dusk.

The young ladies who had been chatting nonstop now fell silent.

They simply glanced at each other, watching and reading the atmosphere. They must have sensed, too, that it was finally time to help the imp pass on—and destroy that jar.

“Miss Imp.”

That was when Mirna spoke.

“The truth is, there’s something we need to talk to you about...”

Just as she opened her lips to speak, the imp’s dim, pointed eyes and ears turned toward her. Was this the end?

“Wait.”

I spoke without thinking.

“Let’s do one more.”

I surprised even myself. Maybe it was a trace of my childhood innocence, not wanting to say goodbye just yet, that had slipped out unawares.

“The sun hasn’t fully set yet. I think we can squeeze in one more. Whatever it is, I’ll be ‘it’ this time.”

I looked at the imp.

His expression was radiant.

“Then let’s play hide-and-seek! We imps are the best at hiding! I hid more than twenty times through winter in this very fortress! No one ever found me, not even once!”

***

“Alright then, you all have five minutes to hide.”

I became the seeker for our final game. Once everyone had hidden during their five-minute window, I would open my eyes and begin the search.

It was a simple game.

And the imp had said this was the one he was most confident in.

“Hm.”

“Mm...”

Everyone looked like they wanted to say something, but just exchanged hesitant glances. I simply leaned against a pillar and slowly started counting.

“Ooooone.”

There’s a special rhythm to counting like this, drawn out in long breaths. Like that, I reached ten, then ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) a hundred, then eventually three hundred.

And then, I turned my head slowly and said,

“Ready or not, here I come!”

I opened my eyes. The training grounds looked completely desolate. It felt like a playground after everyone had gone home with their parents—quiet and lonely.

Of course, they hadn’t gone home—they were just hiding.

Somewhere in this large fortress, the people I needed to find were tucked away.

The fact that they all went along with this last-minute whim of mine filled me with a little emotion.

“Alright, I’m really going to find you all now.”

I started walking.