Villainess x Grimoire

The restless breeze accompanied me alongside the white touch of the once-yellow dandelions. They scattered throughout the greenery and the barren roads.

I arrived at Astia village's south entrance in the afternoon. Without waiting for the smoldering ground to warm my feet more than it should. My slim body hastened through the crowd of villagers.

Some men in white cloth with green hexagrams were carrying long, manufactured sticks. Potentially wooden staffs, weapons of long-range casting, capable of turning their spells stronger and more accurate. Upon an unfortunate encounter with a foe, they could even serve as a shield against an attack.

There were those with some finer leather clothes. Those whose eyes looked like money sought the many profits from the people's trades: merchants, their purpose in life. Keen men with a talent for numbers, some better than others, yet all very opportunistic and ambitious.

But what often piqued my curiosity was the one in a hundred passerby individuals who had masks as black as the night. Only their eyes were left uncovered. Those were good at losing their trackers and keeping themselves out of common sight.

I, too, had attempted to chase one of them, but hadn't taken me long to lose track of their nimble movements.

Such men were a rarity. But during the night, they were easier to find. Still, their purpose remained unclear to me.

It was due to that that I dared not go out during such times through the village. Kidnappers existed, and there was a chance such men were behind the missing children.

I grew up with some of the kids. However, truth be told, the amount that I used to know was far from the amount that remained. Initially, I thought they had moved away to a different village. Perhaps even taken by their parents, who wished for a chance of making their fortune in the great capital.

But thanks to the severe warnings of my father, I withstood reasons to stay away from such men, always believing the worst.

At least as long as no close friend got taken, or my sister, for that matter.

I bite my tongue, thinking about them.

'I can't do much as I am now.' There was hope in my sister's words. I could only wish that no bad thing would happen before I obtained power. And if I didn't manage, then being able to find a way to get rid of the kidnappings wouldn't be bad either.

A lot of goals for my young self.

Such thoughts often roamed the endless sea inside my brain.

Humans who were used to killing their own race were likely the toughest foes I could find. I dared not attempt to try my luck with them. Assassins, thieves, and all kinds of evildoers outclassed all of my naivety.

The madness of this world could easily trample anyone's goodwill.

This, too, had been a great lesson from my father.

He had seen despicable narcissists and vile nobles trampling over the peasants.

Yet that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Certainly, there were more secrets to humanity than the ones we knew.

There was further chaos to pass through my emeralds, but for the time being, I stood true to myself.

I made my way to the adventurers' guild, passing through the center of the roads and waving to the people I knew.

Many of them were not villagers I was acquainted with.

Waving and saying good morning was often enough to receive the same gesture in return.

There was good in others, despite the bad and sad things of our world, and I enjoyed delving into their kindness.

Even with poverty, the taxes to the pope and to the royal family, the citizens didn't rebel.

Families who had more mouths than the ones they could feed sent a few to the church's orphanages. There, they had to serve the men in white cloth, to become one of them, and to spread the divine word.

Or, they could be sent to the military barracks, where they are trained from a young age to turn into great soldiers. However, due to their birth origin, that's all they ever become.

The blood in this kingdom dictated one's future possibilities for many generations, and it was no different for me.

Born a peasant, dying as one.

A sigh escaped my lips as I took a glimpse of the guild's entrance.

As soon as I went through the entrance, the now-familiar scent of booze entered my nostrils. It didn't bring thirst to my throat. My mother often told me we needed to keep our minds sharp, and alcohol gave us a temporary sense of fake satisfaction and dullness.

She had a drunkard master in the past, known by many as a swordmaster. Yet, there was one peculiar thing about him that distinguished him from the rest. He rarely accepted a new student, and more often than not, these individuals were hand-picked by his own measurements.

'Master Ray, the fallen noble,' I had engraved his title and name in my mind. Important information such as this was by no means a trivial concept.

Sometimes knowing this kind of info could one day allow me to know who I was up against. Thus, falling back, or if possible, completely avoiding my opponent.

I had yet to learn the names of the nobles, their sons, and their parents. There were far too many families, and only through their clothing and etiquette could I become aware of their presence.

It was quite the same for the beasts and monsters of Artana.

This world had a lot of dangerous species.

Knowing them by eyesight and name alone increased the odds of survival out there in the wild.

Knowledge, while not the main factor of survivability, was still the one that could help an adventurer in many ways.

For once, getting to know the surrounding terrain, especially during the moon season, when the snow could be tricked with hidden depths. Or if it was necessary to make a fire, one should do so in open spaces with full visibility for any approaching foes.

But above all, to know the methods our foes used to hunt my weak kin.

Took me thirty calm steps to reach the reception. "Good morning!"

"Good morning. How may I be of help?"

As soon as the man's words faltered, I placed the cards on top of the table.

"I'm here to form my party." My fingers spread the cards, showing that there were two and not one like it appeared to be, due to them being piled up.

"Just a moment," he retrieved them and checked their information. After taking some notes, he stole a glimpse at me. "Party name?"

"Unknown," I added briefly, causing a guy from the table behind to chortle.

He followed such self-amusement with the typical bully commentary. "Unknown indeed."

The trio laughed at his words, knowing I was no one in this guild. Not a worthy adventurer, nor famous, nor anything in this line of work.

"Don't mind the ale-for-life party." He smiled briefly at me to not be discouraged by silly men. "I've registered the party. As per the rules, no quest higher than F can be taken until the rank improves."

"Yes. Thank you. I'd like one."

"In that case, your party can start with this one." He slid both cards, along with a piece of paper, my way, and I got hold of them without hesitation. Then, I stored them inside the pocket of my jacket.

After stealing a glance at the laughing men, who had red cheeks and yellow teeth, I made my way to the nearby farm.

That was where my first solo quest awaited.

In this place, I became aware of a cushion of flies floating on top of a huge piece of poo, alerting me that animals likely lived nearby.

Despite looking at my surroundings for a while, there were only chickens trapped within wooden fences.

Not big enough animals to do that kind of crap. Disregarding the smell, I went on, finding a familiar face from older times.

"Hello, Thomas!"

"Are you..." his hand shook as it held on to his cane, possibly remembering my rare golden hair. "That little miss?"

"The scarecrow girl," I gleamed tenderly at him.

"How time flies! How have you been?"

"Good, and you?"

"Growing older and weaker." He laughed with little to no teeth. He glanced west due to the commotion. "A party came earlier for my request."

I followed his sight, finding a group of possible adventurers in the distance. "I've also come to help."

His bewildered expression faced me. "You've become an-"

And as he was about to finish his sentence, I showed him my card.

"You've truly grown up, little Iris. If I were still young, I'd burn those fiends with a torch!"

"I heard they are very resistant to most things."

He placed a second hand on the cane, as if exhausted from standing still. "You've not heard wrong. Not at all! Those pieces of poo melt everything they come in contact with!"

"They sound dangerous."

"They are!" His eyes hovered over my waistline. "Especially since they manage to render metal completely useless."

At his words, I gripped my mother's sword, holding it by the pommel.

"Meaning I may not have much of a way to deal with them."

"Mages have it the easiest with all their elemental powers! I saw it with my own eyes, the way they reduced a few of those nasty things with fireballs." Though his excitement died briefly after.

"What's wrong, Thomas?"

"Well... the adventurers also turned the fields into ash back then."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yes... It was almost better to leave them be, since they ate but didn't ruin everything."

I averted my gaze from him, knowing that there had been other stories like his. The adventurers wouldn't be punished for damaging personal belongings. Such was part of the contract the requester made with the guild. Yet, it made me upset at how incompetent they had been. I looked at the location where the fight was going on, hoping to make a change.

"Go on then."

I stole a glimpse at him, believing he was looking at my determined self and cheering for me. "I'll be back."

Hastily, I dashed to their encounter, noticing how they were all fighting by themselves, quite spread from one another.

'What are they doing?'

The archer seemed to be having some trouble running away from three slimes. I made my way to him, taking on my sword.

As he got almost surrounded, one of the monsters stretched itself toward him. However, I managed to block its attack just in time.

"Thank you." His eyes must have looked at me, not knowing me. "Who are you?"

"Iris." I gave him a brief answer, feeling rather overwhelmed by the situation at hand.

Yet, as if taking this fight as a joke, he kept on talking. "I'm Helios from the Hawk Party. What are you doing here alone?"

But before I could answer, the slime stretched a tentacle against me.

I was forced to block it with my sword, then with all my strength I pushed it to the right, forcing it to disconnect. "This is annoying."

I picked up the scent of burning behind me, causing me to steal a glimpse at him, igniting his arrow. Just in case I moved a bit to the right, unknowingly, if he'd accidentally hit me instead.

He shot and pierced the slime, setting it ablaze. Its fluid self shook and made strange forms that weren't their usual round selves.

Usually, they'd act rather calm, innocently rolling through the ground and devouring everything that came in contact with them.

Without wanting to give the monster an option to recover, I sliced it along with the flames from above, splitting it into two equal parts.

System: You have received the titles Monster Slayer and Slime Slayer.

Notice: You have received 10 points of experience and 10 fame; Status updated.

"Hey! That kill was mine!"

With the other slime approaching me, I had no time to apologize for stealing it accidentally.

"My bad. You can have the soul stone."

At my words, he clicked his tongue, dashing to his party as if telling me to handle the rest on my own as punishment.

"Seriously?" I had just saved his life, and he acted so selfishly toward me in exchange. However, thanks to his running, one of the slimes went after him, allowing me to have a duel with the remaining one. Once again, I followed the same pattern, discovering that they'd halt their movements to stretch a part of themselves. As it did so, I parried the attack, pushing it away from me. I took a step closer and slashed it with all my might in half.

But there was no message like before, causing me to doubt its death.

I jumped backward once, then twice, receiving a momentary chance to rub my sword on the greenery below. I watched over what I thought to be its corpse slowly gluing back anew.

'So annoying.' I complained in my mind how unjust its regenerative abilities were: being able to heal its whole self, and worse yet, having suffered no damage whatsoever from my attack.

The latter I couldn't prove, but its form didn't change, and it didn't look like it minded my attack.

Certainly, even as a helper, there were some monsters that I had heard about but never got to meddle with.

A lingering regret withstood within my heart for not having researched things more deeply. Yet, in a fortunate way, the old man Thomas's words came to mind.

'Will it work?' After waiting for the slime to try his luck once more, I blocked its upcoming stretching attack. "Freeze!" Its stretched part slowly turned more solid and white. It allowed my hand to glue to the already-made ice. Therefore, spending less mana in the process. I used a lot of my energy to freeze a part of its body.

Notice: System consumed 50 mana.

Then, before he managed to melt it, I used my sword to slash through the frozen layer for the particles to pierce the slime's insides.

Notice: You have received 10 points of experience and 10 fame; Status updated.

"I did it? I did it!" For anyone else who may have seen me celebrating over killing these small fries. It may have looked silly and pitiful, but I was genuinely happy about succeeding. Not that long ago, I was too scared to even try.

'She was right!' I coveted Aurora's words about myself, the way she declared I could become stronger if I gave it my all.

I stole a glimpse at the party's way, realizing that Helios was pointing my way. Two of his members shook their heads to the side, moving even further away from me.

'Good job, Iris. You've managed to make even more friends.' I thought to myself, in an old habit of talking to myself.

I realized that the party had put me on their blacklist. But I knew that the young man had overreacted, and the price of the resources he had spent would be close to the soul stone value.

I told myself these things to alleviate the pressure crushing me.

Other people's feelings were often the cause of my anxiety, as I was often misunderstood by my awkward self, but it also felt like they did it on purpose.

Since young, my friends weren't many, I needed one hand to count those whom my heart trusted.

There had been a lot of kids who grew up with me, with whom I became acquainted, but age turned out to be a wider distance in our relationships.

The religion which propagated through the entire kingdom of Lumen made me a rare specimen. People were naturally not in favor of those who were different than what their goddess favored, but I, too, was a human being, and their actions and words hurt me. Age had made many of them aware of my blonde hair and eyes. They were jealous of my emeralds, yet couldn't care less about the rest. I thought to myself that I was quite cute, but all they cared about were black or brown-haired girls and boys.

Despite my best effort to come to terms with them, their parents made sure to teach their kids that I was some sort of otherworldly creature.

'I'm just a human being like you.' These had been the words I had used in one of my conversations with one of them, which led to them saying that even then, I was too different.

Thus, as years passed, I closed myself off to outsiders, keeping the few bonds I managed to get, and sheltering them without going too deep into them.

Johan and Elise had been two of them, and Alice the third.

I looked at my hand, realizing that there were at least two more fingers than the number of my successful friendships.

'I'm so pitiful,' my complaints shook in my mind. More than anyone else, I desperately tried to make friends due to that horrible past life.

'Did I try too hard?' Some things were hard to know. At times, I felt the higher beings had cursed me, especially her, the sovereign of humanity: the goddess Aria.

Time and time again, I felt myself distancing from her godliness, feeling that a part of my unfortunate life was thanks to her doings.

'She could have given us happiness,' I wished it for my family and me. My mother, too, had been discriminated against before. It was thanks to her stories that I withstood my ground without crumbling into pieces, learning that sometimes struggling through life was a must.

A smile filled with despair formed on my face, 'Life is so unfair.' Truly, how I hated this part of living.

With a melancholic expression and a long sigh, I grabbed the two soul stones and took them with me back to the adventurer guild. The archer had left it behind, and I wouldn’t waste any potential income.

I looked at the party location, noticing the fight getting fiercer.

The movements of the slimes became a bit more concentrated.

Farther behind them, there was a red ball, bigger in size, and with a circle below, transforming mana into an element.

"That looks like trouble!" I held myself back after Helios complained about me stealing the kill.

Their group of four was composed of two male archers, both with leather sets and quivers on their backs. A lady wielding a dagger, and a short figure covered in a black robe and hood holding a club.

The big slime waved slightly, creating a red magical circle that was converting mana into elemental energy, and briefly after, a huge fireball followed.

In a matter of seconds, the group dispersed further, especially the archers who dared not stay in the way of the upcoming projectile.

The girl who was in front got struck by it, causing a yell filled with pain to roar through the land. The fireball upon collision dispersed to the sides, burning the surrounding greenery.

The smaller slimes kept on attacking, forcing the survivors to retreat.

I noticed how fast they ran away as the red monster kept channeling more energy, possibly preparing another projectile.

'If only I had helped.' A bitter smile surfaced on my expression, knowing they deserved to be punished for their rude behavior. Apparently, it didn't bother me too much that someone had just died in front of me. If anything, I just hoped it had been Helios.

'What will happen now?' My gaze kept on the burning ground, realizing the woman's body hadn't been completely reduced to ashes.

'What is it doing?'

The red monster canceled its channeling, moving closer to the girl, passing through the flames without a care in the world.

'Is it immune to fire?' It made me realize the fire arrows against it were likely useless, causing that monster to be quite nasty to deal with for that party.

'It's eating her...' The way the creature shone beautifully in gold made me wonder what it received for eating the girl's soul stone.

But I didn't dare to stay behind, unwilling to put myself in more danger. My mana was not enough to deal with that thing. Worse yet, it was not alone.

I had heard the stories of fellow adventurers at the guild. The way a golden aura surrounded them every time they leveled up. It felt rather surprising how these monsters increased their levels not by killing but by consuming soul stones.

'I need to get more mana.' For someone like me, who wanted magic to be my main aspect. The parameters I currently possess were rather lacking. Carefully, I made my way back to the guild.

'With levels, I'll receive status points. Then I'll spend them in wisdom to increase the max amount of magical energy my body can withstand.' My head swayed in a calm manner, symbolizing myself agreeing with this little plan of mine.

I had everything planned; I just needed to carefully farm more experience.