Episode 3
I Wanted to Be a Villain (3)
I hesitated, then turned my broom toward the source of the scream.
“Sure, I was just trying to scam someone and ended up running away… but I’m not such a scumbag that I’d ignore someone begging for their life!”
The voice led me to a deserted alley, pitch black without a single light.
“Please… somebody help me…! Isn’t anyone here? Anyone at all, please…”
As I got closer, I heard a girl’s trembling voice.
I swallowed hard and tried to look ahead—
“It’s too dark. I can’t see a thing.”
The midnight alley was covered in shadows.
So I summoned a small flame in my palm and floated it up, lighting the area.
Slowly, shapes hidden in the darkness appeared.
“There.”
A cloaked girl, covered from head to toe, stood cornered by two men holding swords.
“Great. They’re armed. Just my luck.”
Thankfully, they hadn’t noticed me yet.
“But if I use magic in this narrow alley, I could hurt her too.”
I crept closer from behind, reaching into my clothes.
I planned to use just a little of the Dreaming Butterfly Powder I had used on Eclipse earlier.
“Ugh, what a waste on guys like this…”
But when I reached into my pocket—
“Wait. Where is it?”
My fingers didn’t touch the cold glass bottle they should have.
My blood ran cold.
“No way… it’s gone.”
The bottle that should’ve been there had vanished.
“Please! Over here!”
The cloaked girl spotted me and shouted desperately.
“Help me! These men are threatening to kill me…!”
At that, the two thugs turned sharply toward me.
“Huh? Where did she come from?”
“There was no one here a second ago.”
“…It’s gone.”
I muttered blankly.
“What?”
“…Gone. It’s not there.”
My Dreaming Butterfly Powder.
That priceless item worth an entire year’s income…
“It’s disappeared! Gone!”
I kept muttering in shock, and the thugs actually stepped back nervously.
“What’s with her? She just appeared out of nowhere…”
“And look at her—black clothes, huge hat… and is that a broom?”
“A broom? She’s a witch?!”
But I didn’t hear a word.
Nothing could replace what I’d lost.
The powder I’d worked myself half to death to make… gone in an instant.
“My powder…”
I whispered, still in shock.
“My money…”
It felt like half my heart had been ripped out.
I had sacrificed so much, so many sleepless nights… all for nothing.
“All burned away… all gone.”
It had abandoned me. My one-year fortune had left me behind.
Why did you leave me, powder? You promised you’d make me rich, that you’d give me gold and jewels! How could you betray me like this?
“She’s not right in the head. Forget it, let’s get out of here before something bad happens.”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I lifted my head sharply, and one of the thugs flinched with a squeak.
“H-hiiik…”
I stepped off my broom and thrust out my hand.
“W-what are you doing?”
“What do you think?”
A spark burst from my fingertips.
“I’m gonna teach you a lesson!”
The flames carried all my grief and rage over the lost powder.
Fire spread across the ground, growing and curling around the thugs.
“Aaaah! Fire! It’s fire!”
“Save us!”
“You’re not going anywhere!”
I shot more flames in front of the one trying to run.
“Take one step and you’re ash!”
I shouted like a righteous hero—though in truth I was just a pitiful extra.
“Seriously… how did my life end up like this?”
Even in my past life, I hadn’t exactly been well-off.
Shouldn’t reincarnation at least give me a better life? Isn’t that how it works for everyone else?
“Please, I don’t want to die here! Lord Adin, save me…!”
“Hey, snap out of it! We need a way out!”
At the name Adin, my ears perked.
Adin—the god of peace, the one the heroine Lynette worshiped?
“Wow. He’s begging for a god now? He was just threatening someone, and the moment he’s in danger, he turns to faith?”
I couldn’t help clicking my tongue.
Clearly, these thugs needed a proper beating.
…Not that I was exactly in a position to judge, considering I’d just tried to scam someone myself.
Still, I gathered more magic at my fingertips, ready to unleash it.
“Wait!”
The girl who’d been crying for help suddenly stepped between me and the thugs.
“Kyaaa!”
Startled, I killed the spell and stumbled back, my heart pounding like I’d nearly hit a deer with a car.
Not that I’d ever driven one.
“Wh-what the—! You scared me! What are you doing? You almost got yourself killed!”
But she spoke calmly, as if nothing had happened.
“Stop. They’ve had enough.”
“…What?”
What was she talking about?
They had literally threatened her life with swords. And now she wanted me to just let them go?
“No, they need to be taught a lesson. If not, they’ll just keep doing this!”
“No. They won’t. Please, let your anger go.”
Her calm certainty made no sense.
I looked up at the girl—taller than me, her face hidden under her hood.
“Is she serious? Forgiving the people who tried to kill her? What is she, some kind of saint?”
I couldn’t see her face clearly, but something about her felt unusual. Maybe even noble.
“Now’s our chance! Run!”
“Help! Somebody help!”
The thugs bolted down the alley.
“Hey! Get back here, you cowards!”
I jumped back onto my broom, ready to chase them, but—
“Wait, please.”
The girl stopped me again.
“What now?”
It felt like a fisherman watching his catch swim away.
I looked at her, frustrated, ready to snap.
I scrunched up my face as threateningly as I could.
Go on, just try saying I shouldn’t chase them. I dare you—
“If it’s not rude to ask… may I know your name?”
“…My name?”
“Yes. I must repay the person who saved my life.”
Oh. Why didn’t you say so earlier? I almost wasted my anger.
I instantly switched to a bright smile.
“I’m Elsie Bloomhire. The great witch of Wendelton Street, 7th Avenue.”
That’s right. If I save someone, I deserve something back.
I straightened my back proudly, ready for some well-earned reward talk.
“Elsie Bloomhire… of Wendelton 7th Avenue.”
She repeated my name softly, as if not to forget it, then folded her hands together and smiled faintly.
“Thank you, Miss Elsie. I will definitely repay this debt.”
“Oh, it’s nothing, really.”
I waved my hands modestly, though my grin couldn’t be hidden.
Forget being the greatest villain—if I didn’t end up dead, that was enough.
“Turns out being honest pays off after all.”
I was already in a good mood again, babbling cheerfully.
“I’m sorry if I scared you earlier. I was just… emotional. I lost one of my products tonight. It was worth a whole year’s income, so I wasn’t myself.”
But looking at this girl… I was sure she could more than make up for that lost money.
I covered my mouth and giggled.
She looked at me sympathetically and murmured:
“I see… so you lost something precious because of me.”
“It’s fine. Nothing’s more important than life, right?”
Half true, half lie. But who cares? It sounded good.
“Then I will repay you.”
