My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Volume 4

by Satoru Yamaguchi

  First of all, what would a noble lady be doing in a field, disposing of snakes...? But anyway, to be able to simply crush that unknown black mass with her bare hands... Katarina Claes may be a much more impressive individual than I had initially assumed.

  And then there was how Katarina herself worded it. “I felt like I could do it, so I did!” I couldn’t help but start laughing. I laughed so hard I felt like I couldn’t breathe. When he heard what had happened, Jeffery started laughing too. I suppose we had the same sense of humor.

  After a while he calmed down, still wheezing between breaths. It took a while for Jeffery to finally finish. “In any case... why was Lady Katarina able to do that? She has no Light Magic, surely? Are you perhaps suggesting that she has control over the Dark Arts?”

  “That was what I thought as well, but that doesn’t make any sense. After some questioning, I discovered that it was most likely due to the influence of a magical tool that is attuned to Dark Magic.”

  “A Dark Magic tool, you say?”

  I placed the object that Katarina had entrusted to me on Jeffery’s desk.

  “Hmm. A mirror, I suppose?” Jeffery wondered, taking the object into his hands and regarding it with a skeptical expression.

  “Not exactly. Simply an ornament of some kind, it seems.”

  True, it did fit into a woman’s hand easily, and it was relatively round. It did very much look like a mirror. Despite its round shape and borders, however, there was no mirror of any kind in it — a mysterious ornament, and that was that.

  Honestly speaking, this rough and somewhat primitive ornament was not well designed. From what I had discovered, the item wasn’t common in stores. If anything, it was a small knick-knack that one would find in an open-air stall. A small piece of scrap one could buy in a little corner of the city with some change. It was something that would never sell well.

  “I couldn’t tell just by looking at it, but Maria and Sora were able to sense traces of Dark Magic emanating from the object. I did some research, and from my observations, it would seem like this thing is similar to the magical tools I’m developing now.”

  “So, someone has been spying at the Ministry again, and emulating your work to make this tool?”

  “Not exactly. I showed the round thing to someone who’s well versed in the history of bone and porcelain crafts. From what they can tell, it’s very old. It most likely existed back before Sorcié even became a kingdom — back when Dark Magic hadn’t been declared taboo yet. And, as fate would have it, it eventually ended up at the shop that Katarina and the others visited.”

  “Oh ho, that is impressive indeed. Given that she was able to take hold of something like that so casually, Lady Katarina is really something else.”

  “Exactly. If it were me, I definitely would have looked right over it. Katarina has good instincts, at least for some things.” The more I looked at the mystery ornament in Jeffery’s hands, the more I felt that to be true.

  “So... Lady Katarina used this magical tool over here, and dispelled the Dark Magic cast on her brother?”

  “That would seem to be the case. But there’s one more thing... the familiar of darkness did materialize.” Yes, the familiar that the woman had been trying to extract from Keith had taken form.

  “Oh? A familiar really appeared?”

  “Indeed. Katarina took a liking to it, and so she brought it back with her...”

  “Hmm. So... is the Ministry currently investigating this familiar?”

  “Well... about that...”

  ★★★★★

  “Go on, Pochi! Fetch!”

  I threw the wooden stick into the distance, and the black puppy happily ran after it. Before long, he returned with the stick firmly in his mouth, his tail wagging fiercely as if to say “praise me, praise me!” Ahh, so cuuute! I had fallen victim to Pochi’s irresistible charm.

  “Young miss, are you quite alright?” Anne asked, maintaining some distance from Pochi.

  “Eh? What do you mean, Anne?”

  “Don’t you ‘what do you mean, Anne?’ me, young miss. After all, is that not the dog...?” Anne stopped short, not finishing her sentence.

  “Ah, it’s fine, no worries. Lady Larna said that there was no problem!”

  “I... I see...”

  Pochi’s true origins had been explained to a handful of people close to me. Although he looked just like a cute puppy at first glance, he did have several unique abilities that made it difficult to hide what he was. This was probably why Anne, who was still not used to him, was afraid. Even though he’s so cute? Come on, Anne... Well, she’ll come around to Pochi’s charms eventually, I’m sure.

  The little puppy that we had brought back after the Keith rescue operation was more than just a dog. From what I was told, he was some kind of familiar born of Dark Magic. He could be compared to a golem, like Keith’s earth golems, though a more evolved version.

  Pochi’s body was full of Dark Magic, so he was originally seen as a dangerous creature, and was to be taken away by the Ministry to be investigated. But the puppy had become completely attached to me. Even if he were taken away, he would do everything he could to return to me — including transforming back into a cloud of black mist and flying home.

  To ensure that he’d never be separated from me, Pochi decided to hide himself in my shadow. That way, no one would be able to take him from my side. Although the people from the Ministry had tried a bunch of different things to remove him, Pochi remained stubbornly stuck with me.

  Lady Larna eventually gave up, saying, “This... is a lost cause. We should just have Katarina look after it and call it a day,” with a tinge of regret in her voice. Just to be sure, they ran a series of tests on the puppy and me to ensure it wouldn’t be a danger to me or anyone else. Once those tests were finished and I promised to bring Pochi over to the Ministry when requested, paperwork was signed and the black puppy officially became my pet.

  I kept being surprised when the puppy dissolved into a cloud of mist or suddenly leapt into my shadow. But even so, he was my adorable puppy, and I loved him to bits.

  Interestingly, Pochi didn’t need to eat any kind of dog food. And he seemed very intelligent — he’d dissolve into my shadow and calmly wait if I asked him to. I didn’t even need to build a dog house! What a convenient pet.

  On top of all that, my position in the Ministry after graduating from the academy was pretty much a sure thing thanks to Pochi. I was even assigned a proper title! “Wielder of a Darkness Familiar.”

  Well, I guess I wasn’t really doing anything useful except looking after the pup, but with this, I’d be able to hold my head high and walk through the Ministry’s calls. I would also be able to hold off on getting married to Jeord and becoming royalty.

  And so I named the puppy “Pochi” and gained a pet of my own.

  “Whatever does ‘Pochi’ mean, young miss?” Anne had asked, confused.

  “Isn’t that the first name that comes to mind when you think of a dog?” I’d replied, but Anne didn’t seem to get it. It was a common name for dogs in Japan, but apparently dogs in this world had naming trends of their own, and “Pochi” wasn’t one of them. But I thought that naming the puppy that made him even cuter. In fact, he was so cute that I ended up playing with him daily in the manor’s gardens.

  I had returned to Claes Manor a while ago. Though we’d managed to rescue Keith from his kidnapper, he was still very weak and injured all over. So he was instructed to rest quietly at the manor for a while. I was worried about him, so I’d decided to move back home from the dormitories for now. Thankfully, lessons at the academy were already ending, so this didn’t cause any problems.

  But even though I’d declared that I wanted to look after Keith, I was quickly dismissed and chased out of the room. “With all due respect, young miss, you being here would inevitably increase our workload. Master Keith cannot possibly recuperate in such a noisy environment. It would be best for you to step outside,”
said one of our best servants.

  ...What a bummer. Come to think of it, I feel like the servants have become really strict with me lately. Even Anne! When I decided to ask my friends about this, they all told me how gentle and accommodating their own servants were. I complained about this to Anne, only to learn the shocking truth — “You see, young miss... we have been specifically instructed by the Madam to be stricter with you.”

  Mother, how could you...?

  And so it came to be that I, Katarina Claes, who had specifically moved back from the dormitories to spend time with Keith, ended up with nothing much to do. Instead, I spent most of my time playing with Pochi. Luckily, that was a lot of fun. Pochi would follow me around, wagging his tail.

  As if reminded of something as she continued looking in our direction, Anne asked me a question. “A while ago, when you first departed with the people from the Ministry, young miss... I happened to see Lady Maria from a distance. There was something perched on her shoulder, unless I was mistaken. Was that a pet of some kind as well?”

  “Hmm? Oh, that? That’s a magical tool.”

  “A... magical tool?” Anne repeated after me blankly, evidently having never heard the term before. I gave Anne a brief explanation of the tool on Maria’s shoulder, which was the Ugly Bear, Alexander.

  “How impressive... to think that something like that could exist!” Anne did seem impressed.

  I gave her a brief nod. “It’s definitely something...” The bear had a terrible personality, but it had played an important part in the rescue operation. You could even say it played the most important part, since we would have never found Keith without the bear’s help. I’d suppressed my dislike and formally thanked the bear for its assistance, only for the stupid thing to turn its nose up at me, ridiculing me again. I suppose, in the end, that bear and I would never see eye to eye.

  After the trip had concluded, the bear was supposed to be sent to Prince Jeffery as promised, but that had apparently become impossible, since it had become very attached to Maria over the journey. The bear refused to stay with the prince, behaving just like Pochi did. In the end, after its many struggles to return to Maria’s side, Alexander the Ugly Bear was permanently assigned to Maria instead. Something else indeed.

  On another subject, Lady Larna herself had received more materials and funding from Prince Jeffery for a new search-and-track magical tool. She was overjoyed. “A new project, a new project!” she’d quipped, bouncing out of the office. Prince Jeffery, who had been basically dumped by the bear, seemed to be feeling pretty down about the situation.

  And so Alexander the Ugly Bear was now officially Maria’s pet. I knew that meant that I’d have to see the bear again whenever I met with Maria in the future. Just thinking about it made me feel kinda depressed.

  If that bear was going to be with Maria from here on out, I had to do something to make sure we got along next time we met. But... what could I do? Maybe I should give it a present? But what would a bear even like?

  As I continued thinking about a possible strategy for bear peace, a servant came running up from the direction of the manor, looking flustered. “Young miss, it’s Master Keith...”

  “E-Eh?! What happened to Keith?!” What could it be?

  “...He has safely woken from his slumber,” the servant finished, smiling.

  Although we had arranged for a doctor to tend to Keith on-site as soon as we had returned, his body was significantly weakened from his ordeal. He had used up more than his usual share of stamina and had been sleeping ever since. He would wake up sometimes, and we would exchange a few words. Even so, it seemed like he was in a bit of a daze, and he’d immediately fall back asleep. Things continued that way for a while.

  According to the doctor, Keith’s body had recovered and he would surely wake up sometime soon. All we could do was wait.

  “...I see. So he’s awake at last...” I heaved a sigh of relief. Although I was told that he’d be fine, I couldn’t help but worry at the fact that Keith remained asleep for all that time. “Well then, let’s go see Keith. Ah, he’ll probably be surprised if he suddenly sees you, Pochi. Go home for now, okay?”

  With a prompt bark, the intelligent Pochi was soon snugly tucked away in my shadow. With my preparations complete, I headed toward where my beloved brother lay — having opened his eyes for the first time in days.

  When I entered the room, I found Keith, who had been lying down all this time, sitting up in bed. His blue eyes were now fully open, and immediately focused on me as I went inside.

  “Keith!” I bounded happily to Keith’s bedside and hugged him tight. “Keith! I’m so glad you’re all right... so glad...” I said, sniffling in between words as I held him.

  “Big Sister... I do apologize for causing you to worry so. I would also like to thank you. For saving me,” Keith said, smiling faintly, his eyes brimming over with tears just like mine.

  Then I started explaining what had happened on our journey to Keith, going over all the details from beginning to end. After all, he had been asleep all this time and wouldn’t know anything that had happened. But he did apparently vaguely recall the moment of his rescue.

  As I continued hugging him, I told Keith about everything. About how Lady Larna, Prince Jeord, Sora, Maria, and I had set off in search of him, using the bear-shaped tool. Keith seemed very interested in the tale, although he seemed unsettled by what he heard at times. Nevertheless, he continued listening.

  Eventually, the story moved to the point where we had found the new-money mansion. When I told Keith of how I had grabbed the swirling dark mist with my bare hands, he couldn’t contain his surprise. “...Big Sister. No matter the situation, that was clearly reckless,” he said, troubled.

  “B-But...! I needed to get that mist out of the way for you to finally wake up!” Now that I was retelling the story, I started recalling that specific point in time. After I had peeled the dark mist off him, Keith, for some reason...

  Before I knew it, I had let go of him, and was now a few steps away. Keith looked at me, surprised. “What is it, Big Sister...?”

  “Um... well. You see... when you woke up at the mansion, it seemed like you were sleep-walking...? Or sleep-talking...” Yes — it was exactly that. Keith had definitely been half-asleep. That was why he had said something about a “dream.” I think Keith had just confused me with someone he liked.

  But... should I even bring that up? He doesn’t seem to remember. I decided we should just bury those memories back in the darkness.

  As Keith stared at my still-flustered self, he seemed to be momentarily lost in thought, and then — “I... sleepwalking. Huh?! Y-You mean to tell me that... that was not a dream?!” Apparently he had remembered everything. All the color drained from his face.

  Oh no! I quickly tried to reassure him. “Um... you were half-asleep, and pretty dazed, so there was no helping it. You confused me for someone you like, right? It happens. But it’s fine! I’ve already forgotten about it. You can forget all about it too, Keith.”

  “It happens”? Even I had a hard time convincing myself of that. But it had been said, and that was that. I looked earnestly at Keith, my face completely flushed.

  “Forget...? All about it...?” Keith muttered.

  “Y-Yes! Exactly. Let’s do that.” Yes, that’s for the best. If word got out that Keith had mistaken his adoptive sister for his lover and kissed her, it wouldn’t be good for his reputation. He would surely agree that this should be stuffed down the memory hole. Or so I thought...

  “I refuse.”

  “...Eh?”

  Keith turned to me with a serious expression. “I refuse to forget about it. Nor will I pretend it never happened.”

  “Keith...?”

  Although I was some distance away from Keith, he was soon by my side. His blue eyes focused straight on me. “Perhaps I was indeed sleep-talking. But it was my first kiss, with the person I love. There is no possible way I could forget about something like th
at.”

  “Eh? Um... what do you mean, Keith?” His first kiss, with the person he loved? If I followed that line of reasoning, the person Keith loved had to be...

  “Ever since I was a child, Big Sister... no. Katarina... I’ve liked you. As a woman. I... love you,” Keith said, his face completely red.

  Eh? Umm. Let me process this. So I am the person Keith loves...?

  Hmm... well, I do love Keith too, he is very important to me. But, huh...? Did he say... “as a woman”? And that... he loves me? But that’s...

  With that, I finally pieced together the jigsaw in my head. I felt my cheeks rapidly heating up. My heartbeat was violently increasing. “Eh? Ah. Uh...” I was at a complete loss for words. The only sounds to escape my lips were strange single syllables, uttered at the red-faced Keith.

  And then, all of a sudden... a whole flock of people invaded this space.

  “Keith, whatever do you think you’re doing? Confessing off the cuff? Katarina belongs to me.”

  “I would ask that very same question of you, Prince Jeord! Whatever are you saying? Lady Katarina belongs to no one!”

  “Yeah, Mary’s right. She doesn’t belong to you.”

  “That’s right... Lady Katarina does not belong to anyone! Ah, Lady Katarina... I’ve brought some novels I highly recommend... perhaps you would enjoy them, too.”

  “Sophia, Keith is the one who is ill, not Katarina. Perhaps your choice of get-well-soon gift is a little strange.”

  “Ah... Well, I baked some treats, perhaps Master Keith would enjoy them?”

  How long had they been waiting there? Suddenly, all the regular suspects had rushed into the room.

  Jeord was soon by my side, faster than my eyes could see. He wrapped his arms around me, as if to separate me from Keith. “Katarina is mine, yes?” he whispered, softly but clearly into my ears.

  My cheeks were at critical mass. My heartbeat was so loud, I felt like I would explode! I didn’t spend much time in Jeord’s arms, though, as Keith was soon trying to retrieve me from his clutches.

  “That won’t do. I will not hand her over to you, Prince Jeord.”