Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I'm Not the Demon Lord Act 2 (Light Novel) (eBook)

Satori Tanabata (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2023
250 Seiten
Publishdrive (Verlag)
978-1-7183-8064-6 (ISBN)

Infos

Despite the rocky start to her life at the Academy, Yumiella Dolkness has safely managed to graduate, and now she's on to the next chapter of her life-stepping into her new role as countess! Yumiella's determined to learn how to properly manage Dolkness County, her family's estate, but she soon finds there's quite a lot of work that needs to be done. Decades of neglect from her parents have left the county in shambles, and now it's up to her to whip things back into shape!

Yet, even beyond that, Yumiella's life isn't all fun and games. Back in the Royal Capital, a group of corrupt aristocrats have begun to push for the second prince, Prince Edwin, to succeed Valschein's throne, and they appear to be planning something even more sinister behind the scenes...

Still, whether she's dealing with a mysterious shadow group or problems with her county, Yumiella will handle it in the same way she always does-by using her level 99 strength!

Textauszug

Patrick, however, didn’t seem to agree. “I’m coming alone from now on,” he said dispiritedly. “I feel like I’m in more danger when you’re around.”

“You know that, in the worst-case scenario, you could die in a dungeon, right? I’m only here because I’m worried about you.”

“And yet, I can’t tell if you’re trying to kill me or keep me alive...”

Of course I want you to live! I thought indignantly. You’re my dearest boyfriend! Wait, hold on... Are Patrick and I boyfriend and girlfriend?

I combed through all my recent memories at the Academy, but I couldn’t recall doing a single romantic thing with him. We hadn’t splashed water on each other at the beach, or bumped into each other at our agreed-upon meeting spot like eight hours before we were meant to show up there...

We did kiss...right? I feel like we did. But we haven’t really gone on any dates... Or, wait, couldn’t our current outing be considered a date? I mean, when a guy and a girl go out, just the two of them... I nodded to myself. Yeah, this is totally a date.

“Of course I want you to live, Patrick,” I told him. “I want you to have a long life, so we can have tons of dates just like this one.”

“This thing we’re doing right now is definitely not a date,” Patrick protested.

I sunk back into thought. Is it wrong to try and go on a date in a dungeon?

◆◆◆

Not too long after that, Patrick and I decided to call it a day and started to head back toward the entrance of the dungeon. As we reached the lower levels, fewer monsters appeared, so we ended up walking side by side and chatting.

“This might be the last time we come here, with graduation being so close,” I commented.

Patrick nodded. “Sounds like we’ll be graduating from the hidden dungeon of the Royal Capital then as well.”

The hidden dungeon of the Roya— Oh, right. I guess this dungeon is called hidden. The moniker doesn’t really feel right, though; the other one’s just accessible at a much lower level.

As we continued to walk the dim dungeon path, a moment of silence fell between us. I looked over at Patrick and caught him staring at me, an almost fearful look in his eyes.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No, I just thought you might suggest taking down the boss to commemorate our last time, or something like that.”

“Patrick, do not fight the boss here.”

“Whatever it is, it must be pretty strong for you to say that,” he commented, eyebrows raising.

If I was recalling the game correctly, this dungeon had nothing going for it aside from the fact that it was close to the Royal Capital. On top of that, the boss was a total pain in the ass—I hated that golem.

“It’s not that the boss is particularly strong,” I told Patrick. “It’s just got really high defense, so fighting it is really inefficient experiencewise.”

It took forever to take that golem down, since the monster was resistant to both physical and magical attacks. It also dropped an elixir for some reason, which I found strange and completely unnecessary—it wasn’t like I needed any recovery items during the battle.

Patrick sighed. “I got worried for nothing. I forgot that’s the kind of person you are.”

“The kind of person I am”? I thought, perplexed. What does that mean?

But before I could ask, I heard something rustling down ahead of us. Patrick and I put our conversation on hold and held up our weapons, preparing for an attack from the front, but then relaxed when we realized the sounds we’d just heard were only the shuffling of footsteps and the low murmuring of several voices.

It looks like other people are here for once, I thought. I better call out to them first, so we don’t end up in a scuffle.

“Hello, it’s a fine day for dungeon crawling, isn’t it?”

“Well, well,” a man’s voice responded. “I’m surprised to see other people in here. We’re members of the Royal Knight’s Order; we’re here to train.”

Sounds like there’s two or three of them, I mused.

I decided to continue forward, since I didn’t anticipate having any issues with members of the Knight’s Order. I walked around a corner and was met with the sight of three men dressed in Royal Knight uniforms, each of which were wielding a sword.

I bowed to them, only to be met with a scream.

“Whoa! Something’s here!”

“What?” I looked around, trying to figure out what had appeared, but the only other thing I saw was Patrick, who was looking dubiously at the group of men in front of us.

One of the knights who hadn’t screamed stepped forward and bowed. “I apologize for that, Countess Dolkness. We didn’t expect to actually meet someone here, and it seems he was caught off guard. Are you perhaps returning to the surface?”

“Yes,” I agreed, “we’re just on our way out. Oh, and just so you know, we took down most of the monsters around the fortieth level. I suspect that area won’t have much going on for a while.”

The knight chuckled. “Ha ha, that shouldn’t be a problem. The deepest we’ll be going is around the tenth level.”

“Is that so? Well, good luck then.”

And so, our innocuous conversation ended, and we went our separate ways.

Still, I couldn’t help but wonder what that one knight had seen. It was a question that was answered for me only a few moments later. Thanks to my acute sense of hearing, which I’d gained through leveling, I was able to pick up on the three knights’ conversation.

“I didn’t think we’d bump into her,” one of them murmured. “I thought I was going to die when she popped out of the dark.”

“She’s the one who made the skies black in the Royal Capital, right? To think she has the ability to call forth the night... How terrifying.”

“I was pretty scared when we ran into her too,” said the knight who’d spoken to me. “Seems like the stories about her being a black-haired demon and dragon tamer aren’t too far off. But she did seem pretty normal when I spoke to her.”

One of the other knights scoffed. “Would a normal person go all the way to the fortieth level of this dungeon? The guy who was with her was the son of a margrave, right? I don’t know how he puts up with her.”

“Yeah...” There was a pause. “You know, after seeing her in person, I think she’s the one who defeated the Demon Lord.”

“The official statement from the kingdom is that His Highness took him down, so don’t say that to others.”

Oh, so they were afraid of me. They even figured out the truth behind the battle against the Demon Lord too...

I couldn’t help but wonder if Patrick, who was walking beside me, had also heard their conversation. It was a bit embarrassing that the elite Royal Knights of this kingdom were afraid of me.

“Just so you know, Yumiella,” Patrick said suddenly, “I don’t feel like I’m ‘putting up’ with you.”

So he did hear everything... I thought. But, hold on, if he’s not putting up with me, that means he’s choosing to spend time with me! So this is a date after all.

I smiled, just slightly. “Thank you, Patrick.”

◆◆◆

A few days after our dungeon adventure, the graduation ceremony for the Royal Academy of the Kingdom of Valschein had been held. I’d daydreamed my way through the commencement addresses of both Prince Edwin and the headmaster, and not long after that, the ceremony had ended without anything remarkable happening.

Now it was time for us to attend a buffet party, which was being held in the same venue.

So... I mused. Is this the kind of event where I can leave whenever I want?

I had other things to take care of, including packing up my dorm. I was much too busy to have the time to enjoy a party.

Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever had fun at a party.

I decided to look for Patrick and suggest we leave. As I searched my surroundings for him, a person began to make their way toward me—one who most people avoided. Her eyes welled up as she drew up by my side, as if she could burst into tears at any moment.

“I’m so sad to be saying goodbye to you, Yumiella,” she said, sniffling. “We...we will see each other again, right?”

“We will, we will,” I promised. “Now, can you give me a little more space, Lady Eleanora?”

I gave the girl in front of me a wary look. She was a duke’s daughter named Eleanora Hillrose, who for some strange reason was very fond of me. She and her blond ringlets kept inching closer and closer—I felt like she was just seconds from latching on to me.

“When will we see each other again?” she demanded. “Tomorrow? The day after tomorrow?”

“Well, I’ll be at my family’s mansion in the Royal Capital for a few days, so I think we’ll be able to meet up a couple of times.”

“Really?!” Eleanora happily...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 11.9.2023
• Reihe/Serie: Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I'm Not the Demon Lord
• Reihe/Serie: Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I'm Not the Demon Lord
• Illustrationen: Satori Tanabata
• Übersetzer: Satori Tanabata
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur
• Schlagworte: Comedy • female demon lord • Light Novel • Otome Game • overpowered gamer protagonist • reincarnated • school life in a fantasy world
• ISBN-10: 1-7183-8064-X / 171838064X
• ISBN-13: 978-1-7183-8064-6 / 9781718380646