Taming The Villainesses

Episode 359.1

(EP-359.1) #4

359 – Protagonist #4

Including me, there were sixteen.

That was the total number of people who had made it to the main tournament.

━Ahh, Anchornoi here…! Congratulations to the finalists…! Now then, please take a look at your flags! You should see a letter written on them…!”

As the sharp-voiced nymph commentator explained, I unfolded the flag in my hand. Sure enough, like she said, a large letter was on it.

‘G.’

I was G.

━From A to H, those with the same letter will compete in a match together—such a simple rule, isn’t it…?! Now, it’s time to prepare the main stage…! Let’s get to work—!”

As she spoke, people suddenly poured in from somewhere and began clearing the wreckage from the arena. They carried away the collapsed participants on stretchers and patched up the broken ground.

While they moved with impressive coordination, I casually scanned the other finalists holding flags like me.

I needed to figure out what kind of people I’d be facing next if I wanted to pace myself properly.

Who else had the G flag?

Those strange nymphs from earlier—did they not make it? Since they chose to fight each other rather than hold onto a flag, it seemed they didn’t make it to the main tournament.

Shff.

Just then, I felt someone reaching out toward me.

When I turned my head, I saw a woman about a head shorter than me—young enough to be called a girl, pointing the end of her flag at me like a sword.

Flutter-.

The flag had the letter H written on it.

“You! I don’t know what trick you pulled earlier, but I refuse to let anyone steal the spotlight from me! And you hide your face behind a mask while hogging all the attention?!”

Who was she?

Naturally, I had no idea who she was. She looked to be somewhere between fifteen and twenty, maybe. Her platinum blonde hair and bright blue eyes had a certain sparkle that reminded me of someone.

Under her red cloak, she wore a uniform top and tight white pants, which looked quite stylish. Was she a noble?

Seeing the medals and epaulets on her chest, she seemed quite experienced and skilled. But she looked remarkably young for that.

Then again, judging age by appearance was foolish in this world.

After all, there were races like fairies who looked young no matter how old they were. And those who trained their mana or internal energy could appear youthful even in old age.

Not to mention, I myself was using a treasure called the「Karma Changer」to alter my appearance.

“What, are you mute? Someone’s talking to you—say something! Or are you scared of me? I knew it the moment you hid your face behind a mask. Coward!”

Still, she really was a gutsy woman. I understand her overflowing with spirit, but attracting this much attention might unnecessarily create more enemies than needed.

In fact, the other finalists’ attention was starting to gather around the woman standing in front of me. Maybe I’ll listen in on some of their whispers.

━Is that Aslan of Orleans?”

━Her temper’s just as fiery as they say. Kinda looks dumb, though.

“What? Who just called me dumb?! Who was it?! I’ll skewer your mouth with my spear! Forget the finals, come at me all at once right now!”

The woman shouted, absolutely livid. That fiery temper. And with that blonde hair and blue eyes, I thought she reminded me of someone, and indeed, this girl resembled Elga.

Come to think of it, when Elga was looking at the participants’ documents, she had once said something like this.

The Lioness family has numerous branch families, and she said there were those among them who were eager to participate in this festival.

Aslan of Orleans.

This girl was probably one of Elga’s many cousins. Indeed, when looking at it that way, they shared quite a few similarities from looks to personality. The only difference was…

━Her breasts are small for someone from a western family.

━Right? Aren’t the Lioness family women usually famous for their big chests?

Just as people were whispering, she was… rather flat. So the Lioness family women were known for their large chests…

“Grrr…!”

She must have sharp ears, as Aslan’s face flushed red. I tensed slightly, wondering if she’d explode and cause a scene.

Others seemed to think the same. The people who had lightly provoked and mocked her all put their hands on the swords at their waists.

Everyone seemed full of fighting spirit.

“Hmph.”

Then Aslan let out a snort.

“Cowards who can only whisper behind my back. My excitement’s gone cold. Looks like none of you are even worth dealing with.”

And just like that, as if she’d truly lost interest, she backed off.

* * *

The matches were divided into Groups A through H.

Since I had obtained the G flag, I was naturally placed in Group G.

So I was the 7th match?

My opponent was a young mage known as a prodigy from the Red Magic Tower located in Borgia, the central city of the western region.

It was said he boasted dazzling and intense firepower using red magic. What was his name again? It was a long and unfamiliar name, so it had already slipped from my mind.

More importantly, if he was from Borgia in the west, wasn’t that Elga’s hometown?

If I asked Elga, I’d definitely find out who this opponent was and probably more about that Aslan of Orleans girl from earlier too.

But the waiting area for the participants and the VIP seats for the Lioness lady were worlds apart. Talking to her was physically impossible.

That was when someone spoke to me.

━Comrade! What’s going on? I’m looking at the list of finalists, but your name’s not on it!

It was Marmar, who could speak with me no matter how far apart we were. I had Marmar’s tail wand so our frequencies were synced.

━Well, there’s a bit of a situation.

━The entire Imp Sisterhood came to cheer you on! But without you on the list, we don’t know who to root for!

The Imp Sisterhood, huh.

Indeed, it seemed there was a peculiar group among the crowd. If more than ten imps were gathered together, they were bound to stand out no matter how far away.

Edit by: faker