Chapter 11 — You Don’t Get the Idea of a Young Villainess?! Even When You Act like That?!
“I know this is sudden...”
“But you’re being reincarnated!”
“Excuse me?” Yuriina Tanaka stared back bewildered, floating in an otherwise empty white space. She had no memory of what had brought her there. “What are you talking about? I don’t understand what you mean.”
Even in a situation like this, she wouldn’t lose her composure. That wasn’t the way a high-class individual behaved. Of course, Yuriina Tanaka was no such thing, being the daughter of an ordinary office worker, but that was what she had set her heart on.
“Wanna hear how you died?”
“It’s a pretty boring question if you ask me, though.”
In front of her were two young girls with the same face and attire. The only real way to distinguish between the twins was a faint difference in hair color. They were honestly quite cute.
“If I’m already dead, I suppose there’s no sense in worrying about how.” Yuriina had no awareness of having died, but she couldn’t really remember much of what had happened. Her memories were extremely vague and fuzzy.
She remembered her childhood well enough, but had basically no memories of her time as a high school student. She was reasonably sure she had been a high school student, but whether that was still the case or she had eventually graduated, she had no clue.
“Anyway, we were just here picking up any souls we could find drifting around...”
“So if you don’t know how you died, we don’t really know either!”
“I do have plenty of questions,” Yuriina replied. “I suppose I should first ask who you two are?”
“I’m Malna!” the first girl said, spinning around.
“I’m Rilna!” The second did likewise.
“The two of us together are...Malnarilna! Yay!” They clapped their hands together as they finished what must have been a well-practiced routine.
“Umm, knowing your names is great and all, but I still don’t know who you are or what you’re doing here.”
“Don’t look too deep for any meaning in what we’re doing.”
“We’re just doing what looks fun!”
Malna and Rilna were gods. For some reason, Yuriina was sure of that. Gods didn’t really need to explain that they were gods, she supposed. Humans could naturally recognize them for what they were.
Yuriina sighed. “I see. So there’s no point in asking why you’re here. Then let me ask, what will happen to me now?”
“You’re gonna be a young villainess!”
“A wicked woman with no concept of love!”
“I suppose asking why would be pointless,” Yuriina said. “But what do you mean by ‘young villainess’?”
“Huh? You don’t get the idea of a young villainess?! Even when you act like that?!”
“They show up all the time in anime, right?”
“Don’t you read novels or manga?”
No matter how the twins protested, if she was unfamiliar with the term, there wasn’t much she could do about it. So Malnarilna gave her a simple explanation of the idea.
The “young villainess” was a character archetype that often appeared in games aimed at young women, whose role was to persecute the main character throughout the story. At the story’s conclusion, she would be defeated and typically either stripped of her position or executed. There was also a genre that followed people being reincarnated as such characters and attempting to steal the hero from the ostensible main character of the story.
“I see. So does that mean I’m going to be sent to some game world?” Yuriina asked.
“Yeah, that would be great...”
“But unfortunately, there aren’t any worlds like that.”
“How did it become such a major archetype if it doesn’t even exist in the real world?” Yuriina said.
“Yeah, weird, huh?”
“So we set things up a bit for you!”
There were a number of countries in the world ruled by Malnarilna. There were plenty of young nobles who could fit the bill of villainess, so their plan was to put Yuriina’s soul into one of their bodies.
“What’ll happen to the body’s original soul?” she asked.
“We’ll just erase it. Things get annoying when you start mixing souls together.”
“Besides, you’re the one who decided to play at being a young noblewoman.”
This was an act of the gods. There wasn’t really any room for Yuriina to complain. Trapped in this empty white space, she didn’t have much choice but to do what she was told.
“Okay, I understand. But what do you want me to do when I actually become this young villainess? Judging by your previous explanation, you expect me to do something evil enough that it leads to my own execution?”
“That’s where the cheats come in!” one of the twins replied.
“Cheats? You want me to deceive people?”
“No, cheat powers,” the other supplied. “Superpowers that are so strong, it feels like you’re cheating!”
“We’re gonna give you some and see how far you can make it!”
Of course, there was nothing Yuriina could do to refuse.
◇ ◇ ◇
Her arms twisted behind her back, Yuriina was pushed to the ground. It was very clearly behavior that would not be tolerated towards a young noblewoman, so quite a bit of groundwork had obviously been put in place.
Everyone around them was quite dressed up, so they must have been at some kind of party, but not a single one of them moved to Yuriina’s aid.
“Yuririka La Triole. Judging by your confusion, you seem ignorant of the weight of your own crimes,” a young man in particularly extravagant attire announced.
Never mind her crimes, Yuriina didn’t know who these people were or where she was. The most she could figure out was that the name the man had called her was a little similar to her own, so that was probably why Malnarilna had picked her for this role.
Yuririka La Triole, huh? I feel little connection to that name.
She mulled the thought over a number of times, but her new identity still didn’t click. It seemed Malnarilna was fine leaving her as Yuriina Tanaka.
“I guess you never expected to be apprehended here of all places. But it’s too late. We have all the proof we needed of what you did to Iris to get an arrest warrant for you.”
Another man in a soldier’s uniform beside the first presented a sheet of paper. That must have been the arrest warrant he had mentioned, but Yuriina had no clue what it said. Though she understood the language here, she couldn’t read it. Iris must have been the frail girl in the young man’s arms. Judging by the conversation so far, it seemed Yuririka had done something to her, but of course Yuriina had no knowledge of it.
“Naturally, this means the marriage is off. Sorry, but this is what happens to a woman driven mad by jealousy.”
Well. I don’t understand anything that’s happening, but I suppose I don’t need to think that much about it.
The prattling young man was no more than an obstacle. Political, legal, and ethical considerations were irrelevant to her. All she thought was that the people who dared to restrain and judge her unjustly deserved to be punished.
Yuriina pushed back with her arms, easily throwing off the man holding her down. Her assailant was flung upwards, striking the ceiling before crashing back down to the floor motionless.
“What?!” the young man exclaimed in shock. This must have been far beyond anything Yuririka had been capable of, as he seemed to be struggling to accept what he was seeing.
Yuriina slowly rose to her feet. “I suppose this young lady must be Iris, then?” she said.
“Y-Yes...” the girl squeaked, her voice trembling.
“So, who exactly are you, young man?”
“Wh-What? Grab her! No, never mind. Just kill her! She was caught red-handed!”
“That’s not a polite way to treat a weak young lady like myself, now is it?” Yuriina replied as the soldiers around the young man drew their swords. Others guarding the perimeter of the room also rushed forward.
Steel blades arced towards Yuriina’s head far faster than she could react. She had never fought before. There was no way she could dodge a strike meant to take her life. But that turned out to be no issue, as her body was extraordinarily resilient. One of the so-called “cheat powers” Malnarilna had given her was a sturdy body. A number of soldiers attempted to slash or stab her, but none of them could so much as draw blood. All they managed to accomplish was slicing her dress apart.
I think I’m getting used to this.
With a little bit of time to settle into her newly enhanced abilities, she could start tracking the soldiers’ movements with her eyes fairly easily. Yuriina reached a hand towards an incoming sword, grabbing it out of the air. The blade bent and warped in her grip, so she tossed it aside.
A scream resounded from the background as the discarded weapon apparently struck someone, but she wasn’t overly concerned. She had no intention of purposefully killing someone who wasn’t attacking her, but it was their own fault if they stood around like an idiot while a fight was happening.
The soldier who had lost his weapon dove forward. Yuriina answered with a slap. There was no technique behind it, only a blind swing of an open palm, but when she struck the soldier’s head, he was sent flying backwards, spinning through the air. Plowing through a crowd of people, the soldier struck a wall and punched through it. This was another one of her cheats: incredible physical strength.
Punching, kicking, beating and stabbing the soldiers with their own weapons, Yuriina quickly got a hang of the fight. Nothing they did could hurt her, so she could calmly and methodically take them down one by one.
“You should really be praising these men,” Yuriina commented. “They should have noticed by now they have no chance against me, yet they still do not flee.”
“Who... Who are you? Are you not Yuririka?” the man replied.
“My name is Yuriina Tanaka. I am the daughter of the illustrious Tanaka household. Okay, I suppose our family was not so illustrious. So, what is your name?”
Frozen in terror, the young man couldn’t respond. Unable to make progress with him, she turned to Iris instead.
“Miss Iris, could you tell me his name?”
“Lord Ernst De Martine...the first prince of the Kingdom of Martine...” Iris managed, still quivering.
“Ah, Lord Ernst, then. I do not know the particulars of this situation, but I am going to have to ask you to die.” Yuriina delivered a swift chop to the man’s forehead. Still lost in his confusion, he made no effort to move as Yuriina’s hand sliced him neatly in two, spraying blood and guts around him and onto Yuriina and Iris.
Iris wailed, dropping to the ground and losing control of her bladder.
“Miss Iris?” Yuriina said, paying no mind to the mess.
“Y-Yes?”
“Might I ask where we are?”
“The main hall of the palace...”
“A palace, is it? Does that mean there is a king somewhere?”
“Y-Yes...though I don’t know exactly where...”
Yuriina couldn’t tell what Iris’s position here was, but she didn’t seem to be royalty. Judging by her appearance, she could have been a commoner.
“I see. Thank you.” Yuriina started walking towards what appeared to be the exit. No one else tried to stop her. Almost everyone in the room had either fled or was huddled on the floor in terror.
“Umm...what do you plan to do with the king?” Iris managed to squeeze out. It seemed she was actually quite a bit braver than she first let on.
“I can’t imagine I can get away with killing the first prince like that, so I figured I’d nip this next problem in the bud. I am supposed to be the young villainess, right?”
“Young villainess? Were you also reincarnated?”
Yuriina stopped. “Oh? Have we met a similar fate here, then?”
“Umm...I don’t think this is what a young villainess character is supposed to do...”
“I was not told anything about what I should do or how I should act. Does that not mean it’s up to my interpretation?”
Yuriina continued on her way.
◇ ◇ ◇
From that point on, Yuriina used brute force to accomplish all her desires. She crushed everyone who tried to stand in her way, defeated the king, and took control of the kingdom.
Of course, taking over a kingdom didn’t magically grant her any sort of political acumen, so she simply ruled everything according to her whims, giving birth to the despotic Kingdom of Tanaka. Yuriina had nothing to work with. Her memories of her past life were incredibly vague, and she had no idea who Yuririka had been, so she had nothing to constrain her desires. Seeing her people cry out in poverty, suffer from starvation, or die from her casual fun sparked no emotion in her.
She had never really intended to maintain the kingdom in the first place. With no concern for the kingdom’s survival, she didn’t care much about anything. There was one love she found, though: cats. While she could kill humans without a second thought, she absolutely melted when faced with a cat.
Naturally, the kingdom began to develop in a way that prioritized cats over people. Anyone who hurt a cat was to be executed. Anyone who attempted to block a cat’s way was executed. The people could starve, but she spared no expense when it came to keeping every cat living in luxury. The gods who had given Yuriina her powers never appeared again, a sign she interpreted as satisfaction with her performance.
When the day came that her beloved pet Mii passed away, Yuriina’s atrocities finally came to an end. Losing the will to live, she holed herself up in her room. There had never been any meaning to ruling the kingdom, so she couldn’t care less about what happened to it now.
After a while, the world was reset. Hearing that announcement from the Great Sage, Yuriina was filled with rage. She had assumed her beloved pet cat had died of old age, but in truth it was the fault of a boy named Yogiri Takatou. There was no way she could forgive him. Killing Yogiri would return the world to normal. For Yuriina, there was no other course of action worth considering.
◇ ◇ ◇
Deep in the forest, Yogiri stood across from a woman who seemed determined to be his enemy.
Yogiri Takatou vs. Yuriina Tanaka: FIGHT!!!
The words appeared in the air between them. Unable to come to an agreement on terms for their contest, the default rules—a fight to the death—applied. Though the battles were party against party, only one name, presumably the party leader, was displayed for each. The ringlet-haired noblewoman was named Yuriina Tanaka, meaning she was likely Japanese as well.
“You have to know about my power, so you must have some idea of how you’re going to beat me, right?” Yogiri asked. She hadn’t attacked immediately, so he wanted to try talking to her. There was always the possibility that she had come here without really knowing what she was doing.
“Of course! Instant death? How can that harm someone like me, who can resist any form of attack?” Yuriina replied, mocking him. It seemed she didn’t think much of him. She was a bit shorter than Yogiri but still managed to appear as if she were looking down on him. “If you do not wish to fight, you can simply end your own life. That will bring my sweet Mii back to life! No... No, if I do not rip you apart myself, my anger will never be satisfied!”
“Fine, let’s fight, then.” Though he said that, Yogiri didn’t move. He knew he needed to fight her, but he had no intention of attacking her proactively.
“So, uh, what do I do here?” Tomochika asked.
Indeed...it is but a single opponent, Mokomoko mused, so Ruler of the Battlefield would certainly be usable, but without the opponent’s consent, it will not activate.
“That seems like a pretty significant drawback. If the opponent doesn’t agree, doesn’t that just mean my power is useless?”
There is nothing to be done about it. Such is the cost of being able to nullify all powers.
“She really wants to kill me, though,” Yogiri said, “so I think you can just watch.”
Even if Tomochika wasn’t going to be involved in the fight, there was no need for her to leave. It was actually safer for her to be closer to Yogiri so that he could protect her.
Yuriina vanished. A strong gust of wind blew past Yogiri, followed by the sound of something sliding across the ground. Turning to look, he saw her sprawled motionless in the dirt.
Yogiri Takatou Wins!
More words appeared in the air, declaring Yogiri the winner.
“I did it.”
“It doesn’t feel like you did much of anything, does it?!” Tomochika exclaimed.
Yuriina had likely tried to attack faster than Yogiri’s eyes could follow. He hadn’t noticed the attack, but that didn’t stop his powers from automatically activating to protect him. The moment she had moved, she had died, her momentum carrying her off behind him.
Yuriina’s body vanished.
“Huh? Are we back in that room?” Tomochika asked.
The scenery around them changed. They were no longer in the forest.
“Back in the Antechamber Area, huh?” Yogiri confirmed. It seemed like after each battle, they’d be returned to the Antechamber Area to wait for the next round to begin.
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