Rogue Villain-Chapter 301: Beautiful

"Oh, Mio’s fine."

Ackster opened his overshirt to reveal Mio snuggling inside a pocket like a kitten. Ackster hadn’t seen the slime sleep before. Mio sometimes entered a kind of stasis whenever they consumed a piece of him. But this time, it actually seemed like they were sleeping.

Ackster even felt like it looked like Mio was dreaming.

"That’s a relief."

"Did you grow attached?"

Mio had, after all, been stuck with Wilma for over a year. It wouldn’t be strange if Wilma also made a connection with the cute and intelligent slime.

"Maybe. You’re free to leave Mio with me the next time you’re off to die."

"Sure."

Wilma looked at the sleeping Mio with a warm gaze before looking at Ackster again.

"...Grandma said you died. I refused to believe it. But what happened?"

"I did."

Ackster nodded as he closed his shirt to let Mio sleep undisturbed.

"?"

Wilma looked at Ackster in confusion. If he died, what was he doing right now, standing in front of her as lively as a wet cat?

"But I came back to life. So, it’s all good. It also made me stronger. Even better."

Ackster shrugged with a teasing smile as he could tell that Wilma was frustrated. She didn’t know what was worse: the possibility that Ackster might be lying or that he was telling the truth and had actually died. Although she still didn’t know what to think of Ackster as a whole, she didn’t just forget or get rid of all her feelings and worry she had for him.

"Grah!"

Wilma threw her hands up in the air in frustration before turning around with a huff and pretending to focus on steering the hot air balloon out of the forest and back to civilization.

Thanks to Wilma’s diligence and hard work, they found a city in the southwestern half of the continent that seemed to be only newly established. There were still scars marring the land from a large-scale battle, and the crops had yet to grow.

But the city stood tall.

"Welcome to New Vieva."

Wilma spoke as she landed the hot air balloon on the roof of the Guild building close to the city’s center.

Wilma could see the slight confusion on Ackster’s and the others’ faces.

"After the Blood Moon disaster, a lot of people were left without homes and livelihoods. Under Kara’s lead, they came together to create this place as soon as the remnant forces of the Blood Moon were purged. This is the stage where they fought the final battle."

Wilma gestured with her hand as they stood on the roof and watched as the city spread out.

"Tenger’s first city-state."

Wilma then turned to Ackster.

"You don’t have anything to do right now, right?"

"No. Why?"

"Good. Then let’s go meet Karandiel."

"Kara is really Karandiel, then?"

"Of course."

Wilma glanced back at Mara and Kargas, who started to follow them.

"It might be best if you stay outside of it for this."

Wilma led Ackster into the Guild building through the roof while Mara and Kargas stayed behind. She then guided Ackster down through the several floors, milling with workers and adventurers like ants. Eventually, they reached the ground floor.

Wilma didn’t stop there. She continued walking until they left the building. Then, she walked through the city.

Ackster looked straight ahead and let his senses roam.

’Ah.’

He had been a little curious about where Wilma was leading him since he assumed he would have his reunion in the Guild building. Then, he thought they were heading to Karandiel’s place, wherever that was. But they were quickly closing in on the outskirts of the large city. They were about to leave New Vieva.

"Does Karandiel not live in the city?"

Wilma nodded.

"She does. It would be impractical to live outside it, considering her duties. She just said she wanted to make sure there weren’t any innocent bystanders."

"’Innocent bystanders’?"

"Well, try having someone save your life and promise they’ll do their best to keep you safe and then sacrificing themselves to a bunch of beasts only to discover later they were alive and well this whole time but didn’t come back to you."

’Ah...’

"Got it."

That wasn’t good. If Karandiel held a grudge for Ackster making it look like he was dying and then disappearing before randomly coming back and contacting her, it might be a whole lot trickier getting her to help him save the world.

"And you’re just coming to gloat, are you?"

Wilma shrugged. When they reached the city, it became obvious that Wilma didn’t need to guide Ackster anymore. He just needed to follow the road, even if he couldn’t sense Karandiel’s powerful presence. So she didn’t need to guide him. But she still came along.

Ackster sighed. He had brought it upon himself. And while Karandiel was strong, Ackster didn’t think she was strong enough to actually hurt him. Thus, it wouldn’t matter even if Wilma came because she wanted to see Ackster suffer.

However, Ackster had to admit that Karandiel had grown a lot in the last few years. When he last saw her, the fallen angel could barely hunt a rabbit. Yet now, she had grown powerful enough to handle a disaster capable of threatening an entire continent.

Sure, it was one of the weaker continents, Tenger, and she had The Hero’s help. But Karandiel was still someone who had saved an entire continent from destruction. She was, at the very least, SS-rank. It had also been a couple of years or so since the Blood Moon disaster was taken care of. Karandiel had most likely grown stronger since then.

Ackster was looking forward to it. He needed strong companions to help him deal with The Hero in a few years. And Karandiel’s rapid growth showed promise. She would be powerful enough by then to contribute a lot.

Of course, it would be useless if Karandiel refused to help because Ackster had played her.

Eventually, a while after leaving the city behind, Ackster and Wilma arrived at an empty field with only one other person.

Karandiel wore a white dress that enhanced her already superhuman beauty. Even her angry face as she charged at Ackster with a sword of light was beautiful.