Taming The Villainesses-Chapter 395: Friend (6)

Something round had pulled a curtain or blanket over itself.

How should I describe it—it looked kind of like that image of a boa constrictor that had swallowed a baby elephant.

Its size was about that of a girl who had just entered adolescence. Watching that trembling figure under the curtain stirred up all kinds of emotions inside me.

If I pulled back this curtain and found her now, would that mean everything—this whole day of running and laughing together—would come to an end? That had been the purpose of the game from the start, but...

I couldn’t keep making excuses.

So I slowly reached out and tugged on the curtain as I said,

“Imp, found you.”

The curtain was drawn aside, and the imp raised her hands with a start.

“...Ah, I lost!”

As she said that, her body had become so faint, like a rainbow reflected on water. Even I could barely see her unless I concentrated.

Feeling like I had to say something, I said,

“Sorry I came late. I wanted to find you earlier.”

At that, the imp giggled.

“It’s fine! I had fun!”

The expression on the imp’s face was light, like someone who had finally set down a heavy burden they’d been carrying for far too long.

“Now that I think about it, we used to play like this all the time. Back then, this fortress was full of imps. So every day was super fun.”

“I see.”

“We explored every nook and cranny! And then, I found something really fun. I only ever told my friends about it—but since you found me...”

The hazy imp pulled on a cord hidden in the secret room. A ladder dropped from the ceiling with a dull clatter.

“What’s this?”

“A room full of my treasures! I’d been collecting them all to show my friends when they came back. You’re my friend now too, so I think it’s okay to show you.”

The imp climbed up the ladder first. I followed and asked,

“You and I are friends now?”

“Yeah! You were mean to me before, but since we had so much fun today, I forgive you! I’m going to show you something amazing, and then we’ll make up.”

Grrk.

The imp strained to push open the attic door.

“Urrgh, why won’t this open?”

Maybe because her body had grown so faint, she couldn’t manage to open a door she might’ve once opened with ease. I helped her and pushed hard.

Grrk.

With the sound of rusted hinges creaking, the door opened inward. The imp darted in first, and I followed her into the musty attic that smelled of mold.

Flick.

A lantern lit up in the imp’s hand. As she lit a few more, the attic—about the size of a one-room apartment—grew bright.

“This is...”

“What do you think? Cool, right? These are my treasures!”

I’d vaguely expected things like shiny pebbles or little knickknacks.

But what I saw was treasure—literal treasure.

Chests piled high with gold. Boxes brimming with gemstones. Even I, with no eye for value, could tell these things were worth a fortune.

Treasures of the Demon King Solomon, probably.

The imp said,

“If you want, I’ll give them all to you, friend.”

“To me?”

“They’re useless to me now anyway! I can’t eat them, and I don’t need them. I was saving them for my master, but—you can have them. And this, too.”

Swsh.

The imp held out her star-shaped tail to me. Caught off guard, I panicked and stammered.

“Isn’t that... your precious tail? You said if you lose it, your master might not recognize you when he comes back?”

“It’s okay. Now that I think about it, I’m sure Master would recognize me even without it. And since you came and found me... I’m satisfied.”

“You’re satisfied...?”

“I played too much today. All the way until the sun went down. I’m tired now. I always stayed awake, afraid I’d miss it if Master came back... but now it’s fine.”

The imp let out a big yawn. Her voice was growing more and more faint. Finally, unable to fight the sleep, she lay down on the blanket she’d been using.

I let her rest her head on my lap. Stroking her faint head gently, I listened as her breaths grew quieter and quieter.

Was she going to sleep now? Well, it was about the time when little kids would start falling asleep.

Her eyes slowly slid shut—and I thought her breathing had stopped completely—when she said, just barely loud enough for even me to hear if I strained,

“...Now that I think about it.”

“Now that you think about what?”

“Now that I think about it, Master once told me something like this. That he had a son. He had to send him away. So far away, he’d never see him again...”

“Really?”

“He said he sent him beyond the stars. Because he was too small... too fragile. But someday, if he ever came back, he wanted me to be his friend. So I waited. And now I’ve become his friend. I’m a good, obedient...”

Her voice faded.

If I let her go like this, I might never hear her voice again—so I hurriedly said,

“What about ‘Morormor’?”

“...Morormor?”

“Morormor Moronoi. That’s your name. Imps name themselves like that, right? The imps I know are Marmar, Gargargar, and Purrpurr.”

At that, the imp giggled softly.

Her body was now completely invisible. Only the faint pressure of her head on my lap remained. The more she laughed, the lighter that sensation became.

“Morormor. It’s a silly name. It’s funny. Marmar, Gargargar, and Purrpurr too—they’re funny names... I’d like to meet them. Just once, with all my friends again...”

“You can play again tomorrow.”

“...Yeah. For sure... Ah, Master... you came back...”

Srrrr.

At last, my lap grew light.

***

They said the jar # Nоvеlight # burst into flames on its own.

The fire that spread from the jar caught onto the castle walls and soon flared into an uncontrollable blaze.

But even that didn’t seem like enough—so I added more flame atop it. In one hand, I held the wand made from the heart-shaped tail; in the other, the wand with the star-shaped tail, and I gently chanted.

“Imp’s Flame.”

It was a magic derived from the mischievous little demons who loved to play tricks.

Hearts, spades, clovers, stars—flames shaped in all kinds of symbols spread here and there, burning the soot into a rainbow of lights.

The mighty fortress of Gargarta, which had stood tall for over half a century, was burning.

And for some reason, watching it, I felt a strange sense of relief.

Wuuuuuu—.

The sound of the crumbling walls and falling pillars felt like someone was crying—or laughing.

KWAANG—!

A huge explosion rang out.

It must have been the magic circle that Demon King Solomon had installed in each corner of the citadel reacting to the flames. Even though we were far away, the shockwave still struck my face.

“Ugh.”

As I endured the wave of heat, Elga said,

“Woah, if we’d made a wrong move, we might’ve been caught in that blast too. Lucky we weren’t. Thanks to that Morormor imp, we even recovered a mountain of treasure.”

Clatter.

She shook the bundle she was holding on her back. I couldn’t tell exactly what was inside, but judging by Stella’s reaction, it was enough to make any collector drool.

Mirna peeked into the pouch in her hand and said,

“Thanks to this, we’ll be able to easily make up for the losses from this expedition. Perhaps more than make up for it. Treasures of Solomon—people would kill for them.”

“But, sis—didn’t you say they were a gift from Morormor? Wouldn’t she be mad if we just sold them however we pleased? What do you think, Teo?”

At Narmee’s question, I turned again to look at the blazing fortress.

Because I couldn’t answer right away, Ayra—who had been leaning languidly beside me—gave my back a soft push.

“Let’s go home now.”

In front of us, several carriages were waiting.

Once we boarded them, this strange chapter of life in the fortress would be over, and we’d return to the soft, warm beds of Sandora.

We’d go back to our usual days.

But something would be different, too.

“I was wrong.”

I finally opened the mouth that I’d kept tightly shut all this time. I could feel the young ladies’ gazes on me. They didn’t say anything, but I could tell they were curious about what I had to say.

So I decided to speak honestly about what I had realized from all this.

“I think... I might have been feeling sympathy for Solomon. At one point, I even wondered—maybe he had a point. But... he didn’t.”

He deserved to die.

The title of Demon King hadn’t been given to him for nothing. Suddenly, the fact that I had been scheming all sorts of things to avenge someone like that made me furious.

I was a fool.

***

When morning came, we arrived at the northern city of Sandora.

It was already overflowing with people who had heard word of our return.

Among them were the imps—Marmar included.

“Comrade! You’re safe! We were all waiting for you!”

They crowded around me, their tails flicking and swishing. Seeing them like that, a wave of sudden sadness surged up inside me.

Then, the imp wearing an armband—Tartart—shouted out.

“Ahh—! A star-shaped tail! That’s a star-shaped tail!”

“A star-shaped tail is super rare and precious...!”

“Garr, garr!”

The imps made a huge fuss over the wand with the star-shaped tail wrapped around my arm, as though it were the most precious treasure in the world. I had no idea why only the tail remained...

But seeing their cheerful chaos made me laugh anyway.

“Hey, want to play prison guard and imp again? I’ll be the seeker this time. Everybody run!”

The imps all screamed waaah! and scattered.

The only one who didn’t run was Marmar.

“Marmar, why aren’t you running?”

“Because you and I are comrades! There’s no need for me to run! So, how was the star-tail imp? Did she get along well with you while I was gone?”

I nodded.

“Her name is Morormor.”

“Morormor—that’s the same naming tier as me! We both have squarey names! Imps with squarey names have always been the Demon King’s favorites!”

“The Demon King, huh...”

Suddenly, my mood grew heavy again.

“...Marmar, you guys didn’t get mad when I lied about being a member of Angmar. Was that because I’m the Demon King’s heir?”

Imps were said not to pledge loyalty to just anyone—but they had followed me closely. I thought it must have been because I was a descendant of the Demon King.

“But I’m not going to be a Demon King. If you guys are expecting me to become a new Demon King to lead you...”

Then Marmar asked,

“Then, let me ask you—did you treat me and the other imps kindly because you’re Solomon’s heir? Was that why you saved me from the torture rack?”

“No, not at all.”

“Then it’s the same for us! We don’t need a reason!”

“Really?”

“Also, the Imp Sisterhood now has over a hundred members! Even without a Demon King, we’re doing great and living our best lives!”

I see.

So I was the only one taking it all so seriously.

After that, Marmar and I rounded up the other runaway imps. Once we handed out hardtack, they slowly returned, one by one.

We all shared the hardtack together.

Honestly, it didn’t taste very good.

“Ahh—! Garrgarr ate all the star candy! That’s such an imp-hating act...!”

“Garr, garr!”

Watching them frolic made me happy, and at the same time, a little sad.

Then Marmar slipped away from the group and came over to me.

“About that star tail... no matter how you look at it, it still has a lot of life left in it. So maybe, just maybe—we might see her again. It might take a while, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is a secret only the top imp gets to know.”

Fwip.

Marmar leaned in and whispered into my ear.

Whisper whisper.

“Is that for real?”

I asked in surprise.

But I knew better than anyone that Marmar would never lie to me.

So I quickly grabbed a large flower pot, filled it with soil, and planted Morormor’s star-shaped tail in it like a sapling.