The Villainess Will Not Bring Dishonor To Her Family

88 - A Doki Doki Epilogue?

It took a couple of weeks to reach the edge of the Plymfell swamplands, and to be honest I was beginning to second guess my decisions. Not the part where we travel through the swamplands, but the part where I placed myself in the most troublesome group of young men.

Usually for these kind of guys the standard approach taken is 'The nail that sticks out gets hammered down'. We do get troublemakers and unsociable people, however we do not have room for those kind of selfish things. We socialize them one way or another, and until they fit in life is exhausting.

I'm not going to go rough on them yet, but I couldn't leave them be either.

First of all Darius is currently the worst. That he knows and is used to sneak around people is one thing, but that he sneaks around among the people he should trust is unacceptable. You don't sneak around your allies unless you dislike or distrust them. I can't have someone like that around me. I cannot trust someone that doesn't trust his friends.

The second one is Peony. Perfect as a scout, useless on the battlefield. While Asher was gone Peony even declared that he didn't need Vitis there. That he was fine on his own. I, of course took a calm breath. Vitis had reacted immediately and said that Peony had always practiced to do everything himself...

I DO NOT CARE if he can beat a magic beast on his own! Right now he is not a hunter! Furthermore, it appeared that the two had been having classes together for three years. For Peony to still act like he did with the charades game got on my nerves in an instant. This is the behavior of someone that ends up charging in away from their pride.

The last one is a different sort of trouble. He's practically a former criminal. A tracker from the black market that gained his title from displaying a good code of honor. He's still one of those that do not communicate as much as he should. Other than his previous occupation he doesn't stick out too much.

Either way. I placed these nails next to the ones that usually cover for them. Vitis, Arven and Spence have been... quite kind to these guys, but even they need time to relax. Being ignored, refused or told off gets exhausting. Either the two worst nails get their game together and finally realize they need to calm down when their friends start getting enough, or there will be sparks flying.

As for me, I intend to take care of Darius' little sneaking habit whenever the opportunity reveals itself.

The mess of a squad aside, the swamplands are horrible. There's too much mushy ground and the roots of the trees down the hill are actually submerged in water! This. Is. Wrong. On so many levels. The smell isn't like your post-rainstorm kind of smell, but like rot and dull water forcing its way into your nose. It's nauseating.

—-*—-

Sleep that night was... already difficult because of the smell coming from the swamp nearby, so when the night guards woke me up nervously it didn't take much for me.

The southern sky glowed bright gold and orange like a sunrise. It was off... but what had truly alarmed the guards wasn't just that. Judging by the position of the moon in the sky it was still in the middle of the night. It was around two in the morning. It wasn't time for morning.

The rest of the camp began to wake... this direction was from our southern border. Judging by the distance, and from the approximate location indicated by the maps... this was probably the largest harbor in this area... and it was ablaze enough to show this far away...

Helena ran up to me with wild eyes.

"What is happening?"

I simply stared at her quietly and then looked back south.