Cursed Villainess’ Obsession

‘Dragon… Slayer…?’

A familiar title.

The title “Dragon Slayer” is a name that comes up often in fantasy worlds, but at [Epiris Academy], there was only one person this title reminded me of.

I turned my head to look at Siegfried, who was approaching me.

“I knew you could do it, Ken.”

He looked at me with proud eyes and lightly patted my shoulder.

Hmmm…? Is this really okay…?

Originally, the Dragon Slayer title was supposed to be earned by Siegfried, marking his rise as a swordmaster in the kingdom.

But is it really fine for me to obtain it first…?

“Hey, Ken…! Are you listening to me?”

Raphne hugged my neck and puffed out her cheeks.

Without time to ponder, Raphne leaned in and asked.

“Who’s that girl? Why is she hugging Ken? And why does she have such a female vibe?”

“A-are you calling her a female, Raphne…?”

As I racked my brain trying to come up with an explanation, Emily, who was used to such situations, came to my rescue.

“Maybe you should stop clinging to Ken too.”

“Eek…! Let me go!”

As Emily grabbed the nape of Raphne’s neck, she slid away from me.

Raphne probably had more strength, but for some reason, she couldn’t withstand Emily.

Is it because they share the same fate?

Or perhaps it’s because she got thoroughly beaten by Emily back in the first year?

“Don’t you care? She suddenly popped out shouting ‘Master!’ and looked super close to you!”

“Th-that’s…”

As Raphne spoke, Emily glanced at me as if silently agreeing.

And when our eyes met, she flinched and looked away.

Or maybe she’s just one of the few people she’s opened her heart to.

For some reason, Raphne seemed to connect well with Emily and Mary.

Maybe she considered them her friends and was willing to give them some leeway.

“Don’t think weird thoughts. That was just a magical sword.”

Afterward, when Mary joined in, showing curiosity about Tirpione with her eyes, I explained the details.

Upon hearing that she was the mental construct of a magic sword, the three of them seemed to understand.

“Still feels weird.”

Understanding or not, that didn’t mean they felt good about it.

“…Why? It’s just a sword, Raphne.”

“But, for some reason, she looks starry-eyed just looking at your face, and I don’t like it. I can’t accept girls like that.”

For some reason, Emily’s shoulders trembled next to us.

It seemed Raphne had her own standards for what to accept.

After chatting for a moment, we took a break and set to work on disposing of the massive corpse of Tarlos lying in the vast plaza.

Monster corpses are valuable.

Especially if it’s the corpse of a legendary ancient dragon.

We each took parts, cutting the skin and dismantling the bones, extracting various valuable pieces of the dragon.

And among those, one particularly mouth-watering item.

“…Is this a Dragon Heart?”

Mary muttered while dismantling beside me.

Even for her, who specialized in magic, it was a material to marvel at.

The Dragon Heart.

For me, it was also the material for the core of Aspetra, my hidden card.

It’s an item needed for various high-grade magical tools and magical materials.

Of course, the level of the Dragon Heart from the ancient dragon Tarlos was several notches higher.

I carefully removed the gem-like organ next to Tarlos’ heart.

The name “Dragon Heart” comes not because it’s the real heart of the dragon, but because it’s a magical crystal located near the dragon’s heart.

Of course, the heart as an organ is valuable, so I carefully disassembled it and put it into the subspace pocket.

Besides that, from the skin, wings, tail, and bones of the dragon that I primarily use for my main sword.

I still had to think about where I’d use all these, but already my mouth was watering.

For a creator, all of this was like a treasure trove in a dream.

“Phew… Finally done…!”

Once I placed the last material into the subspace pocket, Emily’s voice, as she sat on the floor, signaled the complete conquest of Tarlos.

As if responding to her voice, another message popped up in front of us.

[System: Congratulations. You have conquered the Tower of Tarlos for the first time.]

[System: Inside the tower, it will be announced that the tower has been conquered.]

[System: Clear rewards will be given.]

It was my first time conquering the Tower of Tarlos, but the messages that appeared were similar to those from other dungeons.

Most notably, the fact that it announced the first clear inside the dungeon.

‘…How exactly does it announce that?’

It wouldn’t show status windows to others, right?

I was briefly distracted by such questions but was soon interrupted by something that caught my eye.

From the ceiling light illuminating us, something shiny began to descend slowly.

“This is….”

Adrian muttered with a look of wonder as he looked at it.

What descended from the sky.

It resembled some kind of decoration, like a religious symbol.

A design with a round circle intersected by a vertical stick.

It seemed simple at first glance, but the intricate carvings and embedded jewels gave it an air of luxury.

This was the ‘Past Alteration’ artifact passed down through legends.

The very reason we challenged this tower.

I gazed at the artifact with emotional eyes as I held it in my hands.

And as I faced Raphne, who was watching beside me, our eyes met.

When our eyes locked, she smiled brightly.

‘…Finally, with this.’

Finally, I can erase that wretched prophecy.

The fundamental reason Raphne is targeted by the Demon Lord’s army.

The greatest cause of Future Ken Feinstein’s death in the war.

I gingerly fiddled with the artifact in my hands.

Immediately, the system window displayed a message about the artifact.

[Token of Trials: A reward given to those who conquer the Tower of Tarlos.

Use mana to activate, and it allows you to alter desired parts of the past as you wish.

*Warning: Changing the past will affect the present.

The changing present may lead to unforeseen realities.]

The last warning caught my eye.

It was such an important matter that even the system warned me.

Changing the past was a considerable undertaking, as changing the past would change the present and future.

“Why are you hesitating? Just use it already.”

Adrian, who seemed more eager to change the past than I was, urged me with a strange look.

But I shook my head and calmly replied.

“First, let’s go back to the academy. We should use it there.”

Of course, it would be great to use it right away.

But the lingering final warning made me hesitate to use this item immediately.

What if changing the past suddenly shifts our location?

The only place I could at least predict would be the academy.

To prevent any chaos, I made that decision.

“…If that’s what you think, I have no choice.”

“Are you okay with that?”

“The one who contributed the most in this affair was you. I could never meddle with that decision.”

Despite being under the power of royalty, Adrian had an air of conceding to me.

The greatest contributor.

Maybe he meant when I walked into the trap myself and risked my life to create a shortcut.

When I looked at the other party members, they mirrored Adrian’s reactions.

“Shall we head back then?”

With my smiling suggestion, everyone nodded with fatigued smiles.

Thus, we conquered the Tower of Tarlos.

And shortly after.

In the waiting room beside the boss room.

We discovered a new portal that had appeared and took a moment to check it before entering.

The shortcut we had originally taken was closed, and the portal had disappeared.

So, aside from the stairs leading to the 99th floor, there was only one new portal evident.

After some deliberation, we concluded that it would lead back to the 1st floor.

Since the system had just informed us we conquered the tower.

As expected, upon entering the portal, I felt a sensation akin to dizziness, and soon my vision changed.

The altered scenery was the familiar ruins area.

However, the place we arrived at was slightly bewildering.

“Ooooh━!! We’re here━!! The party that cleared the tower is here━!!”

As we arrived on the 1st floor through the portal, someone’s shout erupted, followed by cheers.

We arrived in a square that felt like a stage, surrounded by various adventurers clapping, whistling, and shouting something at us.

Their reaction resembled a team of Olympic gold medalists arriving at the airport to overwhelming applause.

“Hey━!! You guys are amazing━!!”

“Wow━!! To witness a tower being cleared in my lifetime━!”

“Damn! Congratulations, you guys!!”

Some wore joyful smiles, while others had tears in their eyes.

Amidst the diverse reactions, someone shouted.

“Ahh━! It’s Ken Feinstein’s party━!”

At the sound of my name from somewhere, I was momentarily startled, wondering how they knew our party’s identity, but it reminded me of the street vendor from the border region.

I guess an adventurer who remembered my name back then must have shouted.

“Ken Feinstein?”

“I’ve heard of him! He’s the greatest blacksmith adventurer of the Kingdom of Lilias, right?”

“A blacksmith? You cleared the tower as a blacksmith?”

“…But wait, where’s Ken? …Did he get expelled or something?”

Voices discussing our party echoed around us.

Among them, I could hear a voice of someone who knew my former self, surprised that I wasn’t visible.

‘…So this is what it means to announce the tower’s conquest.’

I felt an inexplicable embarrassment and lowered my head.

Probably, through some form of signal, it was announced that the tower was cleared, and the conqueror showed up here.

Suddenly drawing attention to myself and hearing my name as I tried to sneak away.

“Uh, uh? Siegfried?”

“This is a moment worth bragging about. Stand tall, Ken.”

My mentor grabbed my arm with an uncharacteristically proud smile and lifted it high, causing an explosion of cheers around us.

“That’s him━! He’s the party leader━!!”

“Woohooo━! Woohoo━!”

“Ken Feinstein! Ken Feinstein!”

“What the hell? He’s freakin’ handsome, damn it━!!”

“Ahhhh! Look this way, please━!”

“…What’s going on? This isn’t the Ken I know…? But still, the atmosphere is….”

As various reactions rang out, we momentarily received the applause that a conqueror of the tower ought to.

I had seen such similar reactions in games when clearing a long-unconquered dungeon, but standing at the center of it all felt incredibly embarrassing.

‘…I just want to go home quickly.’

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