The Villain Wants to Live a Quiet Life

Rebecca Sternbaum, the Sword Saint, is more of a wildling than a swordswoman.

Born into a commoner family, she honed her sword skills on her own without a proper master and reached the top.

While some high-nosed nobles might refuse to acknowledge her due to her origins, it was undeniable that she currently stood at the pinnacle of swordsmanship in the Kingdom of Rapiet.

“Master, please wake up. The sun is already high in the sky.”

“Hrm… Is it that late already?”

Emilia shook her master awake, who had fallen asleep, snoring on the bed.

In their short time together, she realized there was no need to be overly formal with her.

Rebecca scratched her silver hair irritably as she got up. The hair covering her left cheek moved aside, revealing her trademark thin sword scar.

Her sculpture-like appearance didn’t match her age, nearing forty, or her personality.

Watching this, Emilia couldn’t help but smile wryly at the discrepancy.

“What are you smiling at?”

“Nothing.”

Emilia naturally averted her gaze from her master, who clearly showed her displeasure as she glared.

Who would have known that the Sword Saint, only heard of in rumors, would be such a woman?

She had heard that she was a wanderer who refused all official positions and traveled alone, but she couldn’t have imagined her personality would be like this.

“Shall we go into the mountains today?”

“Are you looking for prey?”

What could it be that her master, who seemed not to be doing proper training, was suddenly trying to move?

As she asked with slight expectancy, Rebecca stared at her and nodded, pouting her lips.

“Among other things… It’s about time I started teaching you properly too.”

“Your tone suggests you haven’t been teaching me properly until now.”

“Ahem…”

Rebecca cleared her throat, rolling her eyes as if she had been caught out.

Indeed, until now, Emilia had been doing all sorts of chores as if she were more a maid than a disciple. She hadn’t even properly held a sword yet.

It was far from the training she had imagined, to the point where she wondered if this could even be called training, but believing in the name of the Sword Saint and her own eyes, she had endured without complaint.

“Could this be considered a kind of test?”

“Well… yes. Honestly, I had no reason to trust you.”

Rebecca responded honestly to her question without excuses and reached for the water bottle on the table.

Gulp. Gulp. As she drank the cool water, she finally felt her mind clearing.

“I thought you’d run away in disgust after about three days… It was quite unexpected.”

“I told you, didn’t I? I didn’t come with a half-hearted mindset.”

“Words are easy to say.”

If she were to count all the people who had come seeking to be the Sword Saint’s disciple, it would easily surpass the number of people living in a small village.

Yet, the reason why no one had been given the title of disciple wasn’t because Rebecca’s test was too difficult, but because it was so haphazard that they couldn’t even recognize it as a test.

“You were too harsh.”

“I thought this much was necessary to properly sort out the right candidates… Sorry.”

The fact that she apologized so readily meant that she too knew how unreasonable her test had been.

Emilia was a bit surprised to see the Sword Saint take such a humble attitude but soon smiled gently.

“Honestly, I understand your perspective, Master. A daughter raised like a greenhouse flower in a count’s family suddenly asking to be taken as a disciple… I wouldn’t have believed it either if I were you.”

“It’s not something I should say in front of you, but most noble heirs were like that.”

Although it was a statement that bluntly disparaged the entire nobility she belonged to, Emilia just kept nodding as she found it quite understandable.

“Let me tell you in advance, I plan to teach you short and intensively. With a half-hearted mindset, you’ll be kicked out midway.”

This was something she hadn’t heard even when they first met. Back then, she had just told her to follow along, without any particular advice or teaching, just dragging her around.

This meant that from today, the real teaching would begin. At the same time, it also meant that she had officially become her disciple.

Although she had recently found another reason for living, Emilia was originally a swordswoman who had lived focused solely on the sword.

She was determined to overcome any trial for the sake of reaching a higher realm, both for herself and for her precious person.

“I’m prepared. Please teach me, Master.”

“You’re bold, I like it. We’ll see how long you can hold out though.”

A blue flame of will was burning vividly beyond her pastel blue eyes.

Feeling a sense of kinship as if seeing her younger self, Rebecca smiled with satisfaction and got up from the bed.

As creaking sounds echoed from the wooden cabin floor, a drop of cold sweat trickled down from anxiety.

Even the Sword Saint couldn’t prepare for the floor collapsing. At best, she could only jump high at the moment it gave way.

“By the way, why are we going into the mountains? Is it really for game?”

“We have enough food, so don’t worry. I just thought I should tell my disciple the reason for staying here.”

“The reason for staying here… you mean?”

Emilia’s head tilted to the side as she echoed the latter part of her words.

The two currently reside in a village in the eastern region.

In this region, there was the massive Hildek mountain range stretching from north to south.

It was an area where beasts and monsters mainly inhabited since ancient times, as the mountains were treacherous and easy to get lost in, making it less frequented by people. But it had its advantages.

“Did you know? The more sparse human footsteps are in an area, the denser and purer the mana concentration is.”

“This is the first time I’ve heard of it.”

“Well, even most scholars wouldn’t know this. How many great individuals are there who wander mountains and rivers to research?”

Rebecca raised one corner of her mouth, sneering.

This is why she didn’t particularly like scholars or mages who just cooped themselves up in rooms and claimed to do research.

Even the content she just mentioned would probably be dismissed by most scholars as something they’ve never heard of. But what could they do about the clear fact?

It was something only she, who had traveled to all sorts of places like mountains, rivers, and seas, and felt their environment firsthand, could know.

“That’s why I chose this place. At the foot of the Hildek mountain range where we are, monsters and beasts driven out of the central mountain range swarm. Thanks to that, there are less people there.”

“You mean…”

“Yes. If we can overcome those creatures, this could be the best training ground.”

Mana is like air.

Just as people feel more refreshed when breathing in clean air in mountains or forests, living in a place with high mana concentration means being able to absorb more mana from the atmosphere into your body.

Emilia’s expression brightened as she finally understood her master’s words.

“Such a deep meaning…!”

“It will be quite tough. I’ll help you at first, but you’ll need to build up your skills considerably to train while dealing with their interference.”

Until now, Emilia had experienced encounters with monsters and beasts while following her master.

However, those were minor encounters during their travels. There weren’t situations where she had to stay in one place for a long time and compete for survival against monsters and beasts.

“To properly absorb the mana there and for your body to adapt, it will take at least ten days. Every ten days, we’ll return to this dwelling to rest.”

Ten days. It was a considerable amount of time.

During her time with Rebecca, she had endured food that didn’t suit her taste, rough clothes, and uncomfortable bedding without complaint, but this was different.

At least until now, she hadn’t lived each day under threat to her life. However, starting today, the situation would be different.

“Any objections?”

“How could there be?”

“Good. Then we’ll head in right away today. Before that, let’s gather some simple supplies from the village.”

“Yes, Master.”

Just as they were about to leave the cabin after getting dressed, they sensed a presence outside.

There weren’t really any visitors to this place besides the two, so Rebecca’s eyes sharpened.

It was quite frequent for her to receive uninvited guests, so she had to remain alert just in case.

“Lady Rebecca! Are you there!?”

“Huh?”

But what came from outside was a rather familiar voice. It was a man named Volen, who was something like the village chief of this settlement.

Rebecca, now fully dressed, walked across the creaking wooden floor to the entrance and opened the door. Before her was a chubby man slightly shorter than her, holding a paper envelope in his hand.

“I’m sorry for the sudden visit. A letter arrived for Lady Rebecca…”

“A letter? From whom…?”

Although she had refused her noble title and was a commoner, it seemed he had no intention of acknowledging that today either.

More than the usual form of address, what caught her attention was the word ‘letter’.

Recently, the number of letters asking her to take on disciples had greatly decreased, so could this be the first after a long time?

The envelope she received had a red seal with an eagle crest embossed on it.

“Ah…!”

“What’s wrong?”

Emilia, who had followed her out, let out a small exclamation upon seeing the envelope. Something seemed familiar.

“It might be from my friend.”

“Friend?”

The family that used the crest of an eagle with spread wings as their symbol. It pointed to the Ansberg Count family, the family of Emilia’s childhood friend, Tanya.

They had spent quite some time in this village, so she must have heard the news and sent a letter through someone. What a thoughtful friend.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

“Thank you. Take care.”

Rebecca bid farewell to Volen as he left after delivering the letter.

She then held out the envelope to Emilia, gesturing with her chin as if telling her to open it.

As the door closed, creaking with a sound characteristic of unoiled wood, Emilia hurriedly opened the envelope as if on cue.

“A lover?”

“F-Friend. It’s a girl.”

“How disappointing.”

She had always maintained a calm demeanor, so when a topic worth teasing came up, it turned out to be a dud.

Rebecca clicked her tongue in disappointment and straddled a sprawled chair.

She couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her disciple carefully taking out the letter paper and reading it cautiously.

“What does the letter say?”

“Hehe, it’s just a report on recent happenings and greetings.”

“Is that so?”

For such a thing, she had momentarily witnessed her disciple’s eyes widen like a rabbit caught in headlights while reading the letter… but Rebecca chose not to point it out.

Rather, there was something else she wanted to poke at.

“Somehow… you look a bit disappointed?”

As she opened her mouth in a strange tone, Emilia, who had been reading the letter, tilted her head with round eyes as if to ask what she meant.

“Huh? Disappointed?”

“A friend’s letter is nice and all, but it seems like there’s another letter you were more eagerly waiting for…?”

This was just a probe. Even for the Sword Saint, it’s not easy to accurately perceive such things just by observation.

But where there’s no kindling, there can be no fire, so if there was something to catch on, there would surely be a reaction.

And the reaction came more intensely than she had expected.

“Th-There’s no such letter…!? Master, really…!”

‘Oh?’

What was this? This reaction, like a young girl in the midst of her first love?

‘Was there really someone?’

She thought her disciple had lived her whole life looking only at the sword like herself, but it seemed that wasn’t quite the case.

She had probed just in case, but to think it was true. She didn’t intend to tease further, so she’d stop here, but it was quite surprising.

Meanwhile, Emilia, whose composure had been broken by her master’s teasing, regained her focus and started reading the rest of the letter.

Tanya’s letter contained various miscellaneous contents, but there was something else that caught her eye.

‘She says she’s going to meet Ludwig…?’

The content stated that she would soon visit the Aiphretz family and meet Ludwig in person, wanting to know his true self.

She felt grateful and sorry that her caring friend’s concern had reached that far, but above all, she was worried.

‘That person… he might be dangerous.’

As a woman who had fallen for him, she knew well. What kind of situation one might end up in if caught off guard in front of that man?

Although she knew that the charm people feel towards others varies, she couldn’t help but worry.

‘I should ask when I return.’

Let’s probe a bit. Just like her master had done to her earlier.

Then she might be able to tell what changes had come over Tanya after meeting him.

Even if she really did fall for him, it couldn’t be helped.

Ludwig was an attractive man to Emilia, to the extent that she could understand if someone fell for him too.

However, whether she could give him up was another question altogether.

translator’s corner

a new challenger approaches :00