The Villain Wants to Live a Quiet Life

Rebecca woke up earlier than usual.

The first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was her disciple, sound asleep, her hair spread in all directions.

It wasn’t just because she was her personally trained disciple that she looked pretty – even from another woman’s perspective, she was truly beautiful.

Although Rebecca herself had never been outshone in terms of beauty, she felt expectant about how stunning this girl would become when she later matured.

‘Let’s let her sleep a bit longer.’

As she slipped out of the shabby tent, leaves crunching underfoot echoed softly.

She took care not to step on any twigs that might make a loud noise and wake Emilia, who was sleeping soundly. After all, her hearing had become as keen as that of any predator after repeated training in the mountains.

Setting aside her title of Sword Saint for a moment, she moved as if a petty thief, suppressing any signs of her presence as much as possible, and added a few logs to the pile on the campfire.

She poked at the fire, which had diminished considerably, with a rod of iron, and it began to blaze up again.

‘Should I go out for a bit?’

Judging by her senses, there didn’t seem to be any dangerous creatures in the vicinity.

She stood up, looking to go for a morning walk. She left her sword carefully placed in front of the tent, taking only a water bottle with her.

‘We’ll return to the village tomorrow… It might be good to let her rest today.’

Emilia was more persistent and stubborn than Rebecca had thought.

At first, they had planned to train in the mountains, returning to the village every ten days.

However, as her disciple requested to extend their stay in the mountains, wanting more intensive training, Rebecca found herself stuck here for nearly a month.

“I don’t know whether I should be happy about this or not…”

She had always said that if she were to take on a disciple, she’d prefer someone tenacious.

But now that she had such a diligent disciple, she found herself feeling rather tired. Of course, she knew this was just a happy concern, which is why she smiled wryly.

As she was roughly planning out the day’s schedule in her head, a faint rushing sound reached her ears. It was the sound of a nearby stream.

Swiftly, she moved between rocks and trees like a wolf and soon arrived at the stream.

“What are you looking at?”

– Grr…

There was already a visitor at the stream. A leopard that had made its home in this area, with a body length that seemed to match Rebecca’s.

Despite being close enough to see the leopard’s eyebrows, she instead boldly threatened the creature.

The leopard, shrinking back, seemed to assess her for a moment before giving up its drink and disappearing quickly.

“How disappointing.”

Usually, some might occasionally attack, but not many creatures dare to confront her when she’s openly exuding her aura. Perhaps only long-starved predators or less intelligent magical beasts would try.

‘Pfft.’ 

While smiling, she dipped her hand in the stream.

As the icy sensation traveled up to her head with a tingling feeling, she felt like she was finally waking up properly.

‘Time to have a drink…’

Although she was a heavy drinker, she hadn’t touched alcohol since Emilia’s training had gotten on track.

Or rather, it would be more accurate to say she chose not to. She had exercised self-restraint out of a desire to carefully nurture her first disciple.

When they return to the village tomorrow, it might be nice to have a drink after a while and inform her disciple about the future schedule. There were things she wanted to tell her, too.

‘Hm?’

As she was filling her water bottle with water from the stream, she felt a strange energy touch her senses.

It was subtly different from the energy emitted by beasts or magical creatures, but the concentration was too dense and clear to be human.

Assuming it was a magician, it wouldn’t be impossible, but what reason would they have to appear in such a remote mountain area?

– Swish.

Rebecca quietly reached for one of the pebbles piled at her feet, grasping one as determination settled in her eyes. And then,

“Hah…!”

Quickly turning her body, she threw the pebble behind her with the force of a javelin thrower.

– Whizz!

Rebecca’s physique had long since surpassed the realm of the ordinary and reached that of superhuman. The pebble thrown with that strength was far beyond the category of a mere projectile.

With a sharp sound, as it tore through the air, the stone flew with force.

– Ting!

“…”

But the thrown stone was deflected weakly as if it had hit something sharp and metallic.

As the stone that rolled on the ground reached her feet, Rebecca silently stared at the presence behind the trees.

“What are you up to?”

Not long after, a clear warning came out of her mouth, with a cold tone as if freezing the air. She wouldn’t let any insignificant intruder off easily.

The mana emitting from her body gradually spread, creating an illusion of the surrounding vegetation shrinking.

‘Not coming out, eh?’

If they thought they could assess her condition, they were sorely mistaken. She wasn’t generous enough to give the initiative to a sudden intruder.

Rebecca picked up a branch lying on the ground and stood up. As she rose from the ground, her body shot forward from her spot.

“…!?”

– Clang!

Despite seeming to be over ten steps away, distance was meaningless before the Sword Saint.

As the opponent hurriedly drew their sword in response from behind the tree, it clashed with the flimsy branch in her hand, the clang echoing, filling the mountain.

‘A young-looking fellow… and he blocked this?’

A man with hair of a strange color, neither black nor blue, appearing to be no more than twenty, looking quite fresh-faced.

For such a young boy to block her initial strike, even though she hadn’t attacked with killing intent…

“W-wait a moment…! Lady Sternbaum! I’m not an intruder!”

“What?”

Was he thinking of claiming to be a passerby through these mountains?

If so, she resolved to pierce that babbling mouth without hesitation in the next strike.

If he wanted to make a plausible excuse, shouldn’t he at least have put away the sword in his hand and the mana enveloping his body?

“You’re quite skilled for a youngster… but if you spout nonsense again, I’ll kill you on the spot.”

“It-it’s true! I am Ludwig Aiphretz, a friend of your disciple, Emilia. Please believe me!”

“…Huh?”

At this unexpected answer, Rebecca inadvertently let out a foolish sound.

‘Did I just hear wrong? A friend of Emilia’s? And Aiphretz, could he be referring to that Count Aiphretz family?’

As if to prove his words, he pulled out a small card from his breast pocket. The seal stamped on it was indeed the emblem of the Aiphretz family.

“Please forgive my rudeness. I’ve heard much about the Sword Saint’s reputation, but I wanted to test it with my own body.”

“A test… how audacious.”

Before her fame spread, there were ignorant fools who tried to test her true abilities, but since her name became known, there were rarely any of this sort.

There were occasional assassins who aimed for her life or those who humbly requested a match with the mindset of learning from her.

Ludwig’s words might have been considered not just rude but outrageous to someone bearing the title of Sword Saint, but she rather liked his boldness.

“I’ll confirm your identity when we meet my disciple. Follow me.”

Rebecca withdrew the branch but didn’t let go of it. She turned her body swiftly, reducing her aura, and started walking.

Ludwig, who had been standing dazed, hurriedly followed her with a wry smile on his face and his hand still tingling.

 *          *          *          *          *          *          *

After the full-fledged training began, Emilia’s mornings came earlier than before.

She was originally known for her diligence, second to none.

But after entering the mountains, she naturally began to wake up earlier to manage the campfire and stay alert for nearby magical beasts, not letting her guard down.

‘Hm? Where did Master go?’

As she rose, still drowsy, the familiar scene inside the tent came into view.

The only difference was the absence of her master, who would normally be lying next to her, her mouth wide open.

Wondering if she might be warming herself by the fire outside, Emilia immediately left the tent.

“First, I should add some firewood…”

There was a campfire in front of the tent warming the two of them.

One of Emilia’s daily tasks was to add firewood to this fire as soon as she woke up.

But as she turned her gaze to look for firewood, she saw that the fire from the previous night was still burning brightly.

‘Master must have added some.’

Usually, there would have been only embers left, but the flames were so strong that she could feel their intensity even when she stood a considerable distance.

No wonder she couldn’t see Rebecca inside the tent. It seemed her master had woken up early, revived the fire, and gone for a walk today.

‘She’s quick.’

Come to think of it, tomorrow was the day they would return to the village after a long time.

Perhaps her master couldn’t sleep due to excitement about that fact?

Others might argue that the Sword Saint wouldn’t lose sleep over such a trivial matter, but based on what she had observed so far, Emilia thought it was plausible.

“Pfft… I’ll keep this a secret from Master.”

Emilia barely held back laughter as she cleaned up the leaves and branches piled around, and sat down on a tree stump that served as a makeshift chair.

True to her noble upbringing, she maintained a modest posture even in this situation. Rebecca would have certainly chuckled if she had seen it.

‘I can’t wait to see him…’

About three weeks ago, she received a message from her longtime childhood friend, Tanya.

While she was happy to see a familiar face after so long, what surprised her even more was something else.

The news that Ludwig, the man she had given her heart to before coming here, was coming to see her.

It was also the reason why her mind, which had been focused solely on training until now, was momentarily distracted.

‘But… if I hear such a story…’

She had been yearning for him anyway, enduring it by pouring all her mental energy into training and pretending otherwise.

‘When will it be? Today? Tomorrow?’

She hoped it would be no later than the day after tomorrow even if it was a once-in-a-lifetime indulgence.

Even now, she daydreamed. How wonderful would it be if he appeared beyond this mountain path she was staring at blankly? Such futile imagination had been recurring for the past few days.

“Emilia!”

‘Sigh… now I’m even hearing things.’

As the voice she had longed to hear rang with such clarity in her ears, Emilia shook her head with a sigh, thinking she was really in bad shape.

Then, abruptly, her head, which had been moving left and right, stopped in place. As if petrified.

‘In my ears?’

What’s this? If it was an auditory hallucination, shouldn’t it be ringing in her head rather than her ears? Although she had never experienced one in her life, she knew that much.

– Step. Step.

Before her doubt could fade, the sound of footsteps slowly approached.

At first, she listened carefully, thinking her master might be returning from her walk. Upon closer listening, however, the footsteps seemed busier than usual. As if there was one more person…

“Disciple, I’ve brought a gift.”

After hearing the familiar voice, she could finally relax. It seems the voice that just called her name was also her master’s. She must have mistaken it for someone else’s because it echoed from afar.

A gift? Did she pick some delicious fruit? Emilia wondered such.

“Ah, Master. You’re back…?”

Emilia, who had finished pondering on her own, was about to turn her head to face her master when she swallowed her words.

“Ahaha… It’s been a while, Emilia.”

“…Huh?”

Is it true that masters and disciples were alike? Just like Rebecca when she first met him, a deflated sound escaped from Emilia’s mouth.

“I’m sorry. I wanted to come a bit earlier…!?”

By the time she came to her senses, she was already in the arms of the man who had been awkwardly waving at her.

He seemed like he was about to apologize, but who cares? That wasn’t what was important.

“Ludwig, Ludwig…!”

“Don’t worry, Emilia. I’m here. You don’t have to call my name like that, I’m not going anywhere.”

As if seeing a vision, she called his name several times in joy, forgetting even her shyness and just being overwhelmed with happiness.

At this moment, she was not the disciple of the Sword Saint, but a girl in love with a man.

The sunlight, which had gradually begun to brighten, pierced through the surrounding trees, brightly illuminating the two.

‘It’s warm…’

Is this warmth yours? Or is it the sunlight?

It doesn’t matter anyway. What’s more important is that you appeared before me. That’s all.

There was a lot she wanted to talk about today and a lot she wanted to hear from you.

And until all those conversations were over, she wouldn’t let go. Because this is once in a lifetime.

translator’s corner

rahhh ;w; were almost halfway there, but for the time being, i’ll be off for a 3ish days. gonna recharge for a bit -w-