Taming The Villainesses

Episode 236.2

The festival that had been grand throughout ended more quietly than expected.

What I thought to be a simple shower turned out to be a huge typhoon, making it impossible to proceed with the event.

With such a sloppy conclusion to the festival, many felt disappointed. Still, the overall atmosphere remained very positive.

━Hey, did you hear about the martial festival? They say there are no eligibility requirements, everyone can participate if they want to!

━I heard about it too. What is the royalty thinking? But it sure sounds exciting!”

The martial festival that Aira announced at the end of the festival.

People’s interest was all directed there.

Thanks to this, everyone I met kept asking, “Is it true?” Answering them consumed quite a bit of time.

“Hahahah-! What an amusing festival! My sister’s face turned beet red, and she demanded a recount! But even with the recount, the result was the same. All she could do was grind her teeth in frustration…!”

“I know, Kasim. This is the third time I’ve heard it.”

“Is that so? Well, it’s fun. To think that my proud and stubborn sister ended up losing. Still, I wonder what the result would have been if she hadn’t split votes with Miss Marmar in third place.”

Hearing Kasim’s last words, I pondered for a moment.

There was a resemblance between the second and third place. Although Serazade and Marmar have opposite backgrounds, their appearances were similar—slender, thin, small, and girlish.

Because of this, some so-called experts speculated that ‘the votes were split because their concepts overlapped.’ 

━If it had been unified with Candidate Marmar, this Queen would have won!

In the end, Serazade also achieved a mental victory in that way.

It made a lot of sense, but since Aira won in the end, this analysis was irrelevant.

Anyway.

As the Queen of July, Aira had a busy few days after. 

She even grumbled, “If I had known it would be like this, I would have handed this nuisance to Serazade.” 

It wasn’t until a few days after the typhoon that we were able to relax.

Ark had become so quiet and peaceful that it was hard to believe such a noisy and bustling festival had taken place.

Everyone was packing up and heading back to their respective battlefields and hometowns. The start of vacation coincided with the closing of the festival. 

So was Kasim.

“Are you returning to Tureuki Kingdom?”

At my question, Kasim squinted at the horses and elephants loaded with luggage.

“That I must. It was a short, but fun time. I also made a lot of girlfriends. The women of Ark are quite lively and spirited…”

Kasim stopped speaking and burst into laughter. Clamoring and squealing around him were the women he got acquainted with at Ark.

He was indeed a popular man…

“Anyway, Theo-kun, take care. If fate allows, we’ll meet again soon. Perhaps at the martial festival.”

The martial festival….

“Kasim, do you intend to participate in the martial festival as well?”

Kasim originally sought to inherit the throne through marriage to Aira.

I had thought he had given up on that marriage after losing the succession battle to his half-sister, Serazade. Hearing him mention the martial festival made me wonder.

But Kasim shook his head.

“I might achieve a meaningful result, but I have no interest in a competition I cannot win. Who could defeat a monstrous Rank 7 Archmage?”

“That’s true.”

“I’ve heard rumors among the mages lately that she has already surpassed the 7th Rank and reached the 8th rank…”

His words ended in a strangely questioning tone. It seemed like he was probing me. In other words, he was asking whether Aira had reached the 8th rank or not.

Queen Aira’s rank and spells, which could become Angmar’s ultimate weapon, should be kept a state secret. So, I decided to shrug casually.

“Well, I don’t know about that.”

“Uhum, I see. Anyway, there will definitely be a lot of people going to the martial festival. Among them, there will be beautiful and exotic women. Perhaps, new relationships might bloom then—”

Kasim couldn’t finish his sentence because the women around him started clamoring and pulling at his arms and ears.

━Kasim, we are right here!

━You’re going to watch the festival to meet other women?

“No! Don’t pull there!”

That was the end of the conversation with Kasim.

Watching him suffer from women, I caught a glimpse of my future. 

Even without using the future-telling spell Vassago, I could see a future where I get torn apart by women. That image got me breaking into a cold sweat…

Chureureuk-.

Sweat really was dripping down my forehead.

Actually, it was just because it was hot.

With the typhoon over, summer was in full swing. It was really hot. Another summer in this strange world.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but I had a feeling that this year will be a long summer unlike any other.

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