I’m Telling You, I’m Not The Villain! – Chapter 6

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Lord Fourth
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Two hours earlier,

Eilly, having received Arnold’s permission, walked alone in the forest.

“Oh? This flower’s color is so bright and pretty!”

She gathered pretty flowers for her mother, venturing deeper and deeper into the woods.

“Sniff, sniff, Mmm~ It smells nice too! I should pick one of these.”

“Heehee~ Mother will definitely like them!”

She was filled with excitement, imagining her mother’s face when she saw the bouquet she had personally picked.

“Let’s see, are there any nicer ones~♪”

She headed deeper into the forest, collecting flowers that caught her eye. At first, her hands were empty.

But as she picked one and then another, her hands were soon filled with a variety of blossoms.

“Oh, a rose! I didn’t know roses grew here.”

Then, she spotted a flower that particularly captivated her. It was a mesmerizing, beautiful, red rose.

“Just one of these should be okay, right?”

As if entranced, Eilly approached the rose bush, carefully examining each bloom.

“This one seems the prettiest!”

She chose a rose with a particularly deep color and a subtle charm, and

“Oof, careful not to prick myself with the thorns… Gently~”

She carefully plucked the flower, mindful of the thorns.

“Ah, I got it!”

“Although I did get pricked a little, ouch….”

Eilly had acquired the rose she admired. Of course, it wasn’t a perfect process.

Being clumsy and not very dexterous, she had gotten slightly hurt in the process.

“But I got a pretty one!”

Despite this, she was wearing a satisfied smile, genuinely pleased.

“Heehee, it’s so beautiful…”

The reason she was so happy, in particular, was that there was someone else she intended to give this rose to.

“Huhuhu, Young Master -”

Staring at the rose she had picked, she pictured someone’s face. A generous and kind nobleman.

Imagining the smile of a certain man, her cheeks flushed as red as the rose.

“I should give this to the Young Master!”

“He’ll… He’ll definitely like it, right? Hehe…”

She shyly touched her flushed cheeks, trying to hide her embarrassment.

Of course, even if she revealed her feelings here, it was deep within the forest where no one was around to notice.

“The symbol of a rose is love, isn’t it?”

“Th-Then… -”

“Uh…?! No, no…! What kind of thoughts am I having?!”

Even so, Eilly shook her head, trying to shake off her embarrassment and calm her overly excited mood.

“Okay! I’ll just get one more, and then I’ll go to the Young Master!”

Looking at the flowers she had already gathered, she expressed her intentions.

“If I’m too late, the Young Master might be waiting, so I should find one quickly and go.”

Having almost reached her goal, Eilly set off with overflowing energy to find the last flower.

…

However, after wandering through the forest for some time,

“Huh? That’s strange, I saw a lot of them just a while ago….”

Despite searching for quite a while, she hadn’t found any beautiful flowers, only coming across ordinary grass.

“Oh, I found one! Mmm~ This white flower… It’s even Mother’s favorite color.”

Finally, after wandering for a long time, she found the last flower to pick.

“I need to pick it quickly and go back. It’s gotten later than I thought….-”

But just as she approached the flower to pick it,

“Aawoooooooo –!!!”

A loud howl pierced the air.

“Oh?!”

Eilly quickly turned her head at the sound of a wolf coming from behind her, and she was horrified.

“Hi… Hii…!”

What she saw was a monster, drooling as if it hadn’t eaten in three days, its eyes fixed on her as prey.

“Grrrr -”

“D-Dire Wolf…!”

Recognizing the name she’d heard before, Eilly fearfully uttered the monster’s name.

“Aawoooo, Grrr!”

As if reacting to Eilly’s words, the Dire Wolf howled and lunged at her.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Eilly~? Where are you!”

Arnold entered the forest where she had disappeared, searching for Eilly. But no matter how deep he went, he couldn’t find her.

“Hmm…”

He wondered if she had returned to the mansion already.

Or perhaps their paths had diverged, and she had already left the forest without him noticing.

All sorts of thoughts began to cross his mind.

“No, let’s look a little more.”

However, he knew Eilly wasn’t that kind of person and decided to keep searching. Regardless of her personality, as someone of higher status, she wouldn’t have returned without reporting to him.

He hadn’t gone far, staying near the initial practice spot… If she hadn’t found him, it meant she was still somewhere in this vast forest or their paths had truly diverged.

“Eilly! Are you there?!”

Despite his certainty, he couldn’t find a single clue.

It was like searching for a hidden needle on a vast sandy beach…

“Sigh, this isn’t working.”

Finally, having ventured deep into the forest without finding any trace of Eilly, he decided to try a different approach.

“Anything would be helpful.”

He decided to seek the help of magic.

He opened the spellbook he had brought with him and began searching for something that might be helpful in this situation.

He quickly flipped through the pages, scanning the spells within.

“…….”

But even after reaching the last page, he couldn’t find a suitable spell. So… there wasn’t a useful spell for this situation?

“…! This is it.”

Fortunately, he found a noticeable spell in the latter half of the spellbook.

“So -”

It was a spell that allowed him to know the direction of a person based on their traces.

“Hmm… I understand what it means.”

This tracking spell seemed like it would be helpful in finding Eilly.

“Ugh, but.”

The problem was… even if he used it, he needed a clue related to Eilly as a prerequisite.

“I can’t use it right now.”

The first step itself was a hurdle. He needed to find something, anything, that could serve as a clue, a trace of her presence. But right now, he had nothing.

So he had no choice but to start searching for her blindly, as he had before. He had ventured so deep that he couldn’t even tell how he had gotten there.

“…!”

Then, he suddenly noticed something strange. Crushed and scattered on the ground were various flowers. At that moment… he remembered what she had said.

“This is -”

She had clearly said she would pick flowers for her mother. And these… were various types of flowers that looked as if they had been intentionally plucked.

“This is it.”

With a feeling of puzzle pieces falling into place, he believed these to be Eilly’s traces and chanted the spell he had just memorized.

“Tracking.”

Focusing his gaze on the bouquet and chanting the spell,

“…?!”

Like a navigation system, a white smoky trail appeared in his vision, pointing in a specific direction.

“Okay, let’s go.”

He believed that if he followed the indicated direction, he would find Eilly. With that belief, he began to run at full speed.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Ha… Ha…!!”

The frail maid was frantically running through the forest.

“Grrrrrr, Yelp!”

The reason was the ferocious monster chasing close behind her. It was like watching a rabbit being hunted by a predator.

“Please, please…!!”

Eilly ran for her life, using every ounce of strength she had. Perhaps she was running more desperately than she ever had in her life.

“Oof…!!”

Her heart ached, and her lungs screamed in protest, but she didn’t stop.

She swallowed the bitter, metallic taste in her throat and forced her legs to move. Because if she didn’t… a horrific scene would unfold.

“Kyaang!”

The Dire Wolf howled ferociously, relentlessly pursuing Eilly. But there was something strange. For a monster chasing its prey, it was running rather lightly. It was maintaining a certain distance, almost as if it were luring her rather than seriously trying to catch her.

“No…! Stay away!”

Even if a human gave it their all, their opponent was a beast that roamed the wild. No matter how fast she ran, a Dire Wolf specialized in hunting should be able to easily catch up to a normal person’s speed.

“Grrr!”

For some reason, it was intentionally holding back, as if toying with her.

Thud –

“Oh…?!”

And… as if to prove the reason…

“Uwaaah -!!”

Distracted and running with all her might, Eilly tripped on a tree root, losing her balance.

Thud – Thud–!!

She tumbled painfully, rolling across the dirt.

“Ugh…?”

Unable to stop her momentum, she fell off a cliff that looked to be several meters high.

“Ah -!! Aaaah…!”

Eilly collapsed miserably, her entire body battered and bruised.

“O-Ow… M-Mother…!”

Tears welled up in her eyes from the pain and despair, but she still tried to escape.

“Grrrr…!”

However.

“Gasp…!”

The Dire Wolf appeared right in front of her.

“Grrrrrrr…”

Had it circled around to the other side in that short amount of time?

“Kyaa!”

“N-No…?!”

It hadn’t.

The Dire Wolf that had been chasing Eilly was looking down at her from the top of the cliff. The number of monsters had doubled.

“Grrr…”

“K…”

“Kyang!”

Moreover, several more Dire Wolves emerged from the bushes, one after another.

“N-No way…!”

They had been hunting as a pack.

One would chase the prey, and then they would surround it when it was weakened.

It was a clever tactic that allowed them to capture prey with minimal effort and numbers.

“U-Ugh….”

Eilly was cornered. Her body was too injured from the fall to move, leaving her unable to resist even if the Dire Wolves attacked.

“Ah… Aaah…”

Sobbing in despair, tears streamed down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, Mother.”

“I’m sorry, Julie…”

With resigned words, the faces of her family flashed before her eyes.

“If only… I hadn’t gone to pick flowers…”

Regretting the consequences of neglecting her duties and indulging her desires,

“I’m the worst maid….”

“I’m sorry, Young Master….”

She blamed herself, and then thought of a certain man.

“… God.”

Just as she closed her eyes, praying silently –

Whoosh —!!!

A miracle happened.

“Yelp –!”

“Kueek!”

A huge blaze of fire swept past Eilly, like a holy flame annihilating the forces of evil.

“Oh…?”

“What are you sorry for?”

◇ ◇ ◇

I’m glad I wasn’t too late. I almost… almost couldn’t undo what had happened.

“Eilly.”

“Y-Young Master…!!”

It was a close call, but he had finally found her.

“I don’t think I can ask if you’re okay.”

Judging by her condition, she seemed to be severely injured.

“Grrrrrr…!”

“Kang! Kang -!!”

Now that he had confirmed Eilly was alive, the next step was to deal with this pack of wolves.

“Huu…”

He took a deep breath and focused on the monsters.

To be honest, his heart was pounding with nervousness. It hadn’t been long since he started practicing, and now he was thrown into a real battle…

This was his first time hunting monsters. In other words, he had to take a life.

“…….”

Could he really do such a thing? But if he said he couldn’t, both he and Eilly would be in danger.

“Come at me.”

So, he had to do it.

“Kyaang!”

With newfound resolve, the ferocious beast lunged at him with bared fangs and claws.

“…?!”

As it closed the distance in an instant, a fleeting but strange sensation washed over him.

“Fire -”

Whoosh!

As the attack came, time seemed to slow down for a brief moment.

“Keeeng -”

“K-Krrr!”

“I can see their movements.”

With instinctive movements, he reacted to the rapid speed, dodging every incoming threat and seamlessly counterattacking.

“Wind Spear.”

Woosh, Woosh-

“Keegekeek…!”

Despite movements that would be difficult for an ordinary person to react to, Arnold dodged them with ease.

Apparently Arnold had exceptional talent not only in magic but also in the physical department.

There were at least… dozens of monsters ahead. Yet, he didn’t feel like he would lose.

Rather –

“Fire… Breath!”

It felt like a good learning experience.

Whoosh -!

A catastrophic blaze erupted from his fingertips.

A fierce and powerful magic swept through the surrounding area, as if to incinerate the entire forest.

“Keeeeeeng –?!”

The Dire Wolves nearby were caught in the blast and perished simply for being close.

“Kyaaaa!”

The remaining wolves charged towards him, but

“Ice Age.”

He countered with ice magic.

“Kek —”

“… –!”

The monsters that had leaped high into the air froze instantly and plummeted to the ground.

Clang –

Upon impact, they shattered like glass dropped from a great height.

“Lightning Bolt -”

He followed up with the lightning magic he had practiced.

The surroundings momentarily darkened as if storm clouds were gathering,
and then blue lightning struck the ground with a deafening roar.

Boom -! Crack–!

His ears rang from the thunderous sound as destructive lightning bolts rained down.

The surrounding area was devastated, and the resulting storm shook the vast forest.

““Keeeeeeng -!””

““Kaaaak -””

The Dire Wolves were utterly annihilated, their lives extinguished as easily as candles in the wind.

“……….”

The tumultuous atmosphere subsided into an eerie silence after the Lightning Bolt.

After all, he had wiped out all those monsters with just a few spells.

“Young Master…?”

The silence was broken by a faint voice. Eilly looked up at him with a mixture of worry and awe.

“Does it hurt a lot? Just a moment.”

He approached her and took her dirtied hand.

“…….”

He recalled another spell he had seen in the spellbook, Healing magic.

It was said that a single word could instantly revive someone on the brink of death. In many ways… it was truly an incredible ability.

“Heal -”

He chanted the spell. Eilly’s battered and bruised body, not a single part unscathed, began to heal rapidly.

“Wo… Wow…”

As the pain subsided, she examined her body with a sense of wonder.

“Are you feeling a little better now?”

He gently stroked Eilly’s hair and asked if she was alright.

“Uh…!”

“…?”

Like an arrow released from a taut bowstring, she launched herself at him.

“Uh… Sniff…”

She hugged him tightly, burying herself in his embrace like a kangaroo returning to its mother’s pouch.

“Y-Young Master… Oh, Young Master…!”

She sobbed uncontrollably, calling out to him desperately,
pouring out the despair and fear she had felt.

“I’m s-sorry…… Really… Hic…! I’m sorry…!”

“Thank you… I was able to live thanks to you, Young Master!”

He held Eilly without a word for a while, then slowly looked up at the sky.

“… I’m glad that you’re safe.”

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Hi Lord Fourth here!
I’m new to translating so if you find some mistakes or inconsistencies let me know about it on the dedicated channel on discord.