WeTried Translations
Translator: Nemui
Editor: Nemui
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Reincarnated as the Villain's Heir
Chapter 12: The Tomboy Princess's Heroine Justice
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I, Leticia, princess of the Kingdom of Sailrand, was bored.
No, it would be more accurate to say I felt something strange about how boring everything was.
This country had been peace itself since the day I was born.
I had heard that before I was born, we had been at war with a neighboring country, but that ended in less than a year.
As a child, I had been excited to hear that the kingdom had suffered almost no damage, but when I thought about it, that was strange.
Once, I had gone around inspecting this kingdom's knight order.
Their security was sloppy, and the knights yawned while amusing themselves at the guard station.
A man who could not be called capable even as flattery had become a unit captain and advanced in rank.
Their training was terrible too.
After a little stamina work and a tiny amount of mock combat, training ended.
None of the knights had any sense of tension.
When I asked Father about it, he simply said that was fine, as carefree as could be.
For a long time, I had wondered whether people like that could really protect this country's peace.
Because of my doubts, I often slipped out of the castle and investigated the state of the royal capital.
If peace was truly being maintained thanks to the knight order, that would be fine.
But I simply could not accept it.
Tonight, too, I was sneaking through the royal capital in the middle of the night.
I was this country's princess.
If the knight order would not protect order, then I, the princess, had to do it.
If evil was going to move, it would be at this hour. I had no intention of overlooking even the smallest sprout.
Just as I fired myself up, I saw several people standing in front of some warehouse.
It was dark, and I could not see well, but that looked suspicious!
Evil! It was evil!
I would absolutely not overlook it!
I needed to get closer.
I secretly watched from the shadow of the warehouse.
"Then here is this shipment of medicine. Heeheehee..."
"Always appreciate it. Seriously, who would've thought a noble would be spreading Belanna around? The world's gone bad."
I could not believe my ears.
It was dark, and I could not see clearly, but I knew the name Belanna.
When this country had been at war with a neighboring nation, it was a mana-enhancing drug that had explosively spread throughout the kingdom.
Its side effects had become a problem, and I had heard that after the war, trade in it was stopped within the country.
The ones conducting the transaction were a white-haired old man and a black-bearded man.
I recognized one of them.
The white-haired one was the butler of House Demaseka.
I had seen him several times at royal palace parties.
"Nothing can be accomplished with pretty words alone. The only two things needed to navigate the world are status and money."
"No arguing there. Thanks to you, we Gargot Family folks are making easy money too."
How terrible!
The butler of House Demaseka and the mafia Gargot Family were conducting an illegal transaction!
I could not let this pass.
"Stop right there! Villains, I have witnessed your evil deeds with my own eyes!"
"Wh-who goes there?!"
When I showed myself before the villains, they were naturally shaken.
I had received swordsmanship instruction at the castle too. Villains of this level did not scare me.
"Oh my, if it isn't the tomboy princess. Playing outside at night is improper."
"Silence! You villains who commit evil behind the peace of the kingdom! I will punish you myself!"
"Heehee. How brave..."
I was not going to be afraid of such a decrepit old butler.
Even though I was young, I had enough ability to subdue an adult.
I readied my sword.
Then, in an instant, my spine froze.
"Goodness, how long has it been since I last fought?"
The butler equipped enormous claws and spread both hands.
I was speechless, never imagining that a butler would have such vicious weapons.
His silhouette in the night looked demonic, and my grip on my sword nearly loosened.
"Even so, long ago, I did kill more than a hundred men in the war with our neighboring country. Ah, how nostalgic my mercenary days were... Though I am sure I cannot match a young lady of the royal family... Heeheehee!"
"S-so what?! Teyaaa!"
I steeled myself and challenged the butler.
It was fine. I had all the basics down.
Those were just big weapons.
"Oh my, rather sharp for a child."
"Hah!"
"Formidable, formidable."
"Yaaa!"
The butler lightly dodged my sword.
It did not hit at all. Why?
Unlike the knights, I never compromised in training.
I learned the basics and hammered tactics into my head through classroom study.
My tutors had praised my growth.
The current me should have been able to hold my own even against an adult.
And yet why were those claws right in front of-
"Kyaa!"
"Oh dear, did I graze you? Does it hurt? It must hurt. Ah, how pitiful... Heeheehee!"
"Not yet, not yet!"
"Oh, dangerous, dangerous."
Even my full-strength attack was dodged, and this time, I took the butler's kick.
The kick sank into my stomach, and I collapsed before I could endure it.
"O-ogh..."
"Oh my, oh my, oh my! How pitiful, how very pitiful! There, there, there, theeeere!"
"N-not... yet..."
"What! You have not yielded yet! Is this the blood and pride of royalty? Mr. Gargot, what do you think?"
The butler called out to Gargot, who was watching, then laughed again.
Unable to stand, I tasted blood and helplessness.
Why? I had trained so much.
Was it because I was still young?
Would I have won as an adult?
The fact that he used a kick instead of his claws made me feel his contempt and mockery.
"Fueh... Fueeeh..."
"Oh my, oh my, oh my! You have started crying! Even so, in my youth, I was called the Black Death Butterfly of the Battlefield! So there is no shame in being unable to defeat me! Be at ease! Yes?"
Pain and humiliation left my feelings with nowhere to go.
He was close enough to pat my head, and I was not even being treated as an opponent.
Before the evil harming the kingdom, I could do nothing.
Could I only watch as the kingdom decayed?
Would I yield to evil and be killed here?
What kind of royalty could not protect their country?
"Ah, I am becoming rather excited... I have cut down children many times, but it truly is irresistible... Fuhi, hihihihi..."
"I seriously don't get that. Women have to be adults. Also, isn't killing royalty a bad idea?"
"Mr. Gargot, for a villain, you are so serious. This excitement no longer seems likely to subside, so I will take my time enjoying myself."
The man's face looked like that of a beast.
No, perhaps he was a beast itself.
Right now, I was a rabbit being eaten by a ferocious beast, unable to do anything.
Father, Mother. Please forgive selfish Leticia.
"Found it. Is that the one?"
A voice came from beyond the darkness.
A passerby? If so, it was dangerous. Run away.
"Lord Alphys, there is something gross over there. Those claws are long!"
"Looks like we found the right place."
Judging from the voices, a boy and a girl?
Strangely, they did not feel like lost children. If anything, they sounded composed.
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