WeTried Translations
Translator: Nemui
Editor: Nemui
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Reincarnated as the Villain's Heir
Chapter 15: Stop Whining
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"That Badoura is awfully late."
As the head of House Demaseka, I sat in my room, gripped by unease.
Five years had passed since I succeeded in cultivating Belanna under the royal family's nose, and two years since I began circulating it through underworld routes.
As a result of steadily doing business with mafia groups inside the country, House Demaseka had managed a splendid recovery.
At first, after I became the head, House Demaseka had been facing the danger of extinction.
For generations, House Demaseka had made its fortune by cultivating Belanna flowers.
These flowers contained mana-enhancing components, which made them ingredients for magic medicine.
But after the war, trade in Belanna was suddenly banned by the country.
I did not know why.
Publicly, they explained the danger of its side effects, but before the war, even the kingdom's knight order had used it.
It had produced results in battle, and it should have been a welcome thing for the kingdom.
My predecessor, my father, had held his head over that sudden announcement.
Even now, I remembered how the knights seized every Belanna plant and burned them.
My father raged at the sheer injustice of it, but the knights did not listen.
After that, we ran a legal pharmaceutical business, but a hastily assembled enterprise like that was never going to go well.
As a result, House Demaseka shrank and rapidly weakened.
We reduced the number of servants, sold nearly every property, and all that remained was this mansion.
The glory of the past was nowhere to be found.
Then Father fell ill and finally passed away.
Holding my hand, he left me with the words, "I leave House Demaseka to you."
（Do not mock me. How could such an unreasonable story be allowed?）
In the spirit of avenging my father, I attempted to restore House Demaseka.
Illegal drugs? What of it?
If the country abandoned us, we had no obligation to obey it.
After finding a place suited to cultivating Belanna, I devoted myself to avoiding discovery.
Several years had already passed since I slipped past the royal family's eyes and opened distribution routes and customers.
House Demaseka was finally beginning to regain its former glory.
（Heh-heh-heh, royal family. Belanna is circulating through the country once more. Just you wait.）
When House Demaseka fully recovered, I intended to provide great financial support to the country.
By doing so, the royal family would be grateful to us, and eventually, they would be unable to survive without House Demaseka.
This was nothing unusual. Every noble did this.
The nobles prospering now could act so important precisely because they provided the royal family with large amounts of support.
Yes. People spoke of the royal family, but nobles and royalty only existed in a relationship of mutual dependence.
House Demaseka would rise again.
That was my father's wish, and mine.
--Knock, knock.
"What is it?"
"A guest has arrived."
"A guest at this hour? I have heard nothing of it."
"Y-yes, but..."
At that moment, the door opened.
I was about to shout at a mere servant for doing as she pleased.
"Pardon me. Are you the head of House Demaseka?"
"A child?! Hey, why did you let him..."
That was when I noticed.
A sword was pointed at the back of the pale servant.
Had these two young children, a boy and a girl, threatened an adult woman all the way here?
No, wait. Even if their number had decreased, there should have been guards in the mansion.
"Hey! What are the guards doing?!"
"They would not listen. Look outside."
Prompted by the boy, I looked through the window into the garden.
There, the guards lay collapsed and bleeding.
What was this?
"Do you understand now?"
"Wh-what about Badoura..."
"By now, not even his corpse remains. Was he the Black Death Butterfly? He was decent, but relying entirely on a retired old soldier is not good."
Impossible.
Even aged, Badoura's ability was such that even knights attacking in a group would still not pose a problem.
I could not believe he had been killed by a boy like this.
"By the way, you know exactly why I am here, don't you?"
"B-Belanna, right?! Do not mock me! Why must it be banned?!"
"If you ask why, then it was probably House Balfont's will."
"House Balfont?!"
I had heard rumors that House Balfont had a close relationship with the royal family.
But I could not believe they could move the royal family so easily.
No matter how much support a noble house provided, if they interfered in politics, they would not get away unharmed.
After judging where that line lay, we associated with the royal family.
When invited to parties, we exchanged formal greetings, spoke empty flattery, and smiled pleasantly.
That was how one associated with nobles and royalty.
House Balfont was no exception.
Their head, Leorg, should have knelt before the king too.
"Publicly, the royal family designated it an illegal drug. But it seems Belanna existing is inconvenient for House Balfont."
"Th-then House Balfont destroyed us for that alone... For that alone?!"
"Yes. If my father caused you trouble, I will apologize on his behalf. I am sorry."
The boy lowered his head easily.
I could not understand.
Why would House Balfont go that far?
No, before that, why was even the royal family obeying them?
"But that and this are separate matters. Because you handled illegal drugs, I am going to kill you."
"Enough of this mockery! It is always powerful nobles like you who get to drink the sweet nectar! Weak noble houses like ours are oppressed and lose even our means of survival! We had no other options!"
"Stop whining."
Something like black mist came from the boy's sword.
Strength left my legs and hips, and I leaned against the wall.
If even such a young boy could be this terrifying, was this what House Balfont was?
"There are many people in this world who die without even obtaining water. There are people whose parents are killed when they are young, who are dragged out as soldiers, and who die. Compared to them, you can drink water. You can use your head and live in any number of ways. It is not as if someone holds the right to decide your life and death."
"Th-that may be true, but..."
"In the end, you simply could not forget past glory and abandoned living in a way appropriate to your station. No, it would be more accurate to say you people did."
"I-I understand... I will change my ways... Please overlook this..."
Hearing my words, the boy lowered his sword.
Did he understand?
"Is that so? You truly will change your ways?"
"I promise! From now on, I will live properly for the good of the world!"
"Understood."
Good. I had been forgiven.
Now I could still live.
Hmph. Next time, I would make sure I was never discovered.
More cleverly than before-
Ah, gh, geh.
"Why..."
"For just a brief moment, you changed your ways and lived properly, didn't you? Then you can die now."
"Gofo..."
The boy's sword bisected me from shoulder to stomach, and my consciousness ended.
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