Chapter 59: Starting today, I’m becoming an SSS-Class Villainess Adventurer! (7)

‘No matter how I look at her, she’s not Leonard. So why does she claim to be a possessor herself?’

“Well? Why don’t you try asking her directly?”

Sara was puzzled.

Not only did no one in the current era possess the ability to independently perform the possession magic that steals another’s body,

But her own disciple, Leonard Rosegarden, who had such potential, had calmly faded into the cycle of reincarnation.

‘Foolish thing.’

‘If she suffered from frequent illnesses, she could have just taken her daughter’s body.’

‘She resembled her younger self so much, it would have been easy to act….’

‘Moreover, she already knew the family and their relationships well, which would have made it even smoother.’

‘Even throughout the countless ages I’ve lived through,’

‘I’ve never met a child like you.’

‘How could you leave only this teacher behind in this lonely world and depart first…?’

“What is everyone doing over there!? We’re in a hurry!”

“L-Lady Lin…. If we could just rest a little…”

“Huhu, I had a feeling, but my fiancé truly has excellent stamina.”

“It was that fool’s job to wander around all day, so it’s only natural.”

‘Behold.’

‘That needlessly healthy body.’

‘Even if her circuits were congenitally damaged, preventing her from properly drawing out mana,’

‘Leonard, for you, it wouldn’t have been a big problem.’

‘Edwin.’

‘What was so good about that man that you gave up a life close to immortality?’

‘I forgive you.’

‘Dying once or twice is something I’m quite accustomed to.’

‘Even if our ideologies differed slightly, you were still my most precious disciple.’

‘If anything, I felt proud of you, who could kill me, ‘Sara Flask’.’

‘At that time, I possessed a rather strong and skilled body.’

‘It was probably easily within the top three of all the bodies I’ve inhabited.’

“Alright. Everyone’s rested, right? Shall we continue then?”

“J-Just a little more…”

“Haa…. It can’t be helped. That’s why, Heine, I told you so many times to do stretching exercises with me….”

“No matter how much Lady Lin asks, that embarrassing…. shameful exercise is a bit…”

Sara quietly watched Lin amidst the boisterous group.

She felt a little angry.

To think that such a defective product, incapable of even properly drawing out mana, was the reason Leonard had given up her next life.

Her affectionate gaze, initially captivated by the resemblance to her disciple, was short-lived.

Gradually, every trivial thing caught her eye, making her acutely feel that she was truly dead.

Because she looked so much like her externally, the comparison was even more stark.

And so, she became even more aware of her disciple’s absence.

However,

That child had told her that she herself was a possessor.

‘Could she have peeked at Leonard’s diary?’

‘But that child wasn’t the type to keep a diary.’

‘Even if there was a diary, she wasn’t foolish enough to write about possession magic.’

Nevertheless,

That child had mentioned possession magic, something most people didn’t even know existed.

Not only that, but she had also led her to mistake her for Leonard.

‘Doesn’t she know that a spell caster capable of using possession magic can peek not only at the mana flow within the body but also at the soul?’

At first, she had intended to fix the congenitally damaged circuits, but her thoughts soon changed.

Though unintentional, the administrator of the research institute she had planned to look around while she was here had awakened.

‘Passing on the small legacies within it naturally would be this teacher’s final act of love for you, Leonard….’

‘By the way, what on earth was she thinking when she said that…?’

“You can just extract and read her memories, can’t you? The usual Sara would have definitely done that.

But… why isn’t she?”

Asmodeus smiled mischievously at Sara.

As if he was concerned about Leonard’s child.

“Ria? Is there something there?”

“Ah, no. I guess it was just my imagination.”

“Imagination!?”

Lin shot up at Sara’s evasive remark.

Holding a revolver in one hand and a wand in the other, Lin glared towards Asmodeus, who wouldn’t even be visible.

Crack!

Soon, a few gunshots rang out,

And a small magitech reconnaissance drone shattered and fell.

“Th-This is…”

“It seems. The opponent has already noticed us.”

“Still, that’s impressive. How on earth did you notice?”

“No, that’s…”

“As expected of Ria. Thanks to you, I was able to react quickly too.”

“That’s… a relief.”

She hadn’t noticed at all.

Even though it was because she hadn’t fully adapted to her body yet,

Sara felt a little embarrassed for not noticing her own old toy.

‘If it had been Leonard, she would have teased me relentlessly….’

[“Huuuh? You couldn’t even detect a toy you made yourself? Our teacher is a real noob~.”]

[“I-I detected it.”]

[“Yes. Well, I’ll believe you then. ……Pfft.”]

[“I told you I did…!!”]

‘Yes.’

‘Just like this.’

Sara looked at Lin, who was giving her a thumbs-up.

Even though they looked the same, their actions were almost completely opposite, which was truly peculiar.

‘It was, but… the feeling of watching her wasn’t entirely unpleasant.’

‘It seems you, Leonard’s daughter,’

‘Are also quite precious to me.’

“What do we do now?”

“Huhu, that’s a silly question! If we’re caught anyway, it’s obvious that striking first is the key to victory, isn’t it?”

‘The anger from before,’

‘Must have been me taking out my feelings about my precious disciple’s death on that child unnecessarily.’

‘What’s there to hide?’

‘She’s practically like a granddaughter to me.’

‘Whether it’s a defective product or a failure, there’s no difference in its preciousness.’

‘This simple fact, why had I forgotten it for so long?’

Lin, with a confident face, prepared to charge into the old research lab immediately.

“Just a moment.”

Sara stopped her briefly,

And then greatly reinforced her mana skin, which was hopelessly weak compared to others.

Then, she meticulously applied the maximum possible enchantment she could currently manage to Lin’s weapons and even each piece of her clothing.

“Yes. This should do it.”

“U-Uuuhm…. Thank… you.”

“…?”

‘Even if her body isn’t used to it,’

‘The enchantment just now went perfectly fine, didn’t it?’

Despite having received Sara’s affectionate touch.

Lin wore a somewhat reluctant expression.

“Do you understand? Ria is several steps above you in combat enchanting.”

“I-I too…. If I put my mind to it, I can do this much sufficiently…?”

“You just won’t admit it.”

It turned out she was jealous of the enchanting skill that was vastly different from her own.

“……Pfft.”

“Why, why are you laughing!?”

Though grateful,

Sara laughed as she watched Lin pouting, unwilling to admit it.

As the usually gentle her chuckled cheerfully, the party’s atmosphere instantly became much warmer.

“………Hmm…”

And.

Asmodeus, who had been quietly watching Sara’s behavior.

With a meaningful gaze, he rested his chin on his arm, which was propped on his knee.

“Well, Lin will be able to do such simple enchantments soon enough.”

“S-Simple…? It’s not at a level you can call simple!?”

“No. Once you get the hang of it, it’s really incredibly simple. I’ll teach you step by step by your side.”

“That’s good for this fool.”

Asmodeus sensed that something was becoming strange.

‘Could it be that their souls have begun to merge, and her personality has changed?’

‘No, a mortal like Sara wouldn’t do that.’

In fact, the soul of Sara within Ria, as Asmodeus observed it, was perfectly fine.

Ria’s soul, firmly trapped in the corner beside it, also showed no particular changes.

Sara had repeated the art of reincarnation countless times.

Even if she became a bit dazed sometimes, she wasn’t someone who would make such a mistake.

In the world,

There are those born with a special quality that naturally draws people’s affection.

Ria, whom Sara had swallowed, was that type of human.

However, as Asmodeus watched.

It seemed she wasn’t the only one born with that type.

An unintentional change in the contractor.

Her noticeably different expression and gaze were as pleased as if she were looking at a cute granddaughter.

‘…Well, whatever. The plan is complete anyway. And I’ve taken out insurance.’

Sara’s ideology wouldn’t change, but what if another inflection point like Leonard emerged?

From Asmodeus’s perspective, that was extremely troublesome.

He didn’t want to ruin something he had spent so much time on.

“Right. Sara. Are you planning to look after your granddaughter until that thing works?”

‘There’s no particular reason why not, is there? I was planning to take her with me from the start anyway.’

“…I see.”

They approached right in front of the research lab, with Lin at the centre.

Since it was a research lab she had made in the past, Sara knew its structure and capabilities thoroughly.

It seemed she had already decided to slowly train Leonard’s children, Lin and Rio, naturally by giving them hints one by one.

“It seems they haven’t noticed our approach yet.”

Still, perhaps her heart softened for a moment at Lin and Rio’s seemingly-not-but-actually-tense appearance,

She had already paralyzed the relatively intact alarm system and some repaired detectors.

It was already a foregone conclusion that the administrator doll inside the research lab hadn’t noticed.

In particular, with Dinavel, who could disable detection devices, by her side, the work was even simpler and easier.

“…?”

Dinavel, who had been used without consent, felt something strange and tilted her head.

When she traced the source of the command and looked back, her creator was hiding behind the children, putting a finger to her lips with a ‘shh.’

Naturally, this was also an absolute command, so there was no way Lin would find out through Dinavel’s mouth.

‘I should teach her how to handle dolls too. Thanks to achieving spirit manifestation, their uses are endless.’

To the point where magic wouldn’t even be necessary.

“Our Sara, she’s become quite the mother in that short time~.”

Just a few days of adventurer life.

When their innate likability met, the synergistic effect was immense.

This must have been even more so for Sara, who saw her precious beloved disciple superimposed on Lin.

“Dinavel. Then, as planned, please take care of the installation inside.”

“Okay! I understand!”

Before entering the research lab,

Lin put a large bag on Dinavel.

When Lin used levitation magic with her wand, Dinavel lightly shouldered the bag, which was twice her size, and secretly slipped in.

“I see. Sending out reconnaissance before entry to survey the situation inside first…. That’s a good method.”

“Indeed. It’s certainly a calm method, unlike the usual Lady Lin, isn’t it…?”

Sara and Heine generously praised Lin’s action of sending Dinavel for reconnaissance.
However

“Yes?”

Lin, with a question mark appearing above her head, as if she had no idea what they were talking about.

Unlike Heine, whose eyes said, ‘Of course,’ Sara, who still hadn’t grasped the situation, was flustered.

“Now, now, everyone. Please evacuate inside.”

Heine, familiarly leading Rio, Michael, and Ria to retreat a good distance away.

Michael, who followed along even though he didn’t know what was happening, and Rio, who had already walked over there first.

“W-Wait a moment…! Why are we retreating!?”

Sara, who had been fully intending to raise Leonard’s children, hastily asked for the reason.

Heine, with an expression that clearly showed she found explaining extremely bothersome, merely said,

“Just… you’ll see.”

She didn’t offer any more detailed explanation.

“Huhu, that’s a good question, Ria.”

It was none other than Lin who stepped forward to resolve Sara’s question.

“Before I explain, what is our objective?”

“Well, to defeat the malfunctioning magic doll and acquire the items inside the research lab….”

“…Hmm?”

“Of course…! It’s also for the safety of the village…!”

Hearing Sara’s words, Lin paused for a moment, then looked back at the research lab behind her.

“That…. I hadn’t thought of that at all…”

“…Yes? Wouldn’t a Magitech Scholar normally think of that first?”

“Mmm…. Hearing that, it might be a bit of a waste to blow it all up…”

“Blow it up!?”

That’s right.

The bag Lin had given Dinavel was filled with a mountain of bombs.

Since they were industrial bombs designed to pierce through ‘mountains,’ it was obvious that they would blow the research lab away without a trace.

Sara, who had wanted to leave her legacy to Lin.

As soon as she realized Lin’s plan to safely wipe everything out by blowing up the research lab, she desperately tried to persuade her.

“Th-Think about it! A magic doll the size of a child? And the unfamiliar appearance of that research lab, it’s possible that ancient technologies lost long ago are slumbering there.”

“Does that mean, perhaps…. It’s the promised development of Lost Technology!?”

Lost Techno…?
Sara flinched for a moment at the unfamiliar word, but since the meaning itself got through, she ignored it for now.

“Y-Yes! You’re a Magitech Scholar too, an alchemist, right? Aren’t you tempted by the ancient knowledge slumbering inside that research lab?”

“I-I’m certainly tempted…”

“Right!?”

‘Thank goodness!’

‘Somehow, she’s being persuaded!’

‘A Magitech Scholar knows a Magitech Scholar’s heart best.’

‘Wealth, honor, love, there are various values, but those of the Magitech Scholar ilk usually place the desire for knowledge to understand the world at the very top.’

Ria desperately conveyed the value of the ancient knowledge contained within the research lab.

Since Lin was also an alchemist by birth, her ears were very much perked.

“Lin. Your magic dolls are amazing. You’ve even spirit-manifested three of them, haven’t you? That’s not something just anyone can do, you know?”

“Ehehe. Well, that’s true~…”

“Yes. But what if you, who can do that, could obtain the technology to create that child-sized magic doll guarding the research lab…? As a Magitech Scholar, wouldn’t you desperately want it? Aren’t you tempted?”

“I… want it.”

“Right!? And, above all, your precious doll is inside that research lab, isn’t she? If she gets caught in the explosion and breaks…. Wouldn’t your heart ache terribly?”

What kind of technologies were contained within the research lab.

Lin’s eyes sparkled like a child’s as she listened to Sara’s direct and indirect explanations.

The more Lin’s eyes sparkled, the more desperate and rapid Sara’s persuasion became.

Also, as a final decisive blow, a remark that targeted Lin’s kind heart.

Saying that Exia, who was inside the research lab, would also be caught in the explosion,

Just as Sara’s persuasion to enter the research lab with her was almost succeeding…!

“Ah, that’s alright.”

“…Yes?”

She flatly denied Sara’s plea as if it were nothing.

“There… Stand still!”

“Ebebebe. Fool, fool. You traitor who betrayed Lin, yet you can’t even land a single hit~.”

“Eeeeek…!!”

Just then, Dinavel and Exia burst out of the research lab door.

Exia, panting heavily and swinging her sword at Dinavel, had an expression of irritation so intense it looked like tears were about to form in her eyes.

Lin, having visually confirmed that Dinavel, who was incredibly good at provoking Exia beyond mere brainwashing, had safely brought Exia out of the research lab.

The moment she was about to take out the remote detonation switch and press it.

“W-Wait…!”

Sara hastily grabbed Lin’s arm to stop her.

“Ria? If we don’t blow it up quickly, enemies might come out.”

“There’s nothing like that! The only thing inside that research lab is a single, worn-out administrator doll!”

“Yes? How do you know that…?”

“I-It’s a Magitech Scholar’s intuition!”

Teaching is one thing.

But acquiring teaching materials that help to teach even better is another matter.

The knowledge contained in the research lab was indeed ancient history that had brought about innovation in a bygone era and had been forgotten in the flow of time, so she must have been even more desperate.

It had been so long that she herself had forgotten much of the knowledge.

In the first place, she had come here specifically to recall it.

“…I’m sorry, Ria.”

Lin smiled sadly, as if she understood everything.

“But. The safety of the villagers is more important to me.”

Click!

Behind Lin’s smile, the background lit up immensely.

Where the intense light had struck and passed, a thick pillar of fire was soaring.

“……Ah.”

And so.

Leaving Sara’s short groan behind,

Lin had successfully incinerated the administrator doll that had brainwashed her dolls, along with the entire research lab.