Chapter 5: I Reincarnated as a Villainess…and Ended Up Stranded (4)

“Fufu, what a delightful aroma.”

A few days after escaping the underground cave, I was enjoying a fragrant cup of herbal tea.

Hm? You’re wondering how I found such a teacup out in the wild?

I picked it up on the roadside.

…No joke.

I literally picked it up.

Ever since I learned the levitation spell, I’ve been able to lift objects that a child’s strength could never manage.

Thanks to that, I went around scavenging through the wreckage of airships scattered throughout the forest.

By sheer luck, I found a box full of teacups—and that’s how I came to enjoy my current tea time.

Most of them were shattered from the crash, of course.

But thankfully, enough were intact for me and Kiriel to use.

Personally, I wish I’d also found a box of black tea leaves somewhere…

Strangely enough, I couldn’t find even a single trace of those.

Usually, teacups and tea leaves are stored together, so they should’ve landed nearby, but no matter how hard I looked, nothing.

Well, no matter.

This herbal tea is surprisingly drinkable.

And at the end of the day, I should be grateful that I even get to enjoy tea time in a place like this.

Slurp…

Yes.

Ever since escaping the cave, everything had started going smoothly for me.

Before long, I found a wide lake full of clean drinking water.

I even buried that person near the lake, a short distance away from my home.

It was a place with good sunlight, so they should be able to rest in peace.

“Alright then, let’s get to work!”

“…”

“Safety chant, go!”

With a light tea break complete, it was time to resume construction in earnest.

I recited the safety slogans with gusto.

Unfortunately, Kiriel is a doll and can’t talk, so I have to do both parts myself.

Seriously, is there any master in the world who takes better care of their subordinate than me?

Kiriel is one lucky little thing.

“Check for safety every second!”

“……….”

“Practice safety habits 24 hours a day!”

“………….”

“Safety is good! Good! Good!”

“…………….”

“Let’s work hard today too!!!”

I thrust my arm into the air and shouted “safety is good!” three times, only for Kiriel to make a face I couldn’t even begin to describe.

Well, considering she did all the woodcutting herself, I get it.

It must’ve been rough.

But I am feeding you well, right?

So hurry up and get back to work. No food if you slack off.

“We’re just down to finishing touches now, so wipe that look off your face.”

“…”

And yet, even after all my kindness, she just shakes her head.

Sure, I might’ve overworked her a bit on this house project, but what kind of attitude is that to show your master?

That’s minus ten maid points.

The house we’d toiled over for days looked something like this:

First, I planted wooden pillars in front of a mud wall.

Then I stacked smaller logs tightly between them.

That way, the base wall stayed stable, and I only had to build three more walls, making the job much easier.

In the beginning, rain poured right through the gaps, but now the spaces between the logs are sealed tightly with mud, so no wind or rain leaks in.

As for the roof: a base layer of logs, followed by a layer of leaf piles, then a third layer of dirt, and finally a layer of grass to complete the decoration!

Inside, I’ve set up a cozy mattress I found on the roadside.

Yup.

It’s the same bed I woke up on after transmigrating.

The jackpot item of all my airship scavenging.

Only issue? It’s huge.

It takes up over half the room.

“At last…”

After layering the top with camouflaging grass, the perfect wild hideout was complete.

Smoke rose from the chimney.

Watching it rise brought a lump to my throat.

I’d gone through so much.

Waking up aboard a floating airship.

Crashing after getting struck by lightning.

Almost getting killed by a troll.

Being trapped in a cave…

In such a short time, I’d really been through it all.

I’m amazed I survived.

If it weren’t for Kiriel, I probably wouldn’t have.

I mean, how else could a little kid like me build a house like this?

Only thanks to Kiriel and the levitation spell.

If she hadn’t chopped wood and I couldn’t lighten the load with magic… I’d probably be living in a rabbit hole right now.

“Hmm… Looks like we finished earlier than expected.”

With the work wrapped up and plenty of daylight left, I figured I’d go gather herbs and salvage more airship parts.

Right.

Herbs.

In this wilderness, even a small wound could be fatal.

That’s why herbs are so important.

The real challenge is knowing which ones are useful.

Thankfully, I had just the tool for the job.

“Let’s go, Kiriel.”

That tool was the notebook I picked up in the cave.

Bound in leather and filled with parchment, it was packed with handwritten notes from an alchemist about local flora and materials.

Judging by the detail, the guy I buried must’ve been extremely diligent, having thoroughly researched the ecosystem around here.

Huh? How do I know he was a guy?

Well, it’s a bit sad… but when I first opened the notebook, a folded piece of paper fell out.

It was a farewell letter to his wife and daughter.

So I folded it neatly and tucked it into the coat I laid on his grave.

Just in case—no matter how unlikely—his family ever comes looking, they’ll find it.

I considered looking for them myself, but with just a name and no other info?

Impossible.

The wife’s name was too smudged to read.

The daughter’s name?

“Sarah.”

The most basic girl’s name in the world.

Even if I wanted to help, it’s just not feasible.

“Oh, found it.”

Turns out, this anonymous alchemist was also a decent artist.

The notebook included not just drawings of the herbs but also illustrations comparing lookalikes and how to tell them apart.

It was small enough to fit in my hand but felt like a college-level textbook.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this guy had been a well-respected alchemist.

He definitely had an explorer’s spirit.

From the diary-like notes scattered between entries, it seemed this forest was a highly dangerous, uncharted zone even adventurer guilds avoided.

…Which means I crash-landed in that kind of forest.

And apparently, I was smack in the middle of its deepest part.

No wonder trolls were lounging in caves scratching their bellies, and nobody came to rescue me after a giant airship crash.

But there was hope, too.

The notes said there was a village beyond the forest.

So while I could wait to be rescued, I should also consider making my way out on my own.

Either way, I had to keep gathering herbs and supplies.

Especially one thing I really needed right now…

“Kiriel?”

I carefully harvested some herbs and stuffed them into my bag.

At that moment, Kiriel gestured silently, having spotted something.

“Ooooh…!”

I rushed over, filled with anticipation—as usual whenever we found airship wreckage—and there it was: a massive box of jerky, mostly intact, lying in the grass!

I’d just started worrying about salt intake too.

Jerky’s perfect for that since it’s usually heavily salted.

This was easily my biggest haul since the mattress.

“Great job! Amazing job, Kiriel! 100 maid points!!”

And that delicious salty flavor I’d been missing!

Imagine grinding up jerky and sprinkling it on fish… divine.

Of course, I’d already crafted a mortar for grinding herbs and ingredients.

The pestle was a carved stick.

The mortar?

One of the broken teacups.

Ah, right—while making them, I realized something:

Even if I suck at magic, I’ve got decent hands-on skills.

I guess it makes sense, considering the Rosegarden family uses alchemy.

“Okay then, that’s a wrap for today’s work!”

Time to head home in high spirits!

“Grrrr…”

“Hm?”

Just as Kiriel and I turned to leave with smiles on our faces, a wolf-like monster blocked our path.

Judging by the way it eyed the floating jerky box, it was clearly here to claim what it thought was rightfully its prey.

So what—it’s mad that I got to it first?

Now it’s baring its teeth at me?

“Kiriel.”

At my curt command, Kiriel fired off a magic burst.

It’s not the first time we’ve faced monsters while scavenging, so I’ve gotten used to these encounters.

“Fufu. Good job. You’re such a good girl, Kiriel.”

I never forget to reward good work with praise—because that’s what a proper villainess does!

I patted Kiriel’s head as she basked in my touch like a content kitten.

Aside from her occasional scowls, she’s pretty darn cute.

As we carried the jerky box back home, more wolf monsters appeared.

“…There sure are a lot today.”

But two or three monsters?

That’s nothing for Kiriel, especially now that we’re living near a lake overflowing with mana.

After facing down that terrifying troll, these things just look like oversized puppies.

Not that they’re actually cute.

The real cuties here are me and Kiriel.

As expected, when Kiriel lifted a hand, the wolves flinched and backed off.

Maybe tossing them some jerky would make them go away?

But no.

I wasn’t giving them a single bite.

It’d be pointless.

If they were just animals, I might’ve shared.

But monsters? No way.

There’s a reason they’re called monsters.

With animals, you can go, “I’m full now, go home and be safe, buddy.”

With monsters, it’s more like, “Why not eat this too—and you while I’m at it?”

In the novel I transmigrated into, Romance of the Four Guardian Beasts, there’s even a side character who treats monsters like stray cats—feeds them—and gets eaten for her trouble.

Moral of the story: these creatures are evil by nature.

“…Feels like they’re multiplying.”

The more we walked, the more wolves appeared.

It started with one, then two or three, then they were silently surrounding us on both sides.

They weren’t attacking, and they kept just out of Kiriel’s range, so we couldn’t pick them off easily.

“We’re being herded…”

We’d taken a detour to avoid leading them to our base, but now I realized…

We were being lured somewhere unfamiliar.

There were too many of them now to attack recklessly.

Kiriel clung to my head, watching all directions like a turret.

Only when I was completely surrounded did I finally realize:

These monsters were more dangerous than the troll.

There’s a saying: animals that move in packs are far more intelligent than solitary ones.

Early humans dominated ecosystems and developed agriculture thanks to group coordination.

Their hunting method?

Stick close to prey, just out of reach, until it gets exhausted.

Then hurl spears.

And there’s one creature that hunts just like that: wolves.

They use superior stamina to herd prey toward a chosen spot.

Then, once the prey steps into that spot…

They all pounce at once.

“Awooooo—”

So then, what is that chosen spot?

“Awooooo—”

“Awooooo—”

“Awooooo—”

…Their den.