Please Bully Me, Miss Villainess!

Chapter 141 : Afternoon Tea with a Friend

Humans are a remarkable race.

Their history is not much longer than other races existing on this land,

They lack the claws, fangs, and speed of beastfolk, and are far from having the robust physique of giants,

When humans were still building houses with wood and mud, the dwarves had already mastered sophisticated architectural craftsmanship,

Born with low magic, they do not possess the innate magical abilities of elves.

However, this seemingly weak race, in a short time, relying on their own wisdom and faith, survived the arduous racial struggles and further became the most powerful force on this continent.

Humans defeated the brutal and fierce magical beasts, befriended the dwarves who migrated from desert areas to the inland, established good relations with the high elves living in isolation in the forests, and thus came into contact with magic.

After the appearance of that sage, he guided and promoted the comprehensive concept of 'magic science', and based on this, established an unprecedentedly vast country.

This is today's Oz Kingdom.

As the center and capital of the most prosperous country in this world, Greenwoam is home to many different races.

Now, in this city, seeing demi-humans with pointed ears on their heads and wagging tails walking on the streets is no longer a rare sight.

However, compared to the conspicuous demi-humans, dwarves are perhaps the least noticeable race.

Due to their short stature, walking on the street, if one doesn't look down, they might not be noticed at all. Their appearance to ordinary people is like that of children,

So tired...

Having finished a day's work, Brin dragged her heavy body back to her residence.

Even though when she was younger, working several nights in a row was no problem, but now, she seemed...

The dwarf's dwelling, even the door frame is a few inches lower than usual places.

Of course, the furniture inside is the same,

For ordinary people, it might look like a miniature landscape. But for dwarves, this half-size is just right.

Strange...

As soon as she stepped into the house, Brin sensed something was amiss.

Because her house had been cleaned spotless.

Even the smell had become much more pleasant.

The cardboard trash that was originally piled up at the door waiting to be thrown away had also disappeared. It was still there when she left this morning, how could it suddenly vanish?

Could trash grow legs and walk away??

No, no, no... normally that's impossible of course.

Unless...

Brin gripped her staff tightly, nervously swallowing,

Unless... someone other than herself had entered her house.

—!

This guess startled Brin herself.

Living alone for a long time indeed makes one more prone to such doubts and anxieties.

Although the place where she lived was in the upper city area, it was also in a very marginal location, not far from the lower city. It could be said that it was just separated by a wall and a few streets.

It wouldn't be surprising if a burglary occurred.

Thinking this, Brin held her breath and slowed her steps,

She quietly closed the door, took off her shoes, and tiptoed into the house.

As soon as she entered, she was stunned.

Indeed...

The oddity she sensed was not unfounded!

The living room, originally piled with books, had suddenly become very spacious.

Seeing this scene.

Brin suddenly felt very uneasy.

Could it be...

No way??

"—Are you back?"

A small head peeked out, still holding a cleaning cloth.

Seeing her return, she showed a happy expression,

However, this expression turned to confusion after seeing her.

She tilted her head, looking at Brin puzzled:

"What's wrong, you look like you've seen a ghost??"

When seeing someone look at oneself with such panic, anyone would feel a bit hurt.

"...Yuna??"

Seeing this friend she had known for many years, Brin had just breathed a sigh of relief for ruling out the danger of a burglary, but immediately felt her head start to ache again.

"—To think you mistook me for a burglar? How cruel~~"

After hearing why Brin had shown such a terrified expression, Yuna felt a bit aggrieved,

She was now sitting across from Brin, with her luggage beside her. It seemed she planned to stay at Brin's place tonight,

"Brin, the place where you hide your spare key hasn't changed."

It's been like this since before... Always helping herself without asking, casually approaching, bringing a headache-inducing feeling—it's still exactly the same as before...

She should have really disliked such a person, but with Yuna, she always felt helpless.

Although every time she intruded into her private domain, without exception she would clean up thoroughly for her, Brin still wished she wouldn't do it.

"Weren't you teaching in Emerald Port before? Why have you come here again?"

After graduation, she had become a magic teacher.

Brin had been worried that with her timid personality, going to school would probably only result in her being bullied by those big carrot heads, especially the males.

"Didn't I write you a letter before telling you I was coming here? It's your fault for not replying to me!"

Yuna pointed angrily at the mailbox outside the door. The wooden mailbox was already completely stuffed with letters, to the point where the lid couldn't be closed properly,

"Look—the mailbox is overflowing! Just how busy do you have to be to not even have time to look at letters! Great Magician—"

"............Ugh!"

Brin was momentarily speechless,

She did indeed have a habit of not wanting to deal with letters when she got busy.

For Brin, work at hand was always the top priority, and she really didn't want to bother with anything else.

Alright, alright... let's just consider that Yuna had given her advance notice.

This round, she was at fault.

Brin admitted defeat and changed her approach:

"What business do you have here, Teacher Yuna?"

"Oh my, don't you know?"

Yuna exaggeratedly covered her mouth, her eyes twinkling with amusement as she looked at Brin.

"Don't keep me in suspense, just say it quickly..."

"Alright... For your sake, Brin, I'll tell you—Emerald Star is going to have an exchange meeting with Hana—I'm one of the invited guests! Since I rarely come to the royal capital... I stopped by your place, and it turned out to be a complete mess!"

As she spoke, Yuna helplessly wrung out the cleaning cloth and put it back in its place,

"Brin... If you go on like this, you'll never get married."

Yuna looked at Brin with worried eyes,

This level of concern was almost comparable to her own mother.

"...You're meddling too much!"

Brin took off her dark magician's robe, revealing the traditional dwarf clothing underneath,

It was a plain-colored long dress, with some cute decorations sewn with silk thread at the bottom,

Seeing this familiar outfit, Yuna's eyes immediately lit up.

"Ah... So you still have this dress~~"

Seeing this familiar outfit, Yuna's eyes suddenly became sparkling. She trotted over to Brin, the previous topic completely forgotten.

"It's so nostalgic... We picked this dress together before, right?"

She couldn't help but reach out to touch the hem of Brin's dress,

"...Don't lift people's skirts!!"

"Sorry, I just felt so nostalgic... I couldn't help it."

She stuck out her tongue and released the hem of the dress.

Brin felt quite helpless, why did this girl only have such a good memory for these things?

But since she hadn't grown much taller, most of her old clothes could still be worn, which was quite convenient.

"Although I'm happy to see you still wearing the clothes I chose for you... you should buy some new clothes occasionally."

"No, it's too troublesome."

"If you go on like this, you won't have any luck with the opposite sex..."

"Hmph, I think being alone is just fine."

Brin spread her hands and shrugged her shoulders.

Besides, she didn't want to date anyway.

For Brin, the world of magic was already fascinating enough.

Ever since becoming the Vice President of the "Myriad Leaves Gold", she had countless things to do every morning when she opened her eyes, and research topics came one after another. With this lifestyle, there was simply no time to spare for another person.

"Brin, it's such a pity to think that way..."

Yuna sighed and shook her head repeatedly after hearing this,

"Dating is supposed to be a wonderful thing, you know? Looking on the bright side, it might even bring some inspiration to your magic research at the 'Myriad Leaves Gold'—"

"I don't need that kind of inspiration!! You're not married either, are you??"

Brin retorted angrily, her face red,

"But I'm younger than you."

"Not by much!!"

"Hehe, that's true."

The age difference between them was 3 years, which would be just right if they were to be marriage partners.

Seeing this nostalgic scene, Yuna smiled even more happily,

"But still... For Brin, rather than someone you need to take care of, you need someone to take care of you, right?"

Yuna looked at her friend, half-jokingly saying:

"How about... if after a few more years, neither of us is married, we live together?"

As if making a joke, Yuna smilingly extended an invitation to Brin, who felt her heart skip a few beats.

"...Are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking? I've always been quite serious, you know?"

"Then..."

Brin wanted to confirm her meaning, but the other party stood up,

"Ah, we've talked so much, I feel thirsty... Do you have anything to drink tea with?"

She acted completely at home, moving around as if she were in her own house,

Then she found the tea set she had given Brin a few years ago when she moved, on the top shelf of the cupboard.

"Isn't this the one I gave you before? How mean! You haven't used it at all..."

"...I use it occasionally."

"Liar! It's all dusty!"

"Then it's okay to use it today, right?"

Brin helplessly waved her staff, using wind elements to lift the tea set, then brought over the tea bags placed nearby.

"...This gold-stamped mark, isn't this the tea that only nobles drink? It must be quite expensive, right? Don't you have something more ordinary..."

Yuna's hesitant expression of 'Is it really okay for me to drink such expensive tea?' made Brin frown.

This is exactly what irritated her...

This person is not young anymore, how can she still act like a country girl from a small village?

It's because there are too many people like her that dwarves are seen as bumpkins.

"Just drink it... It's not like I can't afford it."

As a titled Grand Magician earning a considerable salary every month, this level of luxury should be quite normal, right?

If she were to reveal her current income, Yuna would probably be shocked.

At this moment, Yuna was intently watching Brin make tea.

"Your tea-making skills have improved a lot... You used to be quite clumsy."

"That was in the past!"

Brin felt somewhat helpless, but her hands didn't stop straining the tea,

"...Even I have times when I need to make tea for guests."

"A place like this that's like a pile of books actually has guests?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well then, I'll help myself—"

Yuna picked up the teacup.

The amber liquid in the white porcelain cup was emitting wisps of steam.

This tea set was made according to dwarf standards.

Standard tableware is still too large for dwarves, so whenever possible, dwarves would custom order smaller items for their own use.

"This tea set is so cute, it's a pity to just leave it... I hope you can use it often."

The white porcelain cups, with beautiful gold-stamped edges and cute spiral cloud patterns on the handles, were indeed quite pretty.

"Mm..."

Brin absent-mindedly replied, her gaze wandering to the mist-covered scene before her eyes.

...It suits her quite well.

It doesn't really match a gloomy person like myself.

Because I cherished it too much to use, I put it in a visible place as a decoration.

"...It's delicious!"

After just one sip, she let out an exaggerated exclamation of praise.

"Expensive tea really is different, it's so fragrant—"

"Can you really tell the difference? I can't."

"I can tell—this is the taste of money!"

"Are you a miser..."

Being in the same space with her seemed to have a special magic that made one feel at ease. The tense expression on Brin's face finally relaxed.

However, speaking of money... there was another task that needed to be settled.

⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱

"Not bad for a first mission."

Yvonne looked at the heavy money pouch in her hand, feeling the weight of money for the first time.

"Is this really okay... We didn't do anything special... yet we're given so much?"

She suspected there might be some problem with the mission reward.

"What you do doesn't matter, I didn't expect you to do anything significant."

"............"

She really doesn't mince words.

"By the way, during your time working here, have you noticed anything unusual?"