Please Bully Me, Miss Villainess!

Chapter 249 : Seeking and Hiding 3

It's said that regret is the most meaningless thing in the world.

Yet people always agonize and repent repeatedly over things they cannot rectify.

Recently, memories of past events keep surfacing. Is it because of carrying this diary?

By firelight, Elsa caressed the worn and aged cover of the book, her thoughts interrupted by a voice behind her:

"Magic user, my lady, everything has been arranged according to your instructions."

"Yes, I understand."

Elsa had spent time crafting some simple dispersal magic runes, explaining their use to the villagers and instructing them on proper placement.

This would provide some protective effect.

However, once the runes' magical power is depleted, they will become ineffective. So the problem must be solved at its root before then.

As night fell, milky white mist spread at the foot of the mountain.

This seemed to be one of the swift wind dragons' advanced skills: utilizing wind and water elements from the forest to create a favorable environment for themselves.

"As I mentioned earlier, these creatures are very cunning. They might burst out of the thick fog at any moment... Magic user, my lady, I think it's best we don't act rashly."

"Then you don't need to follow me. I'll go alone."

Elsa had originally intended to leave Bebe in a safe area, but like before, the little one refused to leave her side.

"I can help too!"

"You little troublemaker, it'd be good enough if you don't cause me problems."

"I'm not causing trouble! Bebe has always been helpful~!"

"Alright, alright, just stay quiet later, and that'll be helping me, okay?"

"Uuu—!!"

Bebe's little face puffed up with anger.

Hmph! Mama Elsa always brushes her off like this. It seems next time she'll have to tell ?? about it!

Huh...

Just now... who was it she wanted to tell?

Bebe vaguely recalled someone's silhouette in her mind, but couldn't quite remember who it was.

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

Hwoah—

Occasionally, roars could be heard from not far away, sometimes near, sometimes distant, their location unpredictable.

To be honest, Elsa also felt somewhat hesitant.

If it really was Sphinx, she didn't want to harm its life.

Even though it was now just an unrelated magical beast dragon to her, despite understanding this, she still couldn't bear to—After all, Sphinx had been through many storms with her and Yvonne. In several crises, it was thanks to Sphinx that they were able to escape with their lives.

If possible, Elsa still wanted to resolve the issue in a more appropriate manner.

In the darkness, perched atop her head, Bebe's pupils contracted then dilated, her ears turning this way and that, seemingly capturing those faint sounds.

What might appear pitch black to humans was a different scene in this child's eyes.

In this environment, the beastkin's keen senses and powerful night vision abilities came into play.

"How is it, Bebe? Have you found anything?"

"Hmm... There's a strange smell..."

"Is it the burning smell coming from behind?"

At the foot of the mountain, the villagers were lighting torches mixed with shapeshifter bird feathers and beast oil as Elsa had instructed, a smell of scorched stench drifting on the wind.

Shapeshifter birds themselves don't have very strong offensive capabilities, nor strong magical power. In terms of strength, they're considered relatively weak among magical beasts.

But the reason these birds have managed to survive in the food chain of magical beasts where the strong prey on the weak is naturally because they have their own unique skills—

As their name suggests, shapeshifter birds can mimic the calls of many magical beasts, and even their scents. The similarity is so high that sometimes even experienced magical beast hunters are fooled.

And what they most often imitate is the natural enemy of the dragon subspecies—the Garuda.

No matter how intelligent, swift wind dragons are still magical beasts. Smelling the scent of their natural enemy would instinctively make them keep their distance.

But Bebe shook her head, indicating it wasn't this smell.

"It's not that... It's probably coming from that direction. I think it should be the dragon's smell."

As she spoke, she pointed her little hand towards the depths of the misty forest.

This child could distinguish a unique scent from among dozens of complex smells. This ability was discovered when Yvonne and Elsa were researching perfumes.

At that time, a clumsy maid accidentally mixed many kinds of spices together, and they couldn't find the formula for the carefully blended perfume.

Just when they were at a loss and about to start over, it was thanks to this child's help that they found it.

That's right! Why hadn't she thought of it?

Elsa excitedly picked up her daughter. The little one might really be able to help!

"Here, smell this. Is it this scent?"

Elsa took out the silver scale given to her by the hunter and held it in front of Bebe.

"Hmph~ You just said Bebe only causes trouble."

Crossing her little arms, the little one started to put on airs. This girl was really getting more and more clever.

"Mama underestimated you... Our Bebe is super capable. If you help with this, I'll make you cloud cake when we get back, okay?"

"Yay~ It's a promise, no going back on your word~"

Fortunately, this little glutton could be dealt with using sweets...

Holding the broken scale, Bebe leaned in and sniffed.

"Hmm... The smell is a bit like what drifted over earlier... but it seems a bit different?"

"Different?"

"I think it might be brothers or sisters or something. Family members have similar smells~ Bebe and Mama have similar smells too~"

"...Is that so?"

Elsa dubiously lifted her clothes and sniffed, but couldn't smell anything.

"Huff... hah... Are we not there yet?"

Leaning on a picked-up tree branch, Elsa felt her legs could no longer exert any strength.

Physical stamina had always been her weakness.

Usually, she had transportation for outings, and most other chores could be solved with magic... Unknowingly, her stamina had become very weak.

Without Yvonne around, she really hadn't been exercising properly.

Before, Yvonne would supervise her daily running and exercise. Now, this body's physical fitness seemed even weaker than before.

"We're almost there! Mama, hang in there—"

Bebe, on the other hand, had endless energy, always running ahead of Elsa.

"Wow, it's so beautiful here—"

"Don't run too far... It's dangerous!"

After climbing up, Elsa looked up, panting, and realized she had arrived at quite an extraordinary place.

"...There's actually a place like this?"

She stared blankly at the scene before her.

It was like a fairyland from the storybooks she read as a child.

Water was gurgling from springs between rock crevices, forming a natural pool around the springs. Lush plants grew around it, with magical lantern grass forming long strands hanging low by the poolside. As the wind blew, the floating pollen emitted a faint glow, reflecting on the water surface like countless flowing stars rising.

Many small magical beasts were gathered around the springs, drinking water by the poolside. Hearing movement, they all scurried back into the darkness.

Elsa cautiously approached the spring. She crouched down, cupped her hands to scoop up some spring water, and took a small sip. Immediately, she felt refreshed, the fatigue in her body swept away.

The spring water here had some recovery effects.

It seemed that the mountain's ley lines contained powerful magical energy, which had seeped into the spring water.

No wonder the magical beasts here were so powerful. It must be due to this spring water.

Wait a minute... If that's the case...

After witnessing the spring water's revitalizing effects, Elsa vaguely felt something was amiss.

Logically, with such powerful spring water, even if the magical beasts on this mountain were injured, they should be able to heal through the spring water.

Especially for dragons with excellent self-healing abilities.

It shouldn't be necessary to hunt down a village of humans just for being shot by an arrow...

The more she thought about it, the more it seemed off. Elsa stared at her reflection in the pool, lost in thought.

"Mama, Mama—Come quick, over here!!"

"...Wait??"

Little hands tightly gripping Elsa's sleeve, Bebe stubbornly tried to pull her over.

"Wait a moment... What exactly do you want to show me?"

Confused, she was pulled around the spring rocks, and then Elsa witnessed a scene that left her dumbfounded.

"This is..."

A silver-white dragon—

More accurately, it should be a hatchling less than a year old.

At this moment, it was curled up, soaking in the spring water with recovery effects. However, around its terrifying wounds where skin and flesh were torn, ominous black miasma was coiling.