The Villainous Me Turned the Losers into Blackened Bosses

—

Seton Town.

This town served as a transit hub for anyone entering the capital from the eastern side. If you wanted to reach the capital from the east, you had to pass through here.

Pevran’s team had departed from Yavik Town and reached Seton Town in about two days—thanks to their status as an Adventurer’s Guild-affiliated rescue team, which granted them certain privileges.

But...

Strangely enough, despite asking around, Pevran hadn’t heard any news about Will or Shuna passing through.

She speculated that they might have avoided taking a direct route here, instead choosing to detour through one of the many smaller towns near the capital. If they were trying to stay under the radar, there were at least five other towns they could have chosen as stopovers.

The frustrating part was...

As a transit hub, Seton Town was bustling with merchants, making it nearly impossible to find accommodations without a reservation.

Fortunately, they were able to stay at the Adventurer’s Guild.

However...

This particular Adventurer’s Guild was shabby and rundown—nothing like the well-maintained guilds in more prosperous regions.

The weather had turned colder as they traveled northward. To prevent anyone from catching a cold, Pevran had someone light the fireplace.

—

Late at night.

Eir sat by the fireplace, her tail swaying slightly as she stared into the flames.

Everyone else had fallen asleep where they could. After learning that her young master likely hadn’t taken the same route as them, Eir found herself unable to sleep—a rare occurrence for a “canine” hybrid known for good sleep quality.

“Speaking of which, isn’t it my young master who told me that canine hybrids tend to sleep well...” Eir murmured, her gray eyes reflecting the flickering firelight.

The flames reminded her of a story from her childhood...

A very distant memory—

Back then, Will’s dog, named “Three-Seven,” hadn’t yet passed away. Eir had just been assigned to Will’s side and was told that he had personally chosen her to be his personal maid. From now on, she was to obey his every command.

At the time, she didn’t know Will very well and was a little afraid of him. The other servants often described him as “eccentric.”

It was winter. Will stood in front of the fireplace, his back to the flames, looking at her.

But...

She was too scared to meet his gaze.

Though he appeared “friendly,” dressed neatly and cleanly like a proper young master of the Hysterm family...

“Don’t be scared. It’s so cold today... Hmm, did you just learn how to make tea? Alright then, your first task is to make me a cup of hot tea,” he said casually.

“Tea...?” Eir’s ears perked up. She had only recently learned how to speak and didn’t fully understand what he meant.

Especially since Will, despite being so young, spoke in such an oddly formal manner.

“Hmm, it’s this stuff,” he said, pointing at a cup.

“Okay.”

That was her first attempt at making tea. Her technique was terrible—so bad that even now, she couldn’t bear to think about it. The tea leaves weren’t properly filtered, the water temperature was wrong, and the result was a lukewarm, strange-tasting brew.

She nervously carried the tea back to him, terrified that this “eccentric” young master would fly into a rage and punish her. But she also felt resigned—after all, she had spent the first part of her life suffering in the forest. A beating wouldn’t be anything new for someone like her, a servant meant to be used and discarded.

If it was inevitable, then it might as well happen sooner rather than later.

When she returned, she saw Will sitting in a chair, reading a newspaper—a sight that surprised her. She had never seen a child around her age reading something meant for adults.

“Tea... ready...” she said timidly as she placed the cup in front of him. Then she quickly retreated to the fireplace in fear as he picked up the cup.

“Alright, let me try it...” Will said as he lifted the cup. He sniffed it briefly before frowning but still took a sip.

“This taste... sigh, as expected...”

“I-I-I’m sorry!” Eir blurted out before he could finish his sentence. She backed away until—

Until her tail accidentally touched the flames in the fireplace.

For beastfolk living in human society, one of the hardest things to manage was their tails. They often knocked things over without realizing it or got stepped on by others. And now...

Her tail had caught fire.

“Yip! Yip-yip-yip!” Eir yelped as she realized what had happened. The flames had already singed some of the fur at the tip of her tail and were beginning to burn toward her skin.

Panicking, she dropped the tray she was holding and tried to smother the flames with her hands, tears welling up in her eyes as she moved forward blindly.

Splash—

Suddenly, she felt a cool sensation on her burned tail.

Will had poured the entire cup of lukewarm tea over her tail.

Looking back on it now, it might have seemed like he was venting his frustration with the bad tea by dumping it on his maid.

But when Eir looked up at him for the first time—really looked at him—she saw his expression clearly.

He wasn’t angry. At that time, Eir couldn’t yet read facial expressions well. But with her keen sense of smell, she could detect his calm and slightly concerned emotions in the air around him.

He...

He truly was an “odd person.”

Always doing strange things with such peculiar expressions on his face.

“Sorry about that—your first cup of tea ended up being used like this. But honestly? It tasted just as bad as I expected,” he said with a sudden laugh—a genuine laugh that made him seem so carefree. He reached out and gently rubbed the tip of Eir’s ear, making her flinch in surprise.

“And you’re just as scared of me as I expected.”

“But don’t worry—we’ve got plenty of time to work on that.”

—

“Can’t sleep? Why are you sitting by the fire?” Pevran’s quiet voice pulled Eir out of her memories.

“I’m tired but can’t fall asleep...” Eir admitted softly.

“Still worried about your young master?”

“Mm...”

Pevran found it easy to guess what was on this little maid’s mind. Just looking at how Eir stared into the flames made it clear she was reminiscing about something important.

“You know,” Pevran began thoughtfully, “I’m really curious about this Will—Will Hysterm. He must be quite charming. Not just for you... but also for that princess posting missing person notices everywhere. Even Shuna—someone I thought was fiercely independent—seems to like him.”

Eir’s ears perked up immediately.

“Of course! That’s just how my young master is!”

“Shh... people are sleeping,” Pevran reminded her with a chuckle.

Eir quickly flattened her ears again.

“Maybe it’s because he’s strange but goal-oriented. He’s decisive and always seems to have everything planned out perfectly—it’s comforting,” Eir said quietly as she gently touched the collar around her neck.

She had gone through many collars over time, but each one had been personally given to her by Will. She treasured them all and secretly kept them hidden in her room—even though Will had told her to throw them away if they were no longer useful.

“For others, I can’t say. But for me... he has this power to change people. Following him step by step makes you realize your own progress and see a brighter future.”

“And when you look back—you’ve become a better version of yourself—but your trust and reliance on him only deepen.”

“The sense of security he brings... like he can foresee ‘fate’ and change its very foundation... it becomes something you can’t let go of...”

Eir spoke while absentmindedly stroking her collar. Her gaze remained fixed on the fireplace flames as if she were still lost in her memories.

“Oh? That’s surprising. I thought you’d describe him as ‘gentle’—a word I’ve heard too often used for charming scoundrels,” Pevran teased lightly.

“...My young master is gentle...” Eir began hesitantly before pausing to think. While Will did care for her after tough training sessions and provided her with excellent equipment and food...

Strictly speaking... throwing her into harsh training sessions—and occasionally hurling fireballs like Blazing Meteor at her—wasn’t exactly “gentle.”

“...Maybe not,” she admitted sheepishly.

“Interesting.” Pevran sat down beside her and removed the shawl draped over her shoulders.

“I think I can guess why Shuna follows him now.”

“It’s to harm my young master! That Shuna—with such a suspicious background—she definitely has ulterior motives!” Eir hissed quietly but firmly.

“Hmm... while I did tell you about Shuna’s mysterious identity, I don’t think she’d harm your young master.”

“I don’t believe it!”

“Let’s not argue about that,” Pevran said with a wave of her hand. “But don’t you think your young master has just as many questionable traits as Shuna?”

“Huh?”

Eir tilted her head in confusion.

She realized something then—she rarely interacted with people outside of Will’s circle. In fact, she almost never spoke with anyone who didn’t already know him.

This was...

Her first time “evaluating” Will.

To describe him through her perspective—to share what he meant to her with someone else.

“I’ve been a team leader for years now,” Pevran continued. “I’ve worked with plenty of teammates—or trainees—and let me tell you: changing yourself is hard enough. Changing others? That’s even harder.”

“That...”

This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.

“To change others means you understand them deeply. To predict events so accurately means you understand the future exceptionally well.”

“My young master often talks about ‘fate’ and such... but I always felt he was pessimistic about it,” Eir admitted softly.

“He... he always writes or flips through this red notebook but never lets us see what’s inside...”

“And he always seems to know when things will happen...”

As Eir spoke, she suddenly became aware of something unsettling.

“Fate... pessimism...”

“You see? Doesn’t he seem like someone who can see your ‘future’?” Pevran asked pointedly.

“...My young master would never harm me!”

“No, no—I’m not saying he would harm anyone. Just like Shuna hasn’t harmed anyone either.”

“...I think I understand what you mean now,” Eir murmured uncertainly. “But I can’t quite put it into words...”

She gazed into the flames again.

Perhaps because she had spent so much time by Will’s side—and thanks to her canine-like intuition—Eir could almost picture what state her young master might be in right now.

“You’re heading straight for the capital... aren’t you?” she whispered softly. “Because of this ‘fate’ you keep mentioning?”

Though Eir wasn’t particularly perceptive, even she could tell from his lack of letters—and from all those missing person notices—that Princess Treya must be going through a difficult time as well.

And so...

The Will Hysterm who knew “fate” and “the future”—the one who had changed all their lives—would surely go to “save” her.

Because that’s just who he was.

But...

Why...

Eir wrapped her tail around herself and gently stroked it.

Why did she feel...

Worried? And maybe even... slightly unhappy?