The Villainess doesn’t care about the main plot

Elven Hotel

When a stranger's hand appeared on the railing, Eliz became really scared and jumped back. Alarr wanted to move quickly to her, but he didn't make it before Eliz suddenly lifted her foot and stomped hard on the hand.

"Shoo, bastard!" Eliz attacks verbally as well.

"Vvvrrraau!" A cat's shriek rings out.

Eliz's eyes went wide when she heard it because she knew the sound, and she immediately darted to the rail again to grab the hand quickly.

She bent over the railing and grabbed Grash's hand which threatened to let go when Eliz might have crushed his fingers. "Are you an idiot? Why were you climbing the wall?" Eliz immediately starts cursing him.

Grash grimaced in pain. "Hehe. It wouldn't have been a problem if I fell!" He replied, and Eliz was once again stunned. She was already wanting to be stronger too so she wouldn't have to worry about falling. Normally, one would die from falling from a much lower height than this.

Alarr appeared beside her, reaching out and helping to pull Grash up before tossing him to the balcony floor. Eliz sighed, straightening up and folding her arms across her chest. "What were you thinking? And where is Fraril? Where have you both been?" She questioned.

Grash snuggled down on the ground. "That old dog has no adventurous spirit. He was walking up the stairs. He'll be here soon." He nodded. "We followed those two white-haired bastards. But it's probably better if Fraril tells you."

Eliz frowned. "Why don't you tell me?"

Grash shrugged. "I wasn't that smart. He'll tell you things more clearly."

Eliz rolled her eyes. "That's nonsense. Are you incapacitated? You're not an idiot just because other people tell you you're stupid. Do you have any self-respect at all?"

Grash stared at her, stunned. "You call me an idiot too!" He objected.

Eliz snorted. "Because you are."

Now Grash didn't understand and looked confused; even Alarr didn't understand what Eliz meant. It sounded like nonsense.

"Haaa..." Eliz let out a long sigh. "You're an idiot because you're doing stupid things. And your self-preservation instinct isn't who knows how high either. But it doesn't mean you have low intelligence. So don't think of yourself as stupid." She turned and went inside.

Grash scratched behind his ear, thinking about it. So he's stupid, but he's not stupid at the same time? What does that mean?

Alarr looked at Grash and snorted. "I guess it was flattery. Take it for what it is. She was worried, so be grateful." He followed Eliz into her room, wanting to wait for Fraril and find out what happened then.

Grash sat there a moment longer, but when he heard a knock on the door, he crept in and retreated to a corner.

Eliz opened the door, and Fraril walked in. "Good evening, Eliz. Sorry to interrupt so late," he apologized and glanced at Alarr, then noticed Grash.

He shook his head but made no comment and turned to Eliz, who didn't look particularly pleased. "I hope you found out something relevant since you've disappeared for so long," Eliz criticized.

"Basically," Fraril replied, sitting down on the only available chair. Eliz remained standing and waited.

Fraril then began to tell what they had found and seen. Naturally, he left out unimportant details and cut the whole narrative short. Eliz listened and nodded occasionally before remaining thoughtful. She hadn't heard, or rather read, about either of the siblings. They didn't appear in the story she knew either. Creating puppets so similar to living beings and controlling them sounded very powerful.

She compared it to what she already knew and guessed that they were the ones who poisoned Shannon and probably kept her rot running. Most likely, they had planted one of their puppets near Shannon. Interesting that she didn't reveal it. Were the puppets that well-made, or was she unable to verify that?

"Do you think there'll be any more problems with them?" Eliz asked Fraril's opinion.

He nodded. "Definitely. After all, they cracked down on us as soon as we got into the city. We know about them now too, so they certainly won't leave us alone. Getting to the World Tree will probably be even more difficult."

Eliz sighed. "As if it wasn't complicated enough already! Ah. All right. Let me think." Eliz put her fingers to her temples and closed her eyes as she thought.

Should they do something against them? Should they go after them and get rid of them first before going after Shannon? How many puppets would stand in their way as they tried to get to Shannon? Have they taken on any important roles? They might as well try to murder them in their sleep. How much trouble would it be to pretend to be employees and take the spare room key?

Eliz had no desire for any more late-night murderous visitors. She could report it to Olliena and leave it up to them. It worked the same way with Selene. But Eliz must have hesitated because she remembered Ollien's potential. She had a hunch that if she let Olliena do it, she would become a Lucian Destroyer.

Should she care? Since when was it her concern? The High Elves had been nothing but very annoying and irritating so far. In the end, the only thing that was really important here was the World Tree, which kept some sort of order on the continent. The Elves are secondary.

Eliz opened her eyes because she had made up her mind. "We'll tell Olliena tomorrow, but otherwise, let's not worry about it," she finally replied.

She surprised everyone, but not so much anymore. They were starting to get used to the fact that Eliz's actions were a bit different than expected. Fraril chuckled. "So we're going to let them get away with it?"

Eliz scratched her cheek and shrugged. "Let the elves take care of their own problems. I'm only here for the World Tree. It's not like it's our fault the Dark Mages moved into their city. They may have tried to harass me, but I really have no desire to deal with them."

Alarr jerked his shoulders slightly. "And the elves?"

"What about them?" Eliz looked at him.

"If they've already taken any high positions with their puppets, they could do a lot of damage," Alarr pointed out, and Eliz nodded in response.

"Yes, they could. Actually, they could be the downfall of this place. But like I said, it's not our concern. What's going on Alarr? Since when did you get a hero complex?" Eliz tilted her head questioningly.

Alarr looked away. "I don't. I was just making sure you were aware of it."

Eliz snorted and waved her hand. "Of course. Really, we're not here to play hero either. This is a one-time job. Let's not mix feelings or morals into this."

The others couldn't say anything to this, so Eliz decided to break up the meeting. "We're going to rest. But we have to keep watch eventually. I have no desire for a hostile night visit."

They started to organize it so everyone could rest. Grash, who had been in the corner the whole time, jerked and looked around. He scratched the back of his neck. He must have fallen asleep because he didn't remember anything since Fraril walked in.

---

Next day

Nothing happened overnight, even though Eliz didn't expect it. In the morning, they left the hotel only to find a stern-faced Olliena waiting for them, so Eliz didn't hesitate to report the presence of the Dark Mages to her.

Olliena had her doubts, but as someone in charge of the city's security, she had to investigate. So she ordered them to wait and left, only to have a rather nervous green-haired Peterik show up half an hour later.

Instead of Olliena, he became their guide and watcher. Eliz definitely preferred the presence of the cute and soft elf to the cold atmosphere of the captain.

So Peterik finally took them to the mansion where the leaders of the city were located.

They had to re-board the gondola that had taken them most of the way, but it still took another half hour and then a bit of travel before they reached their destination after less than an hour.

Eliz glanced up at the building, which looked like an old cathedral of stone and greenery. The windows were large and narrow with multicolored stained glass windows; there were even towers at the top, and greenery was everywhere, only nothing grew near the top of the building.

Eliz stopped looking at the building and moved forward. At the large door, Peterik was already talking to the elven guards who were keeping watch.

Luckily, they had no problem getting in, so they walked into the great hall. Eliz shivered a little, as it was even colder in here than outside thanks to all the stone.

Eliz looked around and saw that there was a long reception area in the front with several receptionists; behind them was a staircase that led to a round platform. Eliz looked up and realized that the space above them was empty; she couldn't see any stairs. All that was up there were balconies with railings and doors in the wall. It repeated like this on every floor.

Just as Eliz was wondering how the elves were getting up or down, there was a noise, and she felt a slight tremor from her feet.

The stone platform behind the reception desk suddenly began to rise up. Below it was a root at least two meters thick, which carried the platform upwards as it grew in height. The platform stopped at the third floor, and Eliz saw an elf walk out the door, step onto the platform, and then it carried him even higher.

"Oh... The magic elevator. Neat," Eliz muttered to herself, quite impressed. Seeing it was a whole different thing than just reading about such things.

She walked over to the front desk, where once again Peterik was explaining the situation to the receptionist, who gave Eliz's group an annoyed look. Eliz was very tempted to give her the raised middle finger. What are you looking at, huh?

As Eliz got closer, she perked her ears because the two were speaking in Elvish.

"Just tell them they're rejected," said the receptionist in Elvish, looking unapproachable.

Peterik sighed. "I'd like to. But it's an order from the Commander for me to escort them here. They're quite a troublesome group."

"What, and that's a reason to bother the elders? Don't be ridiculous. Just throw them out. If they don't get what they want, they'll leave," the receptionist obviously didn't want to deal with this.

Peterik looked unhappy and apologetic. "It's not that simple! You should have seen the scene they made! They're not that easy to handle!"

The receptionist gave Eliz and the group a disdainful look before looking away and snorting. "If you guys can't handle it, use the royal guards."

Eliz was quite clear on what was going on. A arrogant receptionist, and unfortunately, Peterik wasn't exactly the right person to be discussing with such a person. He was too submissive.

The only one who could match the arrogant evil woman was an even more evil and arrogant woman.

Eliz walked up to the reception desk next to Peterik. "Hello," she greeted Eliz.

The elf woman ignored her and kept talking to Peterik. Eliz somehow expected a similar result. However, she was prepared for it.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

She started pounding on the reception desk with her clenched fist. "Hey! Hey! Hey!" She also started yelling at her while she was hitting the reception desk with her hand, and with her other hand, she started snapping her fingers in front of the elf woman's face.

The receptionist couldn't ignore this and looked at Eliz rather stunned. Peterik turned his head towards Eliz and looked terrified. "Miss Steel Magnolia..." He raised his hands and tried to calm Eliz down, but Eliz didn't take her eyes off the arrogant receptionist.

"Huh? Do you sense me now? Huh? Announce our arrival to the elders. Now," Eliz ordered.

The receptionist frowned, and her smug look returned. "That won't be possible. You don't even have an appointment..." She started, but Eliz cut her off.

"Shut up, I'm not here to listen to your bullshit. Announce us."

"What? You..."

"You still have something to say? I thought I told you to shut up and do the job you're paid to do," Eliz wouldn't let her talk.

"I'm definitely not going to let a person without class..." The receptionist was getting red in the face with anger.

"I'm Elizabeth Von Roseblood. Daughter of the Duke Von Roseblood. You know, one of the few dukes our kingdom has. Who doesn't have class, then? Huh? Do you feel a lowly elf like you has a higher status than a duke? Are you trying to insult the Duke's entire family? Do you have the guts to cause such an incident? Be sure to report to my father how badly the elves here treat the nobles."

"Eeeh? Miss Steel Magnolia?" Peterik was surprised when Eliz suddenly introduced herself by a completely different name, but Eliz ignored him and continued to give the receptionist a haughty look.

The receptionist gave Eliz an angry look, but said nothing more. Maybe not many humans lived in their town, but the elves still had their business in the outside world, be it trade or political. And whether the receptionist liked it or not, she really couldn't afford to cause an incident. She was just an employee.

"One moment," she finally gritted her teeth heavily before rising to her feet and making her way to the platform she'd waited to go down to before going up to discuss the whole thing with the elders.

Eliz dusted her hands off contentedly and winked at Peterik. "That's the way to do it. You have to show the poisonous cow who's boss."

Peterik glared at her, then let out a long sigh. "Lady Steel... no... Lady Roseblood? I don't know what impression you'll give with this, though," he objected, and Eliz heard someone in her group clear their throat in amusement behind her and another snort.

Eliz stuck out her chest, which she smacked proudly. "I don't give a damn what impression I make. As long as I get my way. It's unhealthy for my mental health to constantly worry about who thinks what of me. You should try it sometime. Very satisfying feeling."

Peterik stared at her, and then his face fell as he sighed again. "I don't think I could do that. I'm not courageous enough for that sort of thing."

Eliz shook her head. "It has nothing to do with courage. But it's more about mindset. It's fine to get along with everyone and have good relationships, but you should never put others before yourself. After all, are you living for yourself or for others? If someone is mean to you, you just have to be twice as mean to them."

Peterik could only be amazed at how someone could think that way. And he hadn't expected to hear anything with any real depth from someone who behaved so unreasonably.

He also wondered why this lady had introduced herself by another name in the first place?