The Villainess VTuber Rips People Apart-Chapter 151: The time of the wise

The Iris Duke’s Family

Once, it was the most influential family in the empire, but it was consumed by the gates and perished.

However, it’s unclear whether it was completely eradicated.

The Iris family possesses ancient magic meant to protect their territory. Though the family itself perished, leaving only one survivor, their land remained preserved by this ancient magic.

The spell, named Permafrost, freezes everything in its path.

It freezes the air, the ground, even life and time itself.

While the mansion, affected by the gate, wasn’t directly affected by Permafrost, the rest of the territory was completely frozen.

The time of the people also stopped. In essence, the entire region had fallen into cold sleep, making it easier to understand.

Thus, the Iris Duchy was enveloped by eternal winter. The Permafrost spell was not only meant to protect the people but also served as a seal for the mansion, which had turned into a dungeon.

Until the mansion dungeon is resolved, the time of the people will remain frozen, and the winter in the territory will never end.

Anyway, though the story got long...

"There are essentially two routes to the mansion."

Laura said so.

The first route is the direct path.

You enter the territory and move forward while battling fierce snowstorms. Along the way, you may encounter wandering monsters, and naturally, the distance is quite long. Still, you can walk there. Ordinary carriages would struggle, but magical carriages could manage.

The second route is a detour.

It exposes you to the snowstorm for a shorter time, and you’ll encounter fewer monsters. However, it comes with a deadly drawback: the terrain is extremely treacherous.

"And we’ll be taking the second route."

"I see! But where’s the route?"

Nalim asked.

Looking around, all she could see were snow-covered mountains.

The fierce snowstorm. The steep cliffs.

"Climbing a cliff is part of a Duke’s training, isn’t it?"

"Laura, just adding ‘part of a Duke’s training’ doesn’t mean everything is possible!"

Did she notice?

Most noble daughters wouldn’t be able to do this. But a Duke’s daughter is the pinnacle among noble daughters, isn’t she?

A Super Queen noblewoman should be able to do things other noble daughters can’t.

So Laura justified it to herself.

By now, it was clear that Laura was simply used to survival situations.

"Just watch me."

Laura began climbing the cliff.

Using bolts called Volts that were hammered into the wall.

Laura was equipped with a rope, and by connecting it to the bolts, she ensured that if she slipped and fell, the rope would prevent her from falling too far, or even if the bolts were pulled out, it would reduce the fall's impact.

This was a very important survival technique, but of course, the bolts’ efficacy wouldn’t need to be tested. Neither Laura nor Nalim would fall to the bottom.

"This is how it’s done."

"I never thought I’d be climbing a cliff in my life."

"Life is full of surprises, don’t you think?"

Nalim was perplexed, but she started climbing the cliff too.

She bought the climbing equipment with all the gold she’d saved up. It wasn’t a small amount, but if it allowed her to reach the Iris Duke’s mansion faster, it’d be worth it.

Climbing the cliff was incredibly difficult, but Nalim followed Laura up, step by step.

Though Laura could have climbed to the top and simply pulled Nalim up, Nalim had to secure her own position. If Laura slipped, Nalim needed to hold onto the rope to prevent Laura from falling to the ground.

And if Nalim slipped instead, Laura would support her from above, ensuring her survival.

In other words, they were both holding onto each other’s lifeline.

...Now that I think about it, this feels kind of romantic.

Nalim thought about this nonsense.

Anyway, she climbed to the top, albeit awkwardly, but safely.

Of course, being a beginner, she made some mistakes along the way, but Nalim quickly got used to it due to her good focus.

Climbing the mountain wasn’t as hard as she expected, and they quickly reached the mansion.

Laura just scaled the mansion’s exterior wall without hesitation.

"...You climbed the wall?"

"That’s right."

"We spent four hours getting here?"

"Isn’t that a bit inefficient?"

Then, they encountered Shina and the others.

Hearing the story, Shina was dumbfounded.

The journey to the mansion dungeon had been incredibly tough.

The snowstorm constantly obstructed their vision, monsters from the dungeon wandered around, and a new Cold Gauge kept draining their health.

After all that difficulty, they had barely reached the mansion dungeon.

And even after reaching it, there were still problems. The mansion’s structure was so complex that they kept getting lost. And monsters kept appearing in the hallways, causing their teammates to die, leaving only four of them.

But these two just skipped all that and climbed the wall?

"Haah. I see."

Shina nodded.

What was this feeling rising from deep inside her?

What else could it be?

It was the "Reality Check."

Shina felt a wave of frustration.

When they arrived at the checkpoint, they met familiar faces, but first, they took care of what needed to be done.

Nalim planted the flag she brought with her.

The flag bore the symbol of the Holy Church, a cross.

Similarly, Son Nalim planted the flag symbolizing the Academy.

System Message: Checkpoint has been updated.

A system message appeared.

According to the setup, these flags acted as warp portals.

The flag Nalim brought connected to the Holy Church headquarters, and Son Nalim’s flag connected to the Academy’s Occult Research Department.

Now, they could travel to the village through this flag, and likewise, they could instantly reach the Duke’s mansion from the village.

"Look! That person is climbing the wall with bare hands!"

While Nalim and Son Nalim were updating the checkpoint, Anna started throwing a tantrum.

"This is not a fight we can win!"

"Be quiet, Anna."

"Aaah?!"

Nalim grabbed Anna’s head and pressed it down.

"If you keep spouting off negative things to your teammates, who’s going to think well of you? Pay more attention to the surroundings."

Nalim said.

Surprisingly, Anna seemed to have gotten somewhat close to the Cerberus team members. Seeing her throw such a tantrum, it was clear.

Vincent, too, just looked at Anna with an exasperated face. He didn’t seem particularly angry. I wonder what Anna did to get treated like this by the Cerberus team?

But even if Vincent and the others didn’t mind, the viewers might start disliking Anna.

"Got it, Anna?"

"Ah, I’m sorry..."

"What is this... Are you mother and daughter now?"

Vincent asked incredulously, seeing Anna apologize.

Even Aina called me Mom, but now Anna was getting treated that way?

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having a daughter, even if there’s no big age gap.

But I couldn't help but think, Anna was practically at the same level as a cat.

Mero had already become my toy by default, and Anna wasn’t much different.

In fact, she seemed to be becoming more and more hopeless since we first met. What will Anna turn into in the future?

"This is the first time we’re having this kind of conversation, Vincent Edward."

"...Sir?"

"Oh, my apologies. I didn't mean to."

I covered my mouth and said.

Vincent seemed to be the team leader in Cerberus, and for some reason, with his Western-style name, it made me want to address him with a formal title.

"Oh, I see, you were the villainess after all."

Vincent seemed to accept the comment without much issue. It seemed like he took it as roleplay.

"Anna has committed a social faux pas. Is she doing well in Cerberus?"

"She’s a bit childish, but she’s been doing alright... By the way, I thought you were supposed to be a junior?"

"What’s the big deal about seniority?"

I looked around as I said that.

Vincent and Anna.

Mashina and Eleonora.

Members of different teams were gathered together.

"You all look tired. Were you planning to call it a day soon?"

"...We were thinking of just finding the bodies of our fallen teammates and then ending it."

"I see. We’ve only just started broadcasting, so we plan to keep exploring the dungeon now."

"...Is that so?"

"If we find your teammates’ bodies, we’ll let you know. Let’s go, Nalim."

I gave Nalim a nod.

She immediately ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) followed me.

"Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"Looks like that team has joined forces."

Nalim must’ve noticed too. As soon as we entered the dungeon, she said that.

"They’re probably trying to catch up with Leviathan."

"I guess so."

I agreed.

Based on Anna’s earlier words and just seeing them gather together, it was obvious they had formed an alliance.

"But it’s not a very great strategy."

"Really?"

"Think about it."

There were 3 members of Behemoth and 4 members of Cerberus, totaling 7 people. If they brought in 1,000 gold, how would they divide it?

If they dumped all the gold onto one team, the situation would be different, but in the end, only one team could carve the prime steak. So, they would have to divide the gold somehow, like 3:4.

"So, they won’t dramatically narrow the gap."

Of course, this doesn’t mean the alliance has no advantages.

Behemoth, who would’ve had to explore with 3 members, is now exploring with 7, having joined forces with Cerberus.

So, they’ll be able to explore deeper and possibly get more expensive items. Plus, with more people, they can handle a variety of monsters and situations better.

In essence, it’s more about ensuring safety than earning more gold.

That alone might make the alliance seem appealing.

But there’s one fatal flaw.

"I see... I understand."

It seemed like Nalim got what I was trying to say.

I nodded.

"We can hit them hard if we find their bodies first and demand gold if they want us to revive them."

"They’re sticking together, so if we intentionally pull monster aggro and make them all die together, they’ll take the worst damage, right?"

"...Hmm..."

I hadn’t said that part, but it was a possible strategy.

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[Excuse me, but doing that will burn you.]

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[Even the villainess is left speechless by this absurd strategy, LOL.]