I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain

One day, a temple carriage arrived at the Duke of Hyrad.

 

“I heard the High Priest is visiting in person?”

 

“What’s going on?”

 

All the Duke’s servants whispered to each other when they saw the white-bearded high priest.

 

The high priest who used a cane to walk was led to the Duchess’s office.

 

All the work of the duke since the Duke of Hyrad went to the battlefield was being watched by Ella.

 

“Everyone, get out.”

 

Ella greeted the high priest with courtesy and then gave orders to her servants.

 

“It seems that the high priest has something to say.”

 

The servants hesitated and slowly backed away.

 

So Ella and the High Priest were left alone in the office. 

 

“High priest.”

 

As soon as all the servants left, the first one to speak was Ella.

 

“The contents of the letter you sent this morning…Is it true?”

 

At Ella’s cautious words, the high priest nodded.

 

“Unfortunately, yes.”

 

The high priest sat up straight and spoke.

 

“The new divine beast we sent to Duke Hyrad’s mansion is confirmed to not have any calming abilities.”

 

Ella groaned and placed her hand on her forehead.

 

In fact, things like the divine beast’s abilities weren’t important.

 

It had been bought at great expense to show off to others that Tezen had the qualities of a wizard.

 

The bigger problem was that the fact that Tezen was not a wizard was revealed because the fact that the divine beast had no abilities was known.

 

Normally, I would have been angry at the incompetence of the temple, but there was something more urgent.

 

“Who knows about this?”

 

“Nobody knows. Of course, that was information the Temple would like to keep secret.” 

 

“Well, that’s the end of the story then.”

 

Ella answered coldly.

 

“Let’s keep it a secret since it would be bad information if it were to be known to others.”

 

“That’s true too, but….”

 

The high priest opened his eyes slowly and spoke with a kind face.

 

“We can’t keep it a secret forever, can we? The wizard might come by unexpectedly and want to check its calming abilities…”

 

“Then what are you suggesting we do? This is the Temple’s 29 responsibility anyway, I bought it because I trust you.”

 

“I’m sorry about that.”

 

Despite Ella’s nervous words, the high priest responded quickly, as if he was not at all offended.

 

“Please return that divine beast to the temple. Saying it is sick. We’ll take care of it after that.”

 

Ella’s eyes widened at the words of the high priest.

 

“Return it to the temple…?”

 

“I’ll pay you double the price you paid. Will that satisfy you?”

 

The high priest spoke leisurely, but inside he was swallowing his anxiety.

 

It was because, upon urgent investigation, it was discovered that the Duchess of Medes and her daughter had visited the Duke of Hyrad’s residence.

 

It was the same as any friendly event held by a noble family, but he was concerned about the situation.

 

‘Unless something special happened, I don’t think he would show off his skills at a dinner table.’

 

“Double…”

 

To be honest, it wasn’t a bad suggestion for Ella.

 

Anyway, the divine beast was like an expensive accessory to Tezen.

 

It wasn’t a big deal to say that it was sick, sent it to the temple, and then died.

 

“The pain of Tezen…I’ll send you a potion that might help. It’s not a permanent solution, but there are some potions that wizards who can’t afford to pay for divine beasts often buy.”

 

“Oh, really?”

 

“Yes. Duke Hyrad, who is currently in the war, also has bought quite a lot.”

 

That was pretty good too.

 

It’s like spreading a rumor in the temple that there is a wizard in the Hyrad Duke’s mansion who needs a potion.

 

Even the Duke of Hyrad had bought it, so it was perfect for saying things like, ‘I guess Tezen takes after his father a lot. He ended up taking the same potion.’ 

 

Ella was about to nod, but then she momentarily stopped.

 

‘Double the money…Of course, it was an attractive offer, but it was really rare to find a weak point in a temple.’

 

‘Is there anything more important than money? It seems like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.’

 

In fact, these days, Ella has been really annoyed by Yohan.

 

This is because Yohan, whose complexion had been growing paler with each passing day, seemed to have gotten healthier recently.

 

According to his doctor, although he is pretending to be weak, he certainly seems to have gained weight and improved his metabolism.

 

It seems like Tezen is neglecting his divine beast, and that squirrel keeps climbing up high places based on instinct. 

 

Ella wonders if that squirrel sometimes goes to the tower to meet Yohan.

 

‘I was already feeling uneasy and was thinking about keeping it, but in some ways, it was a good opportunity.’

 

“Rather than money…”

 

Ella looked at the high priest and spoke slowly.

 

“I heard that there is a potion in the temple that can turn people into puppets without leaving a trace.”

 

‘Oh my god.’

 

The squirrel, who had been eavesdropping on the conversation between Ella and High Priest, gripped the tree branch tightly in shock.

 

This afternoon, The squirrel was hiding in a tree near Ella’s office when a carriage came from the temple.

 

The branch the squirrel was sitting on was a spot that it had found after wandering around for a month.

 

The squirrel could hear all the conversations coming from the office, but it was a blind spot, so it was not noticeable.

 

‘Something’s wrong. I’m in danger.’

 

‘The Priest was lying now.’

 

* * * 

 

He said he wanted to take me away, saying I was a divine beast who didn’t have the ability to calm down, but my ability to calm down was actually quite excellent.

 

Looking at the condition of Yohan and I, who were together every night, there was no room for doubt.

 

‘You’re trying to take me away by lying like that.…’

 

In the original story, I had quietly disappeared.

 

So, if things were as they were, it seemed like my ending would have been to just ask for double the amount of money and be dragged to the temple.

 

And I must have disappeared without anyone knowing. I never appeared in the original story again.

 

It seems like my ending is just being dragged to the temple after the temple gives Ella double the money.

 

‘This is definitely not a good sign.’ 

 

The high priest had a friendly expression and always had a smile on his face. But I just hated him. It was an instinctive feeling.

 

The air in the temple was unpleasant and a strange sense of rejection welled up in me.

 

By the time I realized I was possessed, I had already been sold to Ella.

 

My memory of the temple was vague, but I still instinctively felt that I shouldn’t go there.

 

‘I must follow the instincts of the divine beast!’

 

And there was one part that was different from the original story. Ella tried to hurt Yohan.

 

‘Originally, she just kept him carelessly on the top of the tower.’

 

‘The kind of secret potion….I knew what secret potion she was talking about.

 

Later, it was a potion that the villain Yohan obtained by threatening the temple. It was in the future when he committed all kinds of crimes to obtain Mariel.

 

It was a vicious potion that broke a person’s ego and turned them into someone’s puppet, and it was perfect for crimes because it left no evidence.

 

A terrible poison that doesn’t kill people, but makes them live like puppets, without any sense of self or soul.

 

Naturally, the temple never allowed it to be used outside the temple.

 

However, by publicizing the development of such a potion, the temple wanted the public to think, “If you offend the temple, you’ll be killed….”

 

But the High Priest looked like he was going to hand it over to Ella.

 

‘They make such potions in the temple.…The temple is a bit strange.’

 

But the potion had a big special feature.

 

It was essential to keep it at a warm temperature until consumption.

 

This is also information that appears in the original story, and it becomes the opportunity for Yohan to get stabbed in the back by Mariel’s closest aide, whom he later made into a puppet.

 

So, if you have prior information, you can prevent it by not eating warm foods and only eating cold foods.

 

It was a bit strange to use the villain’s failure as an asset to save the current villain, but anyway, I was living my life, not the original story.

 

‘I just wanted to save the person I wanted to save.’

 

‘I don’t know if it’s because of me, but it doesn’t seem like Yohan is growing into a villain.’

 

‘In another month or so, he’ll be sent off to war anyway, and then we won’t have to worry about Ella’s schemes.’

 

Even if she was Ella, she couldn’t harm Yohan on the battlefield.

 

For Yohan, the battlefield was much safer.

 

‘If something happened that didn’t happen originally, it must be because I changed something in the original story.’

 

I calmed Yohan down every night and he got better.

 

What Ella hated the most was that Yohan was healthy. Perhaps it was because his complexion was too good at mealtime last time.

 

Anyway, this was a major crisis.

 

Ella was ready to hand me over to the high Priest right away. If I went to the temple, my safety would not be guaranteed.

 

‘I have to run away. I can’t stay here any longer.’

 

But as long as I had the seal of Hyrad engraved on my chest, I could not leave this mansion.

 

The story was that no matter how hard I ran and hid, I would be caught someday.

 

Ironically, that was also the reason I was able to move freely in the mansion until now.

 

‘The high priest will probably take me with him when he returns to the temple.…It’s an emergency.’ 

 

It was obvious that Ella would order them to find me right away.

 

There was no time.

 

After being lost in thought for a moment, I started running again and again.

 

The destination was the tower.

 * * *