Rogue Villain-Chapter 407: Don’t Mind

Anatol smiled as she met Ackster’s eyes.

"I don’t mind. I’m very patient, what with having spent an eternity as a sword and all."

Ackster nodded

"That’s a relief. It would suck to have to fight you as soon as I woke up."

"Can’t admit you’re afraid you’d lose?" Anatol smirked.

Ackster shook his head. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Nope. It would be a shame to have to destroy such a good sword."

Anatol’s face stiffened. That hadn’t gone as well as she thought.

"Is that all? You don’t want to lose your sword? You aren’t afraid of losing or destroying the world?"

Ackster shrugged.

"Not really. I don’t see a future where either of those two alternatives becomes reality."

"Damn."

Ackster spoke with such clarity and confidence in his voice that Anatol couldn’t doubt him, even if his words sounded like something that might come from someone suffering from delusions of grandeur.

"Stop beating around the bush already. I doubt someone as great as yourself stayed around after finally regaining freedom for no reason."

Although Ackster was confident he wouldn’t lose, he didn’t look forward to fighting Anatol. After all, it would still be a fight that required him to go all out to secure victory. He so did not want to do that when he had just retired. His fighting days were behind him.

However, Ackster couldn’t afford to take it easy when an archduke—duchess—demon had taken up residence in his world. If Anatol lost her temper, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the world might crash and burn.

Before Ackster could take it easy, he at least had to try and verify her reason for staying on Millmeria.

"...Because I want to."

"I see. Well, as long as you don’t cause any trouble, it’s all right with me."

Ackster raised his bucket of popcorn as a salute to Anatol before leaning back in his chair, kicking up his feet, and sipping his hot chocolate. It wasn’t as bitter as his coffee. He wanted to have a good time. Why would he force himself to drink a beverage people used to wake up in the morning? It didn’t even do anything to him.

Anatol raised an eyebrow as Ackster relaxed.

"You aren’t worried?"

Ackster shrugged with one shoulder while enjoying the show of the Tortoise King stomping Naraka into the ground.

"Nah. If you were dangerous, I would have noticed. Even if you’re powerful, I don’t have a reason to be worried. Besides, Mio trusts you."

*I-I don’t!*

Mio broke her self-imposed vow of silence. She had hoped Ackster would turn a blind eye to her for the moment. But him mentioning her by name was proof enough that he hadn’t forgotten that she had transformed into a human when he was gone.

"So, it’s just a coincidence that she also knows my preferences? And that the way she transformed her body is similar to yours?"

*Y-yes!*

Mio hid under a pair of flat and wide tentacles as Ackster looked at her.

"Wow, Mio. You’re like a whole different person now. You were so confident when Ackster recovered. You even said those dirty—"

*STOP!*

Mio reached out with a pair of tentacles to stop Anatol from continuing.

Mio turned the top of her slime body to look straight at Ackster.

*This lowly beast said nothing worth remembering just now, okay?*

Ackster nodded.

"I wasn’t listening, in the first place, so it’s all good."

Mio tapped Ackster’s fist with the end of her tentacle. They had an agreement.

Anatol looked at Ackster’s and Mio’s exchange with mixed feelings. Mara, Karandiel, and Wilma weren’t any different.

"My lord...."

Before Ackster could continue watching the showdown, Mara broke the silence.

"We were under the impression that you didn’t know about Mio’s ability to talk or transform into a human. Are you not surprised?"

Ackster was too calm to simply have gone with the flow. Had he let Mio believe she had successfully fooled him? After all, Mio hadn’t acquired those abilities after she digested that piece of the Observer.

During Ackster’s recovery, Mio revealed that she had been able to do it for quite a while. She just hadn’t done it in front of Ackster or anyone else.

Ackster looked at Mara.

"No. I had no idea. I was a little surprised at first, but it’s not like it matters, right?"

"I guess that’s true, My lord...."

Mara nodded. Ackster’s attitude was very clear. He didn’t doubt Mio. He had been paranoid of even squirrels that looked at him strangely before the battle with The Hero. But it was apparent that Ackster trusted Mio.

"But she lied to you!"

However, Anatol wasn’t so sure about letting Ackster brush Mio’s deception under the rug.

Ackster glanced at Anatol with a raised eyebrow.

"So?"

"’So?’ So, what if she’s lying about something else?"

"Mio, I think it was a mistake trusting a demon."

*I’m reflecting.*

"Ackster, you were so paranoid and distrustful that you almost faced The Hero alone rather than asking for help. Now, you’re trusting this slime that stole the final part of the Observer?"

Ackster straightened in his chair and looked down at Anatol, who, while tall, had most of her length stored in her legs. Ackster’s gaze pressured her into silence.

"If you continue down this topic, I will not only think the thought you asked me not to have, but I will also act on it. Watch your tongue."

"But...—!"

"Watch. Your. Tongue."

*Bitch!*

Anatol looked at Mio, partly because she couldn’t bear Ackster’s gaze anymore.

*Sorry. It just slipped out.*

Anatol had a feeling Mio wasn’t sorry.

Anatol bowed her head. She had to admit her loss here.

"I’m sorry. I was just trying to look out for you, Ackster, but I went too far. I apologize for overstepping."

"As long as you know it."

Ackster leaned back in his chair and continued snacking. The atmosphere was a little tense. He didn’t like that. It wasn’t easy to relax like this.

"I’ll say this now, but I trust Mio with my life. It doesn’t matter what secrets she has or why she does things. And as for the matter with the final slice of the Observer...I would have died if I had tried eating it. Mio saved my life by taking it."

Mio looked at Ackster with a starry expression. The others realized the depths of Mio’s place in Ackster’s heart and stayed silent. It looked like the battle between the Celestial Realm’s army and the Tortoise King was coming to an end.