A Sweet Girl Won't Be Fooled By The Villainess - [Vol. 1] Chapter 77

[Vol. 1] Chapter 77: Her Final Stubbornness

 

In the wilderness, the importance of obtaining rewards from the system’s tasks immediately became evident. After the system identified it, Ifia quickly found wild strawberries. Although they were not very big, after taking a bite, they were incredibly sweet! These past few days, not to mention fruits, Ifia hadn’t even eaten vegetables. Ifia felt like she could devour a whole cart of strawberries!

 

However, there’s no need to rush into eating now, let’s find a variety of foods first. Ifia placed the strawberries in her shoulder bag and clay pot to avoid them being damaged by compression. Following the system’s reminders, she then found raspberries. It’s really fantastic!

 

While Ifia happily picked fruits, Rudeni, standing in place, couldn’t help but envy her. Daelin, on the other hand, disdainfully sneered and sarcastically said, “It’s just some strawberries, can’t even fill your stomach. What’s there to be proud of?”

 

Although she directed her words at Rudeni, her voice was loud enough for Ifia to hear. In response, Ifia turned a deaf ear to it, no one could stop her from picking fruits! These are all hers!

 

On the other hand, Rudeni frowned disapprovingly upon hearing Daelin’s words, wondering why Daelin harbored such strong hostility towards Ifia.

 

Now everyone is a victim of kidnapping, we should all work together to escape, right? Even though Daelin escaped with Rudeni, Rudeni didn’t pretend not to hear and spoke seriously, “Daelin, if you can’t stand Ifia, then you’ll have to consider whether to continue following her or not.”

 

Daelin was stunned for a moment, then immediately expressed her stance, “I don’t want to continue following her.”

 

From the beginning, Daelin never trusted Ifia and continued to follow only because she didn’t want to act alone. If Rudeni no longer followed Ifia, it would be better for both of them to escape together.

 

Daelin glanced at Rudenii’s face, then touched her own glamorous cheek, thinking that only by being with a woman with an ordinary appearance like Rudeni could her beauty stand out. She really hated women who looked better than her.

 

Although there were no male eyes around on the mountain now, the competition habit formed over a long time made Daelin unwilling to stay with Ifia. Before being captured by the organization of the accused, Daelin was the mistress of an old noble. Despite her civilian husband being weak and cowardly, and the noble who supported her being old and unsociable, he was generous.

 

After getting money from the old noble, Daelin was unwilling to spend it on others, including her young child born with her commoner husband, who she didn’t think deserved it.

 

Only she could enjoy this substantial wealth.

 

To escape a life of poverty, Daelin used the money to transform herself from top to bottom, making herself exceptionally beautiful. She learned the elegance of noble ladies in both speech and behavior, undergoing a significant transformation. After becoming more accomplished, she kicked the old noble to the curb and found a new wealthy patron with even better conditions.

 

Viscount Kelton, young and strong, fell for her with just a few tricks, ignoring his suitable wife and children. Ah, men, always so greedy for beauty.

 

With her ageless and delicate face, she ousted many competitors like herself, securing Viscount Kelton. Now, encountering Ifia, who is younger and more attractive, the flames of jealousy burn fiercely in her heart, wishing she could ruin that adorable face.

 

If only she had a face as pretty as Ifia’s, she could aim for a duke’s level in choosing men. Thinking about these things, Daelin continued to persuade Rudeni, “Look at her fragile body, sweating profusely after just a short walk. Clearly a burden, it’s better to separate from her and find another way out yourself.”

 

“Well, okay.”

 

“Rudeni, I knew you would agree, then…”

 

“I mean, you can leave on your own. I will follow Ifia.”

 

At the moment when Daelin just lifted the corners of her mouth, she unexpectedly heard Rudeni telling her to leave on her own. This shocked her, widening her eyes, and then, with disbelief, she looked at Rudeni, asking uncertainly, “Rudeni, you want me to leave by myself?”

 

Facing Daelin, Rudeni for the first time expressed her determination firmly.

 

“Daelin, you told me that you didn’t want to die here, so you wanted to escape with me! Now that I’ve brought you out of confinement, the path ahead is your choice.”

 

“But I will continue to follow Ifia because I believe she can lead me out of here.”

 

Rudeni trusted her instincts. Instead of wandering aimlessly in the woods, she thought it was better to follow Ifia. However, it wasn’t just instinct, Rudeni also felt that Ifia was very lucky. Just like when they hid under the wooden window and were too scared to move, Ifia decisively got up and left without being discovered.

 

They smoothly escaped to this point, and Ifia found fruits again. Such luck made Rudeni feel that perhaps Ifia was a favored child of the gods.

 

As for why they were unlucky enough to be captured, perhaps it was to bring them a glimmer of hope in life!

 

With these thoughts in mind, Rudeni looked at Ifia’s back with a moved expression, making Daelin beside her feel like she was about to go crazy! Did Rudeni just abandon her?

 

“Rudeni, what are you saying? How could you!”

 

“Daelin, you’re even older than me, you should understand what I mean… If you don’t want to leave alone, then be quiet and stop conflicting with Ifia.”

 

Rudeni was not frightened by Daelin’s suddenly raised voice. Then, with an unchanged expression, she gave the final ultimatum, letting Daelin make her own choice.

 

Seeing that Rudeni was serious, Daelin suppressed her anger. Instead of bringing up leaving again, she glared fiercely at Ifia in front of her and angrily walked in the opposite direction. It seemed like she wanted to find a place to calm down alone.

 

Seeing Daelin temporarily going elsewhere, Rudeni finally let out a long breath. After hesitating for a moment, she chose to walk towards Ifia.

 

“Ifia, do you need help?”

 

As a qualified gossip enthusiast, Ifia immediately perked up her ears to follow the situation when Daelin raised her voice. Upon hearing Rudeni’s words, Ifia thought this person was okay. Not siding with Daelin unilaterally, she seemed like a person with a normal perspective on things!

 

Therefore, Ifia didn’t continue to remain silent but instead nodded towards Rudeni, saying, “Let’s pick raspberries together!”

 

Seeing Ifia’s softened attitude, Rudeni was momentarily stunned but quickly reacted. With a smile on her face, she briskly walked to Ifia’s side and began picking raspberries. She simultaneously opened up, saying, “Ifia, you’re amazing. You could find fruits hidden so well, and when we encountered those people in black robes earlier, I was too scared to move, but you bravely left!”

 

“So, I believe that following you will surely lead to a successful rescue!”

 

“Don’t mind what Daelin said. She dislikes good-looking women, and you’re much prettier than her.”

 

Wow!

 

Rudeni was silent before, but once she spoke, it was astonishing! Her words were as sweet as honey, and her sincerity was evident, making it hard to detect any falsehood.

 

Ifia almost couldn’t hold back a smile, quickly recalling the most distressing things to stop her mouth from involuntarily lifting into a grin. However, her round, clear eyes couldn’t resist a slight curve.

 

Like a small deer in the forest, with clear and innocent black eyes.

 

Adorable!

 

Though Rudeni thought so, seeing Ifia trying to act nonchalant despite the praise, she chose not to voice her thoughts.

 

Sometimes, praise can bring people closer together. Ifia and Rudeni were getting along harmoniously while picking raspberries together when suddenly, not far away, a loud and intense noise erupted.

 

It sounded like something crashing into a tree!

 

[Host, run quickly! Daelin has provoked a wild boar, and it’s running towards you!]

 

[……]

 

Upon hearing the words “wild boar,” Ifia abandoned the fruits she was picking and immediately threw them aside. She grabbed Rudeni’s hand and started running towards the denser part of the trees, hoping that the trees would slow down the wild boar.

 

“Rudeni, Ifia, save me!”

 

While Rudeni was still bewildered about what was happening, Daelin’s voice suddenly echoed from behind. This made Rudeni instinctively turn around, only to see a wild boar, weighing at least two hundred pounds, chasing after Daelin.

 

Daelin, with a panicked expression, was running towards them!

 

The wild boar, with its fangs exposed, wasn’t very fast and had a slight limp in its left leg. However, it was persistently chasing after them. Rudeni wondered what Daelin had done to the wild boar.

 

Compared to Ifia, who lacked endurance, Daelin had better stamina. After running for a while, Daelin caught up with Ifia and even surpassed the two of them as they continued running forward.

 

It gives quite a feeling of “abandon a friend in need.”

 

Ifia was speechless about someone like Daelin, but suddenly, Rudeni, who was beside her, spoke up, “Ifia, we can’t keep running. Can you climb a tree?”

 

Hearing Rudeni’s question, Ifia nodded.

 

Immediately, Rudeni targeted a sturdy large tree, hastily pulling Ifia towards it and motioning for Ifia to climb up first. In a critical moment, there was no time for courtesy.

 

Ifia quickly found a foothold on the tree trunk, lifted her foot to secure that point, and began climbing upwards. On the other side, Rudeni also climbed up along the tree trunk. Their goal was the massive branches in the middle of the trunk, which could accommodate two or three people.

 

“Help, help!”

 

While Ifia and Rudeni were actively trying to save themselves, Daelin, on the other hand, could only scream for help all the way.

 

She unintentionally led the wild boar to their location.

 

People were ultimately faster than wild boars, but clearly, Daelin didn’t know how to climb trees. She stood despairingly under the tree, shouting, “Rudeni, please save me! Please, I don’t want to die, my daughter is still waiting for me at home!”

 

Hearing Daelin mention her daughter, Rudeni immediately thought of her sick mother. Finally, gritting her teeth, she slid down the tree trunk for a distance, then reached out to pull Daelin.

 

Just before the wild boar arrived, Rudeni managed to pull Daelin up into the tree. However, the wild boar was not willing to give up easily. When it arrived under the tree, it began forcefully ramming the tree.

 

The originally sturdy tree swayed, and the leaves rustled. Birds perched on the branches were startled and flew away, while other animals scattered in panic. For example, a colorful snake directly fell right above Ifia.

 

The poisonous snake hissed, extending its fangs and, in a state of stress, seemed ready to bite Ifia.

 

Now Ifia faced two choices.

 

One was to be bitten by the poisonous snake.

 

The other was to be rammed by the wild boar.

 

Although they were two choices, upon careful consideration, if she got bitten by the snake, she would likely become weak and fall from the tree, eventually still being dealt with by the wild boar. No matter how you looked at it, getting rammed by the boar was the more straightforward option.

 

Ifia rolled her eyes in frustration, directly letting go of her hand. She immediately fell down from the tree.

 

Presumably, before facing death, she intended to give the boar a good hit.

 

This was her last act of stubbornness!

 

However, after Ifia fell, as if sensing danger, the wild boar unexpectedly retreated a few steps in panic, directly creating some space.

 

When Ifia’s buttocks hit the ground, and she winced in pain, the wild boar began to grow restless, emitting agitated grunts. Its small eyes were fixed on Ifia, seemingly discerning something. Its front hooves incessantly scratched the ground, as if it was about to charge and trample Ifia to death in the next moment.

 

However, in the end, the wild boar turned around and ran away.

 

Ifia sat on the ground in a daze, thinking she was done for. But it ended like this?

 

[System, did you intervene to scare away the wild boar?]

 

[Host, it’s just because you got lucky. The system cannot provide any substantial assistance.]

 

The system was anxious just now, even considering temporarily bypassing the world’s rules. This way, it could assist the foolish host, but if discovered, the world’s rules would crush it.

 

Before being summoned by the main god, the system wouldn’t intervene in such crises. But now, with fortune in the balance, the foolish host couldn’t die! She must survive to complete the task of capturing the villainous daughter.

 

Just as the system was about to act, unexpectedly, the enchanted silver sword accessory given by the villainous daughter to the host—converted from the demon-restraining item during the fortune-telling in the divination house—suddenly emitted a strong demonic power that scared away the wild boar.

 

Compared to humans, beasts are more sensitive to danger, so they choose to avoid it.

 

At this moment, the system felt that the foolish host being able to befriend the villainous daughter was truly very lucky!

 

While Ifia listened to the system’s denial, she didn’t think the system was being modest. At the moment when she was entwined by the poisonous snake, Ifia had considered asking the system for help, but she deemed the system quite useless. Counting on the system was less reliable than smashing the wild boar herself.

 

So, in the end, was it her luck?

 

But if it was indeed luck, why did the poisonous snake only fall on her side…

 

This was a perplexing question.

 

After the wild boar left, Rudeni and Daelin descended from the tree. Seeing that Ifia only hurt her buttocks and was otherwise unharmed, Rudeni couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Subsequently, she became more convinced that Ifia was favored by the gods. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so easily averted!

 

They should show those people in black robes that they were not witches!

 

“Let’s go back and pick up the dropped fruits, and then continue our journey!” Ifia suggested. Even the uncooperative Daelin didn’t object but nodded with a post-regret expression.

 

When Ifia found her bag and the clay pot with a small crack from the fall, the system suddenly issued a shocking message.

 

[After system detection, Prince Carloy has led the knight squad into the mountains. Please host, quickly meet with him.]

 

(• _ • ?)

 

Prince Carloy is here!

 

That was quite fast!

 

Ifia initially thought she would have to live as a wild person in the mountains for a while. Still, unexpectedly, she could now go early to find the male lead for help! In an instant, with a goal in mind, Ifia was overjoyed. However, when the system provided the distance between her and the knight squad, Ifia’s lifted corners of the mouth quickly drooped again. Damn! It’s so far away! There’s no way to meet up today unless we work overtime and rush through the night…

 

“Ifia, where should we go next?” While Ifia was contemplating whether to travel at night, Rudeni was also asking about the next steps.

 

Seeing Rudeni’s full support, Ifia thought it would be best to head towards the direction of the knight squad for now. They could decide whether to continue at night when it got dark.

 

“Let’s go this way!” Ifia pointed towards the right path, then shared some of the fruits from her pot with Rudeni. She didn’t care whether Rudeni would give some to Daelin, walking ahead to lead the way.

 

This time, there were no wild boars to disturb their journey, and there were no unexpected incidents along the way. However, the travel time was not short, and the surroundings seemed to be nothing but trees. It felt as if they were constantly circling in the same place. Even Ifia had this feeling, and only after asking the system did she get a negative answer, putting her mind at ease.

 

Although she believed in science, the traditional superstitions of the Chinese people, such as the widely spread phenomenon of “ghost hitting a wall,” still lingered. However, in this situation, it might be that they had seen too many trees, and their eyes were starting to fatigue.

 

“How much longer do we have to stay in this mountain!” The monotonous journey through identical scenery was mentally taxing. Daelin couldn’t help but complain, while Rudeni remained silent, quietly following behind Ifia.

 

Daelin sneered and rolled her eyes, thinking that Rudeni was becoming Ifia’s lackey. Hmph! Ifia was just lucky. If it were her who fell suddenly, she might scare away the wild boars too!

 

Having recovered from the shock of the wild boar’s charge, Daelin tried to regain attention. However, Ifia and Rudeni ignored her, making it impossible for her to continue her solo performance.

 

Nevertheless, when Daelin saw Ifia’s beautiful face and fair skin, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy. Despite that, she spoke with a smug tone, “Ifia, what kind of work were you doing in Darwa City? How did you end up getting caught?”

 

Although Ifia appeared younger, there were people her age who were already working. Unlike Daelin, who was pampered by men and didn’t have to do anything to have money to spend, someone like Ifia, even if beautiful, probably hadn’t experienced such a luxurious life!

 

Seeing Daelin ready to boast at any moment, Ifia, feeling irritated, raised an eyebrow and quickly organized her words before responding, “Oh? Work? I don’t have a job. After getting into Pulis Academy, I have to wait until graduation to start working!”

 

“Sigh, I’m also quite worried. After all, jobs nowadays require experience. Someone like me, who doesn’t know anything, can only aim to be the top of the class at the academy and get assigned to work in the palace after graduation.”

 

“But, it’s just a job in the palace, nothing extraordinary. Daelin, what kind of job do you have?” Ifia went straight for a bragging-style move, immediately shattering Daelin’s sense of superiority. Compared to Daelin, who was supported by men, Ifia’s future looked bright.

 

If there is a position in the palace, it’s not far from being granted a title.

 

“I… I just have an ordinary job, selling things.”

 

The contrast was evident, and Daelin forced a smile, then shifted the topic with a stiff tone. However, Ifia wasn’t going to let Daelin easily change the subject. She immediately widened her eyes in surprise and continued speaking.

 

“No way! Is your job really that simple, Daelin? Well, unlike me, who will be working for His Majesty in the palace after graduation.”

 

As Ifia’s bragging continued, Daelin’s smile started to crack. Her face contorted into a grimace, the effort to maintain her composure becoming increasingly visible.

 

Seeing this, Ifia let out a light snort, impressed by Daelin’s psychological resilience. Still trying to provoke? Practice more at home!

 

After the banter with Daelin, Ifia was in a great mood. She was on the verge of humming a song.

 

On the side, a silently observing Rudeni couldn’t help but hold back a laugh. She was afraid Daelin might get angry, so she had to suppress it. But she truly didn’t expect Ifia’s banter to be this amusing.

 

After this little interlude, Daelin, feeling defeated, no longer sought attention. The three of them continued on their way. In the quiet atmosphere, Ifia’s legs were aching from the journey, so she had no choice but to chat with the system to shift her focus.

 

[System, you mentioned that the members of the Judgment Organization have backgrounds, so they won’t be easily caught… Who are they exactly, nobles?]

 

[Yes, they are nobles, but probably not what the host is thinking. The leader of the Judgment Organization is Cardinal Gnaud Aber of the church.]

 

[……]

 

Ifia didn’t expect that her casual question would reveal such a big secret. Damn, a series of murders within the church’s priest organization; this was a bit too explosive! She felt like she needed a moment to process.

 

[Actually, the host might have heard a bit. Jessica once mentioned rumors about the church’s saint, Tiffany.]

 

[After the rumors spread about Saint Tiffany eliminating demons in the church, Cardinal Gerard Abel believed he had seen demons. He considered this a special task granted by the gods.]

 

[After much contemplation and consulting numerous scriptures, Cardinal Abel decided that he would eliminate witches tempted by demons. He would burn their bodies with flames, cleansing them of their sins, and fill every corner of the world with light, leaving demons with no place to hide.]

 

Listening to this, Ifia couldn’t help but twitch her mouth. Wasn’t this just pure madness?

 

[Damn, when I successfully escape, I’ll have Amelia send someone to catch Gerard Abel and burn his little bird, that’s also a way to cleanse sins!]

 

[Host, let’s focus on getting out of danger first, don’t… Warning! Warning! Warning!]

 

Before the system could finish its sentence, it suddenly turned into a warning. This made Ifia’s heart tighten, and then she heard the system continue with the alert.

 

[The Judgment Organization has detected the host and the other two escaping. They are now pursuing with ferocious hunting dogs!]