The Villainous Me Turned the Losers into Blackened Bosses-Chapter 207 - "Can I Get Paid Twice?"

—

“Alright, now I should head to the capital, just like Shuna suggested.”

Will walked down the street, his hood pulled low over his face.

With “Moonlit Ice Extreme” conquered, adventurers were steadily leaving the area.

But…

Very few were heading toward the capital.

The only dungeon near the capital was “Tenth Demon Castle,” and the capital itself was notoriously unwelcoming to adventurers—even the Adventurer’s Guild there was in a sorry state.

Well, that worked in his favor. With fewer people traveling, there was less chance of being recognized.

So—

While waiting for the carriage, it was time to organize his thoughts and plan his next steps!

A disciplined, self-aware Will always made the most of idle moments to clear his mind.

Step one: Arrive at the capital!

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Step two: Rush to the palace and find Treya!

Step three: Successfully win her over and cure her yandere tendencies!

Perfect!

In his otherwise blank mind, these three steps immediately stood out.

…

“This isn’t a plan! This sounds like one of those dumb riddles about how to fit an elephant into a fridge!”

He groaned, clutching his head and knocking on it a few times.

Will could already imagine himself showing up at the palace empty-handed, fumbling for words to “win her over,” only to have Treya see right through him and toss him into some royal dungeon—wait, do Western-style palaces even have dungeons?

Plan A was a bust. Time for a revision.

Step one: Take the fastest carriage to the capital.

Step two: Bring a beautiful bouquet of roses to Treya.

Step three: Confess his heartfelt love as her devoted fiancé.

In his blank mind, he revised the plan with red ink.

…

—”Wake up! You’re the one who trained Treya! Do you really think she’s the kind of woman who’d fall for roses?!”

He groaned again, clutching his head and knocking on it twice more.

“Think, think, don’t panic…”

Will stepped out of the short line for the capital-bound carriage and began pacing nearby, his head lowered.

“Plan C… replace the roses with jasmine? No, no, that’s even less romantic. Besides, the Entark royal family’s symbol is the rose.”

“Plan D… act aloof and say, ‘Hmph, I didn’t want to come back, but since you’re looking for me…’ No, that would totally break character.”

…

“Plan AZ… forget it, stop.”

Will realized something.

He was being overconfident.

He did know Treya well.

But…

It was precisely because he knew her so well that he kept rejecting his own plans.

He understood that Treya wasn’t someone who could be easily fooled.

As a princess, she lacked nothing materially—just look at the collection of luxurious dolls in her room.

Her tastes were narrow, likely influenced by her half-elf heritage, which carried an innate detachment from worldly concerns.

A yandere Treya would undoubtedly see through his little schemes.

Will now understood why, back at his old job, even the customer service guys who could charm clients into thinking they were talking to a maid would come to him for advice on how to apologize to their angry wives.

The closer someone is to you, and the less they usually get upset, the harder it is to make amends when they do.

Because they know you too well. They can tell if you’re just trying to brush them off.

…This was so hard!

If it were Leah, you could just give her a nice staff, and she’d blush, pat you on the shoulder, and say, “Oh, you’re so annoying…”

…

A staff?

That reminded Will.

The staff he had was the obsidian staff Leah had brought him—one meant specifically for him.

But what about the staff he had prepared for Leah?

Oh, she had taken it with her.

Right!

Shuna had mentioned that during their fight, Leah had hesitated slightly when she picked up the staff.

He had been planning something like this before.

A gift Treya would like had just come to mind—

A “Shadowbane Sword—Advanced.”

Imagine her standing in the palace, arms crossed, pretending not to care but clearly upset, with dark mist practically oozing from her.

Then he kneels, presenting her with a carefully crafted sword—one that might even emit the same dark mist as her.

She’d surely remember how much effort Will had put into making it for her. She’d recall her early days training in the practice yard, and she’d be moved, stopping her descent into yandere madness.

What a great idea.

But…

Where would he get the sword?

At that moment, Will thought of one place.

Tenth Demon Castle.

His original destination, a place that seemed deeply tied to “demons.”

It was also where he had initially planned to find materials for Treya’s gift.

—

“Sir, wake up. We’re almost at Zymart Town. You can get ready to disembark.”

“Got it. No need to wake me; I’ve been awake the whole time.”

“Haha, you’ve been wearing that hood the whole trip. I couldn’t tell if you were sleeping or not.”

Will sat up slightly, looking out toward the front of the carriage.

It had taken about two days.

Although the carriage was bound for Zymart Town, it made several stops along the way, taking quite a few days to reach its destination.

Will had decided to book the whole carriage.

The town looked desolate.

For one, it was located at the foot of Mount Fokla, the tallest mountain in Entark. The dense forest and looming shadows made it seem like a remote, rarely visited place.

Secondly…

There weren’t many houses, nor were there any temporary markets or bustling commerce.

It looked like a simple agricultural town, surviving on small-scale farming of fruits, vegetables, and flowers.

How strange. A town with a dungeon should never be this quiet.

With the Adventurer’s Guild’s current promotional capabilities, any town with a dungeon would be swarming with adventurers, eager to strip it bare.

After all…

In this world, dungeons were like factories that exceeded the current level of production technology.

“Zymart Town rarely sees visitors anymore. You could probably count the adventurers here on one hand. Are you sure you’ll be okay on your own, sir?”

“I’ll be fine.”

Will looked ahead.

Tenth Demon Castle.

He was determined to conquer it!

Then…

He immediately lost his composure at the Adventurer’s Guild entrance.

It was only 4 PM.

The guild’s president stepped out, yawning, and turned the “Open” sign hanging on the door to reveal the “Closed” side.

“Wait—wait a second!”

Will hurriedly called out, grabbing the man’s arm.

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Uh… I’m an adventurer here to conquer Tenth Demon Castle. May I—”

“The castle’s that way,” the man interrupted, pointing lazily toward the edge of the village.

The village was small, but thanks to its natural surroundings, it was well-forested. At the edge of the woods, Will could vaguely make out the dungeon’s entrance and a small door.

Turning back, the guild president was already flipping the sign back over.

[Closed.

For inquiries, contact ▇▇▇▇.]

The address at the bottom had been scribbled out with black ink. Clearly, he had no intention of working overtime.

“Wait, you can’t just leave!”

“Why not?”

“It’s not even closing time yet! The guild’s hours are until 6 PM!”

“Uh?”

“Leaving early should result in a pay deduction!”

“…You sound just like someone from the Hysterm family. Are you the one paying my salary? Why are you so worked up?”

…Well, you’re not wrong.

For some reason, looking at this man gave Will the feeling of a city-dwelling game developer who had returned to his hometown, only to encounter an old classmate who had become a local government worker.

The man’s logic was sound, but it left Will feeling inexplicably irritated.

“Ugh, fine. Actually, I just need to check some records and post a request on the board. It’ll only take a few minutes. Can you—”

“Alright, I won’t lock up for now. Just finish up and close the door behind you. I’m off.”

Will watched as the “president” walked away.

What kind of town was this?

—

Aside from the capital’s Adventurer’s Guild, this was the most rundown guild Will had ever seen.

Half the tables and chairs were broken, and many of the chairs had only two functional legs, propped against walls to remain usable.

Typically, guilds offered drinks and refreshments, but the shelves here were completely empty.

The counters were covered in a thick layer of dust, likely untouched for at least three months.

How strange…

Will flipped through the records.

Tenth Demon Castle had been around for about six months. According to the records, it was rated as a C-rank dungeon—not particularly high.

Normally, a dungeon like this would attract a crowd of adventurers eager to conquer it.

C-rank dungeons weren’t the most lucrative, but they were relatively easy to clear.

Currently, the dungeon had about 30 floors, but its growth had been unusually slow.

Was this the dungeon Leah’s mother had mentioned, the one “hiding answers”?

Indeed, in such a deserted town, with a dungeon no one seemed to care about, it felt like secrets were buried here.

Sighing, Will approached the “request board.”

As expected, it was nearly empty. Only two or three requests were posted, and they were from years ago, left uncleared.

“What a bizarre and neglected place…”

Scratching his head, Will pulled out a new notebook he had bought, tore out a page, and grabbed a handful of pens from the counter. He had to test three of them before finding one that worked, and even then, it ran out of ink halfway through, forcing him to switch to a fourth.

Carefully, he wrote out a request to recruit adventurers for the dungeon.

—See? He was listening to Shuna’s advice. If she said to hire help, he’d remember to post a request.

“Seeking adventurers B-rank or higher. Payment negotiable… Done.”

Satisfied with his work, Will pinned the request to the board.

He was proud of his writing, though he couldn’t help but wonder if asking for B-rank adventurers in this town was overestimating the place. Would anyone even respond?

At that moment, he heard the sound of boots approaching from outside.

Thud, thud, thud.

“Hmm?”

Just as he turned around, a pale hand reached over his shoulder and tore the freshly posted request off the board.

“A request from the Young Master? Would an S-rank adventurer like me suffice?”

Standing behind him, illuminated by the dusty rays of sunlight streaming through the window, was Shuna, dressed in her “Morning Star” team uniform.

Unexpected yet unsurprising…

Shuna had appeared here.

It had only been two days since they parted, and here she was again…

“B-rank, huh? Lucky me—I can take this job. You haven’t kicked me out of the team yet, right? Can I get paid twice, Little Will~?”

Holding the request paper, Shuna laughed.