A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

"Hey! It's done!"

The colossal shadow behind Seraphina lifted the last huge piece of debris from the ruins and tossed it into the deep pit. The crowd surrounding her erupted into applause and cheers.

"You're amazing, Lord Fenrir!"

The tall girl tried hard to restrain a look of excessive pride. To appear calm and composed, she coughed lightly, placed one hand on her hip, and the terrifyingly large wolf shadow behind her flicked its massive claws, capable of grasping an entire adult.

"Alright, alright, don't crowd around me. I have to move on to the next place. Everyone, get back to your tasks!"

Only one day remained of the time Faust had given to Fenrir.

The invitation that had drawn the attention of many extraordinary beings from the Western Lands was imminent.

Whether it was the Faust who could crush the seasoned fourth-stage extraordinary beings Inothea, or Fenrir, who, despite her apparent stupidness, had extraordinary potential and an enigmatic background, seemed to have appeared out of nowhere... Thanks to certain machinations, their reputations were burning brightly, like molten iron in a forge.

Some spectators eagerly anticipated the bizarre battle, while many others watched, waiting for Faust's reappearance.

Yet Seraphina, who had long been preparing for this grand spectacle, was now running around the lower district, helping civilians rebuild with none of the tension and focus she had shown when honing herself day and night.

After greeting the civilians, she was ready to head to the next location, hands in her pockets. Just as she slightly bent her knees, preparing to leap tens of meters to the upper street, she glanced sideways at the edge of the street railing.

The girl looked around, sniffed the air, and, confirming no one was watching, coughed lightly and swaggered towards the empty railing.

Pretending to lean against it and peering into the dark pit below, she lowered her voice, "Just watching? Why not lend me a hand?"

Ravenna, sitting on the railing, frowned slightly. "Move farther away. Don't expose me. Stop causing trouble for Ansel."

"Hmph," Seraphina snorted, pointing to her nose. "I can smell you."

"I doubt your nose is that good."

"Ha, if you're discovered, can I say it's because your sneaky skills aren't up to par?"

The wolf sneered, confronting the scholarly lady.

"Stupid dog..." Ravenna narrowed her eyes slowly. "Do you need me to help you tuck your tail before Ansel scolds you tomorrow?"

Seraphina turned her head slowly, giving a mocking smile. "I wouldn't mind giving your butt a good smack; at least it would be plumper than it is now."

The two girls, seemingly at odds since they first met, stared into each other's eyes, as if they were born to be enemies.

This tense standoff lasted about half a minute before Ravenna was the first to relent. She snorted coldly, shifted her gaze, and said indifferently, "Until Ansel's Faust's identity is fully confirmed, I can't act recklessly... Frequent appearances of alchemical items beyond mainstream understanding will expose his identity."

Before Seraphina could retort, Ravenna extended her hand forward. Countless iron-gray particles, imperceptible to mortals and undetectable even by extraordinary beings, spread in all directions.

These particles assisted the residents of the lower district in their labor, making it easier to clean up chaotic streets and shattered ruins. Even simple lifting tasks were made more efficient.

"This is all I can do," Ravenna said softly.

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Seraphina, realizing that Ravenna had been quietly helping all along, was shocked at her own obliviousness and slightly embarrassed by her earlier words. She awkwardly scratched her head, swallowing the sarcastic remark she almost made.

However, unable to let the matter slide, she retorted, "Aren't you supposed to… only use those weird little things? Why are you doing it yourself now?"

"Weren't you once a useless idiot who did nothing but cause trouble for Ansel?" Ravenna glanced at Seraphina. "People change, and so do I."

"Grandfather pinned all his hopes on the Universal Aether Furnace because he believed extraordinary beings would never willingly sacrifice their power for mortals."

She looked up at the lower district built within the mining pit and murmured, "Ansel wants me to forge my own path. If I were to start over, I would choose any power that could be of use."

"As for hitting a wall... that's a problem for the future. And I believe that with Ansel, even the most impossible things can become possible."

Seraphina was stunned for two seconds. The last remnants of hostility and stubbornness on her face faded away, and she grumbled, "Hmph, after being educated by Ansel, you... you're quite a decent person."

"Don't consider me the same as you. I don't have your peculiar obsession with justice."

Ravenna didn't accept Seraphina's symbolic gesture of reconciliation. Her voice remained cold. "What I desire is to transform the power of the extraordinary into something usable by mortals, to shatter the stagnation of this dead world. I don't pursue equality and justice as rigidly as you do, nor do I shy away from making necessary sacrifices."

Seraphina blinked and tilted her head, watching Ravenna for a while before bursting into laughter.

"In the end, you just want to make everyone's lives better."

"I told you, I'm fundamentally different—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Ansel said you like to be stubborn, and he's not wrong."

The wolf girl's cheerful expression was quite adorable, though to some, it was simply asking for a beating.

Ravenna's eyebrows shot up. "You—"

"Besides, I don't have any... uh, what's 'obsession with justice' supposed to mean, anyway? It's not that exaggerated."

Seraphina turned around, leaning on the railing with a casual tone. "I don't have any big ideas. I just can't stand seeing people get bullied. You could say it's just to make myself feel better, and that wouldn't be wrong."

Her words surprised Ravenna. In the scholar's eyes, this silly dog was never capable of such introspective thoughts.

"That doesn't sound like something you'd say." So Ravenna said instinctively.

"People change." Seraphina chuckled, returning Ravenna's words. "I do too."

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