Taming The Villainesses novel Chapter 400

In truth, I had long harbored a question about the existence of imps.

Who exactly named the imps, and by what rules were those names decided?

Marmar and Narnar. The similarity yet difference between those two names made it possible to guess that there might be some causal link behind them.

“It is Narnar! Chestnut-tail Narnar! Your tail’s all spiky like a chestnut burr! I was really surprised at first since your appearance changed so much, but... that tail—it’s definitely Narnar!”

Marmar spun in circles around the woman being referred to as the headmistress of the monastery.

Her wide eyes, full of joy and curiosity, were fixed on the tail protruding from the headmistress’s backside.

The tip of that tail, bristling with spines like a sea urchin or a chestnut burr, was quite striking. While the imp tails I’d seen so far had each had their own peculiarities, I’d never seen one so sharply pointed before.

“A tail all spiky and prickly, just like Narnar’s!”

Could Marmar be identifying someone based on their tail? _{fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm}

Now that I think about it, Mormor of the star-tail once said something similar. That when her faraway master returned, they would recognize her by her star-shaped tail.

Perhaps, for imps, the tail is their very identity.

They grow out of flowerpots, after all...

I suddenly recalled the heart-shaped tail wand that Marmar had once coiled around my wrist. What would happen if I planted that in a flowerpot? Would another Marmar be born?

Swish.

Just then, the chestnut-burr tail lifted into the air—

—and came down on Marmar’s head like a flick to the forehead.

Whap!

Marmar let out a pitiful little shriek, “Hiiiek...!” after being struck out of nowhere. I was flustered to see her getting attacked, and at that moment, the headmistress of the monastery spoke.

“Please be quiet while inside the monastery.”

“Hnnnng...”

Clutching her head, Marmar let out a sniffle and a tear. But the headmistress paid her no mind and added in a cold, composed voice:

“And when you address me, you will refer to me as Headmistress, not by name.”

“H-Headmistress...”

“Well then, let’s go inside.”

Whoosh.

Turning her head, the headmistress disappeared into the crowd. The others, who had been nervously watching the exchange, quickly followed after her into the building, leaving no trace behind.

Left behind, I turned to Marmar, who was still rubbing her head, and asked:

“You okay?”

“Y-yeah. It sounded really loud, but it actually didn’t hurt that much. Just startled me, is all. Seems like the rules haven’t changed at all—keeping quiet in the monastery after sundown...”

Marmar gave a small but plucky response, as if shaking off the fact that she’d been smacked.

“That Narnar became the headmistress... That really surprised me. Of course, she was the smartest and most mature of us all, and people even called her the top imp...”

“For all that, Marmar, she was pretty harsh on you.”

“Narnar was always like that.”

Was she an imp who knew how to separate public from private?

She was tall and big for an imp.

It was honestly hard to believe Marmar and Narnar were of the same imp species.

I wondered why there was such a difference in physical development, but now didn’t seem like the time to ask. I swallowed the question back down.

Marmar said, “Then let’s head inside too! If the layout is still the same as I remember, I can show you all around!”

With that, she marched cheerfully into the building. But just before stepping inside, she seemed to remember something and turned to us.

“Oh right! During dinner time, everyone does silent meditation, so don’t make noise or talk. If you do, the Headmistress or one of the other nuns will scold you real bad.”

“Got it.”

So that’s why Marmar got whacked with a tail earlier.

It made sense. A monastery was originally a place for discipline. Having a rule like “Be quiet after evening” didn’t seem strange at all.

***

In one of the monastery’s rooms was a long dining table.

There were several candles on the table, but it was darker than expected, so much so that it felt like your eyesight might deteriorate just from sitting there.

Still, given that the place served as both an orphanage and a monastery, everyone seemed used to a frugal and minimalist lifestyle.

Now that I looked closer, their clothes glimmering faintly in the candlelight were mostly patched and mended, looking like they had been worn for years. The tableware on the table was also all worn down.

Even the headmistress sitting in the place of honor was no exception.

I hadn’t noticed outside earlier because of the commotion, but her nun’s habit was full of stitches and worn-out patches.

The odd cling of the garment—was that because it had been downsized to conserve fabric? Soon, the headmistress clapped her hands together and spoke.

“Let us offer a prayer of gratitude to the Father who provides our daily bread, and to our patrons who support this monastery.”

Swish.

Everyone folded their hands and bowed their heads.

Many of the children looked to be no older than five, and some around ten. And yet they all sat still and adopted a prayerful posture without fuss, which stirred something familiar in me.

It reminded me of my own childhood.

Finally, the headmistress said, “Now then, let us begin the meal.”

Soon, nuns appeared from somewhere, setting down baskets of bread in front of everyone.

To call it bread was generous—it wasn’t the soft, fluffy kind I usually ate. It was hard, the kind of bread that could probably kill someone if you threw it at them. If I ate this every day, my gums and palate would be in constant pain.

Swish.

Professor Balan picked up her share and examined it curiously.

“Bread made without yeast... It feels like the civilization here is about three centuries behind. Not a single mana lamp in sight. Everything’s so outdated...”

Her words weren’t wrong.

Having experienced the comforts of 21st-century civilization, my life at Angmar’s royal castle might’ve broadly fallen under the umbrella of “medieval,” but truth be told, a lot of it wasn’t even that.

There were mana-powered light crystals shining everywhere, advanced social gatherings, elegant dinners in lavish dresses, comfortable bathrooms with all sorts of conveniences, plumbing and waste systems...

But here—this place made you feel what a “dark age” really was.

“I’m sure the state of the bathrooms and bedrooms is just as...”

“Shh.”