The Villainess Is An SS+ Rank Adventurer

“Mmmghghh!!”

Bound. Gagged. Rolled into a carpet.

The humiliation was worse than anything Marina had ever endured. 

There were no iron manacles. No goblin explosives. No swaying cage hanging suspended over acid.

All that prevented her escape were four walls of a room which wasn’t even furnished as a living space and thus lacked basic toilet functions, a cursory silencing ward, an old wooden door and the strips of cloth tied around her ankles, wrists and mouth.

That senile codger could have used anything–including the dungeon cells actually designed to hold errant mages who’d blown up one too many poisoned toads.

Instead, she’d been tossed into someone’s spare office like a wayward piece of furniture. 

Her.

The absolute disregard was infuriating. 

She was the most exceptional mage in a generation. An alchemist who could cure everything from a sore throat to poxes to male pattern baldness … even if that last one wasn’t fully tested. 

Yet here she was, treated like the smallest afterthought of a prisoner!

Marina vowed to escape. And when she had, she wouldn’t stop at only repaying in full.

Pwam. Pwam. Pwam.

Unable to stand, she rolled against the door, bashing it with her shoulder like a fruit slime tackling a knee. A thoroughly inglorious escape. But it wouldn’t matter after she thoroughly vaporised that rodent of a man. And only for reasons partially to do with her humiliation. 

The rest was to prevent this tower from being consumed by that abominable spell hovering overhead. 

Yes … just like a goody two-shoes adventurer.

The very thought made her stomach churn with disgust, of course. The notion of assisting these apprentices who could barely direct a spoon to their mouths was anathema to her. She didn’t join the continent's least secret clandestine organisation to perform charitable endeavours. 

And as time went on, she couldn’t remember why she’d joined at all.

But the fact remained that she needed this tower standing. For now at least. 

There was much she needed to do to meet her goals. But all of it required the texts, reagents and artifacts she’d yet to unearth from the stores and vaults. She couldn’t let them be destroyed. Not yet.

Not when she was so close.

Marina gritted her teeth around her gag. 

Had the blaggard merely wished to conquer the world, she could have looked past it. But if that impeded her research, then that was when she needed to start pushing back.

And she did. 

Using herself. 

Repeatedly.

Pwam. Pwam. Pwam.

Sweat rolled down her face as she rammed a door like a lumberjack with neither an axe nor a thought to buy one. A difficult prospect for someone not attuned to physical endeavours. But even more so for one who was incessantly being interrupted while doing so.

Snap.

Appearing in the only chair with his legs crossed and smile at the ready, Headmaster Alberic wore the disposition of a professor whose only proficiency was in acting well below his age. 

A feat with which he had no equal. Especially while instantly toying with the objects on the desk. 

“Miss Lainsfont! I’ve just finished with reinforcing my spell. Apologies for the delay in seeing to your needs. It’s been busy, busy, busy. I take it you’re enjoying your new surroundings? It’s not exactly, well, modern, shall we say. But I’m afraid that guest accommodations are severely lacking in this tower. Partially my fault, of course. Too much emphasis on promoting academic excellence, not enough on interior design. Even so, I hope you enjoy this converted lodging?”

Marina considered maintaining her dignity. 

To seal her lips and harden her eyes in defiance. To refuse him the joy of seeing her fury as she lay rolled up like a slug on the ground.

After a moment–

“Mnngmhhmhmh!! Mhnhm!! Mhmgnhm!! Mnnhnmhnhggmhnmmhmhn!!”

The headmaster recoiled slightly, his chair creaking backwards.

“Now, you see, this is precisely the sort of body language which is unlikely to earn you friends amongst higher academia! Yes, I know, it should be strictly merit based. But we all know how this works. Politeness and deference are paramount–as is knowing when to accept one’s position as thoroughly helpless, and be willing to indulge in a discussion regarding changing such a position.”

Marina ceased struggling for a moment. The headmaster sighed in relief, then rose from his chair and practically bounded towards her.

“Excellent! Now, I did not come here merely to check on your wellbeing. In fact, I really didn’t do that at all. I came to make a revised offer to free you of your current unfortunate circumstances. If I remove your gag, may I have your assurance that no vitriol against me or my family line will spill my way?”

Marina became perfectly still. Then she nodded her head.

“Wonderful!”

Headmaster Alberic leaned down and loosened the gag around her mouth. Marina took in a short breath.

“I will destroy you,” she hissed. “I will turn you into cinders so fine that the ashes of your bones will be used as paste to paint over the cracks of my cauldron. You and all you’ve ever known will be reduced to dregs used to feed the spotted toads snacked upon by trolls and–mmmaghghghhhg?!”

“Very well. That was very much uncalled for …  but have no fear! I’m quite accommodating, both as your very patient warden and as your prospective new master. And I do believe that once you look over this whole imprisonment incident, you’ll come to understand that both of us have much to gain from each other. You can help with my research. And in return, I can help find what you seek.”

Marina stopped squirming once more. 

This time, it was more than a show. The rage boiling in her blood dissipated for just a mere moment.

“Mghgmm mmghgm mmmghm?”

“What’s that? How do I know what you want? … Well, I dare say all mages of even middling ambition wish for the same thing. To further themselves in the eyes of their peers. But you–yes, you–possess something which even some of the most storied amongst us do not have. Indeed, I know of only one other who shares the same traits as you do. And as much as logic dictates I should do away with you as a threat, my unbeating heart says I would regret seeing the same rare bird take flight twice.”

The headmaster smiled in lieu of Marina’s response, his hands gesturing with needless motion as he practically waltzed around the room. All the movement his joints required to function.

“Clearly, unscrupulous activities are not beyond you. And while you’ve a personal agenda against me, you’re hardly the only one. The powerful invite envy and disdain in equal measure. I hold nothing against you attempting to rob me of my knowledge. On the contrary, I hold you in only the highest regard. Thus, the first lesson I’d teach would not only be how to achieve your goals, but to strive beyond them. I believe based on what you’ve seen, you’ll know this is no idle boast.”

Marina considered the headmaster’s merry candour for a moment. 

That was enough for her to reject any offer outright. But as much as she wished otherwise, she also couldn’t deny what she’d witnessed.

[Eulogy Of The End].

Thirteen definitive editions of the worst reviewed text in magical theory had doubtless led to this one spell. A lifetime of study, research, connections and betrayal, all to cast something with a name as flamboyant as the one who devised it. 

In the hands of other mages, it would be nothing more than a way to toast marshmallows. But in the hands of a lich, it was an ode to universal doom. Hers included.

Only she could stop it. 

The realisation was as cold and unworkable as the floor she was on. But Marina couldn’t falter now. Not when she’d sacrificed so much already. 

Her ambitions were secondary. Her pride irrelevant. 

She would do whatever it takes to survive.

“... Mmmghm.”

“Oh? I’m sorry, I didn’t quite hear that. But I liked the tone. Let me just loosen this up once more.”

The man loosened the gag for a moment, then smiled in anticipation.

Marina took in a short breath.

And then–

“I will use what’s left of your smouldering ashes to brand your name into the annals of history as a footnote so unreadable you will need a scrying spell just to make out the blurry letters.”

The headmaster looked mildly insulted.

“Well now, I dare say you should be slightly more grateful. Did I mention I’m busy?”

“We’re all busy. You’re not the only one with nefarious plans.”

“True, although I dare say mine are more successful than yours.”

“I will use the story of your demise as the podium for my ascension. You will be a mere–mmmhggmhmhm?!”

The headmaster tightened the gag, then hopped to his feet and tidied himself down from the dust which never existed.

“A bit more consideration is needed. I fully understand. Know, however, that time is at a premium and so is my patience. I’m certain you’ll come around, of course. But this truly is a sooner being better than later thing. As adventurous as I am, I believe I’d eventually tire of tutoring a corpse.”

Snap.

With what he considered an ominous warning delivered, Headmaster Alberic departed with a blink of dissipating magic. 

Marina ensured the last thing he saw was her snort.

Truthfully she felt little humour. But it was a response which harmed the man more than any spell she was currently capable of casting.

After all–

He had no idea what he was doing. That she was certain of.

If he did, he’d be the first to break his own spell.

Marina wasted no time. She lifted her hands, hoping to burn the ropes–or at least singe them enough to the point of fraying. It wasn’t enough. Despite the teleportation temporarily dulling the silencing ward, the flames appeared only as a few stuttering sparks.

And so it was back to the basics.

Pwam. Pwam. Pwam.

Once again, she shuffled upright and rammed against the door.

Over and over, she sent herself against it until her entire body was racked with pain, her shoulder a single endless bruise soothed only by the thought that her day couldn’t possibly get worse. But whether learning to set her first tree on fire or hurling herself at the expense of her own muscles, no effort went without reward.

Crack.

Hers came in the form of a telltale snap.

She felt it at once. 

The slightest wobble as the door was loosened from its hinges. 

As Marina’s hardship came to fruition, both the exhaustion and the burning of the sweat in her eyes suddenly dulled. With renewed vigour, she bit down on her rags and heaved with all the lacklustre strength her shoulders had left to muster.

Pwam!

The door crashed down. And she along with it. 

All of a sudden, a rush of exhilaration went through her as she defeated the buffoon’s underestimation of her disregard for her own physique. And for her reward, she knew nothing but a throbbing ache as she lied still upon the fallen door.

It wasn’t a position of comfort, but necessity. She could no longer move. 

A significant issue on its own. But all the more so after sensing she wasn’t alone in her moment of triumph.

Marina looked up … before gawping even with the fabric in her mouth.

A moment later, she said the only intelligible thing she could.

“Ugggghhhhh.”

Just before wriggling away.

Back into the room.