Please Bully Me, Miss Villainess!

Fortunately, Sister Delia was safe and sound.

“Oh… you received such a letter? But I only had a fever!”

Arriving swiftly in Capella, they found Sister Delia with rosy cheeks.

“I caught a slight cold earlier… and fell ill, but I’ve almost fully recovered now.”

The young sister said with an apologetic smile. Just as Yvonne had seen in the game’s character portraits, while Delia wasn’t the type of beauty that would stun at first glance, she possessed a remarkably approachable aura. A small tuft of flaxen hair playfully peeked out from her headdress. The sister’s face seemed to wear a constant smile, her appearance extremely gentle. Even when speaking to others, her hands were always folded over her ample bosom, as if in prayer, radiating maternal light in every aspect.

As the only adult in the relief agency, Sister Delia prepared over a dozen meals daily and cared for young children without self-care abilities. She was already quite exhausted, so falling ill like this was bound to happen sooner or later.

Although they had considered asking sisters from other parishes to help, other sisters either became unwilling to work after a few days or complained that the offerings here were too meager, unwilling to stay long-term. So until now, Delia was still the only one caring for the children at the relief agency.

“It’s good that you’re alright, Delia.”

After briefly inquiring about the situation and confirming that the sister was truly safe and sound, Elsa finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“So, tell me—who wrote me this letter?”

I was nearly scared to death! Elsa angrily held up the letter, questioning the children who had been peeking into the sickroom since earlier,

“Um, it was me…”

A small boy timidly raised his hand.

“…Arno?”

The reason Elsa was surprised was that this child was among the older ones in the relief agency. In her memory, he had always been quite sensible. Although he was only nine years old this year, he was already quite capable, usually helping to take care of the daily lives of the younger brothers and sisters.

“Be-because Sister Delia fainted, everyone was very worried… so we wrote a letter to big sister.”

Seeing Elsa’s angry expression, this freckled, curly-haired little boy felt somewhat guilty, and his speech became stuttering.

“Big Sister Elsa, don’t blame little Arno…”

“It was everyone’s idea…”

Tugging at Elsa’s clothes, the children pleaded for Arno,

Looking at the letter in her hand, Elsa let out a silent sigh,

Sister Delia was the only adult here. Of course, the children would be worried when she, their pillar of support, suddenly collapsed.

Thinking of this, Elsa couldn’t bear to continue scolding,

She crouched down and patted Arno’s head.

“…Big sister doesn’t blame you, but next time at least explain the situation clearly, where it hurts, or if it’s an illness, fever, or cold. Just writing ‘danger’ on the letter will make people worry.”

“But… I don’t know how to spell ‘illness’…”

Hearing this reason, Elsa didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“Speaking of which, has Todd, who was responsible for teaching you to read and write before, already left here?”

Elsa looked around but didn’t see the tall, thin youth.

“Yes, Brother Todd has already had his Blessing Ceremony, and is now an apprentice at the carpenter’s workshop.”

“When Todd came back last time, he had gotten much fatter and brought us lots of delicious things—”

Now Todd lives and eats at the master’s place, and still receives a 60 silver coin allowance every month, which is considered quite a high income among peers.

The children all expressed envy:

“That’s so nice~”

“I also want to grow up quickly! That way, I can send back lots of money every month like Big Sister Elsa and Brother Todd!”

“…Oh my, that would indeed be nice.”

Hearing such naive remarks, Elsa smiled and patted the heads of several children around her.

The so-called Blessing Ceremony is a ritual where one is blessed by the divine.

At the age of 14, the monastery holds a ceremony for them, which also marks their transition from childhood to adulthood.

According to the laws of the Oz Kingdom, children who reach this age can officially participate in work.

In addition, there is also the ‘Naming Ceremony’ held for 6-year-old children.

In this country’s religious culture, only those who safely reach 6 years old are considered to have officially descended into this world.

People here generally believe that before the age of 6, a child’s life is in the care of the gods, so before reaching this age, death from starvation—or disease, is because ‘God wants to take back this child’s life’, it’s ‘destiny’, and they cannot prevent it.

It is precisely because of this irresponsible thinking that in many poor families, if they cannot produce enough food to feed their children, abandonment is common.

In this environment, ‘relief societies’ organized by clergy have emerged to protect these children whose lives are in the hands of the gods.

“Really… you made me cancel all my part-time jobs!”

While she breathed a sigh of relief for the sister’s safety, she also worried about the jobs she had canceled.

“Isn’t it good? Big Sister Elsa, you haven’t been back for a long time!”

“Your room has been empty, but we’ve kept it clean!”

“Big Sister Elsa~ Stay here for a while, please, please~”

Grabbing her clothes, the children began to plead with Elsa,

“Well…”

Elsa looked pleadingly at Yvonne standing to the side, and when she saw her nod calmly, her face immediately broke into a smile:

“Yes, we’ll stay here for a few days!”

Due to her outstanding magical talent and diligent studiousness, after being admitted to the Magic Academy, Elsa became the children’s aspiration,

She would come back to play with them during holidays and bring them gifts, so the children all loved this kind and gentle big sister.

“Big Sister Elsa, …by the way, who’s that person you brought?”

Annie, with her pigtails, finally couldn’t hold back and quietly asked the question everyone was curious about.

“She looks so scary…”

“Is she a bad person?”

When they arrived, Elsa was riding a very cool gray swift dragon. The children had never seen such a creature before, so they were all very curious. However, the blonde woman leading that swift dragon emitted a terrifying aura of fierceness, making everyone afraid to approach.

“Evie isn’t a bad person at all! Hmm… how should I put it?”

The children’s assessment of Yvonne made Elsa both amused and exasperated. She pondered how to introduce the relationship between Yvonne and herself to the children,

Actually, she didn’t want to just admit that they were friends living together, because she felt that if she acknowledged their relationship as merely that here, it would become a fixed fact.

Elsa actually wanted to introduce Yvonne to the children as her lover, but she couldn’t do that now…

That’s right—!

Suddenly, as if stepping on an electric door, for an instant, Elsa felt a flash of inspiration in her mind,

There’s this trick!

“What’s wrong, Big Sister Elsa?”

She beckoned the children to gather around.

“Hey… will you all help big sister with something?”