The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix's Novels Also Desires Happiness

”Get that filthy thing away from me!”

Liya was still proudly waving the holy sword around, seemingly trying to recreate the moment Ariel had ”defeated” the evil dragon, but the longer Muen watched, the more irritated he became.

Hadn’t that thing already screwed him over badly enough?

And defeated the evil dragon? Whose evil dragon had actually been defeated? If his regenerative ability had been even slightly worse, his own dragon would’ve been permanently out of commission, and for the rest of his life he’d only be able to call these little minxes his sisters!

”Tch. You have absolutely no taste. I’ve already told you this is a holy sword. How can you describe a holy sword with a word like ’filthy’?”

Liya unhappily put away the holy sword, then stuck her tongue out at Muen. ”Muen should obviously be thanking this holy sword. Otherwise, you’d still be suffering under the evil dragon’s claws right now.”

”Thanking it?”

The corner of Muen’s mouth twitched.

He lowered his head and took a look. Although everything underneath had already recovered, the pale white bedsheet was still painfully glaring, instantly reminding him of the miserable scene from not long ago.

The moment Miss Dragon transformed into her true form was probably something he would never forget for the rest of his life.

”Come here.”

”Huh? What?”

”You’re right. I should thank you. Come here.”

”R-Really......just thanking me?” Liya blinked, clearly unconvinced.

”Would I ever lie to my beloved little Liya?” Muen said with a perfectly serious expression, his voice full of affection. ”Come over here.”

”Oh......”

Liya obediently leaned closer.

”Turn around,” Muen ordered again.

”Turn around?”

Liya’s little face immediately flushed red. ”In broad daylight, beneath the clear and righteous heavens......I’m still the Saintess, you know. Isn’t playing this intensely a little inappropriate?”

”Cut the crap and turn around already!”

”If Muen is really that desperate......”

Liya looked bashful and shy, yet turned around with practiced ease. She even wiggled her little butt and deliberately raised it slightly, eagerly waiting for Muen’s reward.

”Heh, just look at you. What exactly is going through that head of yours?”

However, what awaited her was not any kind of reward.

Instead, a heavy slap landed squarely on her pert backside.

Muen said viciously:

”You damn little minx. So all you know how to do is play with this kind of wicked thing, huh!”

”Mmh......”

Liya’s delicate body immediately trembled. A sweet cry escaped through her nose as the soft flesh beneath Muen’s palm rippled from the impact, to the point that even her loose gauzy dress could not completely conceal it.

”Sure enough, you really are a little minx. Even when you’re getting spanked, you still sound this lewd!”

Muen slapped her again!

”Y-You bully!”

Liya turned her head with reddened eyes. ”All you ever do is bully me!”

”Bully you? You call this bullying? This is discipline! If I don’t keep you lot under control, you’ll be climbing onto the roof next!”

Muen gritted his teeth.

The things these women were doing were getting more and more outrageous. If he still didn’t rein them in, who knew what kind of ”brilliant ideas” they would come up with next?

If this kept going, how was his frail little body supposed to survive?

”The more I talk about it, the angrier I get. Stick your butt up higher!”

Muen swung his hand, preparing to deliver another slap and vent the resentment in his heart.

However......

”Stop!”

Just as he was about to move, a voice overflowing with righteous grandeur cut directly in, like sunlight piercing the darkness.

Muen fell silent, then raised his head and once again saw that pair of nostrils staring down at him.

”......Miss Nostrils, what business do you have now?”

”I told you, call me Lady Hero!”

Ariel planted her hands on her hips, still holding her little head high as she said with incomparable arrogance, ”Let Liya go. I won’t allow you to bully her!”

”Since when did you care about her this much again?”

Muen’s expression turned strange.

Hadn’t these two been fighting back and forth not long ago, practically tearing each other apart?

Back then, they’d used every dirty trick imaginable.

So how had they suddenly returned to their ancient ”best friends” era?

”What do you mean, ’again’? I’ve always cared about her, all right? Who told her to be my closest childhood friend and best friend?”

Ariel snorted and immediately pulled Liya away, shielding her behind herself.

”Ariel......”

Liya was deeply moved, wiping at her tear-filled eyes. ”I knew......you’d come save me.”

”Don’t worry. I absolutely won’t let this guy harm a single hair on your body,” Ariel declared firmly. ”Unless he defeats me first!”

”No way......you’re actually serious?”

Muen felt like his face had been twitching nonstop all day.

Could these people please act normal for once?

”Of course I’m serious. Do you think I’m joking?” Ariel vigorously slapped her chest. Although there was absolutely no movement whatsoever, her momentum was still impressive. ”As a great hero, isn’t fighting evil and protecting the Saintess in my party part of my duty?”

”......Fine. What you’re saying......actually makes a certain amount of sense.”

A hero, rescuing the ”princess,” protecting the Saintess, defeating the evil dragon......

This plot really was extremely orthodox and perfectly reasonable.

But......

Muen’s eyes shifted, and suddenly he thought of something.

He immediately abandoned the idea of dragging Ariel over and giving her backside a vicious spanking too, instead saying meaningfully:

”Lady Hero, who got so proud after defeating a giant dragon that your nose is practically pointing at the sky, do you really consider Liya your good friend?”

”Of course. We’ve known each other since childhood, understand each other completely, and during the recent grand operation to subjugate the evil dragon, our teamwork was flawless. What reason would I have not to consider her my good friend?”

Ariel answered as though it were only natural.

”Oh, I see. Yes, your teamwork really was flawless.”

Muen sneered. ”But Lady Hero, why don’t you consider the possibility that this seemingly impressive result was actually your good friend screwing you over?”

”Screwing me over?”

Ariel frowned in confusion. ”How did she screw me over?”

”Do you really think you defeated the evil dragon?”

”Of course. That dragon......”

”You only drove her away. Miss Dragon is going to come back sooner or later. Rather than saying you forced her to flee, it’d be more accurate to say she became too embarrassed and furious under those circumstances. With her pride and arrogance, she couldn’t accept it for the moment, so she ran off first.”

The more Muen spoke, the more he felt that there had to be something wrong with this woman’s head.

At a time like this, she was actually still acting so smug and happy?

After angering a legendary calamity, shouldn’t she be doing the exact opposite?

”So, who do you think Miss Dragon will hate the most once she comes back? Even though all of you challenged her together, with her personality, she probably doesn’t have much of an impression of the others and won’t hold much of a grudge against them. But the one who dealt the final blow with the ’holy sword’......”

It didn’t matter whether she was a calamity or what kind of identity she had.

Anyone who got hit with that thing would never swallow that humiliation so easily.

”......”

Ariel understood.

In an instant, all of her smug pride vanished, and her face abruptly turned deathly pale.

”I-It can’t be that serious.”

”How could it not be? Even you think you ’defeated’ the evil dragon and are treating it as one of your achievements. Do you really think an existence as proud as a mighty calamity would just laugh it off?”

Muen looked into Ariel’s eyes, the corner of his mouth curling into a cold sneer. ”If she doesn’t come back for revenge someday, I’ll write my name backward!”

”......”

Ariel’s eyes widened.

No matter how blinded she’d been by the joy of defeating the evil dragon, at this point she finally came back to her senses.

That’s right.

Leaving everyone else aside, she had been the one who dealt the final blow with the ”holy sword.”

That evil dragon was definitely going to hold a grudge against her!

There wasn’t even any need to think about it. If it had been Ariel herself, before running off in humiliation, she would’ve stabbed the other person right back first!

The fact that Miss Dragon hadn’t immediately exploded could only mean that the dragon was naturally proud and had been away from the human world for too long, leaving her skin far too thin!

”In that case, the things Liya said to me back then......”

I believe in you......

We’re best friends......

Those words still echoed in her ears.

Yet Ariel suddenly understood the deeper meaning hidden behind them.

A realization dawned on her.

Thinking about it carefully, there had actually been no need for Ariel specifically to deliver that final blow.

After all, what had affected Miss Dragon the most at the time had actually been Muen, whose body had been strengthened by Holy Light, dismantling that inexperienced thousand-year-old lustful woman from the inside.

As for what came afterward, if Ariel could break through the defenses with that ”holy sword,” which possessed tremendous destructive power in one particular sense while having absolutely none in another, then perhaps even Liya, that complete novice when it came to physical strength, could have given it a try under the enhancement of Holy Light.

And yet......

It just had to be Ariel.

Even the fact that those other women had suddenly cooperated so perfectly back then hadn’t been because of any love or bonds between them.

It had been because......

Now that this idiot had volunteered to stick her head out first, why wouldn’t they offer her their full support?

”You bastard. You already knew this would happen, and you still......”

Ariel abruptly turned around......

Only to see Liya sneaking toward the hospital room door, clearly preparing to escape.

”Stop right there!”

”......”

Liya’s body stiffened.

Caught red-handed and deprived of her final chance to flee, she could only turn around stiffly and smile awkwardly.

”Um......Ariel, my best, most, most beloved best friend Ariel, although I know you have a lot of private things between best friends that you want to talk to me about right now, Archbishop Canterbury seems to be calling for me. Apparently, I’ve been using Holy Light to do bad things lately, and even His Holiness the Pope is furious about it and wants to confine me or something. I probably won’t be allowed out for a long time after this, so if you need anything, wait until I’m released and then......”

”Who the fuck is your best friend?! You bastard! You actually dared to screw me over!”

Ariel lunged like a starving tiger and immediately tangled with Liya. ”I don’t care about any of that! If you don’t give me an explanation today, I’m going to knead these two lumps of rotten flesh into paste!”

”W-What explanation? You were obviously the one who wanted to do it back then!”

”Only because you misled me! Damn it!”

”Don’t talk nonsense. I just happened to discover that weakness by accident. You were the one who charged in headfirst without asking a single question. How is that my fault?!”

”You’re still making excuses! Take this—Dragon Claw!”

”Ow! That hurts, that hurts! Ariel......you damn washboard, let go right now or I’m going to get angry!”

”You still dare call me flat?! Damn you! Where am I flat?! My bust has already grown an entire centimeter recently! I won’t be flat for much longer!”

”What do you mean your bust grew? You obviously just got fat......ow!”

”......”

Bang, crash, thump.

What a lively commotion.

Fortunately, this was a special hospital room, so they wouldn’t disturb the other patients.

And as Muen watched these two who had been the closest of best friends just a minute ago start grappling with each other, pulling hair and grabbing breasts as they rolled and tangled all the way out of the room, he immediately felt much better.

Deal with them one by one and make every last bastard who had screwed him over suffer the consequences......

There was probably nothing more wonderful in this world.

”Phew......finally, some peace and quiet.”

Muen lay back down on the hospital bed, preparing to enjoy this hard-won moment of tranquility.

However, the instant his head touched the soft pillow, he caught a faint fragrance.

The opening note was gentle, the heart note profound, and the lingering base note long and deep.

As though it could steal away a person’s soul.

This perfume was one of a kind.

In this entire world, only a certain genius potion master could create something like it.

Sure enough, the moment Muen opened his eyes, he saw a pair of alluring, limpid eyes, followed by the flawless face revealed as a hand lightly swept aside a strand of hair.

”Did I come at a bad time and disturb you, junior?”

Anna’s hair fell softly, brushing across Muen’s cheek like a cascading waterfall beneath a river of stars, breathtakingly beautiful.