Everyone around them was quite dressed up, so they must have been at some kind of party, but not a single one of them moved to Yuriina’s aid.
“Yuririka La Triole. Judging by your confusion, you seem ignorant of the weight of your own crimes,” a young man in particularly extravagant attire announced.
Never mind her crimes, Yuriina didn’t know who these people were or where she was. The most she could figure out was that the name the man had called her was a little similar to her own, so that was probably why Malnarilna had picked her for this role.
Yuririka La Triole, huh? I feel little connection to that name.
She mulled the thought over a number of times, but her new identity still didn’t click. It seemed Malnarilna was fine leaving her as Yuriina Tanaka.
“I guess you never expected to be apprehended here of all places. But it’s too late. We have all the proof we needed of what you did to Iris to get an arrest warrant for you.”
Another man in a soldier’s uniform beside the first presented a sheet of paper. That must have been the arrest warrant he had mentioned, but Yuriina had no clue what it said. Though she understood the language here, she couldn’t read it. Iris must have been the frail girl in the young man’s arms. Judging by the conversation so far, it seemed Yuririka had done something to her, but of course Yuriina had no knowledge of it.
“Naturally, this means the marriage is off. Sorry, but this is what happens to a woman driven mad by jealousy.”
Well. I don’t understand anything that’s happening, but I suppose I don’t need to think that much about it.
The prattling young man was no more than an obstacle. Political, legal, and ethical considerations were irrelevant to her. All she thought was that the people who dared to restrain and judge her unjustly deserved to be punished.
Yuriina pushed back with her arms, easily throwing off the man holding her down. Her assailant was flung upwards, striking the ceiling before crashing back down to the floor motionless.
“What?!” the young man exclaimed in shock. This must have been far beyond anything Yuririka had been capable of, as he seemed to be struggling to accept what he was seeing.
Yuriina slowly rose to her feet. “I suppose this young lady must be Iris, then?” she said.
“Y-Yes...” the girl squeaked, her voice trembling.
“So, who exactly are you, young man?”
“Wh-What? Grab her! No, never mind. Just kill her! She was caught red-handed!”
“That’s not a polite way to treat a weak young lady like myself, now is it?” Yuriina replied as the soldiers around the young man drew their swords. Others guarding the perimeter of the room also rushed forward.
Steel blades arced towards Yuriina’s head far faster than she could react. She had never fought before. There was no way she could dodge a strike meant to take her life. But that turned out to be no issue, as her body was extraordinarily resilient. One of the so-called “cheat powers” Malnarilna had given her was a sturdy body. A number of soldiers attempted to slash or stab her, but none of them could so much as draw blood. All they managed to accomplish was slicing her dress apart.
I think I’m getting used to this.
With a little bit of time to settle into her newly enhanced abilities, she could start tracking the soldiers’ movements with her eyes fairly easily. Yuriina reached a hand towards an incoming sword, grabbing it out of the air. The blade bent and warped in her grip, so she tossed it aside.
A scream resounded from the background as the discarded weapon apparently struck someone, but she wasn’t overly concerned. She had no intention of purposefully killing someone who wasn’t attacking her, but it was their own fault if they stood around like an idiot while a fight was happening.
The soldier who had lost his weapon dove forward. Yuriina answered with a slap. There was no technique behind it, only a blind swing of an open palm, but when she struck the soldier’s head, he was sent flying backwards, spinning through the air. Plowing through a crowd of people, the soldier struck a wall and punched through it. This was another one of her cheats: incredible physical strength.
Punching, kicking, beating and stabbing the soldiers with their own weapons, Yuriina quickly got a hang of the fight. Nothing they did could hurt her, so she could calmly and methodically take them down one by one.
“You should really be praising these men,” Yuriina commented. “They should have noticed by now they have no chance against me, yet they still do not flee.”
“Who... Who are you? Are you not Yuririka?” the man replied.
“My name is Yuriina Tanaka. I am the daughter of the illustrious Tanaka household. Okay, I suppose our family was not so illustrious. So, what is your name?”
Frozen in terror, the young man couldn’t respond. Unable to make progress with him, she turned to Iris instead.
“Miss Iris, could you tell me his name?”
“Lord Ernst De Martine...the first prince of the Kingdom of Martine...” Iris managed, still quivering.
“Ah, Lord Ernst, then. I do not know the particulars of this situation, but I am going to have to ask you to die.” Yuriina delivered a swift chop to the man’s forehead. Still lost in his confusion, he made no effort to move as Yuriina’s hand sliced him neatly in two, spraying blood and guts around him and onto Yuriina and Iris.
Iris wailed, dropping to the ground and losing control of her bladder.
“Miss Iris?” Yuriina said, paying no mind to the mess.
“Y-Yes?”
“Might I ask where we are?”
“The main hall of the palace...”
“A palace, is it? Does that mean there is a king somewhere?”
“Y-Yes...though I don’t know exactly where...”
Yuriina couldn’t tell what Iris’s position here was, but she didn’t seem to be royalty. Judging by her appearance, she could have been a commoner.
“I see. Thank you.” Yuriina started walking towards what appeared to be the exit. No one else tried to stop her. Almost everyone in the room had either fled or was huddled on the floor in terror.
“Umm...what do you plan to do with the king?” Iris managed to squeeze out. It seemed she was actually quite a bit braver than she first let on.
“I can’t imagine I can get away with killing the first prince like that, so I figured I’d nip this next problem in the bud. I am supposed to be the young villainess, right?”
“Young villainess? Were you also reincarnated?”
Yuriina stopped. “Oh? Have we met a similar fate here, then?”
“Umm...I don’t think this is what a young villainess character is supposed to do...”
“I was not told anything about what I should do or how I should act. Does that not mean it’s up to my interpretation?”
Yuriina continued on her way.