A Villainess Should Be Strong

Chapter 118: The Challenge

The next day, Estelle woke up to a knock on the door.

The sun was shining brightly, and her eyes were tired as she rubbed them listlessly. She glanced at the door. 

"Enter," Estelle said.

Immediately, the door handle was twisted by a certain someone.

The door's opening then revealed two figures. Neil and Niki, the twins. They were working as her attendants, so naturally they would also wake her up.

Although, Estelle's mind immediately perked up to another matter aside from the attendant duties.

Her mission, the challenge she dared Neil to give her.

Looking at Neil's gleaming expression, Estelle knew that he must've gotten a great idea that would screw her over badly.

Sadly, Estelle was much more confident than Neil thought. She wouldn't be distraught.

"Good morning, you two," Estelle did light stretches as she got off the bed and went in front of the mirror to fix her appearance slightly. 

"Good morning," Neil answered. 

By his side, Niki's expression was distorted quite badly, making Estelle wonder what Neil had in store for his plans.

"..I'm guessing that you already have an idea on how to kick me out of this place?" Estelle chuckled.

"Precisely so. I am announcing your first... and last challenge," Neil had a smirk plastered on his face. Confidence was beaming from his entire attitude.

"Do tell," Estelle gestured for him to speak as she tiredly got up and put her hands on both hips, supporting her stance.

"It's a challenge that involves the Elven Winds," Neil said.

[Ah, that's why.] Estelle harrumphed internally.

Yesterday, Neil's expression had sparked when he was teaching her about the specialty of Elves when using the element wind. 

A specialty. Of course, to someone like Estelle, who was born a human and never interacted with this foreign element, it would be hard to achieve the same feats elves could.

"The Elven Winds... They are our friend, our colleague, someone we work with for our entire life. If someone can't use the wind the way we elves use it, it's hard to say that they are an elf," 

"And of course, the surname Villarante, which contains hundreds of years worth of Elven history can only be brought up by a fellow elf, lest it becomes a blasphemy," Neil continued declaring, watching as Estelle heaved a sigh.

He was certain that this fight would be won by him.

Not minding Estelle's reactions, Neil wanted to pan the fire even bigger.

"And thus.. this brings us to our first challenge," Neil coughed, looking at Estelle right in the eye as he prepared to announce his decision.

"Obtain the Winds' approval. Make the Winds obey you the way they work with us elves," 

"Haah.. As expected," Estelle commented. 

She specifically asked for data about the elves' specialty because she knew that it would be very easy to exploit.

Immediately after Neil introduced the specialties, Estelle had been considering the possible choices.

"But that's not it," Neil still had more things to say.

Estelle lazily looked over to the man, wondering what else would he say.

He then summoned a bow. It was quite large, and had a mystical presence. It was similar to a crescent moon by the appearance. The gentle blue light that enveloped the bow, which had intricate details that mimicked vines. Other engravings to further beautify the weapon. 

Lastly, a bow string that seemed off.

Estelle frowned. 

There was no bow string, yet there was one.

The place where the string was supposed to show up was empty. But Estelle could feel small hints of disruptions in the environment.

It was very small. Almost unnoticeable. But Estelle could still sense the little bits.

"The string.." Estelle mumbled out loud.

Neil was just about to explain, but his movements were stopped.

This time, Niki stepped forward, sighing with disappointment.

"This is the [Moonlight Bow]. It's a specialized type of bow that can only be crafted using the hands of a Royal Sculptor. To pair up with the bow, you need to learn a separate archery style... And of course, learn to associate with the Winds. You have to obtain a very high proficiency in both segments in order to even try," Niki explained, snatching the bow from Neil.

She took her right hand into the air, making Estelle be able to see it clearly.

Getting into a shooting stance, Niki was engrossed in her own thoughts and paid no heed to Neil's complaints.

Estelle's eyes widened.

It was a full-fledged bow, but it just had no string to pluck.

Niki's gaze was entirely focused and in tune with herself.

"Neil, please," Niki asked her twin brother, her focus still steady.

Realizing what Niki wanted to do, Neil nodded and used his own magic. He used Wind Magic to create a shield-like structure, placing ten of them in a row. 

After the placements were done, Niki furrowed her brows, concentrating even further.

Then, light started gleaming brighter and brighter from the bow. A string appeared. It was a faint component, but you could see it if you looked hard enough. A thin thread.

Niki pulled on this thread, allowing the surrounding environment to warp around her.

Wind burst around Niki, concentrating at the bow's aiming tip.

There was no arrow, but Niki released her hold on the mystical string.

No string and no arrows. Estelle wondered just what they were trying to do.

Instantly, a huge wave of wind swirled and pierced the ten shield Neil had made to hold off the arrow.

The arrow penetrated through 8 of them with high intensity, tearing a large hole apart from the middle and breaking the entire thing. The velocity continued before stopping at the ninth, making a small bullet-like hole.

The shields all collectively shattered into small fragments as their main core was destroyed.

Strangely, the bow was still not visible. But Estelle had seen the power firsthand, she couldn't have been mistaken on what she witnessed.

A bizarre power that did not have a physical form, yet was able to bring out this much power. From where did such a thing come out from?

Estelle brought her hands up and applauded. She recognized Niki's strength, even though it wasn't all that practical.

Niki sighed once more, looking at Estelle as if saying that this should not be the time for her to applause and admire her feat.

After all, her twin brother expected the girl to perform a similar feat in just three days. 

Despite Niki's worries, Estelle wasn't all that anxious in front of the challenge she had to face.

In fact, she was more intrigued than anything. 

The fact that she was slowly being exposed to all these secretive, hidden elements of the world made her learn that not everything was just textbook knowledge and theories.

"..It's not Wind, but it is Wind," Estelle muttered, holding the arrow tightly. "Does it stay? Or will it disappear sooner or later?" 

"It stays unless we want to throw it away," Niki dropped the bow, using her Wind Magic to bring all the destroyed pieces to one section and cleaning everything up.

[Essentially, they created an object. It's not elemental magic, but it is.] Estelle entered another paradoxical argument with herself.

"This is the so called [Moonlight Archery]. A style that has been passed down through generations. I will give you three days. If you are truly worthy of being a Royal Elf, then you should be able to get used to the winds' worth very soon. And of course.. the archery style," Neil confidently brought up the matter.

Not even a slight glimpse of remorse could be seen on his face.

"Can all elves do it? The archery?" Estelle questioned.

"Of course not! The Royal Sculptors only awards these bows to the royal family members and high executives. They don't make this in batch. Each of the instruments are carefully crafted to create the masterpiece that is the current version of the Moonlight Bow," Niki interjected.

Estelle hummed in response, realizing that the story just got a lot more interesting.

"If you fail, go back to Alynthi and never touch the lands of Alfheim again," Neil glared down at the girl who was displaying an interested expression.

"Neil-" From the side, Niki was trying to object. However, Neil put his hand up in the air, telling Niki to stop her efforts.

Frustrated, Niki grumbled. 

He wouldn't yield. This was one of the most basic quality of an elf. A character that they shared.

Although, parts of his order also came from the prejudice he had formed from the few qualities Estelle had shown him.

However, Niki felt like what Neil expected was too much. Even elves needed years to assimilate with the winds after they are born into the world. What Neil told Estelle to do was essentially digging a bottomless pit for her to jump in by herself at the end of the three days time limit.

Three days. That was such a short period. And Neil expected her to execute at least one strike of the [Moonlight Archery].

Estelle would not succeed.

Even though she didn't necessarily like the girl, she was someone who hated injustice. And her brother was trying to enact injustice on Estelle. 

Seeing her brother's determination, Niki knew that this was it for Estelle. She would be seeing the girl off in three days.

It was a shame, but she had not forbidden him to order her to do this. If she knew better, if she knew that there was this feature to exploit, she would've prevented it from happening, but it was too late.

The promises had been made.

Thus, she decided to follow suit with her brother's plans. 

If Estelle wasn't even able to do this, then she shouldn't dare to try and proclaim herself with the Villarante surname.

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