Why Did I Reincarnate as the Heroine When I Wanted to Be a Villainess?

Chapter 30: Employment Is a Personal Attack

The job board was covered in paper.

Seraphina hated it immediately.

Not because of the jobs.

Because of what the jobs represented.

Responsibility.

Effort.

Productivity.

All deeply suspicious concepts.

She folded her arms.

"Are you sure?"

Kael looked at her.

"About what?"

"Work."

"Yes."

"Forever?"

"We need money, not a lifelong career."

"Good."

Kael sighed.

"Why are you acting like I’m sending you to war?"

Seraphina pointed dramatically at the board. freewёbnoνel.com

"Because you are."

The first job offered three silver coins for unloading cargo.

The second required cleaning stables.

The third involved carrying supplies.

The fourth involved digging.

The fifth involved more digging.

Seraphina stared.

Then stared harder.

Then looked at Kael.

"Who keeps inventing terrible jobs?"

"People who need things done."

"They should stop."

A man carrying crates walked past.

Sweating.

Tired.

Working.

Seraphina watched him for several seconds.

Then quietly stepped behind Kael.

"What are you doing?"

"Hiding."

"Why?"

"What if he tries to recruit me?"

Kael ignored her and continued reading.

A small crowd moved around them.

Merchants.

Workers.

Travelers.

Nobody paid them much attention.

Which was nice.

Being unnoticed was becoming surprisingly enjoyable.

Then Seraphina spotted a posting.

Her eyes narrowed.

She stepped closer.

Then smiled.

The dangerous smile.

The one that worried Kael.

"What."

"I found it."

"Found what?" free𝑤ebnovel.com

"The perfect job."

Kael read the posting.

Then closed his eyes.

"No."

"Why?"

"No."

"It suits me perfectly."

"No."

"It literally says ’assistant.’"

Kael pointed at the paper.

"It says ’assistant accountant.’"

Silence.

Seraphina slowly lowered the paper.

"Those are very different things."

"Yes."

"That feels misleading."

She moved on.

A few minutes later she found another posting.

Then another.

Then another.

Unfortunately, every job seemed to involve effort.

A disappointing trend.

Eventually she sat on a nearby bench.

Defeated.

A rare sight.

Kael joined her.

"Any success?"

"No."

"Any plans?"

"No."

"Any useful skills?"

Seraphina looked offended.

"I have many useful skills."

"Such as?"

"I can identify expensive tea."

Kael waited.

"That’s the whole list, isn’t it?"

She looked away.

A guilty reaction.

Which answered the question.

The silence lasted a few seconds.

Then Seraphina suddenly laughed.

"Remember when I tried to open a bakery?"

Kael immediately groaned.

"Oh no."

"Oh yes."

A passing merchant looked confused.

Neither noticed.

"I was eleven."

"You nearly burned down three buildings."

"It was one building."

"It spread to two more."

"Details."

The memory made her grin.

At the time she’d been completely confident.

She had watched a baker once.

Which, in her opinion, made her practically an expert.

It had not.

Kael shook his head.

"You put salt in everything."

"I thought it was sugar."

"You tasted it."

"I thought expensive sugar was different."

A nearby old woman burst out laughing.

Apparently she’d been listening.

Seraphina pointed at her.

"Thank you."

The woman nodded.

"Continue. This is entertaining."

Kael immediately stood up.

"We’re leaving."

"No."

The old woman pointed at Seraphina.

"I like this one."

"See?"

Kael looked unconvinced.

The old woman continued laughing as they walked away.

A few streets later they found a market.

The smell of food filled the air.

Fresh bread.

Roasted meat.

Pastries.

Fruit.

Everything smelled amazing.

Which became a problem.

Because being poor made smelling food significantly worse.

Seraphina stopped in front of a bakery.

Stared through the window.

A child inside stared back.

The two maintained eye contact.

The child held a pastry.

Seraphina looked at the pastry.

The child slowly moved it farther away.

Protectively.

"Did that child just judge me?"

Kael didn’t even look.

"Probably."

Her stomach growled.

Again.

The child looked victorious.

Seraphina walked away.

She would remember this betrayal.

Near the center of town they found a fountain.

Several people sat nearby.

Talking.

Relaxing.

Enjoying their day.

Then Seraphina noticed a crowd gathered around a small stage.

Her eyes lit up.

"Kael."

"No."

"You don’t know what I’m going to say."

"I do."

She pointed anyway.

A performer stood on the stage juggling brightly colored balls.

The audience clapped.

Children cheered.

Coins filled a small basket nearby.

Seraphina gasped.

"Money."

Kael immediately knew where this was going.

Unfortunately.

"No."

"Why?"

"No."

"I can do that."

"No."

Seraphina stood.

Confident.

Determined.

Dangerous.

"I absolutely can."

"You absolutely can’t."

Ten minutes later—

She was on the stage.

Kael hated everything.

The audience watched curiously.

Seraphina smiled.

Gave a small bow.

Then attempted to juggle.

The first ball hit her face.

The second bounced off her shoulder.

The third disappeared into the crowd.

A child caught it.

Silence.

Then the audience exploded into laughter.

Seraphina stared.

Offended.

Deeply offended.

"That was a warm-up."

Nobody believed her.

Including Kael.

Especially Kael.

Five minutes later she had earned exactly one copper coin.

Not because she was talented.

Because people found the disaster entertaining.

She examined the coin.

"Money is money."

Kael rubbed his forehead.

Then something surprising happened.

A little girl approached.

The same age as the child from the bakery.

Maybe younger.

She held out another coin.

"For trying."

Seraphina accepted it.

Then frowned.

"That sounded insulting."

The girl nodded.

"It was."

Then she ran away.

Kael laughed.

Actually laughed.

Openly.

Seraphina pointed immediately.

"Traitor."

The rest of the afternoon continued in a similar fashion.

Every brilliant plan turned out to be significantly less brilliant after testing.

Selling advice.

Failed.

Offering etiquette lessons.

Failed.

Attempting to negotiate prices on behalf of strangers.

Failed spectacularly.

By sunset they had earned only a small amount.

Not enough.

Not even close.

They sat on a low stone wall near the edge of town.

Tired.

Hungry.

Slightly richer.

Mostly not.

The sky turned orange.

Then gold.

Then deeper shades of red.

For once neither spoke.

The day had exhausted both of them.

Eventually Seraphina broke the silence.

"You know."

"What."

She stared at the distant rooftops.

"When I was little, I thought adults had everything figured out."

Kael looked at her.

"And?"

She held up the handful of coins they’d earned.

"I was incredibly wrong."

A laugh escaped him.

Small.

But genuine.

Seraphina smiled.

The moment lasted only a few seconds before reality returned.

Reality was rude like that.

"We still need more money."

"Yes."

Silence.

Then Kael reached into his pocket.

Pulled out one of the remaining silver coins.

Looked at it.

Then at her.

"We can survive a few more days."

A few days.

Not exactly comforting.

But not immediate disaster either.

Seraphina leaned back.

Looking at the darkening sky.

Thinking.

A dangerous activity.

Then her eyes narrowed.

"Oh."

Kael immediately became suspicious.

"What."

"I have an idea."

There it was.

The sentence responsible for at least half their problems.

"No."

Seraphina ignored him.

A slow smile appeared.

The confident villainess smile.

The one that suggested common sense had already left the conversation.

"We’ve been trying to earn money the normal way."

Kael’s concern increased dramatically.

"And?"

She stood.

Spread her arms dramatically.

"Clearly the solution is becoming famous."

The silence that followed was magnificent.

Kael stared.

Seraphina smiled.

The town remained completely unaware that tomorrow was about to become significantly more complicated.

For reasons that were entirely her fault.