The Villainess's Reputation [Kingdom Building]

336. Nillie Vermen The Blacksmith

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Ravenna gazed at the floating translucent panel of the Reputation System. The last of Nillie’s assistants were filing out of the study, their faces still flushed with the excitement of the electrical demonstration. As Nillie himself turned to follow them, she raised a hand.

“Mister Nillie, please stay. I have something of great importance to discuss with you,” she said, her voice dropping an octave. Her eyes flickered back to the expanded panel on her screen.

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“Alice, please close the door and ensure that we are not disturbed for the next three hours. Under any circumstances,” Ravenna added, her gaze sharp and serious.

Nillie gulped, his throat bobbing as he felt the sudden weight of the atmosphere. He was a man of iron and oil, but the Princess’s current intensity made him feel like a piece of raw ore under a heavy hammer. He straightened his back and hardened his resolve; whatever the Princess required of him, he would fulfill. He was a citizen of the Kim Dukedom, and he had always put the welfare of its people first.

“Mister Nillie, you worked tirelessly for the people of this land long before I arrived to claim it as my own,” Ravenna began, walking slowly around her desk. “I do not doubt your loyalty to the Dukedom… but I find myself curious. What was it that made you stay? Even during those dark, starving years when Jola was nothing but a barren desert?”

Nillie clenched his calloused fists as he took a deep, steadying breath. A flicker of old, buried resolve ignited in his eyes. “I am sure you have already dug into my past, Your Highness. Is that why you are asking me this now?”

A heavy silence followed, broken only by the steady, rhythmic ticking of the wall clock and the soft sound of Alice fidgeting with her spectacles. Alice watched the exchange with growing confusion, her mind racing to figure out what deep secret Ravenna was trying to reveal.

Ravenna smirked, though there was a hint of warmth in the expression. “Not quite. From the moment I arrived, I saw that Sarah, Richard, Jessica, and you were the only ones keeping this place from collapsing into the sea. That alone is enough for me to trust you.”

She stopped directly in front of him, her presence commanding. “This is less about an investigation and more about me wanting to know my possessions better. Think of this as a final test, to see if you are truly worthy of the secret I am about to reveal to you.”

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Nillie looked at her, the weight of the moment pressing down on him. “You wish for me to reveal my deeply held secret to prove I am worthy of yours,” he said, finally grasping the gravity of the trade. “B-but Your Highness, what kind of secret could be so great that you must test me this way? Should a common blacksmith like me even be permitted to know such a thing?”

“It is a secret that will transform the future of this island,” Ravenna replied, her voice a low, steady hum. “No—not just the island. It will change the Empire and the entire world.”

Nillie took one more breath, as if bracing for a plunge into cold water.

“I... I am not originally from Jola,” he began, his voice raspy with the weight of confession. “I am one of the last surviving members of the Vermen Clan. I was once a high-ranking member of Otto City’s Blacksmith Council, before the purge.”

He leaned back slightly, his eyes growing misty with nostalgia. “I came here with the original wave of Herptian Priests from Otto City after being cast out by my own family. I was nothing more than an illegitimate young man, desperately seeking validation from a bloodline that never loved me.”

He looked down at his calloused, grease-stained hands and smiled sadly. “I simply forged what my heart desired; I never felt I was deserving of any special praise. But then... I made it. Using ancient materials found deep within my family’s secret vault, I created an ‘artifact’ that should not have existed in this era, a blade that would never break under any pressure, and one that granted its wielder the instincts of a master swordsman.”

Ravenna’s eyes sharpened as a specific image flickered through her mind: a unique, oddly designed sword she had seen recently and read about.

“The night that blade was revealed, everything changed,” Nillie continued, his voice trembling. “They began calling me a genius, a legendary inventor, a savior. Otto City erupted into madness. To every faction and noble house, that sword was the key to the one thing they craved above all else: power.”

Ravenna nodded slowly, finishing the story for him. “And so, you threw the sword into the depths of the ocean. You boarded a ship with the Herptian Priests, leaving your name and your legacy behind to find a new life here in Jola.”

Nillie looked up, genuinely stunned by her accuracy. “I decided then to dedicate my skills to a world where people actually needed them, rather than to those fueled by greed. I found people to care for here, a family I never had. I found a wife to love and now, apprentices who look up to me.”

He met Ravenna’s gaze with a look of absolute sincerity. “Your Highness, the title of ‘Genius Inventor’ is so far in my past that I barely remember the Vermen House as my home. For forty years, this island has been my world. It is my only selfish desire to remain a part of this home's future until my dying breath. I hope you can trust me.”

Ravenna offered a small, knowing smile. “Do you really not know who currently possesses that divine sword you forged, Mister Nillie?”

“It lies at the bottom of the ocean, Your Highness,” Nillie replied firmly. “There is no way anyone could possibly wield it.”

“Not quite,” Ravenna countered. “Did you not take a good look at our esteemed guest a few months ago? Ser Eugene?”

Nillie blinked, his confusion evident. “Ser Eugene? I saw him, but...”

“His unusual sword didn't intrigue you?” Ravenna’s smile widened. Internally, she was reeling at the realization. “I had no idea the sword Eugene spent the first few chapters of the original novel searching for after returning to the past was actually made by Nillie. His signature sword which allows him to be so overpowered”

“Well,” Ravenna said, standing up and smoothing out her skirts. “It is enough for me that you were honest about your past. You have passed the test, Mister Nillie. Now, I am going to show you and Alice something that your minds will have a very difficult time grasping...”

She looked at the empty space in the center of the room, her hand hovering over the invisible system interface.

“...Welcome to my Origin Domain.”