Ch.338EP.71 – Cowardice Is Not the Exclusive Property of Villains (3)

“Knight, I have a proposal. Would you perhaps need a well-behaved noble who listens to your every word?”

…That was a sudden proposal, and a unique opinion I dared not judge.

The kind of opinion that makes the listener briefly contemplate morality and the ethics of life.

However.

“Knight, this isn’t a bad thing. I know it’s not something society would approve of. But Knight, sometimes a little cowardice and evil are necessary rather than adhering to laws or ethics. Evil must be suppressed with evil. Wouldn’t that be more beneficial to the world?”

Her words couldn’t be denied, and Ihan realized anew.

‘Evil women aren’t called evil for nothing.’

She didn’t show even a hint of guilt while speaking of ‘such plans.’

However…

‘Since I’m the one who approved this, does that make me just as bad?’

Ihan was too conscientious to be a hypocrite pretending only he was clean, and Roseth was someone who had crossed the line far too much.

So.

‘I’ll just be a bit of a bastard, whatever.’

If it contributed to making the world a little cleaner, what was there to distinguish between good and bad?

For now.

“The results better be good.”

Ihan shrugged his shoulders.

As if saying it’s better to watch than to fret about it.

[WHOOSH-!]

…It was a mysteriously beautiful sight.

Softly.

A dreamlike, beautiful mist mixing pink and purple suddenly enveloped a person.

Looking at it made reality feel distant, and one might be tempted to touch it, but…

“Wh-what are you doing?!”

For the person being enveloped—no, consumed—by the mist, it was clearly not pleasant at all.

[Don’t struggle too much, it’s nothing serious. I’m simply taking control of your body.]

“…What?”

[I’m not consuming your soul or anything. Originally, succubi feed on dreams and human energy, not souls. We’re not such ominous beings… However, if I wanted to, I could do ‘slightly’ dangerous things, hehe.]

For example…

[I can temporarily seal your mind. Or rather, should I say I’m suppressing your personality? It’s complicated and my intelligence isn’t great enough to explain properly, but the important point is that you will ‘sleep.’ A deep sleep where you won’t know when you’ll wake up or how long you’ll sleep.]

Woong!

[This isn’t normally so easy to do. It’s a technique impossible even on newborns. But it’s possible because you’re in a critical state, near death. If this were possible on someone who wasn’t dying, wouldn’t that knight have killed me? This is an extremely dangerous power.]

“S-stop…!”

Roseth suddenly commanded her to remove this mist immediately.

But…

[Don’t you understand the laws of nature? What predator listens to its prey? Hehe.]

The succubus smiled sweetly.

It was an incredibly beautiful smile, but at this moment, it couldn’t be more chilling and frightening.

Eyes and a smile completely devoid of compassion.

[Haaa… This feels addictive.]

She felt a rising desire to push her opponent further into despair and drop them into the abyss.

Like discovering a new taste she herself hadn’t been aware of?

It was a moment of pure pleasure, but…

THWACK!

[…..]

“If you feel like you’re going to fall into corruption, tell me. I’ll end your breath painlessly.”

[N-no. I’m not corrupted at all, n-not at all!]

She quickly came to her senses after witnessing the axe that had just grazed past her and embedded itself in the wall.

She knew this knight was a man of his word, and she didn’t dare think of defying him.

‘Being beaten for over five hours yesterday was painful enough. If that happens again, I might die from the beating…’

Judia wanted to live.

Preferably healthily and vigorously for a long time.

In that sense.

[Don’t worry, Knight. I’m a good person who keeps my promises.]

“You’re a succubus.”

[Y-you still misunderstand me so much. Ahem, b-but, now…]

…I probably won’t face such discrimination anymore.

The frightened succubus couldn’t bring herself to voice this retort, but it didn’t hinder her from doing her job.

No, from now on, it was actually easier.

[Pierre, can you do this well?]

[I don’t need advice from the likes of you. I know what I need to do.]

[You probably know, but once this happens, there’s no going back. So…]

[I know, so let me out quickly. I want to leave as soon as possible.]

[…Really, you’re heartless until the end.]

Thwack.

Judia Pierre.

The woman with two names thus…

“AAAAARGH!!”

Using the miserable scream of an arrogant family head as a signal, she pushed Pierre out.

Whoosh!

*

*

*

…The butler paced anxiously in the corridor.

“What on earth are they doing in there…”

It had been two hours already.

Two hours since the butler had been waiting outside, which also meant two hours since the Count and the unidentified knight had been conversing.

The butler couldn’t help but feel anxious, worried that something might have gone wrong.

Perhaps.

‘Could something have happened to His Excellency…?’

He knew of His Excellency’s strength.

But knowing didn’t stop him from worrying.

If something happened to His Excellency.

‘I might be arrested too!’

It was less concern out of loyalty and more worry about losing the backing that concealed his crimes.

“…This won’t do.”

The butler made a life-changing decision.

Even if he faced a severe reprimand.

…He would go in!

The moment he made up his mind, his hand was surprisingly quick to knock on the door.

“Your Excellency, it’s me. M-may I come in?”

[…..]

“Your Excellency? Count?”

Knock knock.

After knocking several times with no response, the butler’s face stiffened and his heartbeat intensified.

Normally, His Excellency would have been angry by now, but there was no reaction at all.

The butler then,

BANG!

“Ugh!?”

…Was knocked to the floor by the suddenly opening door.

“…What are you doing?”

“Y-Your Excellency?”

Contrary to his worries, His Excellency stood there, having opened the door, looking perfectly fine.

The sharp gaze, twisted lips, and arrogant demeanor.

All of it was exactly how the butler knew Roseth Tyura de Lohengrin.

“I asked what you’re doing.”

“N-nothing. It was just too quiet, so I…”

“Don’t act like a fool, butler. We have a guest.”

“Pardon?”

“I said we have a guest.”

“…?”

Guest?

The butler’s gaze carefully peered into the office, and there he saw the knight who had seemed ready to tear his master apart just two hours ago, now sitting on the sofa with legs crossed.

What in the…?

“Y-Your Excellency, what exactly happened in there…?”

“Do I need to explain that to you?”

“……”

“Since when were you allowed to question my judgment?”

“Th-that’s…”

“Shut up and bring tea and refreshments immediately. I said we have a guest!”

“……”

“If you can’t understand simple instructions, I might as well cut off those useless ears and give them to the knight as a gift.”

“N-no! I understand! I’ll bring tea and refreshments right away! Please wait…!!”

The butler disappeared with a speed unimaginable from his plump body.

Because he knew his master was a man of his word.

‘Yes, that’s our Excellency!’

If he wasn’t mean, he wouldn’t be His Excellency.

* * *

“What an absolute fool.”

After confirming the butler had gone, Roseth plopped down on the sofa and muttered incomprehensible words to himself.

His tone and gaze had changed from moments before, and anyone perceptive would have noticed that his demeanor was completely different from the Roseth the butler knew.

While the voice and face were clearly Roseth’s, he seemed not to be Roseth at all.

Observing this.

“Don’t let your guard down. You have to live with that appearance for the rest of your life. Keep up that scoundrel concept. Even if you change your concept, don’t change too suddenly. You need to work on it for at least 3 years.”

“Ha, how harsh.”

“What’s harsh about it? Should I restore you to your original state now?”

“…No, that’s not what I meant. It’s strange to say, but I… I’m feeling, for the first time in my life, a genuine thrill of ‘freedom’ and ‘joy’.”

“…It shows.”

Ihan nodded.

Though he seemed to think he was being cool and composed, the constantly rising corners of his mouth revealed just how much he was enjoying this.

However,

“Still, you shouldn’t let your guard down, Pierre. Even though that body has been reconstructed with more than 50% succubus cells, the remaining 50% still belongs to Lohengrin. When the original owner wakes up, you’ll have to fight, and if you’re careless, you might lose it.”

“…Put aside your petty concerns. I will never lose it.”

“Really? Will you be fine without my care? Hmm? Da·ddy?”

“…Grr!”

“Kyahahahaha!”

The woman who had taken a liking to teasing him, or rather, the girl who looked no older than a teenager, laughed heartily.

Roseth, or rather, the former Inquisitor wearing the disguise of the scoundrel Roseth, glared at the girl murderously while trembling with rage, fully aware that his life was in her hands.

Watching this scene, Ihan clicked his tongue.

‘Whether they’re one body or two, they really don’t get along.’

They were supposedly siblings… no, mother and son, and now father and daughter…

“Huh?”

Something seems off.

“…This is disgustingly complicated.”

Ihan decided to ignore these fractured relationships.

Paying attention would only complicate his own thoughts.

* * *

To put it simply, the one currently in Roseth’s body was ‘Pierre.’

More precisely, it was Pierre’s personality, with Pierre’s consciousness transferred to Roseth through the succubus’s power.

Conversely, this rejuvenated girl was Judia.

Well, she had only become about ten years younger, but she had definitely become younger.

A mature woman had become a girl, and while someone hearing this might think it bizarre…

‘I can’t disbelieve it since I saw it myself.’

The mysterious race of succubi.

There was nothing to say except that it was the peculiarity of their species.

“Don’t think too hard about it, Knight. I used more than half of my succubus power to restore Pierre’s consciousness and that body, and this is just the consequence. Not only has my body become younger, but I’ve also lost my ability to freely enter people’s dreams or seduce them like before. Well, I could still do it if I really wanted to, but it wouldn’t be as easy as before. In other words…”

“You’ve become half-crippled?”

“…Let’s just use the term ‘half-blood.’ It sounds more sophisticated.”

Half-blood succubus. An appropriate description of Judia’s current capabilities.

She hadn’t completely lost her power, but she had lost most of the [mystique] that had made her nearly omnipotent.

Her status had undoubtedly fallen, but Judia didn’t seem to mind at all, showing no signs of regret.

Well, that made sense.

“…You’ve achieved all your goals in the end.”

“Oh my, couldn’t you say it benefited us both?”

“Nonsense. I somehow feel like I’ve been played by you.”

“Hoho, well, I don’t know what you mean…”

I have no idea what you’re talking about!

The succubus, no, the girl who had successfully “laundered” her identity and was set to enter the family with the [setting] of being Lohengrin Count’s hidden daughter…

The girl who had become the real Judia [Lohengrin] as of today simply smiled sweetly.

With sinister eyes gleaming.

Really…

‘There’s a reason why bad people prosper.’

Ihan felt a sudden urge to smack the back of her head and fidgeted with his hands, but the sharp-witted villainess quickly ran away.

…Because if she were hit now, even regeneration would be impossible.