Eek! Become the Villainess! Eek! 4

The Ruincrest layer was bustling with preparations for a rebellion.

Rebellion, of course, meant going up against the Ark’s central administration, the administrators, and the First-Class Overseers and Executors, the supreme military force, so thorough preparation was essential.

Naturally, the core families of the rebellion, including the Arbentaine Family, were scrutinizing every item and person entering and leaving the layer in real-time. Suspicious individuals were presumed to be informants for the central administration and subjected to thorough investigation.

In Alice’s case, Theresa and Rilstia had manipulated her information, but as a returnee, she had no information to begin with, making her entry into the layer smooth.

However, Fira Dunhill’s case was a bit different.

“Muspel Chief, a suspicious individual has been detected.”

“Zoom in.”

Numerous administrative surveillance drones covering the entire Ruincrest layer zoomed in on one screen.

The drone displayed a girl with purple pigtails wearing an Academy uniform. Next to the screen, simple information about the girl, including her name, Pyon Dunhill, her layer entry record, occupation, and family, was displayed.

“Pyon Dunhill? Dunhill, you say?”

“Yes, from the Dunhill Family.”

Muspel, who was in charge of the Arbentaine Family’s surveillance network, stared at the screen with a serious expression.

Pyon Dunhill. He had never seen the girl before, but he could sense a certain composure in her face. And just the fact that she was from the Dunhill Family made her a person of interest.

“What should we do?”

“Just being from the Dunhill Family is threatening enough. Bring me Pyon Dunhill’s personal information and the information recorded in the Ark’s internal network.”

“Yes.”

“The roots of the central administration have contacted us. This information will be immediately sent to the Lord.”

Muspel immediately ordered the administrative AI to search for information about Pyon Dunhill.

As a result, Pyon Dunhill’s information was too concise and suspiciously clean.

“I’m sure of it. It’s too clean. There’s a high possibility she’s a spy from the center.”

She was entrusted to an orphanage in a commoner residential area, not even in the center, and was coincidentally noticed by an Executor, who recognized her talent and allowed her to enter the Ruincrest Academy.

There were no other records.

As an orphan, there were no records of using public facilities or administrative dispositions, and she had never earned money, so she had never been taxed.

‘She even went straight to the Academy as soon as she arrived at the Ruincrest layer. As if she knew the way… And she tried to contact Alice, who was adopted four weeks ago?’

Too suspicious.

Muspel immediately sent the information about the suspicious individual Pyon Dunhill to Lord Perdain, and soon after, Perdain sent a signal summoning Muspel.

“What did the Lord say?”

“He said she’s a spy, right?”

“I don’t know. The Lord will make the judgment.”

“Won’t you get a promotion for this?”

“Are you going to treat me if I do?”

“Don’t get carried away. I’ll go and see.”

Even as he said that, Muspel was honestly twitching the corners of his lips.

Hunting down an informant from the central administration who had infiltrated the layer would be rewarded with a huge reward and promotion.

In fact, several Fourth-Class Overseers who had come to monitor the movements of the layer had been caught in the Arbentaine’s information network and either expelled or died in an ‘accidental accident’.

The person who reported the incident received a huge reward from the Lord and was immediately assigned to the First Secretary’s Office.

Even though they had the ability and insight to discern the identity of someone from the central administration, they were loyal to the cause of the Arbentaine instead of colluding with them, so the reward was bound to be substantial.

‘I’ve discovered a spy from the center, so it won’t be long before I take the Lord’s right-hand seat.’

Muspel stood in front of Perdain’s office, dreaming an excited dream.

After tidying up his buttons and clothes once more, he knocked on the door with a mix of tension and anticipation.

-Knock, knock, knock

“Lord, this is Muspel, the head of the information surveillance team.”

“Come in.”

The Lord was looking out the window with his hands behind his back.

He had heard that a deal with a military mega corp had not gone well in the morning. Perdain’s face was expressionless as usual, but Muspel, who had served him for a long time, felt that the Lord’s mood was not good.

‘Fortunately, I’ve discovered a spy, so the Lord’s mood will improve.’

Muspel had to force himself to keep his lips from twitching.

“So, you’ve discovered a spy.”

“Yes, I’m sure she’s a spy from the center.”

“The reason?”

Perdain, who had been looking out the window, sat down at his desk with a deliberate motion and held a hot cup of coffee in his hand.

The coffee, which grew only in the Ruincrest layer, gave off a warm and fragrant aroma that filled the room.

“Her name is Pyon Dunhill. She entered the Ruincrest layer just yesterday and is a 16-year-old Awakened who has been transferred to the Academy.”

“I already know that. I’m asking why you think this Pyon brat is suspicious.”

“Yes, I’ll get straight to the point. As you can see from the name Pyon Dunhill, this child appears to be affiliated with the Dunhill Family. In her childhood, she was in a commoner residential area… She belonged to an orphanage that is now defunct, and was adopted by an Executor named Naktis.”

“And?”

“It’s quite a coincidence that a child from the Dunhill Family was in a commoner’s orphanage and was coincidentally adopted by an Executor, but Pyon Dunhill is said to have approached Alice as soon as she entered the Ruincrest Academy.”

“…Hmm.”

Perdain’s eyebrows twitched slightly at the mention of Alice’s name.

“When a typical student enters the Academy, they are busy adapting on the first day, and they don’t know the details or geography of the Academy, so they are confused. However, according to sources, Pyon Dunhill approached Alice from the first day of her transfer to the Academy and showed a fairly friendly demeanor.”

“Continue.”

“Yes, and as a result of using Pyon Dunhill’s medical records, public record usage details, and even the roots in the central intelligence agency, there are almost no tax records or records related to public institutions.”

“……”

Hearing those words, Perdain pondered for a moment and then smirked.

‘Yes, a promotion is confirmed.’

Muspel felt that Perdain’s mood had improved.

Even though he was in a key position that required coolness, intelligence, composure, and machine-like tenacity, it was not strange for a person to cheer inwardly when a great achievement and success were promised.

“To continue, Alice is also highly suspicious. Judging from the screen of the administrative drone spread throughout the Academy, it seems that she accepted Pyon Dunhill without any suspicion as soon as she approached her.”

“Accepted, you say…”

“That’s right. As if they already knew each other… It seems that they even formed a group together in the corpse farm virtual dungeon assigned to the liberal arts class…”

“Stop. I understand now.”

Muspel began to dream of a rosy future.

No matter how much he was in a key position that required coolness, intelligence, composure, and machine-like tenacity, it was not strange for a person to cheer inwardly when a great achievement and success were promised.

“Then, Muspel, let me ask you one thing.”

“Yes, please speak.”

“If you were the central administration, would you put someone with the name ‘Pyon Dunhill’ into a layer suspected of rebellion as is?”

“….”

Muspel’s mouth snapped shut at Perdain’s words.

Those thorough and arrogant rulers who ruled the Ark… Would they send someone with the name ‘Dunhill’, not just an ordinary name, to the Ruincrest layer, which is suspected of rebellion?

“W, well… that is…”

“If I were the central administration, I would have gotten rid of the name ‘Dunhill’ first, even if everything else was the same, wouldn’t I?”

“….”

“Of course, it may be strange. But I know the inside story of the Dunhill Family to some extent.”

It was also a privilege of the meritorious family.

“They are barbaric people who do not hesitate to commit incest and kill and eat the same bloodline in order to achieve the goal of the family’s masterpiece. They are like maggots who have thrown away their intelligence and dignity in exchange for power. How many of those guys would have a lot of stupid bastards in their family?”

Muspel was well aware of the promiscuous private lives of the upper class.

In Perdain’s case, he was a unique human being with almost no sexual desire except for seeing the succession for the family, but Muspel was well aware that other high-ranking officials in Ruincrest pretended to be elegant and formal during the day, but spent every night in promiscuous orgies and parties.

“Th, then the reason why Pyon Dunhill is in an orphanage in the commoner area is…”

“It’s just that a bastard and her mother escaped from the Dunhill Family to survive. Besides, there is already a masterpiece named Fira Dunhill in the Dunhill Family. The Dunhill Family doesn’t care if one bastard is sent to an orphanage or if the family elopes.”

Well, nevertheless, the reason why they maintain the name Dunhill is for self-protection and at least to demand a little of the Dunhill family’s property, assuming that they become adults.

If not, it may be that they deliberately use such a name because they want to take revenge on the Dunhill Family who oppressed them someday.

“And Muspel, have you lived in the Ruincrest layer all your life?”

“Yes, yes. That’s right…”

“Then you don’t know that commoner orphans can’t leave the orphanage for their entire lives?”

“…”

“The fact that there are no public institution usage records or tax records can all be explained by being an orphan. The fact that she was noticed and adopted by an Executor is ultimately a matter of chance.”

“But Pyon Dunhill approached Alice as soon as she entered the Academy! This clearly means that not only Pyon Dunhill but also Alice may be related to the central administration…!”

“Ha.”

However, Perdain cut off Muspel’s words with a short laugh.

“It’s a continuation of what I said earlier, but a woman with a suspicious name like Pyon Dunhill approaches Alice as soon as she sneaks into the layer? Besides, that Alice was once suspected by me? If you were affiliated with the central administration, would you let that happen as is? It’s not any kind of code or secret contact, but they meet openly at the Ruincrest Academy, where our eyes are shining?”

“Ah…!”

“If I were the central administration, I would have made every effort to ensure that secret contacts and codes were layered two or three times so that they would never be caught by our eyes.”

Moreover, the central administration is so formidable that Perdain has to prepare for rebellion with determination, and it is a place full of all kinds of conspiracies and political maneuvering.

Would such a place send an infiltrator so carelessly?

“Why? Rather, say that Fira Dunhill, the Supreme Commander, just changed her appearance slightly and is Pyon Dunhill, and that the Supreme Commander of the external expedition followed my adopted daughter because she liked her. Is that so?”

“…Th, then…”

“Your thinking is wrong from the premise.”

At Perdain’s words, Muspel nodded his head.

Listening to it, it’s true.

Everything is true.

He was a native of the Ruincrest layer, and he didn’t know anything about the situation of orphanages in other layers, and the thorough central administration would never send infiltrators so carelessly.

“I already had a headache this morning because of the military supplies. Chief Muspel, I would be really stressed if you did this too, so I hope you do your job properly.”

“Lord, I’m sorry. I will conduct a thorough investigation and surveillance again.”

“Get out.”

“Yes.”

After Muspel left, Perdain looked at the coffee cup in his hand.

“Sigh, they’re all just stupid.”

-Slurp

Perdain couldn’t understand how they couldn’t even know such a simple fact.