I Became the Narrow-Eyed Villain in a Dropped Novel

Chapter 125:

“The choice to refuse isn’t an option, is it?”

Raphel said with a hollow voice, looking at the contract on the desk.

Til nodded with an expression that said ‘of course’ and pushed the contract forward.

It wasn’t a complicated contract.

It stated that Ernesto Israpel, also known as Raphel, would be hired as a doctor belonging to the Eight Council Headquarters from now on.

“Well, if you really don’t want to, it’s not that there aren’t other options. Though I don’t know if you’ll like them.”

“…I’d like to at least hear them.”

“In the end, this contract is for the purpose of maintaining secrecy.”

“Uh, so?”

“I’m saying there’s also a traditional method of making someone keep a secret forever, very securely.”

Raphel’s complexion quickly worsened as he took a moment to grasp the meaning.

After a brief deliberation, Raphel finally signed the contract.

“You’ve made a good choice. Isn’t it better to be alive, even if you have to roll in a field of dog poop.”

“Shouldn’t I tell the People’s Medical Center? I can go and come back right now.”

“I thought you might, so I’ve already sent someone. If you wait comfortably, they will bring you the news.”

“Still, I thought it might be better to say goodbye face to face.”

“Surely you’re not thinking of running away in the meantime.”

“Of course not. I don’t think I could run away even if I tried.”

Well, having seen me fight in person, he probably wouldn’t even think of running away.

“I just want to say my final goodbyes.”

“Even if that’s your pure intention, it’s difficult for me to allow it. You could be in danger if you go for no reason.”

“They’re all just doctors or volunteers, what’s there to be dangerous about.”

“The people there aren’t the problem. But the sponsor behind them is by no means an opponent to be taken lightly.”

Though he had taken a step back, the Duke was not a man to stay still.

If he couldn’t aim for me directly, he would aim for those around me.

I had to be careful to keep non-combat personnel from getting involved as much as possible.

“Um, so what do I have to do?”

“You just have to act as a doctor like you are now. It’s not a difficult job.”

In truth, the purpose of this contract was much more about securing a good doctor than about keeping him quiet.

When Valheit was a recluse, there was little need for a doctor, but now with the count shadow corps and with me moving around a lot, a doctor was necessary.

And on the side, I could have him make sure the guys being interrogated don't break.

“What kind of place is the Eight Council?”

“Is there a need for you to know?”

“It’s better than working without knowing.”

I furrowed my brow slightly.

What kind of place was it?

It was a more difficult question to answer than I thought.

That was because I didn’t have Valheit’s memories from the time the Eight Council was created.

“What do you think it is?”

In times like these, passing the buck is the best way.

Til, who hadn't expected the question to be turned on her, rolled her eyes hard for a moment in surprise.

“Uh… a gathering of people who came together because they sympathize with the Commander’s will?”

“If you say it like that, he’s going to ask what the Commander’s will is.”

“We don’t need to tell him that much.”

Til grumbled and refused to answer.

If I were to answer that it was to stop the destruction of the world, I would probably be treated like a crazy person.

“It’s something like this. At the very least, the Commander is not a bad person. Her purpose is also noble.”

“That means the rest are….”

“By general standards, they are bad people. Including me and Til, you can see us as folks who do dirty work if necessary.”

“For example, who is there?”

Raphel asked with a reluctant expression. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novelFɪre.net

It seemed the idea of joining hands with villains was weighing on his mind.

“Hmm, like Avantnik.”

“That famous pirate?!”

“Or the Duke of Leitche.”

“He was a colleague too?”

“Or Professor Zain.”

At the mention of Professor Zain, Raphel’s mouth gaped, and Til cut in.

“He’s a disciple of Professor Zain.”

“Ah, were you? Then that’s even better. Since there’s someone you know.”

“I think he said they weren’t on good terms.”

Well… it would be strange if someone was on good terms with that man.

“Will you be unable to do it?”

“Is your position higher than Professor Zain’s, Count?”

“It is for now. As I am the Acting Commander.”

“Then I’ll do it.”

Raphel handed me the contract.

I didn’t know what his circumstances were, but if he had made up his mind, then that was that.

“Good. On our way back to headquarters, we’ll discuss the detailed location and duties….”

“Count!”

The door of the hut opened with a violent creak.

Ede, with a flushed face, came running in.

“Did you handle the matter at the People’s Medical Center well?”

“About that… Can I have a word.”

Ede lowered his posture and whispered.

Tsk.

As expected, a problem had occurred.

After clearing my throat a few times, I turned my gaze to Raphel, who had a curious expression about the People’s Medical Center.

“The People’s Medical Center has been attacked.”

Raphel stared at me with a blank expression for a long time, as if he needed time to understand my words.

“…Pardon? Attacked?”

***

The scene of the attack was horrific.

The wreckage of a broken carriage and scattered corpses were strewn everywhere.

“……”

Raphel couldn’t say anything and checked the pulse of each of his dead colleagues one by one.

Even from their appearance, it looked like they had been dead for a while, so it didn’t seem to have a medical purpose.

“Was it already like this when you found them?”

“Yes, I went to the vacant lot that Raphel told me about, but no one was there, so I searched along the road and found them.”

“Did you discover them right after the attack?”

“Seeing as the blood hasn’t dried, it doesn’t seem like it’s been long.”

Considering that the Assembly of Well-being and the smugglers he had worked with had been dealt with, I had expected that the People’s Medical Center might suffer the same fate.

The part that deviated from my expectations was that the cleanup was faster and more blatant than I thought.

Did he think there was no need to hide now that he had already been found out?

‘I thought he would be quiet for a few days to prepare a countermeasure.’

It also meant that the pressure the Duke was under was that great.

Though impulsive, the Duke of Leitche was fundamentally a cautious character.

The fact that he retaliated so indiscriminately meant that he had judged that he needed to move as quickly as possible.

“All of them were killed.”

“I know that much.”

“The cause of death was mostly cuts from a blade, and all were concentrated on the neck area.”

Despite the corpses of his colleagues lying about, Raphel analyzed the situation with surprising composure.

“The carotid artery was severed in one go. This is not a wound that a passing bandit would leave. It’s the work of a professional.”

“It was probably the work of the Ravens under the Duke of Leitche. They’re famous for treating their collaborators like crap.”

It was a kind of warning, revealing that they had done it.

However, if that was the case, there was one strange point.

“Why did they destroy the carriage?”

Ede, who was next to me, said exactly what I was thinking.

If they were trying to disguise it as the work of bandits, then destroying the carriage would make sense.

But if they had no intention of hiding their identity from the beginning, why destroy an innocent carriage?

“I said that most of the causes of death were stab wounds. One person, the director, died by strangulation.”

“Are you saying he was choked?”

“Yes, and he wasn’t killed by blocking his blood vessels at once, but slowly. There are signs of resistance and scratch marks around his neck.”

Only he died slowly.

Considering their actions so far, the Ravens wouldn't have deliberately enjoyed watching someone else's suffering.

“It seems they needed information.”

“That’s what I think too. If you look around his neck, there are several strangulation marks, which look like marks from torture.”

“By any chance, did the director keep a ledger or something somewhere?”

“I’ve never seen one.”

Did they destroy the carriage to find evidence of their involvement?

As I picked up a piece of the broken carriage, I felt a trace of mana.

With this level of traces, it seemed the carriage was lifted and thrown in its entirety.

Quite delicately, at that.

‘Was it Ivan?’

Among the guys who use mana this delicately, the only suspect was about Ivan.

If so, it means he was put back on a mission as soon as he was released.

Considering the Duke's nonchalant attitude when he said that one must die if they fail a mission last time, this was unusual.

It could mean he was a capable subordinate, or it could mean it was a waste to eliminate him right away.

Either way, it was certain that the Duke had taken action immediately.

“Ede. Clean up the area and bury the bodies so they aren't found. If we're not careful, this could get tied up in a diplomatic dispute with Vestol.”

“Then wouldn’t it be more certain to burn them and grind the bones?”

“I plan to collect them later and send them to Vestol. By then, there will be no way to find out the exact cause of death.”

Ede nodded with clear eyes and went to gather the count shadow corps.

He can be scary sometimes.

“…Thank you.”

“Have I done something worthy of thanks?”

“Because you said you would collect the bodies, even if it’s later. Vestol doesn’t do cremations.”

Raphel bowed his head.

It was a case of catching a mouse while stepping backward, though.

“What do you plan to do about the person who did this?”

“I’ll have to go to headquarters and think about it slowly, won’t I.”

I shrugged and answered in a relaxed tone, but inwardly I knew there was no time to be so lax.

There was no way the Duke would move so hastily without any plan.

He was surely preparing to point his sword at me, at Valheit.

Even if I didn't know the exact plan, I had to make at least minimal preparations.

‘I should contact Regina first.’

To do that, I needed to extract information from within the Ravens.

***

“This concludes the report on the Ruhindorf operation.”

“Good work.”

Hugo calmly waited for Victor’s next words.

The report he had just given was by no means a light one.

Unlike the initial expectation, Valheit was not trying to cause harm to Stetten’s territory.

If anything, he was on the side trying to stop it.

“Leitche…”

“I believe it is related to the increased activity of the Ravens within the Empire.”

“I suppose so.”

Victor answered, crushing a half-smoked cigarette.

It was a seemingly ordinary action, but Hugo noticed that something was off.

Victor was not a person who wasted anything in vain.

Whether it was a subordinate or a cigarette.

“Is something wrong?”

“…There has been a big change in our policy while you were away.”

Victor, who had been hesitating for a moment, opened his mouth with difficulty.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t good news.

Hugo remained silent, trying to guess what kind of bad news was coming.

“The Duke of Leitche and the old man have decided to cooperate.”

“So suddenly?”

“While you and the Count were in the boondocks, a political problem arose.”

Victor snorted as he spat out the word ‘political’.

While it made him more curious about the news, his anxiety also grew.

As someone who served Johann Geller, the most political of the Dukes, Victor did not think badly of politics.

The fact that such a person was frowning while spitting out the word ‘political’ was not a good sign.

“Wasn’t our position to exclude the intervention of foreign powers.”

“Right. The old man probably has no intention of doing that either. It’s just that he needs support to deal with the Emperor.”

“The Emperor, you mean the current Emperor?”

Since being recognized as Emperor by the Council of Dukes, Blaiher had been managing state affairs relatively quietly.

He wasn’t servile, but he wasn’t conceited or arrogant either.

“The old man is getting on in years. It’s understandable that he’d get impatient.”

“That means….”

“It means it’s time to reclaim the rights of the Dukes.”

In effect, it was a declaration to go head-to-head with the Emperor.

At the same time, it meant that Hugo’s report would be ignored.

“No complaints, right?”

“No, sir.”

Hugo answered immediately.

In any case, the Duke would make the decision, and he just had to follow.

But he couldn't stop a shred of anxiety from taking root in his heart.