Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Villainy is for the Clever, Not the Wicked
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60―――――
“A villain isn't something a bad guy does, but what a smart guy does.”
“More importantly, where the hell are we?”
It was Sion who was finally asking the most crucial question.
Most people, upon regaining consciousness, would immediately blurt out, ‘Wh-where is this place?’
Lily found Sion’s reaction quite amusing and burst into giggles as she opened her mouth.
“You’re asking quick.
You idiot!
You’re only getting around to it now?”
“...Let’s just say I was out of my mind from the heavenly race talk.
Anyway, where are we?”
“You know the carriage got totally smashed up, right?
I urgently countered their attacks, so no one suffered major injuries, but the shock hit everyone hard, so we came to the nearest city.
From what the locals said, it’s some viscount’s territory or whatever.”
“Hmm.
It’s definitely the Konean Viscount family.”
Risikida, who had finally stopped crying and seemed to have pulled herself together, flushed red as she spoke up.
Of course, she was still gripping Sion’s hand tightly with both of hers, looking frantic at the thought he might get hurt again, but at least she wasn’t clinging and sobbing like before.
Konean Viscount family, huh.
Geographically, it was smack in the middle between the capital and the Klauzen Margrave Territory—an exceedingly ambiguous position.
‘...Hold up?
Wait a minute.
Come to think of it, isn’t the Konean Viscount family the one Kim Yuhyun later turns upside down, shaking out every last speck of dust?’
To be precise, it wasn’t just shaken out—it was utterly pulverized into dust.
The Konean Viscount family was quite a distance from the capital, with no major noble houses nearby.
That’s why, despite being a mere viscountcy, the novel described them as living quite comfortably and spacious lives.
On the surface, it seemed like they just lived leisurely without minding others’ eyes.
Of course, as per the obvious cliché, there was a reason behind the viscount family’s comfortable living.
“Lily-nim.
Did anyone from the viscount family come looking for us, by any chance?”
“They came running in a total panic.
Seems they’re scared that since it happened right near them, suspicion might turn their way.”
“That vibe was definitely there.
With the capital attack already making the whole kingdom uneasy, an assault on a war hero like Master is going to blow things up big time.”
“Hmm.”
Of course, from the homeowner’s perspective, having a great noble family’s heir assaulted while passing nearby wasn’t exactly pleasant.
If openly suspected, they’d have to put on a show of innocence, and even then, it might not convince anyone.
‘Though there’s no way in hell a viscount family would pull something that insane.’
Obviously not.
They were the type who wanted to keep things as quiet as possible, mouths shut.
If things got noisy and drew great noble families or royal investigators into their territory, it’d be a massive headache.
‘There are three places in the kingdom secretly running slave markets.
This is one of them.’
Deep within Hispania, contrary to expectations that a not-so-vast viscountcy would be utterly mundane, it was often baronies or viscountcies where unthinkable things happened—not earldoms or marquisates.
Why?
Isn’t it obvious?
The high-and-mighty who crave to toy with those beautiful, exotic heterorace slaves can’t stomach doing it on their own lands—too risky for their hearts—and the underlings are desperate to catch the eye of those with power and wealth.
That’s how a slave market ended up in this viscountcy.
Slave markets should obviously be rooted out.
That was Sion’s final conclusion.
Because of them, even after allying with humans, the heteroraces couldn’t trust humanity.
Even after all slave markets were supposedly eradicated, the distrust lingered deep.
So, if asked whether he’d smash this one right now, he’d shake his head.
‘It’s not enough to just hit the sales spots—you need to nab the customers too and round them all up for a clean sweep.
If you half-ass it, they’ll just cut tails and vanish.’
The families directly mentioned in the novel regarding heterorace slaves were Kashugar and this Konean place.
Others were just vaguely noted as some nobles being involved.
Even after catching the slave market operators, the kingdom failed to root them all out and let it fizzle because Kim Yuhyun was mostly at fault.
When Kim Yuhyun, having quelled the northern rebellion, stopped by Konean on his way back to Raido, the viscount there slyly offered him a heterorace slave—hoping to win the rising swordsman’s favor and snag a weakness.
Figuring a young man would naturally be weak to a woman’s charms.
‘Crazy bastard.
Even told him smiling with flowers in hand not to get mad.’
Seeing that, Kim Yuhyun just laughed ha-ha!
And flipped the entire viscountcy upside down.
Was it out of a sense of justice, or pity for the woman?
Absolutely not.
Kim Yuhyun had been captured by slavers upon falling into the martial world, endured all sorts of ordeals, and barely escaped.
Plus, a woman he once loved was caught by demonic cultists, enslaved, and brutally murdered.
‘Anyway, thanks to Kim Yuhyun’s rampage, the whole kingdom found out.
That slave markets were brazenly operating inside noble territories.’
If it were him as Kim Yuhyun, he’d have secured the customer list from the market first thing.
Squeeze confessions by grabbing weaknesses, or extort money through blackmail.
But Kim Yuhyun just lost it and smashed everything related to the slave market.
As a result, the royals ended up with zero evidence—the worst possible outcome.
‘That let the shady ones cut tails, shut mouths.
All the blame fell on Konean Viscount, who rotted in prison whimpering till he exited stage left.’
Later, when heavenly races fully emerged and the continent burned to ashes in war’s inferno, the other two slave markets’ locations finally came to light.
Not found by humans, but by slaves who rose up—over half sacrificing themselves—upon hearing of the human-heterorace alliance they’d awaited.
‘That slave market liberation played a big role in Kim Yuhyun earning heterorace goodwill later.
But I’m not Kim Yuhyun, so that’s irrelevant.
What matters most to me is this: shake the viscount’s weakness right, and money flows in.’
To prepare for the coming era of war, money—absolutely money—was essential.
But he couldn’t freely tap Klauzen Margrave Territory’s assets, so he needed personal wealth.
And the surefire way to steadily amass a ton of personal assets was one: bribes, or tribute.
And lots of it flowing in.
“Lily-nim.”
“Yeah?”
“Messing with the mind of some unremarkable human isn’t hard for you, right?”
“A bit?
Truth is, I used some power petting those heavenly races earlier.”
“Either way, you’re saying it’s possible?”
As Lily nodded, Sion rubbed his hands together like he was thrilled.
Waking up after two hours and spilling stories embarrassing to the succubus listener, then suddenly grinning wickedly full of anticipation.
Lily was deeply confused which was this man’s true face.
Sion reassured Rishi that he just needed a bit more rest and left the room.
For reference, they were in the city’s top-class inn, not the viscount’s castle.
Normally, for a guest of his stature, shouldn’t they usher him to the castle saying, ‘Oh dear, how can such a noble guest stay in our humble abode!’
Or so Sion thought.
Of course, for the guilt-ridden Konean Viscount, casually inviting an unfamiliar noble into his castle would’ve been awkward.
And Sion really didn’t like that part.
‘You punk.
Even for a precious guest like me, eh?
Shouldn’t you at least bring me to your castle and say, ‘We’ll care for you devotedly till you wake!’?
If you’d acted bold without flinching, I’d have left you to Kim Yuhyun and just crashed here casually, but this is outrageous.
Outrageous offense—punishment confirmed.
Bam bam!’
If you’re doing bad deeds while peeking at others’ eyes and cowering in fear, that’s just plain stupid.
If you’re set on evil, do it chest out, head high.
Of course, under the premise of ‘won’t get caught.’
“Is Viscount Konean inside?”
“Ku-, Young Lord Sion of Klauzen!
You’re awake?”
The steward, who vaguely sensed his master up to something shady, flusteredly greeted Sion barging into the castle.
Sion inwardly tsk-tsked his tongue and asked to be led to Viscount Konean.
Watching the old man leave word to wait a moment and scramble up the stairs.
“...Suspicious.”
“Super fucking suspicious.”
“Weird steward.”
“Very weird.”
Lily and Risikida each tossed in a comment.
Seriously, if you’re running an illegal slave market, at least build taller walls or something—what were they thinking, doing such a terrifying thing while quaking like that?
‘Well.
That’s why, with no brains, they treated Kim Yuhyun like a kid, showed off one heterorace slave, and got totally uprooted.’
Kim Yuhyun wasn’t one to particularly enjoy ‘killing’ people.
So the viscountcy knights blocking him had arms or legs snapped off and staked into the ground like some weapon.
The steward got every hair on his body plucked out.
And for Viscount Konean, to ensure that filthy mouth never spoke again, all teeth yanked, and crotch stomped so he could never man up again.
‘...Fuck, thinking about it, maybe just killing them would’ve been mercy.’
What kind of protagonist is this—outwardly tough steel, mentally vibranium at a glance but rubber mud on touch, hates killing yet has no qualms wrecking half a body.
‘The author was clearly out of his mind.’
Yeah.
Definitely not normal.
Otherwise, why shove him into a novel like this—not as protagonist or powerful villain, but as Sion Klauzen!
Sure, this body hit above average except for mana impotence, so he was making good use of it.
“Young Lord Sion Klauzen!
You’re awake!”
Yeah, sure.
I’m up.
So, you got money or what?
“Pleased to meet you for the first time, Viscount Konean.”
“Ah, yes.
First time for me too, Young Lord Sion Klauzen.
But is your body alright?
I heard you went through some unspeakable awful incident nearby.”
“Fortunately, no major injuries.
Just a bit of a headache.”
“Th-that’s a relief!
Hahaha!”
Hey, you’re innocent, right.
But spouting that ‘Ha! Haha!’ weird laugh—anyone’d yell, ‘You’re the culprit! Gotcha, punk!’
Yeah, truly, bad deeds need a smart guy to pull them off right.
“W-we’ve deployed knights and soldiers around the area to investigate.
Looking for suspicious outfits or unidentified folks still lurking nearby.”
“That’s welcome news.”
The culprits were already hoovered up by the succubus queen standing beside Sion.
Unaware Viscount Konean was just bodily screaming, ‘I’m not the perp. Really, not.’
‘Don’t worry.
Never planned to frame you as the perp.’
An assassination attempt on a war hero, Klauzen Margrave Territory’s heir, was huge news.
But he couldn’t just bully Viscount Konean over it.
After all, he was a noble properly titled by the royals.
“No suspicions toward Viscount Konean.
Why would a kingdom noble harm me?
I haven’t done any ‘bad deeds’ or anything.”
“R-right!”
“And I haven’t done anything to ‘incur grudges’ from anyone.”
“Ahaha!”
Perfect word choice with the right emphasis.
Should be clear enough, thought Sion as he got to the point.
“Viscount Konean.
You’ve heard the rumors about me, even a little?
Like, green kid hiding behind family prestige, or wastrel chasing skirts and booze.”
“A war hero like Young Lord— who’d say such...”
“Until recently, they were public gossip.
So, in your eyes, what am I?
Green kid?
Or wastrel?”
“As I said, a war hero who shone for the kingdom...”
“Good, then.
But, hmm... but you see.”
Deliberately lowering his voice, Sion casually placed a hand on Viscount Konean’s shoulder.
Rude move for a margrave heir toward a kingdom viscount.
But Viscount Konean couldn’t voice displeasure.
Sion’s following words carried a chill.
“I won’t say which, but one of those rumors is true, from my own mouth.
I’m a man too, can’t help liking women.
Get what I mean, Viscount Konean?”
“O-of course.
Young Lord Sion.”
“Yes, yes, good.
So, what I’m saying is...”
Sion continued in a whisper, as if wary of eavesdroppers.
“I’m awfully curious how the skin of a heterorace woman feels.”