The Flawed Role of a Third-Rate Villain
Playing the role of a third-rate villain comes with one major drawback: the automatic assumption that everything you do is inherently bad. In short, it's an image problem. No matter how reasonable my opinion or action might be, everyone's default reaction is negative suspicion. That means even the smallest task requires convincing an entire crowd first—a truly exhausting system.
Kind of like the tip of Vinicius Adam's sword currently pressed against my throat without the slightest resistance.
Watching it tremble, I let out a small snort.
'Looks like I really got under his skin.'
Pfft. What a textbook villain. Getting this rattled over something so minor? You're not even qualified to be a second-rate villain. Since I'm third-rate, I'll generously downgrade you to fourth-rate.
Adam, clearly tense from all the eyes on him, raised his voice with bulging veins.
"How dare a hopeless piece of trash like you offer an opinion in a situation this critical! Do you really think anyone would fall for your shallow tongue?!"
Well, whether they fall for it or not isn't really your call, is it?
I was about to shrug like it was no big deal when—
"Anyone can make a suggestion, can't they?"
A seductive voice cut through the heavy rain.
All eyes turned toward its owner. Judith was stepping forward slowly, her wine-colored eyes gleaming with seductive charm.
"We're in quite a frustrating situation right now, aren't we? With this insane downpour raging around us, we need to do something immediately. Shutting the mouth of someone offering a solution seems incredibly inefficient. Every small opinion matters at a time like this. Don't you agree, Your Highness the Crown Prince?"
Judith lightly closed her fan and directed her gaze toward Leonhardt Bell, who stood at the center. Naturally, everyone's attention followed.
That's how the Crown Prince worked in this novel. A born leader who drew every eye without even needing to speak. Those expressionless red eyes of the ruler slowly turned and fixed on me.
As always, they gave me chills—an eerily cold gaze. Finally, the Crown Prince spoke.
"Lower your sword, Adam."
"Y-Your Highness! But this man…!"
"I won't repeat myself."
He's merciless with his subordinates. Adam ground his teeth but eventually pulled the blade away from my throat. As he stepped back, Leonhardt looked straight at me again.
"Ian Ash. State your opinion."
A dignified request that carried real class. So this is the standard for male leads in romance fantasy novels?
'Thank god I'm not the male lead.'
I just want to live however I please. Being an erotic manga artist means you can't rely on personal popularity. The more real dating experience you get, the less arousing your work becomes! So, without any particular grace or manners, I gave the shortest, clearest answer possible.
"I'll secure Lena."
Many eyes widened at my words. They looked at me like the crazy third-rate villain who just barged in was spouting nonsense. Only the Crown Prince remained calm as he asked,
"Ian Ash, you intend to go yourself?"
"Yes. However, I have one condition. Please assign exactly one person to escort me."
I casually glanced back and pointed at the orange-haired girl standing behind me, blankly watching the proceedings.
"I'll take Kano Ameri with me."
Get to work, you power-hiding transmigrator. With great power comes great responsibility. As for me, I'm so weak I bear zero responsibility.
Kano's eyes widened in a clear 'Why are you dragging me into this?!' expression, but I simply replied with a light wink.
The Crown Prince narrowed his brow slightly.
"Is that your entire strategy?"
"You're all suspicious of me anyway, aren't you?"
I deliberately shrugged lightly.
"Think of it as attaching a watchdog to make sure I don't try anything funny. Wouldn't you say it's like gaining an extra gamble without any significant loss in combat strength?"
Honestly, I never planned to convince them in the first place. With an image like a third-rate thug from the slums, how could I logically persuade anyone? Instead, I'm offering them a lottery ticket—a chance at a potential jackpot at minimal cost. Logic can be refuted, but hope cannot.
「…….」
Naturally, no one could object to my proposal. Pulling two non-combatants aside to scratch a lottery ticket? Why would they refuse? They wanted to nitpick because it was coming from Ian Ash, but they couldn't find any real counterargument. They'd been neatly hooked.
I thought it would end cleanly there, but—
"This cannot be allowed, Your Highness! That wicked bastard—someone potentially connected to black magic—approaching Lady Lena Youngstern? Who knows what horrible things he might do! How can you send him with only one powerless student?!"
This guy just won't let go of my pants leg.
"U-Um…"
A cautious, delicate voice sliced through the murmurs. Following it, I saw a silver-haired girl standing there, hands clasped tightly over her chest, trembling. It was the Saintess, Arina Saint.
"I… I believe Ian Ash is not a bad person."
Arina's face flushed bright red. Simply voicing her opinion in front of so many nobles and the Crown Prince must have taken tremendous courage from her.
"Why do you think so, Saintess?"
When the Crown Prince asked gently but firmly, Arina glanced at me, then squeezed her eyes shut and shouted,
"B-Because… he writes wonderful stories!"
A silence fell over the entire camp as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped on everyone.
What are you doing to the mood, Saintess?
'No, Saintess. Why would you say that here of all places?'
As the students began whispering in confusion, Judith stepped forward once again.
"While the Saintess's words were a bit poetic, I also believe Ian can be trusted."
A mysterious smile curved Judith's lips. She looked at me with clear interest and continued clearly,
"It's simple economic logic. As you all know, the Youngstern family is the reliable sponsor currently keeping the practically bankrupt Ash barony afloat financially. If Ian were to harm Lady Lena Youngstern, the eldest daughter of that house? That would be the idiotic act of cutting off his own lifeline."
Judith elegantly waved her fan as she delivered her conclusion.
"Whether politically or financially, Ian Ash has zero reason to do anything foolish to Lena Youngstern. In fact, he has the most incentive to rescue her. Isn't that right, Ian?"
'Oh.'
I was inwardly impressed. As expected from a max-level political villainess—a perfectly clean framing job. The students seemed convinced by the logic and began nodding one by one.
"Still, Ian Ash is kind of…"
"Yeah, something feels off. Suspicious."
But there were still groups murmuring with less-than-favorable looks. The third-rate extra label really sticks like glue.
"I'll go!"
Whoosh! Someone thrust their hand up energetically. It was Princess Eiphrid.
"I will accompany them as well! I will personally monitor Ian Ash's every move— I mean! I will thoroughly observe his actions!"
Your Highness the Princess. Your true intentions are spilling out.
Her obsession with digging into my background was obvious, but the justification itself was flawless. If the princess herself was volunteering as a monitor, no one could object.
「…….」
Crown Prince Leonhardt Bell fell into quiet thought. The girls nearby gasping "Huk!" slightly broke the immersion, but soon his head gave a short nod.
"Very well. Ian Ash, Kano Ameri, and Eiphrid. I entrust the three of you with locating and securing Lena Youngstern. I expect you to do your utmost for this objective."
Whoosh—!
The moment we left the central plaza camp, a torrential downpour that made it hard to even breathe properly engulfed us. The Crown Prince's Team would soon head out to face visible enemies, so we needed to move quickly too. Everything has its timing, after all.
As I trudged through water that reached my ankles, Kano Ameri, who had been sticking close behind me, finally couldn't hold back.
"You have a plan, right?"
I casually wiped the pouring rain from my face and answered shamelessly.
"Nope."
"……Huh?"
Kano's footsteps came to an abrupt halt. Even Princess Eiphrid, who had been walking silently behind us, stared at me in disbelief.
"Wait, did you just say you don't have one? You made such a big declaration without any plan at all?!"
Of course I actually had a plan. After standing in front of the library getting soaked and fiddling with water droplets, I'd roughly figured out Lena's location and had a sense of how much firepower would be needed to secure her. The water-attribute mana I'd absorbed into my body had told me quite a lot.
However, I couldn't just spill all that to Kano straight out. She was already burning with determination to find whoever the mastermind was. I couldn't exactly tell her, 'Yeah, I pretty much know how to handle this, so just follow me.' I had no desire to be tortured by that sparkling sword aura.
Therefore, from now on, my job was to guide Kano appropriately. I shrugged without batting an eye.
"Don't you have a prophecy? Shouldn't we just follow that?"
At my brazen counter-question, Kano clutched her head like she was losing her mind.
"T-That! Like I said earlier, the prophecy is already broken!"
"Then we just need to fix it as much as it's broken."
"W-Who’s supposed to fix it?!"
"The prophet?"
"Why… why?!"
"Because a prophet who can't match the future has no reason to exist, right? So we have to force it to match."
Unable to find a rebuttal, Kano fell silent.
"Haa… This is my fault for trusting Ian Ash in the first place."
Unaware of my true thoughts, Kano ruffled her hair in frustration before finally giving the answer I wanted.
"Actually, an incredibly powerful spirit is currently protecting Lady Lena. An ancient water-attribute divine beast called Freya has resonated with her and is guarding her."
"Freya?"
"Yes. We might not know her exact location right now, but even if we find her, defeating that spirit is the key to resolving this situation. Otherwise, we can't even get close…"
"Ah, that."
I lightly cut off Kano's words and snapped my fingers.
"I saw it in a book stuffed away in the corner of the Annex Library. Including the strategy guide."
"…Excuse me? You read a book like that?"
"The weaknesses and countermeasures for the divine beast Freya. Since I can handle all of it, let's start by moving in."
It was about time to start putting our transmigrator to work.