Lies Are Bad
The hours slipped by as I sat in the study, flipping through books at random.
Crack.
“Ugh… Haaah.”
I stretched my stiff body, closed the book, and returned it to its original spot. Then I sat back down, closed my eyes, and sank into meditation.
Time to organize the information I’d gathered.
First, just as I’d expected, the books recorded a history that was almost identical to the one from Estonia, the game I’d played before arriving here.
A world where the demon race and the celestial race had annihilated each other in a cataclysmic war, after which the Age of the Gods gave way to the Age of Humanity.
Every city, family, and region the protagonist would inevitably become entangled with was laid out in perfect detail.
The names I found scattered across those pages were so familiar that they sent chills down my spine.
It meant the tragic stages I had once clicked through without a second thought were now destined to unfold in the very reality beneath my feet.
And somewhere in the middle of that tragedy, there would undoubtedly be the severed head of Reid Hesed, executed at the city gates after conspiring with the demons out of petty resentment.
“Hooo…”
The covert activities of the demon race, whom everyone believed had perished alongside the celestials.
The political chaos stirred by their schemes.
The outlaws taking advantage of the turmoil to run rampant.
In this world, I absolutely had to avoid getting involved with the demons the way the original Reid had.
Fate convergence.
A term I’d never particularly liked kept flickering through my mind.
There were simply too many things I needed to worry about. My head was starting to hurt.
“……”
Wait a second.
Did I actually need to worry about any of this?
The protagonist exists, doesn’t he?
All these problems would be solved the moment the main character showed up and went Car Bomb Tactical Nuke Fire—!! So why the hell was I stressing over them?
I could just meet the protagonist when he arrived in the territory, butter him up a little, give him whatever he needed, and send him off with a smile. That would be the end of it.
He’d go on to struggle heroically to save the world just like in the original story.
And I could live comfortably in Hesed territory, enjoying a leisurely life while making full use of my powers.
Win-win. Everyone’s happy.
Alright, that settles it.
Just sitting here smelling old paper was making me restless. Might as well go outside, get some fresh air… and take a look around the fief while I’m at it.
I opened my eyes, stood up, and called for Seohwa, who had been waiting outside the study.
“Seohwa!”
“Yes, my lord.”
“I’m heading into town. Get ready.”
“……”
“Come on, I told you I’ve quit gambling and drinking. You still don’t believe me?”
“…Understood. This way, please.”
……
……
……
Seohwa glanced sideways at Reid as they walked.
Until recently, he had been an utterly simple, immature boy whose every thought was plain to see.
Yet now… no matter how she looked at him, she couldn’t read what was going on inside his head. It left her deeply unsettled.
Exactly like right now.
“What the hell? Blocking the whole street like this.”
“Huh? You little shit, do you even know who—Hiiik?!”
The burly man who had turned toward Reid with a scowl went deathly pale in an instant and stumbled backward.
The people clustered in the alley immediately noticed Reid’s presence and scattered like startled pigeons.
Seohwa let out a quiet sigh.
Reid’s face alone acted like an instant insect repellent. At this rate, bringing a guard along would be less effective at clearing the streets than simply letting him walk ahead. She smiled bitterly to herself.
They were just about to pass through the now-deserted alley when—
Thwack! Thud!
“You worthless little brat—!”
“Ow! Ugh—! I-I didn’t do it…!!”
“You dare lie straight to an adult’s face?! Hand over what you stole right now!”
“I didn’t… It wasn’t me…!!”
A ragged child was being beaten by a middle-aged man who had him by the collar.
Shouts of “thief” and “I didn’t do it” flew back and forth.
It was the kind of scene you saw often on the streets.
Seohwa moved to walk past without much interest.
She assumed Reid would do the same.
But.
“Hey. Take your hands off him.”
“Who the hell do you think you—Hup?! Y-Young Master Reid?!”
“……?”
When Reid suddenly stepped forward and swept his bangs back, Seohwa stopped in her tracks.
Again.
Another incomprehensible action.
The expression on Reid’s face as he stepped forward held no sense of justice or righteous anger. Only pure annoyance.
The middle-aged man looked back and forth between Reid’s face and the child he was holding, then let go with an awkward laugh.
Everyone knew the infamous reputation of the Hesed family’s troublemaker.
Thump.
“Ow!”
The child who had collapsed to the ground immediately tried to scramble away.
But Reid was faster. He grabbed the boy by the scruff of his neck.
“L-Let go of me…!”
“Wait.”
“I-I didn’t steal anything… It’s all lies…!!”
“I said wait.”
“……?”
Reid let out a long sigh and turned to the man.
“Explain.”
“Ah, well… Yes, sir.”
The middle-aged man, who had been wearing a confused expression, hurriedly opened his mouth at Reid’s prompting.
He was the owner of the antique shop next door. An expensive antique had gone missing, and the culprit was this child.
“So an expensive antique disappeared from your shop… and you’re saying this kid stole it?”
“Y-Yes, that’s correct! This little bastard really—!!”
Reid glanced down at the child.
The boy immediately began thrashing wildly and screamed.
“It wasn’t me—!!”
“He says it wasn’t him.”
“You mustn’t believe that brazen lie, Young Master! He’s just a street urchin who survives by pickpocketing and begging!”
Seohwa, who had been quietly observing the situation, stepped closer and spoke to Reid.
“Young Master, there is no need for you to involve yourself in such trivial matters. This is a job for the guards.”
Her indifferent tone carried an unspoken question—Why are you doing something you’ve never done before?—and Reid sighed.
“…When those guards show up, do you really think they’ll listen to what this kid has to say?”
“……”
No.
They would most likely throw the child in jail and call the case closed.
Given who was standing here, they might pretend to conduct a cursory investigation, but…
Seohwa stared silently at Reid, who was frowning at her words.
She still couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
In the meantime, Reid began questioning the man again.
“So, did you actually see it? This kid stealing?”
“W-Well… I didn’t see it, but! He was the only one loitering around the shop!”
“…You didn’t see it, huh?”
Reid’s previously lazy, half-lidded eyes sharpened slightly. The shop owner flinched as if frightened.
Reid pressed on.
“You said the missing item was an antique.”
“Y-Yes…”
“Where would a tiny kid like this sell something like that?”
“W-Well… to a fence, of course…!”
“You’re telling me a kid who survives by pickpocketing even knows a fence who deals in stolen antiques?”
“……”
When the man fell silent, Reid naturally shifted his gaze to the child still dangling from his hand.
“You. Why were you hanging around in front of that shop today?”
“…I-I was hungry… I thought maybe there’d be something thrown away…”
“Tsk. If that’s the case, you should’ve gone to a food stall, not an antique shop. Tell the truth.”
When Reid’s face hardened, the child shrank back in fear.
“…I was… looking for a mark… sir…”
“Sigh… Of course you were. Did you go inside the shop?”
“…I didn’t go in!”
Reid called out to Seohwa.
“Seohwa.”
“…Yes.”
“Go inside the shop with this gentleman and check what exactly is missing. Search every corner thoroughly. I’ll pat this little guy down.”
He added quietly.
“…You have good eyes, after all.”
“……”
Seohwa fell silent for a moment at those words.
Good eyes…?
It was the kind of empty compliment anyone could give.
But because it came from Reid—who had been showing such sudden changes lately—she couldn’t simply let it pass.
It was almost as if… he was certain of where she had come from and what she had been doing…
“…Understood.”
Seohwa bowed her head to Reid and entered the antique shop with the owner.
“Ah—! I told you it’s really gone!”
“Shut up, kid. Stay still.”
Smack!
“Ow! Why did you hit me?!”
“Want more, or will you behave?”
“…I’ll behave… sir.”
“Good. Attention.”
Not much time had passed before Seohwa emerged and gave Reid a calm report.
“According to the shop owner, the missing item is a small horse statue made of gold. Judging by the amount of fresh dust that had accumulated in its place, it appears to have disappeared approximately three hours ago. It was not found anywhere inside the shop.”
Reid, who had searched the child’s body and found nothing, frowned.
A small gold horse statue?
Even if it was small, a statue of that size would be impossible to hide on one’s person without it being noticeable.
Moreover…
“It disappeared three hours ago?”
Reid stared at the shop owner, who was fidgeting nervously behind Seohwa.
“When exactly did you catch this kid?”
“J-Just a little while ago…”
“Doesn’t that sound strange even to you?”
By now, the onlookers who had been watching began to murmur among themselves.
“He didn’t even see it himself…”
“He’s blaming the kid for something that happened three hours ago?”
“Everyone knows that shopkeeper has a short temper.”
“Beating a child without any evidence is a bit much…”
“But… was it Young Master Reid who pointed that out?”
“The troublem… I mean, the Young Master? What’s gotten into him…?”
Reid released the child.
The boy seemed to sense that something was off and simply rolled his eyes, staying in place.
“Hey. Look me in the eyes and speak clearly.”
Reid stepped closer to the shop owner and met his gaze.
Suddenly, the man shouted almost hysterically.
“H-How can you be so sure just because of what that maid said?! Three hours ago?! Is it even possible to tell that just by looking with the naked eye?!”
“…She says it is.”
When Reid smirked and glanced back, Seohwa turned her gaze on the man as well.
Those blood-red eyes and that chillingly expressionless face staring at him made the shop owner’s shoulders visibly shrink in fear.
After a brief silence, Seohwa spoke.
“…It is possible. One can estimate the time a person last drew breath just by examining the scene. Determining the degree of dust accumulation is not difficult at all.”
Seohwa tilted her head slightly.
“Do you doubt my judgment?”
Seohwa’s lifeless, emotionless stare bored into the man like a blade dipped in frost.
The shop owner’s face turned deathly pale. He shook his head frantically.
Shake shake shake shake—
“…Very well.”
When Seohwa stepped back, the shop owner’s legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground.
Reid crouched down to meet the man’s eye level.
“I’ll give you one more chance. I don’t usually do that.”
“……”
The man looked like he was about to cry. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, hesitating for a long time.
But after glancing back and forth between the face of Reid—the notorious scumbag of the Hesed family—and the face of the expressionless maid who casually spoke terrifying words, he finally broke.
“…M-My wife… said she saw it…”
He confessed everything.
“Oh? Your wife?”
Startled—
Reid’s gaze suddenly swept through the crowd.
It landed on a woman who was trembling as if she wished she could disappear.
“You. Come out.”
Rustle rustle—
The moment he pointed, everyone within a certain radius around the woman stepped back in perfect unison, creating a clear space.
Left suddenly alone, the woman pointed a trembling finger at herself.
“M-Me?”
“Yes. You.”