Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: I Am a Villain
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C Wing had a new wind blowing through it.
Ever since Creep was thrown into solitary confinement, her gang had lost all their power. Now, Scardi was effectively the one running C Wing.
"Crow."
The very day everything went down, Scardi approached me first and offered her hand. I looked up at her with my exhausted, sickly body.
"Creep's gone now. If I say I'm protecting you, no one will mess with you anymore."
I hesitated. Clutching my confused head, I kept thinking it over.
But in the end, the conclusion was surprisingly simple. I had nowhere left to fall, so I had no luxury of refusing the hand extended to me.
"...R-Really?"
"I'm not like Creep. You know that better than anyone."
Indeed, Scardi had only ever helped me up to now. In my current desperate state, where even the smallest help was vital, her reaching out first felt like an opportunity that might never come again.
"...Yeah, I know."
But there were a few things nagging at me.
One was that I'd never seen Scardi offer pure goodwill without strings attached.
And the other was what Creep had kept shouting right before Orca got to her—the details of her deal with Scardi.
Creep had said that she'd made a deal with Scardi to share me. Sure, Black Owl and Acid had provoked me, but in the end, it was Scardi who'd truly pinned me down.
That if she was gone, Scardi would be left alone to torment me...
She'd said all that.
But Scardi's outstretched hand felt like a lifeline of salvation.
I couldn't refuse it.
And so, I asked Scardi for her help.
That day, Scardi brought me ramen, frankfurters, peanuts, and the like for dinner once again.
I'd seen Creep's head smashed right in front of me.
But even so, my battered body craved food.
"Eat up comfortably."
These were foods that had seemed like a dream to me, but Creep and her crew ate stuff like this whenever they got bored.
"All you have to do from now on is a few favors for me. No conditions that hurt you. I won't ask for much. In return, every time you do a favor, I'll bring you whatever you want."
And so, after a brief moment of hesitation, I nodded and accepted Scardi's kindness.
Maybe because extreme stress had built up in my body, every part of me desperately craved food. Everything placed in front of me tasted utterly exquisite, heavenly.
Tears welled up a little.
Because it was so delicious,
and because it was so agonizing, tears came.
I had no idea what had become of Creep,
how I should face Orca from now on,
or how I was supposed to live with Scardi...
So for now, I just stuffed myself with Scardi's food until my stomach felt like it would burst.
As I desperately shoveled instant foods into my mouth with grim determination,
Scardi simply smoked her cigarette in silence, staring intently at me.
Scardi wasn't just some ordinary villain—she was a woman who'd threatened the entire Association. But she kept her promises. In fact, she kept them so precisely it was almost shocking; no matter what, she made sure to honor every word she spoke.
"Live quietly."
She lined up Creep's gang on their knees and made them feel the difference in their positions. She was plenty strong even fighting barehanded against multiple foes, but the crew she kept around her were all skilled in combat too.
"I didn't touch you all this time because I had no justification. Of course, as long as you don't go against my word in the future, I won't touch you."
From the start, Scardi had been C Wing's de facto boss.
Each wing had figures known as bosses. Scardi commanded five or six loyal underlings, and she had an uncanny number of connections inside and out, so she'd naturally become the boss.
In that situation, Creep's assignment to C Wing had led to a standoff for a while, but just a few days ago, Orca's hand had shattered the balance.
"It's not hard. Just remember two things. One, don't defy me or my subordinates. Two, follow every order we give you."
The inmates who followed her around had been under Scardi even back in society. I vaguely remembered some of their faces.
In other words, when I got Scardi thrown in prison, they'd volunteered to come here to help her. Truly remarkable loyalty. The problem was that it was loyalty born among villains.
"If any of you want to join my side, I won't stop you. That goes for you watchers too. You can keep living quietly like now, or you can come under me. I'll guarantee a few things. First..."
...Maybe because of that loyalty, some idiot subtly raised her hand before Scardi even finished speaking.
"Ah, uh... Y-Yes. I was just thinking, wouldn't it be better sooner...?"
Both Creep's gang and Scardi's crew looked at her in disbelief, and only then did she realize she'd timed it wrong and lowered her hand.
"...Anyway. First, I'll guarantee your safety. As long as you don't disrupt order, we won't use violence. I'll handle any trouble with the guards appropriately too."
Except for that one person flinching and trying to raise her hand midway, the rest of Creep's gang showed clear discomfort.
But Scardi didn't stop, intent on fully taking control of C Wing.
"Next, I'll guarantee your autonomous living. Live like you are now if you want. But if I catch you fighting in front of me or dragging Crow to the showers, I'll make sure you never walk on two legs again and ship you to another wing. Any questions?"
There were no questions.
Just a few villains reluctantly raising their hands,
and one utter fool desperately thrusting hers up like she was auditioning.
"Good. Dismissed. Only those who raised their hands, stay here a bit."
Life in C Wing had definitely improved from before, but my own life was still scraping the bottom.
"Say you're sorry for real."
Inside Orca's office,
I had to kneel and follow her orders.
"...I-I'm sorry. Forgive me."
"Louder."
If I didn't obey, Orca swung her baton immediately.
It was like disciplining a child, like striking with a switch,
but with her superhuman strength behind it, my weakened body had no way to endure.
"I'm sorry... Ugh! Kkh...!"
On my knees,
I took her punishment on the soles of my feet.
The baton, swung down with her full weight from above, was so heavy that even two strikes left bruises.
"You still haven't learned. Chant it a hundred times: 'I am a villain.'"
"...I am a villain."
If only Orca were the worst kind of villain, I could at least resent her.
It was too painful to accept that a correctional officer managing villains was subjecting me to this violence and abuse.
"I am a villain. I am a villain."
Her persistent gaze poured down like cold frost.
Naked, on my knees, self-flagellating, I endured Orca's stare.
"...I, I..."
"Why stop?"
And every so often, when Orca's baton veered toward my side or inner thigh,
I'd feel her coldly boiling desire and involuntarily freeze up.
"Keep going. This is part of your punishment."
"I am a villain..."
Then the baton would pull away,
and instead, her gloved hand would start stroking or lewdly kneading my body,
driving me into unbearable shame and humiliation until memories of Orca from before flooded back.
Maybe I'd vaguely sensed it myself.
It wasn't certain, but sometimes I'd felt Orca showing interest in me.
But back then, I had Justice, so I had to keep distance from other women. Whether it was conscious or not, there were many situations where I had to avoid advances from the opposite sex.
I couldn't hurt others while maintaining my relationship with Justice. That was the path for everyone's sake.
"I, I... I am a villain. I am a villain."
"Say it louder. You are a villain."
"I am a villain...!"
But in this world, forgotten loves outnumber the ones that come true. That's just natural. You can't love everyone.
We're adults, so we have to let each other go. Bury it in our hearts and live on—that's right.
"Villains are different, huh. Even during discipline, you harbor such lewd thoughts?"
But,
my relationship with Orca seemed to have gone too far now.
"Is that it? So you were this lewd all along. Right? That's why you abandoned justice and planned crimes for your own satisfaction."
Orca's hand was warm and soft. Unlike the chill leaking from beyond it, the spot it touched burned hot, like it was aflame.
Surely her sculpted body, shedding that stuffy uniform, brimmed with inviting softness and warmth.
Amid the beads of a woman's sweat forming subtly,
and the hot desire wafting in place of the cold,
I had to die a little each day.
"Say it. What were you thinking? You filthy villain."