Somehow I’m the Otome Game Villain 3

Somehow I’m the Otome Game Villain 3

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Wordcount: 2500

Commissioned by LordMarksman

…

Given my position as foreign nobility, I had more than a few people try to make a clique around me. Mostly gold-diggers and sons of lower nobility that had no prospects. Surprisingly, though, I found myself inclined towards the latter. There were a lot of them all over the school, they overheard just about everything, and they were easy to please.

With my finances, I was more than capable of gathering them all up.

Honestly, at first, I thought about using them for my own ends… but just having fun with a bunch of people who didn’t know my family was pretty great!

It’s pretty hard to find friends when everyone’s afraid that you can strip away their noble title and lands with a word, y’know!?

“Raymond. Daniel.” I greeted both as I approached them from the school entrance. One had spectacles and a long bowl cut, while the other was taller with cropped hair and a tan. My guards were quick to check them both, before standing aside to let them both walk with me. “How’d the dates go?”

I wasn’t above using my position to gain favor with other people. However, in this case, I was sure it was considered an act of good faith. The various sons of outlying lands couldn’t really compete with those of the innermost, developed lands, unless they had connections. Being the heir of a noble family, an esteemed adventurer, and a scholar made me a very good connection, especially since I came from the Alzer Republic, which provided the Kingdom with strategic resources via trade.

If you’re friends with my friends, then I’ll look on you favorably from my golden tower.

The superiority of my position felt pretty great, but it felt better to see guys who were beaten down by life smile widely.

“It went great! She’s the best. Once I stopped being nervous and spoke to her, we actually got along!”

“My date invited me over to see her family’s land this summer. That means I’ve got dates for sure until then, which is amazing!”

“I’m happy for you both.” And I meant it. After seeing what happened to most of the male heirs of lower nobility, I was reminded of how office workers without social circles just found themselves beaten down by society. I couldn’t do anything for my brothers back then, but I hoped they’ll be fine with me helping these guys out in their stead! “Be honest, but also put your best selves forward. Don’t pressure them, and I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

“Rault-san!”

“Rault-sama, you’re the best!”

“Ah, sorry, but that sounds gross. Stop it.” I’m not into guys. “Let’s get to class.”

While we walked to class, one of my guards sniffled, until one of his fellows ribbed him in the shoulder. Then, I felt all of them look at me with approval and pride.

Hey, even if I didn’t have friends back in Alzer, that doesn’t mean you guys can be so happy about me making friends now!

It’s freaking embarrassing!

…

I blinked, rubbed my eyes, and blinked again.

Then, I pinched my cheek, and then looked at the AI floating beside me.

“Ideal, why do you have a little girl tied up in the middle of the room?”

“Of course, you would imply that I’m a pervert. Trash.”

“It’s not a good look.” I grunted and shook my head, before approaching the tiny young woman dressed in the Academy uniform. She was crying through her blindfold. Not only that, but her ears were blocked and mouth gagged. In the basement of the Alzer Embassy, it was unlikely that anyone was coming to help her. “So, why’d you take her?”

“Her name is Marie Fou Lafan. I overheard her planning to utilize events that you described to woo the capture targets. It’s highly likely she has the same knowledge as you.”

“… Well, shit. That makes this more complicated. This’ll be a lot harder with Fujoshi’s running around who want the capture targets themselves.” If there’s anything worse than an Otaku going out of their way to live out their dreams in isekai, it’ll have to be a Fujoshi trying to do the same thing. Otaku are dumb. Fujoshi spend their entire lives hiding their secrets successfully. In fact, I’m sure that they manage to keep a secret even after their deaths! I’m possibly against a mastermind… thankfully, I had Ideal. “I’m glad that I have you on my side to fight against them, Ideal.”

Yes, indeed, I needed every ounce of Ideal’s ability to compete against the Fujoshi menace. Who knows what’ll happen to me, if I didn’t have such a strong and mighty ally to call upon? This entire world can become nothing more than guessing game between who’s an uke and who’s a seme. I get chills just thinking about it.

“…I hate you.”

“I think you’re great, though!”

Ideal zapped off the bindings on his captive and unleashed the gremlin upon me without warning.

Instantly, I was beset by a wild woman willing to do anything to live.

Yeah, I probably deserved it for what I implied.

…

“…Not fair…”

“Yep.”

“It’s not FAIR!”

“Absolutely.”

“IT’S NOT FAIR!”

“It’s the best.”

“WHY COULDN’T I HAVE BEEN REBORN INTO A PERFECT, RICH FAMILY!?”

Marie wailed and I poured her some tea, while she lay her cheek flat against the surface of the table. We abandoned the basement after it was established that she couldn’t win against me, even without Ideal helping me out. Being raised on the most nutritious food, with all the tutors I wanted, and no physical deformities really helped me overcome the will to live of the tiny young woman.

“Tea and sugar?”

“Milk too, please.”

“Mhmm, I suppose that you need it, with your upbringing.” My comment earned me a glare, to which I replied with a smirk, while giving my fellow reincarnated individual tea with milk and sugar to join the afternoon tea we were enjoying. “Anyway, you don’t have to worry about that. I’ll take you under my wing. Take one of the lesser nobles under my wing, and you can live a noble life of luxury just fine.”

“As long as I give up the chance to be the main character.”

“You won’t be able to, because I’ll stop you, so just give up on it.” I pointed out the facts as easily as my father would to anyone who would come to complain to him about how he ruled his lands without good reason. I had a big army, a powerful ship, and a powerful household at my back, while Marie was born into a noble family with barely enough to maintain their status while incurring debt. “So, boohoo, you have to settle for a regular guy who’ll never cheat on you, and have a new dress only every other week, instead of every day.”

Marie snorted at that.

“I guess, so… fine, but I want more for the information that I have on this game and the next games.” If I hadn’t trained all my second life to be able to keep my cool, I’d have been unable to keep my surprise from showing. There were sequels to this game? “Even if you have the best mind in the world, you can’t remember everything that happened as well as a lifetime fan could! I played these games until I died!”

“I see. That’s a good bargaining chip… how about some medicine and treatment for your condition? At this rate, you’ll forever be childlike because of your excessive training with healing magic and malnourished because of your circumstances. How much does changing that with my AI’s help get me?”

“If you were a nice person, you’d get rid of it without asking for anything!” Marie tried to sway me, but I just smiled and chewed on a crustless sandwich at her words. Mhmm, cured meat and mayonnaise. Delicious. “But, I suppose you aren’t, are you?”

“I’m fairly generous to people that work for me, but I’m definitely not nice to anyone.” I agreed, before pushing the tiered tray of foods towards her. A moment later she was sitting upright, gulping down tea, and consuming food at an alarming rate. Although I knew from Ideal that she came from terrible circumstances, seeing it firsthand almost made me help her without cost. Almost. “So, what do you think? It’s an employment opportunity. You don’t need to like me, I don’t need to like you, and the two of us keep the world from ending. A completely professional relationship.”

Marie looked at me for a while, with cheeks full of food like a gerbil's, before speaking with a full mouth.

“Nevermind, with an attitude like yours, you need all that money and influence to be considered average for romance.”

“GUH!?” I precision strike right through all my defenses while my guard is down!? “What the heck!? Right when I’m offering you a great job!?”

“I like this one. You will be spared from the reckoning to come.”

“How do you work with this guy? He’s the worst.”

“…I have no choice. He’s holding my most precious memory and dream hostage.”

“Sorry for asking.”

Now the two of them are getting along!? What the hell!?

Also, they’re making me sound like a terrible person!

How rude, I’ll have you know I’m the best!

…

Marie blushed all the way to the tips of her ears, while I looked over the additional requirements she put onto paper with Ideal’s help with her employment.

I put the paper down and let loose a sigh, before speaking to her after realizing just how terrible her home life was.

“I’m sorry.”

“I prefer you being arrogant and a piece of shit!” Marie sputtered and tried to be angry, but there’s a limit to your ability to be angry, when you had to request child-sized underwear and socks from your new boss. Oh, and high-school uniforms tailored for a kid. The amount of pity I felt was immense from just reading the request. Actually, looking at her made me relent from following my father’s teachings on how to be a noble. I knew that I should lead her to a better life, but I can’t exactly do that when she’s already struggling. “Now, what happened in the Academy while I was gone!?”

I nodded and did my best to look at her without pity, before relaying the facts to her.

“Olivia has attracted the five main love interests. The events are going apace at an even rate. I suppose that it makes sense that she’ll seal the route later, once she has a full party.” I recounted Ideal’s reports on the matter, before moving on. Marie listened eagerly and was ready to provide advice. “As for your plan to get the Saint’s necklace… it’s done and a package has been sent over to Olivia.”

“Eh? What? How!?” Marie blinked multiple times and almost shot up from her chair at my words. She looked surprised, until she made the connections in her mind, while I rubbed my forefinger and thumb together. “Y-you can’t just use money like that!”

“Some people do job requests, while other people make the job requests. That’s just how the world works.” I forwarded the request and had my men accompany the group into the location. They took the artifact after identifying it and the adventurers hired didn’t have a clue as to what they helped retrieve. They thought that they were just escorting some guards get a souvenir for their boss. In fact, they just helped steal one of Holfort’s lost treasures. “Ideal, check if she’s using it.”

“Fine.”

Man, Ideal’s been getting snippier since Marie showed up.

Ideal flew into the middle of the room and projected an image.

A cold shiver went down my spine, as I looked at Olivia, and Marie voiced her concerns better than I did.

“Is that really the honor student? I’d heard she was being meek and bullied. Now it looks like she can kill with a look!” Marie spoke and I couldn’t help but agree. Olivia was walking through the girl’s dormitory with a cold smile that didn’t reach her dark gaze. The treasure we recovered was barely noticeable as it lay upon her neck and shoulders, beneath her blouse. “She’s… creepy now.”

I shook my head and my concerns aside, as I watched the protagonist go.

“Seems that she’s hit her stride. Or, maybe, she’s grown into the pressure and decided to be more vicious.” I shared my thoughts on the matter and shook my head. Ideal set the image away. “How are her interactions going?”

“She has been progressing smoothly with all five capture targets. They are rapidly quelling any dissenters against her. Its… disturbing to see such a rapid change.”

“Well, she got her stats up pretty quickly in the game with the right schedule and events.” I said the words aloud, but I couldn’t help but feel that there was something wrong with them. Like I was trying to convince myself instead of telling the truth. “But with that sort of thing going fine, we can move onto the real problem.”

Marie took that as her cue to speak up.

“I’ve done my research and I’m sure that the third game’s final boss and this game’s final boss are both going to be present. They both summon the same final boss.” Marie reached into her blouse pocket and pulled out a newspaper clipping. She raised it up to showcase two girls with similar features, save for two big differences on the shorter-haired one. Marie glared at me. How did she know!? “If what you said is true, and the Luxion could only fight against one final boss monster and barely win…”

“…then, we’ll definitely need the Luxion and Ideal to beat the Principality and stop them from consuming the whole world.”

Man, even though I’ve got tons of things at my disposal, I feel like I’ll lose the moment I stop trying.

“For posterity, even though it wasn’t mentioned. I recorded you staring at the breasts of one of the Princesses. Scum.”

“Trash.”

“I’m just a man, dammit!”