I Became the Narrow-Eyed Villain in a Dropped Novel

The state of the western district was much more severe than other places.

If other places simply felt deserted, the western district smelled of death.

Unburied corpses were left abandoned everywhere, and all sorts of insects were swarming.

There were also many eerie, deserted houses with an X-mark drawn on the door.

Above all, no vitality could be felt at all, and the entire district felt dead.

My brow furrowed naturally.

“It seems the Count can also frown for the sake of others.”

Kaseph appeared from an alley, striding along.

I wasn't surprised.

Just by lightly activating Detection, I could feel more hostility than from all the self-proclaimed doctors I had just seen combined.

“Did you find anything?”

“I found out that it is absolutely not a natural disease. Did you see the dead?”

“I saw the patients. They were collapsed as if dead. Foaming at the mouth.”

“It's the most basic of curses. First, it steals their consciousness, and if they are left in that state, they lose their lives.”

“Does that mean it's common?”

“I did not say that.”

Kaseph shook his head.

Then again, if a curse of this scale were common, this world would have been destroyed several times over already.

“The scale is the problem, I see.”

“A curse can be activated in any way as long as the place, target, and medium are prepared. But to execute a curse of this scale, that alone is not enough. Consent is required.”

As Kaseph picked up a pebble from the roadside, it was instantly covered in something like black smoke.

“Using this pebble as a medium, I have cast the same curse on you as the one on this city.”

“Pardon?”

“If this pebble is broken, you will lose consciousness and eventually die.”

As soon as his words ended, Kaseph clenched his fist and crushed the pebble.

‘Has this guy finally lost his mind?’

A few seconds passed while I was flustered.

“How is it? Are you dizzy.”

“…Not at all.”

“Of course, you are. Even if I cast a life-threatening curse with a mere roadside pebble, you'd be lucky to catch a common cold. It would be better to just use a 9th-tier spell.”

“That's great news. Should I offer my thanks?”

“In short, the power of a unilateral curse is pathetic.”

Kaseph, completely ignoring my sarcasm, picked up another pebble and held it out to me.

“But if you consent to the curse being cast when this pebble is broken, the story changes. Will you consent?”

“I refuse.”

As I answered as if I were dumbfounded, the smoke enveloping the pebble disappeared as if it were melting snow.

Kaseph tossed the now-ordinary pebble away.

“If you had consented, the curse would have been cast on you. Even so, it's doubtful you would even cough once, but the curse would have taken effect nonetheless.”

So that's why the Dark Elf's curse, the Blood Contract, is so powerful.

Because they both consent and use blood as a medium, they can immediately kill the one who breaks the contract.

“Does that mean all the dead and the patients consented?”

“Although the curse is simple, to cast it on a place and targets of this size all at once, consent is absolutely necessary. Though I don't know how they did it.”

A method to get the people of an entire city district to consent to a curse that would kill them.

I did have one thing that came to mind.

“Is there a way to lift the curse?”

“Since it's a simple curse, the solution is also simple. It's a problem that will end once the medium is purified.”

“Then follow me. That medium is nearby.”

“Do you know where it is to be so boastful?”

“Please try to think, Kaseph. Who are the ones who can receive the consent of hundreds of people.”

I grinned, swinging my staff left and right.

I could feel that he didn't like it very much, but Kaseph waited quietly for my answer.

“Since you've likely never lived an ordinary life, let me tell you. When you hand someone a complicated document to sign, they usually don't read it carefully and just sign it and move on.”

I must have agreed to hundreds of terms and conditions in my life without even reading them.

It probably wouldn't be much different here.

“I see. If they are people who can hand out such documents to everyone without arousing suspicion they must be people in uniform.”

“I don't know what they used as bait, but wouldn't we find out if we go to the government office ourselves.”

Wanting to escape this dreadful place, I quickened my pace.

Kaseph, who was following me with creaking steps, suddenly let out a hoarse laugh.

“What is it, you're giving me the creeps.”

“The Count discusses normalcy. Don't all the officials of the Empire tremble before you. How do you know what is normal?”

Hearing it like that, he wasn't wrong.

It is a bit strange for Valheit to talk about normalcy.

I decided to just gloss it over.

“Isn't it the wisdom one gains from living a long life.”

“Hmm so that's how it is.”

With that, Kaseph did not open his mouth again.

I glanced at him, wondering if he was suspicious, but I couldn't find any clues from his masked face.

Ah, it's probably just a needless worry.

***

“I apologize, but even if you are the Count, I cannot show you official documents as you please.

I can only show them to those who apply according to the procedures and regulations….”

The clerk answered with difficulty, his voice trailing off.

Fortunately, there was no one else in the government office, so even that small voice could be heard clearly.

Though it wasn't fortunate for the clerk.

“Regulations and procedures. Aren't those things you people created to hide your own corruption.”

“Well even if you say that to me, there's nothing I can do for you.”

“No need to do anything. I'll find it myself.”

The clerk's face grew paler and paler, and he desperately sent me a rescue signal with his eyes.

It seemed he thought the Count was more trustworthy than this strange monster.

“Now, what would this fellow know? He's just unfortunately sitting here right now.”

The clerk's face brightened up as if he had met a savior.

I smiled as kindly as possible and held the clerk's hand.

With a thud, the clerk slammed his nose on the table and his body trembled.

I slightly turned his head so he could breathe, and I could see the twitching face of the clerk.

“You didn't kill him.”

“I just paralyzed him for a moment, so he'll get up on his own soon.”

I knocked him out by passing an electric current through him with Discharge.

I had practiced quite a lot, but this was the first time I had actually used it.

I set the output low, so I don't think I managed to knock him out completely, but just not frying a person alive was a success for now.

“Considering what we are about to do, this is a good thing for this fellow as well.”

“The Count being considerate. A strange thing indeed.”

Kaseph said in a low voice.

If his tone hadn't been serious, I would have mistaken it for sarcasm.

“Now we just need to find the archive where those documents are….”

“I've already found it. It's below.”

“How did you know?”

“Things used in a curse always leave a trace. Especially a clumsy curse that is only large in scale.”

‘He's like a drug-sniffing dog or something.’

Kaseph, pushing through the musty smell of paper, went deep inside the document archive and took out a file.

“Is that it? It looks too thin.”

“No. This is not the main body. It's merely used to bind the other curse mediums together. The real ones are the documents received from each individual.”

“Can you tell how many there are?”

At my question, Kaseph opened the file.

Black smoke dripped from the empty file.

“A curse has been cast on 6,022 people, and of those, the curse is already complete for 3,674. The rest will also wither away soon.”

Does the curse being complete mean they're dead?

If the numbers I remember are correct, it means half the city has been cursed and 25% of the total population has died.

“Can you tell who did it?”

“People don't use their own name when casting a curse. However, I can tell where the curse was cast, its starting point.”

“Where is it?”

Kaseph raised his withered finger and pointed up.

“It was done from the top of this government office.”

“Are you saying they cursed their own city?”

“That I don't know. As I said, I can't tell who it was. But it would be hard to say they're completely unrelated.”

Kranacht, the Third Duke's territory, a government office that received consent forms, a curse performed at the top of the office, and doctors sent by the Duke.

“I have a feeling the Third Duke might be involved. I will investigate.”

“If that's the case..”

Kaseph raised the hand holding the file.

Crimson flames engulfed the file that was emitting black smoke.

“I'll take care of things here. I don't know anything about the Empire's complicated politics. You can handle such trivial matters.”

“As you command. Though if I had my way, I would like to personally witness the purification that symbolizes Kaseph of the Conflagration.”

“Hmph. Such empty words.”

“You can start in five minutes.”

I gave a slight nod and left the basement, and I saw the flustered clerk.

The color drained from the clerk's face when he saw me.

“We took the liberty of looking at the official documents. You were knocked out by a bad Count, so the responsibility will not fall on you.”

“Uh… thank you?”

The clerk flinched when I placed my hand on his shoulder.

I'm not trying to knock him out this time.

“Please listen carefully to what I say. Tell everyone in this government office to evacuate immediately. Within five minutes.”

“Pardon?”

“Otherwise, they will all be swallowed by fire.”

***

Kaseph stood still and felt the life force leaving the government office.

He now understood why Valheit had asked for five minutes.

“That's not like you, Count. Or should I say, a person I do not know.”

The original Valheit would not have batted an eye even if the people left in the government office had died.

That was the same for himself.

Burning away the filth was more important to him, even if a few humans were swept away.

In fact, most of the Eight Council would prioritize their own goals over a few lives.

If you exclude him, that is.

“I do not know if it is your will, but someone similar to you has come. If this too is fate, I have no choice but to accept it.”

Kaseph, who was muttering wistfully, stretched out his hand.

Crimson fire flowed down his hand and fell to the floor.

Kaseph did not flinch at the smell of burning.

More embers flowed from his hand and spread chaotically.

Uncontrollable.

It was the word used by the Empire's leading mages when describing fire.

Because of its fierce and unpredictable nature, fire made of mana is also uncontrollable.

Not only humans, but even demons cannot control fire.

Magic that handles fire is impossible.

That was their conclusion.

As if ignoring such theories, the flames that fell from Kaseph spread in perfect order throughout the archive.

“All that is profane shall be purified and begin anew from the ashes.”

As he recited in a low voice, a conflagration centered on Kaseph engulfed the archive.

Some of the documents on the shelves burned, spitting out black liquid.

Before long, the black liquid they spat out was also swept away by the flames and disappeared.

The fire that started in the basement soon began to swallow the entire government office.

Miraculously, the fire did not spread to the surroundings and continued to rise, turning the government office into a giant fireball.

The residents of Kranacht who saw the scene from their quarantined homes would later testify that they saw someone walk out of the flames.

The authorities treated it as the residents seeing things, as it was impossible for anyone to survive such a fire.

In any case, the Kranacht government office was thus reduced to ashes.