I Became the Narrow-Eyed Villain in a Dropped Novel

A smile unknowingly formed on my face at the sight of the government office erupting in flames.

The reaction of the person sitting in front of me was a masterpiece.

“Why are you so flustered?”

“The government office is on fire, of course I’m flustered!”

The doctor shouted as if he were dumbfounded.

He's right. It's normal to be surprised when there's a fire.

But his behavior was a little different from a normal person's surprise.

“But for the head doctor to abandon his patients and run to the government office, isn't that irresponsible.”

“There could be patients at the fire scene, couldn't there.”

“You could just send your colleagues, couldn't you. What will happen to the patients if the head doctor, the one in charge, leaves his post.”

“I don't think the Count has the authority to command me.”

The doctor's face crumpled.

No matter if he was an advisor to the Imperial family, he had no authority to command a Duke's subordinates.

Even the previous Emperor, who had fought with the Dukes, could not take away their right of service.

“Of course. Fulfilling the Third Duke's orders is more important, I'm sure. I'll be waiting, so you can go and come back.”

The doctor flinched upon seeing the corners of my mouth rise.

I responded with an even bigger smile to the doctor who didn't even bother to hide his suspicion.

My goal was achieved just by this doctor being here.

The awkward silence was broken by someone's shout.

“Commander! The patients are waking up! Right now….”

The intern who was speaking quickly stopped when he saw my face, but the water had already spilled.

“Commander. That seems a bit of a strange title for a doctor.”

“The Duke told us to, so we're just calling him Commander.”

“Ah, of course you are. In any case, isn't this good news? That patients who were in a coma with no promise of when they'd wake up have awakened.”

The doctor's eyes wandered for a moment, unable to find a place to rest.

He soon regained his composure, but it was enough to serve as a basis for suspicion.

“Then I'll go see the patients.”

“May I accompany you? I need to know what happened so I'll have something to say to His Majesty.”

“Are you planning to report this to His Majesty?”

As the doctor made a fed-up expression, his already deep laugh lines seemed to stand out even more.

“It would be right to decide whether to tell him or not after seeing what happened. Ah, let's not make things complicated by bringing up regulations. Isn't it better for us to be on good terms?”

The Duke's rights were untouchable, but the advisor to the Imperial family had his own means of attack.

Investigating on behalf of the Emperor.

It was a duty and a right given to Valheit, the advisor to the Imperial family.

As long as the Duke's rights were not infringed upon, no one could refuse an investigation.

Until now, Valheit had rarely exercised such duties or rights, but that didn't mean his authority to investigate had disappeared.

“Do as you please. However, I don't know how the disease has changed, so it would be better for you to stay far away. This is my advice as a doctor.”

“If the doctor says so, I must follow.”

As I stepped out of the tent, some of the patients who had been lying motionless were now thrashing about.

Various reactions caught my eye: some people were struggling to get up, some were vomiting, some were screaming at the top of their lungs, and some were lying still, their bodies convulsing.

‘As expected, the curse is being lifted.’

Kaseph's flames nullify all curses.

I don't know why that is.

Come to think of it, maybe the author put it in to balance the game because curses were too overpowered.

What's important now is that the identity of the plague that struck Kranacht is a curse.

Kaseph had clearly said this.

‘Any quack doctor in the world can distinguish between a disease and a curse.’

But the doctor sent by the Duke was convinced that people were collapsing due to a disease.

I had no choice but to think that he was either a truly terrible quack or had another purpose.

Of course, even with that thought, questions remained.

‘If the Third Duke is involved, it means he cursed his own city, but what benefit is there in doing that?’

A Duke naturally has the right to tax the region he rules.

Small cities like Kranacht, which serve as a center for the surrounding area, are quite important for tax collection, even if they aren't large.

What on earth could be the reason to ruin such a place with his own hands.

Moreover, if he's caught, even a Duke cannot escape censure.

Because even a Duke had no authority to cast a curse on the citizens of the Empire.

‘It probably wasn't planned by Timershi Stetten alone. He's not talented enough to pull off something this dangerous by himself.’

Does that mean the First Duke is behind it?

But even thinking this way, the most fundamental question was not resolved.

Why curse the citizens of the Empire.

‘Well, that will probably come out with some investigation.’

Now that the curse was gone, the incident itself was over.

Leaving the temporary hospital, where sighs of relief and wails of resentment were mixed, I headed towards the west of the city.

When I activated Detection, I could feel someone exuding an overwhelming presence in the middle of the western street.

There was no need to say who it was.

“You handled it cleanly.”

“The curse will no longer torment Kranacht. It has all turned to ash and disappeared.”

“The patients were also waking up one by one. In a way that anyone could see was unnatural.”

“Hmm.”

Kaseph turned his gaze towards the square.

I wonder if he has any idea what's going on.

“Let's part ways here, Count.”

“So suddenly?”

“I dragged you into this matter to see if the Count was capable of acting altruistically. You said you could, and you have indeed proven it.”

For the first time, the eyes behind the mask did not burn fiercely.

Waving his dry hand, Kaseph began to walk towards the square.

“Where are you going?”

“I still have work to do. I will attend the Eight Council meeting without being late.”

Watching Kaseph trudge away alone, I opened the status window.

[Relationships]

Kaseph of the Conflagration (-100)

(+) Proved altruism!

Because the starting relationship was –100, a skill will be acquired when it becomes –99!

Even though there was a + sign, the relationship was still at –100.

Perhaps on paper it's –100, but in reality, it's lower than that.

I let out a deep sigh and caught up with Kaseph.

I clicked my tongue and answered Kaseph, who was asking with his eyes why I had come.

“I've also become interested in why this happened.”

And it feels like I'll get a skill if I do a little more.

Kaseph shook his head and started walking again.

“The Count is better at conversation.”

“I don't know what to do with such high praise. More importantly, where do you plan to investigate first.”

“Is there a need to investigate? The answer will come out if we just catch them and burn them.”

“Let's investigate the head doctor first.”

While I'm at it, I should also prevent him from burning all of Kranacht in the name of investigation.

***

“We've finished the follow-up measures, but some residents are demanding an investigation into the truth.”

“How many are there?”

“A few dozen.”

“Tell them it's under investigation and ignore them.”

“Yes, Commander.”

After confirming that the other person had left, the commander pressed his temples and downed a glass of liquor.

The strong alcohol spread and warmed his body.

“I shouldn't have signed up for this kind of job.”

It was a mission with many suspicious points from the beginning.

The sudden order to disguise himself as a doctor, the instruction to insist it was a disease, and the command to report on the progress of the dying patients were all strange.

The strangest thing was the request that under no circumstances should the government office be harmed.

What harm could possibly come to the government office.

Of course, now that the government office has been completely burned down, there's nothing he can say.

He would avoid censure since they had agreed to frame it as an accident due to the negligence of a local official.

“If I hadn't made a tidy profit from looting the pockets of the collapsed ones, I would have only suffered a loss.”

The commander looked at the large boxes in the corner with a pleased expression.

When working for a Duke, one should have this much of a side income.

The commander, who was happily contemplating how to dispose of those things upon his return, frowned.

A heat haze?

Is a heat haze rising right now?

“Aargh!”

The commander fell back as flames suddenly shot up.

He frantically grabbed the doorknob, but it just spun uselessly.

‘’There was nothing that could catch fire? Magic? No, handling fire with magic is next to impossible. Then is it a hallucination?’’

For a hallucination, the boiling flames were too realistic.

Gradually, the fire spread to other objects, and acrid smoke filled the room.

“Good evening, Doctor.”

As he was desperately pounding on the door, a voice full of laughter was heard.

It was Valheit's voice.

“Open the door! Now!”

“Of course, I will. If you just answer a few questions.”

A curse rose to his throat at the ridicule, but seeing the flames reaching the ceiling, the thought disappeared.

“I don't know what it is, but ask quickly!”

“Is the Third Duke behind this plague incident? I hope you answer well. I've come here already knowing a fair amount.”

“How would a low-ranking person like me know no, no, it's probably him!”

“Were there any unusual orders?”

“He said no harm should come to the government office, that was strange! Now that's enough, open up!”

The door burst open and the commander tumbled to the floor.

The commander, who barely got up while coughing, was startled by the bizarre figure standing before him and drew his sword.

“The Count, where is the Count?”

“You don't need to know.”

The figure, like a withered old tree, said firmly.

In the moment he was contemplating whether to fight back or call for reinforcements, a single coin fell on his chest.

“He who covets wealth shall be brought down by the wealth he coveted.”

He didn't know what it was, but it didn't feel good.

He quickly swung his sword, but the opponent blocked the blade with his hand.

“And so, greed shall return to ash.”

The fire traveled up the sword and onto the commander.

Screaming in pain, the commander waved his hands to put out the fire.

But the flames burned even more fiercely and spread throughout his body.

His struggles gradually subsided, and only ash remained in his place.

“I'll have to hope the Count does the rest well.”

The bizarre figure muttered and touched the wall, and the fire dripped down.

Before long, the entire building was engulfed in flames.

***

“Wow, for a big fire to break out two days in a row, what bad luck. Don't you think so?”

“I-I don't know anything. I was at both places, but ....”

“I know, Mr. Clerk. We're the ones who started the fire.”

“Pardon?”

The clerk pinned under me blinked his eyes with a face that said he had no idea what was going on.

“I thought if I stirred up the places where the Duke's subordinates were, they would smuggle the most important person out of the city first. And you came out with two guards.”

“I'm just an errand boy.”

“They'd assign two guards to escort an errand boy out of the city? Isn't that strange?”

The clerk swallowed hard as he looked at the guards sprawled around.

“My guess is that you are the caster who cast the curse. Am I right?”

“What are you talking about….”

“I thought again about the people who were left in the government office at that time, and there were only you and the Duke's knights, the three of you. No matter how much a plague has spread, isn't it strange that there are only that many people in a government office?”

The clerk's face gradually darkened.

He must be feeling the escape routes narrowing.

“As you know, Kaseph of the Conflagration is here. If you don't want to confess when I ask, you'll have to wait until Kaseph arrives. If you confess now, you can just leave.”

“Wh-what are you curious about?”

He took the bait.

I looked at the clerk with a satisfied smile.

“Everything.”