I'm a Villain in My Own Game?

[Ariel PoV]

A clear day, cool air, a peaceful atmosphere — for some reason, I found myself preferring this rural setting to life in the city.

Right now, I was in Nourin Village, helping heal a few sick villagers.

"There, all done. Your back shouldn't hurt anymore, Grandma."

"Ah, thank you, Sister Ariel. Thanks to you, I won't keep waking up from my arthritis anymore."

"No need to thank me, Grandma. It's my duty to heal those who are in pain," I said, smiling at her.

After healing several villagers and teaching the children to read and write, my work here for today was done. I gathered my things and headed toward the pickup point.

A month had passed since the incident of the missing villagers and the extermination of the Vampires who'd abducted them. After that terrifying event, the villages of the Margraviate of Cataluna finally returned to peace and safety, resuming their daily lives, looking cheerful once more.

On my way to the pickup point, I saw a group of children I'd taught to read and write playing in a field.

"Hompimpah alaium gambreng! Ma Icah pake baju rombeng!"

"Ah, now it's Dio and Sena's turn to search!" the children shouted, pointing at a boy and a girl.

The game they were playing was hide-and-seek. To choose who'd be the seeker, they used a hand-guessing method — everyone would show either their palm or the back of their hand.

Whoever showed a different side from the majority became the Seeker.

"Ughhh... me again," Dio said, pouting.

"Don't slow me down, Dio!" Sena said, looking competitive.

"Ah, it's Sister Ariel!" one of the children suddenly shouted, noticing my presence.

They all rushed toward me, surrounding me as I watched them.

"Sister Ariel! Want to play with us?"

"I want Sister to find me! It'll be so much fun!"

They tugged at my sleeves and robe, trying to get me to join their game. As always, these children got so excited whenever I was around.

"Sorry, not this time," I told them. "I need to head back to the city now. Maybe next time, okay?"

Hearing my answer, the children's faces fell. I wanted to cheer them up, but I couldn't stay here any longer, since evening was approaching.

"Sister Ariel, you are heading back to the city?"

Suddenly, an elderly man approached me. He was the village head here. The villagers called him Old Man Hughes.

"That's right, Mr. Hughes. I'll be back in this village in four days," I told him.

"Thank you for your help today, Sister Ariel. We look forward to your next visit," the village head said.

"Hmmm... is that a newspaper in your hand, Mr. Hughes?" I asked him.

"That's right. There's some very interesting news from our neighboring region, the Duchy of Grenaut, from a few days ago," the village head said, handing me the newspaper.

I read through the information printed there.

The headline read: "The Hero Has Been Chosen."

It said a man named Brian had defeated a dragon attacking Grenaut City by summoning the Holy Sword Excalibur.

Brian, huh? I'd always had a feeling he had what it took to be chosen as a hero. He really was remarkable.

It had been over a month since I'd last seen him...

I wondered how he was doing now. How was he handling things after being chosen as a hero? I wanted so badly to talk with him.

But because of the promise he'd made with Raul, we couldn't speak with each other at all.

I... couldn't afford to fall behind Brian. We'd promised each other we'd both become the best in our respective fields. With his status as a hero now, Brian would surely become the finest knight in the Empire with ease.

I didn't want to lose either... but only a Saint held a status equal to, or even higher than, a hero.

And me... I wasn't even among the candidates chosen to become a Saint.

Thinking about this left my heart feeling terribly heavy.

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[Brian PoV]

I... had no idea what would happen from here on out.

A day after we defeated that dragon, a man claiming to represent the Temple's authority came to see me. He said the Temple and the Empire would soon come to bring me in for training, to become humanity's official hero.

Once the training concluded, the Temple and Empire would formally induct me and introduce me to the world as the new hero of this century.

Right now, I was heading back to Alcantara Fortress, where I was temporarily staying, after helping villagers clear the debris left behind by the dragon's rampage.

Arriving at the fortress, I entered through the main gate.

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Every Inquisitor and Aques in the fortress courtyard suddenly stopped what they were doing and stared at me as I walked by, making me a little nervous.

"Hey, isn't he too young for this?"

"That's true, but plenty of our comrades witnessed him defeat that dragon with the Holy Sword themselves."

"Exactly, I don't want to believe it either. But facts are facts — he's the Chosen One."

As usual, they kept spreading rumors about the truth behind me defeating that dragon. Honestly, I wanted to say the masked man who'd summoned the Holy Sword Excalibur deserved most of the credit for defeating it.

But the Inquisitors had told me never to speak of the masked man, to act as though he'd never even existed in that battle. That's because they didn't want the public to know we'd only saved the city thanks to a heretic's help.

Entering the main lobby, I headed toward my room to change clothes. But suddenly, I heard someone call out to me.

Turning around, I saw a knight in black armor walking toward me.

"You're the Brian everyone's been talking about, aren't you?" the man asked.

"Black armor with a dragon crest on the chest... you're one of the Nine Holy Knights — Remilio de Banderra?" I murmured.

"So you recognize me after all, hahaha," he said, laughing.

"Of course I recognize you! You're the Holy Knight known as the Metal Knight Remilio!"

He was one of two Holy Knights hailing from the Aragon Empire. Holy Knights were the finest Senior Inquisitors, selected from various nations.

If I remembered correctly, Holy Knight Remilio had only just entered his early thirties, making him one of the youngest Holy Knights currently, alongside Princess Lunaria Angevin.

"Might I take a look at your sword, Brian?" the Holy Knight asked.

I nodded and handed him Excalibur. He examined the golden blade closely, running his fingers over the runes inscribed on it.

"Every knight dreams of holding this sword, myself included, back when I was young," he said, looking awestruck at Excalibur. "You're incredibly fortunate to have been chosen by this sword, Brian," the Holy Knight said, returning it to me.

I felt a bit embarrassed hearing that. After all, I wasn't the one who'd actually summoned this sword — that masked man was.

"The Temple's authority is still deciding which of the nine Holy Knights will serve as your mentor during your hero training," Holy Knight Remilio said. "I hope we can work well together, if I'm the one chosen as your mentor,."

The Holy Knight offered a handshake, and I gladly accepted it. It was rare for a Squire like me to have the chance to get acquainted with a knight as remarkable as him.

"Care to join me for some training after this?" Holy Knight Remilio asked.

"Of course! I'd love nothing more than to learn from a great knight like you!"

Hearing my eager, unhesitating acceptance, the Holy Knight smiled and headed toward the training grounds. I followed behind him, already thinking about what techniques he might show me.

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[Raul PoV]

Three days had passed since the battle in Grenaut City.

To make a long story short, after the fight, many Inquisitors wanted to arrest me immediately, once we'd defeated the dragon rampaging through the city center. But Brian stopped them, since he and I had already performed a Blood Pact ritual.

If they violated this agreement, the hero who'd just saved the city would die instantly. As a result, I managed to leave the city without a single Inquisitor chasing after me.

The next issue I needed to think through was the Vampires. It was certain they were still roaming this region, and they were the ones who'd awakened Syrax to wreak havoc on the city.

It seemed their goal that time had been to confirm Brian's identity, so they could plan his assassination at the right moment later. But with Grenaut City's security now heightened, I doubted they'd move again for the next several days.

I tried discussing this with Emilia, to draw up a plan in case the Vampires attacked this region again. But she told me her father had no intention of discussing this issue again, since he'd already considered the matter closed a month ago.

Without solid evidence, the Marquis wouldn't act, just like before.

"Here's your drink, Captain Raul."

A maroon-haired woman handed me the drink I'd ordered. It was Melissa, daughter of this tavern's owner.

I always came here after finishing patrol duty with my members.

Honestly, I didn't want to see her too often. Still, she always eased a little of the longing I felt for Liana, my ex-girlfriend from my previous world.

The way Melissa carried herself, how she smiled — everything about her closely resembled Liana.

"Is there anything wrong?" Melissa asked, smiling at me.

"It's nothing, I just noticed you look a little tired today," I answered her. "The tavern's also opening later lately, isn't it? Have you been busy with something besides running this place recently?" I asked her.

"Just a logistics issue — it's been pretty hard lately to get ingredients for some of our menu items," Melissa answered. "I heard our neighboring Duchy of Grenaut was attacked by a monster? Some trade activity to that region's been disrupted too, hasn't it?"

"That's right, a dragon went on a rampage there a few days ago," I answered casually. "But don't worry, the soldiers have already handled it, and the citizens will get back to their normal lives once the recovery period's over."

"Is that so? Will soldiers from other regions be relocated there too, to help with the security issues from a few days ago?" Melissa asked again.

I looked into her eyes as she asked that. Interesting — a tavern keeper showing this much interest in the country's security situation, huh?

I wanted to laugh at this realization, but I needed to stay professional and not let my emotions bleed into my current work.

"A few battalions from other regions have indeed been deployed to help stabilize the situation in the Duchy of Grenaut, since they needed additional support to restore security there," I answered her.

"Is that so? Do you know which regions' battalions were deployed there?" Melissa asked again.

Sipping my drink, I answered Melissa's question: "One battalion from the Duchy of Hernant, one from Wisperia County, and two from the capital."

"I see..." Melissa murmured, seemingly deep in thought.

I finished my drink and handed Melissa twenty kufer coins to pay for it.

"Ah, heading home early tonight? Something else come up?" Melissa asked, sounding curious.

"Yeah... I just realized something," I answered, then left her tavern.

I then headed toward the outskirts of Cataluna Fortress City to meet the agent Karl Johnson had sent to see me. He'd been assigned to deliver a report on the intelligence data we were currently gathering in the Republic of Venetia.

Arriving at the outskirts of the city, I approached a building. Someone was waiting outside its entrance.

"Good evening, Boss," he greeted me.

"Ah, so Karl sent you here, Black?" I answered him. "So, how's our intelligence activity going in that country?"

Black then handed me a pile of papers. He said it contained a report on our agents' activities, who'd infiltrated both the military and several key departments within the Republic of Venetia.

Though they didn't hold particularly important positions, it was enough to dig up recent information on that country's activities.

"You were right about the thieves who acted in the capital a few months ago, Boss — they were people from the Republic," Black revealed to me.

Of course. Only they would have any interest in developing firearms in a world overflowing with magic like this one. That's because over 95 percent of the Republic of Venetia's population were Non-Sorcerers, unable to use magic at all.

Still, the real question was how they'd managed to develop firearm technology in the first place. Someone had to be behind their success in developing these weapons.

Right now, my intelligence team's focus was gathering information related to exactly that.

"We've also heard that the Head of Intelligence for the Republic of Venetia was killed during that operation, which is why they've replaced him with a new leader for intelligence operations within the Empire," Black said, handing me a sheet of paper containing information about a woman.

"Siena di Reginossa..."

If I remembered correctly, there was no character by this name in the game Path of Destiny.

It stated here she was the daughter of the Republic of Venetia's current President, Luciano di Reginossa. According to the report, she'd taken over as Head of Intelligence for the Republic of Venetia's operations within Imperial territory.

"Good work, Black. Will you be staying in this fortress city for a while?" I asked him.

"That's right. If you need anything, you can find me here anytime."

"Alright, I have a task for you while you're in this city." I then whispered the assignment into his ear. "Understood? Try to follow her movements, but don't take on too much risk that could expose your investigation of her."

"Understood, Boss."

After finishing my meeting with one of my intelligence agents, I headed back to my quarters in the barracks to read through Black's report.

It seemed the Republic had already begun actively gathering intelligence, preparing for the war soon to break out between them and this nation.