The Genius Villain Dies Tomorrow

"Alright," Charlotte said, her commercial smile now showing again. "May I examine the decree establishing this new fee?"

The armored man hesitated. "The decree?"

"And I’ll require a receipt bearing the city’s administrative seal."

"How unusual..."

Another man stepped up, this one seemingly a bit smarter than the other. He placed his hand at the sword by his waist, speaking in a threatening tone.

"Are you accusing the Eisenbran Knights of dishonesty?"

Before Charlotte could answer, Alicia spoke from the carriage bench. "They aren’t knights. Their armor might bear the correct insignia."

"But the people inside..."

Realizing that negotiations had fallen through, the "knights" surged forward, trying to apprehend both the merchant and her retinue.

Though Alicia had reacted a lot quicker than they expected.

〈Bind Shade.〉

[Binding Shadows]

Suddenly, chains made of pure darkness emerged from the shadows nearby and coiled around the knights, halting their movements. They squirmed and struggled, but managed to break free just a few seconds later.

Unfortunately, that was all Charlotte needed to finish chanting her own spell.

"Crimson of eternal flames, compress and destroy my enemies."

〈Magia Flare — Lanze.〉

[Crimson Lance]

A blazing spear materialized above Charlotte’s outstretched hand. Even from behind, Rian could feel the heat permeating through the air.

"Charlotte, we need at least one of them alive."

"Got it."

With a simple nod, she released the spell into the group. Heat flew across space, slamming straight into the knights. Yet instead of making an explosion like what Rian expected...

PSHHHHH—!

Dense smoke engulfed the entire area, swallowing the carriage, road, and everyone around it. Though upon inspecting the smoke itself, Rian had realized that it wasn’t created by magical means, as there was no mana present.

’A smoke bomb...? Any knight worth their salt would never result to such dirty tactics. There could only be one other option...’

"Watch out, everyone! They’re moving inside it—!"

But yelling out was the worst thing he could’ve done at the moment. Coming from his right, a man surged forward with his sword aimed straight at Rian’s chest.

’Shit—I don’t have time to—!’

Rian tried to raise a barrier, but knew that it would never form in time. With his poor speed, the attack was sure to hit him.

So in the last moment, he tried to throw his body aside—not to dodge the strike itself, but to prevent the blade from hitting any of his important organs.

But just as he closed his eyes and braced for impact, Rian realized that no attack actually came.

Rian opened his eyes slowly and cautiously, and the sight in front of him could only be described as sheer awe.

The smoke itself had disappeared. Well, not really.

It had been pulled upward into three spiraling columns.

Hovering up in the air, all three false knights had been lifted. The smoke that enveloped the area was now swirling around them, binding their bodies like rope.

The attackers squirmed and struggled, but suddenly, their bodies froze up. It looked uncanny, almost like time had stopped for them and only them.

Hovering above them, with her translucent wings beating rapidly, was the tiny fairy. She looked down toward Rian, then placed her hands at her hips proudly before darting into his coat pocket.

’Huh, did she...do this?’

A few moments later, Alicia and Charlotte emerged from the thinning smoke, coughing and visibly disoriented. Alicia in particular, rushed up to Rian and examined him thoroughly.

"Young Master! Are you hurt?!"

"I’m fine," he said, noticing a fourth assailant on the ground that Alicia had already taken care of. "More importantly, what happened to you two?"

Charlotte approached more slowly. She examined the lingering smoke before looking back at Rian. "It contains a powerful paralytic agent."

Rian glanced toward the immobilized attackers. "Then that explains why they stopped moving."

"It doesn’t explain why you’re still standing."

Only then did he realize that the faint sensation of his clothes fluttering had never stopped.

Air continued circulating around his body, shifting whenever the remaining smoke approached. It formed an invisible veil that filtered the paralytic gas away from him.

Rian glanced toward his pocket.

’Did she protect me?’

Before he could investigate further, the currents holding the false knights abruptly dispersed. The remaining smoke vanished with them, dropping all three men onto the road.

Their bodies remained paralyzed, making it easy for Alicia to disarm them. She dragged over the fourth attacker she had knocked unconscious, and before long, all four men had been tied securely to a nearby tree.

Alicia removed one man’s breastplate and examined its interior.

"The armor is genuine," she muttered. "How did these hooligans get their hands on something like this?"

"No, the bigger question is—"

Charlotte looked at the four men, who were now tied up via rope to a nearby tree. "How were they able to play ’knights’ without getting caught..."

She looked down the road leading toward the city. "Either the real knights have completely abandoned this area..."

Rian looked at the iron-sword insignia on their armor, finishing Charlotte’s thought. "...Or they already know."

Alicia set down the breastplate and wiped her hands before turning back to Rian. "Young Master, what should we do with them?"

Rian considered his options.

They couldn’t surrender the bandits to Eisenbran’s authorities when those same authorities might have provided their armor. Releasing them was equally dangerous, as the bandits had already seen their faces.

"Find out where they obtained the armor, what the levy actually is, and why they’re so far from Eisenbran."

"And afterwards?"

"...Kill them."

Charlotte’s eyes shifted sharply toward him.

"But wait until I’m inside," Rian added, already starting to climb back on the carriage. "My stomach still hasn’t recovered from what happened in the dungeon."

"How unexpectedly cruel of you," Charlotte remarked, following right behind. "I thought you’d be the kind to spare them?"

"I can’t afford that risk, especially right now."

One of the bandits finally found enough control over his mouth to croak, "Wait! We’ll talk! Please, spare us!"

Rian stopped beside the carriage door without turning around.

"Wonderful. That saves us some time."

He glanced toward Alicia. "Start with that one. If his information proves useful, make his death painless."

"Understood, Young Master."

Once both nobles were upon the carriage, Rian turned to face Charlotte before asking. "No objections? I thought someone like you would also—"

"Normally, I would insist they receive a proper trial," Charlotte interrupted with a sigh. "But given the circumstances..."

She glanced through the window.

"I dislike your decision. That doesn’t mean I have a better one."

’...She’s starting to resemble her character again...’

Neither of them spoke after that.

Rian reached across the window and pulled the curtain shut. He retrieved a thick pair of padded earmuffs, placed them over his ears, and leaned back with his eyes closed.

Eisenbran was still a problem he had to solve, and even more horrendous things happened there. Ones that he remembered from the original novel.

So Rian couldn’t afford to trip at the starting line.

Not now.

That was the only way to conquer Eisenbran—

And survive long enough to see his tale past its opening act.

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