How to Save the World as a Villain 13

I knew exactly where the weapon I needed was — from my experience playing the game in my past life. I kicked off the ground, leaped up, and snatched the target. A sleek longsword settled into my grip. The golden crescent moon carved into the silver blade was breathtakingly beautiful.

The treasured sword, Rapière.

In the original game, it was the sword Lihen had gifted to Theo.

But the one holding this sword now was not a saint — it was a commander of the Demon King’s army. I, who had possessed Shane’s body, was about to hand this sword to Theo.

There was no reason to linger. The objective had already been accomplished. I activated my Stealth skill immediately. My presence dissolved into the air and vanished. The next moment, I had already concealed myself within a safe patch of shadow.

Against the backdrop of the armory blazing in the distance, a new notification window appeared.

Quest Complete
Infamy Points +1000

I pulled up my status window to check Theo’s level-up progress.

500p + 1 quest cleared
: Destruction of a Divine Statue (Cleared)
→ Level up to Age 15 (Complete)

1000p + 2 quests cleared
: Temple Arson (Cleared)
: Soul Offering (Cleared)
→ Age 18 level-up conditions met

1500p + 3 quests cleared
: Destruction of the Holy Knight Order’s Armory (Cleared)
: ??
: ??
→ Age 20 level-up conditions not met
→ Must reach Age 18 to unlock the Age 20 stage

“Alright! I’ll spend 1,000p to level Theo up.”

I’ll need to raise my Disguise skill to LV. 2 first to change the sword’s appearance, and then give it to him as a gift.

Now then. The hero’s return was drawing near.

When I returned home, Theo was waiting for me — having shot up noticeably. Since he apparently had no clothes that fit, he’d pulled out one of mine to wear. Even so, I was still a little taller, so the clothes hung loose on him.

The moment Theo saw me, he threw himself at me and rubbed his cheek against mine. Even at eighteen, his behavior was still endearingly childish. Ah, was he actually being coy? What a sweet kid.

“I guess you can’t hold me the way you used to anymore.”

There was something wistful in the way he said it. Instead of answering, I showed him with action. I lifted him clean off the ground and carried him all the way to the bed. Theo looked startled for a moment, then burst into bright laughter. He immediately bounced back up and spread both arms wide.

“Me too. I want to try holding Lihen too.”

“I’m probably too heavy…”

“What do you mean, heavy. I saw you when we bathed together last time — not an ounce of extra fat on you.”

“Well, I mean, I have my height going for me.”

I quickly realized it was a pointless argument and let him have his way. Right — this was the person who was going to become the empire’s hero, after all. Surely he could lift someone like me with no trouble.

Just as expected, Theo lifted me with ease. He even walked a full circle around the bedroom while holding me, a smile on his face.

“Being eighteen is great. I’m so much stronger, and I’ve gotten taller too.”

He set me down on the bed, then flopped forward and sprawled on top of me. He was quite solidly heavy now. Looking at that sheepish, beaming face, I felt the effort of grinding for points had been worth it. Yeah. As long as you’re happy, that’s enough.

I smiled along with him and said:

“I suppose I’ll have to buy you new clothes now.”

Theo shook his head.

“No need. Lihen, you’re unemployed. We have to save money. You can just wear Lihen’s clothes.”

“Are you sure that’s okay?”

“Yes. They smell nice too, so… it’s fine.”

Being called unemployed by someone who’d been a complete child not long ago stung in a strangely particular way. I found myself wondering if I should get some kind of cover job. But between playing the role of Legion Commander and raising Theo, a single day wasn’t nearly enough for all of that.

Theo leaned back against the headboard and patted his own shoulder.

“I’m plenty grown up now. So I want to start earning some money. I heard Madam Cecil’s Tavern is looking for staff. I’m thinking of trying to work there.”

I couldn’t give him an easy answer. Up until Theo was fifteen, I could get away with insisting he merely resembled the hero Theo. But now that he was eighteen, it was becoming noticeably apparent — in his jaw, in his build — that this was the same person.

If his identity were exposed before his abilities had fully returned, the demons who viewed Theo as a thorn in their side would never let it slide. They would try to kill him again.

It wasn’t just demons I had to be careful of — humans too. There was a faction of nobles that sought to undermine Theo. The reason Theo had been found collapsed, defeated by demons in the first place, was that this faction had fed him a paralytic agent, rendering him combat-incapable. His body had been so extraordinarily powerful that he somehow managed to hold himself together and keep fighting even in that state — but had he been any weaker, he would have been unable to put up any real resistance and would have lost his life.

If those people learned of Theo’s current situation, they would never let such a golden opportunity slip by. They would try to take advantage of a Theo who’d been reduced to a child and eliminate him. Part of me wanted to deal with them preemptively, but they were all formidable individuals, and it was simply beyond my current capabilities.

In the original flow of the story — where Lihen raised Theo — the circumstances had been different. Lihen was a saint sanctioned by the temple, and Theo grew up under the temple’s protection. Everyone knew that Theo was the hero in a younger body, yet there had been no issue at all with keeping him safe.

But this was not that. The Theo of right now was simply living alone with me in a secluded log cabin. At the very least, until Theo manifested sword energy, his identity had to remain hidden. In the original game, the age at which Theo awakened sword energy and became a Sword Master was twenty-two. Until then, the good news that the hero was alive could not be breathed to a single soul.

If I’d known it would come to this, I should have leveled up my Transformation skill too.

At Transformation LV. 3, one could alter the appearance of a person as well. Changing an entire face was out of the question, but subtly adjusting the eyes, the bridge of the nose, or adding a few freckles — that much was possible. With that, no one would connect Theo to the hero. And someone like Luna, who knew about Theo’s curse, would probably just chalk it up to his features maturing past adolescence and move on.

Should I carry out more soul offerings?

I was in the middle of deliberating when the communication orb chimed. I steadied my breath and said:

“Let’s think a little more on the tavern job. I just need a moment to think — I’ll be right back.”

Then I went into my room and locked the door. Kairos’s image rose over the orb.

“Come to the demon realm right now. I have something for you to do.”

Not even a quest description this time. Since this was an event I had no memory of, it seemed to be another sudden quest. Well — an order is an order. That’s just what it means to be a subordinate.

I told Theo something urgent had come up and left him at home. After confirming there were no signs of anyone outside, I opened a gate to the demon realm.

Kairos was waiting for me alongside dozens of corpses. To be more precise — it was an undead legion, reanimated by his malevolent magic to move according to his will. Crude organic matter moving in ways entirely unlike the living. Thinking of them as controlled zombies made it easy enough to understand.

“I’ve been continuing my research on necromancy, but it’s proving harder than expected. I’ll need your help.”

Kairos said, propping his chin in his hand. Beyond the monocle, eyes the same blood-red as mine gleamed with interest.

“What do you need me to do?”

“Fight those corpses. I need to run a performance test.”

Sudden Quest
Assist Kairos’s Necromancy Research
Defeat the corpses in a sparring match.
Success: Infamy Points +700, 5 gold coins
Failure: Death

Wait — why is the penalty like that? Death on failure? It was a declaration that he’d set the corpses loose and watch until I dropped. As expected of a terrifying hyung.

I drew my sword,

and the next moment, the zombie horde charged at me all at once.

They were beings with not a shred of reason left in them. They clawed at me, bit me, and latched on. I was overwhelmed in an instant and sent tumbling to the ground. Someone’s hand seized my collar, and the sound of tearing fabric rang out. A sharp pain grazed my shoulder. Teeth sank into flesh.

They kept swarming toward the left side of my chest — toward the heart. As if they instinctively knew where the weak point was. Breath lodged itself in my throat. The cold exhale grazing my skin, the damp breath, the pressure of teeth bearing down… all of it was thoroughly revolting. When my nipple was accidentally raked by one of them, a deeply unpleasant sting shot through me.

One of them even kept trying to bite into my neck. Human teeth drove into my throat. I bit down hard on my lip to keep from letting out an undignified sound. Groaning in pain was not something “Shane” would do. I bit down so hard that my lip was soon soaked in blood. When I ran my tongue over it, I tasted the thick, heavy flavor of blood.

“Ngh, get — off—!”

When I tried to kick away the one clinging to my leg, it bared its teeth and bit painfully into the soft flesh of my inner thigh. Several crescent-shaped bite marks bloomed across my thigh.

Swinging my sword was useless. There were too many of them. No matter how much I slashed or shoved, they kept coming. They reached for me even as they fell.

There was only one way. I had to settle this with magic, not with the sword. I steadied my breathing and barely managed to raise my hand. Heat gathered at my fingertips. My beloved skill — Flame. I still wasn’t at the level where I could control spreading fire, but that was a problem the hyung who caused this mess could sort out himself.

Black flames burst out like an explosion. The undead legion was engulfed in fire before they could even let out a scream. The corpses turned to ash one by one and scattered across the floor.

“…Not bad.”

Kairos swept his hand, and the flames died down. He slowly looked me over from head to toe in my wrecked state, then clicked his tongue as though genuinely disappointed.

“Tsk. You survived.”

Then he tossed five gold coins in my direction.

“This is your pay.”

It was obviously a reward paired with condescension, but I was perfectly capable of setting my pride aside in the face of practical benefit. I gave a polite bow. If I’d had a tail, I’d have been wagging it eagerly.

“Thank you.”

I even threw in a bright smile. Kairos stared at that and furrowed his brow as though he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Hyung. Could you possibly lend me some clothes?”

I asked, clutching the scraps of fabric that had barely retained their function as clothing. My top had been shredded entirely, leaving my chest exposed, and my trousers were ragged in patches as well. Through the torn fabric, the bite marks across my thighs were clearly visible.

Kairos made no effort to hide his distaste, but in the end he threw me a set of clothes. The problem was that it was in an entirely different class from what I usually wore in the human world — garments of exceptionally fine quality.

As I took them, I made a firm resolution. The moment I got home, I would take them off immediately, wash them thoroughly, and return them. If I didn’t, he’d find something to criticize me for, and that was obvious.

“Lihen!”

Theo was waiting for me in the bedroom. His gaze traveled slowly over the new clothes I was wearing. His eyes seemed unusually sharp — but… well, it was probably just my imagination.

“I haven’t seen those clothes before. They look expensive. Did you buy them?”

“No, I just borrowed them for a bit.”

I said it casually and started undoing the buttons of the shirt. I didn’t want to wear Kairos’s clothing any longer than necessary. He’d surely complain that the scent of a half-breed mongrel had gotten on them. Irritating him would certainly lead to something unpleasant.

I briefly debated whether I should undress in front of Theo, but on reflection, it was a needless concern. There was nothing problematic about baring my body. Who, upon seeing bite marks scattered all over me, would connect them to Shane the Legion Commander? Besides, Theo and I occasionally bathed together. In a relationship like ours, telling him to step out so I could change would have been far stranger. Most importantly, getting out of Kairos’s clothes was the priority.

My body, marked all over with bite wounds, was exposed as-is. My neck, chest, waist, and thighs. The demon physique definitely recovered faster than a human’s. Bite marks that had been gouged deeply enough to leave scars had already faded to faint impressions. At this level, it wasn’t that they’d bitten with full force — it was closer to a light nip, a playful graze.

“L-Lihen… what is all this…”

Theo drew in a sharp breath. He stepped briskly toward me. His rather sturdy hands moved toward my body without hesitation. His fingertips traced over the wounds with focused attention. Slowly, he retraced the bite marks left on my chest. The warmth of his touch against my skin burned hot enough to scald.

“Ngh, that hurts. Don’t touch—”

A low groan escaped me before I could stop it.

“Ah, s-sorry!”

Theo pulled his hand back in a hurry, but his gaze remained fixed on the wounds.

“How did this happen to you…?”

“Ah, some drunk guy bit me. They say alcohol turns people into animals.”

I rambled off whatever came to mind. Fortunately, our pure-hearted Theo seemed to take the words at face value. A deep shadow settled over his eyes.

“…Drunk ‘men,’ you mean.”

Since the bite marks covering my body were all different from one another, it would have been easy enough to guess they weren’t left by just one person.

“This is why alcohol is so dangerous. It strips away a person’s reason and turns them into beasts. Theo, even when you’re an adult, you must never drink to excess.”

“Turns them into beasts…”

For the sake of Theo’s upstanding future, I offered a piece of rather fatherly advice. Theo nodded with grave seriousness.

I swiftly removed my top, then pulled off my trousers as well. The moment the fabric slid down past my knees, five gold coins that had been sitting in the pocket spilled out onto the floor. The clinking rang out loudly. Theo picked up the coins and examined them carefully.

“You… came into quite a lot of money.”

“Yeah. Like you said — I’ve decided to put an end to my days of unemployment and get to work.”

I said it with my shoulders squared, but contrary to my expectations, Theo’s expression didn’t brighten. It actually grew more guarded.

“Lihen, I know this might be a rude question, but… could it be that this ‘work’ you mentioned is…”

He hesitated for a long moment before carefully parting his lips.

“Hm?”

“…Never mind.”

Theo quickly shook his head and swallowed the words. What on earth had he been about to ask? I was curious, but I didn’t press him on it.