How to Save the World as a Villain 17

Fortunately, Kairos seemed somewhat persuaded by what I’d said. He stroked his chin, deliberating, then put forward a different proposal.

“Is that so… Then how about killing just one family member as an example? That ought to make the bastard keep his head down. Well, if possible, a soul offering would be even better.”

One person. If I had to deal with just one member of Khalid’s family, it was clear who the choice should be.

Veron.

Khalid’s older brother.

He possessed swordsmanship on par with Khalid’s, and on top of that, he was naturally gifted with holy power. His character, however, was beyond saving. He frequented an illegal establishment — a pleasure house — as though it were his own home, and relieved his stress by selecting only pretty, delicate-looking men and subjecting them to sadistic treatment.

Having walked the path of a heretic inquisitor, just like Khalid, he had been expelled from the inquisitor’s position after that fact came to light. On the surface, it was settled as him stepping down voluntarily because the work didn’t suit his temperament — but that was nothing more than a formality.

Most importantly, Veron harbored a vicious jealousy toward Theo. He resented watching a commoner orphan like Theo rise steadily through the ranks and persistently laid traps for him.

I knew it was laughable for someone like me to be weighing the worth of a life. Even so, if I dared to say it — Veron’s soul was one I could offer without a moment’s hesitation. For Theo’s sake, if nothing else.

“There is a man called Veron. Khalid’s older brother.”

I listed my reasons as evenly as if I were choosing a breakfast menu, not deciding someone’s death.

“He carries the symbolic weight of having been a heretic inquisitor, and above all, he is family close to Khalid. I can’t imagine a more fitting candidate to make an example of.”

Kairos was silent for a moment. The look scanning my face carried a faint edge of dissatisfaction. He opened his mouth slowly.

“Older brother — is he a full brother? Or a half-brother sharing only one parent?”

“Full brother.”

Kairos’s eyes narrowed. He spoke with pointed significance.

“Ah, I see. If he hadn’t been a full brother, things might have gotten a little awkward. I was starting to wonder whether you, having grown to despise me so deeply, were redirecting that killing intent onto this man called Veron instead.”

Utter nonsense. But Kairos was always like this. Evidence was of no importance to him. He simply wanted to make trouble for his half-brother whenever the mood struck. The moment I let even a trace of contempt for Kairos show, he would find the opening and drive straight into it.

“Hyung, why would you say something like that. There’s no way I dislike you. I can crawl on all fours if you tell me to crawl, and I can bark like a dog if you tell me to bark.”

I smiled a servile smile and willingly debased myself. Kairos studied me with an expression of piqued interest. He smirked and said:

“Is that right? Then crawl.”

…He was actually going to make me do it?

I was caught off guard, but I kept my composure on the surface. The moment I hesitated, everything would fall apart. Without stopping to think, I dropped straight to the floor on all fours.

Kairos gestured. I kept my body low and approached him — exactly like a dog. Hard stone scraped against my palms and knees. As I crossed the floor of the meeting hall, an uncontrollable shame clawed at my insides. But I couldn’t stop.

Kairos, seated in his chair, extended his hand. I rested my chin on top of it. He slowly stroked down my chin with his fingertips, smiling as if he found this deeply entertaining.

“You actually do it when told. Truly, you’re nothing but a dog. Now bark.”

“Woof… woof.”

I rubbed my head against his thigh and fawned on him. As though testing just how low I could bring myself to go.

Kairos made a gesture, and a black form made of demonic energy distorted in the air. It stretched out like a whip, then shifted shape in an instant and coiled around my neck like a dog’s collar. My breath was cut off. No matter how much I expanded my chest, air wouldn’t enter my lungs.

“Hk — ghk — h-hyung—”

I gasped and scraped my nails against the floor. A hard leather boot came down on the back of my hand with a crushing weight.

“Why is a dog speaking human words?”

“Kkgh, ghk, mmph—”

Kairos was waiting. Waiting for me to be unable to endure this treatment and finally bare my rage and killing intent. He was trying to catch that split-second opening and give himself the justification to punish me.

So I had to hold on. The moment my true feelings were read, it would be over. Even as the collar drove into my skin and my vision blurred, I lowered my head further. Rather than resist, I made myself absurdly, stupidly obedient. I let out a short bark — woof, woof — and drew my body in on itself.

Whether he was pleased by the sight or had simply grown bored, Kairos withdrew the collar.

“Stubborn thing…”

Thud — a blunt impact struck my abdomen. Kicked by his foot, I collapsed to the floor. Lying there with my belly exposed, I looked exactly like a dog in submission. Kairos looked down at me like that and snickered.

Go ahead — laugh all you want. Believe that I’m a pathetic, groveling creature not even worth your attention. I’ll take every chance your guard is down to quietly raise the hero. And in the end, I will save the world that you’re trying to destroy.

At last, the order I had been waiting so desperately to hear fell from Kairos’s lips.

“Fine. I’ll change the mission as you’ve suggested. Deal with Veron — the older brother of heretic inquisitor Khalid.”

Main Quest
Dispose of Veron.
Assassination, soul offering — any method is acceptable.
Success: Infamy Points +700
Failure: Kairos’s displeasure, additional punishment

I opened the gate again and returned home to the human world. A clear collar mark remained vivid on my neck, and a dull ache was rising from my abdomen. Thinking I should at least apply some ointment, I pulled the medicine box from the cupboard. I removed my shirt completely, then carefully examined the injured areas. Just as I’d expected, a livid bruise had bloomed across my lower stomach — a mark left by Kairos’s kick from earlier.

I was about to scoop some ointment onto my hand and apply it to the injury when I heard footsteps. Almost simultaneously, the bedroom door opened halfway and then immediately shut again. From the other side of the door came a hurried, apologetic voice. It was Theo.

“Ah — I didn’t realize you were changing. Sorry.”

We’ve even bathed together, so why the sudden change? Though, of course, it was better that Theo hadn’t come in. If he’d seen the injuries, he would have doggedly pressed me on how they’d happened — that was obvious. I quickly applied the ointment. I chose a garment that would cover everything neatly up to the neck to conceal the marks.

“You can come in now.”

Theo only opened the door gently and stepped inside after I gave him permission.

“You’re back early today.”

“Yes. The shop closed early.”

The conversation paused there for a moment. Theo looked at me with the air of someone who had something to say. Then he stepped forward and suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace. His voice had no strength in it at all.

“I think I need to find something… more respectable to do now. Madam Cecil is a kind person, and I do learn a lot from working there. But still…”

“Why? Did something happen at work?”

At my question, Theo lowered his gaze and slowly parted his lips.

“The drunk customers. Sometimes they raise their voices and say vulgar things. Not to me, of course — they’re talking among themselves, but the volume picks up and it ends up reaching my ears. Even when I don’t want to hear it, I keep hearing it… And because of that, I think I’m being influenced by those things.”

In the original story, Theo should have grown up in the clean, wholesome space of the temple, under the protection of the saint Lihen, wanting for nothing. The fact that Theo was now placed in a comparatively harsh environment like this — the realization pierced my chest, late as it was. I was doing my best to raise him properly, but I fell far short of what Lihen would have provided.

“Right. You should quit. If you don’t like it, there’s no reason to keep going.”

I answered without a moment’s hesitation. At those words, Theo seemed to exhale with relief, and he held me tighter. He buried his forehead against my shoulder and murmured like a child:

“Once I quit, things will be fine again, right? It’s not that I’m a bad person, or abnormal, or that something’s wrong with me — I’m not the reason I’ve been having strange thoughts, right?”

This kid is worrying about useless things again. It’s not as though I didn’t know Theo. In the game, he had always been a hero who chose the righteous path. He was clearly still in the grip of guilt over the fact that he had stolen a kiss from me while I slept — taking it as seriously as though it were some irredeemable sin, because of how pure his nature was.

I smiled gently and put him at ease.

“It’s alright, Theo. The Theo I know is truly a good person.”

Whether my words had helped him, Theo let out a relaxed breath and leaned quietly into my arms.

The first thing that caught his eye when he opened the door was Lihen — half undressed.

The exposed upper body was a mess. Whether someone had put a collar around his neck and dragged him around by it, a deep, raw impression from something pressing into his nape remained visibly imprinted. The livid bruise across his lower stomach snagged at his eyes. The marks left on that pale skin were far too explicit for him to know where to rest his gaze. Theo shut the door in a hurry.

Fortunately, Lihen didn’t seem to have noticed that Theo had just seen him like that.

Theo tried his best to erase the scene from his mind. But the harder he tried, the more the things he’d overheard at the tavern surfaced unbidden. The vulgar talk the drunk customers had laughed and gossiped about. Something about a game where you treated a person like a dog. Fastening a collar around their neck, pulling the lead, making them get down on all fours…

He shouldn’t have let his thoughts go any further. But it was already too late.

The image of Lihen wearing a dog collar came to mind. The real mark he’d just witnessed and the imagined scene overlapped, and what had been a mere fantasy became disturbingly vivid. A picture formed in his head — Lihen with his head bowed, leashed, being led along. His throat bobbing with each swallow, limbs trembling. Knees dragging along the floor. An expression tangled with submission and humiliation. Even though he had never actually witnessed such a scene, it was unnervingly clear.

Lihen rubs his head against the thigh of a customer with peculiar tastes. Even through the fabric of his trousers, the man’s clearly visible arousal — Lihen cautiously runs his tongue along the cloth over it. His red tongue peeking out, like a dog licking a bone. When the man scratches under Lihen’s chin in satisfaction, he parts those soft lips and says — woof…

Blood rushed downward, damn it all.

Theo had found himself, without realizing it, placing his own face over the customer’s. He hated himself for thinking like this about Lihen. What made it worse was the very real possibility that this wasn’t empty fantasy — that it was Lihen’s actual reality.