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A few days after talking with my maid, I set the plan in motion. I wanted things to happen quickly—for my own pleasure and to help the castle rid itself of the “traitor”—so it was a win-win situation.

I acted that night. I found Toriyama’s maid walking alone, approached from behind, and covered her mouth. Then I dragged her to a secluded spot my maid had suggested.

Forcing myself on her like this brought a thrill of dominance that only excited me further.

Of course, I couldn’t have her screaming, so after releasing her mouth, I struck her once to keep her silent, stuffed a cloth between her teeth, and was ready to enjoy myself.

◇◇◇

When I came to, Toriyama’s maid was already dead. I had killed her. After taking my fill, an urge to beat the life out of her had overtaken me. In short, I got too carried away and forgot to hold back.

Ever since we’d arrived in this world, I’d become much stronger, so abducting her was easy. But hitting her with full force had clearly gone too far; I hadn’t anticipated how much damage I’d do. Thinking about it, I had to admire Toriyama’s restraint for taking hits without retaliating as I had.

Even so, I wasn’t too bothered by it. She was going to be disposed of either way. I figured it wouldn’t be an issue that I’d taken matters into my own hands. Besides, it was something I’d always wanted to try at least once.

I assumed the castle would handle the cleanup, so I went back to my room, feeling entirely satisfied.

That said, I decided I should at least inform my maid about what happened.

◇◇◇

The next day, the castle was in an uproar when they found Toriyama’s maid dead.

Though I was responsible, no one even considered questioning me—all suspicion fell on Toriyama. I could hardly hold back a laugh as I watched Ichinari seize him by the neck.

Toriyama, of course, protested his innocence, but no one believed him. Given his troubled reputation, everyone simply assumed he’d finally crossed the line. If he’d just kept to his place from the start, none of this would have happened.

In the end, it was decided that Ichinari and Toriyama would settle it in a duel, so I naturally followed them to the training grounds, eager to see how it would play out.

◇◇◇

I got quite a show. I was slightly disappointed I hadn’t finished Toriyama off myself, but I was still glad to see him finally meet his end.

He kept up his bravado to the last moment, but the sight of him screaming as he was stabbed in the chest had me buzzing with exhilaration. Despite what he was, I hadn’t expected Ichinari to actually go through with killing a classmate. It was a fantastic outcome.

I’d heard that public executions were considered entertainment in the past, and now I could understand why. This was far more thrilling than any staged act.

Knowing I’d played a part in it only heightened my excitement. I even felt a flicker of gratitude toward Toriyama. Not only did he take the blame for my actions with the maid, but he also gave me a thrilling spectacle.

The only downside was that I didn’t have a woman to take to bed afterward, but I was sure the opportunity would arise.

I now knew for certain that this castle wasn’t as pristine as it appeared.

◇◇◇

On the night of the public execution, my maid presented me with a ring. I couldn’t tell exactly how much it was worth, but it looked quite valuable.

“What’s this?”
“This ring is specially crafted to protect the heroes. If you wear it while outside the castle, it will grant you access to areas otherwise off-limits¹.”
“So, I’ll actually be able to leave the castle?”
“We’re arranging it so that you’ll be able to leave soon. But I’d appreciate it if you could wait just a bit longer.”

No wonder the ring looked expensive. After all, it was crafted for the heroes—the supposed saviors of this world. With this, I’d finally be able to do whatever I wanted once I was allowed into town.

However, there was one thing that bothered me.

“Why are you giving this to me now?”
“Honestly, we wanted to give these rings to all of you, the heroes, much sooner. But… there was a hitch in our plans. Now that it’s resolved, we can finally distribute them².”
“Toriyama, you mean. Makes sense. Who knows what he would’ve done with it. So, I guess I have myself to thank for this.”
“That’s correct. We are deeply grateful to you, Master Kyosuke. Given the situation, I couldn’t express my thanks publicly, so I came as soon as I could to give you this ring.”

I thought about asking her for a different favor, but since I was already satisfied—and knowing the headache that came with dealing with the nobles—I let it slide.

Besides, now she owed me one. I decided to leave it at that.

“Isn’t this ring a bit too big, though?”
“No need to worry. A spell was cast on it to resize itself to fit your finger.”

Magic really could fix anything. Hearing this, I couldn’t help but wonder if there were clothes that could adjust themselves just as easily.

Setting that aside, I slipped the ring on.

“Phew, it actually shrank.”
“It suits you perfectly. The ring is also waterproof, so you can keep it on at all times. Just don’t lose it, alright?”
“Damn, sounds like it’ll come in handy. So, now that I’ve put it on, when do I get to leave the castle?”
“After the heroes are introduced to the public. It’ll be a grand ceremony, so look forward to it.”

Honestly, I didn’t buy into the whole hero-saving-the-world idea. I’d rather leave that to Ichinari and the others. But if they were going to treat us well for it, I didn’t mind. Getting respect from people I didn’t even know would definitely feel good.

And I’d probably find a few women among the fans. Then again, as a hero, they’d probably come to me on their own.

I wasn’t against testing my limits to see how many I could handle at once³.

Or at least, that’s what I thought at the time.

1. Robinxen: This is probably the most convincing and legitimate justification I have heard for this sort of trope, since a sort of proof of identity would be necessary.
2. Robinxen: None of that is technically a lie…
3. Robinxen: Somehow I feel like the best ending I could come up with for this guy from a revenge standpoint would be turning him into a breeding stud, assuming the heros have like some kind of inheritable otherworlder trait I mean. I just like the vision of him being forced to spend his time with ugly noble women every night for the purposes of strengthening national bloodlines with zero regard for his feelings. But I doubt that’s the route the author is going with this, it’s a bit too simple and cliche. I imagine something more traumatic is in store for him.