Although a Villain, My Wish is World Peace

When I regained consciousness, my hands and feet were tightly bound by something. A blindfold was covering my eyes, so I couldn’t see anything. The back of my head was damp. I wasn’t sure if it was my blood or wine. Thanks to my rapid regeneration there was no pain, but the wine-soaked back of my head wasn’t very pleasant.

Judging by the humming engine sound and my body shaking, it seemed my body was being transported somewhere.

It felt like a car, but the floor was hard so it didn’t seem like a normal vehicle.

A truck? Container? Whatever it was, my body felt like it was dying from being cramped.

I couldn’t move my body carelessly since I couldn’t be sure if anyone was nearby, so what should I do…

—You fool.

It was Ray’s welcome voice.

‘What happened?’

—What happened? You let your guard down and got hit on the back of the head and collapsed, that’s what.

‘Urgh.’

I had nothing to say to Ray’s blunt words. To think I fainted after being hit on the head with a wine bottle… Even if I was careless, to fall to such a pathetic attack. How can I go around calling myself the boss of a villain organization like this!

Ahem, at least it was fortunate it happened when the kids weren’t around. If it had happened in front of them, I would have been teased for days.

‘Since I’m not a physical enhancement type, my body tends to be a bit soft, you know? So, how should I put it… The non-combat version of me is quite weak…’

—What’s with that disgusting way of speaking?

Ahem, ahem. I cleared my throat inwardly and said to Ray:

‘Honestly, the problem was I got too excited. Hehe, your plan has already been exposed, now what will you do! I acted like a low-level extra giving transformation time.’

—In the end, you’re just saying you let your guard down, aren’t you?

‘Yes… But come to think of it, letting your guard down at crucial moments is also a virtue of villains, you could say.’

—By your logic, that would make them heroes, but that’s not right, is it?

That’s true. As expected, Ray was smart. To immediately demolish the logic of my words like that.

—Stop the nonsense and get your act together.

‘Yes.’

With my hands and feet bound, and my vision blocked, being transported to an unknown destination. It’s a situation where a normal person’s mind would break a hundred times, but fortunately, I had Ray.

‘What happened while I was unconscious?’

—When the dealer pressed a button, some gas rose from the floor. Everyone who inhaled that gas collapsed. Then they tied people’s hands and feet, blindfolded them, and loaded them onto some truck.

So they used gas. The reason I regained consciousness early was probably thanks to my rapid regeneration.

‘Most drugs shouldn’t work on awakener, though.’

—They said they prepared something quite strong in case of this.

‘Then other people must be loaded next to me too.’

—Except for one.

Before I could ask, Ray continued:

—Nikki, that woman was moved somewhere else.

‘Somewhere else…’

I can’t ask where she went. Ray can only see around me.

‘Urgh.’

Surely they don’t intend to kill her?

No, if they moved someone with the intention of killing, it’s more likely they would deal with us. Unlike Nikki, we were personnel they could kill without much trouble. It made sense if they thought that. Heading to the outskirts away from the city also made sense if it was to make disposal easier.

—What are you going to do?

Actually, now that I’ve regained consciousness, escaping from here wasn’t very difficult. Whether they didn’t consider the possibility I was an awakener, or they trusted the drug, there weren’t any artifacts controlling abilities.

The problem is that escaping like that would make it difficult to find the mastermind behind this.

‘Let’s just watch the situation for now.’

I’m really curious where they’re taking us and what they’ll do when we get there.

—Right, I knew you’d say that.

I held my breath listening to Ray’s grumbling.

I was planning to wait until this truck stopped.

* * *

The place where the truck carrying me stopped was a house in the suburbs quite far from the city.

The mansion with a gorgeous exterior and considerable size had an exterior too beautiful to be the backdrop for a horrific crime.

The truck stopped in front of a warehouse attached to the back of the mansion. August and Moziano who were in the truck’s driver’s seat got out, and the truck’s door opened.

I completely relaxed my body like an unconscious person. The two who opened the door of the container loaded on the back of the truck shouldered the unconscious people.

“Damn, this is heavy as hell.”

August who shouldered the man in his 50s cursed.

“H-help me!”

He seemed to have neglected exercise, as his grunting was quite noisy. Moziano helped August move the man.

I was the very last turn.

“Why did you crack this bastard’s head? Do you know how much that wine cost?”

“I told you, his eyes were annoyingly meeting mine.”

“Just for that reason?”

“No, it seemed like the suggestion wasn’t working on him somehow.”

At August’s words, Moziano who was pulling me flinched.

“If that’s really true, isn’t that a big problem? It means the suggestion didn’t work on that woman either…”

“…Damn it, it’s not my fault. The artifact malfunctioned. Tell the boss that too. Say the artifact malfunctioned.”

With those final words, the two closed their mouths so I couldn’t get any more information.

Hmm, I wish they had given more information…

I too was carried on their shoulders and moved to the warehouse.

Fortunately, I guess. Only a stuffy dust smell came from the warehouse. The absence of the smell of blood tickling my nose was, in a way, a positive sign.

Just as the two were dumping the drugged people in the warehouse one by one like that, someone barged in.

“Oh my! Wh-what’s going on here?”

The moment I heard that voice, I frowned. It was a voice I felt I had heard somewhere before. Male, middle-aged, unnecessarily good voice. Right, this voice. It was very familiar to my ears.

But the person I know couldn’t possibly be here…

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, it’s not a day to use the warehouse, but you came. I came to see if something was wrong.”

“It’s none of your business.”

August burst out in irritation at the man’s words. The newly intruding figure didn’t seem to be very trusted.

“How can I not be concerned? You brought so many people. Th-they’re not d-dead, are they?”

August got irritated at the timidly trembling voice.

“I told you. It’s none of your business.”

“But today isn’t a day to use the warehouse and…”

“Damn it, are your ears clogged or something? I told you this isn’t your business…”

Just as August’s voice was gradually rising. Moziano stopped his words.

“No, since it’s come to this, it wouldn’t be bad to get some help.”

“Are you out of your mind? To a guy who only knows how to pour drinks and laugh…”

“He can at least keep watch. We have more important things to do now than dealing with this.”

“Haah…”

August who sighed deeply as if displeased with this situation said to the man:

“As you can see, the guys here are people who were trying to interfere with our boss’s work. They’re not dead so don’t make such a scared face.”

“Y-yes.”

Moziano continued:

“They’re drugged so they won’t wake up until tomorrow morning. But if anything happens, contact us immediately.”

“Yes.”

Seemingly satisfied with the man’s obedient attitude, the two spat out a few precautions and hurriedly left.

—Are you going to let those people go like this?

‘Hmm…’

Certainly, catching those two bastards and asking what that ‘important business’ is should be what I need to do now. But you see. I’m going crazy curious about the owner of that voice.

So I bided my time until August and Moziano completely disappeared. And the moment the two’s presence vanished, I carefully raised my body.

“Eek!”

Startled by my suddenly rising body, the man fell backwards. I said to him:

“Good evening. No, is it not evening? If my greeting is inappropriate for the time, I apologize, I can’t see anything at all.”

—Is this the time to casually greet!

‘It feels like someone I know, you see.’

I couldn’t be certain since I hadn’t confirmed his face, no, I was certain. There couldn’t be many people who make such stupid remarks with such a handsome voice.

But there was no answer to my greeting. I tilted my head and called his name.

“Mr. John Smith?”

“G-good heavens!”

The man whose name I called shouted in a surprised voice. I sat down with a thud and said:

“It’s good to be surprised, but if you don’t mind, could you remove my blindfold? It’s a bit stuffy having my eyes covered.”

“Oh my, wait a moment. H-how do you know my name, no, do we know each other?”

“Hmm, I’ll answer your questions, so could you remove my blindfold first?”

“No, wait. I don’t think that’s a good idea…”

“I won’t harm you, don’t worry. You’re curious how I know your name, aren’t you?”

At my words, John cautiously approached me and removed the blindfold.

Seeing those blue eyes I was meeting for the first time in this world, though it had been a long time, I forcefully suppressed the emotions welling up inside.

“H-how do you know me?”

“Ahem, you were an announcer. I watched your broadcasts a few times. I was a fan.”

“Wow, it’s the first time someone has recognized me. Uh, I mean really the first time… To think I had a fan, if you want an autograph or… No. What a stupid thing to say, haha! I never thought I’d meet a fan of mine in a situation like, like this.”

“I studied English through your broadcasts.”

“Wow, that’s nice, but strange, I mean…”

Ah, right. My face now looks like someone whose native language is English to anyone. I hurriedly made up an excuse:

“Uh, I’m British, you see.”

“…Don’t they speak English in Britain too?”

Damn it. Stupid me! I quickly added:

“I mean I studied the American accent.”

“Oh! Now that you mention it, your accent does seem a bit similar to mine.”

Fortunately John was a naive person. Yes, he was an excessively pure person.

“Why is someone like you here?”

“Oh.”

At my words, John blinked with a surprised face.

“W-well, I…”

John who turned his gaze away from my eyes smiled awkwardly.

“Haha, this is really embarrassing. You see, I, I’m not here because I want to be…”

John’s face darkened as he looked at the people groaning without regaining consciousness while tightly bound.

“It’s a cliché story. Because of debt.”

“But you must have been successful as an announcer…”

“My younger sibling got involved with drugs. After losing a loved one, that’s how it turned out.”

John smiled bitterly.

“I ended up coming here in place of my sibling. Fortunately the boss here likes me so I avoided having my stomach cut open, at least.”

Ah, now I remember something John said. He lived as someone’s lover for a while, didn’t he?

‘I thought it was a joke…’

Anyway, the situation has turned out like this. John was one of the rare good people these days. I who remember his final moments know. How hard he tried to live righteously to the best of his ability.

Yes, it doesn’t make sense for someone like this to go through such things.

Meeting John here, isn’t it a kind of fate?

I looked at John and said:

“Do you believe in fate, John?”