In a world where the otome game is harsh on the extras, Volume 5 is now on sale! ← The 17th comic episode will be updated on February 7th (Friday)!
"Seventh 9" is now on sale! ← The comic adaptation project is in progress!
"Island of the School Labyrinth" will be released on February 5th! A novel that has not been published on Shosetsuka ni Narou!!
--Wait, isn't something a bit off?
While Liam is in a corner, the guide tilts his head in confusion.
Liam is suffering—there's no doubt he feels anxious.
His intense anger is also palpable.
Recently, he seems busy but appears to be playing around in front of others.
The expeditionary army has won, but they are quite exhausted.
The Cleo faction should be weakened, but it feels like their unity has only grown stronger.
"Am I just imagining things? No, wait!"
Here, the guide realizes something.
"I see—perhaps the support for Liam is still insufficient!"
Though he has cornered Liam, he has been repeatedly outsmarted by him.
If Liam could be defeated so easily, it wouldn't be a problem.
The guide concludes that his efforts are simply not enough.
"More—more to make Liam lucky! But, is that really the case? Am I making some big mistake?"
The troubled guide.
Suddenly, he worries about the two people he raised to kill Liam.
He was betrayed when he supported Yurisha before.
He starts to worry if he has failed this time too.
He tries to investigate immediately, but his power has waned.
He had been using his power to support Liam as soon as he regained it.
Somehow, Liam suffers when he does this.
To make Liam unlucky, he has to survive by drinking muddy water—then make Liam lucky.
When the guide, who has little energy left, needs to investigate, he picks up a fallen newspaper.
The information he seeks is always published there.
He attracts the information he wants.
"Damn! I used too much power to support Liam. I used to gather information more easily."
Despite his frustration, he reads the article.
On the electronic paper, a video of Rinho is playing.
"I'm watching my fellow disciples. I'm going to kill him now."
The background shows the Kurdan family's master and high disciples lying in a pool of blood.
The guide feels a sense of madness in Rinho's declaration to kill Liam with a smile, and his heart warms.
"Oh, what pure madness. This guy will surely—wait, one is missing?"
Flipping through the pages, it seems the other one is wreaking havoc at the Aaren swordsmanship headquarters.
"Did you raise your trump card well? Anshi, I trusted you."
The guide is full of gratitude for Anshi, who is no longer in the empire.
"When everything is over, I'll make you especially unlucky. If you hadn't made Liam strong, there would have been no problem."
With a light step, the guide leaves the scene, throwing the electronic paper away.
A semi-transparent dog picks it up, looks at the article, and then heads off somewhere.
◇
At the party celebrating the expeditionary army's victory.
In the waiting room, I am chatting with Elliot from the Clave Trading Company.
"Today's party has been changed to a celebration of the expeditionary army's victory, right?"
Elliot brought in gold and expensive wine to celebrate the complete victory of the expeditionary army—no, my complete victory.
I love this kind of visible flattery.
"It's just us celebrating. Tia says the empire's losses are significant. The United Kingdom was a formidable opponent."
With a smirk, I convey this to Elliot, who seems to understand.
"Prince Cleo, who defeated such a formidable opponent, will surely have his succession rights advanced. Incidentally, the position of the crown prince, who fled by shifting the blame for this crisis, will be compromised."
"It turns out I won. So, what about Calvin's movements?"
"Those around him seem anxious, but he himself appears calm. Or perhaps he's just pretending to be calm."
I want him to get anxious and show his moves.
Calvin's inaction is the most troublesome for me.
But, I managed to significantly reduce the strength of the Calvin faction this time.
Strengthening my own faction is also good.
Lending money to the lords and gaining influence is also beneficial.
I want to act like a corrupt lord and lend at high interest, but the Cleo faction is a gathering of villains.
Villains should cooperate with other villains.
We'll fight when we have the leisure.
Until I bring Calvin down, I'll stay low.
While talking with Elliot, Wallace enters the room with a tired face.
"Liam, it's bad news!"
"What's wrong? Is the party preparation done?"
He looks pale and anxious, so I listen to him.
"It's the party! You suddenly changed it to a celebration of the expeditionary army's victory, right? We're missing a lot of things. No, we have to redo almost all the preparations!"
"What!?"
I changed the party content on a whim without thinking about the aftermath.
Wallace is holding his head.
"Damn it. We can't celebrate the victory without this!"
Wallace is in charge of organizing the party for my enjoyment.
Seeing my friend, who has become more reliable than before, I look at Elliot.
"Elliot, get the missing items immediately."
"Leave it to me. However, with such a sudden request, the budget will be a problem—"
"Idiot! It's my party! It doesn't matter how much it costs!"
Damn! I was careless.
Anyway, to get through this crisis, I need to cooperate with Wallace and Elliot.
Wallace looks tired.
"We need to replace most of the party venue's equipment. As it is, it won't be suitable for a victory celebration."
Looking at Wallace, I think.
He is so serious about the party.
To the outside world, it might seem like wasted talent.
But, I value him.
--This guy has really grown.
Picking him up was the right choice as a corrupt lord.
To realize the corrupt lord's enjoyment of the party, Wallace's talent was necessary.
I want to tell the me who picked up Wallace, "Well done!"
◇
At that time, in the harem, prominent nobles were gathered around Calvin.
They are quite anxious.
"Your Highness! Some people are planning an attack on the Earl of Banfield."
"---That's a problem."
Calvin is truly troubled this time.
"Who moved?"
"The relatives of the nobles who died in the expeditionary army. Some have lost their heirs. They say they can't leave this as it is and are threatening to leave the faction to seek revenge."
Calvin's faction is large.
It includes many impulsive nobles.
Managing them is difficult.
Especially, many have lost relatives this time.
Few of them are truly grieving for the loss of their relatives.
Most are thinking that their family name has been tarnished.
Moreover, a considerable number of ships have been lost.
There are those who cannot accept such great losses.
(I want to stop them, but if I stop this flow—next, they will direct their dissatisfaction at me.)
Now they are directing their anger at Liam, but if I forcibly hold them back, they will start to resent Calvin.
You said we could win!
You said it would be fine!
What are you going to do about this damage!
--They are seeking an irrational target for their anger.
It's not about logic.
It's about emotion.
Many of the nobles lack self-control.
They are raised to be spoiled in their estates.
They are somewhat corrected in the young noble school and the military, but not completely.
Even the more reasonable nobles look bitter.
"At this crucial time"
"They don't understand"
"But if they cause problems here, the position of the Crown Prince—"
Calvin sighs.
"---I will allow their departure."
"Crown Prince, is that alright? Even if they leave the faction, if they cause trouble, your position will be in danger."
"Rather, we should consider it a chance to get rid of troublesome people. Our faction has become too large. We should streamline it to fight Liam."
The nobles nod and leave the room.
Calvin, confirming that no one is left, snaps his fingers.
A ghost fire appears in the air.
The fireball expands and forms a large figure kneeling before Calvin.
He is a ninja, and from the decorations he wears, he seems to be of higher rank than those who fought Kukuri and the others.
"---You called?"
"Those fools are causing trouble. If there's a chance, reduce Liam's dark forces. Also, have you obtained information on Liam's dark forces?"
The ninja throws a shuriken at the wall, and it transforms into a scroll of flames.
It contains information on Kukuri and the others.
"According to our clan's records, they are believed to be the Shadow Clan, which was destroyed two thousand years ago."
"Shadow Clan?"
"Two thousand years ago, they were an organization of the emperor's dark forces. They were called the Shadow Clan, but their real name is unknown."
"Two thousand years ago, that was the era when dark forces like yours were active. Were they sheltered by the Banfield family?"
"No."
"Really?"
The ninja's leader throws the next shuriken, and an image of a member of the Shadow Clan appears.
It is Kukuri.
"He was the most feared man at the time. It is rumored that he worked for the emperor and was turned to stone and crushed, or that he decayed."
"---So, he was alive? Or rather, it seems more plausible that someone has inherited his techniques."
"That is not the case."
"Why not?"
"Their clan was completely eradicated by other organizations. Our ancestors also participated. 'Leave no one alive'—that was the emperor's command at the time."
The emperor of the time turned the active Kukuri into stone and killed the surviving members of the clan.
It is unlikely that they survived in that state, and even if they did, it is hard to believe that they could have passed down their techniques.
It takes more than ordinary wealth to train dark forces like Kukuri and the leader.
"Your Highness—these people know everything about this harem."
"Troublesome. Even if things have changed in two thousand years, it would be a problem if there are still unknown passages."
The palace has been renovated many times, and sometimes old ruins are discovered.
Many places have been forgotten over time.
"According to our investigation, the revived ones have retained their former power, but their numbers are few."
They are excellent but have the disadvantage of being few in number.
(We don't need to fight them head-on; we still have the advantage. --But)
The revival of the legendary dark forces of the past is not something Calvin can take lightly.
"---Can you eliminate them?"
In response to Calvin's words, the leader turns into flames and dissipates.
"As you wish."
◇
At the party venue hosted by Liam.
Among the furnishings set up, there were rough men hired by the nobles to attack Liam hidden inside.
"Is it a party every day for nobles?"
"It seems that the amount of money spent in one night is enough for a commoner to live a life of luxury."
"Just enjoy it. We'll take care of them."
Men who volunteered for the large sum of money were hiding, holding their breath.
They had infiltrated the party venue by hiding in the furnishings.
They would normally be discovered.
However, they received support from many nobles on their way here.
The preparations were perfect.
However, they couldn't see the outside.
They had set up cameras in the furnishings, but they were covered with cloth until the party started, so they couldn't check the outside.
The cramped space where the men were confined was occasionally shaking.
"It's been moving a lot."
"Have they noticed us?"
"If they notice us, we'll be shot dead instantly. Something must have changed."
They weren't the only ones.
Many had infiltrated the party.
Even if they couldn't kill Liam, they believed they could cause significant damage.
In fact, if they failed and were captured, they would face a punishment worse than death.
They were prepared to self-destruct rather than be captured.
If that happened, there would be no choice but to cause damage.
The shaking stopped, and they waited for the party to start.
However, the cloth was not removed.
"---Maybe they've taken the furnishings outside?"
"Damn! Hey, we're going outside. The venue should be close!"
"Contact the others!"
As the men jumped out, they found themselves in a warehouse.
The other infiltrators also jumped out, looking stunned.
"What the—?"
"What's going on?"
"More importantly, let's get to the venue quickly!"
As they tried to rush to the venue, they were discovered by Liam's knights and all shot dead.
Yokoki (°∀°) "I should pay more attention to the fact that there are readers who worry when I don't appear! Yes, I'm the idol of the afterword! I won't lose to any bloodthirsty idol! My 'The Otome Game World is Harsh on Extras, Volume 5' is now on sale. I also appear, so please read it!"
Yokoki (°言°) "But, I don't have any lines in Volume 5."
Bryan (´；ω；｀) "Choosing between a bloodthirsty idol and a muddy idol... That's a tough position to be in."