A Guy Who Thinks He’s a Villain in a World Where Gender Ratios Are Broken - Chapter 03: Did I Harass Someone Because I’m a Villain? (Definitely Not)

Chapter 03: Did I Harass Someone Because I’m a Villain? (Definitely Not)

Alright, I’ve decided to raise Kyoko’s favorability… but before that, there’s something I need to do.

To improve someone’s opinion of you, you need to understand them first.

Thanks to the earlier Q&A session with the doctor, I learned a bit about Reito Hazumi, the villain I’ve reincarnated as.

But as for Kyoko… all I know is that she’s a beautiful maid who takes care of me the most.

Trying to improve her opinion of me without knowing anything about her? That’s a recipe for disaster.

Worse, I might end up lowering her favorability even more.

So, I need to gather some information about Kyoko.

Ideally, I’d suddenly remember something like, “Oh, this maid… wait! She’s one of the main heroines!”

But since my memory doesn’t seem reliable, it’ll be faster to just ask around.

Luckily, Kyoko has some errands to run and won’t be back for about an hour.

This is my chance.

Time to gather as much intel on Kyoko as I can!

I decided to talk to as many of the mansion’s maids as possible.

What kind of person is Kyoko?

What sort of things does she do while taking care of me?

I kept my questions focused on these two points to avoid overstepping.

If anyone gets suspicious and asks, “Why are you asking about that?” I can just say, “My memory’s a bit hazy, so I wanted to confirm things.” That should work.

Plus, by talking with the maids, I can get a sense of their reactions and attitudes. That might give me clues about what kind of villain I’ve been reincarnated as.

And, well… I’d be lying if I said chatting with cute maids wasn’t part of the appeal.

Maid culture is just the best, isn’t it?

“I see, I see. Got it. Thanks, that was helpful.”

“Fueh…? The young master just thanked me…!”

“Hm?”

“N-No! P-Please excuse me!”

The petite maid bowed repeatedly before scurrying off in a flustered panic.

With that, I’d managed to speak to every maid in the mansion except for Kyoko.

And now, I finally knew more about her.

Her name is Kyoko Nijou.

She’s 20 years old.

Despite her young age, she was promoted to head maid of the mansion while still attending university.

On top of being the head maid, Kyoko also manages everything about Reito’s daily life, including being his personal caretaker and tutor. She essentially balances the roles of head maid and personal maid all at once.

Still, making Kyoko his personal maid… Reito really had a good eye for talent, didn’t he?

Or maybe villains are just naturally good at picking girls?

The maids I talked to were all cute, but Kyoko definitely stood out from the rest.

If someone asked me who I’d choose as my personal maid, I’d probably pick Kyoko too.

Well, she is my personal maid now, though.

And that’s why I need to raise her favorability! Once I’ve done that, maybe I can even enjoy some sweet moments with this adorable maid!

“Hey, doesn’t the young master seem a little… different today?”

“Yeah, I noticed that too…”

I suddenly realized that some of the maids in the hallway had started glancing at me and whispering among themselves.

Maybe they were curious since I’d been walking around asking questions?

“The young master today feels calmer… even kind of refreshing to look at…”

“Snap out of it! Remember what he’s usually like!”

“Yeah, normally he has that typical arrogant male attitude. But now he’s…”

The maids kept whispering to each other, looking restless and fidgety for some reason.

Now that I think about it, even during my questioning earlier… something felt off about their reactions.

“Sorry, but I have something I’d like to ask you.”

I had tried my best to sound like a proper villain while still keeping the mood approachable.

But…

“Y-Yes! W-what is it, young master?”

“Oh… the young master is actually having a normal conversation…”

“He’s even making eye contact…”

“If he wants to know about the head maid… maybe he’ll want to know about me too? W-Wouldn’t that be nice…”

Their reactions were strange—some of them acted overly nervous, muttering to themselves, and others suddenly sped up their words before quickly running off.

Hmm, everyone was acting really weird.

It felt like they weren’t used to talking to me at all.

Could it be… the original Reito Hazumi was guilty of something like sexual harassment?

I mean, all the maids here are cute.

It’s almost as if someone intentionally gathered only the most beautiful women.

If that’s the case, then it would make sense.

Even if he’s the son of a wealthy family, no one would want to interact with someone who harasses them. They’d obviously try to avoid his attention.

Maybe the maids rarely spoke to the original Reito and didn’t have many chances to interact with him.

That would explain why they seemed so uneasy around me.

And if anyone suffered the most harassment, it was probably Kyoko.

Grabbing their chests, flipping skirts, insisting every bite of food had to be fed to him with an “aaah,” making them wash his back in the bath, or even demanding someone sleep beside him…

The original Reito must have really enjoyed himself with all kinds of harassment!

Ugh! How enviab—

“No, that’s outrageous!”

Yeah, harassment is a big no-no.

And if I, as a reincarnated villain, were to start doing things like that, I’d be speeding straight down the doom route.

“The young master just called it outrageous…”

“““W-We’re so sorry!”””

“Eh? Wait, hold on—!”

Before I could say anything else, the maids all scattered like they were running for their lives.

Hmm, this really seems like they’re avoiding me on purpose.

Looks like the original Reito was thoroughly disliked—classic villain behavior.

But being too much of a villain is a serious problem for me now.

Raising Kyoko’s favorability is going to be an uphill battle at this rate…

◆◆

While I was rummaging around my spacious room, there was a knock at the door.

I had a pretty good idea who it was.

“Yeah, come in.”

“Excuse me, Young Master. I’ve just returned.”

It was Kyoko who entered the room with a polite bow.

“Young Master, the doctor said there’s nothing wrong, but since you’ve only just woken up today, it might be best to rest for now.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

It was only my first day after reincarnating. I should probably take it easy for now.

Still, Kyoko seemed perfectly composed, but… was she secretly scared of me?

I mean, the original Reito apparently harassed her and acted horribly toward her. She couldn’t exactly fight back against someone like that.

Even if I’m a different person inside now, as far as she’s concerned, I’m still the same Reito.

I don’t plan to do anything cruel, but to Kyoko, I’m probably no different from the person she’s endured all this time.

That’s why… I need to ease her worries first.

“Kyoko. There’s something I want to tell you.”

“Yes, what is it, Young Master?”

Kyoko looked at me without breaking her composed expression, but I could see a faint hint of caution in her eyes.

Even if she starts to suspect I’m not the same Reito as before… these words need to come from me.

“I won’t treat you cruelly anymore. So… I hope you’ll continue to stay as my maid.”