I Thought I’d Reformed the Villainous Heroine. But Their True Nature Remained Unchanged, and They Were Still Being Doted On—I Just Don’t Have Enough Lives.

The Guy Who Looks Lighthearted but Is Actually Super Heavy

The bright sunny rays were beating down hard on my head.

On a day like this, if I could just sit down for some teatime and relax, it would probably feel pretty nice and calming.

But right now, there was no way I was in the mood for that.

“No way, seriously?! Is this some kind of mistake?! A new scam or what?!”

I was sitting at the study desk in my room, groaning in agony, and glanced at the letter on the table.

No matter how many times I read it, it only said that the Knight Training Institute was shutting down.

“This is way too convenient!!”

With my hands shaking, I read the letter again carefully.

It said the place was temporarily closed due to management responsibility issues. They planned to reopen eventually, but new recruitment was suspended for the time being.

“Uh, the reason is… a swarm of undead attacked the institute… I see…”

Apparently hundreds of undead had rushed the training institute.

Strangely enough, there were no injuries, and the young knights had worked together to drive them off. But there wasn’t any monster nest or even a graveyard nearby. Including the unnatural retreat of the undead, they were setting up an investigation period to look into the cause of the stampede.

“…So the temporary closure is mostly because of this.”

The letter mentioned it, but I picked up another document to read.

It listed bribes from some of the instructors and embezzlement problems.

It seemed that in the chaos of the undead incident, evidence of those instructors’ misconduct had been dumped all over the noticeable spots in the institute.

Corruption in a place meant to train young knights.

Of course that turned into a huge scandal.

It looked like the whole knight order was under investigation, and the institute itself was being closed so they could review everything from scratch.

“The swarm of undead… the clean way it was done… I wonder whose work this was—man, no clue.”

Ilzaaaa! Myrisuuuus!

How the hell can they pull something like this off, that evil duo!! Is it because they’re evil!!

Damn it! They got the jump on me!

“Maaay-riiiis!!”

The moment I yelled, a ceiling panel opened up.

Then Myris dropped down smoothly.

“Yeees, yeees! It’s your very own cute Myris right here~”

“You’re remodeling my room without permission!!”

What, are you a ninja?! Assassin maid ninja!

Myris looked happy to be called and was grinning from ear to ear.

“Myris! You were gone from the mansion for a few days!!”

“I had some boring errands to run~”

“Tell me honestly where you went! In detail! Come on, spill it!!”

“I don’t mind telling you, but what are you gonna do once you know where the blame lies?”

Myris asked me like she was checking.

What am I gonna do, huh.

Right now the crimes would be incitement of unrest and trespassing, but there’s no way those two left any evidence.

Besides, the whole thing started because I tried to aim for the knight order.

If I brought up the topic of their crimes with Ilza, I’d definitely have to touch on this issue.

If we talked openly and Ilza straight-up said “Then don’t go anywhere,” I probably wouldn’t be able to refuse.

After that, it’d be hard to bring up other career paths.

“Myris… this isn’t something you guys made up, right?”

“Yup. Our place had its eyes on them, so my colleagues had gathered all kinds of info.”

“Our place” meant the assassin guild [Stagnant Fang] that Myris belonged to.

That guild often targeted noble treasures and special spell codes, so of course they’d also set their sights on the knight training institute where noble sons went.

Myris kept talking.

“That institute runs on funding from the nobles. When all kinds of motives get mixed together, it’s easy for distortions to show up.”

“…………Like parents loving their kids too much, slipping money to the instructors to get special treatment, stuff like that?”

“Yep. Sounds pretty likely, right?”

“…Sigh. I’ll just take it as my little sister and the maid doing it out of care for someone.”

“As expected of young master!”

What do you mean “as expected,” what.

At this rate, trying to go to another institute would be pointless…

Heh heh heh… They’re way too much like the original Ilza and Myris—willing to do anything, no matter how bad, for their goal…

While I hung my head, Myris laughed like she found it funny.

“You look tired.”

“Guess whose fault that is.”

“You shouldn’t push yourself too hard. How about taking a break sometimes? Like reading or something.”

Myris said it with a slightly worried look.

“Reading? …But the house is full of magic books.”

“In that case, would you read the novel I’m writing?”

Myris slid closer to me.

Her eyes were full of heat, and I flinched a little.

“…You’re writing one? A novel?”

“I thought it’d be nice to explore new possibilities for myself~”

“That’s a good thing. Sounds interesting. Let me read it next time.”

“Really?! Ah, but… I’m kinda stuck on the story right now…”

Myris put a finger to her cheek and made a troubled face.

“Heh, what’s it like?”

“The place where the protagonist was born and raised is pretty harsh. If you drop out, you die—that kind of thing. Your weapon is useless if you can’t find it yourself.”

“That’s super harsh… Is it one of those rise-from-nothing stories?”

“Yep, yep. It’s a dark organization type. One day the protagonist succeeds in a job and gets promoted, so he ends up taking care of all the kids in training, but…”

Myris let out a really big sigh, like she sympathized with the story’s protagonist.

“Haa… I just can’t seem to cut off the dropouts.”

“Do you really have to cut them off?”

“Dark work means failure equals death, and if you don’t have the aptitude you can’t make it anyway. Everyone… thanks to the education, they have tons of loyalty, so it hurts to watch. I can’t figure out how to move the story from here.”

Myris spoke with deep sympathy, like she was talking about real people.

I could relate to that part too. They’re just small fry cannon-fodder villains.

“You don’t have to cut them off. People are resources too. That’s why we call them human resources.”

“But what would you use them for—”

“They have high loyalty, right? How about blending them into the common people? Like in the capitals of various countries. Reliable living information is valuable. If they can support themselves, there’s no need to throw them away.”

I thought of that because of Myris’s ninja-like moves.

Ninjas usually blend into everyday life too. I wonder if this world even has the concept of spies… hmm???

Myris grinned really wide.

“As expected of young master. I’ll use that as reference.”

“A-ahhhhh?! That’s about your guild, isn’t it?!”

There was a whole scenario about [Stagnant Fang] in Myris’s story!!

Myris gave me a look like she was deeply moved.

“Thanks to young master, I’m getting promoted. Now I can have a say in how the organization is run.”

“Why are you asking me for opinions?!”

“I figured you’d come up with something good. As expected. I’ll take this draft.”

“Won’t that make me responsible too?!”

“Like becoming the guild’s behind-the-scenes fixer or something?”

I don’t wanna become a fixer for an assassin guild without even knowing it!!

Uwooooooh, why is my little sister casually stepping into the dark world like this!

“I just wanted to see young master’s slightly villainous moves~!”

“It’s not gonna be ‘slightly’! It’s a road you can’t come back from!”

Myris was giggling happily.

Ugh, ughhh… if I saved people’s lives, I should be happy about it, right?

But I feel like I just gave advice that would help the assassin guild grow even more… and later those two would gain more power… ahhh, I don’t know anything!!

“…Ahem. Myris, that was a really interesting story. You have talent as a novelist.”

“A perfectly normal everyday expression. And that voice tone that doesn’t let any suspicion show. Only someone who noticed I was shady but still hired me so casually would say that!”

“I just wanna live in peace, that’s all.”

“As expected of the person I chose~”

What exactly did you choose me for… as a toy or something…

Even after coming back to the mansion, Myris’s lighthearted attitude hadn’t changed.

But unlike before, she was now taking really good care of me.

When I got hurt during training, she’d ease the pain with magic, and when I got tired from studying, she’d bring tea at just the right moment—she was acting more like a proper maid.

To this more maid-like her, I asked a little question.

“…Does Ilza know about your position in the guild and stuff?”

“Yup. I decided to tell Lady Ilza everything without hiding a single thing. And after that, I swore my loyalty.”

Loyalty, huh. Just like the original Myris.

…Come to think of it, the original Myris seemed free-spirited on the surface, but in reality she was bound by the rules of her organization.

She understood she was a disposable tool and had been educated that way.

That’s why she wished “I want to choose the villain I serve with my own will,” fell for the original Ilza’s talent and evil nature, and swore loyalty.

Those two really have good chemistry as master and servant.

“…………Young Master Gant, I’ll serve you for life, okay~”

“Yeah yeah, I’m fine being the side thing.”

“Not the side thing… ah, let’s stop this topic here.”

Myris gave a bitter smile.

Then I felt a strong gaze from behind, and while still sitting in the chair I turned around.

“Staaaaare~~~~~~”

Ilza was peeking at us from a hidden door.

“Whaaaaat?!?!”

My sister who’s not a maid was watching?! And can you please stop making hidden doors?! The locks don’t even mean anything anymore!

Having enjoyed my panic, Ilza smiled.

“Big brother, Myris. I have something to talk about.”