Reincarnated as a Villainous Duke (37) Who Gets Condemned by His Daughter ～I Stopped Acting Like a Villain, Yet My Daughter Keeps Becoming the 'Ice Lady'～ - Chapter 15: The Test Subjects

Chapter 15: The Test Subjects

As I’ve mentioned before, Mark Stewart was portrayed as a mid-boss who attempts a coup to seize the throne and is ultimately defeated. However, that alone doesn’t make him an entirely irredeemable villain.

While taking the throne is generally considered an act of evil, Mark Stewart also liberates the royal capital from the demons during his coup. In the game, he’s depicted as a duke who wasn’t unpopular in his own territory. There was even speculation online that the people might have been better off under his rule than the royal family’s.

But despite all that, there’s one unforgivable crime that Mark Stewart committed.

It’s a classic trope for villains like him: human experimentation to create enhanced humans.

Using his talents, Mark Stewart delved into forbidden magical research, kidnapping people and conducting cruel experiments to modify their bodies.

…Or at least, that’s how it goes in the game. At this point in the story, he’s only in the planning stage. That said, the test subjects have already been secured.

“Where did the test subjects come from?”

“All were purchased from slave traders.”

“They’re not illegal, right?”

“No, we’ve used merchants with proper authorization.”

It feels ironic to question legality when the purpose is human experimentation, but since I plan to change this course of action later, confirming the details is still necessary. As the conversation suggests, the buying and selling of slaves are legal in this country.

Next to the duke’s estate is a standalone building about the size of a house. It’s a workshop I use for alchemy research. The first floor is filled with various experimental tools, chemicals, and monster materials.

Alchemy—a term that sounded incredibly dubious in my previous life—is a highly practical field of study and production technology in this world.

Here, alchemy is essentially a system for gathering materials and crafting items, much like in the game. The game, Orlea Old Stories, featured this system, allowing players to create a wide range of items. In fact, the most advanced items were exclusively crafted through alchemy.

As it turns out, Mark Stewart was also a highly skilled alchemist. For a mid-boss, his abilities felt a bit overpowered. That said, I recall from my memories that I, or rather Mark, had been diligently studying alchemy from a young age.

Aramund and I entered the building and headed toward the storage room at the back. Inside, wooden crates of various sizes were neatly stacked. Moving one of the larger crates revealed a staircase leading underground.

As we descended the stairs, a space far larger than the building above unfolded before us. Inside were items that wouldn’t look out of place in a horror story: an operating table, mysterious cylindrical water tanks, and chairs fitted with restraints that resembled torture devices. The atmosphere felt like stepping into an entirely different world, but there was no mistaking it—it was the same space I had seen in the game.

I inspected the surgical tools and the seemingly torture-like equipment. Thankfully, all of it was unused. Even in my memories, there was no recollection of any “experiments” having been conducted.

“But this really feels like it was just thrown together for effect…”

I muttered under my breath, careful not to let Aramund hear.

The idea of Mark Stewart conducting “human experiments” had been a topic of speculation online, and many believed it was a deliberate attempt by the game’s developers to paint him as an irredeemable villain.

Logically speaking, if he were preparing for a coup and wanted to use enhanced humans, he should have started the experiments much earlier. And if the goal was simply to strengthen humans, developing specialized potions through alchemy would have been far more efficient.

That said, in this real-world version of events, some plausible explanations for these inconsistencies do exist.

The reason Mark Stewart got involved in these heinous acts stems from information about enhanced humans that Aramund had brought to him from somewhere. This information included the tantalizing suggestion that creating enhanced humans might even make it possible to revive his beloved late wife. Moreover, the timing of this revelation was suspiciously recent—just enough to set things in motion.

Based on my deductions, it seems likely that Aramund—or rather, whoever is pulling her strings—didn’t want enhanced humans to be mass-produced before the demon attack on the royal capital. However, they still wanted the research conducted, intending to steal the results for their own use. That would explain why the information came to me so late. In the game, monsters called enhanced soldiers appeared in the final dungeon, so it’s clear that the technology was ultimately stolen.

As I mulled over these thoughts, we passed through the disturbing torture chamber—or rather, laboratory—and moved further inside, opening the door ahead.

The next area was a corridor with eight doors lining its sides.

Each door had a small, barred window. Peeking through one, I saw a young beastkin girl sitting on a bed, her animal-like ears twitching slightly atop her head. Her complexion looked healthy, but her left arm was missing below the elbow. In the slave trade, such individuals were referred to as defective slaves.

“Hmm, they all seem healthy enough. Are all of them defective slaves?”

“Yes, just as you instructed.”

I vaguely remembered giving instructions along the lines of, “They’re just test subjects, so cheap defective slaves will do.”

I peeked into several rooms, and indeed, all of them were missing a hand, foot, or another limb. Some were in worse condition, missing two limbs. However, in this world, where medical science isn’t very advanced, surviving such injuries is often thanks to magic.

That aside…

“Why are all of them beastkin girls?”

“A beastkin village near the royal capital was attacked by monsters, creating a large number of refugees. It seems those who suffered serious injuries were treated in exchange for being made into slaves. As for why they’re all girls—I thought that would better suit your preferences, my lord.”

“I see.”

I nodded outwardly, but internally, I was far from convinced.

For one, the matter of the beastkin village being attacked should’ve been handled by the kingdom’s knights. Secondly, the idea that this was done to match my preferences couldn’t be further from the truth.

Now that I think about it, there was a scene in the game where the victims of human experimentation were all girls, and that enraged the protagonist and his allies. So, in this case, it turns out I was falsely accused.

While mulling over these thoughts, I glanced into another window. Inside was a girl who appeared to be in her late teens. Considering all the others looked to be in their early teens, her age stood out, catching my attention.

Looking closer, her right arm was missing from the shoulder, and a large scar over her left eye had rendered it completely useless.

She had long blonde hair, large pointed ears, and a thick tail with a white tip—likely a fox beastkin. Her relatively tall stature and overall demeanor suggested she had been a warrior.

“And this one?”

“She was reportedly one of the top two swordsmen in her village. However, she sustained those injuries during the monster attack.”

“I see…”

In truth, I recognized her—from the game, of course. She was one of the enhanced human soldiers, a mid-boss encountered just before facing Mark Stewart. As a striking female swordsman, she had gained popularity despite being a character who only appeared briefly.

“Well, this works. They’re all suitable for my… experiments. You’ve done well, Aramund.”

“Thank you. When will the experiments begin?”

“First, I need to gather the materials.”

“Materials? I was under the impression everything was already prepared.”

“There are still things missing. Considering how much has been set up, there’s no need to rush. Be patient for now.”

“Understood, my lord.”

Aramund didn’t look entirely convinced. Her usually expressionless face betrayed a subtle hint of unease—clearly, my delaying tactics weren’t sitting well with her or, more likely, whoever she was working for. It confirmed my suspicion that this whole “experiment” was orchestrated from the start.

In any case, I had now verified the troubling reality: slaves had been purchased and were being held underground.

Even without the experiments having started, the mere fact that they were bought and confined was already a significant problem. If my daughter Forsina were to find out, the condemnation route I thought I’d avoided could come charging back in full force.

However, simply releasing the slaves wouldn’t erase the fact that I had purchased them. I needed a plan to justify their acquisition while also halting the experiments entirely.

A situation that forces me to stop the experiments while explaining away the purchase of the slaves…

“…Defective slaves… alchemy… I see, so that’s it—of course, the materials are insufficient.”

I muttered to myself, and Aramund gave me a puzzled look, her expression faintly skeptical.