Scum-lesse Oblige, I Have Been Reincarnated as a Scum Villain in an 18+ Game World, and I Absolutely Want to Grasp the Mob Life with the Power of My Knowledge of the Original Story

The Masked Village

Before entering the village, I remove my mask.

Even though my attire is a bit conspicuous, it’s fortunate that it’s still dark and everyone is making a lot of noise, so I don’t stand out much.

As I enter the village…

“Uwaa…”

An unbelievable sight unfolds before my eyes.

Why…

I can’t help but to wonder.

“Why are the children wearing masks?”

Children are playing with cheerful smiles on their faces, and they have wooden masks atop their heads.

Gray masks.

Without a doubt, it resembles Genesis’ mask.

“Hey, where did you get those?”

I asked one of the children.

“We had them made!”

He said so energetically.

I see.

It seems that there’s a professional woodcarver in Haven village who made them.

Thanks to that, the children’s masks are much cooler than my own mask.

Furthermore, as I proceed towards the centre of the village—

“It’s really Genesis-sama, isn’t it? It seems Genesis-sama foresaw the arrival of thieves in Haven in advance.”

“Yeah, the knights were way too slow! On top of that, the fact he doesn’t show himself in public is so cool!”

“Yeah, our village is saved too! We have to celebrate tonight!!”

…so that’s why.

No wonder the children are wearing masks.

The villagers are all praising Genesis.

I continue down the road, enduring my empathetic shame.

And so, I arrive at the central square of the village.

There are a lot of people gathering here.

Suddenly, I am approached by someone.

“Oh, are you here to hear the story too?”

“Eh?”

“I understand. You want to hear about the masked hero, Genesis, right?”

“Ah, that’s not why I—”

Ignoring my response, I’m forcefully taken to the back of the crowd in the square by a very pushy woman

“It’s about to begin. Look forward to it. This is the tale of Genesis-sama’s first subordinate—Enrique-sama.”

“……hah?”

As I stand there in shock, the audience begin to take their seats. Thanks to that, even with my height, I have a clear view of the man standing in the centre.

“Enrique-san!! Please, tell us in detail about your meeting with Genesis!”

“Hmm…I suppose I can tell that story.”

Saying so, the man begins to speak while holding a drink in one hand.

It’s a man I know really well—Enrique.

“Well, my meeting with young lo—Genesis happened surprisingly recently, not when I was a kid… Anyway, I can’t tell you where and when, but at a certain time and a certain place, I met a certain man.”

Enrique began to tell his story with zero specifics, acting all serious.

By the way, didn’t you start by saying ‘young lord’ just now?

“To be honest, the first time I saw him, I thought, ‘Who is this guy? What a cheeky brat’. However, he managed to take my kick head-on in a mock battle.”

I can hear people in the audience saying, ‘Uwaaa…’ or ‘No matter how many times I hear it, it’s amazing!’

I see.

Now I finally understand why this village became like this.

I’m sure that Enrique, who had helped the people in this village, attended the banquet as he was invited, and with that, he started talking about me—Genesis.

Thus, the story of Genesis must have spread throughout the village.

…perhaps, I should’ve told Enrique not just to ‘Not take money from the villagers’, but also ‘Not go to banquets’ and ‘Not spread weird rumours’.

I look at the idiot who is trying to act cool in front of the audience.

“He has beautiful eyes.’

Enrique says so, looking around.

Then, Enrique’s eyes caught me.

Our eyes meet.

“Yeah, yeah. Just like that cheeky kid over there who is looking at me—hmm?”

“……”

A moment of silence.

It seems like Enrique finally noticed me.

“…ah, I’m sorry everyone.”

Enrique’s tone suddenly became awkward.

“I-I just remembered that I have something important to do!”

“Aww~”

disappointed voices from the villagers can be heard.

I wave to Enrique with a smile on my face.

Then, I point towards outskirts the village.

—let’s continue our conversation outside the village.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So?”

After meeting Enrique in a forest outside the village, I ask him for an explanation.

“Well, young lord. My bad. The folks in the village insisted on having a banquet, and they wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“Although you seemed to be enjoying the banquet.”

“Yeah, but look here. We took care of all the thieves, and right now, they’re making quite a distraction, right?”

With Enrique’s words, I look towards the village.

“No, you see, we received a report about thieves in this area…”

“Thieves? All of them have been beaten!!! Instead, you should but a mask like Genesis-sama’s! It ensures good health, longevity, and prosperity in business!!!”

“Huh? No, I mean, it’s not that I’m interested in your village festival, but we received a report…”

The seriously looking knights are being forced to buy masks by a middle-aged woman.

“Hey, what do we do? This village is a bit too lively. Rain-san and the others went directly to search for the enemy’s hideout because they sensed some intriguing magical power…”

The knights discussed with puzzled expressions on their faces.

“See? I’ve somewhat held back the knights who should be heading towards where you were.”

“Ahh, I see.”

From a distance, I watch as the knights are almost getting mugged.

Well, in the story, the knights end up collapsing within the grim scene of Haven village, lamenting, ‘We didn’t make it in time…’ So, getting mugged here might be better than what supposed to happen.

“Um, then, two of those masks please…”

Ah, it looks like they’re buying the masks.

“See? Isn’t it great?”

Enrique says so with a proud smile on his face.

I sigh.

“Well, it certainly a happy end, but…”

I have a bad feeling about this.

“I really hope this doesn’t become some tradition for their festival or something…”

That’s right.

No matter how you look at it, the villagers are just way too enthusiastic. It seems like they completely trust the masked hero, Genesis. If by any chance this festival became an annual event…

If that happens—I vow as the legitimate son of the duke Randall, I will definitely crush this festival no matter what power I have to use.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

—however, at that time, I didn’t know.

Intoxicated by alcohol, Enrique revealed unnecessary details about Genesis. As a result, the villagers are completely devoted to the masked hero, Genesis, who secretly saved the village, and his subordinate Enrique, who became his sword to fight against the bandits.

Thus, this festival started to be held every year, growing into a well-known event in the region.

Furthermore, every year, I would be invited as a guest to this ‘Masked Festival’, and I would be forced to celebrate the achievements of Genesis and the dark history that I created.

I have no choice but to endure this humiliation and shame.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After we have that conversation, me and Enrique are running across the plains to return to Lyon.

As Enrique continue to use his magical power recklessly, I enhance my physique efficiently.

“So, the only thing left is the mayor, huh?”

Enrique said so.

“Do you know what does he really want? I don’t quite understand him. He’s ruining the reputation of the nobles, moving the underground guild, and cooperates with the knights, all while pretending to be a virtuous and capable mayor. He is doing all that just to make a name for himself?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Well, Enrique is not entirely wrong.

“Or rather, he’s not thinking about anything.”

“Hmm? What do you mean—”

“For him, it’s just a way to kill time.”

That’s right.

If he’s the Gregorio I know, I’m sure that’s the case.

The antagonist among the named characters in ‘Last Aca’.

The [Moon] Gregorio, is that kind of man.

Author’s Note:

Main Character à Ends up being invited to the annual ‘Masked Festival’. Planning to crush that festival one day.

Enrique à Exposed the protagonist’s dark history to the public.