The Kansai Villain’s Rebirth: I Accidentally Ended Up With a Harem.

A Kansai Guy Loses His Temper.

Before my eyes sat a modestly sized attaché case, stuffed to bursting with neatly bundled stacks of bills. Sebas the butler extended it toward me without a flicker of expression. Sakura smiled brightly, nodding as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Ashlyn was smiling too, but her eyes were sharp as blades.

“This is ten million yen as a token of our gratitude,” she declared. “Thank you for saving my daughter. Please, accept it.”

“T-ten… ten million… yen…”

Shina fell utterly silent. Mio’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, words failing her. Only Rinko seemed to have realized something; she watched me quietly, saying nothing.

“Come now, Tennouji-sama! Please take it!”

“Tennouji-sama, please accept this. We are truly grateful for the aid you rendered our young lady.”

There was no way I could just casually accept a sum like that. Was this supposed to be some American-style “here’s a hundred grand, no big deal”? This wasn’t a joke.

At the same moment, a certain thought struck me.

They were testing me.

People who lived in a world crawling with schemers and monsters—they wouldn’t hand over money this easily without purpose. If I accepted ten million yen without hesitation, that would be the real mistake.

Sakura herself probably hadn’t noticed. She genuinely believed they were offering it out of pure goodwill. But the two in front of me—Ashlyn pretending to smile, and Sebas the butler—were different. They were looking down on me, clear as day. Their “please, take it” came with a massive, obvious hook attached. It was starting to piss me off.

Ashlyn’s expression was exactly like those infuriating corporate negotiators from massive companies—smirking while hiding terms that would screw you over completely. I’d blown up at people like that before, tearing into their shady clauses. This ten million yen reeked of the same disadvantage.

Fine. Decision made. I knew exactly what I had to say.

“Well? Come along now.”

“Da… Dai-kun?”

“Don’t worry, Rinko. I’m fine. Ashlyn-san… this money…”

I paused. Ashlyn’s lips curled upward in a smug, almost audible smirk—she must have thought I was about to gratefully accept. See? Just as I thought. It only made me angrier.

“I refuse it with every fiber of my being.”

““““Eh?””””

Four voices harmonized perfectly in shock, echoing through the drawing room—everyone except Rinko and me.

“T-Tennouji-sama… why…?”

“…Might we hear your reasoning?”

“I didn’t save your daughter because I wanted money or anything else from her. I just happened to be passing by when Sakura was being attacked. Ignoring it and walking away would’ve left a bad taste in my mouth. I figured I could help, so I did. That’s all.”

I couldn’t exactly walk past a girl getting assaulted by a gang of thugs and do nothing, could I? So I neutralized them by tossing them into the pond, the police arrived by sheer luck, and she was saved. That was it. And now they thought ten million yen settled the score?

No. I was done holding back.

“Besides… Ashlyn-san, are you saying your daughter’s worth is only about this much money?”

“Eh… Mother…?”

I stood, gently placing both hands on Rinko’s shoulders as she fidgeted nervously. She let out a small “Hyah!?” but I pressed on.

“My girlfriend Rinko’s parents once told me this: ‘Rinko is our family’s irreplaceable treasure.’ In other words, her life has value beyond anything money could buy. I… well, never mind. I feel the same way. But what about you? Are you really putting a price tag of just ten million yen on your own daughter’s life? Quite the bargain, isn’t she.”

Of course that wasn’t what she truly believed—but the way they were handling this infuriated me, and I wanted to hit back with the sharpest sarcasm I could muster. It also genuinely angered me that a parent might undervalue their child like this. Rinko, for some reason, was staring up at me with an utterly dreamy expression, murmuring “Dai-kun…”

“And another thing—we’ve only spoken for a few dozen minutes total. You barely even know what I look like, yet you suddenly demand I become her fiancé, even bring up eloping? You’ve almost certainly investigated me thoroughly, haven’t you? You know full well I’ve got a reputation as Sumizome Academy’s biggest delinquent.”

(Though, to be fair, it took less than two months from meeting Shina and the others until we started dating… but those were intensely memorable months.) I never asked for anything in return when I helped them, either. Sure, there might’ve been some suspension-bridge effect that led to us dating, but I never demanded their bodies or asked their parents for money or gifts.

“Are you really trying to sell your daughter for a measly ten million yen to some scheming heir from the cutthroat world of politics and business? Sebas—you’re fine with that? You’re okay with the young lady you’ve cared for so devotedly being sold off for pocket change? Isn’t that why you were searching frantically for her that night, eyes bloodshot with worry?”

Sebas the butler ground his teeth audibly. Then stop it, damn it. You didn’t become a butler of your caliber just to be a yes-man.

“Tennouji… sama.”

“Ashlyn-san, since you seem fond of four-character idioms, allow me. Whether you’re testing me or not, what you’re doing is faithless betrayal. Putting a price like this on your own daughter is a violation of basic decency, and then suggesting elopement—the ultimate breach of propriety—is nothing less than trampling on her trust. If this is how you test people, it’s far too vicious. I never should’ve come here. Everyone, we’re leaving. Please excuse us.”

“E-eh!? Da-Dai-chan!”

“Daiki-kun!?”

“Shina, Mio—let’s go.”

This felt disgusting. Fury plain on my face, I urged everyone toward the door. Shina and Mio looked flustered, but Rinko calmly guided them forward. I was grateful for that.

“…Sebas. Our guests are leaving. Please see them out.”

“Understood.”

“T-Tennouji-sama! Everyone! Please wait!”

Sakura tried to stop us, but Ashlyn held her back. There was no proper farewell. That was fine. Sakura herself wasn’t at fault, but if Ashlyn didn’t approve of me, there was nothing to be done.

Well, that was that. The flags with Netohaza Plus’s fourth heroine, Harumiya Sakura, were thoroughly shattered. Oh well. I was just a commoner, after all. She was upper-class nobility. We lived in completely different worlds. Our values would never align anyway.

We boarded the limousine and were driven to the nearest station.

“Thank you, Sebas-san.”

“Ah, my name is Sebas Igen. Please feel free to call me Sebas.”

You’re completely Japanese!?

But I was in too foul a mood to even retort. I simply replied, “I see,” and he left without another word.

“Dai-kun… good work…”

“That was a rotten experience. We should’ve just gone to Mikudo as four and eaten fries instead. Sorry, everyone.”

“N-no, it’s not Daiki-kun’s fault, right? If Daiki-kun got angry, that means Sakura-chan’s mom was in the wrong, right? You said something about betraying decency…”

“Y-yeah, exactly! Dai-chan… we’re not going to get targeted by dangerous people because of this, are we…?”

“It’ll be fine. Come on, I’ll walk you all home. Things feel a little unsafe tonight.”

I forced myself to switch gears, saw Shina and the others safely home, stopped by the supermarket for some random ingredients, went home, cooked dinner while still simmering with faint irritation, took a bath, and went to bed.

***

Several days passed since visiting Sakura’s house. Nothing in particular happened—no assassins from the Harumiya family, just ordinary days spent with everyone as usual. I even yawned… how peaceful.

“Alright, everyone, good morning. Let’s begin homeroom. Today, to start things off—at this time of year, it’s extremely rare for our school, but… we have a new transfer student joining the class.”

Ashiharabashi-sensei arrived and began homeroom. A transfer student at a private school—and with second year nearly over, no less.

“Let me introduce her. Come in.”

The person who entered at his prompting… had a very familiar face.

The entire class—boys and girls alike—buzzed with excitement at the sight of an extraordinarily beautiful girl.

Yes… it was her.

“Pleased to meet you all. My family name is Harumiya. My given name is Sakura… Harumiya Sakura. I look forward to getting along with everyone.”

With a flawless, almost out-of-place curtsy and greeting, the young lady of the Harumiya conglomerateu, Harumiya Sakura, stood before us.

The instant our eyes met, her face lit up in a radiant smile.

I toppled backward out of my chair.