Episode 2 of the Overly Competent Villain

Backroom transaction

There were two motives for the bank robbery, even exposing me, but one of them was to call in Deputy Director Rickert Bergman.

Rickert Bergman, an elite from a commoner who was thirsty for success. Coming directly to secure credit for his capture of me.

[No, there is no assurance that Deputy Director Rickert will come, right? To be honest, if someone is as big as you, it won’t be strange if anyone comes.]

Yes, not only the Central Investigation Bureau, but also the General Bureau of Security, the Knights of the Imperial Family, the General Directorate of Public Security, the Bounty Hunter Union, the Order of Assassination, the Schwarz Kapelle, the Prisoner Brotherhood, the Black Rose Order, the Reisenhower Group, the Order of the Black March, the Golden Dawn, and the Holy Iron Chain. There are quite a few people who want my head, such as the pilgrimage group and the famous church of Jingu-ga-hyang, but–

[It’s not quite a level! How much resentment has this madman spread?]

‘That’s not important right now.’

[It doesn’t matter, you scoundrel! Aren’t there so many people who will interfere with everything you do in the future!]

Isn’t that what’s important? The important thing is that I was convinced that ‘Rickert Bergman’ would come.

[Whoa… Yeah, how did you make sure that the deputy director of the Investigation Bureau would come among your many, many enemies?]

‘It’s simple. The southern branch of the Empire is managed by Deputy Director Rickert. If Elysia, the Lombardy city investigator, makes a report, it must be Deputy Director Rickert.’

The deputy director is the one who relegated Elysia to the south, but apart from that, Elysia is an FM engineer who is obsessed with top-down and due process.

Regardless of the personal uncomfortable relationship, she would have reported my existence to Deputy Director Rickert as per procedure.

‘Now then, a question. A golden goblin that can hit the jackpot just by catching it has appeared. If it were you, who would you share it with?’

[I don’t know what a golden goblin is, but I know what it means. But what is the reason for picking up and calling in Deputy Director Likert?]

‘Well, watch closely from now on.’

warning lights go out The fact that the countless eyes that were watching me through the magic mirror just a moment ago disappeared means that a ‘high-ranking person’ will come in to withdraw them.

“Jacques Pietro.”

The interrogation room moved. Even the guards in the mirror room, just in case, had to withdraw, and the man who came in was a middle-aged man with a truly aristocratic body.

“Deputy Director Rickert. Did you grow a mustache?”

“······We’ve never met before.”

“Wasn’t there an operation led by you when I was growing my hair? It must have been you who issued the permit for my assassination operation?”

“·······.”

I remember all the people who tried to assassinate me, so I naturally remember the secret assassination operation.

Deputy Director Rickert, rather than being the initiator of the plan, was merely granting permission.

Anyway, maybe it was because the fact that I approved the assassination operation was discovered, and Deputy Director Rickert broke into a cold sweat. It’s like he’s afraid of retaliation.

“hahahaha, don’t be too nervous. You know that you only gave the first seal of approval. The final approval was given by the Minister of Justice.”

The Empire has a fairly modern organization and administrative system.

The Pietro task force issued permission for my assassination operation, first as the deputy director, second as the director, and the current Minister of Justice gave the final permission.

[You managed to survive an assassination attempt by the Empire.]

‘Unlike the General Security Administration, which is in charge of overseas operations, the Investigation Bureau has to follow procedures. Competent fugitives like me are supposed to receive information in the middle.’

I have friends at the Ministry of Justice who work for me.

“What do you want?”

“I told you. I’ll help you catch the knight-slayer.”

“You believe that?”

“hahahaha…!”

I couldn’t stand the laughter. Why would a nobleman who is as good as the deputy director of the investigation department ask such an innocent question?

“I’m a criminal. Lies and betrayal are commonplace. You can’t trust me. Shouldn’t you listen to my information and make your own decisions?”

Deputy Director Rickert’s expression rots. But you didn’t come up after winning the deputy director of the Bureau of Investigation through a card game either.

“Have the others backed out? It’s disappointing if you don’t.”

“…it’s just you and me listening to this conversation.”

“You’ve come out big, Deputy Director. Well, a commoner, a nabber, has to be bold to succeed.”

Rickert Bergman.

The ‘commons’ elite. He had somehow managed to get the position of deputy director through his skills and his wealthy family, but now he is facing the limit.

“There are two conditions. The first is to release me for the sake of work efficiency.”

“Sounds funny! You think you’re going to set a felon like you free?”

The deputy director flatly refused, but I added my condition.

“The second is to assign Elysia von Wittenberg as my watchdog.”

“Wittenberg?”

When Elysia was mentioned, Rickert’s gaze became even more bizarre.

“Isn’t it too obvious to be suspicious? She’s a woman who’s eager to put a knife through my heart. She’s a suitable person, both as a motive and as a force.”

“That’s true… No, I don’t intend to accept your conditions in the first place! There are many ways to find out information!”

“If I had thought that was possible, I wouldn’t have risked living alone like this. You would have seen my history.”

There is a record of enduring the torture of Matilda, the legendary torturer of Alcatraz, so you wouldn’t think that I would open my mouth easily.

“Deputy Director Rickert. Let’s stop going between our players. The moment you treated me alone, we know the outcome of this conversation.”

I’ve already caught the fish. A big fish that can be passed at any time. That’s why I said I would catch another big fish.

And I stimulated the guy’s complex. An innate limitation that the elite named Rickert Bergman could never escape.

“From now on, you will never be able to get rid of the label of a commoner. High-ranking people with ‘phone’ attached to their names are reluctant to sit in the same seat as thousand. Even so, there is only one way to sit in the same seat.”

“What is it?”

“An overwhelming achievement.”

I met Rickert’s gaze and said.

“When a conscripted peasant soldier defeated a knight and captured a general, a ‘soldier’ was promoted to a ‘knight’ only after achieving a historical achievement and gaining popular support. Jurgen Klissmann? It’s just the beginning. A bigger one. The giants will be chained together like sausages.

I am the one who can make that achievement for you. Rickert’s eyes glistened with desire at the detailed story.

[It has passed.]

It was enough for Osman, who is a gentleman, to notice, so he took a bite of the rice cake I threw.

“Tongue, if you cooperate, I will make a judicial transaction to absolve you of your sins a little—”

“No need. I’ll take care of the jailbreak.”

Deputy Director Rickert’s fat face was distorted even worse.

* * * *

“Then I’ll take over.”

Elysia takes over as soon as I leave the Investigation Bureau Headquarters. The two of us inevitably faced each other.

“Good night, Sir Elysia. Have you had dinner?”

“·······.”

The gaze is sharp. You probably don’t like this situation.

However, Elysia soon took over as if she had given up on me.

“As a suspect of a serious criminal act, please be aware that you are in custody. If you resist arrest by the authorities, you will be disadvantaged in the trial—”

“Of course I’m going to run away. Don’t give me an obvious warning about an obvious thing.”

“······The authorities in case of flight cannot guarantee your safety.”

“Yeah yeah~ By the way, would you like to have a late-night snack? Since you’ve come to the South after a long time, should you eat some pasta? That sounds a bit too much like a date.”

“I’m at work. And I won’t be dating you.”

“Really? If only I was the only man in the whole world?”

“I’d rather die with a knife in my mouth.”

I laughed at his determined attitude. In the end, when the options were narrowed down, I was looking forward to the conclusion that Elysia would draw.

[You look like a s*xually harassing inspiration.]

‘I’m in a position to do worse than that.’

[What the hell did you do to the Sword Saint?]

Elysia and I have a deep bond.

To her, I was the one-sided perpetrator, but I had to survive, and in the end I killed Sword Saint Elysia with my own hands.

The day the sword star fell, the catastrophe of the stars must have been closer.

The 11-year-old little girl I met at the count’s mansion, the 18-year-old academy cadet I met in the meeting room of Alcatraz, the 31-year-old swordsman who fell by my hand.

Now she is in front of me as the twenty-five-year-old junior investigator Elysia.

Elysia von Wittenberg in her immature, frustrated, and cold days.

‘So, in a way, you can say that now is the last chance. I met her before she grew up pursuing me and became my nemesis.’

She is the superhuman of an era that will stand tall as the strongest knight of this century.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that my relationship with her was the worst, but even so…

be sure to get your hands on it

“Why don’t you relax your expression. Even if you don’t like it, we have to work together.”

“You are only accompanying the investigation bureau as an informant.”

He laughed at Elysia’s words. She narrowed her brows, but the light, spreading smile continued.

“Why are you laughing?”

“I wasn’t captured. I came here on my own. The difference is huge.”

“·······.”

“Anyway, are you still respectful to me? To be honest, I thought you would punch me as soon as we met.”

“According to Imperial law, using violence against an unarmed suspect is a violation of human rights—”

“You’ll be the only investigator protecting it. It’s customary for criminals to throw their fists first.”

From her point of view, I was the enemy of the family, of her father.

Guardian of a young military academy cadet. A friendly older brother who was sometimes invited to the house and ate together.

However, an ungrateful criminal who betrayed their expectations, terrorized the Knights, and ruined the guardian’s family.

Because ‘she knows’ it would be, and it’s actually half right.

“Wasn’t it to restore the honor of the Count of Wittenberg and to re-establish the family? I think that’s not enough.”

“Kuh…! How dare you say that!”

Elysia reacts immediately when she mentions her father. Osman let out a worried voice.

[Hey, Pietro. Don’t stimulate the sword spirit. You know you have to cooperate.]

‘Not yet, Archmage. And you should know this.’

I have to cooperate with her, but it has to be me who takes the initiative in this relationship.

To do so, we must strip away her steely convictions.

We need to shake her unwavering fundamentalism.

“If you wanted to get ahead, you should have moved efficiently.”

“What kind of small grain is that?”

“It means you should have compromised. It wasn’t a good choice to go out until the deputy director shot me to catch one.”

“you······.”

I know Elysia’s obsession with me because I’ve experienced it. Because she finally pushed me.

To the extent that it goes beyond what I allow.

“Are you thinking of breaking out again?”

“That’s normal.”

“You’re quite relaxed. But it won’t be like that this time.”

“Well. That remains to be seen.”

Elysia seems to firmly believe that I will end up in prison, but can life be so easy?

“Let’s get back to work.”

The story begins while walking through the streets of Lombardy. Perhaps because it was a work talk, Elysia immediately returned to work.

“How much do you know about the Knightslayer?”

“It’s just that he was a local soldier and that he killed three knights.”

“It’s quite a famous case in the west. A low-level soldier was a serial knight killer who killed three knights.”

It’s a kind of ‘end soldier hides swordsmanship’. Sword genius Sergeant Jurgen Klissmann opened his eyes to his hidden talent.

“This genius prosecutor murdered three knights and fled from the Bureau of Investigation. That’s how it flowed and flowed all the way to the South. Now, the question is, what could he have done here?”

“Are you a gang swordsman?”

“Knight-class swordsmen are welcome everywhere. Among them, the Porgore family is a gang that specializes in swordsmanship.”

The Porgore Family, the 3rd largest organization under the Triad Circle, is in charge of the club and security, and dispatches combatants to other organizations.

“So you’re in charge of the armed forces of the Triad Circle.”

“Exactly. The Nicola family focuses on drugs and the Luciano family focuses on smuggling. This requires force. It always requires force.”

So, a skilled swordsman is always needed.

“Here’s the question. If the Triad Circle were to seek out a wanted man, who would step in?”

“That’s right… the Forgore family.”

“But what if this guy is a notorious wanted man who has not been caught for a long time even in the Empire and has been frequently missed with mediocre force?”

“We have to mobilize a large number of talented people… I guess. No way?”

Elysia’s wide-eyed gaze turned to me. Because the conclusion of this conversation is pointing to someone.

“you···!”

It was the time when Elysia was trying to confirm her guess. Gang members swarming around the two of us.

Armed with swords and guns, the combatants of the Porgore family quickly formed an encirclement formation.

[Damn Pietro…! He somehow noticed his gaze and stayed still!]

To Osman’s astonishment, a man appeared from among the Porgore Family combatants surrounding us.

The swordsman holding the imperial sword stares at me with a bored gaze.

“Jacques Pietro, you motherf*cker. Did you know you blew our paychecks?”

Jurgen Klismann.

A rare swordsman who would later grow into a swordsman, and a mercenary who became a key striker in the raiding party of Sword Saint Elysia von Wittenberg.

Returning to the past, the two swordsmen who would not have met originally came face to face like this. I sneaked up to Elysia and pulled out the pistol slung from her belt.

“Pietro…! What have you done——!”

During the confrontation with the Sword Demon, she couldn’t respond to my natural pickpocketing.

“I also need a weapon for self-defense. Now, Sir Elysia. Do you understand what you need to do now?”

Well, now kill and kill each other.