—Huh? Isn't this a little strange?

The Guide, while confirming various things amidst Liam's cornered situation, tilted his head.

There was no doubt that Liam was suffering—that he was feeling impatient.

He could also sense his intense anger.

Recently, while seeming busy, he had been putting on a show of playing around for those around him.

The expeditionary force had won, but they were considerably exhausted.

The Cleo faction should have been weakened—but he couldn't shake the feeling that their unity was stronger than before.

"Is it just my imagination? No, wait!"

At this point, the Guide realized something.

"I see—so my support for Liam is still insufficient!"

He had driven him into a suffering situation, but Liam had gotten the better of him time and time again.

If a man like Liam could be defeated by something of this level, it wouldn't have been so much trouble.

He came to the conclusion that he was only feeling anxious because his own efforts were lacking.

"Should I work more—work even harder to make Liam fortunate! B-but, is that really the case? Could it be that I'm making some huge mistake?"

The Guide was troubled.

Suddenly, he became concerned about the two he had raised to kill Liam.

Previously, when he had supported Eulisia, he had been betrayed.

He began to grow impatient, wondering if he had failed this time as well.

He tried to investigate immediately, but his power had waned compared to before.

This was because as soon as he regained his power, he would immediately use it to support Liam.

And when he did, for some reason, Liam would suffer.

To make Liam miserable, he survived by sipping muddy water again today—and made Liam fortunate.

When the Guide, who had little power to spare, needed to look something up—he would pick up a discarded newspaper.

When he did, the information he sought would be printed on it.

He was drawing the information he wanted to himself.

"Kuh! I've used too much power supporting Liam. I used to be able to gather information much more easily."

Frustrated, he read the article.

Then, a video of Rinho was playing on the electronic paper.

"Hey, big brother, are you watching~? I'm coming to kill you now."

In the background, the head of the Kurdan style and his senior disciples lay fallen in a sea of blood.

The Guide felt a sense of madness from the declaration to kill Liam made with a smile, and his chest grew warm.

"Ah~, what pure madness. This one will surely kill Liam—huh? One of them is missing?"

When he turned the page to search, it seemed the other one was rampaging through the headquarters of the Aarlen Sword Style.

"So you raised your trump cards well. Yasushi, I believed in you."

The Guide was filled with gratitude for Yasushi, who was no longer in the Empire.

"When this is all over, I'll do you the special favor of making you miserable too. If you hadn't raised Liam to be so strong, none of this would have been a problem."

With light steps, the Guide left the place, tossing the electronic paper aside.

A translucent dog looked at it as it fell to the ground.

It stared at the article, picked it up, then immediately raised its head and headed off somewhere.

◇

At the venue for the party celebrating the expeditionary force's victory.

Relaxing in the waiting room, I was talking with Elliot from the Clave Company.

"So today's party has been changed to a victory celebration for the expeditionary force, you say?"

Elliot, for the expeditionary force's complete victory—no, that was wrong.

To celebrate my complete victory, he had brought an incredible amount of gold and expensive liquor.

I love this kind of obvious flattery.

"We're just celebrating on our own. According to Tia, the Empire's losses were also heavy. The United Kingdom was a formidable enemy, it seems."

When I said it with a smirk, Elliot seemed to get the message.

"His Highness Cleo, having defeated such a formidable foe, will surely see his right of succession rise. And on top of that, the position of His Highness the Crown Prince, who shirked his responsibility and fled this crisis, will worsen."

"When all was said and done, it was my victory. —So, what's Calvin's move?"

"Those around him seem to be panicking, but he himself is calm. Though he might just be pretending to be calm."

I wish he'd hurry up, panic, and make a move.

Calvin not making a move is the most troublesome thing for me.

But we managed to significantly reduce the Calvin faction's strength this time.

It's also good that I was able to strengthen my own faction.

Lending money to the lords and gaining influence over them was also a good outcome.

I'd like to act like a proper evil lord and engage in some loan-sharking, but the Cleo faction is a gathering of villains.

Bad guys should cooperate with other bad guys.

We can fight amongst ourselves once we have some breathing room.

Until we drag Calvin down, I'll lay low.

As I was talking with Elliot in the waiting room, a tired-looking Wallace entered the room.

"Liam, this is terrible!"

"What's wrong? Are the party preparations finished?"

He looked pale and flustered, so I decided to at least hear him out.

"The party is the problem! You suddenly changed it to a victory celebration for the expeditionary force, right? We're short on so many things. No, we practically have to start the preparations all over again!"

"What did you say!?"

To think that I, of all people, changed the party's theme on a whim without considering the consequences.

Wallace was holding his head in his hands.

"This is no good. To celebrate such a great victory without that!"

Right now, Wallace is in charge of the party meant for my enjoyment.

Facing my friend, who had become more reliable than before, I looked at Elliot.

"Elliot, get what we're missing immediately."

"Leave it to me. However, with such short notice, the problem will be the budget—"

"You idiot! This is my party! It doesn't matter how much it costs!"

Dammit! To think I let my guard down.

In any case, to overcome this crisis, I have to cooperate with Wallace and Elliot.
Wallace has a tired look on his face.

"We'll have to replace most of the furnishings in the party venue too. As it is, it's not suitable for a victory celebration."

Looking at Wallace, I think.

He's this seriously worried about a party.

From the world's perspective, it probably seems like a useless talent.

But I rated him highly.

—He's really grown up.

Picking him up was the right move, from an evil lord's perspective.

To realize the evil-lord-like quality of enjoying parties, Wallace's talent was necessary.

I want to tell my past self who picked up Wallace, "Well done!"

◇

Around that time, in the rear palace, the leading nobles had gathered before Calvin.

They were quite flustered.

"Your Highness! Some of our members are planning an attack on Count Banfield."

"—That is quite troubling, isn't it."

For once, Calvin was truly troubled.

"Who made the move?"

"They are the relatives of the nobles who died in the expeditionary force. Some of them have lost their heirs. They're fuming, saying they can't let this stand and will take revenge even if it means leaving the faction."

Calvin's faction was large.

Among them were many short-sighted nobles.

Managing them was also a huge task.

Especially this time, many nobles had lost relatives.

Few among them were likely to be truly grieving the deaths of their relatives.

The majority of them were really thinking that their family name had been tarnished.

On top of that, a considerable number of ships had been lost.

There were also those who couldn't forgive such heavy losses.

(I want to stop them, honestly, but if I stop this momentum—they'll likely turn their dissatisfaction towards me next.)

Right now, their anger is directed at Liam, but if he were to forcibly hold them back, they would start to resent Calvin instead.

You said we could win!

I thought it was a sure thing!

What are you going to do about these losses!

—Even though they were the ones who participated, they were looking for someone to direct their unreasonable anger at.

It wasn't about logic.

It was a matter of emotion.

Among the nobles, there were many with weak self-control.

That's because they were raised in their mansions to be as selfish as they pleased.

They were corrected to some extent in elementary school and the military, but it wasn't perfect.

Even the more sensible nobles wore bitter expressions.

"At a crucial time like this."
"They just don't get it."
"But if they cause some trouble here, His Highness the Crown Prince's position will be—"

Calvin let out a small sigh.

"—Let's approve their withdrawal."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, are you sure? Even if they've left the faction, if they cause trouble, your position will be in jeopardy."

"Rather, we should think of it as a chance to get rid of the troublesome ones. Our faction has grown too large. Let's reorganize it to fight against Liam-kun, shall we?"

The nobles nodded to each other and then left the room.

After confirming that everyone was gone, Calvin snapped his fingers.

A will-o'-the-wisp appeared in mid-air.

The ball of fire swelled and took human form, and a large figure knelt before Calvin.

His appearance was that of a ninja, and he wore ornaments, perhaps indicating a higher rank than those who had fought Kukuri and the others before.

"—You called?"

"It seems the fools are about to cause a ruckus. If you get a chance, whittle down Liam-kun's black ops. Also, have you obtained any information on Liam-kun's black ops?"

The ninja threw a shuriken at the wall, and flames spread out in the shape of a scroll.

Information about Kukuri and the others was written there.

"According to our clan's records, we believe they may be the Shadow Clan, which was destroyed two thousand years ago."

"The Shadow Clan?"

"They were a black ops organization that served His Majesty the Emperor two thousand years ago. 'Shadow Clan' is just what they were called. Their real name is unknown."

"Speaking of two thousand years ago, that was an era when black ops like you were active. Was the Banfield family sheltering them?"

"No."

"They weren't?"

The ninja leader threw another shuriken, and an image of a member of the Shadow Clan appeared.

It was Kukuri.

"He was the most feared man of his time. He worked for His Majesty the Emperor, and it was rumored that in the end, he was turned to stone and shattered, or that he simply decayed."

"—And this person is alive? It's more believable that someone inherited his techniques."

"That is not possible."

"Why not?"

"Their clan was annihilated by other organizations. Our ancestors also participated. 'Leave no one alive'—those were the words of His Majesty the Emperor at the time."

The emperor of that time had gathered the active members like Kukuri, turned them to stone, and had the surviving clan members all killed.

It was hard to imagine they could have survived under those conditions, and even if they had, it was unthinkable that they could have passed down their techniques.

To train black ops like Kukuri and the leaders, an ordinary amount of wealth would not suffice.

"Your Highness—they know this rear palace inside and out."

"How troublesome. It must have changed in two thousand years, but it would be a problem if there are still passages that only they know of."

The palace has been renovated many times, but sometimes, places like old ruins are discovered.

There are many places that have been forgotten with the passage of time.

"According to our investigation, the resurrected ones have retained their power from that time. However, their numbers are few."

They were skilled, but they had the disadvantage of being few in number.

(Even without fighting them head-on, we have the advantage. —But.)

The revival of the legendary black ops from that era was something that Calvin couldn't remain calm about.

"—Can you eliminate them?"

At Calvin's words, the leader turned into flames and dispersed.

"As you wish."

◇

At the venue for the party hosted by Liam.

Hidden inside the furnishings placed there were ruffians hired by nobles to attack Liam and his group.

"Do these nobles party every day?"
"I hear they blow through an amount in one night that a commoner could live lavishly on for a lifetime."
"Let them enjoy it all they want. We'll send them to their graves just like that."

The men who had volunteered for a large sum of money held their breath.

They had slipped into the furnishings being carried into the party venue.

Normally, they would have been found.

However, they had received support from many nobles to get here.

The preparations were perfect.

However, they couldn't see what was happening outside.

They had also installed a camera in the furnishing, but since it was covered with a cloth until the party started, they couldn't check outside.

The cramped space where the men were crammed occasionally rattled and moved.

"They've been moving this thing around a lot."
"Did they spot us?"
"If they'd spotted us, we'd have been shot dead on the spot. There must have been some kind of change."

It wasn't just them.

Many others had infiltrated the party.

Even if they couldn't kill Liam, they should be able to cause significant damage.

That's what they believed.

In fact, if they failed and were captured, a punishment that would make them wish for death would surely await them.

They intended to self-destruct rather than be captured.

If that happened, there would be damage whether they liked it or not.

The shaking stopped, and they waited for the party to begin.

However, the cloth was never removed.

"—Could it be they moved the furnishing outside?"
"Dammit! Hey, let's get out. The venue should be nearby!"
"Contact the other guys!"

When the men jumped out—they were in some kind of warehouse.

The other men who had infiltrated also jumped out, looking dumbfounded.

"W-What is this?"
"What in the world is going on?"
"N-Never mind that, hurry up and storm the venue!"

The men went outside, but it was a warehouse quite far from the venue.

They tried to rush to the venue, but they were spotted by Liam's knights who were guarding the area, and all of them were shot dead.

Wakagi-chan ( ゜∀゜): "You need to take the fact that readers worry just because I don't appear more seriously! That's right, I'm the idol of this afterword! I won't lose to some blood-soaked idol! 'Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs, Volume 5,' where I play a big role, is on sale now. I'm in it, so please read it!"

Wakagi-chan ( ゜言゜): "Though I don't actually have any lines in Volume 5."

Brian (´；ω；｀): "A blood-soaked idol and a down-to-earth idol... having to choose between them is what's truly painful."