“…?”

“I-If you spare me, I’ll do anything! Please!”

What is this now?

For a moment, I couldn’t understand the situation at all, so a gap was exposed. Luckily, it seemed the woman with her head buried in the ground didn’t notice.

“Woah… You want to live that badly?”

“Yes! Yes! Sh-Should I lick your feet?! Master!”

“No, that’s not necessary.”

“Understood! Master!”

What’s with this ‘Master’ thing?

If someone saw this, they might mistake her for a dog beastman, not a snake one.

No, since her lower body is a snake, there wouldn’t be confusion, but her behavior…

“Hmm, what to do. I was going to kill–”

“Hii, hiiek! Don’t kill me! I’m good at laundry! I’m good at cooking and cleaning too! Can’t you use me as a housework slave?!”

“…”

Maybe she’s in a state of panic. It doesn’t seem like my words are getting through.

…My mood sank.

Does she want to live that badly?

I planned to kill her mercilessly if she showed signs of attacking or resisting.

But seeing her wanting to live this desperately made me feel strange.

No one who charged at me before had ever acted this cowardly just to survive.

[Reader-nim, are you hesitating? You can just kill her. That’s why you came here, right?]

“… That’s right. Yeah.”

Just as the Author said.

That snake beastman is an obstacle to the story’s development. A disposable puppet whose existence doesn’t matter.

She’s just one of the over 2,400 villain puppets created by the Author’s setting.

Plus, if I dragged this on too long, the villains who overcame their fear might suddenly rush in.

Then that woman, gaining confidence from numerical advantage, might aim for my back again.

It’s easier and more definite to kill. There’s no reason not to.

…Right, that’s it. Killing is easier.

[…? Reader-nim?]

“Can you hide those legs?”

“Yes, yes! It’s possible! I can hide them! Please don’t kill me!”

“You said you were good at housework?”

“Yes, yes! Leave it to me!”

I threw her various questions I was curious about.

Perhaps sensing she could survive by answering those questions, she smiled brightly and spoke.

[Reader-nim?!]

“How would you look in a maid outfit?”

[Uuu, that’s just an excuse! Why are you suddenly like this?!]

Right, I know. It’s an excuse.

The over 2,400 villains were born from the Author’s mistake. My current goal is to eliminate 1,600 of them.

There was no need to deliberately spare one. Especially if it’s someone with an important executive position.

Moreover, it’s a very dangerous action that could cause a clash with the Author. Killing her is the wise move.

B, but…

Her bright smile overwhelmed me.

As if she noticed my gaze, she buried her head in the ground again.

Bowing her head and smiling like that to the enemy who killed her comrades just to survive.

I felt complicated.

As if she wasn’t a puppet but a living person.

Not a cool character in a novel who gets angry at their comrades’ deaths, but a realistic person thinking of their own survival.

I’ve never been put in this situation because of the typical resolve not to betray their comrades.

Seeing her desperately clinging to life made my insides churn as if I were seeing something alive.

“…Alright, how about being a member of a secret organization?”

[Ye, yes…? A secret organization?!]

“This is perfect timing. I was feeling it was a bit empty with just two members.”

“…Huh?”

“Welcome, Spira. From now on, you are a member of Arachne. Nice to meet you.”

“What?!”

I was overthinking.

This one is definitely a puppet. I’m sure of it.

So this is my whim.

Just a trivial whim.

[Hmm, certainly having a secret organization with only two people is a bit… Alright! A traitor from a hostile organization in a secret organization… that’s cool, too!]

Fortunately, the Author didn’t seem to have any particular complaints.

Sighing in relief, I glanced at Spira, who had now become a comrade.

“Well then, here’s your first order, Maid.”

“Yes, yes! What should I do?!”

“Go outside the room and kill your former comrades.”

“?!”

“…You can’t do it?”

“N-No! I’ll do it!”

After confirming Spira hurriedly went out of the room, I tossed aside the heavy wool.

Ugh, it was too hot.

It was heavier than I thought.

“Ha, haa… This is really heavy.”

[It looks super fluffy. I want to hug it too.]

“Of course, the texture felt nice, but it was extremely hot, you know?! Even in this state! …No, more importantly, give me clothes quickly!”

[Ah, right. I almost forgot.]

There are other things to forget!

I was buried in wool without wearing anything!

I almost got caught being naked!

I only had enough thread left to kill Spira.

It wouldn’t have been enough if she had resisted fiercely or things had gone wrong.

Exactly one time. I only had enough for one attack.

“It was fortunate that her personality prioritized her own survival.”

I let out a small sigh.

***

[Arachne_Real-time_Update.jpg]

(Gore warning photo)

(Photo of an abandoned factory filled with red blood)

(News portal hyperlink)

Übermensch or whatever villain organization members massacred, one man and one woman thought to be executives dead. Last one missing.

Are they gods?

Or perhaps Angels sent by God to fulfill our wish to massacre those trash villains?

Comments – 1176

Amelia lowered her phone and checked the comments.

A gloomy voice emerged from Siwoo, who had been checking the news over her shoulder.

“Praise here, praise there… Everyone’s excited.”

“Well of course. The ones they hate were literally erased.”

Siwoo seemed uncomfortable with the heated atmosphere.

People with similar sentiments sometimes posted comments but were immediately beaten down by public opinion and disappeared.

“I don’t get it.”

“You must know well why they’re doing this.”

Siwoo seemed unable to understand the people praising them despite hundreds dying, even if they were criminals.

It’s probably because he directly killed a villain and knows the weight of a person dying.

Having realized the weight of life, he seemed to reject the fact that so many died instinctively.

Even if they were a criminal group.

‘…But I think I know why these people are acting like this.’

“It’s because quite a lot of people have been harmed by villains, big or small.”

“That’s…”

“I know. Those people may not have caused that harm, right? But what can you do? Do you think the people’s hearts will be easily soothed? In their eyes, they’re all the same villains.”

Most citizens are non-supers. And most villains are.

Thus, citizens were inevitably prone to getting caught up in their attacks.

“They think the punishment is low compared to what they suffered. Blood for blood. Tears for tears.”

Often, villains who killed were quickly released.

Due to the chronic shortage of metahumans.

It’s not common, but sometimes, they are released on the condition of serving on the frontlines for a period through a plea deal.

“Villains are released through plea deals, but the dead don’t come back, right?”

“…But the survival rate of villains on the frontlines is extremely low. It’s very hard to survive. Even the heroes there despise them, so they don’t help when they’re in danger. They get isolated.”

“The citizens know that too. But it’s not like no one comes back at all.”

“…”

It’s an efficient method.

The Association increases lacking super manpower through plea deals, and villains get a chance at freedom instead of rotting in prison for life.

But emotions don’t care about efficiency.

Citizens directly harmed by villains couldn’t tolerate villains getting a chance at freedom at all.

Even though the number of villains surviving the frontlines is extremely small, they can’t accept that a tiny number of villains return to society.

“It can’t be helped. If some villain killed my parents and I heard they were returning to society, I’d act the same.”

“…Yeah. I get that too. I’m not judging those people.”

“Then what don’t you get?”

Amelia thought Siwoo disliked citizens being in a festive mood celebrating villains dying.

“You know, all this…It must be Arte’s doing, right?”

“…Probably? They say Arachne is a group, and Arte is likely a member.”

“Then how do you think Arte feels?”

“Huh?”

It felt like he was speaking nonsense.

How Arte feels?

How would she know that?

She wanted to brush it off lightly, but Siwoo’s expression looked serious, so I couldn’t easily move on.

“When I killed someone…If Arte hadn’t helped me, I would’ve had a hard time for a while.”

“Yeah. You would have.”

“Then, would Arte, who killed that many people, be okay?”

“What are you…”

“I don’t know how Arte feels right now.”

How Arte Iris feels, you say.

He’s talking nonsense.

“Obviously it wouldn’t matter to her. She’s a villain. A villain, you understand?”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes, so stop thinking unnecessary thoughts and think about how to sweet-talk her. Or find the artifact first.”

“Got it.”

However, they didn’t make much progress that day.

Since Siwoo wasn’t focusing, she kept nagging him.

_______________________________________________________________

Author’s Comment (Afterword)
10,000 readers! Yay clap clap!

To celebrate, I sent an email to Nobel-chan asking for a cover. But I just said, ‘Give me a cover’ for now.

Perhaps it’s because I already poured all my energy into making the first cover, but I can’t even think of what kind of cover I want.

Well, I don’t know if I’ll be able to decide. The PD might see it and decide, too.

Everyone, what kind of new cover do you want to see?