Although a Villain, My Wish is World Peace

Weltschmerz.

Do Chae-hee frowned at the name written on the paper.

From the traces left at the scene and on the corpses, she could deduce the number of individuals who had infiltrated the orphanage.

According to the investigation so far, there had been at least two of them. Meaning Weltschmerz hadn’t acted alone at the orphanage. Or perhaps…

“What if Weltschmerz isn’t the name of an individual, but some kind of organization?”

The realization sent chills down her spine.

Currently, the entire Awakener Crimes Department was focused solely on Weltschmerz. Though Weltschmerz was officially linked to only two incidents, both had been far too significant to ignore.

The auction heist and this laboratory raid.

Do Chae-hee drew a mask underneath the ‘Weltschmerz’ name.

“The mask-wearing man.”

He was likely Weltschmerz’s leader or mastermind – the face behind it all. His talent appeared water-related, though his exact rank was unknown. But considering how he had summoned and controlled several tons of water at the scene, he was estimated at minimum B-rank, potentially even A-rank.

However, during this laboratory raid, there had been no traces of water whatsoever. For someone with such water manipulation abilities, he could have easily erased all evidence, yet there had been no attempt to do so.

Beneath the ‘mask-wearing man,’ Do Chae-hee wrote the letter ‘A’ to denote another suspected individual involved in the laboratory raid. This person had bludgeoned people’s skulls through sheer brute force alone. Based on the strides and footprints left behind, this individual was estimated over 185cm tall.

Distinct from the mask-wearing man.

This person’s identity remained completely unknown. Unlike the leader whom Do Chae-hee had at least witnessed, she hadn’t seen this individual at all.

While bloodstains had been discovered, the severe contamination rendered any DNA extraction impossible. Or perhaps the sample itself had been contaminated from the very start, differing from normal human DNA.

‘A modified human…?’

It wasn’t an implausible possibility. If the assistance of such modified humans had enabled infiltrating this previously unknown facility, it would explain how they had succeeded.

In any case, there had been this ‘A’ individual and another ‘B’ individual present.

The victims killed by ‘B’ had cleanly severed necks from what seemed like a dagger, with no signs of hesitation and extremely smooth cut surfaces – indicating considerable dagger skills.

Only two bodies had been discovered, but it was unclear if the mask-wearing man and ‘B’ were the same person or not. At minimum, Weltschmerz currently comprised two to three confirmed members.

Additionally, the bloody footprints on the floor indicated the children present had been abducted by Weltschmerz.

Seeing those tiny, blood-soaked footprints, Do Chae-hee bit her lip hard.

An estimated ten children had been present in that laboratory facility.

And the number of additional victims was too numerous to count.

The more Do Chae-hee analyzed the data uncovered from that place, the paler her face grew. The researchers found slaughtered there had undoubtedly been reprehensible scum deserving of hell itself.

But those ten children were merely unfortunate victims who had barely survived that same hell. And Weltschmerz were the very scum who had abducted those pitiful victims.

“I’ll find them no matter what.”

So just wait until then, Weltschmerz bastards.

As Do Chae-hee ground her teeth, Park Cheol-wan brought welcome news.

[We’ve located one of the children from that orphanage!]

“I’ll head over there right away.”

It was the only lead they had. Do Chae-hee promptly departed for the scene. The child discovered from the orphanage gazed at her with a frightened expression.

Unfortunately, the child knew nothing of use. Everything had already concluded while they were asleep.

Except…

“A few days before that incident, there was this new kid who came. He was absolutely huge, but claimed to be twelve years old.”

“Twelve years old?”

“Yeah, but he seemed just like an adult.”

At those words, Do Chae-hee’s eyes narrowed.

“What happened to that child?”

“I don’t know.”

The orphanage’s records only listed four children. There was no information on any potential fifth child. But the child insisted there had definitely been another.

“Oh right, he kept asking us about something…”

Do Chae-hee retrieved a photo she always carried in her notebook and showed it to the child.

“Do you recognize this person?”

Even as she asked, part of her doubted they would. But if her sighting at the auction hadn’t been a mistake…

“Yeah, that’s him!”

In that moment, realization struck Do Chae-hee like a thunderbolt.

Han Seo-hyeon had been with Weltschmerz.

* * *

“Give me that.”

At Sa-ho’s beckoning gesture, a ketchup bottle floated through the air towards him.

Thump.

As I flicked a maltball at Sa-ho’s forehead, I said:

“I told you not to use your abilities.”

“But! He wasn’t giving it to me!”

The child pursed his lips petulantly.

“Still, you can’t do that.”

Each child possessed their own unique talent. And they didn’t hesitate to utilize those abilities once they had become accustomed to us after the initial two days of wariness.

The only one who still hadn’t revealed his abilities was Il-ho, currently glaring at me.

—That one always has such a scary expression.

Unlike the other children who had completely let their guard down after just a few days, Il-ho remained unable to relax, seeming unnaturally mature.

While he did look after the other kids, there was still a distinct wall separating him from us.

In contrast, Han Seo-hyeon and Kim Jae-ho blended seamlessly with the children, likely because they too possessed talents of their own. The kids didn’t even fear Han Seo-hyeon’s skeleton summon.

“Bone doll, bone doll.”

They even chased it around, affectionately nicknaming it a ‘bone doll.’

Kim Jae-ho didn’t seem too pleased by this development. Perhaps out of jealousy over having the skeleton steal the children’s attention from him, there had been instances where he attempted smashing the ‘bone doll.’

—It’s a heartwarming sight, but also an utter mess.

Ray’s words rang true – our base was indeed descending into chaos. Toys littered the floor no matter how much I scolded them, and the crayons I had provided for sketchbooks were used to scribble across walls and floors at every opportunity.

Observing it all, I could only shrug helplessly.

Well, it wasn’t as if they had ever experienced such carefree childhoods before. I decided to let them enjoy it for now.

As the kids horsed around per usual, Han Seo-hyeon called me over to talk. Wondering what he wanted to discuss, I headed over, only for him to broach an unexpected topic.

“I think we should make separate rooms for the kids.”

Ah, so he had been considering that. At his suggestion, I immediately shook my head.

“There’s no need for that.”

“But we can’t just keep them in that room forever…”

“The kids won’t be staying here long anyway.”

“Huh?”

“We’re villains, you know? We can’t keep children around forever.”

“Well, yeah, but still…”

“I’m planning to send them somewhere better, so don’t worry about it.”

While the children seemed perfectly content in this humble dwelling, it wasn’t a suitable environment for them to grow up in. I had already roughly decided on a potential place to relocate them. The main issue was how to transport them there, but I would find a way regardless.

“Being with us wouldn’t do them any good in the long run.”

After saying that, I patted Han Seo-hyeon’s shoulder.

As I turned to go do some laundry… another child grabbed my arm.

“Um.”

It was Il-ho.

“Hm?”

The child’s gaze was remarkably stern as he looked at me.

“What are your plans for us?”

“Hmm?”

“You said you won’t be keeping us here forever, right?”

It seemed he had overheard my conversation with Han Seo-hyeon. I scratched my cheek awkwardly. I had intended to inform them eventually, but I hadn’t expected it to be today.

However, I had no intentions of beating around the bush or lying.

“Yes, that’s right.”

At my affirmative response, the child bit his lip. Despite his small, frail appearance tugging at my conscience, I felt being upfront was better.

He might be a child, but old enough to understand his own circumstances and make judgments.

“Why?”

“This isn’t a good place for you all.”

“But I like it here.”

“Well, we can’t keep looking after you forever.”

The child chewed on his lip at my words.

“You’re going to make us leave no matter what we do?”

“Yes, you can’t stay.”

I stated it bluntly.

“Why not?”

I gave a bitter smile. No matter how mature he tried to act, he was still just a child.

“We’re bad people, you know. You saw it yourself – we’ve even killed people.”

“But you’re still the nicest people I know.”

Those words stung my heart once more. Yes, considering the environment they had endured, perhaps ‘killing people’ wasn’t that big of a crime to them. But that didn’t make it acceptable.

“No, that’s a huge misunderstanding. In any case, this uncle is a bad person who will continue doing bad things. I can’t involve innocent children like you in that.”

“Seo-hyeon and I are only six years apart in age.”

So he was eleven, not ten as I had assumed. But he was still far too young regardless.

“A six year gap at your ages is immense. You’re all still too weak and have so much left to learn. I don’t have the capacity to guide anyone properly right now. Yes, this uncle simply doesn’t have the luxury of taking responsibility for young children like you.”

After saying that, I added to Il-ho:

“But the place you’ll be going is good. It’s somewhere with kind people who will take good care of you and help guide you properly.”

Yet the child’s expression remained grim, likely worried I intended to simply sell them off.

“I know it’s hard to trust me, but…”

“I do trust you.”

To trust me so readily after barely knowing me a few days…

“You shouldn’t trust people so easily. For all you know, this uncle could have brought you here with ill intentions. So always remain skeptical, especially of those who seem kind.”

“You’re not going to sell us off or anything, right?”

“Well, no, but…”

“I can sense it.”

The child’s pupils turned emerald green.

“I can read minds. Yours is strangely difficult to read, but I can still tell if you’re lying or not.”

I blinked in surprise at the child’s revelation.

“It’s true. I can read everyone’s minds except yours.”

Ah, that must be due to my passive ability, Indomitable Will. But to be able to read minds – that was quite the dangerous talent.

“Even if I can’t see clearly, I know when you’re lying!”

—My, how troublesome! You’ve encountered your natural nemesis.

At Ray’s remark, I couldn’t help but let out a wry chuckle.

“Don’t place too much faith in that ability. Moreover, carelessly using it could be dangerous. Did you know your pupils light up whenever you utilize that talent?”

“Yeah.”

“If others notice that, they might try to harm you. So always be cautious when using your abilities.”

“Then you can just keep teaching me like this from now on, can’t you?”

“I’m afraid not. I’m sorry.”

At my firm stance, Il-ho finally ceased his persistence, biting his lip hard as he nodded weakly. Watching his dejected form leave, I let out a deep sigh.

—Come to think of it, I’ve never seen your pupils light up before.

‘Well, when I use my abilities, my pupils turn jet black instead.’

Unlike Han Seo-hyeon whose pupils merely rippled around the edges when using his necromancy, my ‘Truthful Lie’ ability manifested far more subtly – my pupils simply turned deep black. I hadn’t verified how my eyes appeared when using other abilities, however.

—I should observe that next time.

I nodded at Ray’s suggestion. While I hadn’t deemed it important until now, it wouldn’t hurt to be aware of such details in advance.

Honestly, I should relocate these kids before growing too attached. Despite vowing not to bond with them, the truth was I had already started developing feelings over this time together.

If more time passed, it might become too difficult to let them go.

However, relocating the children would be impossible through my efforts alone.

There was someone perfectly suited to assist with this particular matter.

It was also time to check on the status of my investments – hopefully that man hadn’t squandered all my funds.