A Regressed Villain: Heroines, Villainesses and Me?

The office room was like a library in a movie – really quiet, except for the soft creaks of the wooden floor when someone moved.

The walls had tall shelves loaded with leather-bound books and scrolls, making it feel very official.

In the middle, there was a round table with a shiny surface that reflected the dim light from a chandelier above.

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Around the table, seven mayors and three other officials – specifically the chief of the guard from the North and two other individuals – were seated, glancing at the papers in front of them.

It was so still in there that you could almost feel it waiting for something to happen.

"What should we do now?"

Breaking the silence was the voice of a middle-aged man – the mayor of the East – seated in one of the chairs with his eyes downcast and his fists clearly clenched, showing how unexpectedly he assumed there was a revolt.

It appeared that everything that had been happening within the territory was by the order of the Marquess.

".....The Marquess would have a good reason behind all this," the mayor from the South-East replied, a clear sign of consolation in his words that seemed self-assuring rather than trying to convince others that everything that had occurred was for the welfare of the territory.

Given he himself had several doubts, as one of them had died and there was no guarantee it would not be their turn next.

"Hm, it's hard to say," the Mayor of the West Province understood the severity of the situation, given the atmosphere within the office room was tense and the clear hint of the people hardly managing to make rational sense of this situation where they seemed to be under threat all the time.

Specifically, those who were now in the position of mayor had been in a geoparadise where their lives weren't guaranteed.

It appeared as though everyone inside the room was well aware that their words of consolation wouldn't make any difference, given that the final verdict would be delivered by the head of the family, on whom order they all had gathered inside the office room, waiting patiently for his arrival.

KRIEEEK

And as they expected, the time finally came when the sound from the door inside the room, appearing to be pin-drop silent, resonated.

It was a clear hint of the arrival of the person whom they were already anticipating, but still the slight bit of anxiousness, worry, and mixed fear in the room revealed their turmoil inside.

Sweet beats and that crumble inside the pupils were far more than enough to show that they were clearly horrified.

At the same time, they hoped for one of them to handle the situation, given it was the first time in history that a mayor, who were mostly from the branch family, had been killed.

"It's rather a sight, isn't it?"

Entered Avendial, and at the first glance, he noticed the clear expressions of everyone who was once considered the heads of branch families, holding their pride now broken into sweat.

Considering no matter how strong an individual is, the threat of death most probably makes them bow, even if it means swallowing their own pride, evident from the people inside the room, among whom most had run away in his past life after fearing death.

Not that he was going to get back at those who wanted to survive.

After all, why would he be angry with someone trying to survive?

Instead, this anger was only directed at those who not only tried to survive themselves but also betrayed, hoping that by sacrificing those whom they had served for longer than they could remember, they would be left unscathed.

Added to his prior knowledge that these people would run away at the threat of death, it gave him complete control to ensure their loyalty in a way that would guarantee that running away would not make things better as he entered the room.

"Greetings, Marquess.

I hope your journey was fruitful."

"Welcome, Marquess.

It's a delight....."

One after another, all the mayors slowly stood from their seats, their line of sight now noticing the arrival of that figure, greeting him with the utmost sincerity.

Considering it wasn't their first time in his presence and following this same etiquette, yet today, not only was there respect but also fear induced by the threat of them being killed just like the mayor of the Northeast.

'Who is she?'

Aria, who seemed to halt at the doorstep, noticed the way everyone inside the room seemed to belong to nobility, evident from their dresses and that aura which clearly seemed similar to that of a wise person.

She hesitated, but pressing past her was a salute from a woman whose amethyst hair tied in a ponytail was the only thing visible to Aria, considering her gauge flickered.

Blinking brought Aria out of her hesitation, and she also, with steady steps, started to follow behind her, her mind trying to understand this woman.

Aria knew that this woman was not a normal human at the least, evident from that very status window which showed the illogical stats, which no matter how much Aria thought didn't make sense.

Given she could see that this woman was slender, beautiful, and clearly appeared as though she was a normally fragile woman, still, her strength stats stated: 2700/100.

To put it simply, that 100 here represented a strong adult weightlifter who was able to lift 500 kilograms of weight.

Given her stat value, it was already indigestible that this woman would be comparable to 27 of those weightlifters, adding a total weight of 13,500 KG (29,762.405 pounds) which she would be able to lift.

And with that thin hand at that?

'Are there more of such people?'

Though she had been clearly informed about the existence of imperials and the people who possess awakened abilities, it was still confusing for Aria to digest this fact.

Given she believed him, now witnessing through her eyes the strength of this woman in particular, who finally halted beside Avendial as he took his seat, Aria, standing on the other side, couldn't help but peek glances.

Not only that, but according to the warning given by Avendial, Aria knew that this woman was dangerous.

Considering he had clearly warned her about this, but still, she wasn't able to stop herself from taking a peek at the status window of that woman, prompting her head to tilt slightly with her eyes side-glancing.

// Look again and you are dead //

'!?'

'What the....?', Aria, hearing a voice in her mind, was slightly taken aback given the familiarity of the voice appearing womanly prompted her to realize it was from the woman named Rivia on whom she was taking glances, prompting Aria to look at the front, narrowing her gaze as she realized that indeed she was not noticing that whenever she looked toward others' status windows for them, it would seem that she was looking at them.

Given it was her first day awakening this ability, she had seemed to neglect this fact.

Now hearing that warning prompted her to halt as she focused her vision more intently on the meeting, given she could see every other person's status window, which showed none of them had much difference from a normal adult human.

"Marquess, if we may, can we know the reason why—" One of the mayors seated, gathering his strength as he took his seat, while others did too, in quiet, looking towards the head of the rounded table, where the man with silver hair sat, seemingly composed, even after telling them it was his orders and not their doing.

"The Northeast Mayor was involved in bribery, spying, and selling resources allotted to his Province to others," Avendial interrupted, his words clearly a lie. Given the restricted network and the established system to monitor such traitors, there was no way for anyone to sell things out of the territory without being noticed.

'!?'

"Wh-what!?"

"B-but how!"

One after another, everyone seemed to be taken aback by such a revelation, considering they were aware of the security measures implemented to prevent such activities.

And now, a mayor had managed to bypass all the security measures and sell resources from the territory to others.

How is this even possible?!

"How would I know?" Avendial said with a raised eyebrow, clearly having no reason to entertain these people or explain how he wanted to get rid of that mayor, as he might betray him in the future.

He made up things that seemed to provide a valid reason for execution while resting his hands on the teacup brought by the servants, taking a sip, uncaring about the shock etched on these people's faces.

"Huh? Y-yes, but...." Even though they were clearly taken aback and wanted to retaliate against his words about how he could execute the mayor without knowing how he bypassed the system, none of them gathered the courage to speak up, as they could sense the malice directed at the woman holding the sword standing beside him.

"Forget that and tell me, how much money do you all have stored outside the territory in the form of liquidity, bonds, gold, and any other form?" Avendial, not beating around the bush, came directly to the point, stating firmly his intent for the day was to secure these people's funds or bring them back inside the territory.

No matter how strong the security was, if these people decided to store their money outside, there would be no way to keep track of it.

Various methods could allow one to accept a deal outside the territory and then transfer that money into a fake account.

'!?!'