I Became the Narrow-Eyed Villain in a Dropped Novel

Hillia held her breath as she notched an arrow to her bowstring.

The alarm bells had already rung. The humans would be swarming in any minute.

She had to shake off the pursuit before that happened.

Karl, carrying the heavy load on his back, couldn’t easily outrun the human tailing him.

She didn’t need to kill the pursuer—just tie them up, at the very least…

“It’s been a while, Miss Hillia.”

“?!”

She reflexively turned her bow and pulled back the string.

A narrow-eyed human greeted her with a bright smile and a wave.

“Falsh?”

“I’m honored you remember me.”

Seeing Falsh greet her so nonchalantly, her strength unintentionally left her.

“I’m busy right now. Talk later.”

“Ah, of course. I figured as much.”

A chill ran down her spine.

How did he know where to find me?

The moment she instinctively tried to retreat, something yanked at her leg.

“Ghhk!”

“Where are you off to in such a hurry?”

She twisted her body and loosed the arrow.

The arrow, aimed at his smug face, bounced off harmlessly when Falsh raised his staff.

“Dangerous, don’t you think? We’ve worked together before—you wound me.”

“Let go!”

“But of course.”

Hillia felt her body lift off the ground.

Before she could even grasp what was happening, she crashed into the dirt.

Even amidst all the surrounding chaos, the thud echoed loudly.

Groaning, she staggered to her feet and grabbed her bow.

“You traitorous bastard.”

“I must correct you there. I agreed to help take down human traffickers, not assist in a kidnapping.”

As annoying as it was, he had a point.

This narrow-eyed man was never a comrade—just a temporary partner.

Ordinary arrows wouldn’t work. She needed special ones.

The problem was, her quiver had flown far out of reach when she fell.

“What do you want?”

“Nothing much. Just hand over the human Karl took. Saves us both the hassle.”

“No.”

Hillia’s refusal was firm.

To find the others. To prevent further victims. She needed information.

“A shame.”

Falsh tilted his head with a face that said he didn’t mean it at all.

A shadowy black hand erupted from his shoulder.

As Hillia dove for the quiver, the hand narrowly scraped past her head.

!

It veered toward the quiver instead.

Gritting her teeth, Hillia lunged again.

She managed to snatch a few arrows just as the black hand gripped the quiver.

Falsh raised an eyebrow.

“Are those even arrows? They look more like spears.”

He wasn’t wrong—the arrows Hillia pulled out were unnaturally large. Too big for a normal person to even nock.

But she skillfully fired the one that was nearly half her height.

Falsh raised his staff and deflected it, stepping back slightly with a frown.

“…Not something to take lightly, I see.”

“You monster.”

Hillia loaded another.

The arrow wasn’t just large—it had a piercing enchantment inscribed by the Goral Tribe to bypass magical defenses.

And yet he had gotten away with just a bruised wrist.

Two of the heavy arrows remained.

She had maybe ten more hidden spares.

That wasn’t enough to win. She couldn’t even be sure she could drive him off.

Then the best she could do was buy Karl some time to escape.

“So much hesitation in the middle of a fight—not a good habit.”

The black hand swept the ground violently as it came at her.

Hillia leapt over it acrobatically and fired a few more arrows at Falsh, but they were useless.

Only the enchanted arrows are working!

She climbed a nearby tree and fired another piercing shot.

This time, Falsh didn’t deflect—it seemed he chose to dodge instead, leaping briefly into the air.

Now. This is my only shot. No more mana left after this.

She loaded her last enchanted arrow.

Her mana resonated with the magic in the arrowhead.

Then, a faint dissonance—foreign mana, not hers…

Boom!

A blinding flash and explosive sound followed as the arrowhead shattered.

The shockwave struck Hillia full force and knocked her off balance.

What the hell was that?

No time to think. She had to escape.

But the sharp pain wrapping her entire body left her unable to move a finger.

“A trap that detonates when it detects foreign mana. First time trying it, but it worked better than expected.”

Falsh grinned, deeply satisfied.

Hillia tried reaching for the dagger on her belt, but her limbs wouldn’t cooperate.

The black hand lifted her off the ground, and Falsh’s grinning face drew closer.

Hillia bit down hard on her lip.

“If you’re going to kill me, just do it, Falsh.”

“Why would I do that? You're far too entertaining to kill. But more importantly…”

The smile vanished from Falsh’s face.

Hillia unconsciously swallowed dryly.

“You may call me Count Valheit now.”

***

The noise came from Hillia’s direction…

Karl, who had his sword at Hendrick’s throat, glanced toward the villa.

No sign of Hillia, who was supposed to be covering them.

Something had clearly gone wrong.

“There’s no point in running. Let him go.”

The human in front of him spoke calmly.

He had drawn his sword but wasn’t aiming it—signaling he didn’t intend to strike.

With Hillia out of commission, Karl couldn’t think of a way to shake this guy off.

Fighting while carrying a burden wasn’t feasible. No backup. If anything, he needed to be the backup.

Only one option left: negotiation.

“That’s not gonna work.”

“What do you want, then?”

“Information. About those trafficking Demons.”

“…That’s not an easy promise to make.”

Blaiher’s expression turned troubled.

“If you can’t give me that, then we’ve got nothing to talk about.”

The human hesitated briefly before nodding with resolve.

“I can’t do it now. But I’ll make sure those who bought and sold Demons are punished.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“…Because I’m the next Emperor of the Eslick Empire.”

Karl stared at him, skeptical.

The next Emperor? If that were true, what was he doing in a place like this?

“I, the Emperor’s uncle, vouch for him. He will be the next Emperor.”

Hendrick hastily added.

Emperor’s uncle?

Karl had heard he was a high-ranking figure—but not this high.

“The Empire’s a mess. Nobles doing whatever they want, which is why things like Demon trafficking happen. If I become Emperor, I’ll put an end to it.”

Blaiher spoke with conviction, but Karl shot back.

“You gonna hand them over to us? The ones who got rich off our blood should be judged by us.”

“…I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Imperial law states only humans can punish humans.”

“So once again, you’ll handle everything among yourselves and leave us out.”

Blaiher opened his mouth to respond, but no words came.

It wasn’t wrong.

But legally and politically, entrusting justice to the Demon Tribe wasn’t an option either.

As Blaiher hesitated, Karl’s gaze shifted.

On the villa roof—Hillia, caught in a black hand.

Next to her, Falsh grinned and gestured for them to come.

Damn it, I should've known that a bastard was lurking around.

Falsh mimed slitting his throat, then pointed to Hillia’s neck.

If they killed the hostage, Hillia would die too.

“…Do as you will. Doubt the old man has any useful intel anyway.”

Karl released the burdensome old man.

While Blaiher looked stunned and checked on Hendrick, Karl slipped into the shadows, heading toward the villa.

***

Karl releasing Hendrick put my mind at ease.

Even if the odds were low, Hendrick dying would’ve been a huge loss.

I set Hillia down beside me, the Mana Grasp releasing her.

Seeing her cough violently made me feel a little guilty.

“Now, now, don’t worry. Your companions will be reunited soon enough. You’ll return safely.”

“You bastard…”

Hillia growled between hacking coughs, nearly vomiting blood.

Did I overdo it?

I reached toward her to check—when a cold voice cut in.

“Get your hand off my comrade.”

Karl had silently climbed onto the villa roof.

Embarrassed, I greeted him with exaggerated cheer.

“Been well, Mr. Karl?”

I quickly added, so he wouldn't get the wrong idea.

“It was mutual, I assure you. I didn’t just beat her up one-sidedly.”

Before Karl could reply, the clash of steel silenced us.

Below, Joseph and a figure in a hood and scarf—Til—were fighting.

Joseph’s blade glowed with fierce energy, while Til narrowly dodged and struck with her spear.

“Looks like Mr. Noah got away clean. No casualties—a fine day indeed.”

“This was all your plan, wasn’t it?”

Karl growled while helping Hillia stand.

I waved my hands and shook my head.

“Not all of it. Half of it was Til’s. She wanted to see how far her student had come. Though yes, the other half was mine.”

“Why? And who the hell are you? You’re clearly no ordinary man if you’ve got the Emperor’s uncle and the crown prince under your thumb.”

“Not a bad deduction.”

I swayed my staff and smiled.

We’d be seeing each other often. Best to leave a lasting impression.

“I already told Miss Hillia—but I’m Count Valheit. Consider this our formal introduction.”

“Count Valheit…”

Karl repeated the name like he was testing it.

So the Demon Tribe hadn’t yet heard of my reputation.

“What did you mean by ‘we’ll be seeing each other’?”

“Oh, who knows. Figuring that out is half the fun, isn’t it?”

I dodged the question with a cryptic smile.

“But since we’re tangled up anyway, let me give you a hand.”

I paused briefly to gauge his reaction.

He looked somewhere between furious and curious.

“Start with the Dix Autonomous District.”

“What?”

BOOM—

His reply was drowned out by a thunderous noise.

Dust billowed up as Joseph stood alone.

Below the villa, the Border Guard had surrounded the area.

It meant the operation was nearly over.

“Our rendezvous has been interrupted by the Border Guard. Until next time, everyone.”

Leaving a contemplative Karl behind, I made my way out of the villa.

Once outside, I opened the Status Window.

[TIMER]

▶ Death Probability for Valheit: 77.2%

Still higher than I expected.

As for the countdown to world destruction…

[288 chapters until World Destruction]

It was steadily ticking down.