Wouldn't it be great if everything in the world ran on assumptions and circumstantial evidence? If everything went exactly as I predicted and people moved exactly as I wanted, nothing could be better. That's how I felt about catching Ira now. I wanted her to do something suspicious as quickly as possible and give me the evidence I needed.
But the only proof that Ira was a fraud was her status window. Since she hadn't actually done anything wrong yet, publicly accusing her was still out of reach. Even if I shouted, "You're a fraud!" she wouldn't just admit it with a polite "Yes, I am!"
If I pushed too hard without evidence, it could backfire and make me look suspicious. Catching an infiltrator is easy, but once they turn into a thief, it becomes a hassle.
In the game, Ira betrays Lucius just before the hero's party arrives. After looking into it, I found out she's a new maid who recently started working at the mansion. Her work ethic was so good that she was assigned to assist the lord directly.
Of course, no matter how gullible Lucius is, he wouldn't suddenly hand over accounting duties to a stranger. Ira must have worked closely with the lord for quite some time, earning his trust.
At this point, I needed to figure out exactly where we were in the game's timeline. Right now, I had three urgent tasks: one, deal with Ira; two, prevent the NTR event; and three, defeat the Demon King.
These three tasks were interconnected. The event where Sieria is forced to marry the NTR guy happens roughly one month to one week before the hero's party arrives. The event where Ira steals money and flees also happens around a week before.
Finally, the Demon King's revival is about halfway complete when the average four-person hero party arrives at Lucius's territory.
Why is the Demon King's revival halfway done when an average four-person party arrives? Because in *Heroine Legend*, the game's difficulty is determined by the number of party members. Each time you recruit a companion, you have to sit through lengthy events, which advance the in-game calendar.
So, if the protagonist rushes to the Demon King's castle without recruiting anyone or watching any events, the Demon King wouldn't even have started the revival ritual. The protagonist would just barge in and kill everyone, black-robed mastermind included.
On the other hand, if the protagonist recruits every possible companion and completes all quests, they'd face a fully powered-up Demon King in a brutal bloodbath.
So, the game boils down to this: do you defeat the Demon King with a moderately sized party, or do you take your time, build up your strength, and then fight tooth and nail to win? After my independent investigation, I found that the prophecy naming the hero hadn't even been revealed yet. The elf princess, one of the heroines, was still safely in her forest, nowhere near meeting the hero.
This meant that Ira's betrayal and the NTR guy's activities were still a ways off. So, I thought, why not just defeat the Demon King myself?
Because if the hero enters the black-robed mastermind's mansion without any events, they'd be around level 20. The mastermind is just an ambitious lord, so the hero could kill him with a single strike.
Even at level 20, they could one-shot the final boss.
But Lucius is currently level 36, and his class is a Demon King-slaying priest. Plus, I've played the game, so I know who the mastermind is. And the mastermind's territory is ridiculously close to Lucius's—if you ride a horse, it's about a week round trip. Not exactly easy, but not impossible either.
However, since the prophecy naming the hero hasn't been revealed yet, the Demon King's revival isn't even in the planning stages. If I just stormed the mastermind's house and slaughtered his family, I'd be labeled a mad killer.
No matter how respected Lucius is, this kind of act wouldn't be excused. Even a lord can't kill another lord's citizens without consequences—it could lead to a territorial war or a trial. And a trial would be a huge headache.
To sum it up: I need to deal with Ira, stop the NTR event, and defeat the Demon King. To defeat the Demon King, I'd have to travel far. Since there's still time before the Demon King's revival, I'll focus on Ira first. I'll gather evidence and crush her, eliminating the internal threat.
Why not just fire her? If I do that, she'll come back disguised as a thief. That'd be annoying, so I'll gather solid evidence, catch her in the mansion, and torment her to my heart's content.
She's got big breasts and a pretty face. If this were an adult game, what would you do with someone like her?
So, I started planning how to take down Ira. If she didn't show her hand, I'd force her to. I didn't have the time or reason to wait for her to commit fraud.
First, I began studying Ira's behavior. With her pink hair and freckles, she wakes up at 6 a.m. every day, asks about my well-being, and prepares my change of clothes. Then, she joins the other maids in cleaning the mansion and tidying up after the knights' training sessions.
By the way, the knights have been loyal to Lucius's father, Sirius, since his time, so they're trustworthy. In the game, they only express concern or loyalty for "Lord Lucius" and never say anything else.
After cleaning up the training mess, it's lunchtime. Ira eats with the other maids, then immediately assists the lord with his duties. Since the territory is small, there aren't many projects or large expenses, so my workload is light.
Honestly, Ira looks more stressed standing next to me while I work. She stands by during my work hours, ready to fetch anything I need.
"Could you get me some water?"
"Yes."
To sum up my observations of Ira's work: she works incredibly hard. After my work hours, she has dinner, then cleans the mansion again during the evening. At night, the servants and maids take turns patrolling the mansion.
Then, she wakes up again at 6 a.m. to repeat the cycle. It's like a crazy job with no sleep and work starting at 6 a.m.
The lord's mansion pays well, but even so, the harsh working conditions are too much. Maybe Ira wasn't originally a fraud—maybe she's planning to escape because of the brutal labor conditions?
"Ira, isn't the work too hard?"
"Huh?"
So, I probed her like this, and she looked at me with wide eyes, then quickly shook her head. Her eyes were tired, but she didn't show it. Her surprised acting and the way she urgently shook her head, as if the idea was absurd, were so convincing it was almost laughable.
And the way her chest bounced every time she shook her head was equally absurd. Her pink hair, tied down like Anne of Green Gables, made her look like an innocent country girl.
"No! It's fine, my lord. I should be more helpful to you, but I'm just not good enough..."
Of course, Ira's flawless acting was undone by that excessive flattery. In these harsh conditions, anyone saying that must either be brainwashed or have an ulterior motive. She should've stopped at "It's fine, not hard at all." Overdoing the flattery only raises suspicion.
That evening, I started digging into Ira's background.
I entrusted the task to Robin, the captain of the knights, who is loyal to me both in the game and in real life. Isn't it too much to ask the captain for such a tedious job? In this small territory with only ten knights, the captain's position is actually quite idle.
So, when Robin wandered around, the maids and servants just thought, "Oh, it's Robin again," and didn't find it strange. It didn't quite fit his image as captain, but since he worked hard when it mattered, I didn't interfere.
After a week of Robin monitoring Ira, a report landed on my desk. Cleverly, Robin noticed Ira was nearby and labeled it a "Regular Knight Patrol Report" before handing it over. I calmly looked at Ira and said,
"Could you get me some water?"
Fetching water is the most time-consuming task for Ira. Since there are no water purifiers in this world, she has to go to the kitchen on the first floor, while my office is on the third.
After Ira left, I told Robin,
"Report."
"Yes. Maid Ira has been consistently boasting about her accounting skills to those around her. She periodically tells the head maid that her abilities could be of great help to you, my lord."
It was within expectations. She wouldn't get accounting duties right away, but by consistently showcasing her skills and diligence, even the strict head maid would eventually suggest to me that Ira should handle the accounts.
Once she gets the accounting job, she'll start handling larger sums of money. Gradually, she'll gain control, and at some point, she'll flee with a fortune. I wasn't planning to wait that long.
"And, she's been meeting regularly with guard Karl..."
"Really?"
This could be interesting. I didn't care if Ira was a virgin or not. Being a fraud, she'd probably slept around plenty.
"Robin, I have a plan."
"Speak, my lord."
I felt the corners of my mouth rise.
Ira thought Lucius Peta was acting strangely lately. She'd always thought he was odd, but now it was different. If before he was abnormal in his saint-like behavior, now he was abnormal in his growing normalcy.
The Lucius she knew seemed like a saint plucked straight from heaven. He had no interest in material possessions, and his daily activities consisted of prayer, mass, and territorial duties.
Having worked with him for the past two months, Ira knew this better than anyone. He was too pure to be human, which made him easy to exploit.
But lately, Lucius's behavior was off. The man who'd never looked disheveled was now wearing his clothes slightly askew or working with messy hair.
On top of that, he'd started asking about her well-being, something he'd never done before. Ira wondered if the lord had finally gone mad—or maybe he'd finally come to his senses.
"Is the work too hard?"
"No! It's fine, my lord. I should be more helpful to you, but I'm just not good enough..."
Something felt off. No matter how she thought about it, something was wrong. Ira's instincts, honed from 20 years of fraud, screamed that Lucius was dangerous now. His pointed ears, clear eyes, and pale skin were the same, but something about him had changed. The way he looked at her, the way he spaced out during work—it was all suspicious.
"What's so strange? Maybe he's fallen for you?"
Guard Karl brushed off Ira's concerns, insisting that Lucius was as gullible as ever. He boldly declared that the lord, who had taken him in despite his gambling debts, would remain a pushover. Karl showed no gratitude for the lord's kindness, only shamelessness.
"No, I have a really bad feeling. He's onto me."
"Nah, he's clueless. Did you even ask Lucius to give you accounting duties?"
"I only told the head maid. I didn't ask for the job, just said I was confident."
"See? If he thought you were suspicious, he'd just assign you to something else. Why keep you around?"
"Maybe..."
Ira nodded, accepting Karl's optimism. Guard Karl, a corrupt soldier who suggested selling out the lord to pay off his 2 gold gambling debt. Karl had proposed they run away together, but Ira planned to steal the lord's money and flee alone. A gambling addict was even less trustworthy than a fraud. Especially one with a 2 gold debt on a 10 silver salary.
"Where should we set up our newlywed home? Should we go big and move to the capital?"
"That sounds good."