The Villain's Reincarnation – Tired of Working Hard, I'm Slacking Off! The Peacefully Oblivious Slacker Avoids Ruin! - Chapter 28

After escorting the maid back to her room, I returned to my own—the hidden one that served as my real quarters.

Once I confirmed the soundproofing magic was properly in place, I raised my voice with joy.

“Tomorrow is going to be peaceful—!!”

I struck a triumphant fist pump into the air.

“Ahhh, as expected of the person Princess Elea looks up to! She’s too capable! Absolutely brilliant!!”

I was genuinely moved.

When the detection magic I’d secretly set up—just in case someone tried to attack the maid—was triggered in the middle of the night, I’d assumed the worst. But never did I imagine she would take action so quickly and decisively.

People don’t truly start thinking deeply unless they’re fully committed. Because it’s exhausting.

Knowing too much, thinking too much—it’s the enemy of a carefree, peaceful life.

That much, I can say with confidence, based on my previous life. And I also understand just how impressive her determination is.

I knew she was serious, but I never expected that at only eleven years old, she’d have the mental fortitude to push herself to the edge, face harsh reality, and keep thinking through it all.

In that sense, her love for her country is undoubtedly genuine.

“…Though I have to admit, I was scared for a moment when she suddenly made a beeline for the hidden back gate in her pajamas.”

I’d started keeping watch via clairvoyance shortly after she left her room.

At first, I’d been observing with mild curiosity, wondering what she was up to… until she began tracing the exact secret route I use when I sneak out of the mansion. I was sweating bullets by then.

The fact that she could reach the gate with only a few clues—whether she was fully conscious of it or not—says a lot about her instincts.

And beyond that, she’s hardworking, brave, and willing to face challenges head-on—as she just did.

Had she remained in a stable state within the story, there’s no doubt she would’ve been one of the most influential characters in the narrative.

(Why did the author write her into a broken state? To deepen Princess Elea’s appeal? No… that can’t be the only reason. With her talent, status, and personality, she could’ve been useful in so many plotlines. Which means… hmm. No, this isn’t something I should be thinking about.)

I stopped myself.

In this second life, I just want to live peacefully and quietly. That’s why knowing too much is dangerous.

I don’t plan to achieve anything like I did in my previous life.

Honestly, I’m having fun living without overthinking everything. Sure, not thinking deeply sometimes gets me into trouble—but I’ve accepted that as the cost of living this way.

Nothing in life comes free.

(Well, I’m only even thinking like this because I’m still in a position of influence. Once I retire, I can leave all this behind.)

I felt like my thoughts were becoming kind of scummy… but whatever. I’ll embrace it.

That’s the key in situations like this—own it and push through.

Hesitating and handling things halfway is the worst outcome.

I’ll slack off to the very edge of ruin and master the art of laziness.

I won’t think deeply. I won’t go digging for truth.

I’ll live freely and enjoy this second life.

I don’t care about the responsibilities that come with power, or whether everyone is saved or not.

There’s only one thing that matters:

Can I live peacefully, effortlessly, and happily?

If problems arise from this lifestyle… well, I’ll leave that for future me to worry about.

Right now, I just want to take it easy. So, good luck, future me.

(Well, I do have a gift from the heavens. So most problems should work themselves out, probably. And if worst comes to worst, I’ll just solve it all with brute force! Ahh, it’s nice to be on the unreasonable side for once!)

I’ll make full use of every advantage I’ve got.

Let’s keep thinking positively.

With that, I decided to mentally delete anything that might cause stress, and instead focus on the bright, lazy days ahead.

“Ahhh, thanks to the Knight Commander taking over for me tomorrow, I can sleep in until noon—heck yeah!!”

Sleeping in until noon really is the best.

And it’s all thanks to my excellent subordinates—and that Knight Commander.

Tomorrow, he’s agreed to handle everything in my place.

Why? Because my subordinates are too competent.

When your team is that good, sometimes all that’s left for the one at the top is to sign paperwork and take responsibility.

And the Knight Commander? He’s the perfect example of that situation.

Up until yesterday, I still had some semblance of responsibility. Since the princess was doing inspections throughout the city, I had a justifiable excuse to stay alert—under the pretense of being ready to respond immediately in case something happened.

But tomorrow is different.

Tomorrow is just the inspection of the knight order. I won’t even need to leave the estate.

In other words, security will be airtight, and if anything does happen, I can rush to the scene instantly.

Still, I thought the commander should be present during the inspection… but that’s where his competence became his own worst enemy.

The knights, for some reason—maybe influenced by me, maybe not—are full of flexible, capable people.

As such, they don’t just stand stiffly on duty. During travel and wait times, they actually engage in casual conversations. Apparently, they’ve even grown somewhat friendly with the royal entourage.

Naturally, most of those conversations revolve around the knight order. And according to the Knight Commander, the princess and her attendants already know so much about the knights now that he has nothing left to say or do tomorrow.

On top of that, the current training system isn’t helping either.

To include mentoring the next generation, the Knight Commander now leaves most instructional duties to his subordinates, particularly the Vice-Commander.

As a result, he himself has nothing on his plate. In fact, he told me that the Vice-Commander even insisted, “Please leave everything to me tomorrow. Take the day off and rest.”

Apparently, when this kind of thing happens, he usually does solo training. But that’s done outside the city, and in an emergency, he wouldn’t be able to respond in time.

So, there he was—at a standstill in his own way—confessing to me, the supreme slacker-in-chief, that he had absolutely nothing to do.

Seeing his predicament, I made him a suggestion:

“In that case, would you mind looking after the maid in my place tomorrow?”

And just like that, the Knight Commander gladly accepted my request.

(Ahhh, truly… I have the best subordinates!)

It’s a given that someone who holds the title of Knight Commander is competent—but he’s also a man of integrity.

Better still, he already knows the maid’s circumstances. I can entrust her to him without hesitation.

(I’d like him to support her just enough that she forgets I even exist.)

Sure, I helped her turn things around… but I probably stepped in a little too spectacularly.

She most likely holds me in quite high regard right now.

That’s not a bad thing—it means I’m less likely to be targeted by Princess Elea’s jealousy—but if her opinion of me becomes too high, it might lead to unreasonable expectations, and I’m not interested in that.

That said, I’d also like to avoid the disaster that happened on the first day when I tried too hard to tank my own reputation.

So instead, I’ve chosen a different strategy: boost everyone else’s reputation to make my presence feel smaller in comparison.

It’s dangerous if only my evaluation goes up—but if everyone else’s does, then it’s fine.

Why? Because that increases the reputation of the Mitsurugi household as a whole, which helps shift attention away from me individually. A perfect decoy.

And besides, the Mitsurugi family is on the protagonist’s side. Thinking of future allies like Satsuki and Yuuki, it’s better if our reputation is high.

Make no mistake—the Mitsurugi household was never about me being the villain.

(On the final day, Satsuki and Yuuki will be there. I’ll make sure their usual dedication shines, and they’ll naturally end up earning more praise than I do. Yes, this plan is flawless.)

A lot’s happened, but things are more or less lining up.

As for the attack, I’ve arranged for top-tier security on the final day—no problems there.

All that’s left is for her to stay on a positive path, and for us to smoothly meet again when that final day comes.

“Heh… now then, what should I do tomorrow?”

No matter the time or place, I never forget to slack off.

Seizing this golden opportunity for leisure, I fell asleep looking forward to the wonderfully idle day ahead.

“Tomorrow… is my day of freedom.”