Shin watched Eva struggle to push herself up, her body trembling, her strength already gone.
He already knew how this would end. He had been watching from a safe distance, calmly waiting for his bodyguard to arrive.
When he finally saw Hiroto, Shin moved, stepping into the house. He had no intention of letting his future slave die in a place like that.
"Enough," he ordered.
Without a trace of hesitation in his eyes, Shin stepped forward and placed his obese body squarely between Eva and Izumi, shielding her completely.
"Die too!" Izumi let out a strangled scream, charging forward with reckless intent, the knife raised high.
But Shin didn't move. He wanted to give the hero a chance to shine. Before Izumi could reach him, a blur struck from the side.
Hiroto attacked.
His movements were clunky, but controlled. He twisted Izumi's wrist just enough for the knife to clatter to the floor. Then he shifted his weight, forcing the man down by the arm and shoulder, pinning him in place.
Hiroto had learned not to charge like an idiot. Still, he had a lot to learn about martial arts. He was far too innocent, but Shin would work on fixing those flaws soon.
As Hiroto held Izumi immobilized, Shin turned his attention to Eva, who made a single, strange request.
"Can you… Be my master?"
Shin smiled softly, hearing exactly what he had expected.
The reason was simple. Eva's lust for Shin had remained above ninety percent since their first encounter.
Her respect for him had reached ninety-two percent.
Then there was affection, which had recently dropped to minus eighty-two percent. But love and hate are closely related emotions.
And as her soul shattered, her view of the world had changed drastically.
As insane as it was, she felt grateful to Shin for what he had done.
He had broken her. He had exposed her weakness. He had taught her a painful but valuable lesson.
And in her most vulnerable moment, he had saved her.
Her affection shifted to 82% positive. With that, the criteria to tame a girl were satisfied.
Eva, seeing no way out of her situation, no way to pull herself together, wanted to cling to the only thing that seemed reliable.
If Shin was the only truly strong person she knew, then he would be the one to teach her. In her mind, "Master" would be more of a mentor, but that mattered little now.
A system screen materialized before Shin's eyes:
[Minimum conditions have been met. Do you wish to use
(Yes) / (No)
Shin subdued the queen, leaning down to console her while her "boyfriend" held down the dangerous criminal.
"Very well, you can be my slave. I'll tell you what you need to do soon. For now, I'll deal with your boyfriend and the assassin," Shin murmured.
"Master, shouldn't I break up with him?" she asked.
"Yes, but not yet."
"As you wish," she agreed and fell silent. Her master's decisions were absolute.
Shin had a very simple reason for that order: he intended to use Eva to teach Hiroto another valuable lesson.
With slow, deliberate steps, he approached the spot where Izumi was being restrained. At this point, he had several options: kill Izumi, have him arrested, or try to recruit him.
By far, the most difficult path was the third one. But fortunately for the young man, Shin was not afraid of difficulty.
"Is he really the one behind those malicious posts?" Hiroto asked, turning to Shin.
"Haha! Are you that witch's boyfriend?" Izumi shouted madly as he struggled.
"Yes, he's the one who did it," Shin replied calmly.
"Why?!" Hiroto shouted. "Why would you do something like that? You monster, why try to destroy someone else's life?"
Losing control, the hero tightened his grip around Izumi.
"Why…? Because that bitch destroyed my life!" Izumi screamed.
Calming things down, Shin placed his right hand on Hiroto's shoulder.
"Let him go."
"But… are you sure? He's aggressive."
"Yes. He's not dangerous without a knife. Besides, I doubt you want to kill him by accident."
Reluctantly, Hiroto agreed and released Izumi, who stood up furiously, hurling more insults at Eva.
"You'll regret defending that witch! She'll destroy your lives too!" he shouted desperately.
"Why do you keep lying about her?" Hiroto punched a wall in anger, making the house tremble.
"He isn't lying, at least not entirely. That's why Eva will tell the truth in front of the entire school on the first day of the festival," Shin stated, then turned his gaze to Eva.
The girl blinked in surprise. At that moment, speaking in public sounded absolutely terrifying to her.
But if it was her master's order, there was only one possible answer.
"Yes…" she murmured, her body trembling softly. "I made mistakes in the past that hurt the people around me, but I will clear everything up."
"Apologize," Shin instructed gently.
Eva obeyed immediately, bowing deeply and offering a sincere apology for the horrible things she had done to Izumi.
For a brief moment, her beauty made Izumi's hatred waver. But obviously, a simple apology could never undo what had happened.
"You… you destroyed my life!" he screamed with renewed hatred.
Hiroto, meanwhile, remained silent, lost in deep thought. The angelic image he had of Eva was beginning to crack.
"If you know what she did, why are you still on her side?!" Izumi shouted furiously, turning his attention to Shin.
"Indeed, she deserves to be punished for what she did, and I will do so later," Shin murmured calmly.
"But she didn't destroy your life. You did."
"Me?!"
Izumi flew into a violent rage, trying to attack Shin. But it was useless; his punches couldn't even penetrate the thick layer of fat the man possessed.
"If it weren't for those rumors..."
"If it hadn't been Eva, someone else would have destroyed your life. After all, it was a house of cards," Shin explained.
Izumi tried to strike him once more, but to no effect.
"Was it Eva who made you stalk Amane after she rejected you?"
"No, but…"
"Is it her fault your mother is a piece of trash who's never home? Or I suppose she was the one who made you pick a fight with the only friend who actually cared about you..."
Shin knew everything about the tragic life Izumi had led. He knew more about Izumi than Izumi knew about himself.
He knew the boy had been walking along the edge of a cliff for a long time. It only took a light breeze to knock him off.
"You've always been weak. That's why you've lived, and still live, at the mercy of others."
"And what could I have done? No one would have believed me!"
"Maybe not, but people's attention shifts in an instant. They tried to accuse me of a crime, and I'm still perfectly fine," Shin remarked with an arrogant smile.
At that moment, something clicked in Izumi's mind. Only then did he recognize the man standing before him.
The person Eva had tried to destroy by planting a false accusation. And also... the person who had given him the tip he needed to hack Eva's computer.
Izumi laughed out loud, realizing that from the very beginning, he had been eating out of the palm of Shin's hand. He was just a pawn Shin had used to get what he wanted.
One look at Eva was enough to see she had changed. Izumi remembered how that arrogant woman had obeyed Shin without hesitation.
He actually managed to break her and put her in her place, all in just a few days... Izumi thought, admitting defeat.
He had been utterly humiliated.
"And even now, the one destroying your life is yourself. Just look around, this place is a dump."
With vacant eyes, Izumi stared at his surroundings. His whole body trembled with a flood of emotions he couldn't even comprehend. Regardless, he had been defeated.
"I give up..." he muttered, falling to his knees. "I'll turn myself in."
"No," Shin surprised him by saying. "You're going to help me, and in exchange, I'll rebuild your life. What do you think?" He smiled kindly.
"But... you surely have enough evidence to lock me up. And I don't think you need me for anything."
"I still want to save you. And don't worry, there is not a single person in the world who can't be useful. All you need is proper instructions."