After I died, my personal maid rebelled.

After an unknown period of slumber, Oswald Charles slowly opened his eyes as consciousness returned to his body.

Before me was the familiar Western-style palace ceiling, and the mural of the Virgin Mary embracing the Child that I had seen for many years.

Bright, clear sunlight streamed into the room, making the air slightly chilly. Only the roaring fireplace offered any warmth.

I'm back here again... Kiritsugu... No, why am I back?!

Oswald jumped out of bed, threw off the covers, and rushed to the window to check, not even having time to put on his shoes.

In the distance, snow-capped mountains rise majestically, their peaks as steep as I remember. Yes, this is the Northern Duke's Mansion.

He slapped himself hard again, and the sharp pain made him realize that this was not a dream.

Rubbing his temples, Oswald took a deep breath and spoke in his mind.

(Commander, are you still there?)

[Yes, host]

The crystal-clear mechanical voice echoed in his mind, but for some reason, compared to the usual bureaucratic tone, Oswald felt it sounded somewhat weak at this moment.

(I remember I've completed my role-playing mission. According to the contract, you should send me back and give me a bonus of 20 million.)

……

[Sorry, host, something unexpected happened.]

"That's unexpected," Oswald asked, crossing his arms and pondering for a moment.

(Does this have anything to do with me?)

[No……]

(So, are you trying to play dumb with me now?)

……

Silence is Cambridge tonight.

As envisioned, Oswald, having completed his time-travel mission, should awaken again in the driver's seat of a dump truck, playing music while searching for the next lucky time-traveling youth.

"Life, can you please spare me this once? This time, I just want to be a child who doesn't want to grow up."

What a beautiful scene it was, but now everything is ruined.

Although he had little attachment to the past, Oswald still harshly criticized the system's breach of contract.

That's twenty million! Although it's not enough to make him a tycoon, it's enough for him to live a carefree life.

He was completely at ease, just like at home. In fact, he simply found his clothes in his own closet and changed into them. As Oswald walked out of the room, he listened to the system's constant private messages.

Incidentally, he also sorted out the story after his death.

Oswald, also known as Tian Hao, has been in this world for many years. According to the system's instructions, he needs to play the role of a whimsical, ambitious, warmongering, and extremely servile supporting character, Duke.

According to the storyline, as the most powerful force in the north resisting the demons, he always wanted to go south to attack the king and take his place, which led to constant friction between the two sides.

Our protagonist, the hero Thorne, arrives in the north with the king's decree and his own party (harem) to deal with Oswald, who harbors rebellious intentions. He proposes an attack plan whereby the northern army draws away the main force of the demons, while the hero's party maneuvers around to behead the demon marshal.

This plan is so stupid that not only Oswald, but even Tian Hao is unwilling to carry it out.

After all, the core of this world is an eroge (adult game) with tower defense elements... Yes, Oswald covered his face and wept, this is a eroge world!

It's common knowledge that in the world of adult games, few men, whether main or supporting characters, are normal. Oswald, as a firsthand victim, feels he has a lot to say about this.

The male supporting character in a hentai game should be abstract, not serving to belittle the protagonist, and should not have any merits that surpass the protagonist.

Otherwise, everyone would discover that the male lead is also a genius, the kind with a five-character ID. You agree, right, Thorne Black?

Therefore, the hero squad's so-called flanking decapitation was nothing more than a foolish plan to rush to the vicinity of the demon army camp, then set up a defensive posture and wait for the enemy to attack.

In tower defense games, you rely entirely on defense to clear levels, which is understandable.

But this is also the real world!

After arriving here, Oswald realized that, setting aside the plot and the game itself, everything here was incredibly real.

In battles fought on the snowy plains of the north, cavalry reigns supreme!

Without a strong cavalry force, do you really think you can repel the demon army with just mages and archers on the city walls? Don't be ridiculous. As a duke who rules over a region, Oswald isn't that foolish.

But the hero's casual remark, coupled with the king's strict orders, led to the annihilation of the kingdom's last cavalry legion capable of field battles in the tide of the demon king's army. Both sides suffered heavy casualties, including Oswald's own life.

In return, the hero naturally earned immortal merit for slaying the demon marshal.

Of course, Oswald's actions in the story were all bizarre, so everyone thought he deserved what he got, but we won't go into that here.

In order to go back to his own world, Tian Hao naturally followed the plot and carried out that foolish plan, eventually successfully completing the filming.

All that's left is for the hero to defeat the demon king, bringing the story to an end, and then Tian Hao can return to his hometown.

Moreover, the system had already revealed the subsequent plot to him.

It's simply that Oswald's former unpopular fiancée, Annie, fell in love with the hero. The two developed feelings for each other, and not long after Oswald's death, they had a deep and simple conversation, which successfully allowed the hero to inherit Oswald's estate.

Then, with the king's strong support, the hero team used the north as their base, gathered resources from across the country, and waged a war against the demon army for several years. In the end, they annihilated the main force of the demon army and successfully won the victory.

but……

(What do you mean by "the North fell into civil war after my death"?)

Upon arriving at the storage room, Oswald, who had just opened a bottle of precious red wine, frowned upon hearing the system's words.

[The people of your territory, led by Elene, the secretary of the Duke's mansion, have launched a rebellion to overthrow the hero's regime.]

[Your army has also abandoned its resistance against the demon army and turned to attack the warrior army.]

Damn, these people won't let me go even after I'm dead.

With the aroma lingering around his nose, Oswald took a large gulp of red wine, licked his lips contentedly, and didn't say much more.

It's not that he didn't care about the raging flood after he died; he was still waiting for the hero to defeat the demon king and liberate him according to the plot. Rather, he had lived in this world for many years and naturally knew the virtues of the nobles represented by the hero.

From the moment they watched helplessly as the heroes chosen by the people gradually formed a partnership with the nobles who oppressed them.

Oswald knew that hanging them might be the people's last act of kindness.

When the system first brought him to this world, it asked him whether he was a materialist or an idealist.

Oswald described himself as a materialist.

The system then replied: "The inhabitants of your territory are living, breathing people. They are on the verge of starvation and need you to lead them out of this predicament."

The system does these things for a reason—to leave the hero a more fertile territory and to advance the story more smoothly.

So later on, when the residents of the territory, grateful for Oswald's kindness, spontaneously rebelled against the hero, not only did Oswald choose to remain silent, but the system also couldn't shift the blame onto them.

(So ​​you're going to go back in time now so I can do it all over again?)

As he picked up the glass bottle and met those gloomy eyes, looking at his face, which had regained its youthful and handsome appearance, Oswald was filled with melancholy and sighed.

This time, however, the system fell silent once again.

[Host, if I say I didn't reverse time, would you believe me?]

(Are you kidding me? Do you think other people have a system...?)

Oswald found it amusing, gently swirling his wine glass, but as he took a sip, something suddenly occurred to him.

"Wishing Star!"

Oswald, who had nearly choked to death, pounded his chest a few times. After catching his breath, he wiped the corner of his mouth, his expression becoming extremely complicated.

The five female protagonists in the story each possess a magical star-shaped gem that contains the power of a goddess, called the Wishing Star.

The game description says that when the heroines strongly desire to fulfill a certain wish, the goddess's power will be triggered.

So now, the cause and effect of everything are very clear: the situation collapsed rapidly because of the internal strife in the northern territories and the retaliatory attack of the demon army.

Then, in order to reverse the hero's unfavorable fate, one of the female protagonists used the Wishing Star to trigger time reversal during the period after Oswald's death.

According to the timeline at that time, apart from Saint Maria, who used her Heart of Prayer to quell the plague, and Lilith, the Royal Knight Commander, who used her Heart of Prayer to save the life of the hero Thorne, there were three other heroines whose Hearts of Prayer had not been used!

[A reminder to the host: Even if time were to reverse, the power of the Heart of Prayer would not return.]

(You mean it won't return...? You mean the current situation... the game is still going on?)

[Inference correct. The host can be understood as being in free mode, but the key to obtaining the completion reward is still unknown.]

He had actually been tricked by the heroine of the eroge... Oswald remained silent and lost his appetite for drinking.

The Wishing Star is truly a bug-level item, and the worst part is that it can't be used directly on demons. If you could just wish to wipe out demons like Thanos snapping his fingers, none of this trouble would exist.

Thinking too much was pointless. If Oswald had any redeeming quality, it was probably his emotional stability. Having calmed himself down and no longer caring about a second playthrough, Oswald directly asked the system a question.

(What time of day is it now?)

December of the 252nd year of the Imperial Calendar

What? Isn't this the time I traveled to last time? Oswald slapped his forehead. Looks like he'll have to face those troublesome things again.

This point in time was six months after Oswald's father and the old king died in battle, or rather, six months after Oswald's death in the north.

As I said before, the male characters in the world of eroge are all god-like.

After all, they need to create an environment where a hero appears and saves the country from disaster, at least you don't need to ask how the disaster came about.

Leaving aside the turmoil in the central kingdom, Oswald now faces a devastated territory, its elite forces wiped out and its inhabitants starving to death.

They also suffer from frequent raids by the demon army...

There was no time to think about anything else; if he didn't take action soon, his people would starve to death again.

Setting down his wine glass, Oswald strode through the corridor and into the hall. He glanced coldly at the old butler, who was busy decorating the castle with luxury goods, and suddenly spoke.

"Tear all of these things down! Go and summon the Knights Commander and the Secretary General."