Public opinion is a powerful thing.

When the people have decided that a person has performed a crime, the need for evidence ceases - and the cries for execution begin.

Even if new evidence surfaces, those people who cried out first will only begin to cry out even louder, until their voices drown out anything that could go against them.

Thus - a scapegoat is born.

----

[Many years ago]

"Hey, did you hear?"

"There's a rumor that there's some creep working in the office."

"Ehh!? Are you serious?"

A group of young women walked alongside one another through the halls of a skyscraper, each wearing the typical suit jackets and pencil skirts that were common among office ladies.

"Hey, what do you mean by that!?"

"I heard that he's stalking women and following them home... he might even be accessing the database to find information on them."

"EH!? That's..."

"It's just a rumor... but I would keep my eyes out."

"That's disgusting... I hope that person gets caught as soon as possible."

As the women whispered to themselves, a handsome man turned the corner, at which they immediately became quiet, hiding their conversations behind generous smiles and waving.

"Good morning, Nathan!"

"Ah, good morning, ladies. How are you all doing today?"

The man held a coffee cup in his hand, casually sipping on it as he greeted them with a smile, at which one of the women leaned into the man.

"Actually... there have been some strange rumors going around about a stalker trying to obtain information on the women in the office. If you notice anything..."

"Ah... how disgusting. To think that such a person might be in this office..."

The man frowned at the gossip, however placing a hand upon the shoulder of the woman, he reassured the group with a smile.

"But don't worry. Now that I know something like that has been happening, I'll be sure to take care of it. Please leave it to me."

"Oh... is that so?"

"Thank you so much, Nathan."

"As always, you're so reliable."

The women thanked the man, gratefully surrounding him as they laid into him with compliments, at which the man backed off with a gentle expression.

"Now, now. That's obvious, isn't it? I should do what I can to prevent you all from being harmed in any way."

Straightening himself, the man opened his eyes as he looked upon them with confidence.

"No matter what happens, I'll be sure to protect you all."

"It's great to have someone like you around..."

"If only all the other guys were like you..."

The man chuckled lightly as he received the compliments, but motioned that he had to leave.

"At any rate, I do have a meeting with the boss. I'll be going now, but please make sure to let me know if anything happens."

"Of course."

"Thank you again."

With these words, the man headed off, eventually turning a corner as he left the women behind him.

And with a smile, he approached the office of his boss.

'That's right... let me know.'

And with a sinister expression, the man held back a chuckle.

'Everything that happens.'

----

"Good morning Nathan. Please, have a seat."

Motioning to the chair in front of him, an executive sat in his office as he welcomed Nathan inside.

"Good morning, Sir. I hope everything is well?"

"Haha... you should already know the answer to that. Your performance recently has been exceptional. I'm going to be giving you a promotion to lead manager."

"Your words honor me."

With a proper demeanor, the man known as Nathan respectfully thanked his superior, however the superior merely chuckled in response.

"My words aren't what honor you. It's your actions that do that. And your actions speak for themselves. I'm merely repeating what has already been said."

"Even so, thank you. It's been such a wonderful experience working in this company from the day I started. I've met so many wonderful people and had so many exhilarating encounters, and that's all thanks to your willingness to have me on this team."

"I'm very glad to hear that."

As the two men complimented one another, there was a sense of camaraderie and mutual respect between the two.

"More importantly... I'm wondering about some of the other employees."

"The other employees?"

The superior raised an eyebrow as Nathan brought up a strange topic.

"I've heard some rumors recently that there have been some... potentially unprofessional activities occurring within the company. Of course, I'm sure that you have no part in them, but I'm concerned about those who go unchecked. I think we need to have stricter screening and more surveillance around the facilities to ensure that nothing undesirable is happening behind our backs."

"Oh... I see... indeed."

Sitting up, the superior began to think out loud.

"It is quite difficult to manage such a large number of employees, and there is always the possibility of a few bad apples making their way into the bunch. I'll have it discussed with the other executives and we'll see what we can come up with."

"Thank you, Sir."

Standing up, Nathan prepared himself to leave.

"Is there anything else?"

As his superior posed this question, Nathan stopped for a short time, thinking for just a moment before he recalled something.

"Ah, that's right. There was a new janitor hired a few months ago, wasn't there? A Joratian man in his 30's with no wife, no children, no family - if I recall. And an immigrant at that. Isn't that correct?"

"There was. Is there something about him?"

"Well... nothing in particular. But you can never be too careful. Men who have been unable to marry by that age tend to become somewhat desperate. And given the war with Joraten... well, I'm not saying he's a spy or anything. But in the end, his background isn't free of suspicion."

"I understand. We'll keep close tabs on him. But in the end, he's nothing more than a Janitor, no?"

With a nod, Nathan took his leave.

"Well then, if you'll excuse me, I have a team meeting to attend."

"Thank you for your hard work."

"And you, Sir."

----

A man wearing overalls and a janitor's cap stood in an empty hallway, a mop and bucket at his side while he cleaned the floors.

This man, who was only in his early thirties, seemed to carry a certain lifelessness in his eyes, as if he had already experienced an entire lifetime of disappointment and failure.

He sloshed the mop back and forth, his gaze focused downward without the slightest shred of confidence or self esteem.

As this man cleaned these floors, he overheard numerous giggling voices as a group of women turned a corner.

He didn't dare to glance over at them, instead focusing on his task.

For to them, he was nothing more than a speck of dust.

'I have to clean this.'

"And so then, you know what I did? I left him on read."

"Ehh? Seriously!? Haha! After all that!?"

"That's hilarious! Serves him right."

The businesswomen gossiped among themselves, at which the man desired only to make himself more invisible, ensuring that they would pass by without noticing him.

However it seemed that fate wasn't on his side.

"Ah!"

He didn't know whether it was deliberate or not, but one of the women seemed to fling her body at him. The two bumped into one another, and the coffee she held in her hand spilled to the ground, part of it covering the man's outfit as the cup hit the floor.

The man turned around, backing up as he kept his gaze low, not daring to make eye contact as he spoke in a low tone.

"I'm sorry."

Bending over to pick up the cup, the man immediately began to clean up the mess, however he was interrupted before he could do so.

"Hah!? Sorry!? Who the hell do you think you are? Do you even know how much I paid for that!?"

"I'm sorry... I'll pay you back... I'll pay..."

Lowering his head, the man begged for forgiveness in a pathetic manner, however the woman wouldn't have it.

"Do you think you can make up for this with mere money?"

With these words, the janitor looked up, confusion and fear in his expression.

"What... what do you want?", he quivered.

"Clean it."

However, her response was something - strangely normal.

"Of course, I'll clean it... I am the Janitor..."

Reaching for a rag, the man obeyed the orders of the woman, however before he could do so he was stopped once more.

"Did I say you could use that rag?"

Halting his hand, the man looked up to the woman once more.

"Er... you wanted me to use the mop?"

And as he asked this question, the woman looked down upon him with absolute abhorrence.

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"Are you retarded?"

The man was silenced at her insult, unsure what to even respond with.

'What does she want from me?'

"Lick it."

However her intention was immediately made clear.

"Er... that..."

"What? Isn't that like, a treat for you? A 30 year old virgin... hah. You're probably desperate to be able to lick something that I drank from, right? Consider it a reward. Now lick it. Every last drop."

"Ehh..."

"Eww..."

The other women seemed to be both amused and disgusted, laughing to themselves as they voiced their repulsion.

'What a loser.'

'Is this man really someone who works here?'

'What a creep.'

However, the man merely looked at the woman with a confused expression.

"I... I'm not interested in that sort of-"

Yet as he began to protest, the woman leaned in to whisper into his ear.

"If you don't, I'll tell everyone that you assaulted me."

And as the woman said this, the eyes of the man widened.

This wasn't his home country. If he was even accused of assaulting a woman in this nation, he would be publicly shamed and then arrested and possibly even executed.

The fact that he was a foreigner - and of an enemy nation, at that - meant that his trial would almost certainly be rigged, and he would be immediately deemed guilty without evidence.

"I... I... understand."

"Better hurry before anyone else comes and sees you like this.", the woman added.

Looking down at the spill, the man gulped with disgust, looking around then back to the three women.

With pleading eyes, he made one final cry for mercy, asking with his expression.

'Do I really have to do this?'

However this was met with the cruel words of the woman.

"What? Are you going to do it? Or are you going to sit there and let me file a complaint?"

At these harsh words, the man realized that he was in no position to disobey.

Accepting the humiliation, the man lowered his head to the spill as he began to lick the fluid off the floor.

It had not been cleaned recently - that was the very reason he was here. His tongue was coated with a combination of dust, grime, coffee, and the saliva of that woman as he gagged upon making contact with the floor.

"Urgh!"

Holding himself back from throwing up, the man felt a foot on the back of his head.

"Come on already. Are you going to back out at this point? Hurry up and get it over with."

"I... I understand."

On that day, Yakov Kremol lost any and all dignity as a human.

----

"Is that really true?"

"I can't believe it..."

"Ehh!? That's so disgusting!"

"He must be a major pervert!"

One of the women had snapped a picture of Yakov licking up the fluid - and a story was quickly spread.

A creepy pervert had bumped into a woman, causing her to spill her drink. He had apologized and rushed her off, telling her that he would take care of the mess.

However when one of the women went back to retrieve something she forgot, she caught the man licking the drink off the floor.

Of course, this was nothing more than a rumor, but the photo made this story exceptionally believable.

What other explanation could there have been for such a photo?

"Nathan... did you hear about this?"

One woman showed the picture of Yakov to the tall man as she walked alongside him in the halls, at which he glared at the photo with disgust.

"That's.... I'm sorry."

However, with a strange reaction, Nathan apologized.

"Eh? What are you apologizing for, Nathan? None of this is your fault! It's that creep who-"

"I'm sorry for not being there to stop him. And I'm sorry... for being the same species as that thing."

With these words, the women surrounding the man swooned with his heroism, at which he rushed off.

"I'll go do something about him right now."

----

"This is unacceptable! How can we work knowing that such a man is in our midst!? The women can't even be at peace!"

"Now, now. I understand your concerns, Nathan. I do. But we need the man to be here himself to explain the scenario. This evidence is certainly disturbing, but we can't just fire him without giving him a fair chance to defend himself."

Nathan sat in the office of his boss, demanding the man's termination as an employee.

"I... I understand. Then I'll wait for this scumbag to arrive. He'll obviously make up some excuse, but if we can see through his lies, then-"

"Nathan. Please be calm. This is a delicate situation. Our company receives some government assistance for employing foreigners, you know. And without that man, our grants will-"

"So you're going to put the company finances over the safety of the employees?"

With fury in his eyes, the man burned with a demented justice.

"It's not that... it's just that if we let that go, we need to have a good reason."

"And that photo isn't a good enough reason?"

"Once again, I don't understand the circumstances behind such a thing. This needs to be properly investigated-"

"It should be easy to understand."

"Nathan. I understand your concerns perfectly, and I think it's very noble for you to do this. But please just let things take their proper course."

While the man debated back and forth with his superior, he eventually let out a sigh, complying with the one above him.

"I understand."

Soon enough, the culprit entered the office.

"Sir, you sent for me?"

A disheveled man wearing the outfit of a janitor entered the room - a sore sight for the prestigious office he entered.

"Please have a seat, Yakov. There have been some strange rumors going around about you, which I'm sure you're well aware of. We need to discuss-"

"This. This photo. What do you think you were doing here?"

Nathan interrupted his boss, holding up a phone with the photo of Yakov licking the floor.

The moment Nathan did this, Yakov spoke out in protest.

"I was forced to do that by one of the employees here..."

Averting his eyes and speaking in a quiet tone, the man didn't speak in any convincing manner, his social skills as poor as his ability to convince other people.

"Look at him! It's obvious he's lying! The sick bastard!"

"Enough, Nathan. And which employee forced you to do this?"

"That... I can't say."

"And why can't you say?"

The man in charge now pressed Yakov with questions, at which Yakov spoke lightly.

"If I say, she'll accuse me of assaulting her."

"So you're telling me that someone is threatening you, and if it's found out she will spread further rumors and damage your reputation even more - potentially subjecting you to legal consequences?"

"Yes."

The man in charge seemed to understand the situation quite well, nodding as he folded his hands.

"I see. You're free to go for now. I'll think things over and come to a decision, and inform you if anything changes."

"Sir!!! You can't seriously believe him!!!"

"Innocent until proven guilty. Is that not the principle that our justice system is founded upon?"

"We have clear evidence of his guilt! How can-"

"If there is reasonable doubt of a man's innocence, then that man shall be assumed innocent until guilt is proven beyond all reasonable doubt."

Standing up, the one in charge glared at Nathan with a stern expression.

"Nathan. Don't jeopardize your new position like this. If you're so concerned about this man, find proof beyond all doubt. Or even stop him yourself from performing any strange actions, if you care that much. That is all."

"Yes sir."

With these words, the two men left the room, leaving the executive alone in his office.

The man ran his hand through his hair, a tired expression overcoming him as he let out a sigh.

"Sigh... it's just like when I was younger... when that woman accused me of assaulting her..."

Placing a hand upon his back, the man touched one of the many lacerations he had endured at that time, the result of a public whipping.

"If you're going to accuse someone, you can't just forge some strange evidence."

----

'Perfect.'

Nathan left the room, a smile on his face.

'I knew that he wouldn't be immediately fired... not by that man, who had such a similar past. Which is just perfect.'

Fixing his hair with his hands, the man walked through the hallway, a grand expression overtaking him as he silenced a chuckle.

'I've set him up as an antagonist... and one who has evaded the hammer of justice at that. So now... all that's left is to further antagonize him...'

Suddenly, the man's expression became deathly serious, all emotion leaving him as he overheard some women talking in the hall.

'And at that moment, all my crimes can be pinned on him... without question.'