Arneau

"If you can't live alone, you'll just end up dead. It can't be helped"

- - Novel Volume 9, Chapter 2

Arnaud (アルノー) is a minor character in My Next Life as a Villainess! All Routes Lead to Doom. He is a childhood friend of Sora when they were both living in the slums in the Kingdom of Ethenell.

Appearance
Arnaud is a tall man with dark skin. He has medium-length dark brown hair and black eyes.

Personality
Arnaud is a very kind man who likes taking care of the young, may it be children or small animals. He keeps a stiff and tough exterior, but is a kind and awkward man on this inside. He is described to be a tsundere.

Background
He was a young boy living in the slums of the Kingdom of Ethenell. As he was a street rat, he didn't have a name or family to call his own. During his time in the slums, a poor foreigner had entered their territory and was immediately acquainted with him and the other commoners. The man's presence attracted the attention of a lot of kids in the slums, including Arnaud. The man made him feel warm and at home with his kindness and knowledge. Arnaud began to stay away from the man because he didn't feel comfortable in his warmth and felt sick of it. In his stead, Arnaud's friend Sora became very close with the man, and the other children would constantly be told stories of how the foreigner lives and teaches to him.

As a child who lived in the slums, Arnaud survived by collecting trash, eating garbage and involving himself in dirty work. As he grew older, the work he involved himself with became more and more illegal, from scamming nobles to trafficking children. His love for children makes him despise his current line of work, but begrudgingly continues in order to survive. He takes care of the kidnapped children by feeding them and telling them stories while he is the one watching over them. His kind treatment made him loved by the children who were kidnapped.

Sora Smith
Arnaud and Sora were friends when they both lived together in the slums. The two are part of a rag-tag group of children who sticks together in order to fend off adults. As Sora become close to the foreigner who entered the slums, Arnaud was one of the very few kids who did not hate or making fun of him for reading or calculating out loud. Arnaud would listen to Sora tell stories about what he learned, but decided to not learn himself. When Sora was rumored to have disappeared and kidnapped by nobles after breaking into a household, Arnaud became very worried of his friend and wondered about his well-being even after being separated for years.

Katarina Claes
Arnaud and Katarina had been acquaintances during their stay in the Ocean Port Town. Arnaud had been taking care of a stray cat alone, until Katarina finds the cat and offers to help him take care of it, while also helping him find a new owner. Arnaud internally rejected her offer because he did not like the idea of anyone seeing him taking care of a cat, but accepted due to her inability to read the room and her genuine desire to help the cat. The two bond over taking care of the cat, and Arnaud's chest began to feel warm whenever he is with her, reminding him of the foreigner man from the slums from years ago.

Caesar Dall
Arnaud was interrogated by Caesar in order to gain information about the organization that is involved with trafficking children from Sorcier. Arnaud is aware of Caesar's identity as a famous mercenary, and was unnerved about speaking honestly. Despite his fear, he decided to help Caesar in order to save Katarina and the children. After the event, Arnaud learns of Caesar's identity as a prince, and he gets offered a place of work in an orphanage, as part of of the royal family's plan to rework and improve the kingdom of Ethenell.

Physical Strength
Arnaud is strong, being able to beat up a dozen of his colleagues on his own, albeit not without coming out of it injured.

Trivia

 * Arnaud has a very soft spot of children.
 * Arnaud is the fourth tsundere in the series to be acquainted with Katarina.
 * First is Alan Stuart, then Ginger Tucker, then Dewey Percy, and lastly is Arnaud.