1.
A collapsed orphanage.
The outer wall began to burn.
Children crying sorrowfully.
“Peter, it hurts.”
“Are you leaving us again?”
“Why do you seem okay?”
And embracing him with a faint smile.
“You’ve grown kind, Peter. How sweet. I regret it now. I should’ve said that too.”
Blood-soaked Ria.
The moment he was embraced, he realized.
‘Was it all Ria’s doing?’
The blood covering Ria wasn’t hers—it was the children’s.
“Why?”
“Hmm?”
“Why did you do it?”
At Peter’s calm question, Ria smiled gently and asked back.
“Does it matter?”
“No.”
“Are you trying to understand me?”
“I can only understand if you explain.”
“…Are you mad?”
“No.”
A swift exchange of questions and answers.
“That’s why I like you.”
Ria hugged Peter again, and the two remained there for a while.
Evil Spirit.
Beings born in human form, but without a human heart.
Evil that could never be cured made them strong.
But also left them understood by no one.
As Peter pondered the situation, he looked down at Ria, still in his arms, and asked.
“You… are you like me?”
“…”
Shaking eyes.
As the faint smile faded from Ria’s face during her long silence, she eventually raised a smile again and answered.
“No. You’re different from me.”
“I figured as much.”
Peter nodded without hesitation.
Her smiling face.
That alone was enough to prove she was different from him.
Even if she had killed those children, she must still be a normal person, unlike him.
But after a moment of silence, Ria added something that made Peter freeze.
“See? I’m smiling, but you’re crying.”
“…What does that mean?”
“What else could it mean?”
Ria gently reached out, grabbed Peter’s hand, and brought it to his face.
The dampness felt on his fingertips.
“It means you can be sad now.”
Before he could question further, the surrounding scenery dispersed like mist, leaving only darkness behind.
“Wait… I was stabbed through the heart…”
“Your memories came back, huh? So now… maybe now it really will all end.”
Peter’s returning memories, and Ria’s outward appearance—somehow returned to normal.
Startled, Peter reached out urgently toward Ria and asked.
“What the hell is going on…?”
“It’s okay, Peter. It’s nothing serious. You’ll go back to how things were before the seal was ever broken, as if nothing ever happened.”
“Don’t say things like that—give me a real explanation──!”
“The seal will never be broken again. Now, truly, everything is over. That’s why you must never waver. From now on, you must only make choices for your own happiness, Peter.”
A firm tone and a faint smile.
Feeling a foreboding sense, Peter grabbed toward Ria, trying to pull her in—but only empty hands returned.
And at that moment, a system window appeared.
【Character – <Ria???> has proposed a condition to <???>.】
【Upon success.】
【Following <Ria???>’s will, the essence of <Evil> rooted in the target – <Peter (EX-)> will be sealed for eternity.】
【Upon failure.】
【<???> will awaken.】
Though he couldn’t confirm it directly, Peter began to feel unease as the rising emotions blurred Ria’s fading figure.
Then Ria, stroking Peter’s hair, murmured in a soft voice.
“I just want you to be happy.”
This was something she had prepared from the moment she held Peter in her heart.
“When all this ends, there will never be a time like now again.”
Still wearing her faint smile, she waved toward Peter.
“So please, don’t be sad because of someone like me. Okay?”
It was unmistakably,
【<Ria>’s memory is being replayed.】
【Target – <Peter (???)> 】
【Begins the wager.】
A farewell.
.
.
.
【Characters – An alert is sent to the <Saviors> before <Peter>’s choice.】
【Please choose.】
【1. Intervene and save <Peter(EX-)>.】
【2. Leave him be and let him perish.】
【As always, this world respects <your> decision.】
2.
Hestia Vulcanus.
Saved by the Black Wolf and Ian Red, she had one lingering concern.
That concern was──
— [The Gardner Shield is the best in the world!!!]
“…The best……”
— [Too quiet!! Again!!!]
“Th-the be-best…!!”
She was now stuck with Balak Gardner, the founder of the Gardner family.
With the Celestial Barrier gone,
staying at the frontline as the last wall was critical,
but being with someone even louder than her brother, 24/7, was its own kind of torment.
And it wasn’t like she could just live in the mansion.
To maintain secrecy, she had to live alone at the top of a newly built, towering spire.
— [The Gardner Shield is──!!]
“Ah, please be quiet already!!”
It wasn’t hard to understand why her once gentle personality had become a little more sharp-edged.
— [If you don’t like it… then should I just leave?]
“…No. I don’t hate it.”
— [Then can I shout again?]
“……Do whatever you want.”
— [Puhaha!! Alright, if you insist!!! Ahem, ahem!! THE GAAARDNER SHIELD IS THE BEST IN THE WORLD!!!!!]
Even so, she had to endure, since Balak’s help was absolutely necessary until a new solution was found.
“What is the head of the house even doing? Just how long does he expect me to wait…!!”
— [Hmm? Do you not like being with me?]
“Glrrgh. Nmm zrrgh.”
— [Haha, same here!!!!]
…Crack.
Her patience nearing its limit, Hestia thought constantly:
Anyone but the Founder.
Even if the Black Wolf returned, even if Her Majesty the Empress herself paid a visit—
‘If anyone mocks my current situation, I won’t stand for it.’
If anything, she would rebuke not just the Black Wolf who started all this, but also Her Majesty, who let the nation reach this point—as the former strategist of the First Legion.
Or so she thought.
“…Who are you?”
“Black Wolf.”
“…You won’t leave even if I ask, will you?”
“Smart girl.”
She was sure of it.
“Haa… Let me ask, you’re not here to kidnap someone again, are you?”
“Of course not. This time, I brought her.”
“…Huh?”
How did things end up like this?
“Reina, meet Hestia.”
“It’s been a while, brilliant strategist of the 1st Legion.”
“Hestia, meet Reina.”
“Eh, e-e-eh? Ehh?”
Hestia blinked rapidly at the two who suddenly appeared.
But only for a moment.
Thud.
Panicked, Hestia unintentionally fell out of her chair and prostrated herself on the floor.
“…I greet the Sun of the Empire.”
The Black Wolf was shocking enough on his own, but Hestia, who had been saved both directly and indirectly, had already convinced herself that he was ultimately a decent man.
Right now, to her, the one she had to be most wary of was not the Black Wolf, but the Tyrant of the Empire, Reina Babylonia.
‘Why is she here? What’s the reason for her visit? Don’t tell me… the Head has rebelled? I predicted that Duke Halorand and the High Nobles might be preparing for reform, but didn’t he say to stay low, just in case? Don’t tell me he acted on his own? Like that idiot Vulcan?’
Possessing intelligence comparable to the combined minds of the Gardner family,
Hestia desperately tried to grasp the current situation.
‘…Now that I think about it, why did the Black Wolf come too? Don’t tell me Her Majesty was captured? No way—she’d have fought back. …Wait a second. Contrary to rumors, the Black Wolf has been acting in ways that favor the Empire… Could it be that they were working together all along?’
As her thoughts spiraled, her wild theories tangled together under the overwhelming pressure from the two, forming a chaotic conclusion.
‘The head of the family sided with Duke Halorand. So Her Majesty has come with the Black Wolf under her command to destroy the Gardners.’
In other words, the Gardner family would be wiped out—starting with her.
Foreseeing her own death, she opened her mouth in hopes of saving her family.
“…Please, spare us.”
“?”
“If only I could be enough… please, let me be the only one.”
But the moment she said it, she realized.
Ah, I…
— The Gardner Shield is the best in the world!!!
— Still, this old man’s smarter than that kid, right?
I guess… I love my family more than I thought.
The loud Balak.
Her swirling thoughts.
And the overwhelming pressure from the three powerful figures who had suddenly appeared—
…Drip, drip.
In the end, her restrained reason gave way to emotion, and tears fell.
“…I don’t really know imperial law, but does an emperor usually make someone with bad legs kneel, too?”
“Ah, no!! That’s a misunderstanding!!”
“…I thought you were just dumb, but you’ve surpassed that—you’re arrogant, too.”
“S-Sister!! It’s not like that…!!”
As the Black Wolf and Lactea scolded her, Reina quickly helped Hestia up.
“Don’t misunderstand!! I was ambushed by Duke Halorand──!!”
“Ahh, an a-assassination attempt…!!! It’s over…!! There was never a chance from the start!!”
“No, please listen to──!!!”
After several minutes of confusion and back-and-forth…
“Hestia.”
“Black Wolf… please make it painless.”
“That’s not what this is.”
“…Hic. I’m sorry, Hero…”
【<Veil of Shadows (EX)> – 1% has been activated.】
“Stand up. I said it’s not like that.”
“Y-yes, yes sir.”
“Shut up and listen to her.”
“Her?”
“The Empress.”
“Eh?”
Thanks to the Black Wolf, Hestia finally calmed down enough to hear the full situation.
“So, Duke Halorand really did…”
“‘Really did’? You mean you knew?”
“I only predicted the possibility.”
“Still, that means you knew, doesn’t it?”
“…Please execute me.”
“It’s fine. Just listen and answer.”
Fortunately, because of her sharp mind, Hestia was able to begin seeking an alternative solution.
“This current situation, and the position Her Majesty is now in…”
Reina, who had known of Hestia’s talents since her days as a strategist in the Imperial Army, laid everything out and asked her directly.
“So, what should I do?”
Treason.
And yet, without sufficient proof, it couldn’t be openly accused.
Just as Hestia, after much hesitation, was about to speak—
A system window suddenly appeared before Nahan.
【Characters – An alert is sent to the <Saviors> before <Peter>’s choice.】
【Please choose.】
【1. Intervene and save <Peter(EX-)>.】
【2. Leave him be and let him perish.】
【As always, this world respects <your> decision.】
A sudden choice appeared.
It was filled with incomprehensible phrases and an event whose cause was entirely unknown.
Yet without a moment’s hesitation, Nahan spoke.
“…Lactea. We’re returning to the capital.”
The choice, naturally, was option 1.
