Where Are You Going Again, Sister?
Igna liked Raviel.
The world inside the Arena was hell itself.
It was even more so for Igna.
In that world, no one spared her just because she was young.
Because of that, powerless children had no choice but to use every means possible to win.
It was to survive.
Because they wanted to live, even if it meant doing that.
Igna was no different.
She spared no means or methods to desperately survive in that cold and heartless world.
When facing an opponent she absolutely couldn't defeat, she would secretly coat her blade with poison.
For opponents whose swords she couldn't even hope to reach...
She killed them in their sleep the night before the match.
These were things she had to do to survive.
Yet, Igna's shoulders grew heavier with each passing day.
To dismiss it all as unavoidable... Igna was still far too young.
All she could do was secretly wipe away her tears in the dead of night.
'I want to escape...'
She thought about running away countless times.
But she couldn't.
The iron bars were too sturdy to escape.
And even if she broke through them, she knew she lacked the strength to deal with the guards outside.
So, when she had given up on everything and lay trapped inside her pitch-black little cell...
A bright light entered Igna's vision.
'...An angel?'
She was a person so beautiful that such a thought crossed Igna's mind the moment they first met.
A beautiful person who absolutely did not belong in a place like this, or with someone like her.
That beautiful person slowly took a step forward.
Eventually, drawing closer, she... reached out her hand.
"I came to give you your freedom."
Freedom.
It was the thing Igna craved the most.
Because she wanted to escape this hellish place by any means necessary.
Because she didn't want to kill anyone anymore.
However, Igna had no choice but to be wary at first.
'Freedom...'
How many times had she been toyed with by that word?
Knowing they would never grant it, how many blood-spattered battles had she fought, clinging to the tiny sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, they would?
It had happened too many times to count, so Igna hadn't believed her.
But.
"Here. I'll leave the cell door open, so you can leave whenever you want."
Unlike the others, she didn't demand a price.
Leaving the iron bars open—which had always been tightly shut except when she was sent out to fight.
She told her to leave as she pleased.
Unlike the other adults who only ever made empty promises.
"..."
The only person who had reached out to her in a hell with no end in sight.
There was absolutely no reason for Igna not to love Raviel.
So, on that day, Igna made up her mind.
That when she grew up, she would stand by Raviel's side.
And become someone who could protect her.
For the rest of her life.
"Finally, I'm done..."
After days of endless work, I was finally able to wrap up the paperwork.
Thanks to clearing out the backlog of tasks I'd put off, the money rolling in from now on would increase.
More money was always better, so it was best to rake it in while I could.
Especially since I had to run an orphanage that would house seven children.
"You've worked hard, My Lady."
"You worked hard too, Gloria. Thanks for handling my work for me."
"It was nothing. Unlike you, My Lady, who had to constantly review documents, I only had to bring the children here."
"Taking care of kids is actually the hardest job of all."
Because I had so much paperwork to process, I had asked Gloria to bring the children over, except for the Sin of Sloth.
During a brief break, I had stepped out of the office and sneaked a peek at the children she brought...
Fortunately, Gloria was taking good care of them, and they were all smiling and getting along well.
'...Did she say she had six younger siblings?'
I felt like I should give Gloria a raise sometime soon.
"By the way, why did you suddenly ask me to bring those children here?"
"To prevent the destruction of the world."
"...Pardon?"
Seeing the usually expressionless Gloria look completely dumbfounded made me chuckle.
She always made that face whenever I cracked a joke...
And because it was so amusing, I couldn't help but keep teasing her.
"Just kidding. I wanted to practice a bit of noblesse oblige."
"...I figured as much."
...Though what I said before was actually the truth.
"Right. I'm not planning anything weird, so you don't have to worry."
My body felt stiff from all the paperwork, so I stretched and stood up from my seat.
"Are the kids doing well?"
"Yes. At first, their faces were so dark that I was worried... but they've brightened up a lot since arriving."
"That's a relief."
Honestly, I wanted to go see their faces for a bit to start building a bond with them...
But since I had something more important to do, I decided to postpone it for now.
"Gloria, I'm going out for a bit."
"Understood. Is there anything you need to bring with you?"
"Not really. I'm just taking my sword."
At the mention of taking a sword, Gloria narrowed her eyes.
"...You aren't planning on going somewhere dangerous, are you?"
"No. I'm just bringing it just in case."
To be perfectly honest, I was indeed going somewhere dangerous.
If last time was going to an illegal arena to fetch Igna...
This time, I was heading to an illegal black market for slaves.
Since it was a lawless zone where all kinds of inhumane acts took place, a fight could easily break out if things went south.
Moreover, since I was going to bring back the Sin of Sloth, the more thoroughly prepared I was, the better.
"I understand. In that case, I will look after the children until you return."
"Thanks. I'll leave them in your hands."
After asking Gloria to look after the Sins, I opened the door to leave the office, only to find—
"Sister."
Igna was standing in front of the door. I wondered when she had arrived.
"What is it, Igna?"
"...Are you going somewhere again, Sister?"
Had she been listening the whole time?
Judging by the look in her eyes, she seemed to have overheard most of it, so I decided to tell her the truth.
"Yes. There's a place I need to visit for a bit. It might take a little while."
"Can't you... not go?"
Igna's tiny hand grabbed my wrist.
"I want you to stay by my side."
...I guess no matter how much she endured growing up in the Arena, a child is still a child.
From what I'd observed over the past few days, Igna seemed to rely on me a lot.
Of course, I wanted to stay with her to maintain a good relationship, but...
Given the nature of the task, I couldn't take her with me.
Right now, the Sin of Sloth would also be highly guarded, just like Igna was at first.
In such a situation, bringing along another stranger carried too high a risk.
"...I'm sorry. Instead, let's make sure to play together when I get back. We can buy more clothes too. How does that sound?"
"Playing with you is my favorite thing, though..."
"I promise we'll have lots of fun when I return. I swear."
Pouting, Igna finally held out her pinky finger.
"Okay. You have to promise to play with me a lot."
"Yes, yes. I'll play with you so much you'll get sick of me."
"Okay. Have a safe trip."
Igna let out a small smile.
Then, wrapping both of her hands tightly around mine, she spoke.
"Please don't get hurt. If you get hurt, Sister... I think my heart will hurt a lot too."
...If I had a daughter, would she feel like this?
Seeing Igna worry about me was so endearing that I spent a long moment stroking her hair.
"I won't get hurt, so don't worry."
"I'll trust you. Have a safe trip."
"Yeah. See you later."
After bidding farewell to Igna, I traveled by carriage for quite a while.
As a region shrouded in thick fog came into view ahead, the coachman stopped the horses.
"I don't think the carriage can go any further from here."
It was just as I expected.
Even in the game, this was an area that the player could only traverse on foot.
Saint Hall.
The place where the most illegal activities on the continent occurred.
As the continent's worst lawless zone, murder in Saint Hall wasn't even treated as a misdemeanor.
Slave trading, illegal drug clinical trials, mass trafficking of illicit substances...
Every single one of them was a crime that could easily land someone a life sentence.
The people who lived in an environment exposed to such crimes couldn't possibly be ordinary human beings.
"Understood. I'll go on foot from here by myself."
I got out of the carriage after putting on the robe enchanted with Cognitive Impairment Magic, which I had secretly packed away from Gloria.
Then, I slowly made my way deeper into the foggy area.
With every step I took, rather rough-looking people passed by me.
But was it thanks to the robe enchanted with Cognitive Impairment Magic?
The passersby didn't even register my presence.
'If things keep going like this, finding her will be a breeze.'
While walking and celebrating inwardly...
"...!"
Feeling as if I had been pierced by something, I turned my head.
At the edge of my vision, my eyes locked with a girl locked inside a small cage.
Eyes that seemed utterly devoid of any emotion...
Hollow, pitch-black eyes that somehow brought to mind a black hole.
Seeing the girl briefly lock eyes with me before turning her head away, I was certain.
That child... was the Sin of Sloth.