Are You Leaving? That's Absolutely Forbidden!

"The weather's nice."

I ran my dagger ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠across the whetstone, eyes fixed on the slowly brightening horizon. The steady scrape, scrape of steel against stone rang out with rhythmic precision, easing the tangle of thoughts in my head.

When I finally lifted the blade, its blue edge gleamed with a mirror-like polish under the morning light. My own expressionless face flickered across its surface for a brief moment.

Satisfied, I wiped the dagger clean and rose to my feet. The focused maintenance of my weapons left me with a strangely rewarding feeling.

I perched on a large rock in the corner of the yard and pulled a strip of tough jerky from my pocket, chewing slowly.

"Mm."

The salty flavor spreading across my tongue pushed the complicated thoughts even further away.

"........"

Suddenly I sensed a faint presence from inside the room. I didn't need to turn around.

Estelle was watching me through the gap in the door. A few curls of her night-sky hair showed, and those jewel-like eyes tracked my every movement.

After several days of observation, I could see she had grown much calmer. The initial feral-cat wariness had faded, and she now ate every meal I gave her without leaving a crumb. The parenting stories my little sister used to chatter about in my previous life hadn't been entirely wrong. Good food and a warm bed really could make a child behave—at least on the surface.

But the real problem was only beginning.

'Estelle. The final boss of The Holy Law and the greatest villainess of her age.'

I raised the dagger and examined its razor edge. No matter how many times I searched my memories, the cause of her tragic fate remained clear.

She had been born with an overwhelming amount of mana she could never hope to control. It rampaged through her body at random, devouring her mind and soul. The constant pain and side effects had twisted her personality into something cruel and monstrous.

And the decisive trigger came when she encountered the heroine—the Saintess. The Saintess's noble purifying holy power was the only thing capable of temporarily calming Estelle's Mana Rampage. To a woman who had lived her entire life in hellish agony, that power must have seemed like blinding salvation.

In the end, Estelle's desperate craving for it turned into an obsessive fixation on the heroine. She schemed, kidnapped, and eventually unleashed a rampage that drenched the entire empire in blood.

Simply put, the mental collapse caused by Mana Rampage and her warped obsession with the heroine were what turned her into the final boss.

"...Then the answer is simple."

I murmured the words and slid the dagger back into its leather sheath with a sharp click.

The safest solution was to ensure Estelle never met the original heroine at all. If I severed every possible point of contact from the start, there would be no reason for obsession and no opportunity for a rampage that could destroy the empire.

For now, I would maintain this strange companionship and keep her safe by my side. Later, I would track down and arrange a meeting with 'her' from The Holy Law.

The previous-generation Saintess—the one who had held the empire's greatest holy power before the heroine appeared. She had withdrawn from public life and was living in seclusion for reasons of her own, but her pure holy power far surpassed even the current Saintess. Her purification could heal Estelle completely, without any side effects.

Once the Mana Rampage was fully cured, her personality would never twist into something monstrous. After that, if a truly trustworthy person appeared, I could send her to a safe, peaceful territory on the distant frontier—somewhere she would never encounter the heroine—and help her settle down.

With settlement funds and a quiet rural village, Estelle could live out her days as an ordinary, well-off young woman. A perfect happy ending where she completely deviated from the original story, no one shed blood, and everything ended peacefully. That was the flawless plan I had devised.

My brow furrowed. It wasn't simply the large sum of money. Coincidentally, that place was also the stage for a major event in The Holy Law.

The Graveyard of Bones. A monumental dungeon where the future Saintess would first publicly prove her powers and gain fame. A hellish place teeming with countless vengeful spirits and demonic beasts. Originally, it was somewhere the heroine should have elegantly purified while leading a party of knights.

"What?"

My heart sank. The artifact I had hunted through every back alley for years ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠without finding even a trace—why was it there of all places?

The old broker must have mistaken my heavy silence for hesitation. He clicked his tongue and pressed me.

"It's more important to me than money."

My hand tightened around the hilt.

"Because it's the only tool that can completely undo the fatal mistake I made in the past."

The bitter confession slipped out between my lips. That seal was the final key to unraveling this cruel tangle of fate and reclaiming the peace I truly desired. No matter what, I could not let it fall into anyone else's hands.

"Tell them I'll accept. Send the coordinates."

The connection cut off. I tucked the magic tool away and stood. I needed to prepare for immediate departure.

I didn't have to wait for the dead of night to head for the Graveyard of Bones. Moving along the forest's yin energy would let me conceal my presence even in broad daylight.

After finishing my preparations and stepping back inside the hideout, I found Estelle sitting at the head of the bed, watching me with wide eyes. She observed silently as I checked my weapons and pulled on my black hood. Her small hands clutched the blanket tightly, betraying her anxiety.

I approached and spoke gently.

"I'll be going out for a while."

"......"

Instead of answering, the child blinked her blue-gold eyes and stared at my eyepatch.

"It's dangerous work. So stay here and behave. I've set up a barrier, so it's safe inside. Do not step outside until I return."

There was no way I could bring a child to a place as perilous as the Graveyard of Bones. After speaking, I turned and headed for the front door.

But I didn't see it.

In the brief instant after my words "stay here" left my mouth, Estelle's usually calm, transparent eyes shook violently. The pupils of her sapphire-like blue-gold eyes contracted wildly, filled with overwhelming terror and a sense of betrayal.

I missed that critical moment completely because my back was turned.

With a heavy clack, the thick door of the hideout closed and the lock engaged, the sound echoing through the silent room.

"......."

Left alone in the darkness, Estelle slowly lowered her head. Her small hands gripping the blanket had gone deathly pale.

'It's dangerous, so stay here and behave.'

Those words pierced her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠heart like a sharp awl. Memories from the past rose like ghosts, swirling through her mind.

The people who had raised her had said the exact same thing. On the day they sold her to Count Edward for a few pouches of silver, they had whispered in those same kind, gentle voices. That it was dangerous, so wait here just a little while. If she was good, they would come for her soon.

Foolishly believing them and waiting had only earned her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a hellish underground prison and endless torment. Kind commands from humans were always just pretty packaging for cruel abandonment.

The man who had pulled her into the light only to lock her back in this dark room and leave—would he be any different? Was he the same kind of person after all? Had she been abandoned again?

But this time...

Giiiing—

Deep inside her, the tightly sealed latch on her mana began to rattle with terrifying force.