First Night — 3

The effect of the sigil Seraphim had granted was as follows.

Mental stat increased by a hundred?

Among the nine stats unique to H Corp's games, Mental was classified as the most useless of the lot. Even so, a boost of one hundred was nothing to dismiss.

Looking at Mental alone, I've already surpassed Champion Class.

In the game's settings, the ranks for a single stat ran as follows.

And just now, through the Love's Sigil, my Mental alone had surpassed Champion Class. One could even argue I had stepped into Transcendent territory — a rank that had only ever existed as dummy data.

Who would look at this and still call it the stats of the ordinary Ian I used to be?

I could practically feel Helia ladling out her blessings with deliberate generosity.

Or maybe that was only natural.

Judging from the diary, the original Ian had likely been Champion Class material himself. And then there was the being Helia had spoken of — that existence. If I was going to stand against it, I needed to reach Champion Class at the very least.

But what kind of thing is it, that even a goddess hesitates to speak its name?

That existence had never once been mentioned across any of H Corp's games, and Ian had left no information about it in his diary either. As things stood, I had no way of learning anything about it.

From the diary, Ian's master seemed to know something about that existence.

To dig up the truth, I would probably have to meet the elf master — though when that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would happen, I had no idea. Still, I could roughly guess the timing.

Once I take over the village and Entiel Village develops into a labyrinth city, we'll run into each other on our own.

The reason the heroines would eventually flock to Entiel Village was simple: later on, a labyrinth would open in the Eastern Forest, and the village would grow into a labyrinth city thronged with adventurers.

Before that happens, the entire population will be wiped out and replaced — but that's something I'll have to stop.

I was still turning over plans when Isabel, who had been sleeping in my arms, opened her eyes.

"You're awake?"

"Ian…"

The moment she saw me, Isabel smiled.

"I'm happy. I wish this happiness could last forever."

"It will. I'll make sure of it."

At my answer, Isabel looked up at me with a faintly worried gaze, then asked carefully,

"Ian… if it's all right with you, would you tell me your story?"

Isabel was no fool. Anyone would grow suspicious of the man who had cured Rose's Punishment — a curse everyone else had given up on. And yet she still chose to stay by my side. That alone was proof of how deeply she loved me.

"It'll be a long story. Are you sure?"

"Yes. I like listening to stories."

So I had to answer. That was what it meant to be a husband who loved her.

Besides, they say married couples shouldn't keep secrets from each other.

It was a story I would have told her eventually anyway.

At first, Isabel listened with genuine interest. But her expression shifted moment by moment as the tale unfolded.

She was astonished to learn that her older sister, Isolde, had originally been Ian's wife. Her face hardened when she heard how Isolde had betrayed him and committed adultery. It brightened again at the part where Ian, living alone in the mountains after leaving home, had rescued the Isabel abandoned by the villagers — then darkened once more when he spoke of losing her and falling into despair.

"That was how I was able to regress. All of it thanks to the grace of Goddess Helia."

"Ian… sob…"

Isabel began to weep, burying her face against my chest. Through her tears, she kept apologizing over and over.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

"Why are you apologizing, Isabel?"

"B-but… you suffered because of our family."

"Being able to love you that much made me happy. And I'm not nearly as good a man as you think I am."

I told her everything honestly — how I had fed her tea steeped from Golden Flower in order to obtain the Giant Weed, and how I had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠used Reina to satisfy my lust. Isabel's eyes went wide. She had never imagined, even in her dreams, that I was capable of such things.

"As I said, the me you see now is two souls become one. And just as Goddess Helia said, my true nature is wicked."

After all, the goddess herself had chosen me as a means of fighting fire with fire against that existence. There was no need to elaborate — few men were as thoroughly rotten as I was.

"I'm the kind of man who will use other people for the sake of his desires. So you don't need to feel any guilt, Isabel."

My answer left her at a complete loss. The whole of it was probably too tangled for her to grasp all at once. So I made my proposal simply — as her husband.

"But if you want me to, I'll give everything up and look only at you."

"W-would that really be all right? The goddess chose you, didn't she?"

"That's none of my concern. And I have no desire to let anyone toy with my fate ever again."

Running away with Isabel, just the two of us, wouldn't have been so bad. Perhaps that was the last true wish of the Ian still left inside me.

"I…"

To that honest confession, Isabel answered without a moment's hesitation.

"I am Ian's wife. No matter what kind of man you are, I will love only you, and I will follow you for the rest of my life."

"Are you truly all right with that? I'm a bad enough man to take other women into my bed."

"Yes. Because I know you love me more than anyone. But… just this once, first and last — may I ask you for something selfish?"

Isabel whispered a single request into my ear. And the content of it was nothing short of shocking.

"Why would you ask for something like that?"

"Because I'm the root of everyone's unhappiness."

"That's not true. You haven't done a single thing wrong, Isabel."

"But Mother's and Sister's misery… it's all because of me."

The raw emotion in her voice left me no room to keep arguing.

Isolde, you lucky bitch.

Because of Isabel's request, I would have to scrap every plan I had made regarding Isolde and start over. Of course, that didn't mean I would skip her re-education entirely. Only the method would change.

"I'm sorry. For being such an inadequate wife to you."

"You don't need to apologize. I'm a bad man who doesn't deserve you either. And marriage was always meant for two imperfect people."

At those last words, Isabel smiled softly. As always, she was most beautiful when she smiled.

Together with Isabel, I carefully made our way down the mountain, avoiding monsters as we went. Because of that, we didn't reach home until well into the day — which meant we had spent the night on a mountain crawling with beasts.

Naturally, Adelia hadn't slept a wink.

"Ian, what on earth happened?"

She asked with a look full of worry. There was a hint of temper in her voice, but considering she had stayed up the entire night, that was something I ought ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to bear with grace.

"I'm sorry, Adelia. You see…"

But that only lasted a moment.

"I-Isabel…?"

Before I could explain anything properly, Adelia had already laid eyes on her daughter. Isabel hesitated at first, then gathered her courage and spoke.

"Yes, Mom. It's me. I'm… I'm all better."

At her daughter's words, Adelia stammered incoherently, then her legs gave out and she sank to the floor.

"Ah — Goddess Helia, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so, so much… sob…"

As Adelia wept, Isabel went to her and pulled her into an embrace.

"Mom, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for resenting you. And thank you. Because of you, I was able to be loved."

"No. Mom is the one who should thank you. Thank you for being born as my daughter."

Faced with the moving reunion of mother and daughter, I quietly kept my place.

Things are about to get noisy.

Then I looked at Isolde. The expression on her face as she stared at her little sister was complicated and hard to read. The younger sister who had once been uglier than anyone had returned more beautiful than Isolde herself. Her heart must have been in utter turmoil.

You're next, Isolde.

The original Ian had held no grudge against ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Isolde who betrayed him. He had chosen to love Isabel rather than resent her sister. But I was different.

If I'm being honest, I never actually suffered any harm because of her.

For a transmigrator like me to harbor malice toward Isolde was strange. And yet I did. There was no grand reason for it. If I had to name one, it was simply that I couldn't stand the way Isolde took Ian's consideration for granted.

That was all.

It might have looked absurd, but I considered it perfectly natural.

Malice was always something you carried for no good reason, wasn't it?

Hmm. Thinking it over again, I really was exactly the kind of wicked man the goddesses had judged me to be — viciously so.