“Wow…”

Lien’s eyes sparkled as she looked around, glancing from one sight to another, her head shaking in disbelief in a rather comical fashion.

Well, to be honest, I wasn’t in a position to judge.

It was only natural.

These were landscapes I had only seen through a monitor.

Experiencing them with my own eyes, feeling them in my soul, and walking through them with my own legs was indeed a refreshing experience.

“…Have you been here before?”

Lien asked me curiously.

I suppose it wasn’t an unreasonable assumption after all.

Somehow, I had ended up acting as a guide.

As I wandered about, I murmured, noting what still stood here and what had vanished.

Moreover, it wasn’t exactly a secret I needed to conceal.

It would be more suspicious if I knew my way around here without ever having set foot before.

“I’ve been here once before.”

“Then, have you ridden something like a train? I heard it moves on its own! And it doesn’t even need to be told what to do!”

Caught up in her excitement, Lien shouted, only to turn as red as a tomato when she noticed the stares we were getting and bowed her head in embarrassment.

The looks we received from the people around us seemed to carry a sense of superiority.

As if they were thinking, ‘Look at that excited country girl,’ or ‘Such an uncivilized commoner.’ Their thoughts were practically written on their faces.

‘…Well, this could be just my paranoia.’

If the issue outside the capital was the terrible public order, here it was something different, despite the supposedly excellent public order.

Or rather, maybe the real issue was that the public order was too good?

The rate of criminal arrests was outrageously high.

It would probably surpass the statistics of any modern developed country.

Because they arrest not just criminals.

Is being a commoner a crime?

It’s not for no reason that I splurged on replacing my tattered clothes.

In the previous game, wandering around the capital in worn-out clothing increased the chances of running into unpleasant random quests.

It’s simply that nobles find it offensive to share the streets with someone who looks like a beggar; they’d create trouble just for that.

Of course, if you dared to speak back, you’d be tossed into jail for insult in a heartbeat.

‘And that would’ve been game over.’

The mysterious imperial prisons were infamous for their prisoners dying of ‘natural causes’ halfway through their sentences.

There were tales of guards colluding for organ trafficking, or making prisoners kill each other for entertainment. If someone was pretty or handsome, they’d play with them before killing them to erase the evidence.

‘Why does such a messed-up country prosper?’

I couldn’t help but wonder. In the previous work, I brushed it off as just game mechanics, but could there be a real reason?

After all, this place has real gods and magic.

Maybe some hidden means has been preventing the empire from collapsing long ago…

“Siel, Lien.”

I felt a presence behind us.

I halted my wandering thoughts and quietly whispered to them.

They were both quite sharp, seemingly grasping the significance of my words without needing further explanation.

‘Turn right in this alley… then left here…’

We twisted and turned, frantically trying to memorize the map as we moved.

And then… we reached a secluded crossroad.

“Excuse me, young lady. Could you spare a moment?”

A sleazy voice drifted from behind, as if it had been lurking, just waiting.

Yep, I saw this coming.

That’s why I had deliberately chosen hooded garments for them, but it seems we still attract unwanted attention regardless.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be over quickly,”

I said as the burly man completely ignored my presence, clearly believing I was invisible.

His intentions were blatantly obvious.

‘And I know this guy.’

He was one of the reasons the game “Blood and Bone” was rated for adults.

A perverted noble.

A villain who indulged his desires on commoners in the streets, using his status to commit crimes without fearing arrest.

He appeared even older than in the previous work but still seemed to be actively involved in his misdeeds.

Indeed, from my perspective, Lien’s reactions did seem a bit like those of a naïve country girl newly arrived in the capital.

Anyone could tell she was a commoner visiting the city—a target that they thought they could mess with without consequences.

But…

‘Do they not realize they’re actually cornered?’

It seems they couldn’t comprehend that by moving to a less populated alley, they were making it easier for us to deal with them without witnesses.

Well, it’s not like I’m going to inform them of that, of course.

Lien and Siel.

I might be up to speed, but could those two handle one such thug?

I looked at them with trusting eyes, and…

“…?”

I couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

Why are they just standing there like deer caught in headlights?

“If we start something, it might go too far; what should we do…?”

Lien noticed my gaze and talked nervously, seemingly worried that if she engaged, she might lose herself and kill him.

“We can’t handle living ones right now,”

Siel added, shaking her head.

It seems her condition hasn’t fully recovered, even with the medicine.

In that instant, my face turned pale.

Could it be… is this party weaker than I thought?

“Stay out of this, kid.”

Before I could react, the words were followed by a blunt force that knocked me out cold.

*

‘Today is my lucky day…’

The man grinned, eyeing the two women from head to toe, pleased to have confirmed they were easy targets and dealt with the annoying nuisance.

With no further obstacles in sight, he excitedly approached them, eager to savor his catch.

“…Ian?”

The moment the woman with white hair spoke, he sensed something was off.

Her eyes were filled with hatred.

Yet, for some inexplicable reason, her lips curled into a smile that seemed more joyful than ever.

“Ah, what a relief.”

The man felt a primal fear wash over him as he gazed at the girl.

The kind of fear that prey experiences in the presence of a predator.

“You’re not human, are you?”

The girl slowly moved closer to the man.

“No human would do such things. No human who torments Ian could be human. So…”

It’s alright to play with him, right?

With those words, the man watched the girl approach him.

The man that he once was fell apart.

The things that constituted him turned into mere chunks of flesh.

The man screamed in terror, losing all semblance of reason until the very end of his cursed life.

*

Siel stared blankly at the scene unfolding before her.

Yet, she felt no particular emotion.

It was a horrific end, but it was inevitable.

If anything, he deserved a far worse fate for his sins. This was almost a luxury.

She found the noise of the wolf beside her, laughing and chatting about something amusing, oddly bothersome.

“Are you okay?”

She asked, but Lien still seemed lost in another world, her mind elsewhere.

Siel recalled what Ian had told her about Lien.

Piecing together the joyful prattle of the wolf, the conclusion was simple.

Lien was a dangerous entity.

Always on the brink of losing herself.

But, did that really matter?

To her, none of that was relevant.

Even if Lien went on a rampage and wiped everyone out, it wouldn’t matter as long as Ian was alive. Whether the world ended or not was inconsequential.

‘As long as I’m with Ian, I’m happy. Though it’d be ideal if I could stay alive, too.’

Regardless.

Even in such a dazed state, Lien wouldn’t harm Ian. In fact, she appeared more inclined to protect him.

That alone was sufficient.

“Eat it up.”

Siel mustered her minimal strength required to dispose of the corpse.

She cleansed the bloodied black robe with a spell learned from her mother and then roused Ian.

*

I rubbed my eyes as I got up from the ground.

Thanks to my healthy body, I didn’t feel any particular pain. I don’t think I got hurt at all.

“Why are you asleep again?”

I tried to wake Lien, who was sprawled next to me, fiddling to make sense of the situation.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too tough.

All I had to do was inquire with the person who had awakened me.

“Did he escape?”

Yet again, the response I received was frustratingly devoid of context.

Turning to Siel, I sought a more detailed account.

“I kicked him.”

…Again, lacking context, sure, but it was easy to piece together.

Well, getting kicked wouldn’t feel nice.

Vital areas are vital for a reason.

Especially since Siel, not being a man, wouldn’t empathize with a man’s unique pain; it must have been a merciless full swing.

Worry crept in that the guy might retaliate for such an act, but regrets won’t change the past.

‘Regardless, I feel relieved.’

As Lien finally woke up, she began to ask what had happened and if everyone was alright, clearly still out of touch with the events.

At this point, we’d really have been in a jam if it weren’t for Siel.

‘So, it’s come to this…’

Somehow, it feels like everyone who gets involved with me ends up on a misguided skill tree.

Lien has defensive capabilities but can’t strike first, and Siel, wasting her potential, is stuck making deals with a low-grade demon from who-knows-where.

A sigh naturally escaped me.

Was this genuinely the right choice?

Is it acceptable to have come to such a precarious place as the capital of the empire?

It seems our party might not be as strong as I assumed.

Worries flooded my mind, but… now that we’d come this far, there was no turning back.

Ultimately, despite my unease, we had no option but to press onward.

I helped Lien to her feet, and we once again set off toward our destination.

After all, the streets of the empire are rife with dangerous souls; it’s concerning.

I can’t imagine how upstanding citizens like us are supposed to survive with such anxiety.