In the end, what was the criteria?

I wasn’t able to figure it out clearly.

However, if I were to make a guess, the moment when Ophelia convinced herself that she truly loved someone and later concluded that her love had waned, the execution would be triggered.

In the end, it led to a situation where Ophelia set aside her self-love briefly.

That was precisely the method I used to summon her daughter, and it seemed to have worked perfectly.

Her daughter did not utter a word.

Cloaked in pitch-black darkness with her eyes glowing red, she slowly approached her mother.

"S-Save me! Save meee!"

Ophelia screamed as her daughter drew closer.

I felt the urge to just let things be, but I hadn't summoned the girl to kill Ophelia.

"Do you know anything about Clair's General Store?"

I asked her calmly while staring at the back of her daughter's head. However, the daughter showed no reaction at all.

"Huff."

I didn't want to do this to the daughter, who was also a victim.

However, I had to use black chains that shot up from the floor and table to bind her hands.

It was a technique called the Necromancer's chain, occasionally used to control evil spirits.

[...]

She gradually craned her neck.

It was only after she rotated her head 180 degrees that the girl finally looked at me standing behind her.

Her appearance made it hard to even call her a girl.

She was merely a black figure with bloodshot red eyes.

As I mentioned before, the form of the soul was ultimately decided by one’s mind and will.

For example, Stella, who had lost her eyes, left hand, and lower body, was perfectly unharmed in her soul form.

If one's mind was completely intact, their physical wounds wouldn’t necessarily transfer to the soul form.

However, most of the time, wounds sustained during one’s life would carry over to the soul form.

Of course, the same case could be said for the opposite case as well.

"I am sorry."

I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the girl on seeing her covered with wounds she hadn’t suffered during her lifetime, but had obtained in her soul form.

How much pain and suffering did she endure for her soul to distort to this unrecognizable form?

I wondered if she even heard my apology.

The girl, who had been fiddling her hands as if trying to remove the chains, stopped moving.

Her soul, which was thoroughly shattered, gradually calmed down, waiting for me to speak.

"Can you answer the questions I am about to ask from now on?"

[...Why?]

Her voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard, giving me goosebumps just from hearing it. I imagined this was what one would sound like if their throat were scorched by fire.

Knowing the questions I would ask from now might bring back painful memories for the little girl, I replied cautiously but firmly.

"It is to prevent others from suffering like you. And also."

[...]

"To avenge you."

Her red eyes trembled slightly as she clenched her fists and nodded bravely.

After receiving her permission, I began with the most important question.

"Clair's General Store. Do you know it?"

[Yes.]

The girl began to tremble, as if just thinking about it terrified her.

At the same time, I could hear the clinking sound of the chains binding her hands.

I reached out, freed her hands by turning the chains back into mana and continued with my questions.

"Who is the owner of that place?"

The Clair I knew was a lively man of short stature, who could almost be mistaken for a child.

His most notable feature was his large nose.

[A tall man.]

As expected.

It seemed like he was different from the Clair I knew, but her answer didn't stop there.

[A scary woman.]

Two?

[A small child.]

"..."

[An old man with a strange voice, a man with twisted hands, a woman with one eye, a scary-looking man, a burly man...]

The answers kept pouring out.

I wondered if there was some magic preventing her from speaking about the store. However, after I made sure of it, that didn’t seem to be the case.

The girl only listed the owners she had seen at the store.

"That is enough."

[...]

Just thinking about it, it was unlikely that all those people could all be the store's owners.

He must have the ability to change his appearance.

It was a common trick but that must be his way of trying to conceal his true identity.

"What did the owner do to you?"

[Ah.]

Hearing my question, the girl froze, then she crouched down and began to tremble.

It wasn't that she didn’t want to talk about it, but rather, merely recalling it was that painful. From that, I realized why her soul had changed in that manner.

She was subjected to so much psychological torment that it even affected her soul form.

Or perhaps it was some sort of Necromancy that had harmed her soul directly.

"I am sorry, ignore that question."

In an attempt to soothe her, I placed my hand on her shoulder.

However, as soon as I touched her, I felt the threads forming her being slowly wrap around my hand and then snap off.

"This is..."

The thin thread that had separated from her main body was trying to return to her.

I then realized that this was the girl’s way of showing me how to get to Clair's General Store.

Since her soul itself was already sold and bound to Clair's General Store, it meant that once she returned, this thin thread in my hand would guide me there.

"Thank you."

I was unable to offer her peace just yet, but I couldn't leave this child outside either.

To save her, she first needed to return to the general store.

For that purpose, my gaze calmly settled on Ophelia.

At the same time, the girl's neck returned to its original position, and she glared at her.

"G-Get away! Get away, you monster!"

I didn't bother to ask the girl what she was feeling. After all, she was sold to Clair's General Store and now had a task she needed to complete.

"Fortunately, at least that can be done."

"W-what?!"

Ophelia asked me what was fortunate, and I replied calmly.

"Once this girl returns to Clair's General Store, I will find it and rescue her."

"T-then ask her to return immediately!"

"But she cannot return unless she reaps your life."

Because the contract was yet to be fulfilled.

I left Ophelia, who immediately turned deathly pale, and grabbed one of the bottles of liquor within reach.

The bottle was chilled in ice, and as I poured the drink, a gentle mist rose and filled the glass.

It felt like only by wetting my tongue with liquor would I be able to endure witnessing such a bitter scene with less regret.

The mother who sold her daughter without hesitation was killed just as mercilessly by that very same child.

"Noooo!"

Whoooosh!

The girl's form unraveled like threads and poured into Ophelia's eyes, nose, and mouth.

Then, she absorbed Ophelia's soul into her body.

That explained why only the soul disappeared without leaving behind any external injuries.

This was probably what happened in the cases where deaths were determined to be accidental. Unfortunately, that was what might have occurred after their deaths, manifesting as the body lost strength.

It wasn't a pleasant sight.

Whether I liked it or not, this was a situation where the daughter reaped her own mother's soul as revenge.

However, at least…

"Be satisfied knowing that through your death, your daughter has a chance to find rest."

Although I wasn’t sure if finding Clair's General Store and rescuing your daughter's soul would satisfy you, that was the only thing I could do for you, mother and daughter.

Crash!

Just then, the door burst open, and the waiters stormed in. This place often had incidents like this, so several tough-looking men, following Fotton, the owner, poured in.

"W-What happened here?"

Once they stepped in and saw me standing upright, still sober, and Ophelia sprawled alone on the floor, they asked in confusion.

Without much hesitation, I replied.

"She collapsed all of a sudden. It must have been a heart attack."

Perhaps this was how you nonchalantly explained the deaths you caused, too, right?

It wasn't a pleasant feeling.

***"Aaaaargh!"

Aria groaned in frustration while chopping firewood in the chilly cold that still lingered.

She finally returned to her hometown after almost a year.

Other than assisting her parents, she was also helping the older villagers by stacking firewood for them.

For some reason, they kept trying to offer her some kind of reward for doing it as a favor, but she flatly refused them, saying it wasn't necessary.

"Why are you shouting? You said you'd help."

Aria pouted as her mother scolded her.

"It's not because of this. I just want to return to the academy already."

"Hmm? People usually enjoy their vacations more, don't they?"

"Not me."

Aria stretched as she picked up the pieces of firewood she had dropped.

"Yaaaaawn! What's for dinner tonight?"

"Stew. It’s a healthy stew with lots of broccoli."

"…I should have caught that boar we saw earlier."

It was not uncommon for wild boars to attack humans due to the lack of food during the winter. However, on the contrary, they immediately fled at the sight of Aria.

Their animal instincts must have warned them that it was a smart move to avoid confronting her. Sometimes, animals seemed wiser than humans.

"I'll go and heat up the stew, so you finish stacking the firewood. Don't let the snow get it wet."

"Got it."

After covering the pile of firewood at the village center with a large tarp for those in need, Aria finally headed back home.

How long had it been since she last spent a vacation as an ordinary student?

With that thought, Aria hummed to herself as she made her way home.

"Hmm?"

At the small cabin she shared with her family, next to the usual entrance, was another door that hadn't been there that morning.

"What's this?"

It definitely wasn't there earlier.

It had a sophisticated, luxurious purple appearance, with a door plate hanging on it.

Clair's General Store.

"Clair's General Store?"

Aria tilted her head and pondered as the name sounded vaguely familiar. However, she then clapped her hands in realization.

"Ahhhh! It's the secret shop!"

A store run by a merchant named Clair, who traveled all over the continent.

Students would normally encounter it at least once during their first year, but Aria didn't know anything in the first round, so she missed that opportunity. After that, she never had a chance to visit it again.

And since she was busy in her second round with something else, she didn't have time to visit either.

"I was unlucky in my first round."

Despite that Deus from her first round telling her what to do if she ever came across Clair's General Store, she was so unlucky that she never encountered it.

"Ssp, but isn't it odd to set up shop next to someone's house like this?"

She'd heard the shop owner was kind but timid, which might be useful for negotiations.

She went inside her house, grabbed a heavy money pouch filled with her secret adventure funds hidden under her bed, and headed straight for Clair's General Store.

Creak.

"…Hmm?"

The inside was dark, and as she stepped into the store, she was immediately filled with a sense of unease.

Was it always like this?

Despite having such suspicions, she decided to venture further in.

However, the more she walked, the more she felt like something was off.

This place feels creepy.

She was unable to explain it properly, but it felt as though the store was filled with dozens of eyes that were watching her in the darkness.

The shelves, which should have had goods on display, were empty and covered in dust.

At the end of her sight was a man sitting at the counter.

His face was obscured by shadows, but his hands wearing white-gloves were clearly visible.

"Welcome to Clair's General Store."

"…"

Although it was suspicious, it would be unwise to confront him without more information.

Aria glanced around cautiously and asked.

"Is there nothing for sale here?"

"We're out of stock."

"…"

She almost remarked on how the shelves seemed to have been empty for a long time, but she decided to change the topic instead.

"Do you have anything to sell?"

As she asked while tilting her head, she had the strange feeling that the woman's mouth had stretched into a grin in the darkness.

A woman?

No, the man had turned into a woman.

Feeling a strange energy seeping into her ears, Aria focused her mind.

During the time she was inattentive, the man had become a woman, and the woman had transformed into an old person.

Yet, the hands wearing white-gloved remained the same as they retrieved an item.

"I’ve prepared something tailored specifically for you, Miss."

Does he know who I am?

Holding back her irritation at the jovial tone of the old man, Aria checked what was in the gloved hand.

"…Huh?"

Held within it was a small ‘soul.’

On top of that, it was one that took the form of someone she was very familiar with.

Aria felt her lips tremble involuntarily. Despite her countless experiences as a hero, she had never encountered anything as grotesque and terrifying as this.

It was as if sharp tacks were lodged in her soles, stinging persistently, and it constricted her so much that she could hardly breathe properly.

Emotions that she thought were well-buried sprouted anew in her heart, like fresh buds.

“You… lie.”

Aria instinctively recognized the soul the moment she saw it.

However, the store owner made it a point to tell her the product’s name.

“This is the soul of Kim Shinwoo from the first round.”