Three months had already passed since Alon rescued Yudia Bloodia, the girl destined to become a "Humanity Deletion Machine" in ten years.
During those three months, Alon lived each day to the fullest while successfully locating the second Sin he needed to save.
Then, about a month later.
"As per your instructions, I rescued the child from the illegal slave market and sent him to the orphanage managed by Yutia."
Alon, who was in his study attending to some business, received the good news from Evan.
"You treated him well, just as I asked?"
"Yes."
"No fighting?"
"Of course not."
Alon nodded in satisfaction at the report. Having spent over half a year together, he was now well-accustomed to Evan's mannerisms. Sensing an opening, Evan stole a glance at him and asked tentatively.
"…If I may, might I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Why did you go through all the trouble of finding information to rescue that child, only to send him straight to an orphanage…? It's not my place to say, but the boy you saved this time also possesses extraordinary talent."
Understanding Evan's point immediately, Alon nodded and thought to himself.
It's not just 'extraordinary.' It's world-ending talent.
The man he had just rescued from the illegal slave market in the Kalian Kingdom—the heart of the United Kingdoms—was none other than Deus.
Deus Macallian.
Ten years from now, he would become one of the bosses of Psychedelia and the 'Sin of Sloth,' one of the Five Great Sins. Much like the Sin of Wrath, he would erase several United Kingdoms, including the Asteria Kingdom, from the continent the moment he made his debut.
And he would do it in the most horrific way possible.
Even as a player, Alon had frowned at the gory descriptions associated with him. There were even players in the Psychedelia community who had fits after seeing the depictions of Sloth.
And for someone representing Sloth, he sure knows how to hold a grudge.
That was why Alon had told Evan to treat him as kindly as possible after the rescue.
Recalling that fact, Alon realized Evan was still waiting for an answer and offered a casual excuse.
"It's the same as before. The time simply isn't right yet."
"The time, you say."
Watching Evan mull over the excuse, Alon thought, He sure has a lot of questions.
In truth, Alon would have preferred a knight who simply followed orders without question, rather than one who asked about every single command. Unfortunately, he didn't have much of a choice.
In fact, he had essentially used up his 'choice' on Evan six months ago.
Evan was a character who appeared several times in Psychedelia—not as a lead, but as a supporting character depending on the route. Specifically, he was a top-tier supporting character who, once a certain level of trust was established in the scenario, would never betray you and would remain loyal to the end.
Knowing how valuable a non-betrayal clause was in this fantasy world where backstabbing was as common as breathing, Alon hadn't hesitated to hire Evan when he found him passing through the territory.
"…I understand."
Evan nodded firmly as if he had understood everything while Alon was lost in thought, then asked once more.
"But, Lord Alon, when do you intend to actually meet the ones you've rescued?"
"I don't particularly have plans to meet them."
"…Still, wouldn't it be better to meet them at least once?"
"…Hmm."
Alon knew this as well.
Ideally, it was best to be on good terms with the Five Great Sins, and meeting them in person was the best way to build rapport.
However, despite knowing this, the reason Alon chose to maintain the relationship solely through sponsorship without meeting them was because of their personalities—or rather, their character flaws.
As far as he knew, the personalities of the Five Great Sins were disastrous even before they became the Sins.
One only had to look at the flashback scenes that played after killing a Sin boss in Psychedelia. Their personalities were so twisted that Satan and Lucifer would have held hands and cheered from the depths of hell.
Of course, the process of them becoming the Five Great Sins is even more disastrous.
Alon continued his train of thought.
…Well, I rescued them before their personalities were completely ruined, so they might not go that far. But still, I only stepped in midway.
In the end, he concluded that the Sins' personalities were bound to be off-kilter in some way, which deepened his dilemma.
"…Maybe in about five years."
In five years, he should be able to get a good grasp of their average personality traits through the data Evan collected.
Just as Evan was nodding at this relatively positive conclusion…
Slam!
The study door swung open abruptly, and someone walked in.
"Well, look who it is. If it isn't Alon?"
At the familiar voice, Alon's brow furrowed slightly as he let out a sigh. He knew the owner of this voice all too well.
"What is my illiterate little brother doing in a place like this? Hmm?"
Turning his gaze toward the voice, he saw a man approaching with a sly smirk—no, it was…
"I'm talking to you. Where's your answer?"
…Tonio, the second son of the Count Palladio family and one half of the pair known as the "Trash Brothers" of the household. Wearing a repulsive grin, he rested his arm on top of Alon's head as Alon sat there.
It was a blatant act of disrespect.
"I stopped by because there was something I needed to look up."
Even though Tonio was pressing down on his head hard enough to cause a dull ache, Alon replied calmly, as if it were nothing.
He's acting out again.
This wasn't the first time the eldest or second son had treated Alon this way. In fact, he had been subjected to blatant bullying from them since the moment he transmigrated.
Even before his arrival, the original Alon must have endured this constant harassment.
The reason he didn't react and simply let it slide, however, was because his desire to maintain a peaceful noble life outweighed the annoyance of the bullying.
If I mess with these bastards, my entire plan will be shattered from the start.
If his opponents were merely the "trash duo" of a count's family, Alon would have loved to crush them. The problem was their actual weight class.
It's a bit tricky to touch a drug kingpin and a prostitution mogul.
Alon stole a glance upward.
There stood the second son of the Count, looking down at him with a sneer. In the underworld, this man was a titan who ran a massive drug cartel grandiosely named 'Avalon' alongside 'The Organization.'
Of course, he was only famous within the kingdom, but unfortunately, the current Alon lacked the means to cleanly dispose of a piece of trash who commanded dozens of underworld thugs and wouldn't hesitate to order a contract killing if things went south.
…Furthermore, even if he did get rid of him, he would then have to fight the eldest son, who was currently at odds with the second son and held a monopoly over the prostitution business.
The eldest son, sensitive to the matter of succession, would never leave Alon alone after he defeated the second son.
In other words, Alon knew that the moment he truly pushed back, he would have to see it through to the very end.
"It seems you intend to use the study, brother, so I shall take my leave."
"At least you know your place."
Alon bowed politely to Tonio, whose face was filled with mockery, and returned to his room with Evan.
Soon, Evan handed him a letter from Yutia.
"I brought this directly this time."
"Is that so?"
Since rescuing Yutia, Alon had been steadily exchanging letters with her once a month.
The content mostly consisted of checking in on each other and sharing simple daily stories. It was Alon who had suggested this correspondence.
They might feel more closeness to a pen pal like this than meeting in person.
Thinking of the friends he once had in group chats—whom he had felt closer to than his real-life friends—Alon opened the letter.
"Hmm…"
The content was nothing special. It was Yutia's usual simple greetings and stories about some of the children at the orphanage.
To summarize, it mentioned that a child named Hidan was very good at 'playing war,' and a child named Yuna was very good at 'playing tag.'
As he read these mundane stories and pondered what to write back, Alon decided to faithfully record what had happened today.
He felt that sharing a moderate amount of his troubles, rather than just saying nice things, would help them become psychologically closer.
With that intention, Alon wrote about the day's events and sent the letter to the orphanage where Yutia was.
It was a normal, ordinary day.
####
At that same time.
"Hmm—"
Yutia looked at the man with the ominous, hollow purple eyes: Deus Macallian.
On the surface, he looked fine.
His limbs were intact, and although his body was covered in traces of the various humiliations he had endured, nothing seemed physically broken.
However, that was only on the outside. Anyone else looking at Deus Macallian would have been certain that he was broken.
His body was fine, but his eyes, which should have held some form of emotion, were merely staring into space with total emptiness.
Like a human whose brain had been scrambled by mental magic, Deus stared blankly at a single spot without any expression or movement.
He looked exactly like a broken man.
And yet, Yutia wore a deep smile as she watched him.
Traces of being tormented by 'that thing'… To let him have his revenge personally, he truly is so thoughtful.
In fact, far beyond just smiling, Yutia had clearly grasped why that person had sent Deus here. She opened her mouth to speak.
"Black Goat."
"!"
Just one phrase.
But with those two words, Deus, who had been no different from a broken shell until a moment ago, reacted.
What filled his hollow eyes was neither intelligence nor clarity.
It was pure hatred, rage, and fear.
Confirming this, she spoke with a smile.
"You want revenge, don't you?"
At Yutia's words, Deus's eyes, which had been staring into the void, turned toward her.
They were filled with hatred, murderous intent, and questioning.
Capturing those emotions easily, Yutia said no more.
She simply let her mana ripple lightly.
The power that person had bestowed upon her, specifically designed to deal with 'black things.'
"Congratulations. He has chosen you. Therefore, you shall gain power."
She didn't add any further explanation about the mana she released.
There was no need.
The talent possessed by the second person that person had chosen was so outstanding that a long explanation could be condensed into a single action.
And so.
"All you have to do is follow him with absolute loyalty. Then, you will have your revenge."
Yutia smiled as she looked at Deus.
And then, one week after Deus had entered the orphanage, Yutia received Alon's letter as usual.
"...I see."
After reading the letter, she smiled.
####
A year had passed since Deus was entrusted to the orphanage and Alon had begun his regular correspondence with Yutia.
Just as Alon was shaking his head in frustration because he couldn't find the third boss he needed to rescue, a piece of news reached his ears.
"…That piece of trash is dead?"
The second son of the Count Palladio family was dead.