Time passed, and it was now the second year since Alon had rescued Yutia and begun exchanging letters with her regularly.
"I've successfully rescued them again this time."
"Is that so?"
Alon received the good news from Evan.
"Did you send them to the orphanage?"
"Yes, this makes it the fifth one."
At Evan's words, Alon nodded.
Over the past year, Alon had successfully rescued the three Sins he originally planned to save.
'Saving the Sin of Greed was a bit tricky.'
The third Sin he rescued, who is currently known by the name Rine Groff, was difficult to find, but rescuing her itself wasn't that challenging. The same went for the other Sins.
It took a few months to locate each one, but with Alon diligently using his game knowledge to direct Evan, they were all found.
As he looked at Evan, who had been running around to rescue the Five Great Sins over the past year, Alon spoke.
"You can take a break now."
"Is it over?"
"It's over."
....
"That's a relief."
Evan let out a sigh of relief and looked at Alon.
"But, Young Master, aren't you happy?"
"Of course, I'm happy."
"You don't look like it, though."
"Really?"
At Evan's remark, Alon turned to look at the mirror.
In it was the face of Alon, a face he had grown accustomed to.
'Indeed…'
The man reflected in the mirror had a blank expression.
No, on closer inspection, the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, but the change in his expression was so subtle that it would be hard to notice unless one looked closely.
Alon tried to force his face into a smile, but stopped when he saw that his face, which was normally quite decent-looking, now looked like that of a strange man.
'It feels like only my facial muscles didn't fully adapt to this body.'
Unlike before, when his emotions were clearly displayed, Alon's face now rarely showed any expression. Even if it did, the change was exceedingly subtle.
'Not that it's a bad thing.'
Of course, Alon didn't think much of it. The fact that his emotions didn't show wasn't a problem for him, but rather for others who interacted with him. He wasn't particularly bothered by it.
'Anyway, this concludes everything I needed to do for now.'
Alon smiled as he thought of the five potential Sins he had gathered at the orphanage.
'I didn't expect things to go this well.'
In truth, Alon hadn't expected things to go so smoothly from the start.
The Five Great Sins had every reason to become the monsters they were destined to be. No matter how hard Alon tried, it wasn't like he could save them before they encountered any misfortune at all.
In other words, Alon's only concern had been that he wouldn't be able to save the Five Great Sins until they were already too far gone. But contrary to his worries, all five of the Sins were growing up normally.
"Evan."
"Yes."
"When you visited the orphanage last time, you said there didn't seem to be any problems, right?"
"When I checked, even Rine and Seolrang, who were in bad shape before arriving at the orphanage, had returned to a relatively normal state."
"Really?"
....
"Yes. When I first rescued Seolrang, she was like a broken doll, doing nothing and just staying still, but at the orphanage, she was getting along well. Similarly, when I first rescued Rine, she kept her eyes closed as if she didn't want to see anything, but when I saw her last, she was reading a book with interest."
At Evan's report, Alon nodded.
The content matched what Yutia had written in her letters.
'I didn't expect Yutia to do such a good job.'
Initially, Alon had left Yutia at the orphanage not only to keep her at a distance, but also because there was a setting in which she was somewhat attached to the orphanage.
However, he hadn't been entirely sure that she would take care of the other children as well, and he had originally planned to send Evan to check on the situation and, if necessary, bring in professional help.
'But that's not necessary anymore.'
Alon smiled.
Everything had gone even better than he expected, and thanks to Yutia's efforts, there was now only one thing left for Alon to do.
'Develop some level of self-defense skills.'
Of course, as the third son of the Palatio Count's family, if he didn't take any particular action, his life wouldn't be in danger.
Especially since Evan was by his side.
But given that this world was based on a dark fantasy, it was essential to have at least some ability to protect himself. He was considering learning magic.
"Oh, by the way, have you heard about the 'Blue Moon,' Young Master?"
While he was pondering this, Evan's question brought Alon back to the present.
"The Blue Moon?"
"Yes, it's a recently famous organization in the eastern regions. From what I've heard, they've been hunting down other organizations."
"An organization hunting other organizations?"
"Yes."
"Then they're doing a good thing."
Alon responded dully, having fully adapted to the dark fantasy world.
If the Blue Moon were massacring civilians, it would be a cause for concern. But if they were hunting other organizations, that was a different story.
After all, in this continent, Alon had never seen or heard of any organization that didn't involve death in some way.
If they were hunting those who played with human lives, there wasn't much reason to view them negatively, so Alon simply responded as such.
"The problem is that they're also killing nobles."
"Evan."
"Yes, Young Master?"
....
"Starting today, you'll sleep in the room next to mine."
Alon said decisively after hearing Evan's follow-up.
'Considering that this Blue Moon organization wasn't mentioned in the original story, it's likely that they disappear before the main events start. But… Ah, come to think of it, Leo's been in a bad mood lately. Could it be because of them?'
As Alon pondered this, he shrugged and began writing a letter in response to the one he received from Yutia yesterday.
"Hmm…"
As usual, Yutia's letter contained the same kind of content—some greetings, a brief update on the current state of those Alon had asked her to take care of, and a list of sponsors.
After confirming this, Alon considered mentioning the 'Blue Moon' organization that Evan had just told him about, but decided against it.
The Blue Moon might be hunting organizations and nobles, but they weren't targeting orphanages filled with children.
As always, Alon finished writing the letter and sent it through the mercenary guild.
It was a relaxed day.
***
A few weeks later, at the orphanage in the eastern region.
During a regular meeting that had begun on a weekly basis after activities had officially started, Yutia was reading the letter Alon had sent.
"Is that a letter from him? Let me read it! Me too!"
"Me too, I want to read it."
A girl enthusiastically waved her hand, while another girl opposite her quietly raised her own hand as Yutia read the letter.
Even in the dimly lit hideout, their golden and green eyes sparkled—these were Seolrang and Rine, the future Sins of Pride and Greed, respectively.
"Here."
"Really? Can I really see it? You didn't let me see it last time!"
"It's about time I did."
Yutia smiled as she handed the letter over. Seolrang and Rine, along with Deus, who had been silently watching, all looked at the letter with curiosity.
A little while later,
"…Is this… an instruction sheet?"
"It just looks like an ordinary conversation…"
They all expressed their confusion as they reread the letter before them.
The letter contained nothing but mundane daily conversation.
Deus, seeking an explanation, looked at Yutia with a questioning expression, and she smiled as she explained.
"That's how it's supposed to look. He ordered me from the beginning to write it as if it were just a normal conversation."
....
Then, Yutia pulled out a slightly worn letter from her chest and showed it to them.
The content of the letter was simple. It started with casual greetings and naturally moved on to suggest that they regularly exchange letters about the orphanage.
"…?"
"…?"
Seolrang and Rine frowned, puzzled.
But Deus, seemingly understanding the true intent behind the letter, spoke.
"Is it because he doesn't want any secrets to be leaked, so he exchanges letters in this way?"
"Correct."
"I see."
Deus nodded in agreement, then glanced at Seolrang and Rine, who were still focused on the letter.
"If he's worried about leaks, wouldn't it be better to use magic communication or have us go and report in person regularly?"
"Right."
"Then why insist on using letters?"
"Because that's his will."
Yutia smiled as she added,
"If he's decided to do it this way, we follow. There's no need to question or think about it."
At her words, Deus felt a dryness in his mouth.
While Yutia's emotions were generally calm, whenever she spoke about him, there was a deep, unsettling conviction that even made his skin crawl.
"…Understood."
Thus, Deus nodded quietly, looking into her red eyes, which now gleamed with the light of a fanatic.
With that, Yutia collected the letter she had distributed to the members and carefully stored it in her chest, marking the end of the 'meeting.'
"Seolrang, what about the north?"
"You mean the slavers?"
"Yes."
At Yutia's question, Seolrang flashed a bright smile.
"I took care of them all."
"And your identity?"
"I wasn't exposed! The clothes Rine made seem to be working well. I gave them a quiz, saying I'd let them live if they could correctly describe my face, but no one could answer."
"And then?"
....
"I plucked them all. Their heads."
Her words were excessively brutal for such a cheerful laugh, but Yutia calmly turned her gaze to Deus.
"And the south?"
"Avalon was running rampant, so I cleaned them up. And I found something else to discuss while I was there."
"What is it?"
"The head of Avalon is the eldest son of the Count's family where he resides, correct?"
Yutia nodded silently at Deus's question.
However…
"…It seems the eldest son is trying to poison him."
As soon as he said that,
"What?"
The atmosphere froze.
Just moments ago, Seolrang, who had been smiling brightly, folded her ears back and looked around nervously, while Rine, who had been quietly observing, fixed her gaze forward.
The only one who could look Yutia in the eyes was Deus, who had anticipated this reaction.
But even he felt a cold sweat running down his back as he sensed the overwhelming killing intent that was far stronger than expected.
After a short while,
"…Are you certain?"
"There was an instruction sheet."
"Did you bring it?"
"Yes."
Deus pulled out the letter from his chest as if he had been waiting for this moment.
Without blinking, Yutia read the letter.
[Once the Count, whose lifespan is nearly over, dies, quietly poison him and dispose of him.]
After reading that final line,
"I see."
She gripped the instruction sheet tightly.
"So, it's true."
With a chilling look in her eyes, she muttered softly.