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As someone who was reincarnated into this world, it was like I had failed in my role, but there wasn’t much I could do.

The events in the original novel were still years away from happening.

The heroine, Elise*, hadn’t even crossed over into this world yet.

Right now, she was probably living somewhere in modern-day Korea, supporting her younger siblings.

It was impossible to meet the characters connected to her at this point, and the path ahead of us remained uncharted.

All I could do was look far into the future and make rough guesses.

During that time, Sirien and I had certainly done our best.

Looking back, there wasn’t much more we could have done to get better results.

But despite all our efforts, we seemed to be following the exact plot of the original.

If we had made even a small mistake, we wouldn’t have been able to keep up with the original’s pace.

Now, to change the flow, giving our best wasn’t enough. Something had to change.

Russell’s name had never been mentioned in the original.

There was a high probability that he died this time too, just like Terion and Hena had.

‘But what about Isha?’

It was something I found out later, but Isha had become one of our closest confidants, both to me and Sirien.

There was no doubt that this bond was formed during our time in Requitas.

Even so, I couldn’t throw away our plans just to save Isha.

No matter how we felt, the cleanup of the sewer rats had to be completed.

We needed to have at least a rough idea of the location of their base.

In the process, it was inevitable that we drew some attention from Millen.

On the day we parted ways with Isha on the camellia-covered hill, Russell had told Isha to leave, but Isha chose to stay in Requitas.

We couldn’t help her any further. By then, Millen’s eyes were already on us.

Even if we had shaken off the tail, it was impossible to continue looking after Isha.

The danger was one thing, but we also had the goal of eliminating the remnants of Kirux.

Kindness had its limits, and it had to end there.

‘But is this really enough?’

There were only a few years left until the story of the original began.

If things didn’t change soon, all that awaited us was tragedy.

That was something I absolutely could not allow.

I didn’t want to die. And, of course, I didn’t want to see Sirien die either.

At this point, Sirien was more precious to me than my own life.

Even the smallest change in the flow could bring about a better outcome.

Hadn’t we suffered enough?

There was no need to endure another tragedy like the one at the cabin.

Then, my eyes fell on the sword hanging at my waist.

It wasn’t anything special, but it had been used for so long that my divine power had soaked deep into its blade.

Sirien could track her own divine power.

I couldn’t intentionally leave traces of mine like Sirien could.

But if it was power that was already imbued into the blade... couldn’t I track it as well?

* * *

Russell had a gut feeling.

To be more precise, he couldn’t help but sense it.

“I see this as an opportunity. What do you think?”

“I agree.”

The officer nodded. He had served Russell for a long time.

They usually saw eye to eye, and today was no different.

Tonight seemed especially chaotic.

It wasn’t unusual for the nights in Requitas to be noisy. In fact, a quiet night was more out of place in this lawless zone.

A city of luxury and indulgence. Just as bright lights cast deep shadows, Requitas had a dazzling night alongside its darker side.

But tonight’s disturbance was different.

Instead of desires and pleasures, blood and death swept over the city.

There were no flirtatious moans from women, only horrific screams echoing through the streets.

“Are you going to make a move?”

“I must. If we miss this chance, there might not be another.”

“You’re still not fully healed, though.”

“Even at my best, I couldn’t compete with that knight.”

A soft chuckle followed.

It was the officer’s laugh.

“That much is clear. Isn’t it time to retire?”

“I’m not that old yet.”

“I can already see gray hairs. Quite a lot of them, too.”

“…”

An unknown knight was ruthlessly destroying the sewer rats’ base.

It was an extremely violent and crude method—one that Russell could have never imagined using in his entire life.

Yet, he couldn’t deny that the method was effective.

The knight, clad in black armor, charged into the building’s outer wall.

Aside from the entertainment district, most of Requitas’ buildings weren’t particularly sturdy.

And the place the knight attacked was a den where the sewer rats gathered to smoke drugs—a shoddy hideout, to say the least.

The wall crumbled pathetically, granting the knight easy access.

Strange, unreadable symbols glowed blood-red on the knight’s armor.

Wielding a massive sword surrounded by a crimson aura, the knight unleashed unstoppable violence, turning the interior of the building into the same blood-drenched hue.

It took only a few minutes for one of the sewer rats’ strongholds to be reduced to ruins.

At this point, Russell wondered if calling this creature a knight was even accurate.

It fought less like a human and more like a beast. Its overwhelming strength and destructive force took the lives of anything that stood in its way.

Death, or perhaps murderous intent, had taken physical form and wielded a sword. That’s what it looked like.

And that blood-red glow… Russell felt an ominous dread from the color.

Yet, somehow, it also seemed divine, though he couldn’t understand why.

Could such terrifying power truly be holy?

It was hard to believe.

“Has the world ever seen such a foreboding form of divinity?”

“I’m not even sure if that’s divine at all.”

“Honestly, I feel the same. All the knowledge I’ve accumulated now feels as fragile as a sandcastle.”

Still, none of that mattered. The identity of the knight or the nature of his power wasn’t important.

Russell was someone willing to sell his soul to the devil if necessary.

They say the enemy of your enemy is your ally.

And if that ally is this powerful, Russell was more than ready to welcome him with open arms.

Russell raised a red flag atop a rundown building, and the officer lit it on fire beside him.

It was the signal to launch the counterattack.

He didn’t know how many members of the Crescent Moon Guild were still alive. The odds were likely grim.

And even if they survived, there was no guarantee they’d answer this call to arms.

In the worst-case scenario, Russell might be the only one charging into battle. His officer had no talent for fighting, after all.

“I’ll be off, then.”

“Yes. Please return safely.”

Even so, Russell strapped two swords to his waist.

He no longer placed much value on his own life.

There was no hesitation in his quick steps.

‘One of us—either me or Millen—has to die.’

This was the last thing he had to do as a father.

If Russell died, Millen would stop pursuing Isha.

The person who held the “dangerous information” would be gone, and Millen would have no reason to waste money and time searching for Isha.

On the other hand, if Russell killed Millen, Isha would no longer be hunted.

He wasn’t sure how far that knight would go in tearing apart the sewer rats.

Maybe the knight’s goal was only to destroy a few bases, or maybe he intended to kill Millen as well.

However, Millen was a cunning man.

If the situation turned unfavorable, he would likely hide in a safe place to wait out the storm, just as Russell had done before.

That might buy some time, but time was just that—temporary.

Unless Millen left the empire entirely, his claws would eventually reach out again.

There was no real peace in that.

‘I couldn’t even love my daughter properly after all the effort of bringing her into this world.’

It was all because he was lacking, because he was foolish.

In Russell’s mind, he was a broken man, capable only of killing people and gathering bits of profitable information. Anything else seemed beyond him.

He shouldn’t have trusted himself.

They say that a truly foolish man doesn’t even know he’s foolish. That fit him perfectly.

Looking back, it had been a simple, misguided thought process.

Even to him, Requitas was a dangerous place.

Weakness meant death, and so he had been harsh with Isha.

He feared that if he showed her too much affection, his daughter’s heart would grow soft.

How could he have been so foolish?

It was, of course, utter nonsense. All are just excuses.

The truth was, he simply didn’t know how to love.

When his wife was alive, he thought everything would be fine.

He assumed she would be the one to be a good parent.

But eventually, Russell had to face the harsh truth—that he had been too incompetent to even protect his own wife.

After her death, it had been easier to be a strict father than a good one.

It was a pathetic and cowardly escape from reality. He had sworn never to make the same mistakes again, yet here he was, repeating them.

If there was one thing Russell had done right in his life, it was not turning away from his daughter’s desperation.

When Isha ran away, he searched for her like a madman.

And when he finally saw her, crying under the camellia tree, his heart nearly stopped.

He should have realized it then. He should have taken one more step toward her.

Instead of waiting until she was at her breaking point, he should have told her he loved her every now and then, whenever it crossed his mind.

Maybe that alone could have made a difference.

Russell regretted his past deeply.

[TL: I’m renaming Ellis to Elise as I think that Elise would be more correct spelling. Any other suggestions are also welcome. Do share them in the comments.

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