How a Villain Defies Destiny – Chapter 52

Author: Nikss

Unable to admit to myself that I was a little concerned about Yves’ condition right next to me, and wondering what the hell was wrong with him yesterday, I fidgeted with the leaves outside the window.

Nishana, who must have sensed my gaze shift, turned her head in the same direction and chimed in with a more boisterous voice.

“Oh, I was thinking the same thing, the maple leaves outside the window are turning beautiful colors.”

Nishana smiled her sunflower-like smile and fidgeted eagerly.

‘Ah, this is comforting.’

Karen interrupts this time with a motherly smile on her face.

“Speaking of which, it’s already time for Harvest Festival.”

Harvest Festival?

Laura scratched her head at the unfamiliar words, and then some of her memories came flooding back.

Memories of her past harvest celebrations.

‘Aha, a three-day seasonal event that includes a pre-festival, a thanksgiving, and an after-festival.’

Once the words ‘fall seasonal event’ entered her mind, a chain of events came to mind.

‘The third essential event!’

This was the first-ever event to restore a ruined city and heal the wounded at the same time, and it was the first time Selene had publicly announced that she could wield the power of the gods.

Like any required event, it started the same way.

It begins with a small town nearly wiped out by a dragon and a request for assistance from the High Priestess of Astarte on the Euphrates.

From there, the route you take determines which companions you get.

Normally, one target would accompany the player, but in the Reverse Harem route, all the targets would accompany the player, and in the Hidden Character Xenon route, despite being a required event, it didn’t occur.

‘Well, I’m not going to that city, so I don’t know what route Selene is on.’

But there was something else on my mind.

‘Are we going to regress this time?’

So far, there have been two essential events.

The first event, manifesting as a saint at Viscount Oannes’ party.

When I had skipped Viscount Oannes’ party, time had reverted several times.

However, the second required event, manifesting the ability to purge curses, did not revert, even though it was done differently than the original.

That’s why I’m worried about the third required event.

‘I’m pretty sure Selene was referring to a specific event earlier, and I’m pretty sure it’s a required event.’

After hearing from Yves that the second event didn’t play out the way it was written, I’ve been thinking hard to myself.

I wondered if there was another meaning to this particular event, or if there were other conditions that needed to be met in addition to the required event for the regression to work.

It wasn’t conclusive, but after a few comparisons, I was leaning towards the latter.

Maybe…

This was because I had a theory that if the goal of the prerequisite event was met as expected when a certain event occurred, then no regression would occur.

The goal of the event was Selene’s power awakening.

‘The first event would have gone back in time many times over because I was not present and Selene was unable to manifest the divine pattern.’

The second event was different.

By cleansing the curses of targets other than Yves, the goal of the event, ‘The heroine manifests the ability to cleanse curses!’ was fulfilled anyway.

Therefore, the third one would also depend on whether Selene awakens her ability.

As I was organizing the game’s information and calculating the probability of regression after the harvest thanksgiving and the probability of not regressing, I heard a group of children talking next to me.

“Harvest Festival is especially popular in the neighboring countries of Babylonia and Euphrates.”

“That’s because the Euphrates Kingdom is descended from Astarte, the goddess of fertility.”

“Miss Syris was from the Euphrates Kingdom, wasn’t she?”

“Yes! I’m planning to go down to my homeland for the harvest thanksgiving festival, aren’t you, Laura?”

“I’ve been disowned by my family,” I replied casually.

Not that I’m planning anything, anyway.

“…”

Karen, Nishana, and Syris looked at me with tightly-clenched mouths, their eyes filled with sympathy.

‘What a strange misunderstanding.’

Before the atmosphere could get any weirder, I hastily added an excuse.

“I don’t really have any fond memories there, so I don’t miss it.”

“…”

Ugh, doesn’t this sound familiar?

‘Somehow that seems more pitiful.’

I couldn’t quite figure out what part of this was pandering to their sympathies, so I smirked and threw in a cheeky line.

“And my favorite place to be is right here with you.”

“Me too, Laura, I love it here and right now!”

“So am I, Miss Laura.”

Both Nishana and Karen exclaimed, one on either side of me, squeezing my hand as if deeply moved.

“Sister Laura, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought up my hometown…”

Syris suddenly burst into tears.

‘I didn’t intend that!’

Flustered by the unintentional reaction, I hastily wiped her tears away with my sleeve, having forgotten to take out my handkerchief, and began to comfort her.

“No, it’s not… I’m not really attached to my hometown anyway, so it’s really nothing, I’m sorry.”

“But… sadly, you don’t have anywhere to go back to, and I’m sorry to bring up such a sad story.”

Syris snorted and apologized again.

‘The Barony of Laurus was never my place to go back to in the first place.’

Besides, I didn’t care where I was, as long as I could live in peace.

But somehow the surrounding air had become more delicate. And Nishana’s expression was noticeably somber.

‘Could it be a landmine?’

In the Divine Kingdom, the only requirement to become a priest was divine power, so many people came from other countries.

As a result, it was not uncommon for orphans or those abandoned by their parents to come here.

Judging by Nishana’s complexion now, it seemed that she had become an apprentice priest in one of these cases.

‘We need to change the subject quickly before her expression gets even worse.’

I blurted out, “It’s not sad, it’s just that it doesn’t have to be home.”

In my haste, I blurted out what Enheduane had said. I was slightly embarrassed, but it didn’t matter, so I continued.

“Because it’s where I want to return to, so if I choose it, it becomes my home from today.”

“Really?”

Although the words were addressed to Syris, the answer came from Nishana. Clearly, she had been paying attention.

“Yes. And it doesn’t have to be a place. It can be a person, it can be a temple, it’s up to you to decide.”

As I patted Nishana’s head, looking into her eyes, she smiled broadly.

“Then from today on, you will be my big sister, Laura!”

“What?”

“Wherever sister Laura is, that’s where I belong!”

Even though I feel like I’ve been randomly chosen like an item on a shelf.

‘She doesn’t seem hurt, so I guess that’s good.’

Passing it off as a good thing, I hugged Nisana.

“Thanks.”

I exchanged glances with Karen next to me. She looked nervously at Nisana to see if she knew what was going on and then looked relieved.

“Anyway, classes are off for the Harvest Festival, right?”

Sensing that the mood had somewhat lifted, I seized the opportunity to change the subject.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had a holiday, so what is Miss Laura going to do while she’s off?”

Karen quickly chimed in, eager to change the flow of the conversation.

“I’m still thinking about it. What about you, Miss Karen?”

“I heard there’s a small festival going on in the village down the road, so I’m going to go check it out. If you don’t mind, would you like to come with me, Laura?”

“Okay, Miss Nisana, are you free?”

“Yes, I’d love to!”

Thanks to Karen, the change of topic was very natural.

“Huh, thank goodness.”

I breathe a sigh of relief as I look at Nishana, who has returned to her bright and cheerful self, and then lock eyes with Yves, who has been staring at me.

“Is there something you want to say?”

“No.”

“Did something happen that required you to return to the Euphrates Kingdom for the Harvest Festival?”

“No.”

He stared at me so hard, I thought he had something to say.

So I thought maybe he’d say something about going to the Euphrates for some reason.

‘Well, Yves left center stage earlier in the game, so he won’t be going to the third required event.’

It’s so obvious, I don’t know why I had such a stupid idea at the moment.

‘Oh well, whatever.’

I let it pass without giving it much thought.

It was better to enjoy the peacefulness of everyday life than to worry about the third mandatory event or the harvest festival.