After that, once I finished tidying up, I went to the food street to eat, then to the commercial district to prepare the necessities, and finally to a Voilet-rank level of the dungeon to gather ingredients.
I didn't plan to bring any food from home—I left everything for Lina and Lani.
I came out of the dungeon at 2:48 p.m., and after settling everything at the guild, it was 3:32. Then I carried Lani to go find Lina.
"Lina, I'm taking Lani home first. I'll come back after your shift ends."
"Okay. Bye."
After we got home, I noticed Lani lowering her head, silent and lacking energy. She was probably sad because I was going to leave. I needed to comfort her and put her at ease.
I carried Lani into the washitsu, set her down, then sat on the tatami and asked her gently.
"Lani, is there something you want to say to me?"
Lani looked at me with sad eyes, then climbed onto me and hugged me tightly. She spoke in a sorrowful voice.
"...Big brother, I don't want you to leave."
Faced with Lani's plea, all I could do was apologize.
"Lani, I'm sorry. I'll only leave this one time. I promise there won't be a second time. From now on, wherever I go, I'll take you and Lina with me."
"Really?"
"Really."
"...I still don't want you to leave. Big bro, can't you take me and big sis with you?"
After thinking for a moment, Lani still rejected the idea of staying behind while I left. I didn't want this either, but all I could do was keep making excuses.
"Lani, your sister needs to work, so she can't leave here. And I don't know if I'll run into danger, so I can't take you with me. It's safer for you both to stay here."
Life right now was peaceful. They didn't need to follow me into dangerous places. As long as they stayed here, I could feel at ease.
"..."
"Can you stay here and keep Lina company? So she won't feel lonely?"
When Lani didn't respond, I just said whatever I could think of—anything that might make her accept it today.
"...I want to hear big sis's answer."
Was Lani planning to follow Lina's decision? That was fine. Then all I had to do next was convince Lina. But I didn't want to talk about something so heavy during a meal—it would ruin the mood and my appetite.
"Alright. Let's talk after dinner tonight. Have you eaten lunch?"
"I did."
"Do you want some cake?"
"No. I want to sleep."
"Then I'll get you a blanket."
Right now, Lani was just like a sulking child. All I could do was coax her and wait for her anger to fade.
After Lani fell asleep, I took out a pen and paper and started writing the letter I would give to Lina tomorrow. Even after Lani woke up, she still wouldn't talk to me.
I deserved that.
After I picked Lina up from work, the moment Lani saw her, she jumped straight into Lina's arms and completely ignored me. After that, we went home and prepared dinner together.
Everything afterward seemed to go smoothly, just as I had planned. Lina finished dinner without asking anything.
"Karen, we don't have work tomorrow. What should we do? Watch movies all day? Or make a fancy cake together? Oh right—what did the king talk to you about today?"
Lina was in a great mood. Tomorrow is new year, January 1st, and according to the village custom, we would stay home and not go out, so we could finally spend the entire day together after so long.
But I had to disappoint her. I calmly told her the truth.
"Lina, the king entrusted me with escorting a merchant to do business around the world. I accepted it, and I'm leaving tomorrow."
Even though I looked calm, my heart was pounding wildly. Lina's expression, however, was like being struck by lightning on a clear day. Her mood plunged to rock bottom. She froze for a moment before finally exploding.
"...You're leaving us? You promised you wouldn't leave me! Why did you accept it?!"
"Because the king said he would protect you, so no one could bully you— not even nobles."
"That's not the point! The problem is that you already promised you wouldn't leave me!"
Lina's words filled me with guilt. I wanted to confess everything right then and there. But I couldn't. The truth might be even harder for her to accept than excuses.
Between protecting a merchant and defeating the Demon King, escorting a merchant was obviously safer. Tears were already streaming down Lina's face. All I could do was lower my head and dig my nails into my thigh, using the pain to steady myself as I continued to persuade her.
"I'm sorry. Please forgive me—just this once. When I come back, no matter where I go, I'll take you both with me."
"I don't want that! I'm going with you! I'm going to the guild right now and quit!"
Lina slammed the table and stood up, crying as she moved to rush out to find Dex. Seeing her about to step forward, I forced myself to respond calmly.
"Lina, you can't quit unless there's someone to replace you."
Quitting wasn't something that could be done immediately—just like back then with Jessica. Because Lina took over her position was Jessica able to resign and get married.
Hearing that, Lina stopped in her tracks. Both of her hands clenched tightly around her skirt, her grip so strong that even her arms were trembling. Her expression was full of frustration and sorrow. She couldn't stop me anymore.
Lina wasn't a child anymore. She couldn't be willful; she had to take responsibility for her actions. Even though all of this was my doing, I would find a replacement later and let Lina resign.
After a while, Lina loosened her grip and let go of her skirt. Her expression seemed calmer, as if she had accepted my temporary departure.
"...Then when will you come back? How long do I have to wait?"
"About two years. But I should come back here once in the middle."
I would first go to the eastern countries. After finishing what I needed to recover there, I planned to return here for a few days before heading off in other directions.
Then Lina gave me a sad smile.
"I see. Little Lani and I will wait for you here. So when you come back, we'll get mar—"
"Don't say that!"
I cut Lina off loudly. She was probably about to say that we'd get married. As wonderful as that sounded, saying something like that before leaving was basically raising a death flag. Thankfully, I stopped her in time.
"...?!"
But Lina showed a look of despair, and her tears fell even faster. We'd clearly seen scenes like this before in movie—so why did she look like that?
No, that wasn't it. Lina had gathered her courage to say those words, and I had rejected her so bluntly that it must have sounded like disgust. Even if she understood that this kind of line was dangerous in this situation, her first impression was still that I had turned her down.
So I hurriedly stood up and tried to explain to Lina in a panic.
"No, that's not it! I didn't mean—!"
"Little Lani, let's go!"
Lina didn't give me a chance. She scooped Lani up in her arms and hurried out of the kitchen in tears. I raised my hand to stop her, but my feet wouldn't move even an inch. Desperate, I called out to her again.
"Lina, I didn't—"
"Idiot! Moron! Blockhead!!!"
In the end, Lina still refused to hear my explanation. She cursed at me without even turning her head. I couldn't argue back at all—this was entirely my fault.
At the same time, fear crept into my chest. What if Lina started to hate me? What if she stopped loving me?
Out of everything in this plan, that was what I feared the most.
"What should I do?"
After that, I locked myself in my room and tried to think of how to explain everything to Lina. Slowly—very slowly—those thoughts turned into something else: wondering if none of this would have happened if I had never become the Brave.
If I hadn't become the Brave, I wouldn't have needed to force Lina to keep working just so she could stay behind.
If I hadn't become the Brave, I wouldn't have had to leave, and I wouldn't have broken my promise.
If I hadn't become the Brave, we would have traveled the world long ago, laughing and enjoying ourselves together.
Everything—every single thing—was the fault of the Goddess of Fate.
Why did she have to make me the Brave?
Why did she have to control my destiny?
Why did she force this so-called destiny onto my shoulders?
I wanted to rush to Lina's room right now, explain everything to her properly, and tell her how I truly felt—that I couldn't live without her.
But the words had already been said. And the convictions I had held onto for so many years wouldn't allow me to break my own principles. I had to see my revenge through first.
I had so many complaints bottled up inside me, but there was no one I could talk to. So the only thing I could do was appeal to the one responsible for all of this. I wanted to see the Goddess of Fate herself and vent every bit of my anger—vent it until she erased the very concept of the Brave and made this world one that no longer needed such an existence.
But where could I even meet the Goddess of Fate? In a dungeon? Or at a temple?
…A dungeon, probably. I didn't want to go anywhere near a temple.
Since I had made my decision, I returned to my original problem—how to explain things to Lina. Somewhere along the way, my thoughts scattered, and I drifted off to sleep.
I was jolted awake by the alarm I had set. When I opened my eyes, it was already 4:30 a.m. Time to get ready.
I washed my face, changed my clothes, and left my room.
After a simple breakfast, I placed the luxurious cake I had promised Lina as an apology into the refrigerator. Then I added one more line to the letter.
Once I had my equipment on, I went upstairs and stopped in front of Lina's room. I slipped the letter through the gap under the door. I wasn't worried about Lina missing it—Lani would definitely find it.
"Lina, Lani, I'm heading out. Goodbye."
After that, I put on my shoes, stepped out of the house, and made my way toward the eastern gate.