The night was already deep.

Everyone’s favorite vice-captain, Annawiel, paced back and forth across the inn’s first floor. She was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

Her makeup was flawless. Her golden-red waves shimmered brilliantly. She’d even changed into a completely new outfit.

She looked exactly like a lovestruck girl who’d prepared for her very first date.

But her date was nowhere to be found.

Not only was her date missing, but so was her love rival.

Even Lachesis and Wenren Jixue had disappeared.

Where had they gone? To the Silver Party?

“Annawiel, stop spinning in circles. You’re making me dizzy…” Naji muttered.

“But I’m worried! It’s already the time Torina and I agreed on, and she still hasn’t shown up!”

“So what exactly did you arrange with the captain?”

“Y-You don’t need to know!”

“How are we supposed to help you find her if we don’t know?”

Just then, Patti and Ranifi returned from their search.

Annawiel hurried over to question them, but they had found nothing.

“Where did they go～～～～?!”

Annawiel was practically tearing her hair out when the people she’d been looking for suddenly returned.

Torina. Lachesis. Wenren Jixue.

“You’re finally back! Seriously, did you completely forget the time we agreed on!? What happened to you—uh…”

Annawiel stopped after only two sentences.

The other girls noticed that something was wrong, too.

Only Lachesis still looked relatively clean.

Torina was covered in mud, barefoot, and wearing dark circles beneath her eyes.

As for Jixue, she was unconscious and being carried over Lachesis’s shoulder.

“…What did you three do?”

“What do you think?” Torina replied coldly. She didn’t sound like she had much energy left.

“Um, the lord…”

“I killed him.”

“What!? Wait, then why are only the three of you back? Where’s Mylora?”

“Kicked her out.”

“…………Huh?”

The entire team froze.

They’d protected her before, only to suddenly kick her out now.

It was like agreeing to an arranged marriage, getting married at lightning speed, then divorcing just as fast…

Everyone was confused, but no one dared to ask.

Even Annawiel, who should have been happy, couldn’t force out a smile. Torina looked like she was genuinely in a terrible mood.

“Lachesis, Naji, check Jixue’s injuries. If she’s fine, go back to your rooms and sleep.”

““““……””””

“What are you standing around for? Go do whatever you’re supposed to do. Staying up late is bad for your skin.”

Torina’s tone grew heavier.

The others retreated to their rooms with long faces. Annawiel wanted to say something to her, but Torina merely mumbled, “I’m tired. I’m going to rest,” and left.

——————

——————

The humid air was uncomfortable.

The insects in the grass chirped and buzzed without pause.

The moon appeared and disappeared behind the drifting clouds.

On this far-from-quiet night, Mylora wandered blankly outside the town, looking utterly lost.

She felt as if a part of her heart had been hollowed out.

And the system hadn’t stopped talking since earlier.

【That vicious woman! That ruthless schemer! She actually destroyed the key just like that!】

“……”

【See? This is what happens when you refuse to listen to me! I told you to attack her from behind while you had the chance, but you just stood there staring! And now look where we are!】

“……….”

【Without the key, you can’t enter the Sezleon Mage Tower with your current strength… There’s no choice. We’ll have to adjust our strategy.】

“…………”

【The Sezleon Mage Tower is the best place for you to begin your path as a mage, but it isn’t the only worthwhile ruin. Let me search through the database.】

“……………”

【Remember today’s regret. Learn from this setback and don’t make the same mistake again! Today’s grudge will become the fuel that drives you forward. Once you’ve mastered your ultimate power, come back and humiliate them. Crush them completely!】

“…What, exactly, are you?”

【…………Huh?】

Mylora suddenly spoke without warning.

The system couldn’t understand why she was asking such an obvious question.

【How many times have I told you? I’m the perfect strategic support system from an ancient civilization. I’ll arrange everything for you and help you reach the pinnacle of strength.】

“Are you… really what you claim to be? What if you’re just some dangerous monster hiding inside this ring… or something like that?”

【How laughable.】The system scoffed. 【How could some lowly creature be compared to me? Is there any reason for you to question my authority?】

“…You’re right. What you are doesn’t matter.”

【Exactly. So—】

“What matters is that you’ve constantly tried to win my trust in all kinds of ways. You taught me an unsuitable sword technique. You dangled ruins in front of me without even proving they existed. Whenever I interacted with other people, you stubbornly opposed it.”

“You kept telling me that I had to be ruthless and vicious. You even forged a fake voice to deceive me… and tried to sacrifice Jixue…”

【Are you still being influenced by Diweier’s blatant lies? Ridiculous! I have no reason to lie to you. Besides, this setback is beneficial. It will rid you of your naivety.】

“…………………”

Mylora said nothing.

She stood quietly where she was, staring blankly at the ring on her little finger.

The system’s endless chatter blended with the evening breeze and the cries of insects, becoming nothing more than irritating white noise.

After a long while, she finally spoke.

Her voice sounded almost like she was talking to herself.

“If I’d known this would happen… why did I believe everything you told me without question?”

As she spoke, she gripped the ring and tried to pull it off.

【Wait! What are you doing? Have you gone insane!?】

“……”

Mylora didn’t answer.

She bit her lip and pulled the ring with all her strength. She even tried to break it.

【Stop this foolishness, Mylora Sistem! Don’t let emotion overwhelm reason! I’m your friend—the only person you can trust! And how could you possibly destroy an artifact from an ancient civilization? Wake up!】

The ring clung tightly to her little finger, as if it had taken root there.

No matter how hard she pulled, it wouldn’t come off.

Mylora’s expression shifted several times.

She seemed to consider something, then hesitate, then waver.

But all of it happened within a few seconds.

Then she took out the short sword that had broken during the boss battle.

Narrowing her eyes, she examined the sharp edge of the broken blade.

【Mylora…? Wait, what are you—】

Crack!!

———————

———————

———————

Torina tossed and turned in bed for the entire night.

Her heart felt hollow.

Once her anger faded, all that remained was disappointment—and the sorrow of watching someone fail to live up to their potential.

In the end, she had still kicked Mylora out, just as the original story had shown.

She had kicked out the protagonist who was bound so tightly to the system.

She’d definitely return in the not-too-distant future, stronger than ever, and crush them all, right?

The original plot was impossible to avoid now.

But it didn’t matter.

She only had to act according to the worst-case scenario.

Torina had read the original story, after all. She knew where the protagonist had gone and what cheats she had obtained.

So… if Torina acted first and took those cheats before Mylora could—or destroyed them outright—wouldn’t that let her deal with the bad ending to some extent?

Even if it meant becoming Mylora’s enemy.

When she closed her eyes, she could still clearly see that slender figure with silver-white hair.

Those days spent clinging to each other had made Torina truly happy.

It wasn’t only because she thought she could change the plot.

This happiness had been something much simpler.

(…Forget it. Just forget it. Go to sleep.)

By the time the eastern sky began to pale, she finally drifted into a fitful sleep.

…

…

…

…

…

She dreamed.

It was a dream of her past life, tinged with faint nostalgia.

In the dream, she was tired.

She didn’t know why.

After an unknown amount of time, the morning sunlight pierced through her eyelids and struck her retinas.

It dragged her groggily awake.

The feeling of having cried still lingered at the corners of her eyes.

The excessive wage-slave ranting during yesterday’s boss battle had finally taken its toll.

Her limbs felt as heavy as lead, and her head throbbed with every beat.

Depressed and exhausted, she struggled to turn over and tried to go back to sleep.

Then she realized that something soft, fragrant, and fluffy was nestled in her arms.

“……………………?”

She opened her eyes.

A silver-white fluffball was resting against her chest.

No.

It wasn’t a fluffball.

It was a girl’s head.

“Mm… Mm? E-Eh?”

Taking a closer look, Torina found Mylora Sistem lying beneath the same blanket.

The girl tilted up her slightly flushed face and looked at her.

And she wasn’t wearing any clothes.

She was completely naked.

“Eek!?”

Torina woke up instantly.

She sprang upright and scooted backward, putting as much distance between them as possible.

Mylora only spoke in a voice that tried very hard to remain calm.

“…Good morning.”

“Ah, good morning… No, wait! Why are you here? I kicked you out of the party!”

“I’m… I… Mmm～～～～”

She stammered a few times.

Then she suddenly sat up, took a deep breath—

And performed an extremely proper full-body dogeza.

“I’m sorry! I did something stupid! I endangered my teammates! I nearly got myself killed, too! I’m so, so, so sorry!!!!”

“Ah………………?”

Torina blinked stupidly, struggling to process the situation with her sluggish brain.

Did this girl sneak back in?

Was she apologizing?

Wait, hadn’t Torina kicked her out?

The protagonist was supposed to leave under the system’s guidance, search for cheats, grow stronger, and return one day to crush them all.

That was the normal progression.

So why had she come back to apologize on her own?

Could this be part of the system’s plan, too?

Was Mylora planning to endure the humiliation, apologize, and then strike when Torina let her guard down?

No, no, no.

Before any of that, a naked fifteen-year-old performing a dogeza was already way too extreme!

This wasn’t an Asanagi doujin!

“Why aren’t you wearing any clothes?!”

“You said it before, to Marian and Lilia! ‘If you want to show sincerity, do a naked dogeza.’ I remember!”

“You wanted… to show your sincerity?”

“Yes!”

“But how could your ‘friend’ possibly allow—”

“…It isn’t my friend anymore.”

“Eh?”

“I thought about it a lot last night. I kept thinking, and then I realized… that thing is extremely dangerous. If I keep associating with it, I really might be doomed beyond salvation.”

“E-Eeeeeeeh?!”

In other words…

Mylora, the protagonist, had thrown away the system the author had granted her?

Kicked it out?

Broken up with it?

That was impossible, right?

Even if the original protagonist really could bring herself to abandon the system, would the system let her go?

It was housed inside the ring. There was no way it would allow Mylora to remove it so easily.

Besides, they had no way to destroy a ring made by an ancient civilization!

That was when Torina noticed it.

Mylora’s left hand was wrapped in bandages.

Her left little finger was missing.

The entire thing was gone.

To escape the system, she had forcibly cut off one of her own fingers.

——————————

——————————

【Mylora! Mylora! Myloraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!】

At the same time, deep within the darkness, the system released a roar more furious than any it had ever made before.

Mylora had buried the severed finger wearing the ring in the ground.

Her reasoning was simple.

Since she couldn’t destroy the ring, she would let it remain buried in the darkness forever.

That way, it could never harm anyone else.

After treating the wound as best she could, she endured the pain and dug a hole more than two meters deep.

Then she threw the ring and finger inside, filled the hole, and firmly tamped down the soil.

【Why!? Why?! You idiot! You short-sighted fools! You bunch of blind, stupid bastards!!!!!】