I'm a Villain in My Own Game?

[Raul PoV]

A full moon night...

The moon in this world was much larger than the one on Earth.

There was a rumor that the moon was where the Demons currently lived.

But that wasn't true.

The Demons were currently residing on Planet Nebulandia, which shared the same solar system as this planet. A Barrier had been placed by the Goddess to prevent high-level Demons from returning to this world.

"Captain, what are you planning to do after graduating from the academy?" Eric, one of my fellow members of the Discipline Committee, asked.

The two of us were currently stationed on the city's walls, carrying out our night watch while enjoying a glass of beer to keep ourselves warm.

"I don't know. Maybe I'll visit the Elven Kingdom of Athelion," I answered casually.

"Whoaaa! Isn't that country difficult for humans to enter?" Eric asked, clearly curious. "I heard they're extremely closed off when it comes to diplomacy as well."

"That's true. Humanity used to cooperate with them quite often," I explained, "but because of human greed and lust—especially the practice of abducting Elves and turning them into slaves—the relationship between our two races gradually deteriorated, until it became what it is today."

While I was talking with Eric, I noticed a faint light approaching us in the distance.

Not long afterward, a human figure appeared.

He was covered in wounds and staggered toward the city while carrying a lantern.

"Please... someone, please..." the man whispered weakly.

I glanced at Eric and signaled for him to bring a Priest.

I then jumped down from the city wall and approached the injured man.

"What happened to you?" I asked.

"Ah... thank goodness! Have I reached Fortress City!?" the man asked in return.

"That's right," I answered. "Don't worry. You're safe now. A Priest will be here shortly to heal your wounds."

The man shook his head frantically.

"There's no time! Quickly, inform the security forces! My village—Zamora—was just attacked by a horde of terrifying monsters! Please! You have to hurry and save them!"

I nodded before entrusting the man to the Priest.

I then headed toward Emilia's residence to report the information I had just received.

After the man's identity was confirmed, a combat alarm sounded from the soldiers' barracks.

[Ariel PoV]

I had just fallen asleep when one of our members woke me and told me to immediately report to the training grounds to receive instructions from our superiors.

When I arrived, I saw the soldiers already lined up according to their respective companies.

I hurried toward the formation where my fellow members were gathered.

"You have been assembled here in the middle of the night because we need to inspect the villages throughout the Margraviate of Cataluna!" Marquis Fran announced from the front of the formation.

"Earlier, we received information that Zamora Village, located to the east, was attacked by a horde of monsters. I want you to protect the village and evacuate its inhabitants as quickly as possible. Is that understood!?"

"Yes, Commander!"

"Yes, Commander!"

The entire force answered in unison.

"Good! I will now assign each company to its destination!" the Marquis shouted.

"First Company, Virahon Village!"

"Second Company, Baltimore Village!"

"Third Company, Neumar Village!"

Once their destinations were announced, several formations began leaving the training grounds and gathering their equipment before heading toward their respective villages.

"And finally, the academy students will be sent to Zamora Village!"

Once our destination was announced, Raul led the members in gathering the supplies we needed.

We then headed toward the main gate, where several horses and carriages had already been prepared for us so that we could carry out the evacuation.

"Is everyone ready!?" Raul asked, looking around.

All the members had mounted their horses, while I sat in the carriage with Raul.

"All right. Let's move out!"

The convoy began moving at a relatively slow pace since it was already nighttime.

We had only been provided with lanterns to illuminate the road ahead, so traveling too quickly would be extremely dangerous.

As we continued our journey, I lay back and gazed at the beautiful full moon illuminating the night sky.

I hoped we would arrive in time.

I hoped the villagers were still holding out against whatever monsters had attacked them until we arrived.

Zamora Village was the same village we had visited that very morning.

I couldn't believe that, only hours after we left, the village had been attacked by a horde of monsters.

After nearly three hours of travel, our convoy finally came to a halt.

In the distance, I could see the village engulfed in flames.

Raul then ordered Piers, Eric, and Viera to scout the area before the rest of us entered the village.

I was extremely anxious.

I was worried that something had happened to the villagers, and if many of them were injured, I wanted to heal them as quickly as possible.

Not long afterward, Piers gave us a hand signal indicating that it was safe to enter.

Raul nodded and ordered the convoy into the village.

The sight that greeted us was horrifying.

The villagers' houses had been destroyed, and corpses were scattered everywhere.

I climbed down from the carriage and walked through the village.

Blood was splattered across the ground.

Human body parts were scattered everywhere.

The stench of rotting corpses filled the air.

I wanted to vomit.

It was horrifying.

Everyone had been slaughtered so brutally.

Were the monsters responsible for all of this?

I continued walking until I reached a house that was painfully familiar to me.

There was no sign of anyone alive inside.

Stolen novel; please report.

I walked around to the back of the house.

There, I found the corpse of a man whose face had been half torn away. His hands had been severed, and his intestines were spilling out onto the ground.

I knew this man...

He was the man who had smiled so happily when I gave his newborn daughter a name.

Not far from the house, I noticed a trail of footprints.

I followed them until I found two female corpses...

And a headless baby.

—Bruk!

My knees gave out, and I collapsed onto the ground.

I picked up the corpse of the baby I had named only this afternoon.

Why had this happened to them?

Why had something so cruel befallen innocent people like them?

The baby's blood began staining my clothes, but I didn't care.

None of this made sense.

The villagers had only wanted to live peaceful and tranquil lives.

Why did they have to die such horrific deaths?

Why did their homes have to be destroyed like this?

Before I realized it, my hand began to ache from how tightly I had clenched my fist, struggling to contain the emotions boiling inside my chest.

"Ariel, we have to leave."

I turned around at the sound of someone's voice.

Raul was walking toward me.

"We didn't find a single survivor," Raul said as he looked into my eyes. "We need to move to the next village. There's a possibility that these monsters are attacking it now after massacring this one."

The nearest village to this one...

If I remembered correctly, it was the village where the children I taught—Dio, Sena, and the others—lived.

"Raul! We have to hurry to that village!" I shouted, grabbing the collar of the black-haired man.

He nodded.

We then returned to the convoy.

"Captain! Judging from the monsters' footprints, I believe they moved through here about twenty minutes ago!" Viera reported.

"All right! We need to hurry to the next village!" Raul declared.

"There's a good chance that when we arrive, the battle between these monsters and the company deployed there will already be underway!"

We immediately left the ruined village behind and headed toward our next destination.

The journey from here to that village would take approximately one hour.

However, Raul ordered everyone to remain extremely vigilant.

Along the way, we encountered several monsters that had been left behind, forcing us to fight them.

Most of the monsters we encountered were Lycanthropes.

Lycanthropes were wolves that walked on two legs like humans.

They were different from Werewolves, which were humans cursed by a Warlock and transformed into giant wolf-like creatures.

Lycanthropes were one of the demi-human races inhabiting this world.

They were highly aggressive and often lived in mountains or vast forests.

Standing at an average height of two meters, they were classified as Level 5 monsters.

However, a pack of Lycanthropes posed a threat equivalent to that of a Level 12 Monster.

When we finally arrived, we saw the monsters had just broken through the wooden wall surrounding the village.

The Lycanthropes began flooding into the village in overwhelming numbers.

We immediately changed course and searched for another way to enter.

"Five of you stay behind and guard the carriage and all of our horses!" Raul ordered. "The rest of you, follow me and evacuate the villagers!"

After hiding our horses, Raul and fourteen other members entered the village.

The soldiers stationed there were desperately struggling to hold back the onslaught of Lycanthropes.

"You academy students, aren't you?" one of the soldiers said upon noticing us.

"That's right, Captain. Is there anything we can help with?" Raul asked.

"Help the soldiers who are falling back," the Captain said. "We can't hold them with the forces currently stationed here alone."

He then glanced toward me.

"I also need your healer in the building where the wounded soldiers are being treated."

After hearing the Captain's orders, Raul instructed me to head toward the medical building.

A soldier escorted me to a multipurpose building in the village.

Inside, I found numerous villagers anxiously waiting for news about the ongoing battle.

There were also many soldiers lying on the floor, their bodies covered in wounds.

"Sister Ariel!"

"Sister Ariel!"

Suddenly, several children rushed toward me.

They were the same children I often taught to read and write in this village.

"Dio, Sena, everyone... I'm glad you're all safe," I said, gently stroking their hair.

"I'm not scared at all!" Dio declared enthusiastically. "In fact, if the Village Chief hadn't stopped me, I would've gone out there and helped the soldiers defeat those monsters!"

"Hah! He only acts like this whenever Sister Ariel is around!" Sena retorted, clearly annoyed by Dio's behavior.

"All right, all right. I'll talk with you again later," I said. "Right now, I need to heal the wounded first."

After saying that, I approached a villager who was screaming in agony.

His abdomen had been torn open by the claws of a Lycanthrope.

When I examined him more closely, I saw that his intestines had also suffered a small tear.

He wouldn't survive for more than a few minutes if left untreated.

"W-Will I die...?" the man whispered through his pain.

"Don't worry. You'll see your family again," I replied with a smile while gathering Mana in my right hand.

After reciting the healing incantation, I placed my palm against the man's wound.

Slowly, the torn section of his intestine began closing.

His open abdomen also began regenerating, returning to its original condition.

Within a single minute, the man was completely healed.

—Clap! Clap! Clap!

Suddenly, the sound of applause echoed through the building.

I only then realized that everyone was watching me heal the man.

"Did you see Sister Ariel's smile? It made that man's pain disappear!"

"I saw it! I wouldn't even mind getting injured if I could receive one of her beautiful smiles!"

I ignored the children's chatter and continued treating the wounded soldiers.

However, the door suddenly opened.

Several soldiers entered while carrying another soldier who appeared to be in critical condition.

"Sister, please! Help our comrade!"

The soldiers carefully placed their wounded companion on the floor.

"Aaargh! Just kill me! It hurts so much!"

"You three, hold him down!" I ordered. "I'll examine his wound first."

They nodded and restrained their comrade's arms and legs.

Meanwhile, I examined the deep wound in the soldier's thigh.

It appeared that something had become lodged inside it.

I took a deep breath before inserting my hand into the wound to search for it.

The man's body immediately began trembling.

He screamed at the top of his lungs, disrupting my concentration.

Blood splattered from his thigh, soaking the robe I was wearing.

"All right. I've found it," I muttered as I pulled out a sharp, five-centimeter-long tooth.

"I'll now remove the remaining poison and close the wound."

I recited the healing and anti-toxin incantations once again before placing my palm against the man's thigh.

A yellow light began to emerge.

The healing process would take approximately two minutes.

Once the treatment was complete, the wounded soldier finally relaxed and began to rest.

"You're incredible... Sister Ariel..." I heard one of the soldiers murmur.

"Indeed. Even the Priest in our company said that our comrade had no chance of surviving."

But my work didn't end there.

The number of casualties from the battle continued to rise.

The screams of wounded soldiers echoed constantly in my ears, placing an enormous amount of stress on me.

—CRASH!

Suddenly, the door opened again.

This time, Raul entered the medical area.

He looked around as though searching for something.

When our eyes met, he walked toward me.

"Ariel, come with me. We're going to evacuate the women and children from this village," Raul ordered.

"But there are still many wounded people here. They still need me," I protested.

"This is an order, Ariel."

He stared at me coldly as he said those words.

My body trembled slightly in fear.

Then I noticed the blood covering Raul's hand.

Only then did I realize that he was injured as well.

I nodded and agreed to follow him outside.

There, we saw the women and children lined up beside the two carriages we had brought earlier.

"Captain! We can only fit fifty people!" Eric said, his expression grim.

"We'll take as many as we can. Prepare them to move immediately," Raul ordered.

"Yes, Captain!"

I then approached Dio, Sena, and the other children who hadn't managed to secure a seat in the carriage and would have to wait for the next evacuation group.

"Don't worry, all right? Sister promises she'll come back for you," I said, trying to keep the children from becoming frightened.

"Don't worry, Sister! I'll always wait for you!" Dio said confidently.

"We'll wait for Sister to evacuate the rest of the villagers!" Sena exclaimed, forcing a smile.

I hugged the two of them before mounting the horse ridden by Raul.

"Is everyone ready!?" Raul shouted.

"Ready, Captain!" all the members answered.

"Let's get out of here!" Raul ordered.

The carriages carrying the women and children began moving.

The entire Discipline Committee surrounded the two carriages from every direction, protecting them so the monsters couldn't harm their passengers.

"Captain! Four Lycanthropes are heading toward our convoy!" Viera shouted from the front.

"Viera, Piers, Tazz! The three of you intercept them!" Raul ordered. "Everyone else, don't stop. Keep moving!"

The black-haired man then looked toward me.

"Ariel, can you ride a horse?"

"I think so. I've been learning at the barracks lately," I replied.

"Good. Take the reins."

After I took the reins he handed me, the black-haired man leapt from his horse and joined Viera and the others in fighting the Lycanthropes pursuing us.

Throughout the journey, we continued to encounter groups of monsters.

Raul and the other members repeatedly fought to drive the monsters away while protecting the carriages carrying the women and children.

Eventually, we managed to escape the monsters and stopped beside the road to rest once we determined that the area was safe.

"Raul, why don't we unload the women and children we've rescued and then go back for the other children who are still there?" I asked.

Raul remained silent for a moment before answering.

"We're not going back to that village. We're taking everyone here back to Cataluna Fortress City."

His voice was flat.

"But there are still so many children and villagers trapped there!" I protested. "Why can't we go back and save them too!?"

"Too many monsters are attacking," Raul replied. "If we'd stayed and continued fighting there, all of us would have died and we wouldn't have been able to get out of the village."

No...

Then what about those children?

Would they suffer the same fate as the villagers of Zamora?

Would they all be slaughtered?

I'd promised those children that I would return.

What would they feel when the Sister they admired so much never came back, despite the promise I'd just made?

The mere thought of those children being eaten alive by those monsters made my stomach churn.

I was about to run toward one of our horses, but suddenly, someone grabbed my hand.

I turned around.

The black-haired man was holding me back.

"Ariel, if you go back there, you could die," Raul said seriously.

"I'm not going to leave those children alone in fear! I promised them I'd come back and take them somewhere safe!"

I pulled my arm free from Raul's grip.

Then I mounted one of the horses and rode back toward the village.

[Raul PoV]

I watched Ariel's figure riding away on horseback until she gradually disappeared into the distance.

There was no doubt about it.

She would die if she went back there, even if she managed to save the villagers.

I had deliberately chosen not to stop her.

I needed Ariel's endurance and mental fortitude to grow considerably stronger so that she could meet one of the requirements of the Saint's Trial.

However, this was extremely risky.

On one hand, Ariel needed to solve the problem of evacuating the villagers herself if she wanted to earn the Goddess's recognition on the night of the Blessing.

On the other hand, everything would be meaningless if she died during this Trial.

"Everyone is ready to continue the journey, Captain," Eric said as he approached me. "Are we heading straight back to the city?"

"Eric, lead the convoy back to the city," I ordered.

"There is something I need to take care of first."