I Stole the Heroines’ Tragedy Flags

"Time passed quickly, and before I knew it, the sun had set.

As usual, I led the children back to the village.
'Captain~! Today was so much fun!'
'…Yeah, now go wash up before the director scolds you.'

'Okay, Captain!!'
The children dashed toward the village, their footsteps noisy as they ran off.
Ron disappeared among them, vanishing behind a building.

'They sure have endless energy.'
'Ain, you’re the weird one. Are you really the same age as us?'
'…Do I look that old?'

'Yeah.'
Kids never hold back, do they?
Walking side by side with Ren, I entered the village.

And as expected, the familiar gazes of the adults followed us.
Among them, the one who sent the filthiest look my way approached me.
'Ain. You played with the children again today, I see.'

'…Director, I’m at the age where I should be playing, after all.'
A middle-aged man, streaks of white in his graying hair.
The priest of this cathedral, the one overseeing the orphanage and the village.

The root cause of everything that was going to happen here.
'Ain, you seem strangely mature for your age. It’s quite reassuring.'
'I don’t think I’m that mature.'
'No need to be modest. Thanks to you always being with the children, I can rest easy without worrying about them.'

‘Bullshit.’
He might say that, but I knew he was watching our every move the moment we were out of sight.
I wasn’t naïve enough to believe such obvious lies.

Casually responding, I let his words flow in one ear and out the other.
'Ain, you got a compliment.'
'Yeah.'

As we passed the director and wandered through the village, Ren spoke up.
'…You don’t seem happy? The director is really strict. He rarely smiles like that.'
'Nothing to be happy about.'

Because one day, I was going to cut off that disgusting head of his.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than .net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
A compliment from someone like him was worth less than nothing.

'…Hmm, I guess it does feel kind of creepy. Ain, I’m going to wash up too, okay?'
'Yeah.'
With those last words, Ren disappeared behind the building after the other children.

Now I was alone.
Since moments like this were rare, I immediately made my way toward the cathedral.
Despite being a small village, the cathedral was unnaturally large.

The first time I saw it, I was overwhelmed by its grandeur, but then I recalled an illustration from the game.
My face twisted in a frown.
Carefully avoiding the presence of the adults, I crouched near the outer window where the inside voices could be heard.

Then, faint murmurs reached my ears.
'Today… nothing unusual…'
'Same as always… anything on your end?'

'No…'
The voices were too muffled to hear clearly.
I struggled, using my small body to inch as close to the window as possible.

'So, how are the offerings these days?'
'They’re growing well.'
'Only about a year left, huh? I can’t wait, heh…'

'Hey, lower your voice.'
Two men’s sickening voices echoed inside the cathedral.
Clenching my fists, I listened closely.

'One year left.'
The year we all turned ten.
The year when a human’s body fully developed its mana circuits and became complete.

Mana—the essence of life within all living beings.
When we turned ten, our bodies would become fully infused with mana, finally making us the ‘offerings’ they had been preparing us to be.
Sacrifices for human offerings.

These cultist bastards who worshiped demons intended to sacrifice the children they had so carefully nurtured, all to summon a demon into this world.
A ritual among rituals—something so forbidden that even other cults condemned it.
'…Is there a way out of this?'

No.
There were plenty of ways.
I had more than enough means to escape this place alone.

And if I was willing to take a risk, I could even help Ron and Ren escape.
But that wasn’t the problem.
'There’s no way to save the other kids.'

Their deaths were inevitable.
The cultists would use their blood as offerings to awaken the demon, and once it possessed the director, it would rampage, tearing apart everything in its path.
This wasn’t just a matter of whether or not I could stop it.

Even in the game—
No, now that this was reality, this was something that had to happen.
A predestined event.

Something written in stone.
A rule that couldn’t be defied.
Even if I tried to stop it, I couldn’t.

No—I shouldn’t.
.
.
.
To put it simply, it was like this:

[ The Demon King must be slain by the Hero. ]
But what if someone killed the Demon King before the Hero even met them?
Would everything just end there? Would peace come, even if it wasn’t the Hero who did it?

…Not a chance.
No matter what, regardless of whether it made sense,
Fate would make sure things played out as intended.

If the Hero died too soon, another Hero would be chosen.
If someone else killed the Demon King, a new Demon King would emerge.
The world itself would force those two to clash, no matter how unnatural it was.

Because fate had to be fulfilled.
'…It would have been easier if I had just stayed ignorant.'
But it was too late for that now.

I wanted to protect the innocent smiles of those children.
I wanted to prevent the tragedy that had always haunted Ren and Ron, the one that had left them broken in the game.
It was a foolish thought—something far beyond what I was capable of.

The chances were as close to zero as possible, yet I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
And then, amidst my desperation, I heard something.
'Speaking of which, what was that book the High Priest found underground?'

'I heard it was a Sacred Relic.'
'…A Sacred Relic?! Why the hell would something like that be buried here?!'
'Sacred Relic?'

I sharpened my focus.
This was something I had never encountered in the game.
'Beats me. Even the High Priest is puzzled by it.'

'Could it interfere with our ritual? If something like that contains divine power—'
'It’s incomplete. It may be a Sacred Relic, but it’s just a counterfeit with a fraction of the original’s power.'
'Hmm… Then there’s no problem. What’s the High Priest planning to do with it?'

'He said he’d take care of it himself, in secret.'
A book.
A Sacred Relic.

An incomplete version of something.
There was only one thing I knew of that fit that description.
Thump.

My heart pounded.
Was it a coincidence? Or was this some kind of cruel joke?
I had no idea why that object was here of all places.

But one thing was certain—
This could be the key to saving all of us."
***

"'Ain? Why do you look so exhausted today? Are you feeling sick?'
'…Ain, you’ve seemed really out of it lately.'
Ren and Ron, still eating their meals, looked at me with concern.

The other children also chimed in, agreeing with them.
Was my expression really that bad for them to notice?
'I'm fine. I just didn’t get much sleep.'

'Are you sick? Should we tell the director?'
'No, don’t. It’s fine.'
'…Okay.'

I stopped Ren before she could say anything more and forced myself to swallow my food.
The closer that day came, the more anxious I felt, and my appetite had all but disappeared.
'…Only one month left.'

There was an overwhelming amount of preparation to be done.
Most of the adults would soon leave the village to make arrangements for the ritual.
That would be our only chance.

'Ren, Ron.'
'…? Ain?'
'Why are you calling us?'

And so, I called the twins and gave them my final lesson.
…The tutorial for their survival. The last thing they needed to know.
Especially for Ren, the Hero, it was crucial.

'…There’s something I need to teach you one last time. And when we turn ten a month from now—'
Ren and Ron listened attentively as I laid out their instructions for the coming disaster.
…Sprinkling in just a little bit of a lie.

'—And after that, once everything outside quiets down, come to the cathedral.'
'Isn’t that the day of the celebration? Why do we have to hide?'
'It’s a surprise. The adults are planning a party, so we’ll make a surprise entrance too. Won’t that be fun?'

'…Ooooh!'
Ron, gullible as ever, was convinced.
'Ain, is it just us? What about the other kids?'

'The adults said they’d call them separately.'
'So they’re leaving us out?'
'…Yeah.'

Ren seemed lost in thought.
I held back the tension in my voice, waiting for her reaction.
Then, she spoke.

'Alright, we’ll do it, Ain.'
'…You’re not going to ask why?'
'No. Ain doesn’t lie.'

'…'
Her trust was too heavy.
And terrifying.

Because I knew, without a doubt, that I would never be able to repay it.
Time passed quickly.
One month later—

The catastrophe arrived.
'Haa…haah…! How…how do you have…this kind of power—'
Sling—

A gleaming blade rested against his throat.
The director clutched his severed right arm, gasping for breath, staring blankly at the sword pressing against his neck.
Around him, the corpses of other adults lay scattered.

The stench of blood filled the cathedral.
'…Hahaha, but you’re already too late! Your little friends have already been offered as sacrifices! The ritual will be completed soon!!'
'…'

'No matter what a brat like you does—'
'Seven.'
'…What?'

'That was the number of sacrifices needed to complete the ritual.'
I pulled something out from my clothes.
A tattered, old book.

The director’s eyes went wide with horror.
'…! H-how do you have that…?! I took care of it—!'
'Did you know? You weren’t supposed to die here. You were meant to suffer a far worse fate.'

I opened the book.
As if responding to my will, the pages turned on their own.
And then, they stopped.

I reached forward.
Wuuung—!
At the center of the cathedral.

The massive pentagram, painted in blood, began to glow.
'W-what?! The ritual circle is changing?! What did you do—'
Slash.

Thud.
'I guess it’s fine to kill you now.'
The director’s head tumbled to the floor.

…That makes seven.
'Now, I change the demon that will descend here.'
The red magic circle pulsed, shifting into a soft pink hue.

The pentagram’s shape distorted—morphing into a heart.
And then, light erupted.
Fwaaash—!!

A blinding flash filled the cathedral, accompanied by a deafening roar.
Violet mist swirled through the air, and amidst it, a faint silhouette took shape.
[…Oh my, there’s still someone left who knows my summoning ritual?]

'Lilith.'
[…Hoooh? You even know my name? That’s surprising.]
'Sorry for the sudden summoning, but can I ask you for a favor right away?'

I glanced toward the cathedral’s front doors.
They would be arriving soon.
[…Very well. I’ve already received my payment, whether I wanted it or not. What do you need me to do?]

'Cast an illusion over this place. Make the corpses here look like the bodies of the children in my memories.'
[…Oh my~? That’s quite the request.]
'Hurry. We don’t have time.'

[Understood.]
—Paang!
A gust of wind surged through the room, making me squint.

When I opened my eyes again—
The sight before me was a sickeningly familiar one.
The bodies lying around were no longer those of the cultists.

They were the children I had grown up with.
Even though I knew it was just an illusion, it felt too real.
I could barely suppress the wave of nausea crawling up my throat.

And then—
—Creak.
The cathedral doors swung open.

A familiar girl stepped inside.
'…Ain?'"