[You resigned from your position as Logistics Officer to show your loyalty, but the rumors in the city did not stop. Instead, they have grown even more intense.]
[Your Stress has greatly increased.]
"As I thought, it would end up like this..."
Bronya looked at the text on the screen and couldn't help but reveal a bitter smile.
Releasing Ron directly from prison was a choice only an idiot would make, but there was simply no other way to save him.
Bronya didn't want to watch Ron die for nothing at the hands of the tribunal.
Even if the price was getting herself entangled in this colossal mess.
The text on the screen faded, and a new image appeared:
A visibly dejected Bronya was walking down the main street of the Belobog Administrative District. Her military uniform had been replaced with casual clothes she rarely wore.
Aside from the earrings and black stockings inherited from Cocolia, Bronya had made a near-complete break with her former self. She wasn't even wearing her Architect's medals.
She didn't want this.
But she had no choice.
The day before yesterday, someone said that she was just a villain trying to usurp the throne, so what right did she have to wear the medals of the Architects and flaunt her achievements?
So she took off the medals.
Yesterday, someone said that since she was no longer the commander of the Silvermane Guards or Belobog's Logistics Officer, what right did she have to still wear the uniform?
So she took off the uniform.
And today...
"See her? That's our Belobog's next Supreme Guardian..."
A luxuriously dressed man frowned slightly at Bronya, while a group of commoners beside him pointed fingers at her.
"Sigh, I feel so sorry for our current Supreme Guardian. Why did she have to adopt a daughter like this and even make her the heir... I feel like I could do a better job."
"Bronya seemed alright before, but now it looks like it was all an act... The Supreme Guardian is Belobog's leader, the hope for our future. How can someone like her become the Supreme Guardian?"
"I feel... she's worse than The Fool."
Tiny barbs of malice, carried on hurtful words, became arrows that pierced Bronya. She covered her ears in pain, wanting to block out all the noise.
Why... why can't they understand?
To me, "Supreme Guardian" is just a heavy title. Whether I sit on that throne or not, I will always do what I believe is right.
Right now, I'm just doing the right thing. Why has it turned out like this...
Was I really wrong?
Bronya didn't understand, but the heavy weight of responsibility wouldn't let her give up.
Even though she was being drowned by the public's malice, she couldn't bring herself to abandon her duty as the heir to the Supreme Guardian.
For the future of Belobog... she absolutely could not back down now.
The image faded.
In reality, Bronya couldn't help but sigh helplessly.
Lost in the situation, her simulated self couldn't figure out what was happening. But from the outside, since she wasn't personally experiencing all that malice, she was able to sort everything out.
As the next Supreme Guardian of Belobog, Bronya's education had given her a keen political instinct.
Although she hated to admit it, the situation in the simulation was clearly a result of her mother spreading rumors to target her.
On the training grounds, her and Ron's actions had severely undermined Cocolia's authority.
The Silvermane Guards were currently ignoring Cocolia's orders precisely because of what she and Ron had done.
If Cocolia wanted to regain control of the guards, her first step would be to tarnish their authority... and Bronya's act of favoritism in releasing Ron had given Cocolia the perfect opportunity.
Now, under the rumors that Cocolia was pushing along with the current, the citizens of Belobog had lost all goodwill towards her.
As the rumors intensified, it wouldn't be long before the Silvermane Guards also lost their trust in her and Ron.
After that, it would be much easier for her mother to reclaim military authority and make the guards obey her orders...
Thinking of this, Bronya's heart grew heavy. She looked through her window towards the Guardian's Residence not far away.
"Mother... when did you become like this?"
She murmured to herself, her voice filled with both sorrow and a trace of disbelief.
"To send the guards to their deaths on the front lines, you would actually do something like this... What is it all for?"
She rubbed her temples, a headache blooming. The situation had already developed to this point; there was no room left to change anything.
Her biased release of Ron was her biggest stain. Bronya couldn't think of any way to reverse this situation.
What's more, even if she did think of a way, her simulated self probably wouldn't be able to carry it out.
After all, although the Life Simulation Game gave her choices, it fundamentally simulated developments based on her personality and behavior.
Even the options presented were just different possible paths that arose from the simulation's predictions.
Her simulated self couldn't even see that Cocolia was targeting her. How could she possibly come up with a solution?
Not only did she have no solution, but thinking about it, even Ron probably couldn't solve this mess.
After all, the human heart is impossible to predict... No matter how capable Ron was, he couldn't control what people thought.
Her abandonment by the people of Belobog was practically a foregone conclusion.
I suppose within a year, Mother will be assimilated by the Stellaron, lead the Fragmentum creatures to sweep through Belobog, and the city will be destroyed, right?
I should just prepare for a new simulation...
Bronya sighed and casually tapped the screen, preparing to push this simulation to its end—
—but she found that the simulation seemed far from over.
[Ron, who is temporarily staying at your home, keenly senses that there is a driving force behind the recent rumors and immediately traces their source to within Qlipoth Fort.]
[Faced with the current situation, he ponders for a long time and decides on a plan.]
[He tells you not to get caught up playing their game and being led around in circles. He says you need to figure out what everyone needs and then, based on their needs, pull your enemy into your game.]
[You don't understand a word of what Ron is saying, but he tells you it doesn't matter, because for now, he alone is enough.]
[You watch Ron leave the house. Mentally and physically exhausted, you decide to take a nap and get some proper rest.]
[Late at night, you hear the sound of a fierce explosion outside. you look out the window, but you see nothing.]
[The next morning, you step out of Qlipoth Fort and find that Belobog has changed slightly.]
[The Overworld-Underworld subway station, once surrounded by interception nets, notice boards, and guards, has been reopened.]
["Wildfire" leader Seele, leading her organization and the automaton defense line, has arrived in the Belobog Overworld.]