Became the Villainess’s Guardian

Let us briefly examine Londinium’s fire brigade system.

In the past, the capitalist-minded city enforced a ‘protect your own property’ mentality, predictably leaving numerous buildings reduced to smoldering ruins.
The fire brigades that emerged were one of the scarce public services provided by the city, along with the police.

And if a fire was significant enough to warrant reporting to the fire brigade, it meant a few buckets of water would not suffice.

“Aaaaaah!!”

“Out of the way, out of the way! Carriage coming through!”

“Rookie, connect the hose! No, not there!”

Soon, a carriage screeched to a drifting halt at the fire scene.
Uniformed fire brigadesmen not too different from police then disembarked and connected a long hose to the water tanks in the carriage’s rear.

Fire mages had difficulty dealing with flames they did not ignite themselves and were powerless against the sheer force of an entire factory ablaze.
If the fire had just started, a casual wave of the hand could have extinguished it. But ultimately, they were igniters, not suppressors.

Water mages could have provided slightly more aid, but unless they were truly proficient enough to unleash hydropumps from their hands, their role was limited to generating water from the carriage’s rear.

Thus, fire brigade efforts focused primarily on preventing the flames from spreading further.
They would intentionally demolish surrounding buildings to buy time, then let the fire burn itself out once there was nothing left to consume.

“Are there still people inside?”

“Seventeen, eighteen… Looks like one person is missing?”

Soot-covered individuals were huddled in front of the building. Based on their conversations, they appeared to be factory employees.
Having just fled the building, still panting for breath, they suddenly exclaimed in realization.

“The supervisor got out, so then… Ah! Freugne didn’t make it out!”

“But she was with you until just before, right? Where did she go?”

“The machine malfunctioned, so she went up to the upper levels to fix it. Since she didn’t come back down, she might be trapped…”

I grabbed the one who seemed the eldest among them and asked,

“Let me ask you a few questions.”

“Wh-What is it? Are you with the police?”

“You said there’s someone who couldn’t get out.”

“Ah, y-yes, it seems that way.”

“So the child’s name who hasn’t come out yet is indeed Freugne, correct?”

“Y-Yes, that’s… But why are you asking-”

Leaving him flustered, I turned my gaze towards the building being doused with water.

An inner voice whispered to me.

‘Just leave her be.’
‘It’s not your fault, after all.’
‘Nobody will blame you, and they’ll likely sympathize over the loss of a cherished child.’

I instinctively realized this moment would be one of the most pivotal junctures in my life.

If I let Freugne die in the flames, if I turned a blind eye and walked away,
I could eliminate an uncertain element without dirtying my hands. Since I had done nothing wrong, I need not feel any guilt.

“It’s my fault for sending her up to fix the equipment…”

“Now, now. Calm down and think for a moment.”

“Maybe she managed to escape by now? She’s a smart girl, she might have found a way out on her own.”

Yes, wasn’t Freugne destined to become the kingdom’s dark queen later on?
So even without my aid, she might have been able to survive by some means.

But since I had already intervened, could I rely on such conjecture?

“Chief, the flames are too intense!”

“…We have no choice but to abandon suppression efforts!”

“Have the mages focus on the surrounding buildings from now on. We can’t let the entire East End district burn!”

The fire brigadesmen began demolishing nearby wooden structures and soaking them to prevent the flames from spreading further.
Following protocol, they chose to halt rescue efforts inside the factory that could collapse at any moment in order to stop the damage from escalating.

It meant time was running out for me to decide.

If the world I lived in was truly a game, then perhaps at this moment, I would be presented with such a choice:

[A girl from the orphanage you supported is trapped in the burning factory! What will you do?]

[1. Save her.]
[2. Don’t save her.]

And if it really was just a game, I would have likely chosen the most efficient option, as I always did in my previous life.
Choosing the latter would incur no penalties, while the former would only deplete my health. The better choice was clear.

Just in case, I waved my hand in the air and tried calling up a status window. But there was nothing tangible to interact with.
It was just like all those times before when the status window stubbornly refused to appear no matter how often I tried summoning it.

“…I guess not, after all.”

They were all living, breathing people.
That’s what I decided to believe.

I did not think the distressed emotions of the employees worrying over their coworker, the fervent efforts of the fire brigadesmen scurrying to prevent the flames from spreading further, were mere falsehoods.

And then.

‘I need to work hard again today.’
‘There’s surely a better future waiting!’

The girl striding towards her workplace, mature beyond her years, brushing off concerns about the difficulty with a smile – to view her as a mere NPC,
Her aspirations as nothing but coded programs, felt deeply wrong.

How lonely it would be if I were the only real person amid the multitudes in this city and kingdom.

Of course, I understood the value of my own life as well.
Was not the very reason I lived life to the fullest rooted in a desire to live longer?

So if I had to risk my life to save her, I might have given it further thought.

“Excuse me.”

“What is it?”

“I was wondering if I could buy some bread?”

I approached a nearby stall that appeared to be a bakery.
Its presumed owner, wearing disheveled clothing, was gawking at the fire.

As if thinking ‘Surely even rubbernecking requires eating first’, he shot me a look of utter disdain.

Freugne retreated towards the window as the encroaching heat became palpable.
Beyond the window was solid ground. While technically the third floor, the factory’s high ceilings meant a fall from this height would be fatal.

The rusted window refused to budge. In the end, she had no choice but to forcibly shatter it with her fists.

“Is anyone down there? Anyone at all-!”

“……”

“I’m here, over here!”

Despite screaming with all her might through the shattered window, gritting through the stinging pain, the only sound that reached her ears was the crackling of burning wood.
She could see tiny figures scurrying about below, but it didn’t seem like anyone had noticed her amidst the billowing flames.

To rationalize it somewhat, there was no way for anyone below to lay out a safety net with the ground itself engulfed. Any ladders would have instantly caught fire and collapsed as well.
Or perhaps they didn’t even realize she was still inside. Given the supervisor’s usual conduct, he had likely already agreed with himself to forget her existence.

“Here, over here……”

Her cries for help gradually diminished as the sweltering air filled the room, making it difficult to breathe.

For a fleeting moment, she recalled the scene of witnessing her own gravestone through someone else’s eyes.
This time, she would be fortunate if there was even a grave to erect – it was questionable whether her remains would be left intact at all.

The gloomy thoughts spiraled endlessly.

…Actually.
It wasn’t that she had wanted to refuse Edan’s offer.

Sometimes when it became too arduous, she longed to cling to a nearby adult and throw a tantrum.
As a child’s privilege, to boldly declare “Help me, I’ll repay you when I grow up” without reserve.

It surely wasn’t because the job was good or she disliked school that much.
But whenever such thoughts arose, the vision of herself being restrained resurfaced in the depths of her mind.

‘Yes, that’s right.’

-Thud!

If only she had never been able to glimpse the future at all.
If she could have been as frank as other children her age, would something have been different?

Freugne lowered her gaze slightly. A thin trickle of blood flowed from the wound on her hand caused by shattering the window.

Hadn’t she always been trying to avoid the future all along?
Perhaps that was the reason she ended up in this situation.

If she had the power to impose her will on others,
Instead of making empty demands for safety equipment or inspections, if she could have assertively ordered the factory closed,
Then there would have been no need for convoluted explanations, no need to incessantly nod before the supervisor, no need to contort herself like this simply to survive.

Even if she miraculously survived this,
While she could improvise her own situation, what about the misfortunes of others? Taking it a step further, what if humanity itself faced extinction?

What could she possibly do then?

‘Thoughts like these start cropping up at times like this.’

She knew this world was no fairy tale, no gentle realm where efforts were purely rewarded.

And yet, the sense of injustice was unavoidable.
She had wanted to pursue so many aspirations, harbored her own dreams.

…But what if.
A far-fetched ‘what if’, but if she could truly survive this,

Then she would never meekly accept such powerlessness again.

Freugne had never properly attended church.
At most, she had visited a few times on weekends when they distributed food handouts.

However, she had heard it said that when one’s heart weakens and lifelong beliefs waver,
The devil tries to sway people’s minds and test them.

“Do you desire power?”

“…?!”

Precisely at times like this.

Freugne whipped her head around at the unfamiliar voice coming from behind.