Villain Retirement

"Tell us again what happened."

"I think that is enough, Miss Pepondosovich. She has already told us what happened 3 times."

"I agree with Master, there is no reason to ask Caroline again. He has already told us in detail what happened."

Riley and the others were now in Caroline's house. And unlike what she initially told them, Clint—she does not live in the dark corners of the city at all, no. She had her own house in the city, and at the central at that, where the markets were only just a couple of blocks away.

And right now, Riley and the others were having warm soup around a large ornamented wooden table in an obviously expensive dining hall.

"Okay…" Miss Pepondosovich tried her best to calm down; her breaths, as heavy as they could be without turning into full-blown groans, "...I get that you made a mistake because the guy was incredibly convincing, even though he did not even show you any inclination of him having abilities. He did not even have a god's boon. Do you know how pathetic that is? Anyway, where was I…

…Right, forget the fact that you were scammed, why are you living in a mansion like this while your brother was suffering in the college? You even told him you were dead."

"That…" Caroline could really only look at the fire dancing in her fireplace; taking in a deep breath as she drank her soup that had been boiling in deep broth for a day — absolutely umami, "...It was better for him to be as far away as possible from me and the family."

"Afraid that he will be caught up in all the dangers?" Miss Pepondosovich raised an eyebrow.

"I love my brother, I do — but no," Caroline started shaking her head, "Have you seen him? He's a fucking monster — like a little devil in a boy's body."

"Hm," Riley nodded to himself.

"When we were a bit younger, when I told him and our mother about… what I am," Caroline turned her head down; gesturing to herself and her extremely feminine clothes, "He cut off my cock while I was sleeping."

"He probably meant well, Caroline," Riley nodded again.

"He cut off my cock!" Caroline screamed in frustration, "Even though I was already like this, I was still using it!"

"...Right," Miss Pepondosovich closed her eyes and covered his mouth; pretending to think when she was actually just trying her best not to burst out in laughter there and then,

"I know what you mean — that was why I fully hesitated first when I gifted him a boon."

"You—!!!" Caroline could not help but stand up from her seat, "You gave Cane a boon!? We have to go to him right now before he could start wreaking havoc!"

"You can go, but our quest is to the cosmic piece," Miss Pepondosovich shook her head.

"You granted him a boon fully knowing what kind of person he is!" Caroline raised her voice even further.

"Yes," Miss Pepondosovich nodded, "He is… evil, yes. That is definitely true, the boy's incredibly sinister — but it is also true that he has been beaten an inch away from death several times now; whether he deserved it or not, I am not the kind of god to decide that. But he is still being beaten, and in his perspective, he deserves revenge for what was being done to him. And if you wanted to stop him…

…you should have already stopped him before."

"That…" Caroline could not help but look to the side, "...He will leave bodies."

"You do not have to worry, Caroline," a smile crawled on Riley's face, "Your brother's story is not yet set in stone — and you are definitely one of the main characters in it; maybe even the one who will ultimately kill him?"

"Kill… him?" Caroline stuttered.

"Yes," the smile on Riley's face widened even further, "An evil villain's story should always end in his death, Caroline — a gruesome and violent death. And who better to give him that than his sister?"

"I… I won't kill him."

"But you said you would stop him, Caroline," Riley stood up; the fire dancing in the fireplace, painting his white skin as he very slowly approached Caroline, "That is what it takes to stop him, nothing e—"

"Alright, alright," Miss Pepondosovich quickly moved between Riley and Caroline before Riley could start whispering some unnecessary morbid things in Caroline's ear,

"What about this — I will give you a boon too."

"Me…!?" Caroline almost gasped as she heard Miss Pepondosovich's words; choosing to completely ignore Riley's words for now, "But… I gave away the book to the wrong person."

"That you did," Miss Pepondosovich crossed her arms and nodded, "A monumental mistake that is. And now you have the chance to make it right, will you recognize the man who swindled you if you saw him?"

"I can even describe him in full detail if you wish," Caroline said; her breaths, filled with a sense of excitement.

"Can you paint him?"

"Wait here!" And without even hesitating for even a single moment, Caroline rushed out of the dining room, quickly returning with a pencil and paper in hand, and without even wasting a single second, she started sketching the man that supposedly scammed her.

"Here."

And true enough, from how detailed Caroline drew the man, it would seem she truly has memorized his face. Now… if only her drawing skills were as good. But still, Miss Pepondosovich did not even seem to mind as she just grabbed the sketch from Caroline's hand.

"What do you guys think?" Miss Pepondosovich showed the sketch to Esme and Riley.

"She needs drawing lessons, Miss Pepondosovich."

"What? No, not that!"

"Oh," Riley turned to face Caroline, "You need drawing lessons, Caroline."

"I meant; do you recognize this face anywhere during our travels!" Miss Pepondosovich groaned as she once again showed the sketch, putting it right in front of Riley and Esme's faces.

"Oh…" Riley breathed out as he squinted his eyes, "Then, no."

"I also do not recognize the face from this horrendous drawing, Miss Pepondosovich," Esme imitated Riley as she squinted her eyes and nodded, "And I am with Master, he needs drawing lessons."

"Right… I actually only asked just for the sake of asking," Miss Pepondosovich nodded as she started rolling the sketch, "I already have a way to find this guy — we could find Father Edmund again and ask him for a favor; he did lead us to this wild goose chase, after all. But first…

…your boon."

Caroline could not help but just take in a deep breath as Miss Pepondosovich placed her focus back on her; Caroline's breaths, trembling uncontrollably as she dropped to her knees.

"Is… is it also possible to fully turn me into a woman?" Caroline asked.

"...I'm not that kind of god," Miss Pepondosovich sighed as she pointed her palm at the kneeling Caroline, "But we can regenerate what you have lost."

"That is plenty," Caroline lowered her head, "I will forever be indebted to you."

"Hm," Miss Pepondosovich just shrugged as she once again started the ritual for granting a boon. And like with Cane, it was an even shorter procedure as Caroline was not really on the brink of death.

"This is…" And as soon as it was done, Caroline kneeled even lower to the ground as she felt the thing between her legs once again finally saying hello to the world, "...Thank you, thank you. I… I shall leave the three of you to settle your matters, I dare not impede."

"Right, go," Miss Pepondosovich could really only chuckle as she shooed Caroline away, "Use your newfound strength and… long-lost vigor."

"Thank you, truly!" Caroline continued to bow her head repeatedly as she left the dining room.

"Wow…" Miss Pepondosovich sighed and shook her head, "...Both the siblings are a complete failure in different ways. I mean, how could you even fail your life-long mission that bad!?"

"I thought you would be able to relate, Miss Pepondosovich?" Riley tilted his head.

"Wh—are you actually making jokes right now!? I thought you didn't have a sense of humor!" Miss Pepondosovich pointed at Riley, "Is this stoic facade all just a ruse?"

"I have plenty of jokes, Miss Pepondosovich," another smile crawled on Riley's face, "But they usually involve a lot of pain and blood."

"...I'm not even going to ask," Miss Pepondosovich sighed and started waving her hand, "Anyway, we should return to the city with the orphanage, Edmund might still be there."

"He is still there, Miss Pepondosovich."

"...Why do you sound so sure about that?" Miss Pepondosovich could not help but squint her eyes at Riley's somewhat excited tone.

"Because I did not realize we would be visiting so soon, Miss Pepondosovich," Riley seemed to be trying his best not to let out a small chuckle, "I will tell Darkday…

…to prepare a proper welcome for us."

"...What's a Darkday?"