I Became The Guardian Of The Future Villain

“…We were actually just talking about that.”

Unable to hold back anymore, Luciard finally spoke.

“I’m done with adventuring. This must be the sudden situation for you all but I can’t stay with you guys any longer.”

The faces of his companions darkened. Even though they wanted to protest, after hearing his circumstances, there wasn’t much they could say.

It was an unavoidable situation, after all.

“…How long do you have to stay here?” Lavio asked, clinging to a thin thread of hope.

“Leon’s eight, so… at least ten years.”

And just like that, that small hope was quickly crushed.

“Ten years… that’s not just a few days, it’s a whole decade. I can’t ask you guys to wait for me. You all have your own lives to live.”

They’d only been together as a mercenary group for a year and a half, but in that short time, they had spent almost every day together. Over time, these companions had become another family to Luciard.

It wasn’t easy for him to say this.

“I’ll hand over the leader position to Lavio. I might be stepping down, but our connection doesn’t end here. I hope you’ll all continue to enjoy your adventures, even without me.”

The group, including Lavio, all wore downcast expressions.

Even though they understood it couldn’t be helped, sudden goodbyes were never easy to accept.

Hestia, who had been silently observing, thought for a moment before asking Lavio a question.

“Do you have any particular goal with your adventures?”

“A goal?”

“Yes, like something you’re ultimately aiming for or something you really want to accomplish. I don’t know how you all came to be part of the Blaze Mercenary Corps, but surely you had things you were doing before joining, right?”

The mercenaries pondered her words, then one by one tilted their heads in confusion.

“A goal, huh… not really.”

“We’re all just wanderers with nowhere to go, so we take on work when it comes our way and travel wherever we feel like after the job’s done.”

“Sometimes we get involved in wars or revolts, but that’s pretty rare.”

“If we had to name a goal… maybe becoming a famous mercenary group that everyone knows?”

“Other than that… not really, right?”

Since they had all come together for similar reasons, none of them had any specific ambition or something they *had* to achieve.

Their current life was about traveling together, taking on jobs to earn money, and enjoying the daily adventure.

“Hmm… In that case, how about staying here for a while?”

“What?”

“Didn’t you all come here suddenly because you followed Sir Luciard?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Chest is the largest city in the southern part of the Pastin Empire. If you travel a day or two to the south, you’ll reach the coastline, and to the north, there’s the capital. It’s a convenient location.”

In other words, it’s perfect for a bit of sightseeing and traveling.

“If you’re not into sightseeing, you could rest here for a few days before heading out. Oh, and since you’re mercenaries, you take on requests, right? Do you handle noble requests too?”

“Depends on the job. Do you have something in mind?”

“Recently, we’ve had some changes in our duchy’s knight force. There’s nothing urgent yet, but there may be times when we’re short on manpower. After hearing you talk about bandits and battlefields, I assume you’re pretty skilled.”

In her past life, each member of this group had been known as incredibly talented.

“If you stay here for a while and something comes up, I’d love to hire you. Since you’re with Sir Luciard, I’m sure we can trust you.”

As Hestia smiled, Neville, one of the mercenaries, suddenly stood up, trembling with excitement.

“Of course! We’ve never failed a single request so far! If you hire us, we can start right awa—!”

“Brina.”

With Lavio’s call, Brina smacked Neville on the neck, knocking him out. Startled, Hestia cleared her throat and looked back at Lavio.

“What do you think of my proposal? Of course, since you’re Sir Luciard’s companions, you’re more than welcome to stay at the duchy for a while. We can offer you rooms in the guest room.”

“That’s…”

Lavio looked a bit troubled as he glanced to Hestia’s side.

Luciard, who had been listening in disbelief, was now staring at Hestia, looking almost offended.

“Since when do you think you can just hand out requests to my mercenary group?” he asked.

“Oh, didn’t you just say you were stepping down? You even said you’d pass the leader position to Lavio.”

Luciard’s eyebrow twitched.

“Still, there’s a proper way to do things…”

“So should I kick them out, then?”

Hestia’s blunt question left Luciard momentarily speechless.

“That’s not what I’m saying. Besides, you haven’t even finished your conversation with them yet, and they haven’t decided on their next destination, so why not let them stay for a while? They’re *your* guests, after all. Isn’t it better for them to stay at the duchy rather than at some inn?”

“…”

“As I said, the duchy is spacious. We have more than enough room to host them. But, of course, if you’re uncomfortable with that, you could always come up with a better solution.”

‘Got a better idea?’ her expression seemed to say.

Luciard was taken aback by her attitude. And as much as he hated to admit it, her suggestion really was the best option. Actually, it was the perfect option for them. They were probably exhausted from all the traveling, and the duchy could offer them comfort and first-class treatment.

It was a much better alternative than kicking them out, but there was something that had been bothering him for a while.

“Acting like the head of the household already, are you? So much for just being a guardian.”

Hestia’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Do you think I didn’t notice? Ever since earlier, you’ve been acting like the owner of the house, quietly taking the lead and acting all generous.”
Hestia found herself momentarily speechless.
Thinking he’d hit the nail on the head, Luciard smirked.
“Honestly, I thought it was weird when you introduced yourself as a guardian.”
Hestia’s face immediately hardened.

“…Are you unhappy with ‘me’ being the guardian? Or are you just mad that there’s a guardian at all?”

The atmosphere instantly grew tense. The mercenaries, who had been happily snacking, stopped eating and nervously glanced around.

“Both. I guess it’s better than letting one of the distant relatives take over, but that’s as far as it goes. Leon’s all alone now—anyone can see what people will think. Why would anyone be happy about a guardian stepping in?”

“Hah!”

A bitter laugh escaped Hestia’s lips.

“I-I don’t know what’s going on here, but maybe we should calm down a little…”

Neville, unable to watch any longer, tried to step in.

“This is a Winston matter.”

“This isn’t something for you to butt into, Neville. Stay out of it.”

Lavio cut in, stopping Neville in his tracks.

“You know what? I’m glad you brought that up. You said it yourself, people will have their own thoughts about Leon being left alone, right? That’s exactly why the guardian had to be appointed quickly!” Hestia’s voice grew sharper with each word, and Luciard’s eyebrow twitched again.

“You know why the guardian was appointed so fast? Because that’s what those distant relatives ‘wanted’! They were hounding over him ‘within an hour’ of the funeral being over!”

Just thinking back to that day made Hestia’s blood boil, and Luciard grouping her with those people only made it worse.
“My father was against the idea of a guardian in the first place! You know why? Because we thought *you* would show up! But was there *anyone* who could contact you? Did anyone even know where you lived or what you were doing?”

Luciard flinched.

“People were arguing that they couldn’t wait around for someone who might never come back. So tell me, what else could we have done?!”

Hestia’s eyes bore into him as Luciard averted his gaze.

“Honestly, I wanted my father to be the guardian, not me. But the prince chose me, and if I had refused, the position would have gone to Count Humphrey. So you should be grateful that I’m here. If it were someone else, you wouldn’t even have been able to enter this place!”

After pouring out her thoughts, Hestia let out a heavy breath. After a moment of silence, Luciard spoke.

“… I can’t argue with that. We weren’t in a situation to communicate. But that’s changed now. I’m back, so naturally, as Leon’s uncle, I should lead this ducal family, right?”

Hestia’s eyes dimmed instantly. She stared at Luciard with a blank expression.

“Why is he asking for the guardian position after being here for such a short time?”

It was suspicious.

She didn’t sense any greed in his tone like Malrus, but it felt fishy that he was trying to snatch the guardian position without knowing everything that had happened so far.

“I need to think this over again.”

Before accepting the guardian role, Hestia had made a promise to Leonhard.

She had vowed that when Luciard returned, she would hand over the guardian position to him.

‘But I never said I would just give it up.’

If he proved that he cared for Leonhard and could lead the ducal family well, she would consider it.

Having known him for a short time in the past and hearing things from her father, she thought Luciard could take good care of Leonhard. But…
‘But what if he’s just like Marlus?’
In her past life, Luciard had long lost affection for Winston and had run away. However, this time, the circumstances were different.
Though it was still running away, the timing and reasons were different, and unlike before, he had returned to this place.

Just because something didn’t happen in her previous life didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen now.

“Wait, both of you are getting too worked up.”

A third party intervened—Lavio.

He stepped in to separate the two.

“Are you both arguing about the guardian issue?”

Both of them nodded.

“I’ve got a rough idea of the situation since the captain explained it before the lady arrived. If your beloved nephew has lost his parents and is left alone, it’s understandable to be anxious.”

Lavio’s calm words helped Hestia settle down and refocus on Luciard.

“But captain, if you suddenly tell someone who’s been doing a good job to leave, very few would accept it without protest. I understand your feelings, but wouldn’t it be better to listen to the lady a bit more?”

This time, Luciard calmed down and looked at Hestia.

The other members, who had been watching the situation, started to chime in one by one.

“I haven’t talked much with her, but she doesn’t seem like a stubborn person.”

“It seems like she cares for the prince…”

“If there was a problem, surely others would have noticed first.”

“Could she really be a bad person? She’s so beautiful!”

Even though there were some weird comments in the mix, thanks to them, both parties were able to regain their composure.

‘That’s true…’

‘…Can’t argue with that.’

Before fighting blindly, it was essential for them to have a deep conversation.

“…I was wrong.”

Luciard spoke first.

“Tell me what happened during the two months after the guardian was decided. How did it come to this?”

Seeing Luciard’s serious expression, Hestia briefly thought of Icarus.

She felt a lump in her throat again, just like when she first heard the bad news, but she forced herself to keep it together and spoke.

“First, I’ll share what I know. The duke stayed with us in Byron for a day, and a few days later, the bad news was delivered. I was with my family…”

Hestia tried to relay the events as objectively as possible.

As the story progressed, her voice would sometimes waver, Luciard’s fists trembled, and the other members looked shocked, but overall, the narrative flowed calmly.