The Villain Is Destined to Die: But as the Creator, I know All Endings-Chapter 229: Day - 1: Meeting a Calamity Head

The City Harbor stretched wide before Leon.

Before the rising waves which rolled in endlessly, crashing against the docks with a dull force. The smell of salt mixed with fish and wet wood cling to the nostrils of those who visited for the first time.

Different sailors wearing different uniforms ran back and forth across the piers, shouting orders.

"Move it! Faster! Hey tight it more! Lose it now..!!"

"Secure the ropes! The ropes!"

"Cargo first, people! Heavy hoo!!"

Leon’s gaze was drawn to a massive ship docked near the center of the harbor.

It was built entirely of thick dark wood, its hull painted a deep yellow, with metallic rims lined the edges of the deck, reinforcing it like armor. At its peak hung a flag with a mark of full sun crest.

Slowly, the ship began to move.

As the ropes were released and the vessel pushed away from the dock, cheers and shouts echoed from within the deck.

Leon watched everything in silence.

The scene felt so unreal to him.

In his past life, he had owned many ships. Many of them were cargo vessels, luxury liners, even private yachts. But none of them carried this kind of presence.

"...magnificent." He muttered.

Deep down he wanted to have one of these for himself.

’Humans get strangely attached to material things,’ Rumi spoke inside his mind. ’I don’t understand it. Wood, metal, wealth... none of it lasts. Then why?’

Leon let out a quiet chuckle after hearing her.

’Attachment doesn’t have to be permanent to have meaning, Rumi,’ he replied. ’Sometimes, people cling to things because they reflect effort, ambition, or maybe pride.’

’So you believe attachment itself isn’t wrong?’

’Not at all,’ Leon answered. ’What matters is whether you let it own you or you simply enjoy it while it still exists.’

’Huh. I still don’t get it.’

Leon recalled something he had heard countless times in his past life. In all those interviews and press conferences.

There were always... always a few who asked the same question, dressed differently each time.

"Why did you buy five private jets when you travel alone? One should be enough, no?"

"If you have that much money to spare, why not donate it? Feed hungry children instead?"

Haru understood those questions well. They didn’t come from concern, they came from a different mentality altogether.

A mentality that believed possession itself was a crime.

Why should he give them anything? What reason did he have to justify his choices? Would his actions truly change anything?

He could feed people today or tomorrow, they would come again, and again, and again.

It wouldn’t solve the problem. It would only shift responsibility onto him.

Leon exhaled slowly.

Leon sighed, and lifted his gaze back toward the sea. Rumi won’t understand it now. Maybe she never would...

The yellow ship drifted farther into the Sea of Mist.

"Ah..." Someone groaned beside him.

Leon glanced in that direction.

Just a meter away from him, a rather young woman around his age was sitting on the stone road, leaning against a rusted lamp pillar. Her clothes were muddy and mostly wet. Her muddy brown hair clung messily to her face and neck, heavy with moisture. In front of her sat a steel bucket filled with water.

"...?"

The water inside it was moving.

Leon kept both his hands inside his long coat. He glanced down at her weak body and the way her upper body was almost spilling out from her tattered clothes.

’A beggar? She looks so young.’

Leon walked toward her. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"..."

Feeling the shadow fall over her body, the young girl looked up at him.

Leon noticed three sea shells inside the bucket, submerged in seawater.

Their eyes met.

The girl had red eyes, just like him. Although hers were real.

"..."

"..."

For a moment, Leon considered simply walking away.

But instead, just this once, he took out a silver coin and tossed it toward her.

Cling–!

The coin bounced near her bare feet and stopped close to her hands.

She looked at the coin, then at the white-haired young man who had thrown it.

Leon turned and started walking away.

But after just one step, something grabbed his foot.

"...?!"

Leon turned and looked down, only to find that the young beggar was clinging to him.

Seeing this, Leon clicked his tongue.

"Hey, you—! I don’t have anything—"

Before he could finish, the young beggar, holding the silver coin in her other hand, extended it toward him and spoke in a clear voice.

"If you want to give me money, then buy some sea shells from me."

"..."

Leon’s jaw paused. The girl clearly looked hungry. The silver coin in her hand would be enough to serve her for a week.

His eyes shifted to the seashells in the water bucket.

Those three seashells wouldn’t be worth a silver. And yet Leon asked.

"How much?"

"Two for five coppers. And all three for six coppers."

Leon took the silver coin from her hand and placed six copper coins into her palm instead.

"I’m buying all of them."

For a moment, the girl froze. Then her face lit up, genuine satisfaction spreading across her tired features.

"A-ah... thank you very much, sir," she said softly, bowing her head this time.

Leon looked at her once, said nothing, and walked past her without another word.

’Haru... I still don’t understand,’ Rumi spoke again inside his head.

Leon let out a quiet sigh.

’Just focus on the task,’ he replied.

He moved deeper into the harbor, passing rows of small boats and busy sailors. His eyes swept across the docks, counting ships out of habit.

Passenger vessels, Cargo ships, and a few official fleets bearing noble crests.

Leon identified several crests immediately.

House Nightson and House Rudward.

’They’re shipping to other kingdoms,’ he thought.

Sea routes were the cheapest option, but also the most dangerous. Big houses knew that well. That’s why their ships were armed with cannons and guarded heavily, far more than necessary for simple transport.

Then the passenger ships caught his attention next.

Each one had multiple decks and dozens of cabins, easily capable of carrying four to five hundred people. In size, they were comparable to mid-scale cruise liners from his old world.

Then there were the cargo ships. They were wide, flat-decked vessels stacked high with wooden containers. Efficient. Practical.

Leon’s gaze narrowed.

Some containers were being loaded onto passenger ships too.

They were small in size compared to others.

"...That’s unusual," he muttered.

It wasn’t illegal. But it was rare.

Leon slowed his steps, pretending to admire the distant sea as mist rolled across the horizon.

Through the ice-crystal contact lenses Rumi maintained, his perception sharpened beyond the physical.

He detected four Mana signatures inside each container.

Leon’s thoughts raced, forming a conclusion almost instantly.

"...Human trafficking?" he thought at first.

Then he clicked his tongue internally.

’No... not quite.’

A sudden realization hit him, followed by a low chuckle.

’Ah. That’s clever.’

They were all Pirates.

They hid themselves inside the containers, maybe they bribed the ship captains.

Once the ships reached the open sea, beyond the reach of any land, they would strike from within. They will loot the cargo, and even take the passenger ship, then vanish into the Sea of Mist.

"Talk about creativity," Leon murmured.

He watched as the ships carrying those containers slowly departed.

For now, he did nothing. Instead, he turned his attention elsewhere, acting as natural as possible.

’Anyways.... Where is he...?’ Leon thought.

Then he spotted him.

A little further ahead, Ethan stood among a group of sailors, chatting comfortably in his disguise.

Leon smirked.

’Working hard, huh.’

Ethan had to.

After the Library of Astral Tales, there were too many questions burning inside him. Leon had pushed the plot forward when he made Ethan take that second book.

With that choice alone, Ethan had skipped several intermediary paths.

’Haru...’ Rumi called.

Leon maintained his face and said.

’Yeah, I know.’ He relaxed his shoulders,’let’s just take her somewhere private.’

* * *

Leon closed the door behind him.

He removed his coat and hung it neatly by the wall.

Still in his disguise, he moved quietly across the room and settled onto the cushioned seat near the fireplace. With a small flick of his wrist, the fire lit up.

Or at least, it should have.

The temperature in the room barely changed.

Leon stared into the flickering fire for a moment, then spoke inside his head.

’Come out, Rumi.’

The air beside the fireplace shimmered.

Rumi manifested, and her physical form took shape.

She wore a simple white dress, its edges faintly sparkling like frost under moonlight. Her long black hair flowed down her back, tipped with an icy sheen, and her cold eyes lifted to meet his.

She reached just to Leon’s shoulder.

"Keep the fire going for a while," Leon said calmly. "Add more coal to it."

Rumi nodded and crouched beside the fireplace, tossing small chunks of coal into the flames with her small hand.

Leon turned away from her and stretched.

"Yaaawn... So tired."

He moved to the bed, dropped onto it, and closed his eyes.

The room remained cold.

[Thirty minutes passed.]

Leon’s eyes opened slowly. He yawned, rolled onto his side, and looked toward the fireplace.

Rumi was still there.

Crouched low with her usual unchanged expression. Tossing coal into the fire one piece at a time.

Leon swung his legs off the bed and stood.

Just as his foot touched the floor—

"Don’t you think you’re wasting such a high-ranking spirit’s potential?"

The voice came from right behind him.

Leon froze. A chill ran down his spine, even though he had expected this.

He didn’t turn around.

Instead, he noticed something else.

His white hair changed back to black. His crimson eyes shifted, turning golden. Even his skin brightened slightly, returning to its original state.

’Ah, Fuck,’ Leon cursed silently.

No kind of spell ever worked in front of her.