While eating finger food with Anselot in a corner, we watched the procession of guests greeting my mother.

Leaving before the Emperor was against etiquette, so I planned to leave after my mother did, once the greeting procession was over.

Soon, it was the turn of the envoys from the Kingdom of Taal.

The envoys walked towards my mother, carrying gifts they had brought all the way from their homeland.

‘Huh? That woman is…’

I recognized the woman leading the group with blue hair and purple eyes.

She was the same woman who was with Hezen the day I realized I was in a game and that I was one of Hezen’s romanceable characters!

‘She must be Clara, the Saintess of the Kingdom of Taal.’

As I watched her with not-so-pleasant memories, she suddenly stopped.

Then, she abruptly stretched out her arms towards the sky.

Her unexpected act caused murmurs of surprise among the onlookers.

“Saintess, why are you…”

Even the envoys from Taal seemed perplexed and murmured among themselves.

“Christine Joanna Ajestar, the Emperor of Ajestar, heed the holy command of the gods!”

The Saintess’s voice echoed loudly, her deep tone markedly different from what I had heard that day.

The expression on her face looked almost possessed.

“By the command of the divine Lord Lus, let the bloodline of Ajestar accomplish the and widely spread the sacred and holy name of Lus on this land!”

I froze at her next words.

‘The Proof of Hero?’

How could I not understand?

The reason the protagonists of had to defeat the Mad Dragon.

That was the .

According to the original , long ago, the Light God Lus sealed away the Mad Dragon Helheim, becoming the sole ruler of this world.

Since then, the people of the continent worshipped Lus as the supreme deity. However, over time, a problem arose.

The ancient seal began to crack, awakening the Mad Dragon Helheim.

Foreseeing the world plunging into chaos again, the Light God Lus issued an oracle related to the .

The content of the oracle was simple:

‘The descendants inheriting the light’s power shall harvest the heart of the Mad Dragon.

The one who claims the dragon’s heart shall scatter its holy name across the land.’

In the original story, Hezen vowed to the Emperor to defeat the dragon for the Proof of Hero and was appointed as the Empire’s hero.

He was then bestowed with a sword by the Emperor – the Ajestar Greatsword, the very same one I had just received from my mother.

Hezen then met other heroes inheriting the light’s power and formed allies during his journey for the oracle’s proof.

These were the heroes mentioned in the original: Klaus, the Shield of Light; Ileie, the Sage of Light; Maria, the Saintess of Light; and Targo, the Hunter of Light.

Together with Hezen, the Warrior of Light, the five heroes of light defeated the Mad Dragon Helheim, completing the , and returned triumphantly.

Their long journey of growth, friendship, and love is the main story of the original .

In this disastrous game based on the original, the was surely meant for the player.

But suddenly, the Ajestar bloodline was being tasked with accomplishing it.

“That’s ridiculous!”

I was about to step forward toward Clara, outraged.

‘There was nothing like this in the original! And the original protagonist, Hezen, wasn’t even of the Ajestar bloodline…!’

I would have pushed through the crowd to the front if Anselot hadn’t grabbed my shoulder.

“Princess, look at her eyes.”

Following Anselot’s gesture towards Clara’s eyes, I saw her irises were a murky gray color.

“Uh…?”

I had seen those eyes before.

‘Exterminating the bug.’
That day, when Roana attacked us, she had exactly those kinds of eyes. Not just Roana, but the others with her too, all of them.

“They’re cleaners. Minions of the system.”

“What?”

I blinked in confusion.

That woman was definitely one of Hezen’s romantic interests. How did she suddenly become a cleaner?

“Weren’t cleaners supposed to eliminate bugs?”

[Aaaah!!! It looks like the system administrator has stepped in σ(ｏдｏlll)]

The system window trembled violently.

“System administrator?”

I tilted my head, and Anselot immediately explained.

“The strongest among the minions.”

[Don’t call them minions! The system administrator is an important person who blocks malicious bugs and safeguards the order of the system! ★o(･д´･+)９]

The system window bristled with anger at Anselot’s nonchalant reply, then became serious and started to guard against Anselot.

[But how does this person know about the inventory and the system? Player, this person is suspicious! You should be careful! ヾ( •́д•̀ ;)ﾉ]

Ignoring the system window, Anselot and I continued our conversation.

“Safeguarding the order of this world?”

“Ensuring smooth progression of the scenario is also their role.”

“You know, Princess? The system administrator can turn people with certain conditions into cleaners.”

“…!”