Every day spent missing Barbara (sealed artifacts aren't single-use; there's no limit to how often they can be used.)

Estelle wasn't surprised by this situation. She said softly:

"It's all right. My family gave me quite a few useful sealed artifacts for this trip."

"One of them is a spatial artifact. If I run into any trouble, I can teleport straight out."

"Besides, I'm Sequence 6 now. I've heard about that sin domain in the Mount Matigold Range. As long as I'm careful, there shouldn't be any major problems."

Count Eureka's lips twitched slightly at the words "quite a few sealed artifacts."

Rich families really are something else. Other people can't scrape together even a handful of sealed artifacts with their entire family's resources, yet you've brought quite a few useful ones along for this trip alone.

He was even more startled when he heard Estelle say she was now Sequence 6.

After all, the strongest person in all of Count Bain's Estate was only Sequence 7, and how old was Estelle now?

What a shame. She belongs to someone else's family now.

After sighing inwardly, he stopped opposing his daughter's plans to enter the sin domain.

[[After all, as he saw it, his daughter was already Sequence 6. Surely nothing would happen to her in a low-level sin domain used to test beginners.]]

[[Besides, his family had spent all these years gathering information about the interior of that sin domain. By now, they could be said to know it very well.]]

[[With his daughter's strength and that information, Count Eureka truly found it hard to imagine anything happening to her inside the sin domain. A disappearance like her younger sister's had happened only once in that sin domain's thousand-year history.]]

[[Even if she really did encounter that one-in-ten-thousand accident, didn't she still have a sealed artifact that could teleport her straight out of the sin domain?]]

[[Since her safety was assured, he might as well let her go. Hopefully, she really could find her poor younger sister. A trace of sadness flashed through Count Eureka's eyes.]]

That night, Estelle began preparing everything she would need for her trip to the sin domain in the Mount Matigold Range.

Eros had wanted to go along too, since he had never entered a dungeon before, but Estelle flatly refused his request.

Looking at the bewildered child, Estelle said with some amusement:

"That sin domain belongs to the Church. Do you think just anyone can enter?"

"Even the emperor would have to apply to the Church before entering, let alone us."

"The only reason I can enter now is that your Aunt Elusa disappeared in that sin domain because of the Church's negligence. This is the compensation the Church offered your grandfather's family."

"Your grandfather's family is allowed to send one person into the sin domain at any time to search, until they find either Elusa or her body."

At that point, Estelle said no more about the matter and changed the subject to the start of the school term, telling them to stay home and wait for the academy to open.

Eros had no choice but to remind his mother to be careful.

Early the next morning, he even cast a Life Blessing buff on Estelle. Of all the skills he could currently use, this buff lasted the longest.

The days that followed felt rather aimless.

Every night, he visited the soul space as usual to see whether Barbara was there. Unfortunately, she wasn't!

Day fifteen of missing Barbara!

Day sixteen of missing Barbara!

Day twenty-seven of missing Barbara.

"Sigh! Every day I don't get to see Barbara, my heart feels so empty. Nothing feels fun anymore. Even being alive feels a little dull."

At last, on the night of the twenty-seventh day, Barbara finally appeared.

Whether she had been moved by Eros's sincerity or simply annoyed by the nonsense he rambled on about every night, he didn't know.

When he saw Barbara appear, Eros froze for a moment, then promptly admitted his mistake. "I was wrong!"

Barbara huffed, though her pretty face was still a little flushed. "Did you mean everything you just said?"

Eros paused briefly at that, then nodded eagerly. "Of course I did. I haven't even had an appetite these past few days."

Barbara gave another cold huff. "I'll forgive you this time, you awful Junior. If you ever dare pull something like that again, I'll... I'll... I'll send you flying with one punch."

As she spoke, she brandished her small, fair fist at Eros.

Hearing Barbara say she had forgiven him, Eros let out a long breath of relief.

His eyes involuntarily flicked downward, and he caught sight of Barbara's long legs clad in white stockings.

Barbara's pretty face was still slightly flushed. When she noticed Eros staring at her legs, her tone turned fierce:

"What are you looking at? Hurry up and spar with me."

And so, Eros took a terrible beating that night. It hurt, but he was still quite happy deep down. After all, Barbara had forgiven him.

A few more days passed before Estelle returned, her face pale. From the state she was in, she was clearly only staying upright through sheer willpower.

Eros was just about to approach and ask what had happened when relief spread across Estelle's face. Then, as though she could finally hold on no longer, she crumpled to the floor and passed out.

Eros hurried forward, picked her up, and laid her on the bed in her bedroom.

Just then, Barbara's voice suddenly sounded in his mind:

"A fifth of her soul is missing. It looks as though something forcibly erased it."

Panic stirred in Eros's heart at those words, and he quickly asked:

"Is there any way to repair it?"

Losing part of one's soul was no small matter. At worst, it meant death; at best, it could leave a person an idiot. Eros couldn't accept either outcome.