The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet
"……"
After being shown to her room and left alone, Mina sat on the bed, staring blankly at the wall.
The things Rain and the others had told her wouldn’t leave her mind.
No matter what she did, she couldn’t forget them.
Reez and Monica weren’t trying to establish peace between humans and demons. They were plotting something far more sinister.
And they had deceived Mina and the others to accomplish their goals.
Lin had also become a victim because of them.
And there were plenty of other things, too…
"If what Rain-san said is true, then what have I… been doing all this for…?"
She was no longer a member of the Hero’s party. She had fallen into the ranks of traitors.
Even so, she had continued helping with what she believed were good causes, all for the sake of the world and to fulfill her duties as a priestess.
But it had all been utterly meaningless.
Worse, her actions had actually been evil deeds that threw the world into chaos.
"What on earth have I…?"
Everything she had believed to be right had been completely wrong.
She felt as though everything about herself had been denied, and she couldn’t muster any strength in her body.
Even so, Mina brought her hands together and closed her eyes.
"Oh, God…"
She offered a prayer.
In a way, it was a form of escapism…
But Mina continued praying, completely unaware of that fact.
Knock, knock.
The sound of someone knocking on the door brought Mina back to her senses.
Who could it be at this hour?
Puzzled, she answered.
"Yes…?"
"Excuse me."
The person who appeared was Eris.
"You are…?"
"I'm Eris, a Holy Knight affiliated with the Church."
"Oh…"
Mina saw a glimmer of hope in her.
Perhaps Eris, a Holy Knight, could show her which path to take from here on.
Perhaps she might even affirm Mina’s past actions.
Perhaps she would agree that they hadn’t been meaningless after all.
Mina looked at Eris with a pleading gaze…
But Eris returned it with a sharp, icy stare.
It was practically hostility.
"Eh… Ah…"
Faced with that piercing, intense glare, Mina had no idea what to do.
No words came out.
She could only flounder helplessly, like a child.
Watching Mina in that state, Eris…
Drew her sword and pressed the blade against Mina’s neck.
"Do you remember a village called Noifa?"
"…Huh?"
Why was this happening?
Unable to comprehend the situation, Mina could only stare at Eris in bewilderment.
Perhaps Mina’s reaction irritated her. Eris clicked her tongue and pressed the blade even closer.
The sword cut through the top layer of skin, and a thin stream of blood trickled down.
"Do you remember a village called Noifa?"
"N-no, I don't…"
"Really? You don't remember it at all?"
"Y-yes…"
"So that's all it meant to you…? That's how little it mattered to you…!!!"
Eris’s eyes blazed with overwhelming emotion.
Even after seeing Eris react like that, Mina still couldn’t understand what was happening.
Why was this being done to her?
Why was Eris so angry?
She couldn’t understand any of it.
"…Noifa is the village where I was born. And it would be no exaggeration to say that you and the rest of the former Hero’s party destroyed it."
"…What?"
"Because of you…!!!"
Eris glared at Mina more fiercely than ever before.
Her grip tightened around her sword.
She was holding it so tightly that it seemed as though the hilt might creak under the pressure.
"What… do you mean?"
"…It happened a long time ago. You and the rest of the former Hero’s party came to my hometown."
Eris began to recount what had happened.
How the foolish actions of the former Hero’s party had inflicted tremendous damage on the village.
How her family had become victims.
She laid the blame for those sins squarely at Mina’s feet.
"I… Yes, I remember that. But Arios told me that the damage wasn't that severe…"
"How could that possibly be true?!!!"
"!?!"
"Because of you, the village… my family…!!!"
"I… did this…?"
The Church had raised Mina to obey only God and the Hero.
She was blindly devout.
She never thought for herself.
Yet even Mina, despite all that, could finally understand what Eris was saying—and the emotions behind her words.
She could finally feel the weight of Eris’s pain.
Yes…
"I… destroyed your village…?"
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