The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet
"……"
Mina was dumbfounded.
In the past, she would have dismissed Eris’s problem as something trivial and put it aside.
In fact, she had done exactly that before.
But the only reason she had been able to do so was that she had the noble justification of being a member of the Hero’s party and defeating the Demon King.
Small sacrifices were unavoidable for the sake of a greater cause.
That was why she had never given the matter serious thought.
She had never confronted the incident directly.
She had simply abandoned the act of thinking altogether.
But now, she no longer had that noble justification.
Mina was a former member of the Hero’s party, and she was now a traitor.
Although she wanted to establish peace between humans and demons, she was doing so to clear her tarnished reputation. She had no greater cause to speak of.
Besides…
She had never even heard that the village had been completely destroyed.
Arios had told her that there had been some damage, but nothing serious enough to cause concern.
That was why she had called it a necessary sacrifice…
"I-I…"
For the first time, Mina was forced to confront the sins she had committed.
She could no longer run away from them or turn her eyes aside.
All she could do was accept responsibility for her sins.
"…I have been given two missions."
Eris drew her sword and pointed it at Mina’s neck.
"The first is to question your true intentions and, if possible, take you back to the Church."
"Back to the Church…?"
"The higher-ups… Lord Altrius must still believe that you have some value to them. The truth is, your abilities are a waste to lose. You certainly have power, at least."
"……"
Mina seemed to notice the sarcasm in Eris’s words, and her expression grew bitter.
"The second mission is to dispose of you if you refuse to comply with the Church’s wishes."
"!? Th-that…"
"The Church still considers you useful, but you’re also a troublesome liability. Before the Church’s authority suffers any further damage, you may need to be eliminated… Lord Altrius is considering that possibility as well."
"That can’t be… I-I have always served the Church and God as their humble servant…"
"Stop refusing to think for yourself already!!!"
"!?"
At Eris’s shout, Mina’s body jerked violently.
"You keep abandoning your own judgment and leaving everything to other people… and look where that has gotten you! You’re no longer part of the Hero’s party, and you’ve fallen into the ranks of traitors. And that’s not all! You’ve spread tragedies like the one that befell my village over and over again! Accept those facts and take responsibility for your sins!!! If you can’t even do that… I’ll cut you down."
Eris tightened her grip on her sword.
The blade pressed a little deeper into Mina’s neck, and blood trickled down.
"I’ll report to the Church that you refused to obey. I’ll say I killed you because you were no longer useful."
"Th-that…"
"This will be my own decision, an action taken entirely on my own authority… But there shouldn’t be a problem with that, should there? After all, you destroyed my hometown. You took my family away from me!!!"
"Ah…"
"If you still refuse to think for yourself at a time like this, then I’ll do the thinking for you and pass judgment in your place."
"I-I…"
Mina’s breathing grew ragged.
Her face turned pale, as though she were hyperventilating.
Clutching her chest, she nevertheless remained conscious and looked at Eris.
She could feel Eris’s anger.
At the same time, she could feel her sorrow.
Mina had always left everything to other people, believing that doing so was the right thing to do. She had continued to abandon her own judgment…
But now, at last, she had chosen to think for herself.
What should she do?
How should she face Eris?
What words should she say?
She desperately tried to think…
But she couldn’t figure anything out.
She had spent so long refusing to think for herself.
Even now that she had decided to face the situation, her heart couldn’t keep up.
Neither could her mind.
She had no idea what to say. Her thoughts simply spun around in confusion.
And yet…
Even Mina understood what she needed to do now.
It was…
"…I’m… truly sorry…"
Mina sank to her knees, placed her hands on the floor, bowed her head, and offered her apology.
She didn’t know what she should do from that point onward.
She didn’t know how to respond to Eris’s feelings.
However, she understood one thing: she had to apologize.
When you do something wrong, you apologize.
Even a child understood that much.
"I’m truly, truly sorry…"
"What is that supposed to mean? Is that an apology from the bottom of your heart? From where I’m standing, it looks like nothing more than a plea for your life."
"That… might be true…"
Having spent so long refusing to think for herself, Mina didn’t even know whether those words came from the bottom of her heart.
She couldn’t understand herself, of all people.
She simply felt that this was what she had to do.
There was no way to restore Eris’s hometown now.
She couldn’t bring her family back to life.
There was nothing she could do.
But at the very least, she had to apologize.
If she couldn’t even do that, wouldn’t she be lower than an insect?
"I know it’s too late… Far too late, but I was wrong… I’m truly sorry."
"…If you’re going to apologize, then I’d rather you bring my family back to life. You can even resurrect the dead, can’t you?"
"I can, but… it’s impossible. Too much time has passed, and because of the nature of the magic, I can only resurrect one person at most…"
"? …Well, fine."
Eris withdrew her sword and returned it to its sheath.
"I will never forgive you. I will hate you for the rest of my life, and that hatred will never go away."
"I understand…"
"However… I want to take your own thoughts into account before deciding what happens to you from here on."
"Eh…?"
"You seem to have finally remembered how to think for yourself. If you’re like this now, you probably won’t repeat the same mistakes you made in the past. And I believe you’re finally someone worth talking to. That is my judgment."
"…Eris-san…"
"Whether to dispose of you, take you back to the Church, or choose a third option… I haven’t decided yet. But from now on, you must think things through carefully for yourself and take responsibility for the choices you make. That’s all I have to say."
Leaving those words behind, Eris walked out of the room.
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