“Huh?! Professor Los?!”
“Y… Where the hell’d you bubble up from?!”
The trio goggled at her as she appeared where there should by rights be no foothold to speak of. As it happened, she was standing on the Staff of Ludens, which lay horizontal, clutching the eaves of the tower with a tentacle.
With a hup she climbed onto the roof, then raised her hand to let the staff, which had danced up into the sky above her, fall into her open palm.
“A most interesting discussion! I have a great love of debates surrounding law and ethics. Young Sayb, that Exinov massacred the residents of the free district─and it shames thee to feel pleasure at rendering him helpless?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“Thou hast no reason to apologize. ’Tis just as young Kudo said. Victory is a sweet sensation. And ’tis also as Hort said: even retribution can be a pleasure. Dost know why?”
“Why…?” Saybil thought about it. Why did it feel so good? Los is right, the pleasure I felt was actually─
“Ooh, ooh, I know!” Hort called out, raising her hand. “Um, it’s because when you let someone know they’ll be in big trouble if they mess with you, then you can rest easy and enjoy life. And, like, confirming that you’re stronger than them puts your mind at ease!”
“Full marks, young Hort! Thou hast truly plumbed the pleasures of giving thine enemies what for!”
Hort puffed out her chest and snorted triumphantly at being declared so resoundingly correct. After she had puffed out her chest she began to have second thoughts about whether she was really being praised, however, and she got a little peevish.
“Hark now, young Sayb,” Los continued, unperturbed. “On many a battlefield, the victors run roughshod over the vanquished in every way they can imagine. While I am sure there is some material desire at play, they are at base intoxicated with the pleasure of lording it over their foes. Humans instinctually derive a powerful pleasure from assuring themselves that the enemy are worthless, inferior beings whom they may brutalize in any wise they choose without fear of reprisal.”
“Do…you have those same instincts, Professor?”
“Unquestionably. Dost not recall? When the Witch’s Village was attacked by the anti-witch faction of the Church, I eviscerated the dignity of a certain wicked bishop for all to see. And I very much enjoyed doing so─it did make mine heart leap. I feel no shame in the pleasure of victory.”
“So…that’s…the deal?”
“The problem lies in getting a taste for victory, and wallowing in one’s dominance. Indeed, one can rule without even gaining victory. ’Tis easily accomplished─merely seek out those weaker than thyself.”
“That much…is clear…”
All three of the young mages knew from experience.
Saybil had been on the receiving end of all manner of violence when he was still just a child. The adults in his life hadn’t fought and won the right to control him─it was just that he was weaker than them, and they had beaten him into submission. Hort had always been called a devil child thanks to the horns sprouting from her head, and had been forced to fall in line…while it would’ve taken all night to enumerate the violent acts Kudo had been subjected to as a beastfallen.
“This war is an invasion of the New World by the Forbidden Land. Yet we have not once actively initiated battle. We have merely created free districts, gathered residents, and repelled the New World’s attacks.”
“We did destroy that harvesting facility, though,” Saybil countered.
“’Twas a rescue operation─a great many people would have been killed had we not intervened.”
“That’s right! Though, I mean, I really don’t get what’s bringing you down in the first place, Sayb!”
It almost seemed as if Hort was taking Saybil to task for a weakness of spirit. Having waged a long campaign against the criminal element, she probably thought it was childish of him to be so dejected over this.
“I’m sorry, Hort, you’re right. When I get bummed out over something like this, it almost comes off like I’m blaming you for the things you’ve done, doesn’t it?”
“That’s not what I’m saying… I just want you to have more confidence in yourself! I mean, come on! You could’ve done anything to that guy! But you didn’t, did you?! I read that report, too, and all you did was teach some idiot a much-needed lesson! Is that what justice means to you, Sayb? Giving monsters who think they’ve got the right to go around killing people a humble lecture on ethics?!”
“Well… No, but…” Saybil looked over at Los, searching for some kind of answer to the uncertainty clouding his heart.
“Hmmm.” Los leaned against the Staff of Ludens and folded her arms. “Being the hermit thou art, young Sayb, this was thy first experience of active retaliation. ’Tis only to be expected that it should have befuddled thee somewhat. Guilt is an unavoidable accompaniment to one’s first taste of pleasure. That is why we must follow countless steps to gain that pleasure. And in this case, thou didst take all the necessary steps, Sayb.”
“The necessary steps…”
“We warned the Exinov not to attack the free districts. And though we took from them the Nurabehn, whom they view as livestock, we did offer to circulate mana potions in exchange. ’Twas not high-handed exploitation─they themselves recognized that, cost aside, our potions would provide a steady supply of large quantities of mana. Yet in spite of all this, the Exinov still launched their attack─because they did not wish to let go the joy of domination. They killed the people of the free district by way of example, for their own pleasure, and you brought them low in accordance with a decision made in council.”
“That’s…true…”
“Consequently, ’tis only meet that thou lovest thy victory. Rejoice in my pardon.”
“Mine too!” Hort chimed in.
“Ain’t even a question of being pardoned or not. You won without spillin’ a single drop of blood. If we’re gonna start givin’ people a hard time for applying a little pressure in negotiations, nothin’s ever gonna get done.”
Saybil pursed his lips at this barrage of pardons.
“Wh-What’s with that face… Are you angry, Sayb?!”
“No, it’s just… I feel like I might cry.”
“How come?!”
“I was just thinking how great it is to have friends.”
“Gross…! The hell was that you some kinda prissy princess or somethin’…?!”
“Even your bad attitude sounds like love to me, Kudo. I want to give you a hug.”
“Hey, cut it out! Quit inchin’ over here!”
Kudo leapt backward with a shriek, and Hort started laughing uncontrollably.
It’s not like I agree with everything they said…but Hort and Kudo showing me that everyone has their own way of thinking, Los letting me know she’s okay with what I did, it all makes me happy.
Saybil was grateful, but there was more, too.
If one of these people got killed─I don’t think I’d hesitate for a moment to take revenge.
“Anyway, with what you did a whole bunch more Exinov have come over to the free district side. And when we sell them the mana potions they get this look on their face like, ‘Why didn’t we do this sooner?’ So I figure this war is almost over. Don’t you think so, Professor Los?” Hort asked, sounding as if it had only just occurred to her.
“Quite so.” Los nodded, then broke into a chuckle. “Or so I hope. The presence of young Utsuwa in the free district does appear to have gone some way in bending the remaining Exinov to our cause. Danna Ryl’s faction is already in the minority. To be frank, I would not be at all surprised if they came to us suing for peace…”
“We have made it clear we want to talk, right?” Saybil gave up trying to corner Kudo and looked over at Los.
“We sent a letter, but have received naught in the way of reply. Perhaps the shame of Utsuwa’s departure has made them obstinate.”
“If that’s the case, then what? How’s this war going to end?”
“Hmm… Perhaps it will simply…taper off, I suppose.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means an end to hostilities that is not so clear-cut. Free districts will proliferate across the land, and, though it vex them sorely, the Exinov will be left with no means of aggression. Thus, the conflict will effectively cease. Those who agree with the Exinov will rally to their side, those who wish for liberation will come to the districts, and once that process has run its course, the two groups will have more or less segregated themselves.”
“But then the Exinov won’t be able to buy mana potions, so…”
“Oh, I expect someone will smuggle them a few bottles. ’Tis ultimately for the free districts to do as they will with the potions we sell them. Even without some organization at their back, individual buyers might well decide to sell them on to the Exinov at thrice or even ten times the price.”