“It’s all right for you lot, who’ve got work comin’ outta your ears! Why don’t you go after the real villains instead of pickin’ on little guys like me?!”
Lyu cast an embarrassed eye downward at the man’s words.
We haven’t done anything wrong…but he has a point. As long as there’s a lack of public order, upstanding citizens will keep falling through the cracks.
It was neither right nor wrong. It was simply the reality of the situation. There was much Lyu could say, but none of it would console the man, so she simply ground her teeth in frustration.
The petty thief, meanwhile, staggered to his feet. “That’s right,” he said, empowered by their failure to respond. “You made us like this! This is all your fault! I’m the victim here!”
At this, the girl who had been standing quietly beside Lyu took a step forward.
“That’s your excuse?” she demanded.
“Uh…”
“Bad things are still bad. If stealing is okay as long as someone else stole from you first, what’s stopping your victim from turning around and robbing you, hmm?”
It was Ardee. There was no blame in her voice. It was as if she was simply explaining the way things were.
“Your crime just now would have put somebody in the exact same situation if we hadn’t stopped it.”
“W-well…”
Though the man was not being pressed to explain himself, he flustered with his words anyway. Ardee gave him a gentle smile.
“So I want you to promise me something.”
“What?!”
“Promise you’ll never resort to crime again. Promise me that, and we can forget all this nastiness ever happened.”
The man looked dumbfounded, but it was Lyu who cried out in surprise first.
“What?!” she shrieked. “Ardee, you can’t do that!”
“Why not?” the girl replied.
“Because he committed a crime, and he needs to be punished! If you let him off the hook, what’s to stop others like him? How would we ever uphold public order if everyone was as lenient as you?!”
But Ardee wouldn’t change her tune so easily. “Hmm, I think I have the right to take extenuating circumstances into account,” she insisted. “This man isn’t lying, and I know stealing is wrong, but…” She smiled. “…We got the money back, so no harm, no foul, right? And nobody got hurt except our friend here.”
“Still, a crime’s a crime!” Lyu bellowed. “Ardee, you call yourself a member of Ganesha Familia?!”
That furious accusation wiped the smile off Ardee’s face. She closed her eyes in contemplation.
“The carrot…and the stick. Isn’t that what they say?”
“Hmm? What’s that got to do with anything?”
“I’m just trying to be the carrot to your stick. After all, too much of the stick wears everyone out.”
“…!”
Ardee opened her aqua-colored eyes and stared straight at Lyu. The city watch girl had struck upon something Lyu had not expected to hear.
“Y-you mean…”
It was something Lyu had never even taken the time to consider. Her brutal crackdown on crime was only making the problem worse.
Perhaps she could have blamed the age of darkness they lived in. Because of it, she didn’t have the luxury of turning a blind eye even if she wanted to. But the fact was, she didn’t want to. She’d been content to impose her own ideas of justice upon the entire population.
This revelation had shaken Lyu. She couldn’t find the words to respond. Suddenly Alize, who had been intently listening to the debate, stepped in.
“You know, I think I agree with little Miss Ardee here!”
“Alize?! Not you as well?!”
Alize walked right over to the confused gentleman and pointed a finger at him.
“But you won’t get a third chance, understood? You can bet your life as a free man on that!”
“Y-you’re really letting me go?”
“Yep,” said Ardee. “Although I’m probably going to get in trouble for it later…Oh, and take this.”
Saying this, Adree offered something she had been holding in her hand the entire time. It was a baked yam, steaming and wrapped in paper.
“I can’t give you money, but I can let you have my Jyaga Maru Kun,” she explained. “Don’t worry, I haven’t taken a bite yet.”
With that, the girl flashed her usual, sunny smile.
“Eat it while it’s still warm!” she said.
The man was flabbergasted. He stood stock-still, grinding his teeth in frustration. And then…
“…You think you’re so bloody good…Well, screw you!”
Then he grabbed the food out of Ardee’s hand, turned, and fled, unwilling—or perhaps ashamed—to spend a second longer in her presence. The trio watched him go in silence.
“I think what he meant to say was ‘Don’t get the wrong idea! I’m not grateful to you or anything!’” said Alize. “I mean, he wasn’t shy about taking the Jyaga Maru Kun, right? Let’s see if he changes his tune once he gets some decent food inside him!”
“I don’t see why he would,” said a dejected Lyu, her emotion showing on her face. “And I don’t think there’s much chance he talks like that, either. Is this really going to help make things better?”
“…Leon,” said Ardee, turning around. “I think you’re in a very privileged position to be able to speak like that.”
“…Huh?”
“He was right. The only reason we can afford to be worried about justice is because we’re the ones with all the power.”
“…!”
Lyu was petrified with shock.
“I’ve been thinking, Leon,” Ardee went on. “Do you think forgiveness can be a part of justice?”
Framed against the sunset, the girl wore an unsure smile. The other two, and even the little girl’s mother, gazed at her in wonder. Leah also tipped her head in curiosity as she considered Ardee’s words.
“I…I…”
Lyu struggled to piece together a coherent response. Her lips flapped open and shut wordlessly. It was at that moment that a hollow series of claps rang through the street.
“Bravo! Oh, I say, bravo!”
“It’s you…!”
“The god who was robbed…?”
Lyu and Alize both turned to look at the newcomer. It was the very man the purse snatcher had accosted mere minutes ago.
“What an excellent display from the champions of this city’s justice!” he said.
“Sorry to have caused all this fuss. He came at me from behind; I never saw it coming!”
The light of the sun drew long shadows across the cobblestones. The owner of the voice, it had to be said, did not strike the trio as a particularly powerful god. He had a blithe grin on his face and his dark hair was long for a man, and noticeably unkempt, with stray hairs poking up this way and that. There was even a gray streak. Overall, he had a somewhat sloppy look about him.
“Are you hurt, sir?” asked Ardee.
“Not a scratch, cutie,” the man replied. “Thanks for getting my wallet back.”
It wasn’t really what you would call a wallet. It was more like a small cloth drawstring bag. In any case, Ardee handed it back to the man, after which he introduced himself.
“My name is Eren,” he said. “And what are your names? I overheard this young lady was from Ganesha Familia, but what about the rest of you?”
“I’m Alize Lovell!” Alize declared. “Captain of Astrea Familia!”
“…And you may call me Leon. I’m also part of Astrea Familia.”
As was evident from the way she always wore a mask when out and about, Lyu did not want people finding out about her heritage. There were many reasons for this, but for the most part, it was simply an elvish custom. Even though Lyu despised her own race, by and large, she still followed tradition in the act of keeping her real name hidden from all but her closest confidantes.
The Guild also knew her name, of course, as Lyu had submitted it when becoming an adventurer. But with times being what they were, the Guild took the security of identifying information very seriously, as it was impossible to know when an innocent slipup could inadvertently aid the forces of evil.
The point was, whenever Lyu had to introduce herself, she did so using her family name only. Alize and the others also upheld this custom when they were out in public, so it was quite unlikely that anybody else knew her first name at all.
“Astrea Familia,” the man called Eren mused. “The followers of the goddess of justice…”
He had paused after Alize and Lyu had introduced themselves and began to ponder something under his breath. He appraised the two girls for a moment, then a smile appeared on his lips.
“…I see, I see! Real, live emissaries of justice, then! It’s a good thing we met, I tell you!”
“…Hmm? What are you talking about?”
Lyu furrowed her brow, while Eren raised his arms playfully.
“I’m saying, it’s a good thing you two saved me. I know I already said this, but bravo, really. Bravo.”
Ignoring the look of mild concern on the girls’ faces, the god went on.
“As for what I’m impressed by, it was that discussion on justice the two of you had. The morality of gray, beyond good and evil…I couldn’t stop listening! Especially to you, elf girl.”
“Me…?”
“Yes, you. Noble and uncompromising, yet unable to come to a clean solution. Like a baby bird, struggling to make sense of the world. Your heart is the purest here by far.”
Eren was a strange god. Unlike others, he almost seemed to revel in uncertainty. However, his divine charisma was the real deal, and it was impossible to stop listening to him. He continued his speech as the streets turned redder and redder with evening’s light.