“Don’t worry whether you can do it—just do it. It’s your responsibility as one of the haves,” said Ares. His face was stern, but his eyes were free from hostility. “Those with power have a responsibility to serve as a shield for those without. I don’t know if they say that where you’re from, but it’s our creed, and I genuinely believe in it.”
“‘Those with power have a responsibility to serve as a shield for those without…,’” Elyliyah echoed.
“As much as it irks me, I have to admit that you’re stronger than I am. Instead of using that strength to hurt people or for your own benefit, you should use it to protect people.”
Ares maintained his unwavering integrity even when dealing with someone who had wronged him. His words almost came across as a jab at Homura and the others, who simply used their powers however they saw fit. Even if they did wind up helping people in the end.
“If you really believe what you’ve done is wrong, you need to remember that and try to make up for it. It’s the only way. And if anyone complains that it isn’t just, I will be there to protect you.”
“All right, all right, I get it. I’ll do it. Just you watch—I won’t allow anyone to be hurt. Not while I, Elyliyah, am protecting them.”
“There you go. That’s the spirit.”
With a good word from a gold badge like Torreque, Galdorssia was unlikely to be too hard on her, either.
“Don’t forget—we’re going to be stationed here for a little while longer, so I’m going to hold you to your word,” said Ares. “As long as I’m here, don’t expect me to go easy on you.”
“Honestly, I don’t like you, but if Ares insists, I suppose I could be persuaded to help you learn,” Rhiann added.
Like Ares, Rhiann took a strict but kind approach to Elyliyah. Not that Elyliyah’s personality was likely to change overnight.
“Whatever. You’re still weak, though…” Elyliyah snickered under her breath.
“I heard that!”
Rhiann thumped Elyliyah on her head. In response, the bloodlicker cat suddenly leaped from Elyliyah’s shadow, apparently convinced its master was under attack.
“Hissss—!”
The cat made a sound that was both creepy and threatening.
“Mii, down!” said Elyliyah, scolding the creature gently. The cat began licking its master and purring steadily.
“Huh. And here I thought you were keeping that thing in line through force…,” muttered Rhiann, inadvertently letting her thoughts slip out.
“Force? What are you talking about? Papa got me Mii as a present. I’ve been taking care of her since she was little. We couldn’t be closer.”
“Yes, the thing was just so cute, I couldn’t resist getting it for my Ely as a pet.”
“So she’s just a normal pet?! Who buys a monster as a present for a child?! Rich people make no sense!” cried Psycho.
But it went to show that deep down, Elyliyah was a gentle person. Turning away, Torreque began speaking to the five girls.
“Don’t worry about what comes next. I’ll make sure it all works out somehow. Aurerich’s recovery, Elyliyah’s relationship with the town, and her relationship with her father, too. Looking back, I can’t help but feel that Ely’s father and I were just burying our heads in the sand. We didn’t step in when we should have, maybe because we were scared of getting hurt,” said Torreque, grimacing. The adults had made a big mess of things.
“There was also one other reason…why I couldn’t take action,” said Torreque, dropping his voice low so that only Homura and the others could hear. “Those imprisoned demons were sent in secret by the Schelles Sea Alliance as an outlet for Elyliyah’s aggression, supposedly. But now that everything’s out in the open, we know there was someone on the other side collaborating with the Dark Lord’s forces. Either that, or someone who is actually in the Dark Lord’s army was behind this. There were countless ways that Elyliyah’s issues could have been handled, including even disposing of her. The fact that this method was the one that was chosen makes me think that someone wanted to cause that attack on the merchant ship and sow chaos. This is all my own conjecture, though, of course.”
“No, conjecture or not, the possibility seems high,” replied Homura. “We’ll report this to Lady Falmeyr. Of course, we’ll leave out some of the details in order to avoid confusion.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
As the conversation seemed to be wrapping up, Proto raised her voice in annoyance. “Hey, can we go already? I don’t like people ogling me like this; it’s creepy.”
Just as Proto said, people were staring at her and Tsutsumi from a distance. No one was going to start anything with Torreque there, but if it wasn’t for him, who knew what might happen? After all, this town had just been decimated by monsters moments before.
“Of course, let’s go,” said Homura.
“What, are you leaving already?” said Ares, calling out to them when he saw them preparing to leave. “You five never cease to amaze me. For better or for worse. I could have never managed to resolve things the way you did.” Ares’s lips twisted up slightly in a smile. “You know, this world might need people like you after all.”
“Obviously!”
“Not you,” said Ares dryly, not even bothering to look Psycho in her smug face. As usual, a scuffle ensued.
“Homura, let’s meet again.”
“Okay, Rhiann!”
“I hope you’ll still think of me as one of the ‘people who matter most’ the next time we see each other!”
“Ah…! You were awake for that?!”
Come to think of it, Homura did say something like that back when Rhiann was about to be killed.
“Only barely. Next time, I want to be fully awake to hear it! And remember, you don’t have to be so polite!”
“I’ll try my best…”
Homura had never noticed before how overly polite she could be. After struggling for so much of her life to be a “good girl,” the habit had just ingrained itself in her. But she was going to try harder to loosen up with people.
Without any further chitchat, Homura and the others left the plaza behind.
Torreque told them they could use any of the wagons they liked, so they borrowed one randomly from the stables. Proto was pulling it.
“Well, our job’s done here. Should we head back to Galdorssia?” Homura asked.
“Wait,” said Jin, who had her own request. “There’s a place I’d like to visit along the way.”
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”
Homura had been worried this was going to happen. It was why she had been trying to rush them along before anyone could bring it up.
“Yes, School Village. I was hoping someone there could take a look at my broken katana. I know creating an identical sword will be impossible, but perhaps they could at least make something similar.”
School Village was a weird place where the weirdest bits of Japanese culture all seemed to have accumulated.
“I knew it! But why? You wound up using that malefic sword in the end, didn’t you? Why not just stick with that?”
“It’s too difficult to handle.”
“Well, I guess it is a cursed sword that feeds on blood, after all…” Homura sighed. It couldn’t be helped, then.
“It’s not just the katana. I was hoping we might find something else there as well.”
Although always stone-faced, Jin’s expression suddenly grew even more serious than before. Whatever she was hoping to find, it must have been something very important.
“‘Something else’…?”
Yes, something else.
“Rice.”
“Let’s go!”
“Finally, some rice!”
“Can I have mine…as onigiri…?”
Suddenly, they were all on board. Their Japanese blood cried out for rice!
“Ugh, humans… I’ll never understand you,” said Proto, unable to join in their excitement. She stared dully at them from outside the wagon. “But that’s what makes us us, isn’t it? The way it just feels right to be together, even with all our differences.”
“Sorry? Did you say something, Proto?!” snapped Psycho.
“I said it must be tough for inferior life-forms like you, making such a fuss over every little source of energy!”
“Hey!”
The forest was quiet, lit by the moon overhead, as the wagon full of noisy girls trundled along.