2 - The World Is Terribly Cruel
Yamada looks pretty pale, but he’s still walking toward me on his own two feet.
Of course he had to show up at the worst possible timing for me, but great timing for him—leave it to Divine Protection, I guess.
Ah, now things are gonna get even more complicated.
“Good to see you again… Wakaba?”
Yamada looks at me as he speaks.
Why’d you make it sound like a question?
He came out glaring at me at first, but now he just looks kinda confused.
Is there something on my face?
Well, besides all the extra pupils in my eyes.
“Well, whatever.” Yamada shakes his head lightly and continues. “I’d like to be a part of this conversation anyway. I have the right to know that much, don’t I?”
It seems like something bothered him about me, although I’m not sure what.
Well, now that he’s here, there’s not much I can do about it.
I guess hypothetically I could chase him out, but that would probably only complicate things in a different way.
Basically, the second Yamada showed up, things were gonna get messy one way or another.
“Sure. If you must.”
I give a halfhearted confirmation, making it clear that I’d prefer he didn’t.
“Thank you.”
But Yamada ignores that, or maybe even takes it as a challenge.
Ooshima hurries in and grabs a chair for Yamada.
Yamada thanks Ooshima as he sits down, and Ooshima gets another chair and sits down by his side.
What’s going on?
Why did a certain number of girls in the room all gasp when they saw that?
Once Yamada is seated, he looks around at everyone else.
His eyes stop in a few places before turning back to stare at me.
Hmm. Ughh.
Fine, then.
“Tenth Army, to me.”
At my command, several white-clad figures suddenly appear.
Most of the reincarnations jump in surprise.
These are soldiers from my battalion, the Tenth Demon Army.
I’d assigned the stealthiest ones among them to hide and keep watch on the reincarnations.
Yamada somehow saw through them and looked at each spot where they were hiding.
Hey, on closer inspection, Phelmina’s here, too.
You’re technically my vice-commander. Why are you doing grunt work like this?
She seems to notice my bemusement, and a vein pops on her forehead.
Okay, I didn’t actually see that happen, but I can tell what she’s thinking.
Because you passed out on us! or something like that, I bet.
Yeah, fair enough. My bad.
“We’re disbanding for now. Get some rest until your next orders.”
On my command, the white-clad soldiers disappear without a sound.
I hear someone whisper something like “ninjas!”
Yeah, honestly, I feel like my Tenth Army soldiers are way better ninjas than Kusama.
Ah, looks like Phelmina went up to the third floor when the rest of them left.
I guess Hasebe is still sleeping off her confusion up there.
Someone’s gotta keep an eye on her.
It seems wrong on multiple levels for a ranking officer like Phelmina to do it, but I’m not gonna say anything.
“Who were those people?”
Yamada looks at me sharply.
“Soldiers of the Demon Army Tenth Battalion. I had them watching and guarding you reincarnations.”
At that, the reincarnations break into more murmuring.
I can’t blame them for being freaked out that those people were so close without their even noticing.
I think it was only Shinohara, Tagawa, and Kushitani who caught on.
And probably Ms. Oka too… Or so I thought, but her eyes are so wide that she clearly didn’t realize it, either.
“Elites from the demon army, then?”
Nah, they’re just normal foot soldiers.
Oh, but I guess they’re a lot stronger than soldiers from the other battalions, thanks to my intense training, so I guess you could call them elites, maybe?
Well, that’s just a minor quibble.
They’re standard soldiers, basically.
Yamada doesn’t look so hot.
Maybe he’s realizing how much stronger my soldiers were than he was, after seeing how they move.
As the Hero, Yamada’s strength is a far cry from that of any normal human.
But strong as he might be, that’s still within the range of human limits.
He’s nowhere near me or the Demon Lord in her prime, or even the likes of Vampy and Mr. Oni.
In fact, even those white-clad soldiers might’ve been able to beat him with a little luck.
Probably not one-on-one, but I could see it working with at least two of them against him.
No, seriously.
Then again, since he’s got the deus ex machina skill Divine Protection, he might be able to win a fight that would otherwise be beyond him.
“So, you were saying? You used Hugo, or rather Natsume, as a decoy to attack this place. Why?”
Yamada comes out swinging with the questions.
Umm, wow, okay.
You’re really gonna go there, huh…?
I glance over at Ms. Oka.
Yeah, I know.
I can’t avoid talking about this sooner or later.
But once I say it, it’s gonna put Ms. Oka in an awkward position for sure.
I see. I guess I should get it over with.
“The leader of the elves, Potimas Harrifenas, is a threat to this entire world. He brings nothing but harm to the world. The demon army and the Word of God religion teamed up to stop him, which brought about this battle.”
At that, Ms. Oka’s mouth drops open.
It’s clear from her expression that she has no idea what I’m talking about.
Yamada, on the other hand, accepts my words with surprising calmness.
Next to him, Ooshima wears a complicated expression of half surprise, half understanding, so this stuff about Potimas is probably new information.
“First of all, elves have been a threat to this world for a very, very long time. Officially, they tried to stop humans and demons from fighting and worked in the name of true world peace, but that was all just a masquerade to hide their true nature. Behind the scenes, they were bleeding the planet dry, severely shortening its life span. Potimas Harrifenas was the chief offender; though he was warned repeatedly by multiple parties in the know to stop his evil deeds, he refused to listen. The fact of the matter is that the planet is on the brink of destruction, so extreme measures had to be taken to stop him.”
The reincarnations mutter among themselves at this sudden large-scale explanation.
“Wait a minute!” Kudo half rises from her chair. “If that’s true, what’s going to happen to this planet?”
Well, seeing is believing.
I weave a spell to project an image of this planet.
A globe appears above everyone’s head, showing the planet’s current state.
At a glance, it’s clear that half the planet has fallen apart.
“This is the current state of this planet.”
Stunned silence.
That was the reaction of everyone present.
This image must be a huge shock to everyone except Vampy and Mr. Oni, who already knew.
I hear murmurs like “It can’t be…” and “No way…”
Yamada is no exception, staring up at the image with his eyes wide.
“This has to be fake, right?”
Even the levelheaded Kudo can’t keep her lips from trembling as she gazes at it.
“It’s not fake. Would you like to go see it for yourselves?”
No one takes me up on that offer.
Nobody would want to go somewhere so completely destroyed.
I mean, I could just put up a barrier to protect us, but it’s not like they know that.
They’re all speechless.
We gathered them here to explain what kind of situation they’ve gotten caught up in.
Now that they know it’s not just some empire situation, but a matter of the planet’s survival, it seems like their brains have all stopped working.
The reincarnations gaze at the image of the ruined planet.
The first one to recover is Kudo.
“So if this image is real, how many years does this planet have left?”
That brings the rest of the class back to their senses.
Yeah, I guess in a situation like this, you wouldn’t be surprised to hear that the planet will fall apart completely in a matter of days. It certainly does look grim.
“Don’t worry. At the very least, it won’t be destroyed in your lifetimes.”
If my calculations are correct, the planet won’t actually collapse if things go on like this.
At the very least, it should last long enough for the reincarnations to live out their life spans.
Except maybe someone like Ms. Oka, who has the long life span of an elf.
We did get rid of Potimas, the biggest cause of wasteful energy use, so it should be able to slowly recover from now on.
Yes, with enough time, it will recover on its own.
Thing is, that’s gonna require certain sacrifices.
Namely, the goddess Sariel, who currently serves as the system’s core.
Sariel has almost been used up completely by the system by now.
She’s not going to last much longer.
On top of that, I’d say the souls of the people living on this planet have deteriorated to a dangerous level, too.
The reason the demon race is struggling with a low birth rate is because they can’t be reborn anymore, due to the deterioration of souls.
Souls that are reincarnated over and over build up a lot of wear and tear.
If you keep making them reincarnate anyway, eventually those souls will be destroyed.
Then they’ll never be able to reincarnate again.
Black has been quarantining people whose souls are reaching their limits in a certain area, but that’s only treating the symptom, not the root cause.
What Black is doing there is keeping people from acquiring skills as much as possible, which is basically the same thing Potimas did to the reincarnations.
That way, they can live out their lives without adding any unnecessary skills to their souls, since acquiring and improving skills takes a toll on one’s soul.
That’s all well and good for a healthy soul, but a soul that’s deteriorating might not be able to handle much more.
Still, even if you prevent them from acquiring new skills, the souls won’t be able to heal.
It’s basically like slowing the progress of a disease.
The only way for souls to recover from deterioration is to convalesce without reincarnating for a while.
And if more souls are resting, then the birth rate goes down.
Which means the population of the world gradually declines.
Since humans have a higher total population than demons, the effects aren’t obvious yet.
But eventually, it’s going to become a problem.
As the population decreases, the recovery of the planet shows, and over time, souls will start deteriorating further.
Will the planet recover first, or will the souls finally hit their limits?
It’s like a game of chicken on a planetary scale.
Still, that’s got nothing to do with the reincarnations.
Once their lives end here, their souls will return to the regular cycle of rebirth, not the one in this world.
So they don’t need to worry about that future.
“In our lifetimes… You mean our children’s generation will be in danger?”
Kudo’s words catch me by surprise a little.
Children?
My eyes automatically shift toward Kudo’s belly, but she notices and hastily explains herself.
“I’m not pregnant or anything, of course. I meant in the future.”
Ahhh.
Gotcha, gotcha.
Future children, huh…?
I hadn’t even thought about that.
You might call it a blind spot, or just a difference in perspective.
For one thing, from my point of view, having children in this world would be an absolutely insane thing to do.
Not that I ever thought about having kids in the first place.
My spider babies?
Yeah, no, those doesn’t count.
In this world, having a baby means giving birth to someone’s reincarnated life.
A stranger being born out of your own stomach.
I mean, I guess that’s true on Earth, too, in a way, but in this world you could even end up with the reborn version of somebody you knew.
Worst-case scenario, it could even be somebody you killed, or something like that.
If they knew the truth, most people wouldn’t even think about having kids, right?
In fact, that’s probably why the Word of God pontiff led humanity to forget about that fact.
These people are being kept alive and forcefully reborn as an atonement, mere machines to save up energy.
What would people do if they found out?
Suicide? Yeah, maybe.
But then they’d just be reborn again.
So what can anyone do to get out of this purgatory?
You just have to sacrifice your entire existence.
I would never do that, of course, but I can see why some humans might want to cease to exist in the face of this ugly truth.
Besides, a single human sacrificed only adds up to a small amount of energy recovered.
That might be useful for a short while, but in the long run, you can get way more energy from someone who keeps being reborn over and over.
It’s not just that people forgot the truth—they had no other choice.
But what would be the point of saying it right now?
If they don’t know any better, they might still be able to form happy families.
“Well, I can say that this planet won’t fall apart anytime soon. We took out Potimas to prevent its destruction, in fact. Without him, the decline of the world will stop, and over time it should gradually recover.”
None of that is a lie.
It just so happens that I plan to mess with a bunch of other stuff before that happens, is all.
I’m not gonna touch on the whole having children thing, either.
Talking about that would only make them unhappy.
There are plenty of things in this world that you’re better off not knowing.
Although since the birth rate is declining, I dunno if they’d even end up having kids anyway.
Besides, do you have someone to have kids with or what?
“Potimas is the person who was keeping us confined here, right?”
Kudo puts a hand on her forehead as she speaks.
She’s looking not at me but at Ms. Oka.
Unable to deny the word “confined,” she sits in stunned silence like her mind has gone blank.
Maybe all this new information has overloaded her thoughts.
But Ms. Oka is a strong person. I’m sure she’ll be fine.
I change the image from the state of this planet to a recording of the battle that just took place.
It shows the countless sea urchins and pyramid floating above the forest.
Not to mention the machine soldiers stomping around down below.
These sci-fi weapons look out of place in this fantasy world.
“Potimas wanted energy to run these machines. That energy is actually the life force of this planet. This planet is in its current state because he drained so much energy out of it.”
They’ve never seen anything like this in their current lives, and probably only on a screen in their previous lives.
The reincarnations stare at the image raptly.
“Potimas was gathering reincarnations because he wanted their unique powers. He was evidently planning to use those for evil deeds.”
He was actually going to throw them all in a blender in the hopes of gaining eternal youth, but I don’t want to tell them such gory details.
I mean, normally the words “eternal youth” would be enough to make most people snort.
If I tell them that he did all this awful stuff just because he was really, truly hoping to live forever, I feel like they wouldn’t even believe me.
“So what are you saying? That he abducted and imprisoned us to use us?”
“Yes.”
I don’t deny a word of Kudo’s question.
It’s all true, anyway.
“Wh…then…why…did I…how…?”
Hmm?
What’s that now?
Turning toward the source of the unintelligible words, I see that Ms. Oka has fallen from her chair in a convulsive fit.
“Ms. Oka! Please, calm down!”
Yamada is the first to move.
He jumps from his chair and runs over to the fallen teacher, checking her for injuries.
Ms. Oka opens her tear-filled eyes, breathing unsteadily and still convulsing at times.
She keeps trying to catch her breath but looks pained… Is she hyperventilating?
Yamada gently lifts Ms. Oka into a sitting position and uses Healing Magic.
But Healing Magic in this world is really just a way of repairing a broken structure; it can’t heal an illness.
I’m not sure if hyperventilating counts as an illness or not, but I do know Healing Magic can’t fix it.
“Move.”
I push aside Yamada, who can only use Healing Magic, and call out to her, and peer into Ms. Oka’s eyes.
Then I use an Evil Eye.
I give it the opposite effect from the usual.
My Evil Eye normally instills fear in anything it sees, which means it directly affects the target’s heart and mind.
I’ve never done it before, but if it can give fear to a target, theoretically it should be able to restore calm to a target, too.
Peering into my Evil Eyes, Ms. Oka gives one big spasm.
But then her convulsing calms down.
Her breathing is still ragged, though, and she’s still shaking a little.
“Ms. Oka, it’s okay. It’s all right.”
I speak to her gently, trying not to agitate her mind any further.
“It’s all right,” I repeat over and over.
At the same time, I clasp her hand tightly.
Slowly, Ms. Oka’s breathing starts to settle down.
But even once her breathing stabilizes, tears continue to stream from her eyes.
And she still convulses occasionally like a hiccup, probably from all that sobbing.
Her face is a mess of tears and snot.
I wipe the goo away with my sleeve, but it keeps overflowing.
Ms. Oka keeps crying for a while.
Since her elf body grows more slowly, Ms. Oka looks younger than the other reincarnations.
Based on her appearance alone, it isn’t that strange to see her sobbing like this.
But it must be a shocking sight to the reincarnations.
Unlike the rest, she’s their former teacher and the only adult among them.
I’m sure seeing an adult like her break down in front of them without any shame or dignity was totally unexpected.
Even I hadn’t expected it.
“It’s all right. It’s all right.”
I put my hand on her small back and pat her softly.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” I tell her gently. “Putting your life on the line to fight for your students could never be wrong.”
At that, I notice Kudo looking away awkwardly.
My eyes are fixed on Ms. Oka, but I always use my X-ray vision to keep an eye on my surroundings, so I can see them whether I’m trying to or not.
Judging by that reaction, I can tell Kudo is still suspicious of Ms. Oka.
But the fact is, she doesn’t know how desperately Ms. Oka struggled to save her students.
Nor does she know that Ms. Oka was so serious about protecting them that she would collapse like this from shock when she found out that the reason the reincarnations were gathered here was for Potimas to use them.
As far as the latter goes, that was a miscalculation on my part, too.
I didn’t think Ms. Oka would fall apart like this.
I was so sure that a brave teacher like her would be fine, even if she found out the truth.
“Potimas was cunning and evil, it’s true. But you honestly worked hard for your students’ sakes, didn’t you, Ms. Oka? That definitely wasn’t a mistake. Besides, everyone’s here and alive now, thanks to you.”
I keep speaking softly to the still-sobbing Ms. Oka.
It’s true that Potimas was using Ms. Oka, but she still saved many reincarnations’ lives.
This world is much harsher than Earth, you know.
I’ve come close to death more times than I can count, as have Vampy and Mr. Oni.
And the truth is, we were just lucky.
We could’ve just as easily died.
That goes for the other reincarnations, too; aside from the ones who were born into privileged families like Yamada, most of them have probably lived close to death every day.
If Ms. Oka hadn’t taken them into protection, more than half the people here might be dead by now.
Plus, since all the reincarnations were gathered here in the elf village, I was able to defeat Potimas without any worries about them.
There’s no need for Ms. Oka to feel so fretful when everything worked out fine.
“It’s…not…everyone!” Ms. Oka chokes out between sobs. “I couldn’t…save…them! I…I failed…to protect…them!”
She wails in such despair that I feel like I’ve just seen the true meaning of the word.
Her words are broken and raspy, her voice far from loud.
But it still echoes like nothing else.
There are other reincarnations who aren’t here besides Hasebe and the others, who are just unconscious.
Issei Sakurazaki.
Naofumi Kogure.
Kouta Hayashi.
Three reincarnations we’ll never see again.
Evidently, Ms. Oka feels responsible for their deaths.
There’s nothing I can say to that.
But I don’t think that responsibility was ever hers in the first place.
Their lives were their own, as were their deaths.
I don’t see why Ms. Oka should carry the weight of that responsibility.
Maybe she thinks she might have been able to save them, but everyone has their limits.
It’s arrogant to think you can save everyone.
Unless you’re all-seeing and all-powerful, you can’t save every single person.
Even I can’t do that.
Ms. Oka kept crying like a child for a long time after that, muttering half-incoherently all the while.
Why…? I couldn’t save them… What was it all for…?
After a long time, Ms. Oka finally stops crying.
But her eyes look empty somehow, devoid of life.
“Miss Wakaba…” Kushitani, who’s been silently watching all this time, finally speaks to me. “Ms. Oka looks tired, so I’ll put her to bed for now. I don’t think she can handle any more than this anyway. You can carry on talking while I keep an eye on her.”
Honestly, I couldn’t ask for more than that.
I don’t think it would be wise to leave Ms. Oka alone right now.
I’d like to keep an eye on her myself, but it’s probably not ideal to abandon everyone else to tend to her, either.
Kudo and the others still seem to have reservations about Ms. Oka. I can’t leave them in charge of her with such mixed feelings.
Since Kushitani came to the elf village only recently, she should be able to watch Ms. Oka without getting emotional about it.
She’s also one of the few reincarnations who can handle herself in battle—I can’t think of a more perfect person to entrust with this.
Vampy is out of the question, and Mr. Oni might not be the best choice for nursing someone back to health.
“Could you?”
“Leave it to me.”
Kushitani lifts Ms. Oka up, bridal-style.
Then, after exchanging glances with Tagawa, she heads upstairs.
It should be all right to trust her with this. She’s got a good head on her shoulders.
Even if the worst happens and Ms. Oka tries to harm herself, I’m sure Kushitani can stop her.
Once the pair are gone, an awkward silence fills the room.
After seeing their teacher like that, the reincarnations must realize how desperately she was fighting to protect them.
Yet Kudo and the other reincarnations in her protection openly distrusted her.
Maybe they feel bad about that now.
After Kushitani carried Ms. Oka out, nobody tried to say a word.
They’re all just sinking in silence, unsure what to do next.
But there are a few different responses between them.
Some are looking around uncertainly.
In these cases, it seems like they really don’t know what to do and are waiting for something to happen.
Some are looking toward Kudo.
There are a few variations on this one: Some seem accusing, while others seem to be hoping that she’ll take charge of the next steps as the former class rep.
It’s easy to tell which is which, that’s for sure.
And the majority of them…are looking at me.
I mean, yeah.
I guess if it falls to anyone to keep the discussion going in this situation, it would be me.
As much as I’d love to shove that role off on someone else!
Umm…urgh…
For now, I go back to my seat and sit down.
I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been acting out of character or talking too much, but I’m totally exhausted.
We can just call it a day now, right?
No, huh?
…I was afraid you’d say that.
“You’re really kind, huh…?”
An unexpected person breaks the awkward silence.
Or maybe I shouldn’t be surprised?
“But then why did you…? No, forget it…”
Right after breaking the silence, Yamada goes quiet again, his expression an unreadable mix of emotions.
I can’t tell from his face what he was going to say.
In fact, it seems like even he hasn’t gotten his emotions sorted out.
But after being frozen in the same posture since I pushed him aside, he finally slumps back into his own seat, as if all the strength has gone out of him and left him to collapse.
Looking worried, Ooshima gently pats his shoulder.
Then Yamada pats that hand in return, as if to say there’s nothing to worry about.
Get a room, you two.
“Why don’t you have a seat, too, class rep?” Mr. Oni says to Kudo, who’s still standing.
After briefly making a face like a lost child, Kudo takes him up on his suggestion and sits down.
“Now, I’m sure you all have things you want to say,” Mr. Oni goes on gently. “Since we lived outside the elf village, we only know secondhand what it was like for you living here, and I won’t pretend to understand how you all feel. But I think it should be clear to all of you from what you just saw that Ms. Oka didn’t push you all in here for the fun of it. She did it out of good intentions, not evil. I hope you can keep in mind that she did everything out of desperation to protect you.”
Some of the reincarnations listen seriously, while others seem uncomfortable.
“…I wish she would have told us that, then.” Kudo hangs her head, murmuring quietly.
Kudo and Ms. Oka got along pretty well in their previous lives.
I’m sure that’s why she resented Ms. Oka so strongly in this one.
Maybe she felt like she’d been betrayed.
And since Ms. Oka never really explained herself, those ill feelings got even worse.
“She couldn’t say anything.”
So I’ll step in to explain on her behalf.
“What do you mean?”
“Ms. Oka’s unique skill is very unusual, and it comes with a penalty. That’s all I can tell you.”
Kudo and several of the others look shocked at that.
Ms. Oka’s skill is called Student Roster.
From what I’m told, it gives her information about her students.
However, she’s not allowed to share that information with the students themselves.
Because there’s a penalty if she does.
I don’t know what the penalty is, exactly, whether it’s big or small.
Maybe it can’t even be measured like that.
Since D is the one who made this skill, anything is possible.
Honestly, even my alluding to her skill like this might be walking on eggshells, for all I know.
I’d hate to explain Ms. Oka’s skill and activate some kind of penalty as a result.
So I only give them the bare minimum of information.
Luckily, Kudo seems to understand what I’m getting at, enough to help her let go of some of her animosity toward Ms. Oka.
…Although she looks even guiltier because of it.
But that’s to be expected.
From here on out, they’ll have to try and mend that relationship themselves over time.
I don’t think it’s my place to get involved in that.
“…I see. So that’s how it is… I’m sorry, though. I don’t think I can apologize to Ms. Oka right away. Even if I understand it in theory, I can’t bring myself to apologize for the wasted time we lost in this place.”
Kudo doesn’t raise her head as she speaks sadly.
She must have mixed feelings about all this, too.
Even knowing that Ms. Oka wasn’t in the wrong, she still spent a lot of time being confined here in the elf village.
I mean, she was taken in not long after she was born.
That’s around the same length as her previous life was, or maybe even longer, if you consider that she was cognizant at a much younger age.
“Yeah, I agree.”
“Here we are in a fantasy world, yet we were penned up all this time.”
“We were prisoners, even if it was for our protection.”
A few voices quietly agree with Kudo.
“But it wasn’t all bad, was it? We were given food and shelter.”
“I wouldn’t say it was the lap of luxury, but I guess I had no complaints.”
“Yeah, after seeing her like that, I can’t really stay mad at her.”
Other voices speak up on Ms. Oka’s behalf.
I’d say it’s about an even split.
But I think each side understands where the other is coming from, like they’re really talking things out.
Most of them had problems with their life here.
But they can’t fully blame Ms. Oka, either.
That’s the vibe I get.
If anything, I’d say the boys have more complaints.
Maybe because they grew up wanting to go on adventures and such?
They kept giving Tagawa jealous looks over his life on the outside as an adventurer, for one thing.
In fact, maybe he’s the reason they feel like they should’ve gotten the same chance.
Like, “If only I wasn’t stuck in here, I could’ve been one, too!”
I wonder if they actually would’ve managed that, though…?
“Just so you guys know, life on the outside isn’t so great, either…”
Oh, hey, Tagawa’s speaking up now.
“That’s not convincing coming from you, dude,” one of the boys counters.
Fair enough.
A successful adventurer like Tagawa saying that just sounds like bragging.
“Then lemme ask you this. Have you ever spent a whole day groaning in pain? Or if not, have you at least broken a bone or gotten a bad cut or anything like that?”
Most of the male reincarnations exchange glances.
“I did break a bone one time when I screwed up working in the field.”
“Okay, then imagine if that happened every single day.”
Tagawa looks at the boy casually.
“Huh?”
“When you’re an adventurer, injuries like that literally happen every day. You might get patched up with Healing Magic, only to get injured again right away. You gotta get used to having fresh wounds all the time or you’ll never hack it. And by the way, if I didn’t have Asaka, I probably would’ve given up ages ago.”
Is he being serious or just gushing about his girlfriend? It’s hard to tell.
“I took on the dangerous job of adventurer because of many brushes with death, and if Asaka wasn’t there, I really would be dead several times over by now. I’m telling you this for your own good—if you want to be an adventurer just ’cause it sounds fun, don’t do it.”
Tagawa looks around at the boys intently.
Hrmmm.
Really, though, are you serious or just smitten?
“So yeah, being an adventurer is extra dangerous, but it’s still scary out there, no matter who you are. I’ve seen all kinds of tragedies while working in the field as an adventurer. People who got killed by monsters or bandits. And it’s not just the ones who die. It’s the kids who get left behind, or the ones who get abandoned ’cause their folks can’t afford to feed ’em. Your family was poor, right, class rep? Wonder what would’ve happened to you if you weren’t in here.”
This cruel statement is directed at Kudo.
She looks away, unable to refute him.
After all, her parents really did sell her.
It just so happened to be to the elves, but it could’ve easily been to someone else.
In that case, she probably wouldn’t have been sold as a baby, but even if she got to grow up a little more first, it’s anyone’s guess as to where she might have been sold.
If her parents picked up on her intelligence as a reincarnation and were able to sell her into the care of a fancy merchant or something, that would probably be fine.
But she also could’ve gotten sold on the basis of her good looks into any number of sketchy situations, and that could’ve happened to any of the other reincarnations, too.
Mr. Oni claps his hands to quiet them now.
“Not that there’s much point arguing over who had it better or what might’ve been, if you ask me. We can’t change the past, you know. The irreversible fact is that we’re all alive here right now. And the deaths of the people who aren’t here are irreversible, too. Just remember that we’re lucky to be alive to talk about what fate would’ve been better for us and things like that.”
We’re lucky just to be alive.
The reincarnations all fall into silence at that.
Except for one.
“How can you say that after killing all those elves?”
Yamada’s statement reveals to everyone that Mr. Oni slaughtered a bunch of elves.
By now, I imagine it’s obvious to everyone that the demon army defeated the elves, meaning Kudo and the others have probably guessed what happened to them.
But knowing that and truly understanding it are two different things.
They might know in theory that the elves were killed, but it’s probably hard for that to sink in right now, never mind the idea that one of their own classmates played a part in it himself.
Sure enough, a chill settles over the room.
The only unfazed people are Kusama and Ogiwara, who were on our side, and Tagawa.
Even Kudo is speechless, and the others can’t seem to process what Yamada said at all, to the point where some are just staring blankly.
Even those who understood seem to doubt whether it’s true, peering at other people’s faces for their reactions.
I’m guessing death is a faraway concept to the reincarnations who lived here in the elf village.
So it probably doesn’t feel real to be told that people they knew are dead.
Especially if it was a former classmate who sent them to their deaths.
I guess it probably doesn’t help their grasp of the situation that people rarely die in Japan of anything but natural causes.
A world like this, where your friends and others are always dropping like flies, has far too different a concept of death for them to grasp.
On the other hand, people like Tagawa and Kusama, who lived outside the elf village, have a solid understanding of how death is viewed in this world. That’s why they’re not freaking out.
But if that’s the case, why is Yamada so angry about it, when he was raised on the outside, too?
I thought I’d explained enough for them to understand that the elves were better off dead.
“Shun, just so you know, the elves have done such terrible things that they deserved death. So it doesn’t matter if I’m the one who killed them.”
“Of course it matters!”
While Mr. Oni’s tone is one of gentle rebuke, Yamada’s reaction is fierce.
Even I’m a little taken aback by it.
“Shun, weren’t you listening?”
“Yes, I was. And I get that what the elves did probably was unforgivable.”
Oh?
So Yamada does realize the elves were bad.
He was fighting on their side, so I thought maybe he was too far gone to stop defending the elves, but I guess not.
“But that doesn’t mean it’s right to just kill them all and be done with it.”
A few of the reincarnations look like they agree with Yamada.
…Yeah, I guess that’s fair.
Considering that they were raised in the isolated environment of the elf village, it’s no wonder they’d still have the same sense of values from their old lives.
Back in Japan, criminals are punished in accordance with the law.
The death penalty is reserved for only incredibly heinous crimes.
There was even a movement to abolish the death penalty, too.
Lives are valued very differently in that world, compared to this one—even the lives of criminals.
“The elves should have lived to make up for their sins. They had a duty to do so. You can’t just kill them and let that be the end of it. Once they’re dead, it’s all over.”
Hmm. I understand his logic, but it’s…kinda naive, to be honest.
There are plenty of evildoers who don’t have the slightest desire to make up for their sins, y’know?
The idea that any villain will repent if you talk their ear off long enough only holds true in opportunistic fairy tales.
If you keep trying to reform someone who’s determined to stay evil, you’re just wasting everyone’s time.
In which case, you might as well just kill ’em all and save yourself the trouble, right?
At least, that’s my opinion.
“You’re right.” Mr. Oni nods. “Once they’re dead, it’s all over. Killing people is bad. That much is obvious. It’s an unforgivable sin.”
“Then why—?” Yamada starts to say, but Mr. Oni cuts him off.
“In that case, it’s only fair that we couldn’t forgive the elves for taking so many lives both directly and indirectly, right?”
His voice is intense enough to silence Yamada.
“Look, Shun. If someone kills a person you care about, you’re not gonna be able to forgive them, even if you want to. No matter how hard they try to make up for their sin, the hatred in your heart just won’t go away. It might fade, but it’ll never be gone completely.”
Those words carry the weight of firsthand experience.
It’s heavy enough that anyone listening can tell that someone Mr. Oni cared about was killed in the past.
“What you’re saying is very noble. But the elves were in no position to earn penance, no matter what. They had to die. So we performed their last rites. Do you understand now?”
Mr. Oni’s heavy words are enough to silence any objection from Yamada…
Or so I thought.
“No, I don’t think I do.”
There’s a powerful gleam in Yamada’s eyes.
It’s clear at a glance that he’s not going to back down.
“Even if that’s a good enough explanation for the elves, what about the imperial army? Your side used Hugo and his army as a decoy to attack us, right? How do you justify using the imperial army soldiers as decoys and letting them die?”
…Oof, that’s hitting me where it hurts.
It’s true, from Yamada’s perspective, that the imperial soldiers are just victims who got roped into this whole mess.
I can see why that’d be hard to accept.
The other reincarnations are muttering among themselves, too.
Or at least they look uncomfortable, though no one’s actually talking.
“Excuse me. Is that true?”
Kudo breaks the silence.
Mr. Oni and Yamada just keep staring each other down.
Glancing at them, Kudo turns toward me instead.
Wait, why meeee?!
“If it is true, then does that mean you used Natsume, and then killed the imperial army soldiers?”
I mean, yeah, more or less…
“I won’t deny that.”
“I’ll take that as confirmation, then.”
Kudo’s expression hardens as she responds.
Well, she’s not exactly wrong…
If anything, I think what we actually did is even more vicious than what she’s imagining, but I’ll just keep that to myself.
I’m sure both parties will be happier that way. Totally.
“I won’t deny that we used them. But this is war. There were bound to be casualties, right?”
Mr. Oni is going on the offensive.
“But…!”
“If the imperial army hadn’t died, the demon army would’ve died instead. And the imperial army are enemies of the demon army. We used our enemy, that’s all. Was there anything strategically wrong with what we did?”
He’s right: We pitted our enemy against another enemy and let them wear each other down, reaping the profits.
Strategically speaking, it’s a smart and effective move.
“That’s not what we’re talking about!”
But yeah, I don’t think that’s what Yamada was getting at.
“Shun. You’ve seen enough of this world to know how it works, right? It’s not like Japan. Lives aren’t valued nearly as much. What’s the point in trying to preserve the same sense of values in a different world?”
Mr. Oni tries to convince the stubborn Yamada, but it has the opposite effect.
“What’s the point? How can you say that? Sure, lives here don’t carry the same weight. That’s why even my brother Julius… No, that’s not the point right now. But still! That doesn’t mean you can just go around carelessly taking lives away, does it?!”
By the end, he’s shouting.
There’s so much strength in his voice that I take back my comment about him being naive.
I thought he was just dragging his values from Japan into this world, being overly optimistic.
But I was wrong.
His shout proved that he understood all that and was determined to be optimistic anyway.
“This world isn’t like Japan? No, of course it isn’t. Everything about it is different. But does that mean we have to just throw away all our values from our old lives? Is it wrong to try to uphold them?”
Ooshima, sitting behind Yamada, trembles at these words.
I guess that means that Ooshima also gave up on old values during life in this world.
“Let me ask you this, Kyouya. You said there’s no point. Are you sure you’re not compromising on your values just because that’s how this world works?”
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login