CH 150

Chapter 150 – Way of Life

“Well, I echo what you guys are saying, but… hey, Kirie. What do you think?” (D’esta)

“I know how you feel, D’esta. But Noalia-sama and Nike-sama will be happy here. That’s good enough, isn’t it?” (Kirie)

Hearing Kirie’s words, D’esta’s face spread into a smile as she looked at Nike and Noalia.

“…That’s true. We’ve finally found peace. All that’s left for us to do is to protect them for their lives.” (D’esta)

“Yes, exactly.” (Kirie)

D’esta said that they were childhood friends, and I could certainly see how close they were from this short exchange. Then, Rajie approached me with a serious expression on his face.

“You spoke about it yesterday, but is there really no danger of this island becoming a dungeon?” (Rajie)

I had told Rajie and the others about the dungeonization that had been occurring here and there throughout the world and that otherworlders like them were being transported from the other world.

“That won’t be a concern. Well, it’s not certain that monsters won’t ever attack.” (Bouchi)

There was a S-Rank monster flying in the sky, and it was more than likely that there were monsters living somewhere in the ocean that would eventually find their way to this island.

“We should prepare an escape route for the worst case scenario, but…” (Rajie)

“Of course, I have some items that may prove to be useful for such a time. I’ll cut you a discount. What do you say?” (Bouchi)

“Ah, right. Are you going back to the palace, old man?” (Bouchi)

“They most likely already suspect me because I haven’t shown up since then. If I go back now, I’ll probably be brought before a court of inquiry, and it’ll be difficult for me to produce an alibi and explain myself. I would end up being tortured or killed.” (Rajie)

“…Is Dragia really that ruthless?” (Bouchi)

“Especially so towards a huron like me.” (Rajie)

“And they still joined hands with hurons to defeat the Empire, huh?” (Bouchi)

“The garbels had the overwhelming upper hand in the power dynamic. He must have thought that he could control them however he pleased.” (Rajie)

Dragia seemed to be a person with confidence beyond comparison.

“Even without this incident, King Dragia will likely end up executing or banishing hurons from the capital in the near future.” (Rajie)

“It’s that bad?” (Bouchi)

“King Dragia is ultimately a strong believer in ethnocentrism. He only trusts his own people, and he believes that war is power and power is justice.” (Rajie)

“Come to think of it, do you know Ze’ev?” (Bouchi)

“The adventurer, Ze’ev? Of course I know him. He’s known widely as the War Wolf.” (Rajie)

“Hoh, so he really has established a name for himself as an adventurer.” (Bouchi)

“No, he earned that alias when he was still serving King Dragia.” (Rajie)

“…?! He used to serve King Dragia?” (Bouchi)

With his personality and demeanor, I thought that he was an adventurer through and through.

“Despite how he seems, he was known as the strongest of the Four Heavenly Beastmasters in Agnidora Kingdom.” (Rajie)

“I keep hearing about them, but are the Four Heavenly Beastmasters really that strong?” (Bouchi)

“Every single one of them are fierce fighters at A or B-Rank.” (Rajie)

“Why did Ze’ev give up his position and become an adventurer then?” (Bouchi)

“Who knows? I’m not sure about it, but he once told me something.” (Rajie)

“What did he say?” (Bouchi)

“He told me, ‘I want the strength to always be able to stand up against the wrongs’.” (Rajie)

I raised my eyebrows when I heard his words.

Was that something really so difficult to achieve? To right the wrongs…?

No, perhaps it was. In fact, I had been in that situation myself… when I was the only person being bullied by Ohsaka.

Seeing that, people must have thought that it wasn’t right. That it was wrong. But no one said that out loud. They knew it was wrong, but they didn’t have the courage to say so. If it were me, I would stand up to whatever I couldn’t agree with, regardless of who they were. But there were probably a lot of people who couldn’t do that.

Humans are weak. Sometimes, in order to protect ourselves, we have to cut off those we don’t want to cut off. Be that friends, lovers, or even… family.

I hated that weakness in humans. I disliked that act of one-sidedly cutting off a connection. I’d rather tell them to not bother in the first place if they were going to do that.

My father had told me this one time. “If I believe in someone, I will believe in that person until the very end. Even if they betray me, I won’t be the one to turn my back. I would face them so that we might connect once more.”

They were strong words. I think he could say that because he had been through a lot.

But I couldn’t live the way my father did. I couldn’t trust the people who had betrayed me and abandoned me.

“…What’s wrong, Bouchi? Your face looks so sad.” (Rajie)

“….! It’s nothing.” (Bouchi)

Not good, not good. I was thinking too much about things that didn’t matter.

At that moment, Nike came running up to me.

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