Chapter 279 277: To Be Human

With a decision made on which side they'd fight for, the Drakar began travelling south in great numbers, following Aron's lead.

Meanwhile back at the camp north of the Drakarian mountains,

Victoria finally woke up from her comatose state and learned of what happened to her grandson. Ezmeralda explained that she chose to save her life rather than his and apologized for it, however, the reply Victoria gave was not what she exp0ected.

"Do not apologize, he did this to himself. There's no saving someone so foolish. Rather, I thank you for saving my own life." She said with a hardened face.

Despite not showing any care towards the death of her only grandson, Victoria was struggling to cope inside. Family was still family, no matter how hopeless.

She could only blame herself for having done a poor job raising them and now, she paid the price for it. It was a tough reality to accept, but she didn't have the time to mourn or self-pity.

Instead, her focus laid elsewhere, ensuring no more humans died pointlessly.

The only problem was, she no longer had the same support as she did in Pesia, especially at that camp.

It had only been a few days since Aron left in Pesian time but Jin worked hard alongside Claudia to bring about organization within the group.

In that short amount of time, they had turned the camp from a struggling band of survivors into a small efficient community.

The people of course quickly accepted his leadership. He was strong, charismatic, easy to talk to and understanding, something the weak would always cling to.

There was no way they would change their stances and just follow Victoria, especially with her background from Pesia that held the resentment of many common folk.

Just with a glance, Victoria could see the camp was thriving under the conditions of Limbo and thus she turned to Esmeralda for an update as to what occurred.

After learning of Aron's role in this and then Jin's take over, she could only sigh in resignation. "Then there's nothing more to be done here, allow me to rest and gather strength. Could you get me some drinking water?"

"Of course." Ezmeralda agreed readily and left the section of the camp they were in to get some.

However, once she was out of sight, Victoria stood up and began walking away from the camp. But before getting far, she found a familiar face blocking her path.

Jin.

"Leaving already?" he asked but with a serious expression, visible rage in his eyes.

As a warrior, Victoria could feel the tension in the air. "There's nothing for me in this camp, I'm better off looking for other survivors and directing them here."

Her eyes looked even weary than before; it was like she had completely lost her spirit to fight.

Jin was no stranger to such a gaze. He could tell with a glance; she was looking for death, and that made him angrier.

"You are the reason many people lost everything, forcing them to struggle on carrying heavy burdens. Yet when the same happens to you, you give up and seek death. I truly despise you, Victoria Vonstein." It was taking everything Jin had to stop himself from slicing her where she stood.

Victoria showed some regret but didn't reply and just stood there, looking like a frail old woman. Jin then continued on to say.

"My village was burned down by your soldiers; it was probably so insignificant that you don't remember. But that day, as I watched my family burn, I swore to kill you and rebuild what I lost."

After making that revelation, Jin unsheathed his sword and stared at Victoria with intent to kill, but she didn't move still. "Jin Horoshi, third son of Yamato Horoshi and Elaine Chesire. I remember every single life my actions have affected and carry the guilt that comes with it. Your father and mother were enemies, its just that simple. I warn you now Jin, I too started off as a commoner with a dream of building a better world for the people."

"You can build your world without destroying another's. To accomplish your dream, many lives will need to be lost. By the time you achieve your dream you'll wonder. "Was it all worth it." I can tell just by looking at you, you don't have the heart for it."

Jin grew angry at her lecturing. "You don't know anything about me!"

Victoria looked more saddened by her words and made a revelation. "Your father served as my right-hand man for much of the campaign, it's why your village had so much wealth. He left because the guilt became too heavy, it always does and you should know this. Very few can shoulder the weight of their actions like its nothing. Aron, Rose, Evanora and the Komi, they all have clear eyes."

"Shut up…"

"But you, you were the only one, the only one with doubt."

"Shut up, Shut up…"

"It's why you stayed behind isn't? The guilt is already heavy."

"I said shut up!" Jin's eyes lit up with rage and he tightened his grip on his sword before charging towards Victoria.

!!

The water on the ground splashed upward as Jin closed the distance in a flash and arrived in front of her with his blade rested on her neck, just a single move away from slicing it clean off.

And yet, Victoria didn't flinch. She just stared into his teary red eyes with pity.

"Trying to help these people will not erase the guilt you feel. To climb up in any world, lives must be lost Jin. But you aren't like Aron and his group who have steeled and empty hearts, you are human, just like your father. And there's nothing wrong with that."

Victoria spoke like a concerned grandmother and that made Jin's already shaken heart to spiral more.

She couldn't rebuke her words about her, how could he when she was right?

Ever since joining Aron, Jin used his rage towards aristocrats to fuel his actions.

But it was only after they needed to leave Pesia, that guilt crept up in his heart. He of course knew that Aron played a role in what occurred, or at least felt he did. Which in turn made him guilty by association.

And that's when reality struck him. Aron was someone who would do whatever it took to accomplish his goals, no matter what needed to be done.

As he traveled Limbo seeing many corpses of common folk who felt were innocent, the guilt grew. Dead bodies of children and mother clinging to their babies, all these were seen by him and he couldn't help but feel responsible to some extent.

He watched Aron and the others to see if any shared a similar sentiment, but no. It was only him; this begged the question…

How much longer could his heart take it?

He now became sorrowful towards other races as well as Aron ended lives without batting an eye.

Because of that, he indeed wanted to stay behind and help the humans live. His heart couldn't allow him to overlook it, that's when he realized…

"I'm only human…" He muttered as tears began to stream down his face.

The blade resting on Victoria's neck was taken away by him before he stepped out of her way and lowered his head. "Go."

Victoria looked at him for moment and began walking away slowly. But before she could disappear into the dense woodland, she stopped and turned back to ask one more time.

"What will you do?"

Jin stood there in the light rain with his head lowered pondering her question. It wasn't something he knew the immediate answer to.

"I don't know, but… it's too late for me. The things I've contributed to, I can never live with a clear conscious, so I won't try to."

Victoria gave a weak smile and nodded. "It seems you have your answer. I too hope I can find mine before my final breaths. Live strong Jin, General Yamato would've been proud."

With those parting words, Victoria left the scene and vanished into the woodlands.

When Jin returned to the camp, he called for a gathering and revealed what Victoria was planning to do, giving hope to people who had family or friends still out there in the wild.

Then came his announcement.

"I'll be leaving the camp."

Surprise and worry were shown at this announcement and many people began to murmur, but Jin continued.

"As you all know, I have long since traveled with Aron. Yes, he is the main reason we are in this terrible land, But I helped him, willingly and knowingly."

"So, I won't continue to pretend that I'm some hero doing good. I won't ask for your forgiveness, because I don't deserve it. Because as guilty as I feel, I can't bring myself to regret following Aron. So, I'll be leaving too, because my place is in the south with him. I need to see for myself if all the blood shed was worth it."

Many went silent after his confession but some were quick to curse and cast blame at him. Humans were ungrateful creatures after all. But Jin, didn't try to defend himself and just left.

But before he could get far, Claudia chased after him. "If you're going then I'm going too. I was also a supporter of Aron so I'm just as guilty!"

Jin turned back and wanted to refuse but he could see the stubbornness on her face. Furthermore, she had a self-realization. It was useless helping such ungrateful people.

As Jin, was about to reply, another voice joined in.

"Then I'll be coming too." It was Xavier who seemed resolute on following Claudia wherever she went. And behind him, Reginald and Aela.

"If it's okay with you we'd like to tag along." Reginald revealed awkwardly but Aela only frowned and added. "Only until we find Lady Belle that is."

Jin showed a helpless smile and gave consent. "Sure."

Meanwhile another direction from the camp,

Victoria was slowly traveling south east when a voice called to her. "Lady Victoria, I've brought your water and some supplies for our journey."

Esmeralda run from behind with a small leather pouch adorned on her waist.

Before Victoria could interject, Sebastian also appeared with a map and began pointing in a direction. "I made a rough sketch of the area, we should be able to find some survivors that way, come one let's go."

Both he and Esmeralda rushed past Victoria and began leading the way. She could only show a weak smile and mutter. "I do not deserve this, but thank you."