CH 137

[Worst Compatibility]

Around the time when Sakurai was trying to grab the dropped Ethel.

In a room in a hospital a short distance away from the cathedral, there was Cordelia who still required further medical treatment, her escort Iris, and a female elf knight dressed in light equipment.

“Oh, it looks like they’ve managed to get in. That’s a relief. I’d be hard-pressed if I had to buy more time because the puppets I used for diversion all had been taken down by the monsters.”

The female knight was, in truth, Joseph’s puppet.

Up until yesterday, she was a person who was overflowing with a genuine sense of duty, but now she had become his new victim for monitoring the Saintess.

This female knight wasn’t the only victim.

The two knights guarding in front of the room and four hospital nurses had also been turned into puppets by Joseph.

Sakurai probably wouldn’t even be bothered about such a thing. But Iris was silently boiling with anger.

Iris had chatted with the female knight many times before she turned into a puppet during the period in which Cordelia was hospitalized.

And from her warm ‘heat’, she knew that the knight held the utmost respect for the Saintess and was faithful to her duties.

But the life of the female knight had been robbed by Joseph, and the ‘heat’ that was supposed to be still radiating out from her body was now gone.

All that was left was a puppet that was made from her body.

It’d perhaps be harder for Iris not to get mad at Joseph.

(Unforgivable. This man…!)

She squeezed the long rod in her hand tightly.

Exactly because she’d witnessed both the before and after the female knight was turned into a puppet, plus the information she’d learned during the attack, she came to understand how evil the man was.

If possible, she wanted to beat him up right this instant.

But the calm part of Iris reminded her that the thing in front of her was merely a puppet of his, and beating it would mean nothing whatsoever.

Plus, there were Sakurai’s words. That was the only reason why she was able to rein in her anger which might burst at any moment.

[Joseph will be the only one to die in the end, a win-win situation for everyone. So, until then please protect Cordelia-san.]

Regardless of his humanity, Sakurai always strove to keep his promise. Furthermore, he had the wit to devise strategies—putting aside their problematic nature—and the strength to act on them to make that possible.

And this time, his mind seemed to be working several times faster than usual to Iris.

It must be due to the fact that he couldn’t get any ‘training (leveling)’ done, which was what he usually spent most of his brainpower into. As a result, he had the leeway of thinking about something else.

Iris didn’t know just how far Sakurai was planning ahead.

However, his ‘heat’ told Iris that he would push through any obstacles that got in his way.

As such, Iris decided to put her faith in Sakurai, in his ‘heat’. Because she had also been saved by his ‘heat’ before.

“What are people’s lives to you?”

She had decided. She was determined.

Still, she couldn’t hold herself from asking. The female knight, Joseph’s puppet, responded, “People’s lives? Are you asking what do I make of the lives of other people?”

“Is there any other way to interpret it?”

“Well, I’ve been asked the same question on many occasions by people who saw my puppet art since a long time ago. In response, I always say: I consider the lives of other people to be ‘valuable and precious’.”

“…Huh?”

Joseph gave an unbelievable reply to Iris’s question, seemingly not feeling even a shred of guilt, to boot.

Taking people’s lives, turning them into puppets, and manipulating them to do his bidding.

Deeds that could be said to sully life itself, he did without even batting an eyelid. Naturally, his answer agitated Iris.

In response, Joseph heaved a sigh, “Everyone always gets surprised like this every time I give this answer.”

Then, the far-from-normal guy continued, “Even though it’s a perfectly normal answer,” and shook his head.

“Various diverse races live in this world, everyone has their own interests and ideas, and each one of them lives their own different life. Crystallizations of growth and accumulation which differs from mine. That is other people. I’ll never say such a thing as those crystallizations are worthless or useless.”

“T-then, why do you take people’s lives in such a calm manner!?”

“Because it’s necessary. Nothing more, nothing less. You, adventurers, kill monsters because it’s necessary, too. Same difference. You may choose another way of living that doesn’t necessitate you to do such an act, but as an adventurer you have to do so because it’s necessary. See my point? As long something is necessary, you don’t feel guilty about it, right?”

The monsters killed by adventurers also had life, and by killing them adventurers obtained materials that they could make use of to grow. As such, monsters were also ‘valuable and precious’.

Adventurers killed and made use of them because they recognized their value.

In other words, making use of something that had value for personal reasons was a very normal thing to do—so Joseph concluded.

“However, if you were to say that the lives of humans and monsters had a different value, I’d have no choice but to end this conversation. Because to me, both they are both equally valuable. At the end of the day, it’s merely the matter of difference in the sense of value. I thought that if it was Sakurai-kun’s girlfriend, she’d understand that, but it appears that is not the case.”

“Why are you bringing up Sakurai-san!”

“Why, because he’s the same kind of person as me. For his goal, he would do things that most would see as unorthodox without hesitation. Why would he, you ask? Because he has the same sense of value as me. He has something which of utmost priority to him. In his eyes, everything else is of lower value, and he sees them as nothing but expendables which can be utilized when it’s ‘necessary’.”

“He’s not like that!”

“How so, if I may ask?”

Iris vehemently denied Joseph’s words.

There was a conviction in her eyes, which slightly piqued Joseph’s interest. And he asked her to explain her reason.

Iris knew that Sakurai was a leveling supremacist, and as Joseph had said, he had little interest in things other than leveling—his topmost priority—and he valued them rather low.

He’d use everything for his goal, and he’d burst into laughter like a freak when things went well.

Doing things without considering other people’s opinions was a daily occurrence to him, and the number of troubles he had caused to his surroundings with his reckless acts was uncountable.

In some ways, he was indeed the same as Joseph.

Still, Iris vehemently denied Joseph’s words.

“Unlike you, Sakurai-san always listens to what people say no matter how many times he gets scolded! He makes many mistakes, but if you tell him, he’ll understand it’s wrong!”

Every time Sakurai caused trouble, every time he ran wild, Iris always scolded him.

She didn’t how he felt about it.

He might be remorseful or very annoyed.

Still, Sakurai had begun to be more considerate of others than before.

The fact that he had kept his promise and got everyone out of the predicament without leaving anyone behind when they were attacked in the great library was a proof of that.

The boy named Sakurai Tōru was learning and growing little by little.

That was why Iris declared that he was different from Joseph.

“You said you’ve been asked the same question many times over thus far. In that case, you must have had as many—no, even more numbers of scolding as those questions! Yet you replied to my question with an answer that sounded fixed as if it was the most obvious. In other words, you don’t listen to what people say, and you don’t change. That’s why Sakurai, who’s starting to change, and you, who don’t change, are not the same!”

“So, the difference between us is whether we have room for rehabilitation, or lack thereof—is that what you mean? Still, at the end of the day, we are fundamentally the same.”

“No, it is as Iris-sama has said. You and Sakurai-sama are different.”

Cordelia, who had been silent until then, opened her mouth at Joseph’s denial.

The Saintess was lying on her side so as not to put a load on her injured back. The conclusion she drew from listening to their back and forth was that Joseph and Sakurai were not the same, in line with Iris’s.

“You described the lives of others as ‘valuable and precious’, but your meaning of that value is as a resource. In the end, you don’t have ‘others’ in your world; our words don’t resonate with you. That is why you don’t change, and don’t even think about changing.”

“When you put it that way, I reply that it is indeed so.”

“On the other hand, Sakurai-sama see ‘others’ for what they truly are, not as resources. Hence why he is able to listen to Iris-sama’s words, learn from them, and grow. You, who live in your own closed world, and Sakurai-sama, who is starting to expand his world—even if you are fundamentally similar, by no means you are the same.”

“I see. If the person hailed as the Saintess says so, it’s likely the case from an outsider’s perspective. Well, no matter—Oops! It seems that they encountered a monster that wasn’t pulled away by the diversion! Please pardon me, but I have to put an end to our conversation here. I must watch over my daughter’s brave figure!”

Convinced but disinclined to continue the conversation, Joseph transferred most of his consciousness to the little bird puppet which stayed on Ayako’s shoulders.

The speed of this change of stance was proof that none of the words of Cordelia and Iris resonated with Joseph, and showed that Sakurai and Joseph were indeed similar but ultimately different.

“Fufu, the cold attitude and look on her face as she’s helping the Saintess’ daughter. And her dedication to her role of keeping vigilance of the surroundings… excellent! So cute!”

Joseph had completely switched to spectator mode.

The sight of him announcing his one-sided love made Iris instinctually feel a sense of disgust.

“Um, Cordelia-san. Thank you. For saying that Sakurai-san is different from him.”

“I have only been acquainted with him for a short while, but I know that Sakurai-sama is different from that person over there. Let’s not worry ourselves and have faith in him.”

“……Yes!”

In the end, the question-and-answer session she had with Joseph ended up widening the gap between them.

Instead, Iris’s goodwill toward Cordelia, who’d supported her opinion, became stronger.

It was powerful enough to abate the anger that had been boiling in her heart, so much so that her feeling of wanting to protect Cordelia overtook her anger at Joseph.

“Being unable to give pats to Ayako after finishing my part pains me. Ahh, but I can only relish this feeling of pressing my head against Ayako’s soft cheek when using small animals. It’s soft and wonderfully comfortable. But… I think her skin can use slightly more firmness. Yup, let’s adjust that the next time I reform her body.”

(…I don’t like this person after all.)

However, her anger at Joseph hadn’t completely subsided.

The ‘heat’ she felt from the man who was having extreme mood swings gave her very unpleasant feelings. While directing a cold gaze at him, Iris continued to wait for the ‘time’ promised by Sakurai to come.

A self-proclaimed father who forcefully and one-sidedly lavished his love upon his daughter.

A girl whose self was unreasonably robbed of her by her blood-related father.

With their starkly different sense of value, the two made a very incompatible combination.