Foreigner Volume 7, Chapter 123

Volume 7 Chapter 123, Magic Sword ~ 31

　Seeing Satoru cut down and abandoned the enemy general, all of Satoru's magical slaves except for Solor, who was flying in the sky and destroying the watchmen, relaxed their shoulders with a sigh of relief. Satoru had not expected to receive a blow from the opposing general, the baron, but the baron's blow could not even hurt Satoru. Rico and the others were amazed by Satoru's strength, as he took his opponent's attack with dignity.

　The area was filled with the unpleasant smell of burning flesh and blood, and more than 500 people had been cruelly slaughtered. You can almost feel the vindictiveness in the air around them.

　Rico is stripping the dead mercenaries and knights of their gold, Minerva is following Rico's instructions, and Leia is using water sorcery to wash the corpses down to the bottom of the valley... A half-elf girl, left alone, is staring at them all with a stern expression.

　It is not a sinful thing to strip a defeated person of his or her possessions.

　It is shameful to kill an opponent for money, but when it is someone you have fought to the death, there is no need to hesitate about it. Liz also had that level of common sense on the battlefield. It is the same principle as skinning a hunted beast and roasting its flesh for consumption, so she has no objection to it ― if it is a proper life-or-death fight.

「Leia-san」

「What is it?」

　Liz's stern voice flew toward Leia, who was mercilessly using water sorcery to drop the corpses down to the bottom of the valley. It was upset Liz's that there was no sign of upset in her voice at all, even though she was the real culprit who had annihilated so many people.　

「Isn't that too much, that battle just now?」

　An opponent who has fought for life or death should be given the respect they deserve.

　However, the current battle is not a battle. To Liz, It looked like a one-sided slaughter. At the sound of Liz's voice, which contained anger, Leia turned around and shrugged her shoulders exaggeratedly.

「Houh? Too much. So what was the right thing to do?」

「If only the enemy general had been eliminated, wouldn't that have been enough? With Leia-san's sorcery, you could have done that easily.」

「But our Lord ordered me to leave the general alone, didn't he?」

「You could have isolated only the general! I don't think it's necessary to wipe them out.」

　Someone grabbed Liz by the shoulder as she screamed, revealing her emotions.

「Liz, don't.」

「Rico-san ......」

　She had to leave the money-stripping to come all the way to Liz's side. Rico's expression was a little but not quite cheerful. Liz felt that she and Rico were close in thought, and she raised her voice to Rico as well.

「Rico-san, you think so too, don't you!?」

　With Leia's power, she could have isolated the enemy general with only a few casualties. There was no need to annihilate them so cruelly, Liz thinks. Nevertheless, even those who were trying to escape, Leia used her sorcery without asking any questions, and they were just annihilated. It's too much. One-sided slaughter is not a respectful battle.

　But Rico shook her head a little to the left and right at the furious Liz.

「A little. But I trust Leia's judgment next to Satoru's. As long as Satoru is in favor of Leia's judgment, we shouldn't interfere with it.」

　Leia has the most trust from Satoru as the first magical slave. Satoru did not tell her to annihilate them, but he did not tell her not to do so, only to leave it to her. If Leia's judgment had been wrong, Satoru would have been angry, but Satoru did not object to Leia's actions and went on to take out the enemy general.

　Rico is right. But it is hard for Liz to understand it.

「But ......, just because it's like that...」

　Leia snickered half-heartedly at Liz, who was about to raise her voice in an attempt to formulate an objection.

「...... I had said you were smart, but it seems I have to take that back. Liz, you really don't get it, do you?」

「What is that I don't get it!?」

　Leia's mocking voice made Liz even more emotional as she retorted. Leia brushed off her emotions and carefully stated each and every word.

「Did they came here to kill us, or more specifically, to kill our Lord?」

　Liz's voice instantly choked up at Leia's all too straightforward point. It was a mere confirmation of a fact, but it was a fact that Liz had deliberately ignored.

　Turning a cold gaze on Liz's, Leia continued.

「Minimize the damage, yes, that's easy for me. But, you see. What would you do if you or Rico were to fall victim to the enemy's blade? What will our Lord think? In fact, one of the men who came around from behind survived the initial attack and threw his weapon at us. Minerva blocked the attack, so we escaped without incident. If we had wanted to minimize the damage, he would have jumped to our side. Do you really think that is the right thing to do?」

　Leia spun her words in a calm and unaffected manner, without making a scene. Liz did not realize that one of the rear guards had survived the initial attack.

　If he had jumped into their side. Rico had said that she could dodge. However, this meant that she had almost no offensive ability. A sorcerer who is forced to close the distance is hampered in their concentration to evade, and their offensive power is greatly reduced.

　What if Leia's attack power had dropped sharply at that moment? Satoru was walking toward the enemy general, Minerva was concentrating on countermeasures against projectile weapons such as arrows and bolts, and Solor was soaring high into the sky. In other words, Rico and Liz, who were not combat-ready, were likely to be in danger. It could have been them who were in a tight spot.

「Th-that's ......」

　What looked like a massacre was merely the result. If I had made a mistake, you would have been chopped into pieces―Leia pointed out, and Liz could not speak. Leia held up two fingers and broke one of them

「Let's say you let half of them live. If those people attempted to take revenge, it would create a new and unnecessary conflict. If not, my presence and our Lord's terrifying power would be spread everywhere except where necessary. Is that beneficial to our Lord's journey?」

　Ah, Liz grunted, not saying it aloud. If Satoru's mighty power was spread more than necessary, he would not be able to travel calmly.

　Leia, hands-on-hips, is in a hmph. She is not much taller than Liz, but she looks bigger than Lies. It is a difference in the vessel.

「Don't you even know what our Lord hid his power as much as possible for!? Don't you dare to extend your selfish, cheap sense of justice to us!」

　Finally, Leia shouted down. Leia's thunderous rage pierced through Liz.

　Liz's shoulders slumped. Satoru had hidden his power in order not to bring unnecessary obstacles. The reason why Leia ordered Solor to let a few people go was to show Satoru's power only to the extent necessary. Liz is only ashamed of herself for being so evasive about the fact of the massacre and for imposing her selfish sense of justice on them.

「......I deeply apologize」

　Liz's shoulders slumped.

　Leia turns her back with a snort toward Lies, who slumps her shoulders.

　Her haughty backside is so detestable to me. I'm sure there's a way to say this to a foolish little girl― Rico smacked her in the brain, understanding her own immaturity, but also selfishly thinking so.

「Liz. There is one more thing you don't understand.」

「 ......what is it?」

　Rico looked back at the expression on Liz's face as she held her head and sighed, "I knew it!". Although she apologized to Leia, Liz is still sulking. Growing up dirt-free in a small society, Liz has an irrepressible naivete. ― that may be unavoidable, but it is not good for her to remain twisted like this. It is Rico's role to teach her the part that Leia did not tell her, the part that used to have a twisted naivete.

「You see, Leia didn't want me and Liz to be killers, so she did what she did.」

「......!」

　The impact of the verbal spear struck Liz. For, as Rico pointed out, she instantly recognized Leia's hidden tenderness.

「Killing people is the work of those who can do it. Those who have never killed anyone call for hesitation when the time comes. That hesitation calls for our wounds. That's why Leia took on the sin of killing for us. Are you blaming Leia? Is that what Liz is prepared to do? If you're just being sulking like that, I can't even think about traveling with you.」

　Her face turned red when the fact that she had been sulking, which she had been hiding, was pointed out to her. Every word Rico said was incredibly heavy.

　Right. If Leia had not been able to annihilate the enemy soldiers there, Rico and Liz might have had no choice but to attack. Attack ― it is a means of killing people.

「Satoru said that the world in which he lived was much more peaceful than this world. But Satoru, too, deliberately took a sword and then killed the general, didn't he? Do you know why he did that?」

　Liz bites her lower lip and thinks. Satoru, who had lived a peaceful life just like her (Liz), though under different circumstances, still killed the enemy general, though it was probably not his intention to do so. Why did he intentionally take a blow before that?

　It is easy to understand if you think about it for a moment. Probably because he was prepared to bear the karma. The man Raymond, who had sent Reine to her death and tried to kill Satoru by taking Liz and Reine as hostages, may have been a villain. However, Baron Dantes, who came to avenge Raymond's death, was not necessarily a villain. Nevertheless, Satoru's journey could not continue without defeating him.

　If only so. He was prepared to swallow everything and move forward, and Satoru killed him. The reason he deliberately received the blow was probably to make him feel a little guilty about Raymond's father's failure to avenge his death, and to make him feel a little remorse...

「...... somehow...」

「Then you understand what I mean.」

　Rico turned a small exhale to Liz, who nodded her head with a depressed expression on her face. Liz is still very smart, as Rico knew she would realize immediately.

　What is clear is that Leia did not beat the enemy soldiers to death. If she had to kill them, she would have at least chosen high-powered offensive sorcery to choke them out immediately so that they would not suffer. The overwhelming difference in power only made it look like a slaughter with pleasure.

　Leia did almost all she could to destroy the enemy soldiers without making them suffer, and Liz saw that she had slaughtered them ― it was nothing but irony.

「It's not our job to decide what's right,......, so think carefully. And if you still can't travel with Satoru, then Satoru will always be there to dispel your magical-slave curse.」

　Rico waved a fluttering hand as she walked back to her work, and Liz was filled with remorse. Rico and Liz are three years apart in age. Should she say only three years or three years? The difference in social experience may be a factor, but the gap between Rico and Liz in terms of absolute loyalty to Satoru and the grace with which she is willing to give up her own self for that purpose is too great to overcome.

　As one travels around the world, the danger is a given. Some of them may require killing people to get by. And then, what? Many people are killed in front of your eyes, and you get upset about it, and then blame the people who protected you. Isn't that the worst?

　Liz clenched her fists and bit her navel in helplessness. She was unable to notice Leia's consideration and unilaterally imposed her cheap sense of justice on her ― her own stupidity hurt.

「L-Liz?」

　It was Minerva who called out to her from behind.

　Minerva is the opposite of Liz. Perhaps because of her race as a flying dragon, she does not think much. She acts according to her instincts and desires and listens to her trusted friends. There is no doubt in her mind. She is definitely different from Liz, who thinks slowly and thoughtlessly.

「......I'm sorry, could you please leave me alone for a minute?」

　She wants to think alone for a bit. Minerva resolutely shook her head from side to side at Liz's offer.

「That's no good. Minerva can't leave Liz alone, who she has to protect, even though she doesn't know what's still out there.」

　Liz takes a breath. If you say so, it's true, just a few minutes ago we were in a fight with those who were after us ― or more specifically, their Lord, Satoru. Leia had almost wiped them out, and Solor had taken care of those who had been watching them, but there was no telling where danger still lurked. Satoru would not allow her (Liz), who has no fighting ability, to be left alone in such a situation.

　Why can't I even realize that―

「......I'm no good」

　Liz mocked herself. She understood that she was a child and unfamiliar with the common sense of human society, but even so, she was causing too much trouble for her friends around her. However, Minerva brushed off Liz's depression.

「Saayy? That's not true. Liz can do a lot of things that Minerva can't do.」

「That's ......」

　Minerva is now in human form, but her true identity is that of a flying dragon. She knows no more about human common sense than Liz. She is as intelligent as a human child.

　However, Minerva smiles at Liz.

「Before. Let's see, when Minerva was diving into the labyrinth with Danna-sama, Rico, and Leia. Danna-sama said to Rico, who was depressed because she wasn't able to fight. It is the duty of those who can do it to protect Rico, who is useful. He said that each of us just has to do our part.」

「The role of each ......」

　At that time, Minerva was also intensely depressed with herself for not being able to do anything. Satoru told Minerva at that time that he understood that Minerva was watching everyone's backs and that by doing so, they could feel relieved, and then he said these words to Rico, who was also depressed.

　When Satoru said that, Minerva remembered that it was the same in the herd, and she was greatly convinced. Those that were good at hunting, those that were good at taking care of their children, those that were good at exterminating humans, and so on, had natural roles within the herd, even if they were not determined to be so. The herds were formed in such a way that everyone followed up on the parts that did not go well together. The logic is the same for both the flock and the current group of friends.

「Minerva thinks Liz has a role to play as well. It is something that Minerva and everyone else cannot do. Minerva thinks that we just need to think about what that is.」

「....Is there any」

「Yep! Absolutely, there is something that only Liz can do!」

　Minerva says it clearly and sincerely. Minerva is always straightforward. She never uses flattery. She believes that even Liz has a role to play in this group.

　Minerva's straightforward words encouraged Liz a little. If she believes so, then there must be a role for her, who has no power, even in this party with insane power.

「....... Thank you. I'll give it some thought.」

　Liz glanced at Satoru. Satoru was spinning some kind of prayer-like words to the enemy general.

　Satoru must not have wanted to kill anyone if he could. But he did. Because if he did not, he would not be able to move forward.

　Biting down on her own naivete and lack of resolve, Liz looked up at the sky. A cloud still covered the entire sky. I wonder if the light will eventually shine through when I grow up a little more.

　Liz does not know.

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