-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Justification and Departure
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Oscar continued.
His hurried tone was laced with impatience.
"It's not that there's a problem with you. It's just that making an exception isn't easy. It's not your fault, so don't be disheartened. You're simply young."
Oscar, having said more than necessary in a placating, slightly softer voice, waited silently for Loan's expression to change.
After a moment, Loan pouted and said,
"I'll be eleven soon."
Even then, Loan subtly aged himself up again.
At this rate, he might forget his real age himself, but Oscar paid it no mind.
"Ten or eleven, it's all the same. You're still too young."
"Is age more important than ability?"
Oscar stared intently at Loan, who had posed the question.
His eyes, shining with a mysterious color, seemed to pressure Oscar to reconsider the fact that he had defeated Egger and Blake.
Oscar shook his head slightly and answered.
"Separate from ability, the Union is required to make countless judgments, and those judgments must be accompanied by the depth of thought that comes from experience. And experience is synonymous with the years one has lived."
"So, because I'm young, are my thoughts short-sighted and shallow?"
His tone wasn't confrontational or resentful.
Judging by his innocent expression, he seemed genuinely curious.
Oscar sensed this conversation would be a long one, a bitter taste forming in his mouth.
"I don't know yet. I've only spoken with you for a few hours."
"What about me so far?"
"You seem more profound than others your age, but that's not for me to judge either…."
Oscar, who had trailed off, nodded and continued.
"Alright. Let's treat this as a mock interview. Why did you kill Egger? Didn't he just grab your head?"
"He had already killed the director that way. He acted like he was about to crush my head, so I didn't have time to wait, and with Blake there, I couldn't afford to leave any loose ends."
"But in the end, you murdered two people. Did any other considerations factor into your decision? Perhaps your judgment was clouded by anger?"
Oscar increased the pressure of his questioning slightly.
Loan answered promptly, without the slightest hint of intimidation.
"I was angry, and I felt an even greater sadness. But thanks to that, I was able to judge a little more clearly."
"The basis for your judgment?"
"There were too many victims for them to deserve anything but death. Even if they had repented, there was no one left in the world to accept it or forgive them. Above all, I have no right to grant them a chance to live."
"Are you saying you have the right to kill?"
"Since they took the lives of others, I thought it was only fair they meet the same fate. And I just so happened to have the power to make them pay a fitting price for their sins. But…."
Suddenly, Loan's expression grew a little more serious.
After a moment of contemplation, Loan spoke.
"Even if the reasons were different, I've become a murderer all the same. If someone were to demand I take responsibility for my actions, I suppose there's nothing I could do."
"And if they did demand you take responsibility?"
"I would first listen carefully to see if they are qualified to do so, and if their demands are not unreasonable. I have no intention of accepting a loss."
"Will you not regret your actions?"
"I won't. Once you've made a decision and acted on it, you have to accept it. Instead, I plan to be much more cautious in the future."
"Was it something you absolutely had to do?"
"It's a job someone has to do, isn't it? Isn't that why the Union exists?"
"…."
For a moment, Oscar was at a loss for words.
The answer felt like a rebuke, as if the boy were asking why they hadn't come sooner to save the unfortunate, before a child had to commit murder.
Moreover, the thought contained within it could not be dismissed.
Though the organization operated for various reasons and objectives, what the Union ultimately strove for was peace and the welfare of the people.
They were people who had banded together for a seemingly unattainable goal, shouldering the responsibility themselves.
A very concise reason for existence.
"Yes. It would be no exaggeration to say that everything the Union stands for is contained in that."
Muttering to himself, Oscar stared intently into Loan's eyes.
In many ways, judging by his answers alone, his thoughts were too profound to bring up his age.
If he had been interviewed without his age being a factor, wouldn't he have judged the answers to be quite excellent?
'He's not like a child.'
But that, in itself, was also a cause for concern.
For a child who had killed with his own hands, he was far too calm.
Abnormally so.
Could the series of unbearable mental shocks have caused some kind of emotional problem?
After much deliberation, Oscar finally made a decision.
It would be a waste of talent to leave him at the relief station, but it was too soon to keep him by his side and observe him.
"There are factions rampant everywhere, seeking to undermine the peace and existence of the kingdom. We call them…."
He continued slowly.
"Grave."
"Grave…."
"Le Tell is one of them."
"Yes."
"The 1st Division is eradicating the Le Tell farms operating in secret throughout the region and reorganizing the Union branches. There's no telling how long it will take."
Oscar paused for a moment.
In that brief silence, Loan read both fatigue and determination.
Loan knew from his long experience as a beggar that people like this needed comfort.
"You're going through so much. I'm sure better days will come, so please hang in there."
"…."
Oscar let out a small chuckle at Loan's cheeky encouragement, then rose to his feet, hiding his expression.
As Oscar turned away, he spoke an unexpected sentence.
"Go to the Union. We will determine in time whether you have the proper qualities to be a member, but you can take refuge there until that time comes."
It didn't mean he was being accepted into the Union right away.
It was as good as a rejection of Loan's request to accompany him.
But Oscar's offer was certainly appealing, and Loan could sense that it was based on considerable thought and compromise.
Above all.
'Will it be like the afterimage I saw from the tree?'
In the vision, his future self was wearing a Union uniform.
With Oscar's proposal, one possibility had been more or less fulfilled.
Realizing he could no longer be stubborn, Loan rose from his seat.
"Thank you."
Loan bowed deeply to Oscar's back as he left the study, then followed closely behind him.
"Deputy Commander, all personnel from the relief station have been assembled."
A report came in as soon as Oscar and Loan emerged outside.
It was a very bright night.
Both the sky and the ground.
Under the bright moonlight in a cloudless sky, all the children of the relief station were gathered in the plaza between the main building and the dormitory, clustered together in a large, luminous group.
The Union was in complete control of the relief station, and the children were bewildered.
An adjutant, following Oscar's orders, stepped before them.
"Until now, the Denton Relief Station has exploited homeless vagrants and orphans, and in collusion with the dark cult Le Tell, has committed the grave sin of human sacrifice. In response, the Union, the sword and scripture of the kingdom, has purged the clandestine Le Tell faction and will now restore the Denton Relief Station to normalcy."
The resounding words were difficult for the children to accept or understand, given their age and level of education.
But after seeing the decaying corpses of the victims laid out on one side of the relief station's plaza, the murmuring soon turned to anger and sorrow.
As Oscar watched them, another adjutant with a silver badge on his chest spoke.
"The representative from the Denton administration office has arrived. The ousting at the administration office has also been completed successfully."
"Watch over things carefully until they stabilize, then hand over duties when the 4th Division arrives and join us. We head west at dawn. And…."
Oscar gestured toward Loan, who couldn't take his eyes off the children, and asked his adjutant.
"Who is on the return team?"
"Just Sienna."
"I'll send the report separately, so have her return immediately. With this child."
Having given his orders, Oscar placed a hand lightly on Loan's shoulder.
Loan couldn't bring himself to walk away, nor could he tear his eyes from the children.
There was no one he was particularly attached to.
Though it was the place where he had spent most of his childhood, he felt no regret, as he had always hoped to leave.
The image of Noah, his former roommate, grieving the deaths of Theo and Lily, and the sight of Balder, who always acted tough, trembling and sobbing with tears and snot, were the last things that remained in his eyes.
After a moment of empathy for their sorrow of loss and anger at the massacre, Loan spoke.
"I'm ready now. Where should I go, Deputy Commander?"
Oscar ruffled Loan's hair affectionately and started walking.
As they arrived side by side at the relief station's entrance, Oscar murmured softly.
"Sienna."
A figure suddenly emerged from among the members following behind.
The flow of mana looked like billowing fog, a refreshing sight for Loan's eyes.
While Loan was marveling at the movements of the Runner called Sienna, Oscar's orders continued.
"This is Loan, a witness from the Denton site. Escort him safely to the Union. Treat him as a victim."
"Yes, Deputy Commander."
Sienna immediately turned to Loan and met his gaze.
"Sienna, Runner of the Faith Division."
She appeared to be in her early twenties, a pale figure with long, flowing black hair.
Loan briefly observed her face and the purity of her mana, then gave a slight bow.
"Hello. I'm Loan, the witness."
He introduced himself just as Oscar had.
He had added the word "witness" as if it were a title, and his words made those watching him chuckle.
Only Sienna remained impassive.
"It will take about a fortnight to reach the Union. It's a long journey, so we'll leave immediately. Do you have anything to pack?"
"No. I don't."
Loan stared intently at Sienna's face.
The long ears peeking out from between her strands of hair kept drawing his gaze.
It was a stare that could have been quite offensive, but since his expression and eyes were filled only with curiosity, Sienna did not seem displeased.
"You won't have a chance after we leave. If you have any questions, ask now."
Loan, who happened to have a question, was very pleased by Sienna's words.
"Runner Sienna, are you perhaps an elf?"
The question came out of nowhere.
Sienna hesitated for a moment before shaking her head slightly and answering.
"I'm a dark elf."
"Oh, but you're very bright. I thought a dark elf would be somewhat dark or murky."
"What…."
"Ah, I don't know much about it, so please forgive me if my question and words were rude. It's just that you're the first dark elf I've ever seen, so you seem very mysterious. For some reason, I feel happy to see you, too."
Mysterious, not just strange.
That one trivial word slightly melted Sienna's heart.
Perhaps because of that, the corners of her lips, uncharacteristically for her, threatened to rise.
Startled by her own reaction, Sienna quickly wiped the expression from her face and spoke to Loan in a cold tone.
"It's probably because of your bloodline."
"Huh?"
Not understanding what she meant, Loan tilted his head, but Sienna turned toward Oscar without another word.
"We'll be departing now."
Oscar bid her farewell by meeting her gaze.
Since they undertook missions that had them crossing the line between life and death every day, treating partings as routine was a way to avoid leaving a burden on the heart.
But to Loan, his voice was quite gentle.
"See you at the Union, Loan."
"I'll be waiting for you there, Deputy Commander Oscar. The rest of you, please return safely as well."
One of the members let out a hearty laugh at the bold farewell, as if Loan were already a member of the Union.
"Haha, you'd better be."
The laughter spread naturally, and the tension in the air lightened with it.
Leaving the smiles directed at him behind, Loan mounted the horse with Sienna.
"Hiyah!"
Sienna spurred the horse on without delay.
Loan took in the scenery of the relief station with his wavering gaze.
As the relief station faded into the distance, so too did Loan's childhood come to a close.