Special chapter

P/N let me know if there's any mistakes and I will try to fix them

RECOLLECTION OF JUSTICE

"Take it back, Kaguya!"

It was a day long ago, and Lyu was shouting emotionally.

She and a fellow member of Astrea Familia were in a room in

Stardust Garden, their home in Orario, butting heads.

"And why, exactly, do I have to take back what I said?"

The beautiful girl who smiled cheerfully back at her had long, straight

black hair. Her island-style clothing and pretty hairpin suggested her

origins in the Far East, while her graceful words and carriage were

those of a sheltered girl of gentle birth. Still smiling, she tilted her

head questioningly at Lyu's passionate insistence, as if to say, Why all

the fuss?

"You're telling me that the minority should be ignored in the name of

the bigger picture? Is that the justice Lady Astrea wants?! What good

is peace at the cost of such a sacrifice?"

Lyu was younger then, her words colored by the upright character of

the elf race. As Kaguya listened, she lowered her arched eyebrows,

only to narrow her eyes like a fox.

"Idiot! You're so shallow it takes my breath away!"

"What…!!"

"Why…do you think…people call you a useless little elf?!"

Kaguya snorted, her refined manners of a moment earlier vanished

like smoke.

Lyu wanted to explode at the way the other girl was talking to her so

slowly, like she was a stupid child.

Gojouno Kaguya.

She was a Level 4 adventurer and the vice-captain of Astrea Familia.

Her swordsmanship and skill in hand-to-hand combat far outstripped

any other member of the familia. She and Lyu were constantly

competing with each other to see who could advance faster.

Although she did not like to talk about her background, she was

rumored to have grown up in a noble family in the Far East. Her long,

silky hair reached to her waist and was cut straight across her

forehead in bangs. When she wore a kimono and smiled, she was a

veritable picture of a Far Eastern woman.

As soon as she opened her mouth, however, the illusion crumbled.

She had a notoriously dirty mouth and not a shred of class.

Lyu felt like fainting from embarrassment when Kaguya would cross

her legs so everyone could see up her clothes or walk around in her

underwear when the weather was hot even if guys were around. She

was just like Cyclops from Hephaistos Familia, which made Lyu

wonder crossly if this was the only kind of woman the Far East

produced.

"I adore Lady Astrea. If she hadn't made such a deep impression on

me, I wouldn't be in this familia. I have the highest respect for her."

"Well, then…!"

"But that has nothing to do with the application of her concept of

justice to real life," Kaguya said, cutting off Lyu's attempt at protest.

"Is it easier for you to understand if I put it like this? Don't think

we're strong enough to rescue the whole world."

The look in her eyes was sharp, and her tone cold.

"Leon, you're a strong fighter. Strong enough that I think of you as a

worthy rival. But you're still the greenest member of this familia."

"Wha…!!"

Lyu lunged toward Kaguya, eyebrows raised incredulously at the

sudden insult.

"I'm not picking on you because you're an elf. I'm saying you have a

stronger spirit than any of us. But if you're right, then why did

Shakti's younger sister, Adi, die?"

The hand that was reaching toward Kaguya froze.

"She died right before our eyes, didn't she? She was killed by the

Evils with that nonsensical self-detonating bomb."

It was a dark time in the Labyrinth City.

Rudra Familia and other evil forces had reared their heads in Orario,

bringing destruction and suffering.

Chaos and confusion had swirled in the lawless city as the bandits

rampaged. The blood and tears of the powerless citizens had flowed

without cease, and those with the strength to stop the evil were

forced to make sacrifices.

"Look at the city. The cries of her people still have not stopped. We

have had to make sacrifices even to reach this point. How can we

scream for a justice that doesn't have a single blemish?"

"…!"

"You think we can save everyone? I don't think so, idiot."

Kaguya stroked the two daggers at her waist as she spit out her last

words. But she was neither angry nor hopeless. Instead, she was

coolly describing their harsh reality.

"The justice you speak of is no more than a convenient ideal. There

comes a day for every person when they must make a choice. You

and I, as well."

She turned her black eyes away from Lyu as if she'd lost interest.

"I think you need to learn a little more about the real world."

With those parting words of mockery, she turned away. Left alone,

Lyu could only clench her fists—not in irritation at Kaguya, but in

anger at herself for not being able to argue back.

"Looks like you two were getting into it again."

The voice caught Lyu off guard. It was Alize, who poked in her head

from the hallway as if she just happened to have been walking by.

Lyu looked away as the redhead came into the room.

"It's a good thing for you two to exchange ideas, but could you keep

your voices down a little next time? Me aside, Lady Astrea overheard

you. You'll only add to her pain."

"…"

"Of course, she'd probably just encourage you to talk things through.

Anyway, sounds like Kaguya won again? You're much too upright.

You make it easy to pick on you."

Alize smiled as she teased the dejected Lyu, who kept her eyes glued

to the floor as she spoke.

"I…can't accept it. Even if I'm an idiot and Kaguya is right, I just can't

swallow the idea of expecting to make sacrifices from the start…It's

no different from giving in to the Evils. We might as well proclaim our

own powerlessness and forget about working for justice!"

As she spoke, her emotions bubbled up and she couldn't help raising

her voice.

"Please calm down, Leon."

Alize squeezed Lyu's pinkie.

Her pointer finger and thumb encircled the elf's slender finger. As

she did, Lyu's feelings grew strangely clear.

That was what always happened.

Alize was always able to make Lyu feel as calm as a quiet sea. It was

as if the girl's green eyes were sucking her in.

"…Did you hear what Kaguya said?"

"You mean about having to give something up? Yes, I did—why?"

"What do you think of it? Do you agree with her that sacrifices must

be made?"

Before she realized it, she was asking Alize her opinion. Alize

answered without pause or self-doubt, thrusting her narrow chest

forward proudly.

"Of course it's better if we can save everyone. I think you were in the

right!"

Lyu was shocked. Alize was breezily confirming the resolution that

Lyu had arrived at through questioning herself. As she blinked in

surprise, Alize continued.

"But I'm not sure if that's the correct answer."

"Huh…?"

"I don't think everything will go smoothly just by charging toward

your ideal head-on."

After all, that could lead to paying a heavy price and making even

more sacrifices. Alize did not deny what either Lyu or Kaguya had

said; she viewed things not from an individual perspective, but rather

from that of natural law.

"I've heard that when Kaguya was in the Far East, she went through a

lot. I suspect she saw things you and I can't even imagine."

"…You mean the political strife in the East?"

"She may have spoken harshly because of those

experiences…perhaps she said those things in order to protect what

is truly important to her."

The captain of the familia was looking deep into Kaguya's heart.

"I don't think there is a right answer. There is only what we do to

fulfill our wishes and how hard we struggle. There is only what we

are able to leave behind on the altar of the ideals we cannot reach.

Even I, in all my perfect purity and correctness and wisdom, can say

no more than that."

Lyu wasn't sure if that last bit was spoken in jest or seriousness, but

Alize smiled after she finished talking.

"But ideals are important, aren't they?"

Like pure, graceful flowers.

"They may be no more than beautiful words, but we should still

strive for them, no matter how we are laughed at or mocked. If we

don't, then we will become weak creatures willing to accept any

outcome whatsoever."

Alize's eyes were completely earnest as she spoke those words. Lyu

remembered them even now.

"If we don't pursue our ideals, the things we obtain through

compromise will be insignificant."

That's what I think.

That's what I believe in.

Alize had said it quite clearly.

"I don't know if that's the right answer. But giving up is wrong. The

ideals you pursue are filled with happiness."

"…"

"That's why it's meaningful to pursue them."

Each of Alize's words struck deeply in Lyu's heart.

"…What if someone really does fulfill their ideals?" Lyu asked.

Alize laughed like a child.

"Don't you know? Those are the people we call heroes."