Part 7 — Alignment

“Well, that’s fine. If you want that girl to live, there’s no reason to go out of my way to kill her. Still, it feels a little odd. I don’t remember you being so merciful.”

“I’m not mocking you, I’m just curious. Same with Tahlan’s sister, Sunae...”

“I won’t ask why you won’t kill her. But why are you trying to keep her alive?”

“As you told the Regent, leaving her alive is a threat to House Batterabbe’s name.”

“Even if you don’t clearly state your guardianship, it’s still rather risky.”

“It would be one thing if you were too stupid to understand this. But that you’re not.”

“If she stabilizes, no doubt you’ll put her under your protection. And you’re trying to make the effort to allow you to become her guardian.”

“Why are you so eager to let that girl live?”

Ran had collided with mundane reality.

In this world, it’s not possible for anyone to be absolutely invincible, or to be something so great that it’s the first and last of its kind. She may have been a unique talent in her village, an unmatched, undefeatable figure, but the moment she stepped out into the wider world, she was just one example of a rare talent.

And yet things remained just as dangerous for her. She had survived to this point because she was the strongest, but now she’s merely a dangerous nuisance. Ran — that is to say, berserkers, the Marked — were beings that were supposed to be killed. Sunae, in particular, had been taught by her parents to make sure to kill any Marked she ran into.

The fact that she’s defied that teaching and let Ran live was because her own feelings on the subject were complicated.

“...”

With it now being suppertime, Sansui had returned to the Academy along with Douve. An explanation of what had happened ensued, followed by a discussion where it was decided that House Batterabbe would try to find a way to bring her power under control. In spite of finding the course of events somewhat odd, Sansui and Douve have promised a certain amount of cooperation and thus went to look at the big fish from the small pond.

The four Rare Arts users who came out into the world believing in the unconscious Ran... In their frame of reference, they were martial artists.

“All four of them are users of unarmed combat techniques designed around a Rare Art... I suppose they’re decently strong.”

Happine, who can use a little bit of ordinary magic but can’t really fight, looks at the dejected quartet. It reminds her of what she and the rest of her party had looked like only recently and the reminder sets off a faint pang in her heart.

“You four... I’d like to talk to you. You can just sit and listen.”

From the Sepaeda party’s point of view, the Batterabbe party seems excessively kind. Are they really that kind-hearted? They’re looking for reasons to save the life of a dangerous individual, one who would otherwise be easily killed. Sunae, who could have killed Ran but didn’t, and Happine, who could abandon Ran but won’t, both seem sympathetic to the four’s plight.

“You four are a danger. Well, not you four specifically, but that berserker, Ran. She’s been defeated pretty easily, but that’s just a matter of relative strengths. Just as she dominated everyone in your village, there are only a handful of people in this kingdom who can defeat her.”

It was fortunate for the kingdom that they had been seeking strong opponents. Since it wasn’t a time of war or anything, they had sought out the strongest individual in the kingdom. Having wandered the kingdom and asked around, everyone had mentioned the name ‘Sansui.’ And they hadn’t really caused any problems until they ran into Sansui.

“If we leave you alone, no doubt you’ll cause a fuss. This Academy has incredibly strong people who can keep you in line, but that’s not true for the rest of the kingdom. Many soldiers and knights serving this kingdom would fall victim if anything were to happen.”

It would have been best if she’d been content to be the biggest fish among small fry, but in spite of that, they chose to seek to become the greatest in the world. And having challenged the greatest, they promptly lost, as they could have been expected to lose.

“Batterabbe is a great martial house. If something is a potential threat to this kingdom, then our duty is to stop it before it can do any damage. Relax. We won’t attack her while she sleeps or anything. I have an ace named Saiga, a man who can most certainly win, even against the woman you believe to be the strongest.”

Ran’s method of being the strongest was within the bounds of the mundane. It was a kind of strength that could be dealt with. It was strength that couldn’t defeat an opponent it matched poorly against. But there are kinds of strength that aren’t constrained that way, like a strength that surpasses the countless ‘strongest’ individuals that exist throughout society. The strength that the girls believed in. There are aces who are literally, not figuratively, equivalent to an entire army on their own.

“If Ran goes on another rampage, like she has done in the past, death is the only thing that awaits her.”

Aces aren’t just strong. Aces secure victory the moment they’re played, regardless of who they’re facing. Even Saiga, who is still developing, will hit those heights soon enough. Even at present, so long as he focuses on winning, there’s no way he’d lose against Ran.

“However... If she can learn to control her madness, her state as a berserker, then things are different. She becomes worth keeping alive.”

But he doesn’t want to do that. Seeing the four girls, the Batterabbe party are reminded of their own past.

“You four need to help. I know it’ll be difficult. Even if the Tainted Blood that maintained her agitated state is restrained, her base personality isn’t going to change much. The difficulty there is something you understand more than we do, I think.”

They’ve been reminded of something by seeing the four girls. The future that awaits them, the dejection from being defeated.

“But even then, work with us. If things don’t change, everything just ends. The person you put so much faith into dies, and that’s the end. There might be a future awaiting you. There might be a path forward where you become stronger. There might be something wonderful waiting for you. Maybe you won’t find anything after surviving, but if you’re dead, the possibilities end there!”

Her words seem to be trying to urge them to stand. Happine desperately wanted them to stand again.

“I’m saying that, if you four keep your eyes downcast, Ran will die!”

That wouldn’t be a problem for Happine, really. Letting her live could very well mean the loss of countless lives, but still, she wanted Ran to live. Or perhaps more importantly, she didn’t want the girls to abandon Ran.

“Why do you say that...?”

“Surely you have no reason to care about us now...”

“No doubt you think us beneath contempt...”

“Leave us alone...”

The thing they’d believed in had been shattered. Relatively easily, as though proving a point. That is why they were so dejected. The egos they’d nurtured had popped, leaving them with the feeling that they weren’t particularly impressive.

“You aren’t listening! I’m saying that if things don’t change, Ran is going to die!”

Yes... It’s like they’re seeing themselves again.

“I’m saying that if you do nothing and just let that berserker go on a rampage again, we’ll have no choice but to kill her! I’m saying that if you four abandon her, we’ll have no choice but to kill her!”

Saiga, the man who could wield every art. Saiga, the man accepted by the ultimate legendary sword. The man they believed to be the strongest. They’ve seen that man get beaten, easily, in front of their eyes.

“Help her! Protect her! Don’t abandon her! Keep fighting! Or what? Are you just going to abandon her because she wasn’t as strong as you thought she was?!”

Which is why they understand the girls’ despair. Because, after all, they were quite thoroughly shown that the thing they believed in was ultimately insignificant.

“Does the fact that the person you believed in lost mean you no longer care about her, either?”

If they abandon Ran, it’ll be like watching themselves abandon Saiga.

“You followed her because she was strong, right?! You left your village because you looked up to her! You wanted to be with her because she was amazing, even if she was a bit uncouth, isn’t that right?! Even though you hadn’t gotten stronger, you felt like you were stronger because you were with her, didn’t you?!”

They were drawn to strength. That’s true. They wouldn’t have paid her any notice without that strength. But to abandon someone they accepted over a loss isn’t acceptable. It’s the worst possible thing anyone could do. They didn’t want the girls to commit such an awful act.

“You were proud when she won, weren’t you?!”

Saiga lost to the Sepaeda bodyguard three times. He’s even become his apprentice now. Sansui let him go all three times. He lost handily each time, but the situation was resolved each time without killing Saiga. It’s disgraceful, it’s frustrating, it’s embarrassing... Saiga himself feels that way. They, too, feel that way, to a lesser extent.

“I’m asking you this. Are you just going to side with her when she’s winning, then throw her away when the going gets tough?!”

But Saiga is still trying. He might wander, he might struggle, but he keeps looking forward, not content with the status quo, wanting to better himself. Death is the end, but defeat isn’t. And Ran is still alive, and the girls can help keep her that way.

“If you abandon her, what are you going to do? I’m asking what you’ll do. Are you going to cry that she fooled you when she claimed she wouldn’t lose to anyone, that you were disappointed that you didn’t get to bask in her glory, and say she was all talk? Are you going to just abandon her for that and go on living life half-heartedly?!”

Saiga fought fairly and lost, and that is nothing to be ashamed of. He admitted defeat to a superior opponent; also nothing to be ashamed of. He knows his weakness and he’s struggling with it. That’s not anything to be ashamed of, either. And they themselves, who believed and continue to believe in him, have nothing to be ashamed of. If there’s anything that might be truly shameful, it’d be if they abandoned him.

Those fights hadn’t had anything on the line. They hadn’t lost anything in the process. All that had been wounded was their pride. It’s likely Ran will struggle with that in her own way. If her four fellow Temperans abandon her, that will be something to be ashamed of.

The swordsmen under Sansui’s instruction saw themselves in the opponents they’d cut down when fighting in Caputo. They saw themselves when they looked upon the heads displayed by House Sepaeda.

And now the Batterabbe party sees themselves in the dispirited group of girls.

“That’s far more disgraceful than anything else!”

The girls in front of them are also hurting. They know, after all, that they were the same way. But it’s not like they’ll die if they’re just left this way. The one who actually fought and bled was Ran, the one who believed in herself more than anyone else was Ran, the one who most doesn’t want to admit her defeat is Ran, and the one who’ll die if things don’t change is Ran.

“You were traveling companions! This is when you’re supposed to help each other!”

There’s a saying that only those who know pain can know true compassion. At the very least, Happine Batterabbe can’t abandon the young women who’ve hit the same wall she overcame.