CHAPTER 1
The Taste of Stones
The skies above remained cloudy and gray. The flames of war had all but died out, yet what remained were great pillars of smoke that loomed over the smoldering city, connecting the earth to the sky. Not even birds flew in the vast, interminable smog.
“Is that the last of them?” Lyra asked in a hoarse, rasping voice.
It was Kaguya who answered. With no waterskin to offer, she tossed the parched prum girl a magic potion instead.
“It seems so. The only ones trapped beneath the rubble now are corpses.”
She watched as the last of her familia returned with tired expressions after delivering the rescued survivors to safety.
“You look dreadful,” she said at last to the pink-haired prum.
“Heh. Looked in a mirror lately? You’re no better than the rest of us.”
Lyra forced a weary smile. She and the rest of Astrea Familia had been working through the night to aid the rescue efforts. Every able-bodied person in the city had been doing the same—adventurers, healers, Guild employees. As agents of justice, the girls refused to be outdone.
The strain on the body was great. But the strain on the spirit was greater still. A few days ago, this street had been bustling with life. Now there was nothing but stone and ash. The members of Astrea Familia failed to find anything to say in the face of such devastation.
Lyra downed their last magic potion and wiped her mouth. The girls had expended their healing items on the tired and wounded who most needed them, so these were all they had left.
“Neze, what are we doing to combat the spread of disease?” asked Alize. As familia captain, she oversaw this operation. Though she was no doubt more tired than anybody else, her voice was firm, and the fire in her eyes burned as brightly as ever.
“The members of Dian Cecht Familia are distributing medical supplies all over the city, so I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that,” answered Neze. “And we’ve got a saint watching over us.”
“A saint? Oh, you must mean that little doll girl. Okay, well, we’ve done all we can here. Time to pull out.”
Alize called out to the other volunteers, and the group withdrew from the area.
“Man, can’t wait to take a shower and get some hot grub,” groaned Lyra. “Then I’m goin’ straight to bed.”
“No, you aren’t,” remarked Kaguya, equally tired. “After we get cleaned up and eat something, we’re going out on patrol. Evil could be lurking around any corner.”
The streets they walked were in equally bad shape as the ones they had just left. Walls had been torn down and many buildings were in ruins. If someone claimed a giant had just charged through the town, most would probably believe it. Wooden beams and barrels lay strewn across the debris-filled street. It would be almost impossible for a non-adventurer to traverse without breaking a leg. And being as tired as they were, the girls were having plenty of trouble themselves.
Lyra kicked aside a shard of glass from a toppled magic-stone streetlamp as she said, “We may be strong, but we ain’t immortal. We haven’t had a chance to catch our breath since the sky fell on our heads.”
Lyra continued to grumble as per usual, but not even Kaguya held it against her. By now, all of them had realized what an important role the prum girl’s chatter served. In the Dungeon, whenever trouble arose, she always had something to say. She wouldn’t allow any silence to linger unfilled.
This was her way of soothing the party’s troubled minds and souls. Even she, the smallest member of the party, had a crucial role to play. None of them would ever admit it, but the other girls were grateful for her constant chatter. With her usual wisecracking, they managed to smile, just a little, despite the destruction surrounding them.
“………”
Lyu, however, was trapped in a greater slump. She stared at her feet, a truly despondent look on her face.
“Keep your chin up, Leon,” said Alize, walking alongside her. “You’ve got to say something if you’re feeling bad.” She gently placed her hand on Lyu’s shoulder. “You haven’t spoken a word all night. If you keep it bottled up inside, you’ll explode!”
“………”
“We’re almost at the camp,” she said, undeterred by the elf’s characteristic reluctance to open up. “Then we can—”
Just then, a group of townsfolk stepped into the road, barring the way.
“What do you want?” asked Lyra, unable to conceal her bewilderment.
The townsfolk, inhabitants of the camp Alize had just mentioned, simply stood there with grim expressions, like a horde of malignant specters. They glared at Lyu and the other girls with simmering resentment.
Then one of the figures spoke. The words were quiet but thick with emotion. “I thought Astrea Familia was supposed to be the good guys,” she said. “Why didn’t you protect us? Why didn’t you save us?!”
It was a beastfolk woman, her voice like tearing silk. Her shoulders trembled with anger, and her eyes were filled with tears and pent-up rage.
“You lied to us!” she screamed. “Give him back!”
“““!!!”””
Lyu, Alize, Kaguya, Lyra—all the girls of Astrea Familia opened their eyes wide in shock. Then, the floodgates opened and the stones began flying.
“Everyone’s dead!”
“And what did you do? Nothing!”
“What good are you?!”
“You’re adventurers! Do something!”
“Why is this happening?!”
“Justice? What a joke!”
“It’s all your fault!”
The crowd may have lobbed rocks at them, but what the members of Astrea Familia had to endure most was the stream of abuse that contained all of the townspeople’s anger and suffering. Although the girls didn’t know it, this was precisely what Finn had predicted, and there was nothing they could do. People had lost their homes, their livelihoods, and their loved ones. It was obvious why they had lost any semblance of composure as their emotions swelled. And it was perfectly understandable why they were turning against those who those who had fought for them—because they were the same people who had failed to protect them.
The girls all threw up their arms to protect their faces. All of them except Lyu.
“…What is the meaning of this?” she whispered. Her entire body trembled from sheer indignation and her voice steadily rose in a crescendo. “What have we done to deserve this? Is this any way to repay us after all we’ve done for you? All we’ve given?! All we’ve lost?!”
All her pent-up rage exploded at once, just like Alize said it would. But all she received from the townsfolk in return was the cold and bitter taste of stones. That and cruel contempt for the failure of justice.
The words of the protectors failed to reach the ears of the protected.
It was so unfair, so unreasonable, that Lyu felt her faith shaken to its very core. And it wasn’t only her face that contorted with rage.
“How dare you…!” spat Kaguya. Several of them could endure this no longer, and their hands reached for their weapons. The far-eastern girl was just about to free her sword from its sheath to deflect the hurled stones and send the townsfolk packing when Alize stepped forward and reached out to stop her.
“Captain! Stay back; we don’t know what they might do!”
But the red-haired girl ignored her. She stepped out into the hail of stones without any heed for her own safety. Of course, it wasn’t long before one of those stones met its mark.
A thin streak of blood ran down Alize’s brow. The beastfolk woman who threw the offending stone stepped back in shock, realizing what she’d done.
“Ah…”
But Alize said nothing to her. Instead, she addressed them all.
“I’m sorry.”
No rhetoric, no cleverly crafted words. Just a simple, purehearted apology. The crowd of demi-humans froze, unsure how to respond.
“We were weak,” Alize went on. “And as a result, we let your homes get destroyed. We let your family and loved ones be killed.”
“““…!!”””
“I’m so, so sorry.”
The people were suddenly quiet, like a raging fire doused with water. Some grumbled and frowned, while others looked guilty. Her sincerity had soothed their anger somewhat since it was clear that no one felt more responsible for what happened than she did.
“Alize…”
Lyu couldn’t find the words for what she was seeing. Kaguya and Lyra were much the same. All of them had seen how Alize gave just as much if not more than anybody else. They knew how many people her tireless efforts had saved. Why did she have to hang her head in shame? Why was it that, after giving her all for the sake of others, the only thing she received in return was condemnation? It just didn’t seem right.
“It can’t be easy working such a thankless job, and without pay to boot.”
“I don’t think it’s healthy. In fact, I’m worried about you.”
The evil god’s words rang in her head, now in the mocking voice of a malicious court jester.
“You’re all gung ho about it now, but what happens after you burn out?”
“Would you still say the same?”
His teasing tormented her, and just as Lyu was thinking about how unreasonable it all was, someone stepped out of the crowd. Someone who didn’t accept Alize’s apology.
“‘Sorry’ isn’t enough…”
A human woman shambled forward, like a zombie.
“My child is dead because of you!!”
Her ash-coated face contorted in rage as she charged Alize and struck her across the cheek.
Alize could do nothing but stare. Lyu gasped in astonishment.
“She was so young, and now she’s gone!”
“H-hey, stop that! Those are adventurers!”
A man, presumably her husband, came up from behind the woman and pulled her back.
“They did everything they could… They saved our little Leah once already… They…”
The man tried to reason with his wife, but it wasn’t long before he, too, broke down in tears.
“Aaaargh! Why?! Why did this have to happen?!”
All of Astrea Familia looked on in shock. It was only Alize and Lyu who saw it. Beyond the weeping couple, poised atop a heap of rubble like a tombstone, was a blood-soaked teddy bear.
“I remember that… It’s…”
A scene from the not-too-distant past played out in Lyu’s mind. A scene of a twilit street.
“Ah! It’s Astrea Familia!”
“Thank you for saving me, nice ladies!”
Didn’t the girl who Alize and Lyu saved have a teddy bear just like this one?
“Oh, you don’t know how grateful we are to you, Miss Adventurer. How can we ever repay you…?”
How could such a grateful woman have become so consumed by sadness and rage?
And where…where was that innocent young girl now?
All these questions pointed to one terrifying conclusion. Lyu’s body turned to ice.
B-but…we saved her. We saved her…
It didn’t make sense. It wasn’t right. Lyu felt her heart come undone, and the world around her disappeared into an ashen smog. She hated those who had done this, but more than anything else, she hated herself for being powerless to stop it. Powerless to protect the ones she loved…like Ardee. All the regret and remorse bubbled up through her veins like molten magma, searing her insides until…
“Aaaghh… AAAAAAAAAAGHHH!!”
…something snapped. Something that had been given every reason to perish already, and only by some miracle had been keeping Lyu’s mind bound together.
She slumped to the floor as the world around her went dark.
“Leon? Leon! …Shit! C’mon, help me carry her!”
Lyra’s voice was faint, as if she were deep underwater. She could hear Alize and the other girls running over, but the sounds were muffled like distant thunder.
Then, as clear as day in her own head, she heard a question she could not answer.
“What exactly is your justice?”
At first, she didn’t realize she was dreaming. The glow of the evening was so warm, so bright, that she could almost cry. Golden stalks of wheat swaying in the breeze matched the color of the sky above, and it was impossible to tell where one stopped and the other started. The air was cool and refreshing. The smell was incredibly nostalgic, but it couldn’t possibly be real.
Because she was standing there. Her back was turned, just like the day she disappeared forever.
Leon…
Her sky-blue hair. A voice that would never be heard again.
Lyu didn’t dare reach out. She stood, transfixed by the sight.
Her face was in shadow, but her lips were moving.
Leon. Justice will…
Lyu wasn’t ready to hear the rest. Before the next words came, everything receded at the speed of light. The dream ended, ejecting Lyu into harsh reality.
All she could do was scream the girl’s name.
“Ardee!!”
She bolted up, throwing her blanket aside. Her hand reached out, but all it caught was empty air, reminding her that what she had just seen existed only inside her own mind.
Her arms fell lifelessly into her lap. She stared at them, silent, before eventually turning her hollow, sky-blue eyes on her surroundings.
“Where am I?”
She recognized the desk and chair. The sofa she was lying on felt familiar as well. Still, she stared wordlessly for a while before the answer came from a person standing next to her.
“You’re home.”
Lyu raised her eyes to meet the gaze of the kimono-clad woman by her bedside.
“Kaguya…”
Then, her foggy mind began sorting the dream from reality. The townsfolk had been throwing stones, and Lyu had passed out at some point. The other girls must have brought her back here, to the Stardust Garden.
How disgraceful to let them see her like that, Lyu thought. Completely ignoring the guilt Lyu felt, Kaguya gave only a rude snort, as though nothing were owed.
“At least you’re finally awake,” she said. Then, after confirming Lyu’s injuries were mild, she quickly changed tack. “Get up and get ready. The Evils are still attacking. We need to join the others.”
She offered nothing but a series of indisputable facts, allowing no emotion to enter her voice. Her expression was uncomfortably calm. Lyu was silent for a moment. Then, just as Kaguya was about to leave the room…
“How?”
A tiny utterance escaped her lips. Kaguya returned a perturbed look.
“How what?” she asked.
“How are you not angry after everything that’s happened?”
Once Lyu had started, she couldn’t stop herself.
“So many died, even the ones we saved before. And the ones who didn’t threw rocks at us!”
All the questions she’d been holding back flooded out in one great deluge. A righteous fury took control of her voice and leveled it at her own ally.
“Ardee’s dead!!” she screamed. “How can you be so calm?!”
Her voice echoed off the walls for only a moment, before the air grew silent once more. Kaguya only stared at the elf girl, silent, before releasing a huge sigh.
“You’re ridiculous,” she said.
“What?!”
“Criticism. Mockery. Slander. Sacrifice. These are all part of the mantle of justice. We can’t escape them.”
The drawn-out tone of her voice was the same one she adopted whenever she found fault with Lyu’s actions. Only now, there was a calmness to her words that Lyu had never heard before.
“This was something we all accepted and were prepared for. All of us…except you.”
“Hrk!!”
Kaguya’s words were like a knife to her heart.
“We all knew this day would come. But you were the last to join us and the least ready to accept this.”
Lyu was speechless. Kaguya mercilessly beat her into submission with the cold, hard truth. And while she scrambled to gather her thoughts, the far-eastern girl continued.
“Remember what I said, Lyu Leon. You can’t save everyone.”
It was nine days ago, after the girls confronted Vito on the eighteenth floor of the Dungeon.
“Know your place, you cocky elf. You think yourself a superhero? Nobody could possibly have saved them all, and you know it.”
That cold, calm statement had come after Lyu chastised Kaguya for being so dismissive of the adventurers who had died before Astrea Familia arrived on scene. The memory played in her head as Kaguya dropped her gaze to the sword at her hip and ran a slender finger along its sheath.
“You’ll get over it. In time,” she assured Lyu. “But if you had done what I said and prepared to accept sacrifices, you wouldn’t be in this situation now.”
Her answer left no room for interpretation. Lyu was still reeling from her words and couldn’t formulate a response straightaway, but the anger inside her refused to allow that insult to go unchallenged. Her heart began to pound, sending boiling blood coursing through her veins as her righteous fury compelled her to speak out.
“What kind of justice is that?!” she roared. “‘Get over it’? ‘Accept sacrifices’?! That is not what our goddess stands for! That is not the justice I chose to follow!!”
But even this was not enough to make Kaguya recant. The look in her eyes said it all. What good is that conviction when you lack the strength to see it through?
Lyu’s idea of justice was nothing but a dream. An unattainable fantasy.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Kaguya spat. “We live in the real world. There comes a day when each of us must make a choice. It seems that, for you, that day hasn’t come yet.”
When Lyu looked at her face, instead of the scorn she had expected, she saw sadness.
“You are as skilled with the sword as any of us, elf, but your heart is the weakest by far. You aren’t ready to face the horrors of war.”
In the wake of losing a dear friend, Lyu was on the verge of a complete breakdown. That was why she couldn’t see what the sadness in Kaguya’s eyes meant. The source of that sorrow was a mourning for something she had given up on but Lyu still held on to. At the same time, it was worry. Worry that the elf was not yet strong enough to face the challenges that lay ahead, and that they would leave her broken.
“Kaguyaaa!!”
And because she lacked the composure to recognize any of this, Lyu leaped up from the sofa in anger, grabbing Kaguya by the collar. The far-eastern girl didn’t so much as blink, nor did she try to fight back. If it helped soothe Lyu’s ire even slightly, then she would endure whatever the elf girl needed to get out.
“Kaguya?! What are you doing?!”
Alize heard the crash as Lyu upended a chair in her rage, and Alize came running into the room. She had come to relieve Kaguya of her duty in watching over the sleeping girl. Seeing the two on the verge of coming to blows, she stepped between them and pushed the girls apart.
“And you, Leon. You’ve just woken up, so take it easy!”
Alize went to place a hand reassuringly on the girl’s shoulder, but before she even could, Lyu ran at her and hugged her tight.
“Alize,” she sobbed. “Tell me the truth. Are you also willing to accept sacrifices?!”
With trembling eyes, she looked up into those of her leader, only a short distance away.
“Are you willing to forget about the death of our friend? To throw up your hands and say there’s nothing we can do?!”
Her eyes were the color of new growth in spring.
“Please, Alize, tell me! What is the justice we’ve been fighting for?!”
It was the plea of a girl who had lost everything. Neither her elven pride nor her adventurer’s armor could turn away the world’s cruel realities a moment longer. All she could do was scream. She was letting her best friend see her at her weakest moment, but that was okay so long as Alize could answer her question.
The flame-haired girl closed her eyes for a moment. The rhythmic, mechanical sound of the timepiece on the wall ticked away. Then, at last, she spoke.
“I’m sorry, Leon.”
She couldn’t. That was the plain and simple truth.
“I don’t have an answer for you right now. At least not one you’ll accept.”
Those were the absolute last words Lyu wanted to hear. She couldn’t believe her ears. It was the first time she had ever heard the bundle of sunshine that was Alize Lovell sound so forlorn.
“No!”
Screwing up her face like a child, Lyu sprinted out of the room, fighting back her tears.
“Leon!”
Kaguya shouted after her, but Lyu ignored her cry. She dashed out the front doors and into the ruined streets of the city. Shaking her arms and wiping her face, she screamed as she ran.
“I don’t want your apology, Alize! I just… I just…!”
Beneath the ashen sky, amid the cold rubble of a town destroyed, she lay her heart bare.
“I just wanted you to say I was wrong! I wanted you to smile, to take me by the hand and tell me where we go from here…like you always do!”
With no destination in mind, she ran, letting her wild emotions guide her. There were no stars in the skies above to show her the way.
“…Couldn’t you have at least lied to her, Captain?”
After Lyu had left bawling like a child, a wrinkle of concern crossed Kaguya’s brow.
“I may not be suited to weaning ignorant children,” she continued, “but I was counting on you to succeed where I had failed.”
It was not an attack on either her captain’s character or her own but, instead, an admission of their respective roles.
Alize cast her eyes downward. “I know,” she said. “I should have done what I always do. I should have laughed and smiled and been myself, but…” She shook her head, whipping her crimson hair about like a flickering candle flame. “I couldn’t do it. No, I didn’t want to do it. If I lied to Leon, I’d be lying to myself as well.”
Kaguya didn’t have a response for such a heartfelt confession. The two of them simply stood there in silence until the door creaked and a third girl stepped into the room.
“Let’s get some light in this room, seriously. It’s a good thing I stayed behind.”
“Lyra…”
The pink-haired prum girl flashed a casual smile, replacing the one the two girls had lost.
“I’ll go after Leon,” she said. “And you come, too, Kaguya. Looking for lost children sounds like a job worthy of our patrol.”
“In that case, I’ll come, too,” suggested Alize.
“Not you, Captain. You need to stay here to take charge of the others,” said Lyra, flashing a grin. “By the time we come back, you better not be mopin’ around. That’s not the Alize we want to see, y’know?”
“Agreed,” said Kaguya. “There’s something wrong about seeing Alize so somber.”
Alize stopped in her tracks as she looked at their smiling faces.
“Lyra… Kaguya…”
Both of them had been with Alize and Astrea Familia since the very beginning. Alize respected their opinions more than anyone else’s.
“You’re right!” she said at last, slapping her cheeks one at a time. “Now’s not the time to mope around! I gotta hurry and come up with an answer for Leon, so we can laugh in the Evils’ faces with the light at our backs!”
“I don’t remember sayin’ any of that”—Lyra chuckled—“but you do you, girl. We’ll handle Leon, so just sit tight.”
She looked at Kaguya, and the girls nodded to each other before leaving the room. Alize waved good-bye, and then…
“………”
After they had left, her smile disappeared. She dropped her hand and stared down at her feet with a bleak look on her face. The darkness was so thick, Alize was starting to wonder how they would find the light again.
Lyu sprinted aimlessly through the streets, her feet scattering spray in the sudden downpour. Though it was far from dusk, the skies above were as dark as night. The streets were empty since most of the residents had fled to seek refuge from the fighting, and Lyu felt more alone than she had in a long, long time.
At last, she realized how long she had been running, and the fatigue hit her all at once. She came to a stop in the southeast part of the city, far from Stardust Garden, gasping for breath.
“Pant… Pant…… I’m a disgrace.”
All around her were the inescapable traces of war, filling her with emptiness.
“I said such horrible things to Alize…and then ran away like a petulant child. What was the point?”
No matter how far she ran, she couldn’t escape the regret that weighed heavily on her heart. As she was pondering what to do next, she heard a commanding voice take control of the streets.
“Listen up, everyone! Here are your orders!”
Lyu was startled and hid herself away before she even realized what she was doing. She peeked around the corner, looking for the owner of the voice.
“I won’t mince words: we’re short on people,” the leader said. “Nursing the injured, burying our dead, and keeping the townspeople under control—these tasks should be left to the Guild and civilian volunteers!”
It was Shakti, captain of Ganesha Familia, barking orders to her subordinates that served as the city watch.
“We must focus on protecting everyone else from the Evils’ attacks! We must be a shield for those who cannot defend themselves!”
“““Yes, ma’am!””” roared the crowd of troops.
The sight brought a warmth to Lyu’s heart.
“Even after losing her sister, she’s still leading with a steady hand…”
Shakti had every reason to be in mourning, even more so than Lyu, but she wasn’t stuck in the past. She stayed focused on the here and now. It was inspiring. Lyu was beginning to think how pathetic she must seem by comparison, but then she heard Shakti’s next words.
“And never show mercy to your foes! None of you must make the same idiotic mistake my sister did!”
“What…?”
She didn’t believe her ears at first. But Shakti didn’t stop there. In fact, it only got worse.
“Ardee died because of mercy!” she roared, glaring with fire in her eyes at the crowd. “Because she tried to save her enemies as well as her friends! Her kindness was her own undoing! It was the very definition of folly! Our foe will not hesitate to blow themselves to kingdom come! So don’t hesitate to cut them down if capturing them becomes impossible! I won’t let a single one of you repeat the same mistake my sister made!”
There was an uncertain pause, then the warriors answered in unison.
“““Yes, ma’am!”””
“Very good. Now move out!”
The adventurers of Ganesha Familia dispersed into the city. After they were gone, Lyu staggered into the street, unable to process what she just heard.
“Shakti…”
“Hm? Leon? What are you doing? It’s dangerous to be out by yourself. Head back to your familia and—”
“What did you mean, Ardee died because of mercy?”
“………”
“What did you mean, her actions were the definition of folly?”
“………”
“What did you mean, her death was an idiotic mistake?!”
Lyu was at her breaking point. She walked right up to Shakti and roared in her face.
“You’re wrong! Ardee was kind! She knew more than anyone what justice meant! All she wanted was to live in a world where everyone was happy!”
“………”
“She…she was trying to save an innocent child! To protect an innocent life!!”
“And she died for it.”
When Shakti finally opened her mouth to speak, it was to deliver that devastating blow. Her eyes were cold and cruel.
“What?!”
While Lyu reeled in shock, Shakti’s eyebrows arched sharply.
“All she did was get herself killed at a time when we need every able-bodied adventurer we can put in the field. Whether it was to save a child or spare an enemy, her mistake is costing us dearly.”
Lyu couldn’t believe it. She was hearing a total condemnation of Ardee’s actions from the mouth of her own bereaved sister.
“I warned her about it in the past,” Shakti went on. “I told her not to show compassion to her foes. We aren’t gods.”
They were the words of someone who knew it was impossible to save everybody. The words of someone who knew what it took to be a protector.
“I heard about what happened with the pickpocket, Leon. Didn’t you take objection to Ardee’s idealism then?”
“Well…I…”
“There’s no room in Orario for ideals right now. What we need is to keep our people alive, no matter the cost. And that means we all need to see Ardee’s mistake as a lesson.”
In stark contrast to Lyu’s words, Shakti’s were as cold and hard as stone. But Lyu’s fists shook when she heard that word again. Mistake.
“If we want to come through this crisis in one piece, we need to use everything at our disposal…even her memory,” said Shakti. “That is my justice.”
Lyu heard something snap inside her once again. Translucent glass blood seeped from the cracks in her heart. It splintered into fragments and disappeared without a trace, as if everything she believed in had never existed at all.
“That’s your justice? You call that justice?! I don’t believe you…You’re lying! That can’t be true! It’s unacceptable!”
Lyu stepped backward, one foot at a time, shaking her head in a vain attempt to deny what she was hearing.
“Y-you’re her sister, you can’t just…!”
She wasn’t able to complete her sentence. Because when Shakti refused to meet her gaze, Lyu’s anger had nowhere to go, and she took off running once more.
“Grh!!”
Again she fled, just like with Alize. Running from so-called justice. Shakti watched her go, a blank look in her eyes. In that moment, the elf girl looked so much like her sister that it was impossible for her to follow.
“Shakti…”
It was only the sound of his footsteps in the puddles that alerted her to the presence of the elephant-masked god who appeared at her side. She didn’t know how long he had been standing there, listening.
“Ganesha, do you think…I was wrong?” she asked, but the god didn’t immediately answer. “Was Leon right? Was denying everything my sister believed in going too far?”
“………”
Though Lyu hadn’t said it outright, Shakti knew what the elf girl had wanted to say, because she had considered the very same idea herself. There was no trace of the confidence and conviction she had displayed a few moments ago. All that remained was a lost and confused girl, the same as Lyu.
“All it means is you chose a future for these people over honoring the fallen,” said Ganesha. There was no fault Shakti could point to in his words, and that was what made them so painful. She clenched her fists tightly.
“You’re right,” she said. “That is what I chose. I chose to spit on my sister’s grave for the sake of the living!”
Her anger, her fear, and her pain—they all surged forth in an unstoppable wave, clouding what was left of her rational mind. Then she peered into her god’s eyes.
“Tell me, Ganesha! How many more sacrifices must we suffer?!”
She turned to the skies above, cloud-filled and starless.
“How much more must I lose before I can finally tell her I’m sorry?!”
The god had no answer. He clenched his jaw in frustration, unable to utter a single word.
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