Ch.6666. People Waiting for Help (2)

I am not the one directly involved. I have no right to be the first to speak about the choices made that day. I could only watch Isis, who was tormented by guilt. Unless she asked me directly. That’s why I couldn’t comfort her, reproach her, or support her. This became entirely Isis’s trial. Whether to move forward or stay put was her choice to make.

“The child must not be killed.”

And finally, Isis moved forward. Not to escape her guilt, but to carry it with her, seeking to achieve the salvation that the hero’s party couldn’t accomplish back then.

Isis argued with Aryen. She stood up to Bishop Andre without backing down. As if there was something she absolutely had to protect, Isis rose to defend the child’s life herself. That alone was reason enough for me to take her side. At this moment, my thoughts aligned with hers.

“I agree with Isis.”

I raised my hand and stepped forward. I could feel my companions’ gazes. George looked at me as if entrusting the matter to me, while Daphne and Marianne had worried expressions.

“…You.”

Then, I met Aryen’s eyes. Aryen slightly furrowed his brow, and I stared back at him without changing my expression.

“Why ignore the possibility of saving the child, even if it’s infinitesimally close to zero?”

“…Hero.”

Bishop Andre looked at me as if troubled.

“It’s a choice that prolongs the child’s suffering and could increase the number of victims. Trying to save the child in this situation means abandoning responsibility toward those who remain.”

Aryen said calmly. I stared into his pitch-black eyes. I once thought there would come a day when I would deny you to your face. How ironic the situation has become. I took a deep breath. Just as Ilroy did in this novel once, I’m going to deny Aryen.

“Do you think abandoning a child’s life is an act of great responsibility, Aryen? That’s just the easy choice. If you kill one, you don’t have to think about the deaths of the rest. You can pretend you’ve protected them. Don’t think of one death as cheap, Aryen. Lives aren’t measured by numbers.”

Aryen’s face hardened.

“…If that one death can definitively save those who remain, is there another option? And remember that our job isn’t just about this one child who received the trace. Isn’t the purpose of this mission to capture the apocalypse worshippers? We can’t waste time and people.”

Aryen stepped forward.

“You haven’t even seen the child’s condition. The unidentifiable flesh covering half the body, the tentacle-like blood vessels protruding. Do you think you could still speak with such hope after seeing that?”

“Then, is Isis speaking like this without having seen that condition? I didn’t know that.”

“Are you going to play word games with me even in this situation?”

I shook my head.

“No. I’m saying we should give them a chance. You’re trying to take away opportunities from two people. You’re trying to take away the child’s chance to survive, and you’re taking away Isis’s chance to save that child.”

“Are you not even considering the possibility that Isis might fail?”

“Giving up on the best option is not the same as preparing for the worst.”

This time, I stepped forward.

“I have no intention of retreating step by step, compromising with calamity by making concessions.”

“Think rationally. Don’t just spout idealism.”

Aryen replied in a cold voice. Unable to bear our argument any longer, Bishop Andre waved his hand and walked between Aryen and me.

“Wait. Let’s stop here. We haven’t even begun the fight with the apocalypse worshippers yet, and we shouldn’t be fighting among ourselves.”

Bishop Andre looked at Aryen, who shook his head and stepped back.

“The Hero’s words are principled and right. But please understand that we’re dealing with apocalypse worshippers. We cannot give them such an opening.”

The bishop also opposed my words.

“We don’t know what dangers Isis might face throughout the night. Setting aside whether she can actually heal the child, we don’t know how long the treatment will take. If the sermon ends before the treatment is complete, we’ll be surrounded by apocalypse worshippers after their meeting. What should we do then?”

The bishop continued, his lips tightening.

“Should we kill all the followers who come at us just to treat that one child? Or should we quietly let them take Isis too?”

The bishop shook his head. The words of the inquisitor who had hunted down demon worshippers dozens of times were harsh.

“It cannot be done, Hero. I apologize for saying this, but I will not allow it.”

There was no room for objection. Ideals always crumble when faced with the wall of reality. I searched for words to argue, but I couldn’t completely refute the bishop’s points. All that remained was for me to insist by leveraging my position as the Hero.

“[Are you prepared to be unreasonable?]”

If necessary, I must be. If I don’t say I’ll save that child, who else will?

Just as I took a deep breath, looking at the bishop—

“Then I’ll step down from my position as Saint.”

Isis, who had been watching our conversation all along, dropped a bombshell.

“…Isis, what are you saying?”

Isis stood up and stepped forward.

“Even if the Holy Kingdom doesn’t acknowledge it, I’ll say it myself. What kind of Saint can’t save even one person? I’ll withdraw from this position disgracefully, facing criticism and being pointed at. How can someone who can’t save one endangered child be the face of the Holy Kingdom and hold the position of Saint?”

Isis’s face contorted in anguish.

“I couldn’t save this place. Of course, that might not be anyone’s fault, but perhaps I could have made different choices then. And I wandered without knowing how deeply wounded this place was. Because I didn’t know anything. What it means to save people.”

Isis was being unreasonable. I just stared at her with wide, surprised eyes.

“[You’re not the only one prepared to be unreasonable.]”

The Holy Sword spoke with a hint of amusement. Isis stood with her back to the light coming through the broken door.

“I won’t do that anymore. I don’t want to turn away saying I didn’t know.”

Just give me this one chance.

Bishop Andre and Aryen looked at Isis. Bishop Andre tried to say something but then frowned and closed his mouth, while Aryen looked at Isis with a faint expressionlessness.

“This is unreasonable, Isis.”

“I don’t care if it’s unreasonable. Sometimes unreasonableness saves people.”

Silence fell. The bishop’s contorted face was returning to normal. His ashen eyes pierced through Isis’s blue ones. Isis didn’t avoid the bishop’s gaze, but rather dropped her defenses and accepted his scrutiny, as if saying he could see through her all he wanted.

“Huh. I never thought I’d see such eyes from you.”

The bishop sighed, scratched his head vigorously, then took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. As if he didn’t care about the gazes around him, the bishop casually summoned holy fire above his hand and lit his cigarette.

“Isis, do you know that since you were young, you’ve had a talent for making people uncomfortable?”

Inhale. Exhale. Isis didn’t answer. The bishop raised one corner of his mouth in a bitter smile.

“I wasn’t just worried about this plan failing, Isis. I was concerned for your safety. But…”

The bishop sighed. The shape of his sigh rose white and billowy.

“I know that ultimately, that takes the form of keeping you confined.”

The bishop looked at Isis with sharp eyes. The ash from the bishop’s cigarette fell. He put the cigarette back in his mouth.

“This isn’t as an inquisitor. As a Blue Orthodox Church believer who believes in the existence of a Saint, as a guardian who has watched over you since childhood, as your education supervisor, I’ll trust you this once.”

And then Bishop Andre shook his head. As if saying he wasn’t some father indulging his daughter’s whims. I frowned at the bishop, and he looked back at me with raised eyebrows, as if he had already given up. You win, his gaze seemed to say. Then the bishop turned back to Isis.

“But remember, Isis. This is regardless of your will.”

The bishop’s voice grew cold.

“If things go wrong and they come after you. If any harm comes to your body because of that. Even if it’s just a small scratch.”

The bishop put his cigarette in the ashtray and spoke.

“I swear to heaven I will exterminate every last one who claims to worship the apocalypse with my own hands. Even if the Hero tries to stop me.”

Isis nodded with a hardened face. The bishop then looked at Aryen with an apologetic expression. Aryen was looking down at the ground with lowered eyes.

“We finally agreed on something, and now I’ve let you down, Aryen.”

“…There’s no choice.”

Aryen let out a long sigh.

“If this were like subjugating a calamity, it wouldn’t end with simply trusting Isis.”

“Yes. It might sound cowardly, but that’s right. Human beings are inherently opportunistic and treacherous.”

Aryen closed his eyes, opened them again, and looked at me.

“I was hired to protect Isis. If this fails, I will protect only Isis and escape from here. I might even join the bishop’s position.”

“I see.”

I answered briefly. Our positions can never be unified. That was true for Ilroy before possessing this body, and it seems true for me after the possession. Aryen said that to me and then turned his head and closed his eyes tightly.

“…Well then, I’ll have to completely revise the plan I had prepared. Isis, I don’t know how far the word of your visit to this village has spread, but tonight will likely be the first and last chance to treat that child.”

Bishop Andre said, narrowing his brow.

“The risk is considerable, but I’ll refrain from discussing that further. And while you, Isis, are trying to treat the child, we will infiltrate the apocalypse worshippers’ sermon. We’ll watch from there and look for an opportunity to catch the culprit.”

The bishop then turned to Aryen.

“Aryen, you’ll need to help our inquisitors. For this kind of work, you’re much more suitable than the Hero.”

Aryen frowned.

“…Then who will protect Isis in the meantime?”

Bishop Andre slightly turned his head toward me. I frowned at his gaze.

“Let’s entrust the escort duty to the Hero and the hero’s party for now. If you don’t trust the Hero, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Aryen slowly shook his head.

“No. I don’t intend to be childish.”

The mercenary said that and was the first to rise from his seat. I watched Aryen’s back as he walked into the shrine.

“I’ll say it again, you only have one chance, Isis.”

Isis nodded heavily.

“I know.”

Isis’s eyes didn’t waver at the words that she only had one chance. With Isis’s determination, my role was now set.

To protect that determination.

I gazed at Isis and the bishop for a moment before standing up. Night was approaching.