Special Chapter: 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."