Chapter 21: You Can Participate in the International Speech Contest (Patreon)

"So the meeting can't go forward, and as it happens, you've come all this way to attend it — hasn't the time you spent traveling here gone to waste, then? Don't you think that's a case of hurting others without helping yourself?"

"..."

"And besides, there's a sofa over there."

"..."

"I see, I see — it seems this sofa was prepared just for me. But... if Lady Pandora truly can't bear the sight of these heartless objects, I could still deal with them for you. Wanting me to destroy them would be a kind of desire on your part too, but that's still within what I can accept. So go ahead and say the word — just nod, and it'll all be taken care of for you."

Watching Regulus sit cross-legged on the sofa, Pandora smiled helplessly. "No, that won't be necessary. I understand you mean well, but I already explained my reasons earlier — there's no need to do that."

"Mm, mm, that's true. Lady Pandora really does understand after all. We're alike on this point — I'll admit you and I are half the same."

Naturally, Pandora filtered out half of what he said.

She really couldn't be bothered arguing with him about this sort of thing...

"So, Archbishop Lye, care for a little something to eat?" Pandora said, sliding the fruit platter toward the small figure whose clothes were caked in blood and mud.

"Lady Pandora... there's a difference between what one eats and what one drinks. Food can be chewed; drink is simply swallowed down. Eat enough, and it fills the stomach — drink cannot."

As he spoke, Lye twirled the twin blades in his hands, punctuating each word with a flourish.

"So when eating and drinking are lumped together as one, that sort of... impurity isn't something we can accept. If such a thing entered the body, it would surely bring unbearable suffering."

With that, he leaned back against the sofa.

"Heh — only creatures like you two, who spend all day thinking about eating, eating, eating, would be so picky about such things. As for me — I'm nothing like you. I don't pick and choose, and not merely because I have no preference for the kind or shape of the thing, but because I don't even want it in the first place. Eating, drinking, all of it — utterly meaningless acts. Of course, I can understand you two; it's for survival, after all. 'Survival' — what a lovely word. But I'm already satisfied, because I'm living. You should know, living and surviving aren't the same concept at all..."

Listening to Regulus and Ley ramble on, Pandora finally understood why Capella had told her to spend less time with the other Archbishops...

"So, who else hasn't arrived yet?" It was time to confirm who among the Archbishops was actually present.

"[We] went off to find food, so we didn't come... We're always so ravenous we'll eat anything — we've told ourselves so many times, and still we can't change. Why can't we grasp the difference between one kind of food and another? We're supposed to be ourselves, yet we can't understand our own thinking — abandoning ourselves entirely to go forage alone. Well, it's hardly surprising, really, since [food] is what drives us to keep living; it's only that we differ in what counts as food. Looked at that way, it isn't entirely unforgivable — and yet we still mind it, quite a bit."

Pandora knew this wasn't the first time Ley had criticized Roy's "eating habits" this way.

"It's a blessing that eyesore of a woman didn't come either. Seems she's realized how pointless her behavior was last time — well, at least she has some sense," Regulus added.

"Mm..." After waiting a long while with neither of them saying anything more, "Then let's begin the gathering."

It seemed only [Lust], [Sloth], [Greed], and [Gluttony] were present; [Wrath] and [Pride] were both still missing — which meant, if things followed their original course, there was a real chance Fortuna would end up becoming [Wrath]...

"Yes." Geuse was the first to respond.

"Yes." "Mm..." The next two answers followed — one somewhat excited, the other indifferent.

"Well then, today's topic concerns the matter of the [Gospel]," Pandora said, paying no mind to any of that. "Archbishop Regulus..."

As she spoke, she turned her gaze to Regulus.

"Ahh — I understand," Regulus said, rising to his feet with a smile. "It's this damned book, isn't it."

Then, under the watch of the other three, he drew a thick book from the pocket of his white coat.

"Well then..."

[Riiip]

"What a delightful sound. Fortunately, such a brief, wonderful noise wasn't mine to enjoy alone — everyone here got to share in it. But there's no need to thank me, for two reasons: first, I have no need for that sort of gratitude — my wealth and my wives are enough for me. Second, in a moment, you two will let me hear that sound again as well. So now I hand the opportunity over to you — go on, destroy the sinful thing that woman left behind, the one who violated others' freedom even after her death, just as I have!"

With that, he raised high the Gospel, now torn in two in his grip.

Watching the pages scatter and drift down through the air, Pandora no longer knew what to say. If she had to have some thought on it, it would be — [Whoever cleans this place is in for a rough time...]

"That thing..." Lye glanced at the pages littering the floor and shook his head. "We still think it's useful."

Ignoring Regulus, whose face had gone dark, he continued: "When we're hungry, this little thing points us toward where to find food, letting our bottomless stomach settle for just a moment. Even if what it finds isn't fresh, delicious, juicy, or delectable, it still gives us a direction to search in, rather than wandering aimlessly through a desert of hunger's torment. Though only we sit here, we speak for a view we all share — so we don't see what good it would do to tear up something that, though inedible, is still quite useful."

In short — tear it up if you two want to. We certainly won't.

"Hey, hey, you — do you even understand what this means?" Regulus said, smiling as he looked at Ley. "It means the rest of us — me, Lady Pandora, that elf, and the 'we' you keep going on about — are all suffering a loss of rights."