Chapter 4: The Taste of Justice (Patreon)

Dark clouds still pressed down over Orario.

The rain had stopped, but the sky showed no sign of clearing.

A damp wind cut through the broken streets, carrying away the last sparks of fire and pushing the mingled smell of charred wood, blood, and medicinal herbs into every nose.

The second day of the Great Feud.

Orario remained gripped in fear.

The district that had burned the night before had undergone an initial search, and the fires had finally been put out after a sleepless night's effort by the mages. But that was only the surface of it.

Roofs had collapsed.

Roads had been severed.

Magic stones from streetlamps lay scattered among shattered paving stones, flickering weakly now and then, like eyes about to close forever.

No merchant's cry could be heard in the city, no laughter of adventurers heading for the Dungeon.

The only sounds reaching anyone's ears were the grinding of stretcher wheels over rubble, the hoarse shouts of rescue workers, and the sounds bleeding out from the makeshift medical tents.

"Is this where it ends?"

Lyra stood before a stretch of blackened ruins, forcing the words out of a parched throat.

Her voice had gone as rough as sandpaper, her pink hair dyed gray-black with soot. Her Pallum combat suit was torn in several places, and her left leg was still bound with a makeshift bandage.

Kaguya tossed a bottle of healing potion to her.

"Drink it. Don't treat it like a water flask."

Lyra caught the bottle and tipped her head back for a long swallow.

"I'm so thirsty I'm turning into a desert."

"Look in a mirror first. Your face looks worse than any desert."

"Are you worried about me?"

"I'm stating a fact."

Lyra let out a deliberately long sigh, then drained the rest of the potion in one gulp. She wiped the moisture from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve, her eyes sweeping over the last ruin they'd dug through.

A few members of the Astraea Familia came back carrying a stretcher.

The person on it had lost consciousness, chest and abdomen wrapped in layers of bandages. Ryana Lietz and Noin, who carried the stretcher, moved with heavy steps, their faces clouded over with exhaustion.

Alise stepped forward to check the injured man's condition.

"Still breathing. Take him to the east tent first. Maryuu should still be there."

"Understood."

The two of them carried the stretcher away.

Only once that figure had vanished into the smoke and dust did Lyra speak, her voice low.

"We've used up all the healing potions on the wounded, haven't we?"

Kaguya nodded.

"The last bottle went to that dwarf just now."

"So what do we do?"

"We push through on willpower."

Lyra tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"That sounds like something the captain would say."

Alise, overhearing, turned back.

"Willpower only holds up for so long. Once we're back at camp, everyone rests in shifts. We can't keep going nonstop like we did last night."

"But Evilus is still out there."

Neze wiped the dust from her face.

"They just hit the grain convoy in the north again. There are still a few districts we haven't finished patrolling."

"All the more reason to conserve our strength."

Alise looked over the group.

Her face was equally streaked with soot, and there was a cut on her forehead from flying debris. When she spoke, her shoulders moved a little stiffly — clearly she, too, was nearing her limit.

"The Familia of Justice can't collapse from exhaustion in front of the people we're supposed to protect."

Her tone was firm, but carried no harsh command.

"Let's head back to the temporary camp first, check our supplies of medicine and food, then reassign patrol zones."

The others nodded.

The group moved on along the cleared road.

"I really want a bath."

Lyra had barely taken a few steps before she started grumbling under her breath.

"Hot water, clean clothes, and a bowl of soup with meat in it. Then I want to fall asleep and have nobody bother me for anything."

"That last part isn't happening any time soon."

Kaguya stepped over a fallen beam blocking the road.

"There's still patrol duty after resupply."

"Kaguya, you could be a little gentler with reality sometimes."

"Reality's already being plenty gentle. It's still letting you stand there and complain."

"That's a genuinely annoying thing to say."

Lyra kept grumbling, but she didn't stop walking.

None of the others scolded her for the noise.

They all knew Lyra was working to keep the group's voices going.

In the Dungeon, the greatest danger was rarely the monsters themselves, but the fear that crept in once a party fell silent. As long as someone kept saying trivial things, it meant everyone was still thinking, still willing to answer each other.

Lyra's complaining could be irritating at times.

But right now, no one wanted her to stop.

"Speaking of which, shouldn't Artorias's side be wrapping up by now?"

Neze asked suddenly.

"He and Adi were sent to support the Loki Familia in the industrial district."

Kaguya raised a hand and pointed northeast.

"I hear they're working well together with that blonde girl."

Lyra's eyes lit up.

"Good teamwork on their first meeting? What was that kid's name again?"

"Ais."

Alise answered.

"Ais Wallenstein. A rookie of the Loki Familia."

"Artorias spots the enemy, and she charges in to cut them down."

Lyra rubbed her chin.

"That sounds convenient, actually."

"Artorias isn't charging in to cut anyone down."

Kaguya reminded her.

"He's injured. He's only doing reconnaissance and calling out positions."

"I know. I'm just saying, he's finally found a way of fighting that suits him."

Alise looked toward the northeast, a faint smile touching her lips.

Since regaining his human form, Artorias's body still hadn't fully recovered. He couldn't swing a sword and charge forward like the other adventurers, but his enhanced hearing and sense of smell let him detect ambushes, Flame Stones, and survivors buried in the rubble.

That was what he could do.

And it was more than enough.

Ryuu had said nothing throughout the whole conversation.

She walked at the back of the group, her wooden sword hanging at her side. Her elf ears twitched faintly in the wind, but her face showed no expression at all.

Alise noticed.

Ever since learning last night that Artorias and Astrea were safe, Ryuu had stayed silent. She still helped rescue people, still swung her blade, still carried out every order given — but she hadn't spoken a single word of her own accord.

"Ryuu."

Alise slowed her pace to walk beside her.

"You've been quiet for a long time."

"I'm fine."

"That's usually what people say when they're not."

Ryuu didn't answer.

Alise reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Once we're back at camp, go drink something hot first. If you feel like talking afterward, come find me."

"Alise."

Ryuu lifted her eyes.

"What if what those people said is true?"

Alise's footsteps faltered slightly.

Ryuu looked around at the collapsed buildings.

"They lost their families, their homes, the lives they used to believe in. We said we'd protect Orario, and this is what they got instead."

"That's not your responsibility alone."

"I know."

Ryuu gripped her wooden sword tighter.

"But it's true that we failed."

She said it calmly.

No self-pity, no attempt to dodge it.

Precisely because of that, Alise fell silent for a moment.

Ryuu already understood that justice wasn't a shield that could block every disaster. Their choices could come from good intentions, or from a need to feel at peace with themselves, but they still had to bear the consequences those choices brought.

Doing something you believe is right, something that lets you sleep at night afterward, doesn't mean it will never hurt anyone.

If one day you're proven wrong, then admit it, and correct it.

That wouldn't make justice a lie.

Ryuu said quietly:

"I won't decide that everything we've done was meaningless just because they blame us."

Alise looked at her.

"But?"

"But their anger has good reason behind it."

Ryuu's gaze settled on a collapsed house.

"We failed to protect Orario. No matter how many people we saved, that fact doesn't go away."

Alise didn't argue right away.

They had saved many people.

Just as many had died.

Both of those things could be true at once.

"I understand."

Alise withdrew her hand.

"Then don't mistake their anger for hostility. For now, at least, let them finish saying what they need to say."

"Mm."

The group continued toward camp.

But the moment they turned the corner, every one of them stopped.

*

Civilians blocked the road ahead.

They had poured out of the temporary camp — men, women, old and young pressed together, forming a heavy human wall across the path.

Some held wooden clubs.

Some clenched broken stones.

Others stood at the back holding children, eyes hollow.

No one spoke first.

That silence was more unsettling than any shouting.

Lyra took a half step forward.

"Everyone, what's going on?"

A young Beast Human woman raised her head.

Her cheeks were smeared with ash, her right hand clenched around a stone so hard her nails nearly broke the skin of her palm.

"Aren't you the Astraea Familia?"

"We are."

Alise answered.

Bloodshot lines showed in the woman's eyes.

"Didn't you say you'd protect everyone?"

Her voice trembled, as if words held down in her chest for too long had finally found a way out.

"Didn't you say justice would save us?"

No one answered.

She suddenly raised her arm and hurled the stone.

"You liars! Give that person back to me!"

The stone grazed Alise's shoulder and hit the ground behind her.

"Everyone died!"

"Aren't you adventurers?"

"Why don't you just go kill those bastards!"

"Why do you only tell us to stay here!"

A second stone landed by Lyra's feet.

A third struck Kaguya's arm guard.

Then stones came flying like rain.

Lyra and Noin raised their arms to shield their faces. Kaguya's hand had already gone to her sword hilt, while Neze clenched her teeth, forcing down the urge to charge forward.

"What do you all think you're doing!"

Kaguya shouted angrily.

"We've been out here saving people since last night! Do you think you're the only ones who've lost family!"

"Kaguya!"

Alise's voice cut in to stop her.

"They're just afraid!"

"Does being afraid give them the right to throw stones at us!"

Kaguya's grip tightened on her hilt, the sheath already pulled half an inch open.

"We lost Adi too! We haven't had time to cry either!"

"Stop."

Ryuu stepped in front of Kaguya.

The elf's voice wasn't loud, but it made Kaguya freeze.

"Don't draw your sword."

"But they—"

"I know."

Ryuu looked toward the civilians.

"They have no strength to fight back against Evilus, no courage to face the enemy on the walls. To them, we're the only armed force they can even see."

She raised her hand and caught a stone flying toward her.

The stone's edge was sharp; it cut her palm open at once.

Blood dripped from between her fingers.

"So they throw their anger at us instead."

Ryuu walked slowly forward.

"That's not fair."

She glanced at the stones scattered on the ground.

"But it's also true that we failed to protect them."

The civilians' shouting gradually died down.

They had expected the adventurers to fight back, to draw their swords, to loudly declare they'd already done everything they could.

Alise walked over to stand beside Ryuu.

She didn't raise a hand to shield her face.

A stone struck her forehead.

Blood trickled down along her brow and dripped onto the bridge of her nose.

"Alise!"

Neze cried out.

Alise wiped a hand across the wound, her palm coming away red.

Then she looked at the Beast Human woman who had thrown the stone.

"I'm sorry."

The apology carried no excuse in it.

"Our strength wasn't enough. We couldn't protect your homes, and we couldn't keep safe the people you loved."

She bowed her head to the civilians.

"We're truly sorry."

The crowd fell into a brief silence.

Even those still gripping stones froze in place.

One human woman suddenly pushed past the people in front of her, stumbling forward.

Her eyes were red-rimmed, her face darkened with soot.

"What good does that do now?"

Her voice shook.

"Will your apology bring her back?"

Alise didn't answer.

The woman suddenly rushed forward and slapped her across the face.

The crisp sound echoed down the street.

Ryuu's fingers clenched hard.

"Hey!"

Kaguya stepped forward.

"Stop."

Alise raised her hand to keep her companions from moving closer.

The woman grabbed the front of Alise's clothes, tears falling without pause.

"That child was so small!"

"You saved her once! She even said she wanted to become an adventurer, that she wanted to repay you!"

The woman's strength gave out quickly.

Her hand, still gripping Alise's collar, slowly went slack, and she turned to point at the rubble behind her.

There, a few makeshift grave markers stood in a row.

Beside one of the wooden markers lay a small teddy bear, soaked in blood.

Ryuu's pupils contracted sharply.

A memory surfaced from somewhere deep in her mind.

That evening.

A little girl huddled in her mother's arms.

The teddy bear she had clutched tightly after the Astraea Familia rescued her.

"I'm Lia, the girl the big sister saved."

Back then, she had smiled with such joy.

Now the teddy bear lay beside the grave, its button eyes smoke-blackened, its pale fabric soaked through with dried blood.

The woman finally collapsed to her knees.

"She'd already been saved by you once."

She covered her face, her sobs coming out broken.

"Why wasn't anyone there to save her the second time?"

The man beside her hurried to hold his wife up.

"Wasn't Lia already saved by them once?"

He couldn't finish the sentence either.

"She said, when she grew up, she'd repay the adventurers."

The man lowered his head, tears falling into the mud.

"She said she wanted to give her teddy bear to that elf sister."

Ryuu looked at the little bear.

Something struck her chest like a blow.

But she didn't crumble.

She accepted the pain, and accepted the share of the blame that belonged to her.

They truly had failed to save Lia.

There was no pretty phrase that could cover that up.

"I remember her."

Ryuu spoke.

The crying couple both looked up.

"I remember Lia, and I remember how she held that teddy bear."

Ryuu walked to the wooden marker and knelt on one knee.

"She thanked us once. I haven't forgotten that."

She reached out and smoothed the bear's wind-tousled ears.

"But in the end, she still died."

Ryuu said quietly:

"That is our failure."

Alise came to stand beside her, blood now running down the side of her face from the cut on her forehead.

"We'll remember her."

Ryuu nodded.

"And we'll keep saving people."

She rose to her feet, facing the civilians still gathered on the road.

"You can blame us."

The words made Kaguya and the others look at her in surprise.

But Ryuu didn't stop.

"We have no right to demand you forgive us right away. You lost your families, your friends, the places you used to live. Your anger has every reason to exist."

She opened her injured palm, letting blood drip from her fingertips.

"But please, put down the stones."

Ryuu's gaze moved over the crowd, one by one.

"If you hurt us, then when the next attack comes, there will be fewer hands left to save people."

"If you truly want Lia's death to mean something, then live."

Her voice grew clearer with every word.

"Once we've taken back the walls and driven off Evilus, we'll tell her ourselves that we never forgot."

The woman stared blankly at Ryuu.

"You're still going to fight?"

"Yes."

"Even though the enemy is that strong?"

"Yes."

Ryuu gripped her wooden sword tighter.

"Because we believe this is the right thing to do. And if it turns out we were wrong, we'll admit it and bear the consequences."

There was none of the almost rigid sense of righteousness in her voice that there had once been.

In this moment, Ryuu was simply an adventurer who had admitted failure, and still meant to keep going.

"But until then, we won't give up."

In the crowd, someone slowly lowered the stone in their hand.

Then a second person.

A third.

The Beast Human woman looked down at the stone in her palm, and finally opened her fingers. It fell to the ground, splashing a small patch of muddy water.

"I didn't mean to kill you."

She said, choking on the words.

"I was just so angry."

"I know."

Alise raised a hand to press against the wound on her forehead.

"We're angry too."

She looked toward the direction of the city walls.

"So please, go back to the tents for now. Treat your wounds, look after your children, distribute the food. When we come back, we'll discuss together what to do next."

The civilians didn't respond right away.

But the wall of bodies blocking the road slowly began to part.

The couple were still sitting on the ground crying. Neze went over and helped them up, while Lyra picked up the teddy bear from the ground, wrapped it carefully in a clean strip of cloth, and handed it to the woman.

"Don't let it sit out in the rain anymore."

The woman looked at her, lips trembling, and nodded.

"Thank you."

Lyra didn't say you're welcome.

She just patted the back of the woman's hand.

Ryuu stood where she was, watching the teddy bear being clutched close again.

Her heart still felt heavy.

But that weight no longer dragged her down into darkness.

That had been their failure.

They would own it.

And that was also the reason they had to keep carrying it forward.

"Ryuu."

Alise came to stand beside her.

"Your hand's still bleeding."

"It's fine."

"That's an order from the captain. Get it bandaged."

Alise handed her a roll of bandages.

Ryuu took it and began wrapping her palm, head lowered.

Kaguya walked over to join them, still glaring somewhat resentfully at the civilians retreating back toward camp.

"I still feel pretty wronged about all that."

"Same here."

Lyra leaned against a nearby broken wall.

"But if they didn't even have the strength left to complain, that would be the truly terrible thing."

Neze looked at the still-crying people.

"At least they're still willing to talk."

"So we keep listening."

Alise clenched her fist.

"And after we've listened, we go save the next person."

In the distance, toward the industrial district, a flare shot up into the sky.

Its crimson light pierced the clouds, briefly lighting up the ruined streets.

Ryuu looked up.

Artorias and Ais were still fighting out there.

She didn't know whether they were hurt now, or whether those two children fighting side by side for the first time would manage to finish the rescue safely.

But she knew she couldn't keep standing here.

"Let's go."

Ryuu took the first step forward.

Alise and the others followed.

As Lyra passed the makeshift graves, she gently straightened one of the wooden markers stuck in the dirt.

"Remember to add Lia's name to the official register later."

"I will."

Ryuu answered without looking back.

Behind them, the civilians were still crying; ahead, the city remained in ruins, and Evilus hadn't vanished from Orario.

But justice hadn't shattered under the stones.

It had only gotten covered in mud and blood, grown heavier, harder to sum up in one pretty phrase.

Ryuu gripped her wooden sword and walked toward the direction of the next cry for help.

They had admitted their failure.

And so—

They would keep fighting.