Chapter 64: Value (Part 2)
“She’s a good child…”
Suddenly, Mayor Robert’s eyes turned red, and his smoky, raspy voice choked up a bit: “Ailna… a child like that shouldn’t be killed by them. She shouldn’t d*e; this world… it’s just unreasonable, utterly unreasonable…”
The old man was sobbing so hard it was as if his wrinkles couldn’t contain his sorrow.
I stared at his face, a flicker of compassion briefly crossed my mind, but couldn’t help raising an eyebrow. Then, a rush of fiery anger boiled inside me.
“You say she’s a good child…”
“You think this world is unreasonable?”
I hadn’t planned on getting into a debate…
I just wanted to wrap things up quickly, have a good rest tonight, and head out to Sand Valley first thing in the morning. Once I confirm Ailna isn’t dead, wherever she might be, I wouldn’t wait anymore. I’d find her first and get everything sorted out.
…If she really is dead, then we can talk about that later.
I didn’t want to waste time or argue with anyone. After leaving Carlos without a word, I felt this heavy something stuck in my chest, making me uncomfortable. I just wanted to get the things I needed to say off my chest and sit quietly for a bit.
But then, the old man suddenly said something like that, and after several attempts to stifle my anger, I couldn’t hold back anymore. My emotions raced through me like a tidal wave.
“So, do you know how many people she killed in the Western Continent…?”
I locked my gaze on his bloodshot eyes, saying each word slowly: “The people she killed were loving priests, loyal warriors, and more who were just like you—ordinary folks living their lives, raising families, trying to make ends meet.
“Those people were just minding their own business at home when disaster struck out of nowhere. Many died, and some wished they had died… yet before this, they hadn’t done anything wrong. Old man…”
“Do you think those people, who were killed by Ailna, your so-called good child, had anyone to reason with before they lost everything? Before they died tragically in the streets or on the battlements?”
Ah…
I shouldn’t be having this conversation here with an old man.
It’s pointless…
But I just couldn’t help it.
That woman saved my life, and I should be grateful, but I really couldn’t feel that way deep down.
What’s worse, sometimes I’d sulk and think, if that day I knew the one saving me would be her, such a villain drenched in innocent bl**d, if I’d known it would be her…
Then maybe I’d rather just d*e in Silgaya.
My feelings were complicated at the moment.
I wanted to continue talking to the old mayor, to make him fully understand what Ailna—the good child in his eyes—had actually done in that place that made everyone furious…
I wanted him to see all this…
But I didn’t want to look at his old face anymore.
That mournful expression, crying tears for a demon, that aged countenance.
“…Forget it, you—”
After a moment of silence, a sudden wave of irritation hit me. I waved my hand impatiently, ready to send him off.
But just as my hand lifted, the old man unexpectedly interrupted: “…I think you’re right.”
He quickly wiped his face, rubbed his dark cheek, and the moisture in his eyes slowly faded. With a trembling voice, he continued: “I know, I know about those things… I know a lot… at least in my heart, I’m aware… I may be old, but I’m not confused… Miss Ailna… even if she doesn’t explain things directly to me, I actually understand well. She’s done many unforgivable things… I’m well aware of this…”
“So, this is the good child in your eyes.”
I didn’t want to push him away anymore: “The good child in your eyes commands the jester, controls so many madmen and heretics, killing innocent people like dogs, slaughtering those who fight desperately to protect them. You think she’s a good child just because the blade in her hands hasn’t been pressed against your neck yet.”
The old man sat there thinking for a moment.
“Perhaps everything you say is true…”
But then he shifted his tone: “However, I don’t entirely see it that way.”
“Lady, even though I call you that, I know you’re very young… perhaps you’ve done many remarkable things in the Western Continent, but ultimately… Heh. I may not be saying this to you; you’re too young to understand some things…”
The old man pointed to himself: “People like us—our value is gone… You probably don’t know the stories of this town. I want to tell you that we were once oppressed by the church, rising up to resist… but that was many years ago, a very long time ago…”
“Later on, when there was no more war or oppression, our lives became peaceful… Not that we’re well off, but we weren’t starving either, and lived with dignity… So, hatred slowly faded away. In the beginning, all we wanted during the revolt was just that…”
“Our ancestors ultimately couldn’t change anything and compromised under a piece of paper from the church… choosing to forget those new and old grudges because as long as we could live peacefully, no one wanted to foolishly risk their lives… We’ve lived here for generations, knowing everything but changing nothing, just quietly living on… our existence has long lost its value…”
The old mayor’s words were so despondent that I couldn’t help interrupting: “As long as a person is alive, they have value.”
“No, no, you haven’t understood my point…”
He waved his hand dismissively: “I mean, most in this world are like us… Sure, everyone doesn’t want to d*e and wants to live well, but living doesn’t change anything. It changes nothing, not even the desire to change… whether living or dead, it doesn’t make any impact on this world…”
“But Miss Ailna, she’s not like that.”
The old man looked straight into my eyes.
This was the first time he could really look me in the eyes.
“She has killed so many people, innocent people, yes, I know, and I’m clear that she’s committing wicked acts… Perhaps her hands are already soaked in bl**d. In the eyes of most, including yours, she’s undoubtedly a villain, wielding d*ath like it’s nothing, and there are countless who hate her to the bone across both continents…”
“But Lady, you know. Miss Ailna’s father and mother died in the encirclement battle twenty years ago; she has no one left in this world who she cares about… She doesn’t have much revenge in her heart; I can see that… She doesn’t really need to do those things…”
“She’s just a woman not yet thirty, not married or have children; why would she pin her whole life on such matters, committing those acts, becoming a demon in the eyes of the world… hated and scorned by millions…”
“Oh, Lady—”
The old man sighed deeply: “You ask… did she do those things for herself?”
