Chapter 357: My Voice of Conscience (1/2)
”I... what?” Gruen looked at the sword in confusion after he was released. Finally, he snapped out of it and ran toward Aimee, who was on her knees as well but found her unharmed. ”You are safe, you are...”
”She is, thanks to you,” Arthur said with a smile. ”You bent the sword away from her. No. The sword refused to strike what you love. This is your power, Gruen.”
”You did this on purpose?” Gruen asked as he hugged Aimee, his face covered in dried-up blood. ”So, it was a lie? You won't want to kill us?”
”Kill you? Of course not. I'm just surprised that you believed it.”
”The noble back at the mansion was...”
”He wasn't a friend of mine,” Arthur said as he crouched in front of them. ”I'm genuinely sorry for making you go through this experience, but it had to be done for you to awaken.”
”So that he can create weapons for you,” Rosa said as she held her trembling arm. ”Don't try to sugarcoat it.”
”I'm not. That's why I apologized.” Arthur stood up. ”I'll leave the decision whether to forgive me or not for you two. Take Lady Aimee home. She deserves some rest.”
Gruen nodded absent-mindedly and carried Aimee out of Arthur's house, leaving only Rosa and him. As he sat down in his chair and sighed, Arthur turned toward the blacksmith apprentice.
”That was manipulative.” The young woman said with a frown.
”Was it?” Arthur shrugged. ”Everyone got their happy ending, so why should we care about the means?”
”The end doesn't justify the means, Seika. The amount of despair you've placed him in...”
”It wasn't enough back at the mountain because this fool doesn't care about himself as much as he cares about his lover.”
”What if he didn't awaken again? What would have happened then? Her death would be another lesson you would use?” Rosa said uncomfortably. ”Please don't treat people like objects,”
”We have different ways of thinking. So it seems,” Arthur said with an amused smile.
”Are you going to fire me for everything I said?” Rosa said with a smirk.
”No, it's the opposite. I'm keeping you because you said all of those things.” Arthur tapped his finger on the table. ”I'll see you again tomorrow.”
”...why?”
”I used to tell myself the things you said.” Arthur looked away toward the window. ”I stopped doing that because the world is different from what I believe.”
”So, you know that your methods are wrong?”
”My methods work. I'll just keep you as a safety net to never go too far.” Arthur turned toward the blacksmith. ”Make sure that I don't turn into a monster.”
***
There was something about the Seika of Living Beings that gravitated people to serve him. He was not the kindest, nor was he the most handsome, but it was something entirely different.
The way he did things was different. There was no limit to the things he could pull out of his bag. On an uneventful morning, the workers of the city woke up to witness a miracle.
They slept in their camp like usual, entrusting the guards with the responsibility of protecting them. They woke up today, however, with something new in their sight.
The forest beside them always looked as if it touched the sky. But today, there was something that rose taller than it. It was a giant tree that extended its branches over the plain the camp lived on.
”Did this... exist before?” Another blacksmith apprentice muttered beside Rosa, who was equally shocked by the appearance of the tree. ”Where did it come from?”
”I don't know.”
He asked her because she was one of the 'chosen' by the Seika. People who the mysterious Lord trusted enough to allow them into his house where decisions were made.
Rosa herself didn't know why she was given so much authority as Seika's assistant. She would simply stay by his side, and he would ask her to either write stuff down or call for someone.
She understood that every Lord needed someone to do the chores and the mundane stuff for them, but why choose a blacksmith? Furthermore, a blacksmith who hated the Seika.
Yes, Rosa hated him and everything he represents. He's violent and ruthless even to his people. She could never forget the incident of two days before with Aimee and Gruen.
The Seika placed them in a traumatic situation just to awaken Manager Gruen's powers. He got what he wanted, but at what cost? Never allowing them to rest easy in their lives because they fear losing each other,
'My Voice of Conscience,'