356 Gabriels warning (2/2)
I couldn't judge the people of this world, with the values of my old one!
If they were happy with someone stronger than them impregnating their wives and sisters, then who I was to judge? I had to avoid this common racist approach, where I believed my own standards to be better than those of the other cultures, only because in some aspects, my society managed to reach further than the one I was facing right now!
”They are right. While I designated Heila to be my mistress, I don't mind laying down with your wife, in order to gift you a wonderful child.”
With my previous morals crumbling to the dust, I thought that saying those words would come easy, but when it came to actually utter them, I still found myself quite embarrassed if not disgusted!
It seems I still had a long way to go!
”My lordship…”
With a new voice interrupting this strange moment, I could finally breathe in relief. I still had to sort out everything in my head, so there was no better timing for Gabriel to draw my attention away from those people.
”Yes? How can I help you?”
Turning to the side, I saw the oldest of the first three settlers, approaching me with his wife hugged to his side. Despite how touching their reunion should be, her face instead of brimming with happiness was shrouded by a veil of uneasiness as her cheeks burned in shame.
”My Lord, it seems my wife couldn't trust you when you first asked her about my sons' whereabouts. Come on, Uliana, you need to speak for yourself now.”
”My Lord… I'm deeply sorry for lying to you! Your words simply sounded too good to be true. I didn't know you were the lege…”
Just as she was about to call me something, Gabriel tightened his grip on her face, stopping her midword. As if some sort of deep feeling got shaken off from her, she shook her head as if to clear her thoughts and picked up where she left.
”As I said, I thought that we would simply go from the torture chamber to hell, so I lied about our sons. It seems, they managed to escape the clutches of the death, and followed the remaining survivors to the ancient sanctuary!”
Was this sanctuary the ruins that Heila mentioned back on the canopy? Thinking about the context, it would seem right to assume that, but it was always better to ask in order to be sure there was no mistake. The reason why they approached me was as clear as my love to Eve, and since I was already set on visiting those ruins deep in the forest, it would be nice to know beforehand if those refugees from their clan split up and went two different ways, or was this ancient sanctuary just another name for the same place.
”And I guess you wish for me to save them as well? Before we get any further into this topic, is the ancient sanctuary you spoke about, akin to the old ruins of your ancestors located deep in the forest?”
With how vastly different our standing had to be in their eyes, it would be hard for them to request something from me, especially after telling me about her lie. Even if I could wholeheartedly understand her reasoning and actually support it, it would still weigh on their souls, making it even harder to break the barrier of standing that would block them from just speaking their wish outright. So in order to make it easier for them, I decided to be the one to formulate the request and then turn it into my own question.
”You are willing to go into the sanctuary?!”
Out of nowhere, Gabriel suddenly stood up, with his face turning pale. His eyes widened in surprise and fright as if he saw the devil himself ascend from the hell in order to put an end to this world.