Chapter 112

When they heard that Erica had woken up, Liner and the group felt relieved.

They were finally able to smile again.

Harolds open hostility and his victory over them all had been a heavy blow for the group.

Not only were they feeling hurt by Harolds betrayal, they were also anxious about their own power.

After experiencing his overwhelming strength for themselves, they wondered: if he fought them again, would they be able to win?

But even the joy of knowing that Erica had woken up did not last.

This was due to Lifas expression; though she was supposed to be sharing good news, her face was grim.

It was so apparent that even Liner, who was quite dense when it came to the subtleties of people, had noticed.

When Liner asked if something happened, Lifa looked liked she was thinking about something for a moment before she replied to him.

Erica wants to talk to you so come to the hospital tomorrow.

She was implicitly asking them not to go see her for the day.

Normally, Liner would have asked why she did not want him to go there, arguing that he wanted to see her immediately as soon as she woke up, to confirm that she was safe with his own eyes.

The reason he had not done so this time around was that he could guess from Lifas mood that this matter would bring nothing positive.

Moreover, Liner was having a hard time sorting his own feelings since the other day.

In short, in his current state of mind, he was reluctant to hear any other bad news.

Liner was not the only one feeling that way.

All the other members of the party were feeling more or less disheartened; none of them really tried to look deeper into Lifas words.

The next day, Liner and the others went to visit the hospital, feeling almost gloomy at the idea of what was to come.

For some reason, when they arrived, Lifa did not guide them to the room where Erica had been hospitalized.

Instead, she took them to a meeting room inside the hospital.

Knock knock knock

Each of Lifas knocks on the wooden door sounded heavier than the last.

Though he could only see her back, Lifa had never looked so small in Liners eyes. The others were likely feeling the same.

Please come in.

Ericas voice came from inside.

Her tone was the same as usual but that only made Liner and the others feel even more uneasy.

Hope were not disturbing.

As she said so, Lifa was about to open the door, but her hand stopped on the doorknob.

Then, she addressed the group without turning around.

Everyone... Id like you to stay as calm as you can once youre inside. Especially you, Liner.

...What do you mean by that?

Youll understand once youre in.

Without answering Liners doubts, Lifa opened the door.

Erica was sitting on a chair in the meeting room, wearing a kimono, as usual.

When Liner heard Erica had run out of magic, he did not expect to see her looking so healthy.

He was a bit relieved.

But that feeling only lasted for a moment.

When he saw the girl and the man standing behind Erica, the relief in Liners heart made way for a thunderous fury.

Y-you...!

These were the two people who had hurt his parents and stolen his sword.

Liner immediately tried to ready his weapon, before recalling he hadnt brought it with him.

The next instant, after confirming with a single look around the room that there were no objects he could use as weapons here, he readied himself to dash forward and attack with his bare hands.

Please wait.

Erica stood up silently and stepped forward like she was protecting the two people.

Of course, this did not dissuade Liner.

Why would I?! Theyre the thieves who hurt my parents!

Liners words made the girl standing behind Erica tremble from her shoulders.

She seemed to have been scared or startled by something, but this was not Liners problem.

More importantly, Liner did not understand why Erica was protecting those thieves.

He even started being suspicious of her.

Maybe she was on their side, too.

Liner.

There was no hint of threat in her voice, and yet, when Erica called out Liners name, he could not help himself from flinching.

Next, she looked at him dead in the eyes and asked him a question.

What do you intend to do them?

Well, thats...!

Liner tried to answer back but he was at a loss for words. There was one thing he knew for certain: he could not forgive them.

But if he had to say what he specifically wanted to do to them, he wouldnt be able to.

That naturally didnt mean he was going to forgive anything, but Erica had made him aware of that he himself did not even know what he wanted to do.

Do you simply want to vent your anger? Or will you only be satisfied if they receive a proper punishment?

I-Im...

...If you do not have a clear answer, then please hear them out. It will not be too late to make your decision afterwards.

In accordance with Ericas words, the two people who had been standing behind her came forward.

What does she mean, hear them out? Liner was filled with doubts as he looked at the girl and the man.

They were slowly approaching him, but the second they arrived in front of him, they stopped and bowed as deeply as they could.

We are terribly sorry!

Were really, really sorry!

This unexpected apology left everyone in the room, starting from Liner, completely confused.

The only people who did not react were Lifa and Erica.

For a moment, the meeting room was shrouded in silence.

Everyone present was looking at Liner, save for the two people who were still bowing down.

... What do you mean, youre sorry?! You injured my dad and mom! You might even have been planning to kill them! You can apologize all you want, Ill never forgive you!

What kind of person was Liner?

Anyone who knew him would answer that he was a straightforward and honest young man.

He had a strong sense of justice, he never told a lie, and he hated injustices.

His parents had done nothing wrong. How could he forgive these two people for hurting them?

If you were going to apologize after the fact, then you should not have done it in the first place!

The anger in Liners tone made the air tremble.

The thin body of the girl cowered from Liners angry voice.

She was still young.

On the other hand, the man who was with her seemed to already be an adult.

His bow remained flawless, unaffected.

But this did prompt him to talk.

His words came out slowly, like he was thinking about them as he spoke.

It is as you say. What we did is unforgivable, and we are not going to come up with any convenient excuses to make you forgive us.

...What are you trying to say now?

I assume full responsibility... for the crimes weve committed. Therefore, would you agree to let Lilium, the girl, off?

Mister Ventos?

The girl, who was apparently called Lilium, jumped in surprise like she hadnt been told about this beforehand. Her confusion was written all over her face.

However, Ventos continued to talk like her reaction was of no concern to him.

Well confess to everything we did, and why we did it, be it the burglary or anything else. If after that, you decide to leave some more room for discussion, then please leave Lilium out of

N-no! You did nothing wrong mister Ventos!

...That kind of explanation will not be satisfying for him nor his parents. No matter our reasons, I need to take responsibility for our actions.

Then Ill take responsibility with you!

The two people started arguing with each other.

For some reason, Liner found himself unable to do anything other than watch from the side.

The one who ended up putting a stop to that was Hugo.

He had been silent the whole time, but maybe he couldnt bear the mood anymore.

Hmm, look, can we get a summary of whats happening here or something?

...It will take a little time. If you do not mind that, then for the time being, everyone please take a seat. There is no use standing around.

The table in the meeting room had just enough chairs for everyone.

Erica had probably made preparations beforehand.

Erica took the seat of honor, Liner and the rest of the party sat to her left, while Lifa, Ventos and Lilium sat to her right.

Once everyone was seated, Erica courteously prepared black tea for them.

By the time everyone was served, the mood had slightly lightened up.

Now then, could you share your story again, mister Ventos?

...Yes. First of all, Lilium and I are both from the Stellar tribe. We were born and raised in the Bertis forest.

Huh? But thats...

Colette was greatly startled at the mention of the Bertis forest.

Unlike her, Liner kept silent, but he also had a bad feeling about this.

We used to live in a very small community. Our village was surrounded by nothing but nature, for better or worse, but we led quite peaceful lives in the woods.

However, five years ago, that peace was suddenly destroyed. Ventos started explaining what had transpired back then.

Liner had already heard about all this from Harold himself. The battle of Bertis brought upon by Justus hidden schemes. At the time, he had kidnapped many people of the stellar tribe for the sake of conducting human experiments.

Lilium and I were part of those people. There were many of our companions there, too, but...

Though he was being evasive, everyone understood what Ventos implied without him having to say it.

It was safe to assume that none of his companions had made it.

If not for Harold, perhaps these two would have met the same fate as those other people.

Ive already heard a bit about Dr.Freuns deeds. If you dont mind, could you go into more specifics?

He would administrate us with strange liquids, and put machines on our heads that made us feel sick and in pain, all the while giving us electric shocks until wed faint... I cant quite remember what hed do after that, but I think he was doing surgical operations on our brains.

All Ventos was doing was answer Francis question in full, but every bit of description he gave was inhumane.

Colettes face turned blue just from imagining it.

As the experiments kept going, I became unable to feel anything. Neither pain, nor despair, not even fear.

You mean to say your brain became numb to escape the pain?

No... The very point of the experiments was to suppress our emotions, and rid us of all thoughts.

Ventos answer was difficult to believe on the spot.

How could anyone possibly deprive a living human of his emotions and even his ability to think?

However, Liner recalled something.

That night, when he first traded blows with Ventos and Lilium, he had seen the cold, robotic look in their eyes, and the lifeless expressions hidden by their hoods.

To him, they indeed seemed nothing like humans back then.

Once Llilium and I lost our wills, we became easy-to-use