As we take the people we rescued back to the village with us, we meet Gaius, mister Oshashio, and more people returning home after going out hunting. They frown when I tell them I’m bringing strangers back to the village, and we stop for a bit.
“Lerunda, you need to talk to us before bringing people with you.”
Says mister Oshashio, after we move away from the people that were rescued.
“…Lerunda, do you understand that it’s dangerous to bring people we don’t know into our new village? We don’t even know what they are thinking.”
“…But they were in trouble…”
“I think it’s very nice that you want to help people in trouble. I like that you’re kind like that, but you can’t afford to just be kind.”
“…Yes.”
“There are many different people in the world, and not all of them are nice. If they were, Athos would still be here, we would still be in our village, and the elves wouldn’t have had to offer sacrifices to a monster. This world just isn’t that nice.”
“…Yes.”
The world isn’t filled with just nice people. That’s why mister Athos died in the first place.
I thought I understood this.
“I think it’s good that you want to help, but there’s always the possibility that you’re bringing danger to the village. Lerunda, I know this is harsh, but I will just say it.”
“Yes, go on.”
Mister Oshashio doesn’t seem mad. It sounds like he’s doing this for my own good, so I’m not scared, and I listen carefully. I don’t want to do things that will make people scold me.
I look directly into his eyes, and wait for him to speak.
“You are too naive. If you really are the miko, a special being, you probably never had to think about this, but that’s not good if you really want to make your dream come true and build a place where we can all be at peace. If you were just drifting along through life, maybe it would be fine. But being so naive isn’t good when you want to make that dream come true by your own hands.”
Mister Oshashio says I’m naive.
“I’m not saying those feelings of wanting to save people are wrong, quite the contrary, but I want you to think about what consequences that might have. If these people turn out to be bad, it could lead to our new village being destroyed.”
“Destroyed…?”
“Yes. We don’t know what these people think of us, or why they want to come to our village. We don’t even know if they are telling the truth. What if they are just tricking you to get into our village? People don’t always tell the truth. There is always the chance that they are here to kill us or steal resources.”
“…Yes.”
I helped people being attacked and tried to bring them to our village, but something like that might lead to losing someone important.
I didn’t think about that. Thinking about losing everyone because I took those people in scares me. Thinking about being alone again makes me sad.
“To be perfectly honest, I think it’s impossible to save everyone if you’re going to make your dream come true.”
“…Yes.”
“Who to save, who to abandon… There are many times when this choice has to be made. In this case, for the village’s sake, we should not take them in, which means abandoning them.”
“Yes…”
“It’s true that we don’t know how it will turn out if we don’t try, and taking them with us could even be good for the village, but we do need to consider all possibilities beforehand.”
“Yes.”
We don’t know how things will turn out, but we need to think about everything that could happen.
It’s hard, but it’s the sort of thing I’ll have to think about.
“Still, we can’t just leave them here. We need to go back to the village, talk to everyone, and then decide what should be done.”
“Yes.”
“So Lerunda, if you ever find people again, please talk to us first.”
“Yes… I’m sorry for, acting without thinking.”
“It’s fine as long as you understand. Come on.”
“Yes.”
I nod, and we go back to where the people that were running away are standing.
—The girl is scolded
(The girl that is probably the miko is scolded for acting on her own, and grows little by little.)
Join my patreon to support me and read ahead.
“if they turns out bad, we just hav eto pretend to expel them from the village, and then kill them without you knowing so they can'(t tell anyone where the village is”