Arthur gritted his teeth. Her enemy was the strongest beastman in their immediate surroundings. The most rational choice would be to ignore the woman’s plea and avoid confrontation with the ape-type altogether. He knew this. Yet, he felt himself running faster. Before he knew it, he was rushing in the woman’s direction at top speed. He could tell that David had decided to help her even before he did, as the teenager had closed in on him from behind.

His decision wasn’t fueled by anything other than the honest desire to help the woman survive, even though he thought she could betray him or humanity at a later date. Arthur knew it was unfair. He hadn’t helped anyone else but had decided to help this one specific individual. He couldn’t help but blame himself for not having saved others, even though he knew it was impossible for him to save everyone. He wasn’t Alexander or Liam. Arthur thought to himself.

‘Since I’ve decided to help her, I need to do so no matter what. In the name of everyone else I haven’t saved.’

Even as such a thought crossed his mind, he couldn’t shake off the hesitation within his heart. What if the woman turned out to be an evil person or an enemy? What if she became the reason for someone else’s death? What if she backstabbed someone else? People were like that. They couldn’t be trusted.

Arthur’s steps started to slow down, but David’s only became more hurried. Noticing this, Arthur couldn’t help but speed up once more. He was being forced to stick to the choice he had made, even if only to help David. In spite of his suspicion towards the woman, he decided to save her.

However, life was often unkind.

With a sudden burst of speed, the ape-type beastman dashed forward in the woman’s direction, punching her chest with a fist backed by its full body weight. Arthur and David ground to a halt as they watched the woman’s chest cave in with a sickening crunch. Fragments of different organs and blood burst from her mouth as her body flew back, sliding on the floor until it stopped right in front of them. Arthur looked at the corpse in its blood-filled eyes and felt his heart tremble slightly.

He had failed.

His pupils dilated as the ape-type turned to them. Before he could decide what to do, he heard David’s voice from behind him.

“We need to avenge her.”

A bitter expression made its way to Arthur’s face.

“…We haven’t avenged anyone else.”

“Then we should do so for at least one person. Let it be her.”

The teen’s voice dripped with rage. It was as if he was barely containing himself from rushing at the ape. Arthur took a deep breath and grasped his sword’s hilt tightly, letting the anger he felt also flow through him.

“What if she was the kind of person who didn’t deserve to be avenged?”

“There’s no way for you to know that. Don’t assume things.”

“…Alright, cover me.”

After a short exchange, Arthur immediately decided to help David. It wasn’t because his feelings towards the woman had changed. It was because he knew they had no time to argue with an enemy right in front of them, while he wouldn’t be able to convince David to change his mind.

Together, they both ran at the enemy. Arthur circulated his Aura, as did David. A red hue took shape around the ape as it saw this, but it was too late. Arthur slashed at the beastman’s throat while using Isolation at the same time to protect himself from the fist coming his way. David ran around the enemy, going behind it and climbing on its back. Just like back when David awakened to Aura, Arthur attacked from the front while the teen did so from the back. The ape grabbed at David, trying to throw him off, but its hands uselessly phased through the boy’s body. Not missing this chance, Arthur accurately stabbed its throat, pulling the sword out and allowing the blood to flow. David’s Aura-coated daggers dug into the ape’s nape, hitting its spinal cord. It was the finishing blow.

The ape slowly fell as Arthur sidestepped and let the body pass him by. David climbed off of its back, gazing at the corpse with a complex look. Both young men turned to the woman’s corpse at the same time. Arthur knew they were thinking similar things. They had avenged her, but what was it worth? She wouldn’t come back to life and they had spent more energy than expected in order to quickly take down an ape-type. They were now in more danger than before and had gained nothing. As these thoughts crossed Arthur’s mind, David’s voice rang out.

“It was worth it.”

It was clear and determined. Arthur didn’t feel so strongly about it.

“…Why?”

David looked at him with understanding eyes. Despite feeling as if his feelings were being accurately seen through, Arthur wasn’t bothered.

“I understand it after becoming friends with you. This woman might have been a loved one of someone else. I know how that feels now. It wouldn’t have been right to watch her die and walk away without doing anything.”

“Every single person who’s died on this battle was someone’s loved one. As I said before, we didn’t avenge any of them. What makes this woman special?”

David shook his head.

“Is fairness more important than our humanity? We couldn’t help her, but avenging a single person is better than avenging none. To understand the pain the people who loved her would’ve felt as they watched her final moments and to act accordingly. That’s what I’ve learned.”

“That’s just empathy towards a stranger.”

“It is also something we both lacked.”

Arthur froze before smiling bitterly. David was right. Their distrust had caused them to be unable to see other people as anything other than a threat or as tools to be used. Empathy towards strangers wasn’t something they were capable of. However, the development of their relationship changed both of them. Arthur had begun, even if only minimally, to see other people as potential allies or friends. It allowed him to see them from a perspective that used to be limited to Liam.

For the first time, Arthur realized that David had changed even more than he had. It seemed that his friendship had meant more to David than he initially thought. As time passed, the boy’s worldview started to shift.

“…I know. Come on, we need to go.”

Arthur knew he hadn’t changed as much. While he had grown to trust David and begun to change his perspective, old habits died hard. He hadn’t managed to overcome the distrust built over the course of a lifetime. While he had just impulsively decided to help someone survive, it did not mean he had changed wholly. In order not to confront this realization, he chose to run away. He urged David to move. The teen replied.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

As if both of them had decided to postpone their conversation, they reached an agreement and ran in the direction of their original destination, closer to their headquarters.

It happened as they ran past a beastman trio locked in a fight against a group of humans.

Arthur felt a chill run up his spine. He turned just in time to watch David flying to the side. His eyes widened.

A beastman stood with an extended arm as if it had just hit something, a ferocious smile on its face. It took Arthur only a split second to realize what had happened. The beastman had burst from the crowd as their attention was turned to the fight nearby and hit David before Arthur could realize what was going on. Isolation only activated automatically when Arthur himself was targeted; when using the ability on someone else, he was forced to activate it manually. It was possible to outspeed his perception and hit one of his allies before he could use his Attribute.

He stepped on the ground strongly. His sword shined with Aura as he swung it downwards towards the beastman’s extended arm. The enemy hurriedly pulled its limb back but did not have the time to circulate its Aura, which resulted in Arthur being faster. Blood gushed as the beastman’s hand was chopped off.

As it roared in pain, Arthur ran to David’s fallen body. His heart threatened to burst as the boy lay unmoving. Tremendous anxiety pooled within his chest while he knelt next to the fallen figure.

“David! Can you hear me!? David!”