"We've set up camp nearby. Why don't you join us? If you head back to the surface now, it'll be very late," Aiden invited.
Ryuu hesitated, a struggle visible in her sky-blue eyes. Finally, she seed to make a decision. "Before that... I would like to go sowhere. Will you accompany ?"
"Of course," Aiden agreed without hesitation.
Robin shook her head understandingly. "I won't go. I should head back and tell Tifa and the others so they don't worry." She gave Aiden a deep, aningful look before turning back.
Aiden and Ryuu were left alone. Ryuu knew the crystal forest well. Her pace was steady and fast. After twenty minutes, she stopped in a secluded grove. They passed through a narrow tunnel of trees into a graveyard.
It was a small clearing surrounded by azure crystals. A soft light fell from a gap in the canopy, illuminating several wooden crosses tied with rope.
"...I co here sotis to offer flowers," Ryuu whispered. She placed a bouquet of white wildflowers, one by one, before the ten-plus graves. Then, she poured a bottle of elven wine over them, whispering their nas.
Aiden's expression beca complex. This was the Astrea Familia... the "Future Heroes" Alfia had pinned her hopes on. Now, they were all here, and Ryuu was the only one left, carrying the weight of their deaths alone.
"This was the Familia I belonged to. These are my comrades." Ryuu looked up, her blue eyes clear enough to reflect a soul. "There is sothing I need to ask you, so there is no point in hiding this any longer."
Her voice was tinged with sorrow but firm. "It is a selfish request... but will you listen?"
"I'm listening," Aiden replied solemnly. He knew what she was going to say, but he waited for her to speak her own truth.
"My na is on the Guild's blacklist," Ryuu said flatly, as if talking about soone else. "My status as an adventurer was revoked long ago... for a ti, I was a wanted criminal."
"It doesn't matter," Aiden shook his head. "I trust what I see. To , you aren't a dangerous person."
"...Thank you." Ryuu blinked. She continued, "My faction was the Astrea Familia. Under the Goddess of Justice, I was quite well-known. My alias was Gale. You may have heard of it."
"I have." Aiden's gaze drifted to the grave with the broken sword. "One of the most prominent Familias during the Great Feud six years ago. The most beloved by the people. Alfia recognized you... she saw the potential for you to be the heroes of the future."
"You do know Alfia!" Ryuu looked up sharply. "I saw it during the War Ga. Your magic is identical to hers. What is your relationship with her?"
"Relationship?" Aiden let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Maybe a foster son. Or maybe... just a bit of 'noise' that wasn't worth ntioning."
"I'm sorry..." Ryuu's expression darkened. "It was we... who failed her expectations."
She began to tell the story of the blood-stained past. How her Familia was lured into a trap in the deep floors and wiped out. She couldn't even recover their bodies, only their belongings to build these cenotaphs. Afterward, she begged Lady Astrea to leave the city.
She embarked on a spree of vengeance. Ambushes, traps—she beca a slaughterer of anyone connected to Evilus, regardless of status.
"As long as there was a connection, or even a suspicion, I didn't let them go. I cleared them all." Her voice trembled. This was the ugly side of her, the one consud by hatred. That was why she sent her Goddess away; she didn't want the Goddess of Justice to see her in the mud.
This was why she was blacklisted. Her excessive vengeance brought the wrath of rchants, organizations, and the Guild itself. After her revenge, she wanted to die, but Syr saved her, and she found a ho at the pub.
"In short," Ryuu lowered her head, "I am a despicable elf who defiled the na of justice. Do you find repulsive?"
"I don't. You're being too hard on yourself!" Aiden countered imdiately. He stepped forward and placed his hands on her slender shoulders. "Is there really only one 'correct' answer for justice? Everyone's justice is different. As long as you follow your heart, that's what matters. Revenge is a form of justice—at least for you, and for those resting here."
"Justice is about your heart and what you are willing to pay for it. If you believe it's sothing you must do, then it has aning. At the very least, for us, that is justice."
Ryuu was stunned. Not just by his words—this self-centered, pure "Theory of Justice"—but because Aiden's hands were on her shoulders, and she hadn't instinctively thrown him over her head.
"Sorry, I got a bit heated," Aiden realized his mistake. Ryuu wasn't Lefiya; she was a traditional elf with a strict sense of personal space. He always forgot that elves could be difficult.
He blad Lefiya. That informal elf girl had made him subconsciously forget about "Elven fastidiousness."
"A-choo!" Far away at the Loki Familia camp, Lefiya suddenly let out a massive sneeze.
"Huh? Did I catch a cold?" She rubbed her nose, confused. She was a Level 3 adventurer, after all!
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