Lyria and Livy sank into deep thought.
Lyria understood quite a bit, so she asked hesitantly, "What Brother Eric wants to say is... What the Eldritch Noble family was doing was 'normal' from their perspective, and they were never wrong?"
"Correct. In fact, from their side, they were even thinking 'well' for both of you. Try thinking why so, and the intricacies and complexity of it by yourself. Otherwise, if I explain everything, then if a new situation pops up, you girls will be stuck confused all the time."
"The Eldritch family, overall, was never 'Evil.' I checked long ago through Brother Wilburn that the Eldritch family and other Noble families in this town were all fairly kind to the commoners. They don't casually bully or bring injustice to commoners either. Many people even respected both Cooper and Stuart for making their lives easier by providing jobs, guidance, livelihoods, protection, and so on."
"Coming back to you girls—though I don't know how much those Scrolls cost the Eldritch family, they must have spent a hefty price. In other words, they invested heavily in both of you. That's how much they valued you—that's how much they were thinking 'well' for you. This was their reasoning."
"The only reason they ambushed you in the forest and didn't try the same within the town was that Grandma is still alive. Otherwise, if you girls still refused their 'good intentions,' they would have forced both of you through pressure and blackmail. Even if they knew what they were doing was 'wrong,' they would dismiss it as inevitable—because they are Nobles, because they have the necessary strength, and, more importantly, because they have the 'right' to do so."
"Don't think this 'justice will prevail' bullshit holds weight. There's no such thing in the real world. Just by breathing and eating, we're killing countless lives without even knowing who they were. And it's not just this—to fulfill our wellbeing, like living in better homes or wearing finer clothes, we remain indifferent to others' suffering."
"If anyone speaks of Justice in a grand context, know this: they're complete hypocrites. Even if they're ignorant of the larger picture or the full situation, their ignorance alone makes them cruel—to everyone, and to themselves. Even children aren't exempt from this cycle, whether you like it or not."
"Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Eric felt he needed a maid—someone to serve him fruit juice right at that moment. Speaking so much without a cool drink made the conversation unbearably 'dry.'
Sadly, he was a commoner, and commoners don't get to exploit maids. What a pity.
Eric bothered explaining in such depth because he didn't want to repeat the same things later to Lyria or Livy. They would inevitably face similar situations in various forms as they traveled and encountered different people and circumstances.
It would be best if both Lyria and Livy could break free from this rigid mentality of judging things as 'good' or 'bad' in some grand moral framework.
The current situation was perfect to dispel this deception—ingrained in both Lyria and Livy's minds—so they wouldn't accumulate guilt over time or agonize over every little action in the future.
Livy wore a serious expression but was deeply confused inside. She decided she'd ask Lyria later what Eric truly meant.
Lyria nodded solemnly. "What Brother Eric means is—the Eldritch family was never evil, but to us, they were extreme evil. To us, it feels like we suffered injustice, but to them, they were the ones wronged. If we keep viewing it this way, all that matters is who won and from which perspective we're looking—and both sides seem justifiable..."
She took a sharp breath before continuing, her tone shifting to helplessness as the full truth settled in.
"In other words, there was never a clear 'justice' or 'injustice.' Similarly, there's no such thing as 'Innocent' or 'Criminal' people—no 'Good' or 'Vile' person in the grand scheme. It's all about whose side you're on. So, Brother Eric wants us to stop labeling situations or people as 'Good' or 'Bad,' and to stop judging them as 'innocent' or otherwise."
"Smart!" Eric praised with a grin, nodding. "Correct. Even if someone destroys a town or village, it's just a matter of perspective."
"For example, the Dark Elf tribe that wants to eat us. They're no different from us eating plants or chickens. Since we identify as humans, we twist reality for our psychological comfort—so whenever someone opposes us, we brand them as 'vermin' of the entire world. In truth, everyone just lies to themselves, passing ignorance down through generations until they believe they're the only righteous beings."
"In essence, it's about who encounters whom. A tiger encounters a villager—it eats him. A hunter encounters the tiger—he kills it. That's the cycle."
"Good, innocent, justice, evil, bad, and so on are for heroes and righteous fools to be ignorant about and judge according to their identification. Just let these hypocrites believe whatever they want to, as they will always be limited by their life experience and mindset."
"You girls won't be sitting in this town forever or focusing on making a simple living. So, it's best if you both wake up and stop judging a situation or people by who is good and who is bad."
"If you feel someone is better off alive for you, for your interests, or for whatever the reasons may be, then just be more conscious. Don't kill them. But if you do kill them, then that's that—don't regret it."
"In the future, both of you might end up killing many 'innocent' or bringing them unintentional harm, and after doing that, you girls would be stuck questioning yourselves on what you were doing for so long. After tracing back your actions, you will find out that if you never existed in the world, everything would have been fine—you were the most evil person all along."
"This sort of mentality will only appear when you have been ignorant all your life, believing in this 'good, bad, innocent' bullshit. In fact, if you are a hypocrite to the core, then this question will never appear inside you ever—or if you have come to understand that you are the 'evil'."
"Ignorance only feels nice till reality hits you. I don't want both of you to be ignorant and unaware while you walk through life."
"You have equal rights to be here and do what you want to do. Some people or groups will always suffer or benefit from your actions. Some will clap their hands, and some will curse you. You should just do what you decided to do."
"Without any morality sickness in one's head, people will be more conscious and aware of their actions anyway, and that is what is needed. Only people who need to be controlled by higher authorities like dogs, need to be fed with morality so they don't break their chains."
"You may doubt my words, but if you observe more, you will understand what I am talking about. I personally don't care whether you are killing 'good' or 'bad' people—just never be stupid enough to regret it, that's all."
"I will mention this clearly—I am not saying you cannot become angry or hurt others, like you did with Cooper and Jack. Just that you yourself should be aware of your actions within yourself, and don't lie to yourself with 'because others are evil, you killed them.' Nope—you killed them by your own choice and decision. That's all."
"You may call others evil or bad for a specific context, but you should know within yourself that there is no such thing in a larger context."
'Fuck, where is my maid?! I need some cold apple juice. Right now!'
Lyria slowly nodded.
She could now clearly see that this 'death trap' would definitely have surfaced in her mind in the future if she had lived by this good-bad mentality. Eric just brought this to the surface before it even started building up.
She was very grateful, as she understood just how big an impact this might have had on her if she had continued living with such a righteous mentality.
She was also amazed by Eric's wisdom and wondered where he had learned all this.
Through observation? He was here in this town even before they arrived.
She glanced at the still-confused-looking Livy and felt speechless.
Maybe it was indeed best if Livy dirtied her hands right now, as it would help her come to terms with this fact realistically.
Not everyone learns the same thing in the same way.
Eric knew how Livy was—she had always been the best at calculation and mathematics among them, but she lacked the ability to quickly grasp life situations. She was the type to learn from experience rather than logical explanation.
"Liv, do you understand why this 'innocent' Lady Isolde Eldridge needs to die?" Eric asked with a smile.
Livy quietly wiped her sweat.
It wasn't that she hadn't understood anything—after all, Lyria had made it extremely clear.
In short, she shouldn't judge this lady as innocent?
To understand all this, she required more time. For now, the mission came first! She needed to kill a human tonight!
"Yes, I need to kill... kill a woman tonight! I understand!" Livy answered firmly with a nod.
Lyria slapped her own forehead. The question was different—at least listen properly!
Eric chuckled and stood up.
"Know this, Liv—if my guess is correct, then Isolde is aware of the fact that her husband and Jack had gone after you both."
"When both Cooper and Jack don't return even after such a long time, while we already have, then it won't be long before she understands that we are the culprits—and even if she isn't certain, her full wrath will only be directed upon the whole orphanage."
"When Grandma dies, the whole orphanage will suffer."
"Of course, that was the case if Hannah hadn't become a mana wielder—but even then, Isolde would pull underhanded means. I won't go into details on what sort of things she could pull, but know this—both Isolde and Staut won't take a single peaceful breath as long as we or the orphanage remains fine."
"Of course, since we are leaving, then only this pitiful orphanage has to suffer more for our past deeds."
"W-What?!" Livy stood up in shock.
Lyria, too, stood up since Eric did, but she was not at all surprised by Eric's prediction—that would most likely—no, that would definitely happen, especially since Hannah wasn't smart.
Even if Hannah reached Rank 2, the orphanage would still suffer while she might never be able to figure out who was the culprit —and even if she did, she would hesitate to kill, as she also wasn't experienced in these things either and would definitely suffer from righteous mentality, worrying for the town's safety and stability.
Eric patted Livy's shoulder. "Take some rest and calm down. After half an hour, you will proceed with the mission. Both Ly and I will secretly follow but will not help you. Remember, you need to hide your involvement—kill her and return without anyone noticing you. You can knock other guards out, but they shouldn't see you. Understand?"
"Yes!" Livy answered firmly. She was fired up hearing that Isolde could bring harm to the orphanage. There was no way she would let that happen on her watch!
"Both of you can leave now. When you are ready, call me."
Eric was originally planning to leave right away, as it was already midnight, but he felt that to make sure Livy succeeded without any mishap, she needed some time to steady herself.
Lyria and Livy agreed and went back to their room.