Chapter 86

"Even though I said I was 'forced to make a choice'..."

Zeta's monologue continued.

"...in reality, there were no choices. The church wouldn't be so kind. 'Use the trash as they are'—that's the church's motto."

Those who fell out of the race for advancement were treated like slaves. They became low-ranking soldiers who fought to the death for the church, healers whose magic was drained like old rags, or prostitutes forced to serve the upper echelons of the church.

The choice Zeta faced was to accept her fate or run away.

She chose to run.

"Still, the church wouldn't let me go easily... If I had just run, I would have been caught for sure. So I escaped through the sewers to confuse the trackers with skills to follow me."

"...!?"

"Pushing aside feces and dead rats. I still see that scene in my dreams. Even after escaping the church's search area and washing myself multiple times... I still feel like the smell of the sewers lingers somewhere on me!"

Her body trembled as she recalled those days.

"Since then, many things have happened... Hehe, in the end, I didn't know anything about the world outside the church, so nothing I did lasted long. After wandering around, I ended up back here."

The orphanage where I, Ryouya, and she spent our early days together.

"Mother accepted me without a word... and hired me to take care of the orphans. I managed to do it and have been here ever since..."

"..."

"Hehe, isn't it fitting? The one who looked down on you and climbed the steps of glory that day ended up hitting a wall, unable to overcome it, and fell after just a few months."

Zeta laughed self-deprecatingly.

I remember that day.

My friends being taken away in the church's luxurious carriage, leaving me behind.

"Do you think I would be happy to hear that?"

"The church people would all be happy. That's the kind of place it is. The value of a person is determined by the quality of their skills. The only way to evaluate others is whether they are above or below you. If they are above, you must humble yourself; if they are below, you must trample them. Just that kind of relationship..."

In such an unhealthy community, Zeta was oppressed and nearly broken. Hearing this, I understood why Libel's personality had become distorted.

"...I knew you would come here someday. You've become quite famous, you know."

"Huh?"

"The hero who saved the country from the demons, the adventurer who ascended to S-rank at the fastest pace in history. To think that you, who were abandoned, would become what we once dreamed of. Fate is ironic, isn't it?"

"A, ah...!?"

You knew!?

Can't help it... It was quite a big deal. That it reached even this orphanage in the slums...!?

"Don't misunderstand. I'm not mocking you. Rather, I'm mocking myself. I was a fool for thinking I was chosen just because I got a skill and getting carried away."

"..."

"Compared to you, Ryouya, who became a hero despite not having a skill. What's the difference between us? Just a difference in effort? Or...!?"

I couldn't think of anything to say to Zeta. In my search for words...

"Kurodorode...?"

I asked something completely irrelevant at that moment.

The last of the three friends who were taken to the church, leaving me behind.

"Kurodorode? ...Well, they were assigned based on their aptitude the day they entered the church. I haven't seen him or Libel since then."

I had heard this from Libel before.

"But he had a magic aptitude skill... I heard that people with such skills are sent to the Magic Academy. The church can't fully train mages, so they leave it to the specialists at the Magic Academy."

"Really...!?"

"Even though the Magic Academy is affiliated with the church, it is an independent organization. They probably don't treat people as badly as the church. I can't imagine a place worse than the church..."

Zeta's smile was decidedly world-weary.

Despite being in her early twenties, her expression was like that of an old woman who had seen the sorrow of life.

"Still, Ryouya, you're quite something."

"Huh?"

"Meeting after five years, and you're worried about another child before even asking about me... Do I mean so little to you?"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,