Shuna had paused her serving, looking at me with a smile. It was strange. Her voice sounded so gentle, but something about it seemed as frozen as ice.
“No, no, nowhere! But, Hinata… If that misunderstanding’s all cleared up, then we’re all good, I promise! If you could just drop your prejudices against monsters, then all the better!”
Hinata appeared lost for a moment at my forced change of subject, but then wordlessly nodded.
I knew I was asking a lot, really. A monster, in essence, was kind of like a violent offender with a gun in his hand. If you believe one without question and innocent people get killed later, you have to recognize that you set yourself up for failure. Maybe we could speak to each other, and maybe that didn’t mean we could really understand…but this town could make it work. People were believing me and trying to play nice with humans—even after Shion and Team Reborn had been killed by human hands.
“I mean, I know you won’t trust me that easily or anything. You never know what the other side’s really thinking, and I guess some monsters can be a lot slyer and more conniving than others. If you’re a defender of humanity, you can’t afford to be tricked all the time.”
“…True. Conversation is the first step to a common understanding, but it can lead to some dangerous transactions. You run the risk of making commitments that bind you, heart and soul.”
“Yeah, I bet. But if you can at least not declare that all monsters are evil, we’re totally fine with that. And if you got a monster you’re iffy about, we’ll take ’em in. If human society can’t accept ’em, they’ll be fine here.”
That was about the best compromise I could give. Any monsters deemed suspect could easily be taken into Tempest. Here in town, at least, we could be sure they wouldn’t cause any trouble…assuming we could reason with the guy anyway.
“All right. I don’t think our thoughts are going to change if I snap my fingers, but I will prohibit my ranks from condemning all monsters as evil. Is that all right with you, Lady Luminus?”
“I care not for such trivial matters. But if it leads citizens to doubt their faith in me, I will not stand for that.”
“Very well. I will observe that as our first priority.”
Luminus seemed convinced. Given how the Holy Empire of Lubelius was wholly built around the people’s faith in the god Luminus, any cracks in that faith could affect the entire foundation of that belief. That religion holds great sway over the Western Nations. I could understand Hinata’s caution.
If anything, though, I feel like Luminus underestimated the influence she had on people. She goes on about how she “will not stand” for things, but then she acts like she’s above it all and none of it matters. Maybe being bandied around as a supreme being wasn’t Luminus’s intention at all. I could just have been overthinking it, but it seemed like Louis was the de facto head of government, and Hinata did pretty much all her errands for her. Even all this drama was perpetrated by the Seven Days.
But… Really, though? An old demon lord who’s ruled in the shadows for so long was really just a lazy girl palming off responsibility on others? No way, no how. She reminded me of the style I was aiming for with Tempest—“Let the king reign, not govern”—so I couldn’t help thinking about it.
Now Hinata’s eyes were turned toward my officials. “I must thank all of you as well. I promise I will not treat you as hostile enemies simply for being monsters.”
She bowed her head deeply, and the other paladins hurriedly followed her lead, shouting “We’re sorry!” together.
“Please, think nothing of it,” Rigurd said. “Were it not for Sir Rimuru’s orders, we would have considered humans our foes as well.”
In other words, my orders had changed their minds. For a goblin who’s just trying his best to stay alive, I’m sure anyone who doesn’t look like you is an enemy.
“I am just glad you aren’t against us,” said Benimaru with a bold grin. “I saw your battle against Sir Rimuru, and I doubt even I could have defeated you.”
The fact that his attention was devoted to combat was certainly very Benimaru-like. Soei nodded his solemn agreement next to him.
The world of monsters has always had a broad “survival of the fittest” streak to it; if you’re deemed the enemy and killed for it, it’s your own fault for being weaker. That’s how Soei’s mind worked, and he had no particular grudge against the paladins.
Shion, meanwhile, was dubious. Hinata’s apology must have confused her.
“Here, Shion, you forgive her, too. I understand your pain and anger, but it’s not like every human being on earth is evil. You have some bad guys and some good guys. That’s all there is to it. And monsters are the same way; you have to get a closer look if you want to really know anything. Plus, humans are capable of overcoming their mistakes. And not just them, either, right? Us too. What’s important is what’s in your soul, isn’t it?”
Instead of dividing all living things into humans and monsters, it was more important to see how they lived, what existed in their souls. I wanted Shion to understand that, but my pleas seemed to just unnerve her even more. Humans, I suppose, really were evil to her. I just didn’t want her to think they were all that way. She was following my orders for now, but there’s no telling when her frustrations would explode. I couldn’t have that. Instead of just following my orders, I wanted her to move and act on her own free will.
But perhaps I was too worried. In a single moment, Shion threw away all her hesitation. She never was one for thinking about matters too deeply.
“All right!” she blurted out. “Just like you, Sir Rimuru, I will judge
