Chapter 43
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It was a good thing that he could stop Leone from going completely wild, but whenever something strange happened, that was probably a bad thing.
“Ah!”
A cute cry reached his ears. When he looked over in surprise, he saw Leone covering her mouth, and even without her saying anything, he understood.
What the hell was that “Ah!”? Where had the usual carefree, utterly unselfconscious Leone gone?
“Sorry.”
Kobayashi quickly released her.
Leone’s cheeks flushed as she raised a fist, looking as though she might strike him again.
Kobayashi hurriedly surrendered. “Stop! Stop! I give up! Now let me get up!”
“Oh my? Does Kobayashi find this embarrassing?”
Leone seemed to have returned to her usual carefree self. She lightly tapped his cheek with one finger and teased him in a soft voice.
He was afraid of what might happen if his little blade came unsheathed.
But he could hardly say that aloud, so he turned his head aside, tacitly admitting that she had guessed correctly.
Unfortunately, Leone was the sort who only got more excited when someone gave way. She wrapped both arms around Kobayashi’s head, making it difficult for him to breathe.
I’m going to die! I’m going to die! I’m going to die!
That soft terror assaulted him once more. Kobayashi frantically pounded on her arm, but in the end he still could not escape her embrace.
What finally made Leone stop was something happening on the other side of the training ground.
“What’s wrong, Tatsumi?”
Bulat bellowed at him. “Why aren’t you striking back? Why have your punches gone so limp and feeble? This is exactly when you should be throwing your hardest punches!”
“Oh… oh.”
Tatsumi was not nearly as enthusiastic as usual.
Kobayashi turned his head and saw that Bulat and Tatsumi were in exactly the same position as the two of them.
Yet the identical pose only made the sight more horrifying.
Kobayashi could guess why Tatsumi was not fighting back. Being pinned down by Bulat, the fact that he had not screamed aloud was already the greatest courtesy he could offer.
“How strange.” Leone rubbed her chin in puzzlement. “Did Tatsumi eat something bad last night? Why does he look so lifeless?”
“Last night?”
“Yeah. I saw him come back in the middle of the night looking terribly serious. When I asked him what was wrong, he only said his stomach hurt. How strange.”
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Hearing that, Kobayashi realized that Tatsumi had ended up like this because of him. Had the shock been too great? Had it left Tatsumi lost and uncertain about his future?
“Leone, get up for a moment.”
“…All right.”
Seeing the serious expression on Kobayashi’s face, Leone stopped fooling around and rose without protest.
After brushing the dust from his clothes, Kobayashi walked over to the hot-blooded young men.
Bulat looked somewhat surprised to see him. “Kobayashi? Are you two finished?”
“More or less.”
Kobayashi nodded, then said, “How much longer were you planning to train? I need to speak with Tatsumi.”
“Oh? If it’s important, we’ll stop here for today.”
Bulat promptly released Tatsumi.
Even so, he continued admonishing him. “You’re not in good shape today, Tatsumi. You should take some time to recover. You could be attacked at any moment, and an enemy won’t care whether you’re feeling well or not.”
“…Sorry. I’ll be more careful.”
Tatsumi answered quietly, then left with Kobayashi.
They went to the earthen slope behind the mountain, the place where the two of them had spoken late the previous night.
Because it stood high above the surroundings, the view was broad and beautiful, while the breeze sweeping over them was wonderfully refreshing.
After quietly taking in the scenery for a while, Kobayashi spoke first.
“Tatsumi, don’t you have something you want to say? I’ll answer whatever questions you have.”
“…”
“If you keep going like this, you’ll die. And it won’t be only you—you may even drag the others in Night Raid down with you. Are you really all right with that?”
“Of course not!”
Tatsumi cared deeply about his comrades in Night Raid. He absolutely did not want them to die because of one of his mistakes.
“But I don’t understand. Are the things we’re doing truly right? You said it yourself, Kobayashi—they aren’t genuinely good people. So does that mean what we’re doing is right?”
Tatsumi could not make sense of it and sought Kobayashi’s guidance.
Kobayashi looked him straight in the eye. “Then do you think what you’re doing is a good thing?”
“…I don’t know.”
Tatsumi shook his head. It was precisely because he did not know that he was so confused.
“Idiot! You’re supposed to say that it is!”
“But everyone says that no matter what banner we fight under, what we’re doing is still—”
“That’s because they made their choice long ago.”
They were expendable tools.
They performed the hardest and most dangerous work, a perilous profession whose deeds could never be recorded and whose achievements could never be claimed. Even so, they had chosen to continue.
“Why do you think that is?”
Before Tatsumi could answer, Kobayashi continued. “Because they believe that even if their actions bring death upon them, everything they do is for the sake of changing this rotten Empire.
“Those with ulterior motives may not be good people, but you know what the members of Night Raid are really like, don’t you?”
“…”
“You said you wanted to eliminate the vermin gnawing away at this rotten Empire, didn’t you?”
“…Yes.”
“Then there’s no problem. You have only one thing left to do—punish evil and uphold justice! If someone in the Empire commits evil, eliminate him. If someone among the rebels commits evil, eliminate him as well! You aren’t a bloodstained dagger. You’re a solid shield.”
“Is… is that really how it is?”
“Of course! But if you do that, both sides will come to despise you.”
Kobayashi extended his right hand and spoke with fervor. “You’ll bear an infamous name and never be able to clear it, but compared with the things you’re trying to save, that will amount to nothing!”
“I—I see! Save even more people? Become a dependable shield? Oh!”
The last spark of hot-blooded adolescent idealism still burning within Tatsumi was ignited by Kobayashi’s words.
He raised his clenched right fist high and shouted, as though strengthening his own resolve.
Seeing him return to his usual self, Kobayashi smiled in satisfaction as well.
“Still, to punish evil and uphold justice, you need overwhelming strength. You’re still far too weak.”
“Then I’ll go find Big Brother right now!”
Tatsumi hurriedly ran back toward the base. He was probably going to continue training.
The intimate exchanges between boys were truly enviable!
But…
“Positions, huh?”
What position was he in, anyway?
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