The blue sky overhead was completely gone, replaced with a layer of ash colored cloud. It was early morning, and the constant gray above was beginning to reflect in the people's faces as they walked the streets.
However, one particularly noisy—or rather, energetic—young woman was determined not to let the melancholy weather keep her down.
"It's time to keep our promise to Shakti and patrol the city!" Yup, It's Alise. "We'll catch all the bad guys!" For the patrol duty, we split in groups with me going with Alise and Ryuu, wearing her usual mask to hide her face.
"I doubt they'll attack another factory so soon after the last," she said, "but I suppose it couldn't hurt to keep an eye out."
"Absolutely!" Alise beamed.
"There doesn't seem to be any pattern to the attacks," I stated from my observation, "but the first and second districts seem to have suffered the brunt of the damages."
"This area is the heart of Orario's magic item industry," said Alise. "I heard they're managing to hang in there for now, but it won't be long before the remaining factories are completely overwhelmed."
The three of us had teamed up to patrol the northeastern quarter of the city. The other girls were elsewhere, patrolling other districts in the hopes of warding off any further attacks.
In addition to making the rounds, Ryuu and Alise also questioned civilians. Alise was terrifyingly adept at getting people to open up, so she was perfect for the job. The only problem was that she talked the ears off anyone willing to listen, regardless of whether it seemed relevant or not. While she focused on canvassing the populace, the relatively unsociable Ryuu kept a vigilant eye out for anything or anyone that seemed out of place.
As their investigation proceeded apace, the clouds above grew thin, eventually giving way to the orange glow of evening. It was at this time, while we were walking down an ordinary little side road, that Ryuu mentioned what had been bugging her ever since that morning.
"…The city feels lifeless," she said. "Orario is supposed to be the capital of the world, but who would believe that after taking a walk through these streets?"
"Everyone we meet looks sad, the shops have barred windows to deter thieves…" Alise agreed. "No one feels safe or like they can relax, and it's affecting them inside and out."
People walked the streets with their eyes cast downward, or they would leap at shadows, peering nervously over their shoulders. The usual clamor that filled the streets, of peddlers hawking their wares, was completely absent.
"The Evils have everyone spooked," said Ryuu, the frustration apparent in her voice. "They're all on guard for whatever might happen next. Despite our best efforts, people don't feel any better. What can we do?"
A flicker of uncertainty crossed Alise's brow. "If nothing else, this is definitely an improvement," she said. "Remember how bad it was when we first met?"
"I couldn't believe how unreasonable you were back then," said Alise. "After I saved you, you still looked at me like you'd bite my hand off, like a stray cat!"
"I—I did not! I-it's just, I'd only recently left my village, and I was a wreck… Anyway, I—I wasn't behaving that way on purpose!" Really, I wanted to see that.
"I still remember what you said to me, you know! After I chased off Jura, you said, 'If you only saved me to satisfy your own ego, don't expect a reward. Hmph.'"
"Aliiiiize…!" Ryuu could only whine in response to her captain's unflattering imitation. It was obvious even through the mask how embarrassed she was to see her awkward past reenacted. Even the very tips of her long ears were beginning to turn red.
"He-hem! Oh, I know all about your weaknesses, Little Miss Lion! But I think you're wrong about one thing."
"Hmm?" Ryuu was taken off guard by Alise's sudden shift in tone. She lifted her gaze, but at that very moment, a girl on the street called out to us.
"Ah! It's Astrea Familia!" she cried.
"That's right, we're Astrea Familia, champions of justice!" declared Alise, turning and striking a pose. "And you must be little Leah, that girl I helped the other day, no?"
Just then, the girl's mother came over.
"Oh, you don't know how grateful we are to you, Miss Adventurer," she said, bowing her head respectfully. "How can we ever repay you…?"
"Don't worry about it," said Alise. "I was only doing what's right! We're always happy to help!"
"Thank you for saving me, nice ladies! Bye-bye!" The girl waved one of her teddy bear's arms as she and her mother departed. Ryuu watched, astonished, as they left. "…I don't believe it…"
"Those are the smiles we're fighting for, Lion. There may not be many of them, but they're out there. We shouldn't forget that just because not everyone has the strength to smile all the time. That'd be an insult to the work we do every day."
".….…. "
"We've seen what change justice can bring. All we have to do is keep fighting the good fight, don't you think?"
"…You're right, Alise. Of course you are. There's no time to be standing around feeling sorry for myself when we have a job to do."
Seems like Alise word have the intended effect as Ryuu lifted her head and, in a proud voice, declared, "We need to do all we can for the sake of peace in—" "Ohhhh noooo!"
It was at that very moment that a melodramatic male voice called out, and the three of us turned to see a low-life hoodlum running away.
"Ha-ha! Yoink!"
"My 444 valis! But that's my entire life savings!" the man squealed. "Somebody, stop that thieeef!!"
"Huh, is that a god?" observed Alise. "What's the world coming to when even the divine have to worry about getting their purse snatched?! Also, how is 444 valis your entire life savings? You're a god!"
"Now's not the time, Alize! Let's go!" Keeping Alise from uttering any more tactless remarks, Ryuu leaped into action. The street was busy, despite the city's languor, and the hoodlum wove his way through the crowd with practiced ease.
However, he did not seem to counted on the fact that those blessed with falna are way too different from normal people. Without hesitation, we cut through the sea of people, sometimes leaping up onto buildings and running along walls to gain on their quarry.
"You can't escape us!" Alise yelled. "Prepare to be cuffed!"
"That girl with the red hair…That's Scarlett Harnell?! Dammit, why did I have to run into Astrea Familia?" Alise was pretty famous so no wonder he recognized her.the hoodlum had no choice but to disappear down a side road in an attempt to get away.
"Gweh?!" However, he wasn't prepared for someone to be standing right there, which explained why he ran straight into them before falling to the ground.
"Come on, stealing isn't right. We have to work for our money, don't we?"
The girl who cut off the thief was a young woman. The impression I got from looking at her was that she was an adorable girl, rather than someone who could be called beautiful. If Alise was a bouncing bundle of sunshine, then this girl was the calm spring breeze. That's what I concluded after looking at her.
"Ardee!" said Ryuu with surprise. She seemed to know the girl.
"That's right!" said the girl. "Who's your fellow adventurer and the kind and upstanding Shakti Varma's younger sister? It's me, Ardee!"
"Who exactly needed that exposition…?" said Ryuu with a fed-up look. So she is Shakti's sister. I vaguely remember the information I once read on wiki regarding Shakti having a sister.
"Hey, Lion. You're looking pretty as ever. Sniff…and you smell nice as well. Mind if I hug you?"
"Yeah. I do mind." I immediately stand in front of Ryuu to protect her from this perverted girl.
"Who are you to get in my way?!" The perverted girl said, glaring at me. Like hell I care about your glare, you brat!
"He-hem!" Came Alise's proud, boastful voice. "I got to hug her yesterday when I slept in her bed! You should have seen her blush, it was adorable!"
"What! I want to do that too!" Both I and the perverted girl said at the same time.
"All of you, focus on the job!" yelled Ryuu, but she was hopelessly outnumbered, with the triumphant red on one side and the perverted one on the other, and a knight in shining armour, that is me, in the front.
We heard the voice of the little girl, Leah, who had apparently run after us to watch the chase.
"You're all such good friends!" she cried. That seems to only make it hurt her even more.
"Ah-ha-ha. Well, enough playing around," said Ardee, releasing Ryuu and spinning to face the mugger. "Let's see that wallet you stole."
"Guuuh…" The hoodlum had taken a big fall and was only just now scrambling to his feet. "Argh, dammit!" he cursed, beating his fists against the earth. "I'm screwed! My life's over! Just throw me in a cell and leave me to rot already!"
"Wow! What a refreshing change of pace!" said Alise, awestruck. "I've never met a criminal who volunteered to be arrested before!"
"Me neither." It was a different sight than I expected. I, at least expected for him to try and runaway while we were talking.
"Please don't make this worse than it already is," Ryuu muttered at us. The hoodlum, meanwhile, continued his rant.
"The strong could never understand what we gotta go through just to put food on the table! We can't work, we can't sell shit, and we can barely breathe without someone blowin' up a buildin' halfway across town!"
The human man's clothes were nearly as ragged as his outlook on life. He was fairly old, with a stubbly beard, and while he clearly wasn't an adventurer, he wore armor across his shoulder and stomach, presumably to defend against a stray knife on the street. It was a wise choice during times like these.
"It's all right for you lot, who've got work comin' outta your ears! Why don't you go after the real villains instead of pickin' on little guys like me?!"
Ryuu cast an embarrassed eye downward at the man's words.
It was neither right nor wrong. It was simply the reality of the situation. There was much Ryuu could say, but none of it would console the man.
The petty thief, meanwhile, staggered to his feet. "That's right," he said, empowered by the failure to respond. "You made us like this! This is all your fault! I'm the victim here!"
Yup, I heard enough of his gibberish. I stepped forward to confront him. But the Ardee beat me to it.
"That's your excuse?" she demanded.
"Uh…"
"Bad things are still bad. If stealing is okay as long as someone else stole from you first, what's stopping your victim from turning around and robbing you, hmm?" There was no blame in her voice, like she was explaining how two plus two make four.
"Your crime just now would have put somebody in the exact same situation if we hadn't stopped it."
"W-well…" Though the man was not being pressed to explain himself, he flustered with his words anyway. Ardee gave him a gentle smile.
"So I want you to promise me something."
"What?!"
"Promise you'll never resort to crime again. Promise me that, and we can forget all this nastiness ever happened."
The man looked dumbfounded, but it was Ryuu who cried out in surprise first. "What?!" she shrieked. "Ardee, you can't do that!"
"Why not?" the girl replied.
"Because he committed a crime, and he needs to be punished! If you let him off the hook, what's to stop others like him? How would we ever uphold public order if everyone was as lenient as you?!" I was on Ryuu's side on this one.
"Hmm, I think I have the right to take extenuating circumstances into account," she insisted. "This man isn't lying, and I know stealing is wrong, but…" She smiled. "…We got the money back, so no harm, no foul, right? And nobody got hurt except our friend here."
"Still, a crime's a crime!" Ryuu bellowed. "Ardee, you call yourself a member of Ganesha Familia?!"
That furious accusation wiped the smile off Ardee's face. She closed her eyes in contemplation.
Suddenly, Alise, who had been intently listening to the debate, stepped in.
"You know, I think I agree with little Miss Ardee here!"
"Alise?! Not you as well?!"
Alise walked right over to the confused gentleman and pointed a finger at him.
"But you won't get a third chance, understood? You can bet your life as a free man on that!"
"Y-you're really letting me go?"
"Yep," said Ardee. "Although I'm probably going to get in trouble for it later…Oh, and take this."
Saying this, Adree offered something she had been holding in her hand the entire time. It was a baked yam, steaming and wrapped in paper.
"I can't give you money, but I can let you have my Jyagamarukun," she explained. "Don't worry, I haven't taken a bite yet." With that, the girl flashed her usual, sunny smile. "Eat it while it's still warm!" she said.
The man was flabbergasted. He stood stock-still, grinding his teeth in frustration. And then…
"…You think you're so bloody good…Well, screw you!" Then he grabbed the food out of Ardee's hand, turned, and fled, unwilling—or perhaps ashamed—to spend a second longer in her presence. We could only watch him go in silence.
"I think what he meant to say was 'Don't get the wrong idea! I'm not grateful to you or anything!'" said Alise.
"I mean, he wasn't shy about taking the Jyagamarukun, right? Let's see if he changes his tune once he gets some decent food inside him!"
"I don't see why he would," said a dejected Ryuu, her emotion showing on her face. "And I don't think there's much chance he talks like that, either. Is this really going to help make things better?"
"I don't think it will." I simply stated my thoughts.
"Lion and whoever you are," said Ardee, turning around to face us. "I think you're in a very privileged position to be able to speak like that."
"…Huh?" I frowned at her.
"He was right. The only reason we can afford to be worried about justice is because we're the ones with all the power."
"…!" Ryuu was petrified with shock.
"I've been thinking, Lion," Ardee went on. "Do you think forgiveness can be a part of justice?"
Framed against the sunset, the girl wore an unsure smile. The other two, and even the little girl's mother, gazed at her in wonder. Leah also tipped her head in curiosity as she considered Ardee's words.
"That's such a stupid thought," I told her harshly. "Forgiveness is already a part of justice. If we have arrested that men and held him accountable for his actions. Then, after his punishment, he would have been forgiven by everyone. By letting him go, there is a possibility he will grow to think that he can get away with doing crime and might even do worse things then now." I stopped to take a breath, as I was getting a little too worked up, and continued.
"I am not saying that you, trying to be kind, to a struggling person is wrong. I'm just saying that you are too naive to the works of the world. Someday it might come to bite you back."
"Hmm… I will be prepared for it then." Even if she said that, I can tell she was not taking my advice seriously. "But what do you think, Lion?"
"I…I…"
Ryuu struggled to piece together a coherent response. Her lips flapped open and shut wordlessly. It was at that moment that a hollow series of claps rang through the street.
"Bravo! Oh, I say, bravo!"
"It's you…!"
"The god who was robbed…?" All of us turned to look at the newcomer. It was the very man the purse snatcher had accosted mere minutes ago.
"What an excellent display from the champions of this city's justice!" he said.