Chapter 384 Right Or Wrong
Is it right to take a life?
NO.
Is it right to take a life you believe to be wrong?
MAYBE.
Is it wrong to allow a life you believe to be wrong take another life?
YES.
In the endless spectrum of results, Esme chose the simplest path to arrive at her definition of morality.
"I will eliminate anyone who threatens the wellbeing of myself, those I care about, and those I consider to be worth keeping alive."
And so, when it came to the question of the two men and their daughters, Esme had her answer.
"If killing a man's daughter will save my daughter, I'll kill the daughter. If killing a man will save my daughter, I'll kill the man. And if I can kill the third party who started the twisted game, then that is what I will do."
There was no need for a moral dilemma or overcomplicating an issue that would appear simple to anyone living in a certain point of view.
"Why is that your answer?" Rey asked Esme.
"Because I can't save everyone. I have a life, and I am limited by my experiences. It's useless taking my opponent's perspective and experience into account. I am not them, and they are not me."
Rey slowly nodded.
"If I choose not to kill someone's daughter to save my own, am I so certain that the person would do the same if they were in my shoes? No… I don't think so."
In the end, humans only did things based on their perception of things.
"We don't see the world as it is, but from a contaminated lens of the self… eh?" Rey smiled as he looked at Esme.
She wasn't wrong in her analysis.
'We share the same perspective on how we would handle the situation…' His thoughts trailed.
Rey never expected to switch to his perspective so easily, but after seeing the ugliness of the world, it seemed she too had come to the same conclusion as him.
"But doing that doesn't make you good, does it?" He added, a bit playfully.
"Huh? Why doesn't it make me good?"
"Hmm?" Rey was surprised by her question.
Wasn't it a given that doing bad deeds already made you a bad person, unless one looked at it from the spectrum of moral relativism—which was what both Rey and Esme currently held to be the correct path.
In that vein, there wasn't any real hero or villain—no truly good or bad person. People could do good things for bad reasons and bad things for good reasons.
Hence, Rey was simply saying Esme wasn't fully good. If she was willing to kill another man's daughter to save her own, or commit atrocities to achieve what she percieved to be a better outcome.
Then she wasn't truly good, neither was she truly evil.
Of course, Rey explained this to her, but Esme shook her head while she listened.
"I don't accept that." She responded.
Her tone was once again serious, and her eyes gleamed with nothing short of resolve.
"I am a good person. I choose to follow the path that I consider good and generate the best outcome for everyone."
Of course, it was what SHE considered the best outcome, but still…
"If I do all of that, then I AM good. Because the other side is what I would call EVIL." That was Esme's conclusion.
Upon hearing this, Rey said nothing more.
'Ahh… I understand now.' His crimson eyes shone brightly as he observed her Status Window.
He instantly understood why her current perspective was the way it was.
'She's Chaotic Good… just like Billy.'
That meant they followed their own path and philosophy of good… to the letter.
'We're not the same at all!'
The one big difference between Esme and Rey lay in the nature of their convictions.
Rey would do the exact same thing that Esme would, but he did so from a neutral perspective—considering himself neither objectively right or wrong.
But she was different.
Esme was right in her own convictions! That made her the most dangerous kind of Good person.
'It looks like she indeed sorted out her trauma…' Rey's thoughts trailed as he looked at Esme's bright smile.
'It just wasn't in the way I expected.'
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"So… do you have an objective plan on how you'll go about this new ideal of yours?"
Rey's question echoed in the room after several minutes of silence from both parties.
He was initially willing to give her time to say whatever she had to say, but after waiting for a while, Rey suspected that Esme was done with what she had to say.
And so, he asked the question.
"I want to play an active role in defeating the Dragons. To do that, though… I'll need to get a lot stronger than I am at the moment."
Rey nodded and smiled the moment he heard this.
'That's the spirit!'
It was nice to see her so fired-up. Her Stats were fine, in all honesty, but that was by human standards. The fact that she could get even stronger made it all the more pertinent to do so.
"I'm happy you said that, Esme. I was also thinking of how I can
—"
"No, Rey…" Esme cut him short before he finished his statement. "I can't burden you any longer."
The moment Rey heard this, he flinched.
"You've done a lot for me, and I appreciate it. But my conscience can't allow me to keep burdening you like this when there's an easier alternative."
"You mean… the Elves?" He asked, though his tone was near silent.
Esme nodded and widened her smile a little. "If it's not too much trouble, can you help me reunite with them? I would like to fight alongside them."
Rey understood everything.
'Why do I feel this way? Wasn't this the initial plan? Isn't this what I always wanted?'
Perhaps he just thought they would have more time together.
"I apologize for burdening you one last time, Rey…" As Esme spoke, Rey raised a hand and shook his head. He smiled sadly, though she couldn't see it thanks to his mask.
"I understand, Esme. I'll make sure you get to meet your people."
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[A/N]
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