☀️ Arselia and Akonia

Clenching her fists and wiping away the moisture that had welled up in her eyes after the dust got in them (and for no other reason), she stomps towards the scene of the murder with such force that her footsteps leave indentations in the ground. "What the hell have you done here?!" she exclaims, reaching the old man and giving him a sharp slap on the back of the head (inb4: she finishes him off). "Did anyone ask you to do this, you old fool? Is this how you decided to go out with a bang? You have no right! I can name at least four people right now whose hearts will be broken and trampled on! Is that what you want? Do you think they'll be crying at your grave? You'll be disappointed! They will, but not in the way you expect! And you want to put this burden on me? Don't you want to see Sakui take her first steps and hear Lolita speak? Don't you want to hold your beloved woman in your arms again? Did you even think about them? They're all like family to you, no matter what you say! They're your responsibility and your conscience! I already told you that you'll always have time to die, and this isn't the time," she says, forcefully rubbing the emerald into him. "How right I was last time when I made you promise not to do anything stupid. It turns out I should have done it every single time. An old dog can't be taught new tricks." "And you...!" she turns sharply to his opponent. "Is the number of deaths in this accursed city not enough for you? Just the other day, twenty people were hacked to pieces! Twenty! I saw a young girl's head chopped off right in front of my eyes!" She lowers her hand to about knee level, indicating the girl's approximate height. "Are you so bored and restless in this city that you decided to turn this 'cozy quest' into this abomination? Then go hunt harpies! Fight in the arena! Do you think it will be impressive and poetic when you walk through life, leaving dead bodies behind you, and one of them is your mentor? Absolutely not! A few years will pass faster than you think, and you'll regret it. All that will be left for you is regret, which you will hide behind a mask of stoicism and tragic inevitability. Do you think this is a matter of honor? 'I was challenged, and I have to respond'? But you know very well that the real reason behind this has nothing to do with honor. And don't you think there's some kind of sport in it? Today you kill an old man, tomorrow a cripple, the day after tomorrow a child – because they happened to cross your path in a dark alley? There are hundreds of wonderful ways to relieve your boredom, and they won't make you feel pain and shame in a few years. Drink sake with an old man under a cherry tree, remember your father, come up with some kind of project! You're not a bunch of mercenaries dividing loot! You have to live in such a way that legends are made about you, which you will reread when your soul is reborn in a new body. So that the woman you foolishly left continues to love you. So that you can enter the lair of the cultists and tear it to shreds, cleansing the world of their filth, profiting from their values, and receiving a reward from the government. So that a temple is built for you on another continent, where pilgrims will flock to learn about your life's path. So that the enthusiastic prayers of people will make you a deity in the end! That's what's cool, not burning ants with a magnifying glass, not playing pranks, and not killing mentors out of misunderstanding and stubbornness!