☀️ Arselia and Akonia

Clenching his fists and wiping away the remnants of moisture that had welled up in his eyes after the dust got in them, he stomps towards the scene of the murder with such force that his footsteps leave indentations in the ground.

- What the hell have you done here?! - Reaching the old man, he gives him a hard slap on the back of the head (inb4 he kills him). - Who asked you to do this, you old fart? Is this how you decided to go out with a bang? You have no right to do that! I can name at least four people right now whose hearts will be broken and trampled into the mud! Is that what you want? Are you hoping they'll cry at your grave? Don't count on it! - She sniffled again, but this time she managed to control herself. - Yes, they will, but not in the way you expect! And you want to put this burden on me? Don't you want to see Sakuya take her first steps and hear Lolita speak? Don't you want to hold your beloved woman in your arms again? Have you even thought about them? They are all like your family, no matter what you tell yourself! They are your responsibility and your conscience! I've already told you that you'll always have time to die, and this isn't the time for it, - she forcefully rubs 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 time, without exception. A gray hair in your beard, a devil in your heart.

- And you!.. - He sharply turns to his opponent. - Are you not satisfied with the number of deaths in this damned city? The other day, twenty people were hacked to pieces! Twenty! I saw a young girl's head cut off right in front of my eyes!.. - He lowers his palm to about knee level, showing the approximate height of the girl. - Are you so bored and cramped in this city that you decided to turn this "cozy quest" into this abomination? Well, go hunt harpies! Fight in the arena! Do you think it will be cool and poetic when you walk through life, leaving dead bodies behind you, and one of them is your mentor? Not at all! 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 must respond"? But you know very well that the real reason for this has nothing to do with honor. And do you really 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 bumped into you in a dark alley? There are hundreds of great 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 so that legends are told 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 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 dirty tricks, and not killing mentors out of misunderstanding and stubbornness!