106 Stump
I took a good look at the middle-aged man in front of , accusing of sothing. He looked like he didn't really know what he was talking about, but was desperate to bla soone.
...How does it turn out to be that everyone's blaming all the ti?
Well, I guess it's best to figure out what this is all about.
"And what exactly is it that I did?"
The middle-aged man clearly hesitated but eventually gathered his resolve.
"Ever since your family has been handing out that food, there's... there's this weird sickness spreading around!"
I blinked a few tis.
"And that is enough for you to believe that I am the reason for this sickness?"
The middle-aged man paused before nodding.
"Y-Yes!"
I let out a long sigh. Jess, who was sitting next to , seed to be on the verge of blowing her top off. It seems like I should step in before that happened
"Then as an apology, you can sit at this table and eat as much as you want."
The middle-aged man looked rather confused.
"B-But..."
A bitter smile ford on my face.
"It's not like you can get sick again when you already are, right? Besides, I've already eaten from the sa pot. If you think I poisoned the bowls or sothing you can get your own."
The middle-aged man scratched the back of his head. I noticed a few onlookers staring at us and whispering amongst themselves. The man himself nodded though.
"Ok..."
It looked like he really was that hungry. Though it was a reluctant one, I finally was able to get one more person to sit down.
After so ti passed, Arianne had co along as well. She didn't say much, other than apologizing when asking for a second serving. As for the middle-aged man, he had ended up finishing his share quickly enough.
He gave a small bow towards and sheepishly spoke.
"...Thank you."
I waved my hand dismissively.
"I'm the reason for the problem, right? There's no reason for you to thank ."
The man looked back awkwardly, with one arm on his neck. He laughed like he was in pain before nodding.
"Y-Yeah."
As he prepared to leave, I called out to him.
"You can co back tomorrow if you want. I can't guarantee that I'll be here, but at the very least there should be so people cooking so stuff."
The man gave a curt nod before leaving.
Arianne looked at strangely.
"Eh? What were you talking about? Did you do sothing to him?"
I shrugged my shoulders before swiveling so of the soup in my spoon.
"He accused of being the one spreading the sickness."
Arianne tilted her head to the side.
"How would you have done that?"
I chuckled and held out one hand.
"Well, it wouldn't be hard for to have done it. Though, probably not intentionally."
I an, Nathan literally caused it to spread just by opening up so person's grave. Though, Arianne seed to only get more confused by my response.
"Then why did you take responsibility for it? It looked like even the man didn't think that he believed it was you either..."
I lazily held up a finger.
"Arianne. One thing that humans like to do a lot is to bla other people. Especially if they are different."
Arianne tilted her head to the side.
"But isn't that a stupid way to judge soone?"
I laughed before leaning forward.
"If you had to choose between soone to change your clothes, would you prefer it to be a girl or a guy?"
Arianne imdiately blushed before responding rather quickly.
"G-Girl!"
I smiled.
"See? You don't even know who they are, but you would still judge soone based on their initial traits. Sure, it may not be the most factually correct, but the human brain is programd to react in that way. To judge things based off of preconceptions in order to get a sense of understanding, even if it is a false one."
I tapped the table a few tis.
"On top of that, if you can just bla soone else for all of your problems, then you yourself won't have to take any of the bla. After all, by passing all the bla off, you won't have a reason to feel bad anymore. And it really is convenient to just put it on those assumptions you made earlier."
Arianne furrowed her brows.
"But isn't that... bad?"
I gave her a blank look.
"Maybe. But sothing people care more about than being right is their pride. Admitting that they are wrong is quite hard for most people, so much so they'd rather destroy their relationships with other people over asserting how correct they are while knowing they are wrong."
Arianne seed partially dazed. It was almost like I just flash banged her with words.
15:33
"...B-But, would that hurt your pride then?"
"Good person doesn't need anyone to tell him that he is good!"
Out in the back, Gray had shouted out while carrying sothing. It appeared a few butlers and maids were trying to explain his job to him, while he was trying his best to act on it. As for , I couldn't help but smile a little wider after hearing those words.
"What he said. I'm a prideful person, which ans it doesn't matter what opinions other people may have. I will still always be proud."
I kinda felt like I was repeating myself with what I said to Raisa a while before, but whatever I guess.
Those were definitely words that I stood by.
Though, it would end up being tested the very next day.
"He's the one behind all of it!"
"My daughter died because of you!"
"Hang him! Hang him now!"
...
"N-Nathan?"
"You better make this quick, else I'm not listening."
Nathan responded harshly to the person asking him a question, which was Minori. Currently, the two of them were walking in the slums. Next to Nathan's side, was Edward. His eyes seed to be on the verge of lifelessness as he followed behind silently, almost like he wasn't even there. He would've blended perfectly if it wasn't for his arm occasionally twitching, causing his hand to go into a grasping motion, almost like it was reaching out to get a death grip on sothing.
He and Edward were going back to set up their stall where they would sell pale at. Minori was tagging along to have a chat with Nathan, mostly because this was the only ti that he would ever entertain her.
Just two lines in, she already had the feeling that she was walking on eggshells.
"I just... I just wanted to know about Bryson."
Nathan already had a nasty expression on his face, clearly pissed off.
"This again?"
Minori flinched and hurriedly coughed.
"No, no. I just wanted to know sothing. C-Could you tell , is he a good person?"
Nathan sneered disdainfully.
"Oh, you care now? What happened to the certainty you showed before? You were telling that he was a bad person with so much confidence. You're questioning it now? HUH?"
With every single word, he seed to get angrier and angrier before snapping at the end, shouting at her. Minori flinched once more, with a miserable expression on her face. Tears had already begun forming, but they hadn't fallen yet.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! P-Please... just tell ."
While expecting to be yelled at again, Minori only received silence for a good while. Nathan didn't say anything for a while, but when he did, he was strangely calm.
"If I had to say whether he is a good or bad person, then I'd have to say he's a bad one. But if there was one person I would choose to save out of every single other person in the world, it would be him. And if he ever told to die, then I'd do it in a heartbeat. Actually, I'd do it faster."
A small smile ford on his face.
"But in either case, he would never ask for sothing like that, and curse out for saving him if I ever did."
Minori furrowed her brows.
"...Curse you out? For saving him?"
Nathan let out a small sigh.
"I owe him more than my life. But still, I'd be a selfish person and choose that he lived, even if he wants to die. And funnily enough, he would probably have the sa thoughts about ."
Minori only furrowed her brows harder.
"What? I..."
Nathan laughed and waved exaggeratedly.
"Sorry, I was kinda just talking on my own. You said you wanted to know if he was a good person, right? Then how about instead of hearing it from soone, you go see for yourself."
Minori didn't exactly seem satisfied with that answer, but bit her lip and nodded.
"...A-Alright, Nathan."
Nathan nodded a few tis.
"Since you didn't take too much of my ti, then I'll add in sothing else too. I don't really understand emotions and those kinds of things too well. But sothing I do know is that no matter what storms of hate try to blow over that man, he will still be standing up effortlessly. However, that isn't because he is so massive strong tree. It's because there's hardly even a stump left of him."
He paused for a mont and even stopped walking. With a sad smile, he looked in the distance, where he rembered Bryson's manor would be. While all he could see were a few run-down houses in front of him, for so reason it still felt as close as ever.
"Basically, it's because there's nothing left to blow over."
But a couple of termites will fuck him over.
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