[780] The Definition of Evil (2)
* * *
"If humans are the ones who define good and evil, then who is good and who is evil?"
Uorin continued.
"How would anyone know? Someone with a goodness of a hundred calls someone with ten goodness bad, and someone with ten evil calls someone with one evil bad."
The world seems full of scoundrels.
"They all just think they're right. The moment they realize they themselves can never be absolutely right, they tilt from neutral toward good…"
Reason.
"That doesn't mean those who realize it won't still do wicked things."
Seen up close, a human life is tragedy; seen from afar, it's comedy.
"Then what about the viewpoint of utter wickedness? If you watch human life from the farthest distance…"
Viewed from the farthest remove from humanity, our lives have no logic, no plausibility.
"It's just a messy comedy."
* * *
"Puahah! That was the best! As expected of Zetaro! He deserves the title Gustav IV!"
Havitz couldn't stop laughing.
"People died. How can you laugh? Control yourself."
When Zetaro put on a serious face, Havitz's laughter cut off.
"...."
Natasha, caught in the middle, rolled her large, eyelid-less eyes and smiled.
"Puahahaha! That's genuinely hilarious! The greatest comedy! Right, Natasha?"
"No question."
Zetaro held back his laughter to the end.
'One who makes others laugh must not laugh himself.'
Gustav IV-giye, Rosika Zetaro.
A jack-of-all-trades—doctor, famed commander, comedian—Zetaro was admirable for many things, but Havitz liked him for another reason.
"Zetaro is entertaining."
Because he was most like Havitz himself.
"Oi, Smodo! Come quick and look! Today Zetaro did—"
When they arrived at the imperial palace, Smodo came out to meet them.
"That's not the issue. Aren't you going to strike the Cotria Republic? The Balkans are bored out of their minds."
Havitz dismounted.
"You still haven't struck them? Do it now. War is the Balkans' favorite game; let them have their fun."
"I've already sent in one unit. We're testing the waters. We'll occupy a Pasifa city near the border."
"If the Balkans sent them, you'll win. Do what you want. Handle the spoils yourself."
"About those spoils. The army will take care of the women, but I'd like to pull some in, charge the populace, and sell them."
"Why? Run out of money? Take it from another country then."
"If the young men get some fun, they'll be willing to go to the battlefield. Turn slaves into livestock, distribute that money to households, and we can raise taxes."
Havitz gave a thumbs-up.
"As expected of the domestic-affairs king. Oh, by the way, Zetaro killed one during his performance. Pick ten good-looking, strong men and send them to the women. They'll be better than their husbands. Pay a hundred million gold."
"Understood."
* * *
Uorin tapped his temple.
"All they think about is how to amuse themselves."
There is no thought for other people's feelings.
"Killing people, tormenting others—those are all things you can call evil. But they are not the definition of evil."
So what is evil?
"Ignorance."
By Uorin's definition.
"Not meaning stupid or uneducated. It means having no standard of judgment because you don't know what is right."
Ignorance, then, is chaos.
"Naturally there's no guilt. They don't even know they're evil. The function of 〈Lawslaying〉 is superb, but it's very hard to wedge ourselves into that gap."
Because they exist outside the law.
* * *
"Are you really going to do this? If they come out like that, I might turn everything on its head myself."
Ardak, Deputy Minister of the Environment of the Gustav Empire, had a habit of deliberately indebting maids so he could force them into his bed.
"Please stop. I told you I don't want it."
But Mari stubbornly refused.
"Why resist? It's for the best. Think of your mother at home. We can cure her, right?"
Many maids had already told Mari of the humiliations and shame they'd suffered at Ardak's hands.
"I don't need that money. My mother's illness is a family matter. I'll earn the money myself…"
"You insolent brat!"
Ardak roared and raised his hand; Mari flinched in terror.
"Do you think I can't handle someone like you? I'm the Deputy Minister of the Environment. Shall I have you hanged in the square right now?"
The Gustav government had long been tyrannical, and for a deputy minister to kill a maid was nothing.
"P-please spare me."
"Then borrow the money. Got it? Legally. It's good for you and for me."
A guard shouted.
"His Majesty the Emperor!"
Startled, Ardak stepped back, and the maid beside him bowed her head.
"Yes, yes, you must be having a hard time."
Still in shabby clothes, Havitz scratched his groin and approached the deputy minister.
"What are you doing here? Hup."
The maid furrowed her brow, met Havitz's eyes, and went pale.
"Ah… sorry."
When Havitz reached out, Zetaro took a handaxe from his bag and handed it over.
As the maid's heart sank, Havitz brought the axe down and buried it in Ardak's skull.
"Execution of justice."
"Kreeeaaack!"
As the blade drove into the crown of his head, Ardak screamed; his eyeballs popped out.
"Huk! Huk!"
The terrified maid gasped, and Natasha plucked one of the dangling eyeballs off and popped it into her mouth.
"...."
She rolled it briefly with her fingers, pressed it to her lips, and sucked the blood.
"Eye."
Half the eyeball protruding between her lips, she turned her head; Havitz snorted with laughter.
"Live happily. Give her one hundred million gold too."
Havitz patted the maid's shoulder and walked by; Natasha followed and casually spat the eyeball out with a plop.
"Wow, she's gotten stronger."
She threw her arms up and rounded the corner in a graceful spin. The maid slumped to the floor and vomited.
"Uek! Ueeek!"
* * *
"Evil stems from ignorance."
That the mage—the symbol of reason—stood as the era's extreme good was no coincidence.
"Yet evil can sometimes look appealing. Someone can seem good, someone bad. Humans are creatures of illusion: once they like someone, they gloss over their faults…"
Uorin shrugged.
"In truth, there's no such thing. Good acts, bad acts—they're just shards flung out of chaos."
Shirone asked,
"How can such a person exist?"
"Because it's an extreme. By the same token, extreme good is equally bizarre. Your universal love, Nane's merit, Gaold's neutrality—directions that are the farthest from humanity itself."
Minerva said.
"What about childhood trauma?"
If they could find the cause that made Havitz what he was, they could find a way to deal with him.
"I analyzed it with History Search, but there appears to be almost nothing."
Nes asked,
"Almost nothing meaning it's not entirely absent?"
"When Havitz was three—just when a child's curiosity about bodies peaks—he once gouged out a maid's two eyes, blinding her."
"...."
"The Gustav line has long been tyrannical and genetically violent, but you can't say environment had no effect. If the maid had struck Havitz's hand away, she would have died."
For resisting the emperor's son.
"The maid covered her eyes and screamed. Little Havitz looked around with blood-stained hands. And then what happened?"
As everyone watched, Uorin twirled his finger and said,
"Everyone there applauded and praised Havitz. With terrified faces. That's absolute power."
Shirone muttered,
"They didn't know what was right."
"Yes. They had no chance to learn. But not every ruler's child becomes monstrous. There's something else we don't know…"
Uorin shrugged.
"Maybe there's no reason at all. No matter what education, Havitz might have become extreme."
Gudio said,
"A child. That's the hint."
Uorin snapped his fingers.
"Correct."
* * *
When they entered the Grand Hall of the imperial palace, Balkan spread out a world map and waited.
With all of Gustav IV gathered, Havitz stretched out on the throne.
"Asker."
Zetaro—who had brewed a powerful drug in an instant—handed a long pipe, and took a drag himself.
While Smodo rolled around with one of the maids in the hall, Balkan spoke.
"We've occupied Pasifa. The mayor was captured alive, and the number of recruits taken in by citizens is about seventy thousand."
The drugged Havitz trembled.
"Kill them."
Zetaro, eyes glazed, staggered forward, grabbed Havitz by the hair, and slammed him to the floor.
"Hahahaha, so funny."
As Havitz lay sprawled and gasped, Zetaro sat on the throne like an emperor and shouted,
"Kill them all!"
"Burial alive."
Havitz's pupils sharpened for an instant.
"Dig a massive pit and bury them all. Only let those who crawl out live."
Smodo, lying on top of a maid, turned his head.
"Do you know how much it'll cost to bury seventy thousand people?"
"It's fun."
There was no dissent. Balkan rose.
"That's my order. It will be quite a spectacle; when it's ready, let's go watch."
Natasha said,
"Let's go! I want to see!"
Having sobered from Asker's drug, Havitz looked up at the ceiling and said,
"I'm not going."
Smodo froze mid-motion.
"You'll spend all that money and not watch?"
"That's even funnier."
Zetaro tapped his armrest.
"Puahahaha! I get it now! I get it!"
Balkan and Smodo blinked; Natasha, without eyelids, tilted her head.
"Hahaha…."
Those who finally understood burst into peals of laughter.
"Oh my stomach! I'm going crazy! This is jackpot material! He's not going? He really isn't going… Puahahaha!"
The terrified maids trembled.
'Crazy people…'
They didn't want to know why it was funny, but with tears welling, they looked genuinely happy.
"Kekekeke! Kekekekeke!"
Natasha darted through the hall and began spinning in a beautiful ballet.
Havitz murmured,
"…This world is entertaining."
A playground.
Even if, when your mother calls you home for dinner, you'll cry and have to go back.
* * *
"You won't want to admit it…"
Just thinking about it would make one's blood run cold.
"Extreme evil is as pure as a newborn child's mind. It simply pursues a different direction."
It lacks any notion of how one should act.
"Miro's good, Shirone's love, Nane's merit, Gaold's neutrality. Now you know what that means."
Shirone had traveled a great deal.
"The last thing you must understand is Havitz's evil. So we must accept this horrifying fact."
Truly, an age of chaos.
"Evil is pure."
The gazes of those who had accepted it shone sharply.
"And only that purity of evil…"
Uorin nodded.
"Yes. It's the only point where we can wedge our way into evil's gap."
They had decided how to kill Havitz.