While everyone else just stood by watching, Kanna alone was suffering, crawling on the ground.
Why was no one extending a helping hand to her in this situation?
I couldn't understand what was happening, so I looked toward the hero standing closest to her.
Looking up at him with wide eyes, I could only see that Asrad remained still, wearing an expression that showed he didn't know what to do.
What on earth was going on?
The situation was already resolved, and the monster had been defeated. Wasn't it normal and proper to take injured people to the hospital?
"What is this..."
I almost snapped in the moment, but after noticing the rigid expressions on everyone's faces, my mouth froze, and I couldn't say anything.
"Ugh, argh."
I groaned as I watched Kanna clutching her chest in agony.
Then I carefully moved closer to her.
My body hesitated at the sparks flowing around Kanna's body, but I still had to approach.
"Kanna... are you okay?"
I said what no one else had said and did what no one else was doing.
The situation felt uncomfortable, and I knew that if I acted rashly, I might not only fail to help Kanna but could also be isolated from her. I needed to act as naturally as possible until I understood the situation clearly.
Was it because I knew about the future? Or information that would normally require countless deaths and trial and error to obtain?
Or was the Mysterious Person up to something?
It could be all of these, but judging by the way her ability was going berserk, she seemed to have absorbed something.
Like those totems I had seen before.
Kanna was in no state to hear me, grinding her teeth with her head pressed against the floor.
What I received in return was a gesture from the hero telling me not to come closer.
"Student, do you know this Kanna?"
"...Yes. She's my classmate."
"I see. Stay away from her now. She's had contact with the Strange One."
My eyes widened.
"What do you mean by contact with the Strange One?"
"I'm saying she's had a connection with them from the beginning."
"If you're talking about her being taken by the Strange One, Kanna is completely innocent!"
Kanna fought for humanity.
To call it a connection with the Strange One—that was just an unreasonable contract unilaterally imposed by the Strange One.
But the hero didn't see it that way.
"Isn't it too naive to think she was taken against her will? She might have arranged to meet them naturally when the opportunity arose. Besides, when I asked if she could handle what the Strange One had scattered around, she insisted she couldn't do it until the end."
There are reasons for that.
But explaining those reasons would only corner Kanna further.
The things the Strange One had scattered—Sela tilted her head beside me, seemingly not knowing what they were, but I knew.
They were probably totems.
Kanna was going berserk because she had consumed them.
I wanted to calm her down. I wanted to make Kanna comfortable somehow.
So I looked at the hero.
"...Then why is she in such pain? Is it right to leave someone suffering like this? Is this what being a hero means?"
When I snapped at him, he gave me a "who does this kid think he is" look before letting out a hollow laugh.
"I don't know if you think it makes sense for someone else to handle what the Strange One created, but think about it. If she had followed the proper method to eliminate them, nothing would have happened, but she absorbed them on her own."
He pointed at Kanna as he spoke.
"The very act of arbitrarily absorbing the Strange One's power is the problem. No one knows what kind of power she might be hiding."
"Couldn't it also be something the Strange One did arbitrarily?"
I swallowed hard, my throat burning.
"...What's your name?"
"Yoon Ha-min."
"Right, Ha-min. Without evidence or confirmation, everything is just speculation. That's why we must assume the worst."
He gripped his sword tightly and looked down coldly at Kanna.
"While assuming the worst, we must still bring about the best results, which is why we must struggle with these decisions again and again."
He looked like he might cut Kanna's throat at any moment, so I immediately placed my hand on my waist.
Noticing my movement, he looked at me with cold eyes.
Behind me, Sela grabbed me and protested.
"Ha-min! What are you doing? People connected to the Strange One are always subject to investigation or punishment first...!"
Sela's voice, gripping my shoulders and shouting, seemed distant.
I gritted my teeth and looked ahead.
"Then why not investigate first instead of prioritizing punishment?"
I prepared to activate my ability the moment the hero in front of me swung his sword.
Nevertheless, the hero ignored me and pointed his sword at the suffering Kanna.
"Because her very existence is harmful. Seeing that she's just a first-year at the Academy, it seems she entered by paying a hefty sum to escape from the Strange One, but because she betrayed the Strange One, the Wall has collapsed multiple times."
"If she betrayed the Strange One, doesn't that make her an ally of humanity?"
Despite my outcry, the hero's eyes remained cold.
"The Wall has collapsed three times. Considering the damage caused, isn't it selfish to expect protection?"
How is desperately wanting to live considered selfish?
If even that is called selfish, then what...
"The honor and glory of the families managing the Wall, including Ramiris, were tarnished overnight. Because of this incident, residents in the area had to bleed and lose their families. Moreover, heroes had to die too."
I flinched.
I realized that further objections would only create more resistance.
The hero was simply speaking from a hero's perspective.
I was just desperately trying to protect someone I cared about.
Although I knew Kanna's circumstances, I couldn't reveal everything, doubting whether they would believe me. If I faced opposition from others as well, I would have no way to help Kanna, so my head dropped involuntarily.
Heroes had died.
Residents had died.
The Wall that protected this country and city—the honor and glory of those who managed it had been tarnished.
Using that as a shield to stay in a safe place, Kanna had become more selfish than anyone else, leaving me unable to defend her.
If I tried to stop them after hearing all that, the only arguments I could make would be emotional appeals based on my own desires and selfishness, begging them not to touch her.
"..."
I frowned and lowered my head.
My hand, which had been reaching for my sword hilt, lost strength and fell limply.
But the hero seemed to understand me, shrugging his shoulders.
"Well, I suppose it's natural to get upset when you suddenly see your friend in this state. I'd be grateful if you just listened to the circumstances and understood why this is happening."
He sheathed the sword he had been pointing at Kanna.
"I'll postpone immediate execution, but we'll take custody of this student. She'll be released when it's deemed safe or unrelated to the Strange One's attack."
The other heroes seemed to agree with his decision.
So I could only stare blankly at the scene.
I thought that if I were that hero, I would have spoken better to prevent Kanna from ending up like this.
I felt too powerless to say anything.
The only thoughts that came to mind seemed so inappropriate that they would disqualify me as a hero.
Despite hearing all this, I couldn't accept Kanna being taken away like that.
But what difference would it make if I didn't accept it?
There was nothing I could change.
Kanna, on the verge of going berserk, was randomly shooting lightning.
The purple lightning that flailed aimlessly in the air before disappearing proved it wasn't moving according to her will.
The heroes discussed how to calm Kanna down and take her away, then eventually knocked her unconscious completely.
Kanna, who had lost consciousness and gone quiet, was taken somewhere by the heroes.
Even during all this, no one tried to stop them.
I was frustrated.
At myself for not being able to say anything.
Suddenly, I remembered Kanna saying she'd rather die than harm those around her.
That voice begging me to kill her still seemed to echo in my ears, but I realized I couldn't do it.
No matter how much of a hero I might be, no matter what greater cause there might be.
I didn't think I could try to cut someone's throat like that cold-eyed hero.
Sacrificing the few for the many, cutting away without hesitation—it didn't seem like something I was suited for.
Especially if the target was someone I had grown attached to.
Kanna would be scared being alone in a dark place.
She would sleep better if I were by her side.
To take such a fragile girl away and decide whether to kill her or not.
When I thought about the people who had been harmed, the people who had died, I understood that many would want that outcome,
but contradictorily, my heart still wanted to protect Kanna.
I didn't want to let her go.
That's why it hurt even more.
If I couldn't properly protect even one person I wanted to protect, how could I call myself a hero?
If being a hero meant living like that,
If I had to cut away all those precious to me like this,
I didn't want to become that kind of hero.