The Ramiris family was one of seventeen clans responsible for maintaining the Wall.
It was a heavy burden to bear—this hereditary duty and ability passed down through generations. Yet the reason I continued to forge ahead despite this weight was because of my sense of duty.
Though our work was funded by taxes, people took pride in this expenditure and considered it fortunate, which allowed me to stand tall.
Even heroes can't work without money. But when duty and fulfillment are added to the equation, we can create a better environment for people.
If one is satisfied merely with receiving payment, they're nothing more than vigilantes, not heroes.
I worked hard to inherit the family business and to become a proper hero.
The Academy and the family business—I desperately tried not to lose either one.
I put in the effort. And that effort would be rewarded with results. If the results weren't satisfactory, it meant my effort was lacking. So I just needed to work harder.
The claim that there wasn't enough time to work hard was a lie. Couldn't you naturally create more time by reducing sleep and leisure hours?
I didn't believe everyone should think this way, but I thought it was only natural for someone in a position to protect others.
If my studies were insufficient to properly understand the Wall, if my abilities were lacking to properly maintain it, how many people would be unable to sleep soundly at night because of me alone? How many more would be unable to walk around safely during the day?
It's about duty. Responsibility. Taking responsibility for one's position wasn't difficult at all. I gave my all so that my physically weak younger brother wouldn't have to inherit the family business.
A person can survive on just four hours of sleep. I didn't need to play. Rather, I had no time to invest in entertainment.
Perhaps because of this obsession, I took a liking to Yoon Ha-min, who excelled at everything. Someone like him seemed capable of helping me achieve my ideals.
Results were the answer to effort.
It made me wonder how much effort he had put in behind the scenes.
But that thought didn't last long. It wasn't that I saw Yoon Ha-min just playing around. Rather, it was because there was someone who couldn't produce results despite their efforts.
Kanna. She had never escaped the Bottom Rank, but that was simply due to lack of talent. To compensate for her lacking talent, she nearly offset her practical exam score of zero with her written exam scores. If she could escape the Bottom Rank with a practical score of zero, the next person to become Bottom Rank would receive strange looks, as if to ask what they were doing.
Well, that wasn't really enough to judge a person. If she worked that hard, it proved she hadn't entered the Academy just for a secure job.
But Kanna's problem wasn't there.
It was that she was involved with the Mysterious Person.
In such cases, it was impossible to make an objective judgment. The information given was that Kanna was involved with the Mysterious Person, and because of that, the Wall had collapsed.
In front of other heroes, a hero named Asrad said so, and Kanna nodded without denying it. In the end, didn't she absorb what was called the Mysterious Person's Totem?
As the eldest daughter of a family protecting the Wall, it was difficult to accept.
As I kept my distance, Kanna eventually returned to take the exam, and even participated in the recent battle against the Mysterious Person.
"...Was I misinformed?"
It might have been just a rumor, but I made a hasty judgment based on it. If that was the case, I would be too ashamed to face Kanna.
Kanna didn't deny that the Wall collapsed because of her—was it not of her own volition, but because she couldn't deny it? Maybe that's why Kanna fought alongside the heroes against the Mysterious Person, to make amends.
My mind was filled with various thoughts.
I needed to focus on studying, but I felt like I was going crazy because I couldn't concentrate.
Of course, I couldn't make hasty judgments since I had limited information, but with the voices around me, I couldn't help but think in that direction.
As my father and grandfather said, was Kanna indeed a presence that brought unease within the Wall? Even if Kanna didn't wish for it, as long as she acknowledged it and existed, would the Wall collapse? Wasn't that the source of unease?
Even if she risked her life fighting against the Mysterious Person, if her very existence was a threat, was it right to cast her out?
Many thoughts crossed my mind. In the end, I put aside both my studies and family business and took out my Device.
Though I could meet her tomorrow since it was Sunday, I carefully made a call, thinking it might be difficult to bring this up within the Academy.
"...Yes, Yoon Ha-min. Are you at the hospital now?"
[No, I'm at home now.]
"I thought you'd be there to take care of Kanna."
[Ah... She's been discharged, so I don't need to go anymore.]
"Is that so? Then can I ask you one thing?"
I thought he would be at the hospital taking care of Kanna, but he was home—that felt reassuring. If he was at home, he could speak comfortably.
[Yeah, yeah, what is it?]
"Well, you're close to Kanna. So I was wondering what you think about her."
[Huh? Wait, just a moment.]
Yoon Ha-min was silent for a moment, perhaps doing something, then continued.
[Um, what kind of question is that? What do I think of her?]
"Well, there's a lot of talk, you know. About her being taken away, being harmful to humanity, and so on. Do you think she's a harmful existence that brings down the Wall? Or do you think she's someone worth protecting?"
Silence fell. If I had been facing him, I might have imagined his expression turning seriously distorted—it was such a cold silence.
[...If she fights so hard and is still cast out for being harmful to the Wall, isn't that more problematic? You ask if I think she's someone worth protecting? That's exactly why she should be protected. In the first place, if the Mysterious Person is trying so hard to kill her, shouldn't we protect her all the more? They're trying to get rid of her, aren't they?]
Yoon Ha-min desperately defended Kanna.
But contrary to what my father and grandfather said, his words made sense.
One voice said her existence causes the Wall to collapse, so she should be cast out. Another voice said the fact that the Mysterious Person crossed the Wall at great cost to try to kill her is reason enough to protect her.
Both arguments had merit.
There was no right or wrong. If I wanted to find which was more plausible, I could only calculate whether Kanna was worth protecting in that way.
But even I could understand.
If peace was found that way, if the Mysterious Person truly stopped coming afterward, could we be genuinely happy about it?
Peace obtained by sacrificing someone. If we don't seek peace, weighing it against the lives that would be lost, some might argue it's justified.
Is it a stranger or an acquaintance? Surely someone holds them dear.
But objectively, from a "hero's" perspective, one couldn't weigh the value of lives.
Men or women, elderly or children—don't they all deserve an equal chance to live? Then all we could do was count numbers.
Is that really the right thing to do?
Thousands of people who died tragically. One person to be sacrificed.
Which weighs more?
"I see."
I couldn't choose.
The profession is called "hero," and people praise it accordingly. It seemed to tell me I couldn't become a true hero.
Perhaps hesitating over such matters disqualifies me as a hero. Maybe I'm better suited to inheriting the family business, just protecting and reinforcing the Wall.
Good and evil, justice and injustice—it's so easy to distinguish them, but determining what's truly right is so difficult that I could only sigh.
What weighs more? What is more precious?
We would mourn the thousands who die like victims of a disaster, but is it right for us to drive away someone who is pushed to sacrifice for the sake of many?
"I understand. I'm sorry for the strange question. I was just curious, and given my family background, there's a lot of talk."
[...I got carried away. I'm sorry too.]
Yoon Ha-min apologized, seeming embarrassed.
"Lastly... I have one more question."
[What is it?]
"If Kanna has regained consciousness, could you ask her something for me?"
[Hmm, what should I ask?]
I thought her efforts were admirable. That's why I nodded when she asked to be friends, thinking it would be nice to get closer.
And yet, as soon as I thought she was the culprit behind the Wall's collapse, I was the one who distanced myself.
Despite that, Kanna, who never complained and only watched me cautiously—what was she thinking? Did she hate me, resent me? Did she find it awkward that I never spoke to her and only ate beside Yoon Ha-min?
Even so, it couldn't be helped. It was what I had done.
"...Tell her I want to apologize."
One must take responsibility for one's actions.
This wasn't about being a hero; it was about doing what was right as a person.
Rather than blindly following my family's opinions as if they were my own, I wanted to follow what my heart told me.