Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 1368 - 154: Testing Game

"Hmm?" Catherine was startled and asked with confusion, "What do you mean? I don’t quite understand your thoughts."

"Literally." Shiela pointed at Catherine with her finger and countered, "A rational person always has a reason for doing anything. Someone who acts without reason is either a madman or a fool. Do you think we, these leaders, no, do you think most of the Undead are like madmen or fools? If neither, then think for us, using your way of thinking, what would be our reason for wanting to destroy the Yarran World?" freёnovelkiss.com

The question posed by Shiela made Catherine think hard. The knight girl realized she had never considered this question. Due to the Undead War a century ago, all intelligent beings of the Yarran World naturally assumed that the Undead intended to destroy their world. Even though they knew the Undead possessed Divine Wisdom, they still regarded them with suspicion and hostility, and all decisions were made under the assumption that the Undead were about to devour the world. Even Catherine herself, along with Pannis, due to Lady Nellie’s influence, had psychologically accepted the existence of the Undead, and thereby hoped to fulfill Lady Nellie’s dying wish to help the Undead integrate into the Yarran World. Yet in their hearts, like everyone else, they instinctively viewed the Undead as hostile forces that were a constant threat to the world’s safety. It was not until Shiela posed this question that Catherine suddenly realized she had truly never considered the reasons of the Undead and was thus stunned, not only her, but the knight girl could see that the moment Shiela asked the question, Pannis’s shoulders trembled, clearly disturbed by it as well.

"The most likely reason is hate," she said slowly, even though she knew her thinking was hindered by past impressions, the implications for the future were far too significant for Catherine to not approach this with the utmost caution. "Maybe at first you indeed had no such intentions, but once war breaks out, everything spirals out of control. More and more warriors from both sides—spirits and Dead Souls—would fall, and their hatred for each other would deepen. The war gradually turns into senseless slaughter which from that point, the concept of reason loses all value. One side annihilating the other doesn’t require a reason.

Shiela said nothing, just gazing at Catherine, who was frowning in thought, with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, making it impossible to discern her thoughts. Being stared at by the Ghost opposite her, the knight girl’s voice grew fainter and fainter, until she didn’t finish her sentence and, covering her forehead, sighed with a rueful smile, "Well, I admit, even I find such a foolish reason hard to believe."

"Yes, it’s an interesting reason, but it doesn’t align with reality," Shiela softly spoke with a smile only after Catherine’s morale had waned, "Hatred is hatred, destroying the world is destroying the world; these are two unrelated matters, there’s no reason to link them. One creature may hate another and might indeed kill them, but if one creature hates a race, it’s almost negligible that they would massacre that entire race. As for a creature hating all races of the world, it’s highly unlikely they would do anything significant against all races. Moreover, lower echelons and ordinary soldiers might commit to killing and destruction out of sheer hatred, but leaders and politicians at the top would never act this way; they would only make such decisions if they were motivated by irresistible benefits."

"Apart from benefits, there’s also belief," Catherine said. "Belief can likewise drive similar decisions."

"Belief? Ha, in our times, I don’t think those leaders and politicians possess such a thing," Shiela scoffed, but seeing Catherine’s resolute expression, she reluctantly continued, "Well alright, maybe there’s also belief. Now let’s clear these up and look back, does the Yarran World and its living creatures offer any irresistible benefit that tempts us to annihilate them, to destroy this world?"

"The lure of going home," Catherine tried to find an answer for the opposite side, "If living creatures keep blocking your way home, you might not refrain from drastic actions."

"That would be a war, at most, not destruction," Shiela shook her head, speaking sincerely, "Don’t forget, that place is our home. Would you, wanting to go back home, devastate your homeland to ashes? I thought certainly not. Look, you agree, you wouldn’t, and neither would we; such an act would be completely foolish. Moreover, I can’t deny that each of us wants to go home to see it, and I can even tell you the truth that many of us would like to live there for a while, of course, if conditions permit. Have you considered why we would have such thoughts?"

"Curiosity?" Catherine ventured.

"Yes, there’s no standard answer and calling it curiosity isn’t wrong, but I think beyond curiosity about our past, it’s more about an aspiration for the Spirit World," Shiela’s gaze seemed to pierce through the stone inn, drifting towards The Door Home. "There’s blue sky, sunlight, colorful vibrant plants, magical beasts and wild creatures, and countless living beings. We also want to try living that life. Although there’s no dense Energy of Death there and we would feel weak and exhausted, there would be no problem if it’s just a short visit. But this longing precisely shows that we wouldn’t possibly destroy the living beings or that world because doing so would make the Yarran World just like where we are now. If that’s the outcome, why would we bother going out? All that effort spent, so many companions dead, only to end up with a life just like it is here? Are we that foolish?"

"Uh..." The words of Shiela had left the knight girl at a loss for words. The Ghost’s sincere response was persuasive. If the conscious Undead didn’t like that world, they simply wouldn’t have any reason to venture there and take over, and if they liked that world, they most certainly wouldn’t let the Energy of Death pervade the entire Continent, turning the Yarran World into something similar to the Realm of the Dead. Indeed, it was a paradox that couldn’t be resolved, and thinking in this way, the notion that the Undead, having gained self-awareness, would destroy the world was fundamentally flawed.

"Bang," Pannis suddenly slammed his utensil on the stone table, squinting his eyes and said, "Enough of this game of probing each other, none of these are the main issue. I just want to know one thing, if your masters demanded that you destroy that world, wipe out all living creatures, what would you do?"