boom! There was a deafening explosion outside, followed by screams, gunshots and the sound of white blades.
It's Ed's side, the Divine Bureau has launched an attack...
Katarina looked toward the door. Hope they are safe.
"Oops... It's really not the right time. It seems that your friends have already taken action. You don't want them to rush in like a swarm and force me to crush the crystal in my hand, right?"
Jaros Auckland glanced at Catalina provocatively, then gently stretched out an index finger and pressed the button on the dining table.
The mechanical device of the steel door panel made another locking sound, and it was obvious that it could no longer be opened from the inside.
"Well, it's much quieter now. It's just me and you, Catalina - soldier against soldier, king against king."
Jaros took out the parrying dagger from his waist, poked it at the row of button seats, and knocked it down entirely. A burst of green smoke burst out from the button base and fell to the ground, like a moth dying in the fire.
"Please ask questions."
Knowing that she had no other choice, Catalina raised her sword and walked towards Jaros, stopping seven steps away. This is a safe enough distance for both parties.
"Yes, that's it! How brave...I'm so proud of you, Kelly."
Jaros called Catalina by her nickname, grinning and raising his arms, as if he wanted to give her a big hug. But in the end, he stopped where he was:
"Before I formally ask the question, I would like to make a small foreshadowing to raise the question - do you believe that the laws of our society are absolutely correct?"
"Of course not. But I believe it is gradually improving with the progress of society." Catalina quickly replied.
"So do you agree that there is an absolutely correct moral law in the world that allows you to make the right decision no matter what the situation?"
This time she carefully organized her language: "There are no absolutes in anything. The practical differences between different societies make it difficult to have similar moral concepts. We cannot talk about the right or wrong of something regardless of the actual situation."
"Very well, let's go back to the story about the cannibals on the desert island -"
"...As you know, the environment of oceanic islands is completely different from that of the mainland. Resources are scarce and they can be hit by typhoons and tsunamis at any time. There is almost no possibility of developing farming in an environment like this. If there is no connection to other continents or islands To obtain resources, the population can only be maintained at the level of dozens of people, or even less, through limited fishing and hunting activities. At present, the situation I described is still in line with realistic logic, right?"
"Of course." Catalina nodded, which was also in line with the geographical knowledge she had learned.
So Geros stopped and continued: "Due to the scarcity of food, similar species can be used as a source of food; because the population is sparse, blood relationships can be ignored in order to reproduce; and considering the extreme shortage of materials, individuals who have lost the ability to work should not be supported at all. and care, this is a huge waste of resources——"
"So, even though their moral values are almost completely opposite to ours, it's probably a taken-for-granted moral concept that was born in that environment. Do you agree?"
Catalina's pupils trembled when she heard this. She panicked and looked at the same green eyes of Jaros, but she only saw the silence of an ice lake.
"Most agree. I think being forced to eat cannibals due to hunger is excusable, but if it is just out of pure cruelty, it is an unpardonable act."
So, she calmed herself down for a moment before answering cautiously.
"Of course, you can have your own opinion on this."
Jaros smiled and nodded:
"Then here's my question: Since our legal system is not absolutely righteous, and there are thousands of conflicting moral concepts in the world, who has the power to judge me guilty?"
"..." Catalina finally fell into the quagmire of silence.
She knew that she had been tricked by Jaros, and glib words and reasoning had never been her strong points.
Judge? The judge was certainly capable of judging his crime, and murder was a serious crime worthy of hanging. But she has admitted before that secular laws are not absolutely fair, and the power of judges only exists at the legal level, not the moral level.
The omniscient and almighty Holy Spirit? However, the Holy Spirit is an unpredictable entity and will not really speak about it. Even the Pope can only obtain one-sided images as inspiration from oracles.
Your Excellency the Keeper of Secrets? At most, He is some kind of transcendent existence, but I am afraid that He is far from omniscient and omnipotent. She didn't think it was truly great enough to hold the authority over good and evil - at least not yet.
She could not imagine a being who occupied the absolute high ground in the moral realm. Could it be that only God can adjudicate what is right and wrong in the world, and humans can never truly become the legislators of moral principles?
If you want others to treat you, treat others the same way. In the midst of hesitation, Catalina suddenly remembered what her teacher had said to her.
This was just a well-known proverb or maxim, and she didn't remember it at that time.
Now that I think about it, I realize that there is indeed a true meaning in it.
"You're right, Uncle Jaros... Maybe there are no absolute rules of right and wrong in the world. But I believe - there are some simple basic rules about morality, such as 'Do not do to you what you do not want others to do to you. To people'."
"...Do you really desire to be eaten by others while you are eating people?"
"How do you know I don't want to do this?" Jaros narrowed his eyes and asked.
"If you really had this idea, you should have found a frying pan and blew yourself up a long time ago instead of delaying it until now. Or you can at least explain why you didn't do it, right?" Kata Lina retorted.
"Hahahahaha——"
Snap, snap, snap. Jaros crossed his palms and clapped, his bohemian smile actually contained some admiration:
"Although it is full of loopholes, it's good. At least you will really think about this issue seriously. If it were your father, he would probably use sophistry to avoid a direct answer, and then scold me again - here."
The golden central crystal turned into a light and soft parabola and fell to the floor.
Fortunately, it was not so fragile that it collapsed at the first touch. Instead, it spun along the ground a few times and slid in front of Catalina.
Katarina stared at the crystal on the floor, filled with doubts. She couldn't believe that Jaros kept his promise and handed over the crystal. Is there any trick in this?
"Don't worry, it's not poisoned, niece. You can think of it as the glove I threw to you. Since my words can't defend myself, let my sword defend me."
He drew out the golden-handled rapier from his waist and carved out a cold and bone-chilling noise on the smooth marble floor:
"I, Jaros, challenge you to a duel. In the name of Dendrobium, only one of us will be able to walk out of this room alive tonight."
