Holding the back of his hand that had long lost the command spell, Nero knelt weakly on the ground.
The surrounding scene is constantly regressing and evolving, which must be the process of human restoration that Animusfia mentioned at the beginning.
Sure enough, what happened in the past few months was distorted from the beginning and should not have happened at all.
Otherwise, it would not have been repaired so quickly by "Rome" and "The World".
What happened was too terrible for her and the country under her rule. Although with the help of the heroic spirits who appeared in response to the call and the Chaldeans headed by Animusfia, the situation was not the same. It has not gone to the most extreme and serious step.
Even the damage caused by the early advance of the "United Empire" was reduced under Romulus' deliberate orders.
But thousands of innocent people still died in this disaster.
Although this is not a large number compared to the number of casualties from the previous singularity, it is even much smaller than the number of casualties caused by a war that would occur in this era.
If it were the past, she would have only expressed condolences on the surface, but in reality she would have continued to have fun and indulge in the joy of victory.
Even if she really felt sad for those [people] she had never met the moment she heard the bad news, those feelings would definitely not last long.
So the naive emperor named Nero was a tyrant.
But Nero, who had gone through a lot, already knew and truly bore this burden.
The dead were not simply the numbers mentioned in a flippant word in the Senate.
Is it reasonable to use one person's life to save ten people and hundreds of people?
Is it worthwhile to use one life to kill hundreds of poets?
How should the weight of life be compared on the scale.
Each one of them is a father, mother, son, daughter, brother and sister, and every life that has ever existed is as heavy as a mountain.
Hundreds of thousands died.
This does not simply mean that the world has lost one thousandth or one ten thousandth of its population.
Rather, it means that the tragedy of "a person was killed" has been repeated thousands of times and hundreds of thousands of times in this world in the past few months.
It means millions of times the tragedy of "losing a loved one" has happened around the world.
Perhaps Nero and Rome achieved final victory, but for those who died, the world and Rome had nothing to do with them from that point on.
Even if the world has not been destroyed, for them, the world has indeed been destroyed.
Is it considered a great victory to defeat an enemy several times larger than one's own at the cost of fewer soldiers' lives than the enemy's casualties?
For a true saint, I am afraid that after the first casualty appeared, it did not matter whether he won or not, let alone greatness.
Unless the people who start the war are people who don't care what happens to other people.
They never realized that it was other people’s happiness, other people’s joy, other people’s joys and sorrows—other people’s lives.
Or realized it.
Being aware of it but thinking that it should be sacrificed, that it can be ignored, that it is worth being exchanged for, that it is not that important relative to the purpose————————
Or maybe it doesn't matter at all.
Even those who were sacrificed themselves admitted that it was not important enough.
To admit your own joys and sorrows and happiness, your life is not that important.
Animusphia once told Nero that he privately thought that was the worst thing.
Animusphia, who served Nero, did this and bore the deaths of thousands.
That was definitely not a weight he could bear, so Animusfia always suppressed her troubles in her heart.
But that is a responsibility that Animusfiya cannot and must bear.
Even though he was prepared in advance, he was still caught off guard when the weight of his life actually fell on Animusfia's shoulders.
It was as if he had chosen the right moment, like a cunning enemy who would launch the most violent attack when he was least prepared.
Even if Nero wanted to share the burden for Animusfia, he couldn't do it.
It is not a "weight" that can be easily distributed to others like a heavy object.
No matter what the motive, no matter what the reason, no matter what pressure she is under, it is Animusfia herself who ultimately makes the decision and ultimately kills others.
Even Nero felt the responsibility, and the weight that Animusfia had to carry on his shoulders did not diminish at all.
What is considered good and what is considered evil? Animusfia can only come up with her own answer.
Good and evil itself is someone's subjective opinion about something.
Christianity considers same-sex love to be a sin, but in Greece and Rome it was just the opposite.
Modern people beat their chests because of Socrates' death penalty, but for the Athenians at that time, Socrates' death was what most of them wanted.
Perhaps what Animusfia did was just a matter of course in the eyes of others, but at least in his eyes, it was an evil deed that could depress him for life.
But he had to do it.
——————Animusfia’s “goodness” is a weak and small thing.
Animus Fianna's free but disciplined "good" is destined to be unable to defeat the "evil" determined to harm others.
In the case where "violence" is defined as "evil" by Animusfia, Animusfia can only ensure that she will not be defeated by "evil".
As he often said to himself, "People can be destroyed, but they cannot be defeated."
But in the current situation, it is not enough to not be defeated. If you want to accomplish some kind of feat and prevent something from being destroyed, you must defeat "evil".
And if you want to defeat the dragon, you must become the dragon itself.
Knowing this, Animusfia chose to surrender and was defeated by "Evil".
Then he also started doing the "evil" things.
However, it must be stated that Animusfia was not forced, or even if she was forced, Animusfia would not excuse herself by saying that she was forced and had no choice but to choose to do evil. crime.
For Animusfia herself, the ending of "suicide" or "destruction" is not out of the question.
If he could be strong enough to support his kindness, he would not choose to compromise.
Then you should choose to live a short and mediocre life as a mediocre mortal.
It's time to admit that Animusfia's heart longs to continue to live as a villain and fulfill his "desires".
In that case, Animusfia would not claim to be a partner of justice.
Doing evil is doing evil, so don't make any high-sounding excuses for yourself.
It was by accepting this that Animusfia completed many bad karma.
Clearly aware of the evil in it, he trampled all his kindness and preferences under his feet, and personally tore up his favorite painting.
While doing evil willingly, he feels sad for his actions.
"Governor, you are indeed very kind."
At that time, Nero once said this to Animusfia who was in distress.
"Are you kind? I am different from those unintentional offenders, Your Majesty. I clearly realize that they will be deceived, die, lament, and regret at the last moment of their lives - even then I I did it anyway. Even if I were asked to do it again, I would still choose to do it and continue to be depressed here."
At that time, Animusfia just showed an extremely reluctant smile to Nero:
"I'm in this situation all because of myself."
In fact, only Animusfia himself knew that compared to the evil deeds he had already done, everything he was doing in Rome was probably a drop in the bucket.
If you want to ask why, Animusfia has long since taken back the world that the girl won in the chess game after going through all kinds of hardships.
Tens of billions of people have created and lived history, and seven billion people are preparing for a future.
All of these things, Animusfia put on the gambling table without permission, out of wishful thinking.
"Hmm, even though that's what I said, Governor, you are still troubled, right? A truly evil villain wouldn't even be troubled, and would even enjoy it, right?"
"Isn't the final result the same?"
At that time, Animusfia asked Nero.
"Of course it's different! If Governor you were the latter, I wouldn't like you as much as I do now if I knew about it."
"What if I am such a bad-tempered person, and I just say this to win your Majesty's favor?"
"Hmm... This... Governor you once said that you would not lie, right?"
Nero spoke to Animusfia with difficulty as if he had a headache.
Apart from these words, she had no other way to ensure Animusfia's honesty.
The pride of being Augustus in the past had no effect in the face of the man who personally helped her to the throne again.
"What if even that was a lie?"
"Hmm! Hufufu, I still know about the Liar's Paradox, Governor."
[Liar's Paradox] It's simple to say. If a person says that he is lying, is his statement true or false?
If it is true, then the matter of lying should be established, and then he will let go of the lie.
If it is false, then lying should not be established, then what he said is wrong, and he is really lying.
No matter what, it will eventually be defined as lying.
No matter what Animusfia says, it will eventually be defined as the truth because of his sentence "I never lie."
At that time, Nero was finally happy that he could keep up with the topic of Animusfia.
"Indeed, as the oldest semantic paradox, you who love Greek culture cannot possibly not know it——————but there is no solution to this paradox in this era, right?"
"Huh? Is it possible that the Governor-General has completed the solution to this paradox in the world two thousand years later?!"
This time it was Nero's turn to sit still.
"Well, that's it. It's just quite far-fetched and difficult to understand. Rather than saying that the problem is solved, it's better to say that the problem is simply abandoned."
"What...that's it."
Nero wiped the non-existent beads of sweat from his forehead.
She was also really worried about Animusfia suddenly jumping up to prove to her how the paradox was eliminated and finally getting the idea that his words were actually lies.
"..."
"Governor——————"
After Nero was silent for a moment, he said seriously to Animusfia:
"You are really worried about what you have done, right?"
She actually didn't dare to ask this question.
But I felt I should ask anyway.
In fact, from the moment the question was asked, it has become an ongoing regret, and it is still a present continuous regret.
What if you get a negative answer?
Such negative emotions lingered in Nero's heart in an instant.
But fortunately, Animusfia seemed to have seen through the panic deep in the emperor's heart, and nodded without hesitation.
"Of course, Your Majesty. Really, originally I thought I could do it, but now I can neither carry out my own good nor carry out my own evil. I do evil things while still delusional that I can keep my own. That kindness————————”
While talking, even Animusfia laughed to herself.
"I really can't get up and get down. I'm stuck there."
"You are saying words that I don't understand again."
"Ah, I'm sorry, Your Majesty."
At that time, after seeing Animusfia's lonely smile, Nero couldn't help but lean on Animusfia's shoulder and tightly hold his remaining right hand into his palm.
Although he knew that he could not share even a trace of the guilt for him, at least Nero was not willing to let Animusfia face it alone.
.........
but why.
Why.
It was obviously an unacceptable loss, and it was obviously the culprit that caused even that strong heart to become riddled with holes.
It was obvious that such people made her feel despised.
Just let it all disappear.
Why do I feel that if I can meet that person, it doesn't matter if this disaster happens again?
Why do I think that even if I sacrifice the whole of Rome, I still want to exchange him for him?
Nero's thoughts made her shudder.
"Yu Ke is much worse than you..."
When he came to his senses, Nero had returned to Rome unknowingly.
The familiar ground reminded her of the palace she had been away from for a long time.
It was not a half-baked residence like the expropriated Senate House, but a house on the Palatine Hill that was rebuilt from the house of Octavian. From the day he encountered Animusphia, Nero could no longer live there. A palace that has never been lived in.
"Has this place even been repaired?"
The next thing to be repaired is probably the traces left by someone who could never appear here.
Nero stood up, eyes downcast.
She still couldn't take her eyes away from the back of her empty hand.
I imagined that the coat of arms could appear there again, that the connection with someone could be established again.
I fantasize that my memory will not be erased.
I fantasize that I can not be forgotten.
"Did you hear Yu's last order?"
Nero muttered to himself.
"I heard you, Your Majesty."
The reply that although he had been looking forward to but knew that it was completely impossible to appear here suddenly sounded behind Nero.
Nero turned around and looked behind him in surprise but disbelief.
"I did hear your order."
Animusfia, who was not supposed to be here, was standing respectfully in front of Nero.
