Arknightcraft Modpack
Chapter 482: Trust Your Own Judgment
"Of course. Since I've already made my choice, I have to see it through, to see the side of the Infected that I normally can't."
Talulah didn't ask her boyfriend why he was here.
Or rather, ever since she sensed someone approaching her earlier, she had already realized it was probably him.
He had only said he wouldn't interfere with her choices, he never said he wouldn't follow along.
"Even if this ends with your ideals shattered?" Steven asked calmly. "This is basically guaranteed to be that old snake's trap. Knowing that, you still want to keep going?"
He casually flicked away the lingering black mist from his hand before turning to look at the dejected girl beside him. What she had already seen was enough to deal a heavy blow, but what came next would be far crueler. For an idealist, nothing was more brutal than having their ideals torn apart right in front of them.
"But if that happens," Talulah said softly, "then it proves my ideals were flawed from the very beginning. Instead of continuing down a wrong path, I'd rather witness their destruction with my own eyes."
She took a deep breath.
"What's more… you're still here with me, aren't you?"
The choices of those Infected had truly hurt her to the core, otherwise, she wouldn't have wavered like this. But she also understood that if she didn't face reality now and clung to her naïve beliefs, the only ending waiting for her would be drowning in her own ideals.
"…Alright," Steven said after a pause. "Then let's see what other tricks that old snake still has up its sleeve. Honestly, I'm curious too."
As long as he was here, the Deathless Black Snake's schemes were absolutely not going to succeed on her.
And Steven had also seen the conflict between the Infected and the villagers. How this would all end—he was waiting for it just as much as she was.
After confirming her resolve, Steven maintained his stealth alongside Talulah, following the splinter group that had broken away from the Infected camp and was creeping back toward the village.
"…So when I first felt something was wrong," Talulah asked quietly after calming herself down, "you were already nearby?"
"Nope. Earlier than that," Steven replied with a shrug. "When I arrived, they were still walking. So I went home, took a shower, changed clothes, and then came back to see all this interesting stuff."
The Minecrafter had come to her side the moment he left Alina. If he didn't want to be noticed, there was no way she could have detected him. The reason she sensed him earlier was simply because he wanted to test her counter-surveillance instincts.
If the Black Snake hadn't shown up to stir trouble first, the Minecrafter would've happily continued observing from the shadows. He had plenty of time, after all, and Talulah would never have noticed him.
"…You saw all of that," Talulah said at last. "And you're still this calm? How do you manage to stay so unfazed?"
Her voice was low, almost searching.
Talulah watched her boyfriend's relaxed expression, she truly couldn't understand how he always managed to remain so easygoing and composed.
It was as if nothing in the world could ever shake his emotions. She had never once seen tension or despair on his face. No matter what happened, he always seemed to have everything firmly in hand, facing it all with the same unhurried calm.
This was something Talulah had never been able to grasp.
More importantly, through spending time with him, she had long since realized that Steven wasn't the kind of person who simply didn't care because things had nothing to do with him. On the contrary, she knew very well that Steven was actually quite emotional.
Not only emotional, but much like herself, he had his own convictions, and a sense of equal respect and empathy for the weak.
In a way, Steven was the same kind of person as her—an idealist.
And yet, even after confronting such brutal truths, he could still wear such a relaxed expression.
"Me? Why would I get worked up?" Steven said with a shrug. "Weren't these outcomes basically set in stone from the start? Human nature, huh… I might have met less people than you, but I've seen more than enough ugly realities."
He never considered himself someone with particularly strong willpower or an iron mind. At most, the thousand years of solitude and loneliness had forced him to replay old memories again and again, until many things simply… became easier to accept.
To Talulah, what had just happened was a devastating blow. To Steven, it was honestly just another all-too-common story.
On this already cruel land, such things happened every single day. And even back in the world he once lived in—one that could be called peaceful and prosperous—these kinds of events were hardly rare.
People turning on each other over trivial triggers, tearing each other apart until everything ended in tragedy? That was nothing new. In fact, when lives were at stake, being cautious—even cruel—wasn't exactly hard to understand.
In the world Steven once knew, there were people who would betray their companions without hesitation for money or fame alone. If he were shaken by what was happening now, then all those years of mindless internet browsing would have been for nothing.
When you browse long enough, you stop being surprised.
Thanks to the internet, Steven had understood long ago that human nature was the least reliable thing in existence. Sure, there were moments when humanity shone brilliantly, but far more often, it was a banquet for the selfish.
"Just because of that?" Talulah asked softly. "You've never… wavered? Not even once?"
She had expected him to dodge the question again, but instead, his answer was simple—to the point of being almost unbelievable.
"Why would I waver?" Steven replied. "If you don't place your hopes there in the first place, you won't feel despair when they collapse. Honestly, the reason this feels so shocking to you is because you value the Infected too deeply, that, and you idealize human nature too much."
He waved a hand lightly.
"I'm not you. Those things can't hurt me."
Just as he treated the Infected and ordinary people as equals, Steven had never believed human nature to be inherently beautiful. Nor did he particularly care what the Infected did or didn't do.
"There's only one thing I know," he continued. "If I think someone is right, I'll acknowledge and support them. If I think something is wrong, I'll oppose it—and if necessary, I'll punish those who made that choice."
"But how can you be sure," Talulah shot back, "about who's right and who's wrong?"
Just like what was happening now, she could no longer tell where the fault truly lay. Or perhaps… everything had been wrong from the very beginning.
Steven smiled faintly.
"Good question," he said. "But that's something you need to ask yourself."
He met her gaze.
"And whether you're willing to trust your own judgment."
<+>
Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
<+>
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind spending $5 monthly to see till the latest chapter, please go to my Patreon[1].
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 567: The Original Is Still Better[2]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/156361807?collection=55713[3]
https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=condensed[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/156361807?collection=55713
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/156361807?collection=55713
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=condensed