"...Idiot," I muttered under my breath.
But I didn't really mean it.
Ryen just gave a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his head.
I let out a long sigh.
Well, what else could I expect?
That was just how he was.
In the original novel, Ryen was always this... infuriatingly earnest white knight. The kind who genuinely believed there was always a reason behind people's worst actions. That if you just helped them fix their problems, they could become better.
Naive?
Yeah.
But it was written into his very core. Literally. The character setting book had an entire page about how he couldn't tolerate injustice. He wouldn't hesitate to beat up villains who hurt civilians—but killing them? Nah. He'd stop short of that. Always.
So no, this wasn't a plot hole.
It was just... him.
And it made things complicated.
"You don't have to hold yourself back," I told him. "Do whatever you think is right."
"Huh? Really?" His eyes widened a little.
"...Why do you sound so surprised?"
