Durandal was a very cute kid.
The boy, who had received this intelligence long ago from his best friend and lover, Rita, smiled as he looked at the unexpectedly interesting girl.
---o---
"So, you came to ask me how to choose between the greater good and seeking justice for those children?"
"Yes."
Miss Durandal, having finally climbed out of the emotional whirlpool, breathed a sigh of relief.
She felt that if the previous conversation had continued any longer, her only option would have been to flip the table and run.
Finally, they were getting down to business.
As she thought about the conflict between the two issues, Durandal's expression grew uneasy.
"You shouldn't really be asking this question."
As if hearing a very strange query, Li Zihan looked at the deeply troubled girl and spoke.
"Generally speaking, the greater good is, of course, more important than individual tragedy."
Is that so?
Durandal's heart felt a little empty.
That makes sense. Compared to ordinary people who have little effect on the world, the Overseer is clearly more important.
But…
Should I just let it go?
Just act as if nothing happened?
Recalling the girls, their bodies covered in the distinct corrosive patterns of Honkai energy, girls who wouldn't live more than a few years without treatment, Durandal's hands slowly clenched into fists.
The Overseer was a great and respectable man.
But right is right, and wrong is wrong. In the matter of the Tower of Babel, he was wrong.
Merits and demerits can never cancel each other out.
He should be punished.
But, the consequences of reversing the future…
Completely unwilling to introduce variables into a situation that held the possibility of defeating the Honkai, Durandal's expression grew more and more hesitant.
"I know that."
Durandal, who was of course aware of this, nodded and looked at the boy whose intellect was most certainly superior to her own.
"But, there should be a way to have the best of both worlds, right?"
"Isn't this a simple matter?" Li Zihan said casually, looking at the girl who was bursting with a sense of justice and had always prioritized reason over personal relationships.
"After we go back, you can just pin Otto down at the ruins of the Tower of Babel and beat him up. With your combat prowess, it wouldn't be difficult to pummel him to death a dozen times over there."
That's right.
After returning to the future, I won't have to worry about time paradoxes and can confront the Overseer as much as I want.
Durandal thought to herself.
Should I wait until I return to the future to seek justice for those injured girls?
Justice may be delayed, but it will never be absent.
That sounded like a bad Shenzhou translation joke.
The correct translation of "Justice delayed is justice denied" was by no means "it may be late, but it will arrive," but rather "delayed justice is equivalent to the denial of justice."
Delayed justice was never justice at all.
But, if she were to act now, the consequences that would follow…
Durandal's heart grew increasingly lost.
What…
What on earth should she do?
"It seems you don't quite approve of this idea, do you?"
The boy, who knew full well how strong Durandal's sense of justice was, chuckled lightly. Then, as if the conversation was taking a sharp turn, he spoke again.
"But, as long as the greater good of the future is guaranteed, then even if we beat the main culprit until he's half-paralyzed, there's no problem, is there?"
This—
Durandal, completely baffled by this sudden turn of events, froze. She stared in a daze at the boy who had just been saying the future was more important.
"Give me Black Abyss White Flower."
Li Zihan gave Durandal his command.
Without much hesitation, Durandal handed the Divine Key, the symbol of Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie, over to Li Zihan.
"This might hurt a little. Endure it."
Out of the blue, Li Zihan said something that completely confused Durandal.
And then—
The lance pierced through her chest.
If my body is pierced by Black Abyss White Flower, which possesses the property of 'disorderly decomposition,' I'll definitely die, right?
But Durandal felt no pain whatsoever.
On the contrary, what she felt was a strange sense of fulfillment; she felt power surging within her body.
"Mystic Code Implantation. Just a little trick I learned back home."
In a near-instant, the boy who had implanted the Divine Key of the Herrscher of Death into Durandal's body nonchalantly withdrew his hand from her chest.
"History does not record a Captain of the Hyperion beating up Schicksal, nor is there a story of a Schicksal Valkyrie rebelling against the Overseer for the sake of a few children."
"However, a Pseudo-Herrscher of Death beating up Joker α, who came to create a controllable Herrscher of Death… doesn't that sound perfectly reasonable?"
Li Zihan, whose skill in magecraft had always been high, said calmly.
In the original story, the main reason Otto joined the battlefield of the Second Honkai Eruption as Joker α was to find a possibility of resurrecting Kallen from Sirin.
And the first one he targeted was the Pseudo-Herrscher of Death created by Sirin—Galina.
So, wasn't it perfect to have Durandal play the role of the Pseudo-Herrscher of Death, Galina?
The boy, so scummy he didn't even mind digging a pit for his past self's ally, recalled his friend's face, a mischievous grin spreading across his lips.
Durandal hesitated.
Playing the role of a pseudo-Herrscher who was historically defeated by Otto, and then proceeding to grind Otto into the dirt… was that really okay?
"Can I really do that?"
"Won't it… affect the normal course of history?"
"Of course doing this will affect the course of history," the boy rolled his eyes, seemingly noticing Durandal's hesitation, and said something that stunned her.
"It's just that the impact won't be as strong as some unknown knight storming into Schicksal and slaughtering them."
"In that case, what's the point of me disguising myself?"
Durandal felt lost.
So, either way, history would be affected; the only difference was the magnitude.
"Because, if the magnitude of the change is smaller, it's more convenient for me to clean up after you."
The boy shrugged and said.
Clean… clean up?
Durandal, whose impression of the Captain had always been that of someone who starts a mess but never cleans it up, looked at the boy with a blank expression.
Shouldn't this guy be persuading me to settle the score with Otto later?
"If I could, I wouldn't want to get involved in this either. But if I forced you into that whole 'justice is never absent, just delayed' nonsense, I imagine you'd feel pretty terrible, right?"
Like a bad influence friend convincing you to sneak out and get online, the boy chuckled and said.
"So, rather than watch you go and confront the current Otto to follow your own convictions, I might as well give you a hand."
"Captain, you're going to help me directly?"
"I don't have much choice, do I? Watching my lover venture out all alone… that wouldn't be very fitting, would it?"
The boy narrowed his eyes, giving Durandal a mischievous grin.
"Who—who's your lover?!"
Like a startled bird, Durandal, who had just been teased for so long, felt her face flush beet red.
"My mistake. I meant my cute teammate."
The boy spouted nonsense with a perfectly straight face.
"How could you make such an outrageous slip of the tongue?!"
Durandal was getting exasperated.
This guy, he would tease her at the slightest provocation.
He was even worse than Rita!
"Alright, alright, just treat it as a slip of the tongue."
How could I possibly treat something so ridiculous as a slip of the tongue?!
Durandal's eyes widened, wanting to argue.
But—
The boy's next words cut off her desire to debate.
"Regardless, you can go ahead and cause as much of a ruckus as you want."
The boy gazed at the girl, his eyes filled with a solemnity that was like an oath.
"As your captain, and as the man who might become your lover, if any special circumstances arise, I will bear all the consequences."
What do you mean, the man who might become my lover?!
Durandal wanted to argue.
But, sensing the seriousness in the boy's eyes, her desire to argue suddenly weakened.
For a rare moment, the girl who had always been so particular about details didn't fuss over someone's choice of words.
"Okay, I understand."
"If anything comes up that's difficult to handle, I'll ask you for help, Captain."