Facing Ryu's question, Laila scratched her head and sighed helplessly.
"You really like to make things difficult for people. I can't give you an answer to that question. Even if you asked Alise, or the Goddess, it would be the same."
"Eh, h-how could that be?!"
"Then let me ask you, do you think justice is a simple thing with a single, correct answer?"
"....."
If it were the naive Fairy Girl of the past, she would surely have given an affirmative answer, but now, as she gradually matured, she fell silent.
Laila shrugged.
"Let me tell you, justice doesn't have only one solution, you know."
"In other words, if someone tells you that justice can only look a certain way, they are definitely a dictator who won't listen to others' wishes."
"!!!"
Laila turned back to look at Rod, narrowing her eyes as if gazing at the sun, and her lips curved upwards.
"No, Ryu, I can't tell you what's just, but I can tell you why Rod acted just now."
"W-why…?"
"It was for us!"
"Eh?!"
"Goddess might have seen it long ago. Rod indeed doesn't share the same ideals as us, and perhaps he doesn't even inherently approve of our actions."
It should be said that most people in the Familia had noticed this.
However, only Lyra and Kaguya, two realists so similar they disliked each other, could truly understand him from the bottom of their hearts.
"I even suspect that his own attitude towards so-called justice is ambiguous. If Lyra and I hadn't rescued him then, we probably wouldn't be traveling with him at all."
Ryu couldn't understand, her sky-blue eyes wavered, and her voice trembled.
"But… didn't Rod agree to join us in the end? That means he also wants to protect justice…"
Lyra raised her hand, interrupting Ryu's words, and said softly,
"He doesn't protect justice, but us who believe in justice…"
Many people praise the nobility and strength of a flower that blooms resiliently through wind and rain, but only a few will shield it with their bodies.
Lyra looked earnestly at the wavering Fairy Girl, as if to say that 'us' naturally included her.
"If Rod also has an ideal of justice, then protecting our pure justice is undoubtedly his justice, even if it means getting covered in blood, he probably sees it as necessary."
Ryu suddenly looked up, clenching her teeth behind her mask and tightening her fists.
"But if that's the case, it's too unfair to him…!!!"
"Do… does he think that I, that everyone, are selfish idiots who would comfortably enjoy his protection and care, take it for granted that this world is so naive and simple, and then self-righteously believe that we can easily achieve a dream paradise where everyone can laugh together?"
The Fairy Girl was troubled by her immaturity and angered by Rod's "arrogant" idea.
"And… and I'm the senior, he's the one who should be protected!"
Lyra let out a wry laugh.
She cared, but always struggled to express it honestly.
What a foolish fairy.
One moment she was grappling with the definition of justice, the next she was complaining on Rod's behalf.
Could it be that the most effective way to save a fool is to turn her into a love-struck idiot…
Tsk tsk, Rod, you truly are a man of profound sin.
"Then let's try to understand his justice, and together we will keep struggling and searching for answers."
With complex emotions in her heart, Ryu's sky-blue eyes reflected someone's troubled expression, and she couldn't help but take another step forward.
This time, Lyra didn't stop her.
"Rod… about that magic, I'll teach you."