"Th… that…"
Nahida's face went pale at Idris's blunt question. Five hundred years, countless Grand Sages—yes, he was the youngest, but among those before him there had to have been men of courage and virtue. And yet from the most upright to the most corrupt, they had all, without exception, upheld the same decision:
Keep the Little Grass God confined.
From the look on her small, stricken face, it was clear she had never truly turned the thought that way. In her heart, the blame for the chains had always sat squarely with the Akademiya, with the Grand Sages. She might have a share in the cause, but—surely not the essential one.
Idris sipped his tea, unhurried. He'd expected this. In the end, she was still young—able to recognize a fault, but not the whole of it.
After a long, hurt silence, she lifted her chin, unwilling to yield. "Sage Idris! Then tell me why!"
"I can't be so hated that no one would free me!"
"Very well," he said, tone even. "If you refuse the premise, then answer a case. Not a question—a story. Tell me the choice you would make at the end of it."
"Ask."
She set her tiny hands on the desk, eyes bright, serious at last.
"Suppose," Idris began, "one day a powerful figure stands against you—means to destroy you, to claim Sumeru's divinity for himself. After hardship upon hardship, you defeat him. What then?"
Nahida didn't even pause. "I would persuade him to change. Sumeru isn't in good shape; if a strong hand can be turned to help, then let his service be his atonement."
"As I thought." He nodded once. "But later you learn more. In essence, this man is ruthless—he has innocent blood on his hands, an entire family nearly wiped out because of him.
"Then you learn his beginning wasn't evil. He was used by villains. From the moment he was 'born,' he suffered three betrayals. What remained of him turned cold.
"For special reasons, records of his existence were erased. When he recovers his memories—and understands how he was used—he swears that if he ever has the chance, he will take revenge.
"Now. Faced with that man, how do you judge him?"
"This…" Nahida wavered, then answered softly, "If his crimes were driven by betrayal and manipulation, and he has found his true self again… then I would keep him to work off his sins, yes—but also free him from the shadow of his past identity. I would promise that I—and Sumeru—will never betray him.
"Because I believe this: at the beginning, human nature leans toward good."
She finished and nodded, as if to seal the decision she would make even inside such a knot.
Idris smiled—faint, cutting.
The sight made her heart skip. He spoke before she could gather herself.
"Do you see now why none of the Grand Sages set you free? Because you are a god—and you try to rule humans like a god.
"And you fail to grasp something fundamental:
'Human nature is good' may be a fine saying. But humans are also creatures of swift gratitude—and swift vengeance.
"When we meet those crushed by hatred and confusion, we offer sympathy. That, too, is human. But if, one day, their blade rises against us, we answer in kind."
Nahida flushed hot, shook her head. "No… I don't believe that!"
"You still don't?" Idris's voice cooled. "Then let me make it simple."
He touched his chest. "Say I had done nothing for Sumeru these days. Say you raised a revolt, pulled me from this seat, chained me—pinned every sin of the former Grand Sages on my back.
"Even if you argued for mercy—Cyno, Nilou, Alhaitham, Tighnari, Dehya, the people of Sumeru—at least eighty percent of them would demand my head.
"Do you—believe me?"
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