It was not possible to know exactly why the war broke out in the past, or, to be precise, in a future that had not yet occurred in this timeline.
At that time, I was far away from the center of the continent. Such an event had not been part of my expectations.
There had also been various issues with the tutorial and even with other ideologies associated with this world. In such cases, people generally looked forward to the outcome rather than the reasons behind such actions. Small conflicts that had accumulated over the years soon sparked a war that engulfed the entire continent.
Several groups began to turn on each other, forgoing their faith in their own beliefs. Instead, they began to focus solely on undermining those they deemed as enemies. Their malice bred more malice, their wrath bred anger, and their attempts at exacting revenge bred hatred.
This was the war between the Earthlings and the Aboriginal people – a battle between the newcomers and the natives.
Everyone immersed themselves in the war and did everything they could to enslave or slaughter their enemies.
It was not difficult to witness such conflicts everywhere I went, but it was like no one wanted to address the elephant in the room. I, too, pretended not to know a thing about this. As a result, the distrust only grew, and it was impossible to find stable grounds to form treaties, alliances, or to even come to an agreement.
Because of such events, the Archmage, who had been the envy of everyone, eventually hung himself. Japanese shamans were slaughtered. The Mercenary Queen had her life regularly threatened. Those they called their family, even those who belonged in clans, lost their lives.
Many of those who were called heroes were killed or destroyed.
The holy sword of the chosen warrior also lost its light.
As time passed and the coalitions eventually broke down, the first part of this meaningless war ended with countless casualties.
Karma had come for its debt. This was all humanity's fault.
"A war is different from a battle."
"What..."
"Honestly, I will admit that you are strong, to the point where I – nor those who are beneath me – cannot defeat you. No matter how annoying this is to admit, this fact is undeniable."
"But... you are human..."
"Yes, I am human. I thought I would be unrecognizable because of the mask... But I heard that the genius prosecutor who is praised by everyone looks different, too. I heard that you are protected by magical power, but the quality of that power in itself is not good."
"It's just a feeling. You look a little bit different from them."
"It's hard to tell if that is a praise or an insult."
"Why did you choose to stand on their side?"
"It's only rational for me to choose the side that's more likely to succeed."
"Many humans have died because of this!"
"I know. However, the act of humans killing each other isn't new. These people want to maintain the population in a peaceful and standardized place. They believe that this would be more beneficial in the long run."
"You betrayed humanity."
"Well, I obviously wasn't the only one to do so. You know that."
"Don't you feel any remorse?"
"I do not know. My heart did ache when I had to kill a civilian, and it definitely hurt when I had to kill that cute, little wizard who loved me endlessly. Such an innocent girl's life was wasted just for loving someone she happened to meet by chance. I never even thought I'd end my own life. Why did I have to do that? There were so many things I still wanted to do. I guess I couldn't take the guilt."
