endless path, infinite cosmos

chapter 56

The atmosphere within the room had improved considerably. Tsubaki scooped up Lili and left Vahn and Welf sitting at the table as she went to prepare dinner. Though Lili tried to struggle at first, Tsubaki was easily able to carry her light body without being affected. Vahn gave a glance at Lili but didn't say anything as she was tearfully pulled into the kitchen.

Welf laughed awkwardly before trying to restart the conversation with Vahn. He knew he made a bad first impression, so he wanted to try and patch things up between them. The two talked a bit about each other's past. Vahn gave his standard story about growing up the forest, while Welf mentioned he came from the neighboring country Rakia.

When they were discussing why each came to the City and how they had been living, Welf was surprised to find that Vahn had only recently arrived in Orario. He found the fact that Vahn had been able to reach Level 2 within a month terrifying and began to suspect there was more to the story that he wasn't made aware of. Welf suspected the reason Vahn had been entrusted to Tsubaki, who was the current captain of the Familia, was likely due to some kind of secret.

Though Vahn knew about Welf from the story, he still tried probing the reason why Welf came to Orario. Welf hesitated for a moment before saying it was to escape having to create weapons that indiscriminately take innocent lives. He told Vahn about his unique skill [Crozzo Blood] which his family had used to create weapons of mass destruction for Ares's army. He swore that he would never take part it such a cruel process and even took a vow to never forge magic weapons.

Vahn nodded, showing that he understood Welf's plight with the seriousness of his expression. Welf was able to see that Vahn didn't simply acknowledge his words but genuinely empathized with his situation. He began to respect Vahn even more and began acting more casually while they talked. That is until Vahn said something that completely caught him off guard.

"The longer you deny your own capabilities, the less progress you'll make in the future. You'll never be able to move forward unless you overcome your past. Your fear of magic items and the damage they can cause is baseless because the only fear you have is in regards to damage others have caused, not yourself. Even if you refuse to make magic weapons, it won't prevent the people that use them to indiscriminately kill from doing so anyway. The only difference is they'll use an even crueler method to achieve the same result." Vahn slowly spoke the words, even though he could see Welf begin to get upset. Towards the end of his statement, Welf was even gritting his teeth while trying to keep down his emotions.

"Welf, I understand better than you think, I'm not simply empathizing with you. I know how blood can be used as a powerful tool at the convenience of evil and cruel men. But, you aren't proving anything by restricting your own power while they continue performing their deeds. If you truly understood the burden of your blood, you would use it to deny those that would exploit others."

Welf looked towards Vahn with hate-filled eyes, though the hate wasn't directed at him. Welf continued taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself. Once he recovered enough rationality, he spoke, "So you're saying I should make weapons and use them to kill the people that wanted to use them? How does that make me better than they are; because I'm the one choosing the targets!?"

Vahn shook his head and responded in a serious manner. "I'm not saying you need to use the weapons or even let others use them. I'm saying you should research and study their power...so that you can create countermeasures against it in the future. Who else better than the creator knows how to prevent the damage caused by their use? Lastly, as long as there is a desire for your weapons, the people that would use them to cause harm would stop at nothing to get their hands on them. As you are now, there is any number of things that could force your hand and lead to the very event you're trying to avoid."