310 Sin and Punishment, Life and Death

The revelation that Oni-kun had killed Natsume-kun was made explicit by Yamada-kun's statement.

Given Natsume-kun's absence from the Treehouse, where these reincarnated individuals had gathered, someone likely suspected the truth.

Yet, while it was possible to deduce that Natsume-kun was dead, the fact that his former classmate had committed the act was beyond imagination.

Evidence of this was the cold silence that now dominated the space.

The only exceptions were Tagawa-kun, and the bound Kusaka-kun and Ogihara-kun.

The rest—those who had known in advance, or who had witnessed it firsthand—were Oshima-kun and Yamada-kun, the speaker.

Even Mr. Kudo appeared speechless. Others looked dazed, unable to process Yamada-kun's words.

Even those who claimed to understand were scanning the faces of others, uncertain whether they believed the truth or not.

Perhaps, for the reincarnated souls who had lived their entire lives within this elven village, death was an abstraction.

Hearing that someone they knew had died did not provoke a visceral reaction.

That feeling intensified when the perpetrator was revealed to be a former classmate.

In Japan, death outside of natural causes was exceptionally rare. Perhaps the memory of that rarity persisted.

The contrast was too stark—here, acquaintances perished one after another, without warning. The perception of death differed entirely.

In contrast, Tanikawa-kun and Kusama-kun, raised outside the elven village, had fully internalized this world’s understanding of life and death.

They were not alarmed.

Then why, if Yamada-kun was also raised outside the village, did he react with such outrage?

Yamada-kun should harbor considerable resentment toward Natsume-kun.

After all, Natsume-kun caused his father’s death and forced him from his homeland.

Worse, he manipulated Yamada-kun’s sister and friends, turning them against him—such a dishonorable act.

What? Who orchestrated that?

Who could it be?

Anyway, set that aside.

Yamada-kun may wish to kill Natsume-kun, but wanting to keep him alive makes no sense, does it?

I don’t understand.

“Hey, is what you just said true?”

The silence was broken by Kudo-san.

Oni-kun and Yamada-kun remained locked in a stare, unmoving.

After glancing briefly at the two, Kudo-san turned back to me and repeated the question.

Huh? Me?

“If what you just said is true, you used Natsume-kun and then killed him?”

Well, roughly accurate.

“I do not deny it.”

"That is to be accepted as affirmation."

Kudō-san spoke with a stern expression in response to my reply.

Well, it's not exactly wrong.

In fact, I'm probably doing something far more ruthless than Kudō-san imagines.

But I'll keep that to myself.

It'd probably be better for both parties this way, yes.

"He did nothing more than deserve death. So there's no issue with me killing him."

"There is an issue!"

Yamada-kun shouted, interrupting Oni-kun's plea to Kudō-san.

The force with which he kicked over his chair and stood up startled me slightly.

"Jun. I think it's odd that you—the one who suffered the most—would defend him."

"Ah, maybe. I didn't forgive what Natsume-kun did. I'm not defending him either."

Huh?

Yamada-kun did not necessarily forgive Natsume-kun.

Granted, forgiving someone after what they did—how saintly is that, really?

Saintly? No. Rather, going that far is abnormal.

"But just because of that, killing him and ending it all—it's still wrong."

A few of the reincarnated individuals showed signs of agreement with Yamada-kun's words.

...Well, that makes sense.

Raised in the isolated environment of the elven village, retaining Japanese values isn't surprising.

In Japan, criminals are subject to strict punishment under the law.

Capital punishment applies only in cases of extreme crimes.

Even that has seen calls for abolition.

The weight of life here differs.

That does not change, even for criminals.

"Natsume had to live to atone for their crimes. That was their duty. Ending it with death wasn't acceptable. Once dead, the cycle ends, doesn't it?"

Hmm.

The logic is sound, but... it feels overly idealistic.

There are countless criminals who have no intention of repenting.

The idea that every villain can be reformed with enough words—only exists in convenient narratives.

No matter how much effort one expends, if there's no genuine change of heart, the time spent is wasted.

In that case, a clean, decisive kill would be more efficient.

Of course, I don’t know how it played out in Natsume’s case, so this is just my opinion.

"Yes. When you're dead, it's over. Killing isn't right. That goes without saying. It's not forgivable."

Oni-kun nodded in agreement with Yamada-kun's words.

"Then—"

"If Summer killed many lives, it's only natural he can't be forgiven."

Oni-kun cut off Yamada-kun's attempt to speak.

The words carried enough weight to silence him completely.

"Julius. Someone who lost someone close to them—can't forgive the one who killed them. No matter how much that person repents, the hatred in their chest never fades. It may dull. But it never disappears."

The words carried deep conviction.

Hearing them, one could not help but understand: Oni-kun had lost someone close. The weight of that truth was unmistakable.

"I believe what Jun says is justified. But no matter how he struggled, he was never in a position to be forgiven. He had to die. That is why I guided him to the end. Can you not accept that?"

Yamada-kun could not counter such weighty words from Oni-kun.

"I can't accept it."

That was how it should have been.

Yet in Yamada-kun's eyes, a strong light burned.

Something unbroken was clearly present.

"Jun. If you've seen this world, you should understand. This world is not Japan. The value of life is light here. It's futile to bring Japan's values here unchanged, isn't it?"

Oni-kun spoke to Yamada-kun, trying to reason with him.

"Futile? Why do you think that?"

But that provoked an unexpected counterattack.

"Indeed, in this world, life is cheap. It ends easily, over trivial matters. That is why even Julius-sama... No, that does not matter now. But still! Just because it is cheap, does that mean it can be taken so lightly!?"

Shouted.

It was a shout—charged with force, enough to overturn my previous perception of it as mere sentimentality.

I thought it was a naive opinion, clinging to Japanese values.

No.

The shout revealed that Yamada-kun understood, and was still adhering to that sentimentality with intent.

"Is this world different from Japan? Yes, of course. Everything here is different. But does that mean we must discard Japanese values? Is that truly wrong?"

From behind Yamada-kun, Oshima-kun trembled slightly.

That reaction—was it because Oshima-kun, too, had abandoned Japanese values in order to live in this world?

"Kyoya. Let me ask you this. You said it was unavoidable. Isn't that just compromise? Not because this world is inherently this way, but because you accepted it as unavoidable?"