Marie Rose almost wanted to kill Ryuji. From the moment they met, this bastard had been constantly provoking her fragile nerves, making her want to kill him. But she had to admit, some of the things Ryuji said were indeed reality.
And reality was exactly what hurt the most.
"You bastard…"
Marie Rose ground her teeth, preparing to catch Ryuji off guard and give him a heavy hit when he least expected it.
Ryuji, however, didn't care at all. He simply looked at the stars in the sky, the bodyguards dealing with the police and the cleanup crews handling the aftermath, feeling a little wistful.
Because he was becoming less and less like a human. If he hadn't been constantly training to control his strength, something like Son Goku accidentally seriously injuring Chi-Chi might have already happened to him.
So most of the time, he deliberately limited his output to the level of an ordinary person.
But even so, he could still kill all these people.
Honestly, he realized that he had changed a lot.
"I'm just stating facts. After all, this is something Marie Rose has to accept. But there are advantages too. You'll never have to worry about aging."
Although she would never grow any further, Marie Rose would never have to fear the aging that all women eventually worry about. She could maintain her current body and physical condition until the very end of her lifespan.
So, she might resent it now but after turning thirty, it would likely become something she appreciated.
Because for most people, it's around thirty that they begin to feel their physical condition decline.
Life really is short…
Looking at the corpses being carried away, Ryuji shook his head. These people were human too. They grew up, went to school, and ultimately gave their lives for money.
But who could say their choices were wrong?
Not everyone gets to choose their fate. All they can do is accept it and learn to live with it.
Just like him. He had once hated traveling between worlds, but now he had come to accept it.
Because he had grown stronger and could benefit from it.
But as Ryuji noticed himself becoming more sentimental, just as he was about to say something to express his feelings further, he suddenly froze, realizing the reason behind it.
My mental state is unstable again…
Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself once more. But he knew this was still a side effect of the Satsui no Hado.
Extreme compassion following extreme killing.
If he couldn't handle it, he could easily fall into thinking the world had no meaning at all, spiraling into philosophical questions… and end up becoming some kind of holy monk.
Damn it…
Ryuji wanted to complain, but beside him, Marie Rose, who had stayed silent because of his deep expression, also looked at the cleanup crews in the distance and sighed.
"Seriously… do people really have to go this far just for money?"
What Marie Rose was talking about were the powerful conglomerates behind all of this. As a rare martial artist, she knew very well what kind of position she held in the eyes of those tycoons and elite families.
But she had always tried to live at least somewhat like a normal person, so she couldn't understand what those people were thinking.
There was nothing wrong with working hard for money, but turning oneself into a monster for money… was that really right?
"People always need something to pursue in life, Marie Rose. Just like how you like martial arts, would you ever complain about your fighting skill are too strong?"
Ryuji answered her question. He could see clearly that Marie Rose and Helena were the same type of people: naïve girls who had never truly been beaten down by society.
They knew society had many dark sides, even had some involvement. But deep down, they still refused to truly believe it.
At the core of it all, both Marie Rose and Helena were very fortunate girls.
Ryuji believed that Douglas never intended to leave his assets to Helena, because doing so would only bring her misfortune.
Instead, he let her learn what she loved, trained her into a first-rate martial artist and taught her how to run a company and how to navigate the world.
And even after all that, Helena remained so naive.
It was obvious, this father truly loved his daughter and wanted her to live happily her entire life.
As for Marie Rose, it was even clearer.
Born in Sweden, likely trained in military-style combat techniques, and as she had mentioned before, her specialties were costume design and set decoration.
Everything about her had been shaped for Helena. From a young age, she had been trained in maid etiquette and service.
Although received a salary and was theoretically a free person, she had almost no normal social relationships. The person she was closest to was Helena and she barely even saw her own parents.
A girl like that was, in essence, a servant.
Ryuji had never actually tried to win over a girl like this before, but his instincts told him that as long as he maintained a melancholic persona and asked some sophisticated questions, he would be fine.
"Or rather… Marie Rose, do you think you're free? Do you even know who you are? Are you Marie Rose… or just Helena's maid and servant?"
Marie Rose froze for a moment.
She looked at Ryuji, who exuded a melancholy air and fell silent. Then she walked over to the railing he was leaning against and placed her hands on it.
She remained silent for a long time before speaking.
"I've never thought about those things."
There was clear confusion in her voice.
"I've been with Lady Helena since I was young. Everything I learned was about how to serve and protect her. Although I have my own life, everything around me exists for Lady Helena."
Marie Rose looked at the stars in the sky. It wasn't that she didn't understand anything, but she didn't even feel like she should be angry about it.
The salary she received for serving Helena was extremely high, so high it was almost unbelievable.
Helena's personality and character were impeccable, and because of her, Marie Rose's parents had received better jobs. She herself was treated like a treasure in her family.
Because of Helena, her family had gained everything. And the price was simply that she became Helena's maid.
But since Helena herself practiced martial arts, calling her a maid wasn't entirely accurate, she was more like a playmate.
Only when Helena truly wanted something would Marie Rose accept her orders. And even then, Helena usually asked her rather than commanded her.
The occasional little commands felt more like playful exchanges between friends.
She had no reason or motive to hate Helena, even though her entire life revolved around Helena.
But if she left Helena… then what? Without Helena's family protecting her, without the resources behind her, she likely wouldn't have even lasted long enough to properly learn martial arts. She might have ended up as someone's plaything among the powerful elite.
It wasn't like she had never seen the ugliness of the world, but Helena had always shielded her from it, just as Helena herself had been well protected by her father.
Under these circumstances, she truly couldn't find any reason to hate Helena.
And yet, even so, when she thought about her own fate, she couldn't help but sigh.
"After all, freedom is just a hypothesis for me. In this world, what I dislike is something others desperately wish for… I'm well aware of that."
~~~~~~~~~~
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