We all watched Neron in palpable silence, waiting for him to give us an acceptable answer so he could justify himself.
Since we arrived in this world, I had spread my senses as far as I could reach, and nothing really seemed out of the ordinary.
We were currently among the stars, in space, and while Aloe, Kuzon and I could use Aether to protect ourselves, I feared that Ciara would be in trouble.
... Until I noticed she too was using Aether.
'Huh? How...?!'
I wanted to say something, but that could wait until later.
For now, Neron was the center of attraction, and I had to know what his motives were.
'I'm not particularly angry at him too. This is just a front I use to show my objectivity. At the very least, Kuzon won't complain about this.'
With that in tow, I narrowed my gaze on Neron. Nothing about him had changed at all, and I was honestly happy to find him well.
Hopefully, the next words that came out of his mouth would make all of this worthwhile.
"I apologize for not informing you all of the plan. It was selfish and inconsiderate of me. It won't happen again, I promise." Neron bowed his head slowly, and then raised it back up slowly.
"E-eh...?"
I was confused as much as I was surprised.
'Does he really think an apology will cut it?'
Neron was smarter than that, so what was he trying to play? Did he really think we would just let all of this slide?
"Neron... we just want an explanation." I sighed, finally breaking my tense act.
"You must have known all of this would happen, yet you didn't say a thing. We want to know why."
Neron's stoic face didn't seem at all apologetic despite me spelling out the situation to him.
He simply looked at us with a blank expression, as though unsure of what his crime was.
"Isn't that normal when it comes to strategy, though?" He asked.
"What??" This time, Kuzon was the one who exploded.
He had been holding in his frustration since we arrived, deciding I should take the lead role, but it seemed he had reached his wit's end.
"Relax, Kuzon. I already apologized for the inconveniences you experienced. Besides, it seems you're focusing a lot on the disadvantages that you aren't even considering the outweighing advantages." Neron sighed a little.
"That doesn't justify—"
"Jared, thanks to your experiences, I'm sure you've broadened your horizons in Magic. Kuzon, you got trained by that Grand Singularity, and Aloe... you've learned valuable lessons on your journey. Ciara as well. Edward, you had the opportunity to cultivate your power in peace. There are also long-lasting effects of this whole thing that will be unraveled eventually, so it was more to your benefit than not."
Neron's words were already melting away the little source of resistance that existed within me.
'I actually trust him, but a part of me could relate to Kuzon's dissatisfaction...'
And now, that part of me was slowly fading away.
"You say that, but what of the risks involved? You just allowed us to be thrown into a new world without—"
"I won't excuse the impulsiveness of my actions, and I believe I already apologized for them. That's as far as I can go with apologies, unfortunately." Neron glanced at Kuzon especially.
"If you spoke to the Old Man, you should already know that no one is dead. I specifically made sure of that."
Kuzon was already lost for words the moment Neron brought that up.
"The problem with your line of reasoning is that you're focusing a lot on the abruptness of the situation, and I understand that it might be tempting to feel betrayed since I didn't reveal the details of my plan to you, but I expected you all to at least understand that it was necessary."
"You could have just told us." Kuzon insisted.
"I couldn't risk Legris knowing about my intentions. You realize I also hid Information from myself until the appropriate time, right? Why do you think that is?"
I had also wondered why Neron erased his memories of his past failure. People.learned from their mistakes, but according to his line of logic, he didn't want to be influenced by his past life's actions, except in smaller details.
Aether already explained it to me, so I understood now.
"The past destruction of the world has been avoided, but Legris' plan is still in motion. He joined the Nether Cult because he wanted to gather the Arcanas, so he could gain access to [The World]."
But what did he want to.use [The World] for? Wasn't it to transport us to this world? But if so, then what was his actual plan?
"Legris brought us all here so we wouldn't be a bother to his goals, and I decided to allow it in order to give him the illusion of control. Doesn't that sound familiar to you, Jared?"
'W-what?!' Neron was thinking exactly as I would.
This was what Kuzon was talking about, after all.
I really was taking after Neron.
"You can't just act that way around people. We aren't pawns. We're living individuals."
"You are pawns. This is war, Kuzon. Don't act so naive. With all of existence at stake, do you think I have the time to worry about someone's feelings in order to make the right call?"
Kuzon's glare intensified instantly.
"I took into account that your feelings might be hurt, which is why I apologized. But did you honestly think I would be considerate of your emotions if there was a chance that you and everyone would be destroyed because of it?" Neron didn't appear upset, but his tone indicated some degree of disappointment in all of us.
"Someone has to make the hard choices. It's the epitome of responsibility. If you knew what I know, and saw what I see... you would do exactly the same thing."
Neron's words honestly resonated with me. They sounded so pure and true.
"I care about all of you. It's why I've gone through the trouble of ensuring you follow a set path that leads to optimal results. You can either choose that, or destruction."
It seemed Neron had no intention of being apologetic any longer.
"Ask yourselves a simple question. What would change if I had told you everything? Would it change the fact that you still had to go to those worlds? Would it have changed the fact that you all made it safe and sound here? There are nigh infinite worlds, and the ones you happened to fall into were universes where you were stronger than everyone else. Did you think of that as coincidences?"
Neron must have orchestrated everything with us in mind.
"I protected you all. I protected everyone back home. And I did it in a way that a greater good would come from the experience."
I could finally understand where Neron was coming from.
'From where he stands, he has done nothing particularly wrong.'
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[A/N]
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