"Old man. This is a belief that I've held since long ago."
That human nature is inherently evil, rather than inherently good[1].
I can't prove which one is right, but I personally believe that human nature is innately evil.
Was it not the humans who made the distinction of good from evil in the first place?
From the moment ‘good' was defined, the primordial and instinctive actions of human beings were bound to be defined as ‘evil'.
So I believe in the theory of innate evil.
Honestly, I'd rather not believe it.
But I still think it's right.
"What are you talking about so early in the morning?"
Bernard massaged his shoulders as if his whole body was sore, and rubbed his sleepy eyes.
Somehow lifting his twitching eyelids, he looked at Callius.
"Man is inherently evil."
“So, what kind of shit was that all of a sudden… huh, I see.”
Sighing, Bernard responded to Callius, who'd been looking at him, without pondering the issue further.
"It could be, but at least I don't think so."
"Why not?"
"If human nature is inherently evil, wouldn't this world be too difficult to live in? Wouldn't it be more convenient to think it as good even if it were evil?"
“Hmm… I try to think of it as evil though.”
Humans are inherently evil.
However, by learning to live in society, you can know the wrongness of evil and restrain it.
Because if you live within a society surrounded by laws, even if you end up committing an evil, you can still return to yourself.
The principle of human behaviour is to not want to cause trouble.
To be honest, it's hard to say which theory is right and which is wrong. But at least in my personal opinion, the theory of innate evil is the correct one.
So here's the question.
‘Callius.'
Callius has a violent and promiscuous personality that is an ideal example of those who believe in the theory of innate evil.
In terms of superficial behaviour, he is undeniably evil.
I believe that humans are inherently evil, but they do good because they know the rules and norms of society.
Then, why do those who do not do so, act outside the rules of society?
In my view, because their heads are rotten.
Yes.
Callius has a rotten brain.
Despite knowing good from bad, he repeated his stupid actions.
Because he couldn't live up to his father's expectations.
Even though he was a direct descendant, he became a maniac and a scapegrace because he was constantly compared to the children of the collateral branch, and realized the depths of his own incompetence.
There was no justification for his actions.
Just because he wasn't good enough.
Thus, an idiot named Callius was born into this world.
That was his setting in the first place.
I made him that way.
“But why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“I don’t quite understand it.”
"What?"
“… The heart of a maniac.”
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting again…"
Haa – With a sigh, I left Bernard's tent.
It was the crack of dawn.
Leaving Bernard muttering ‘madman' behind me, I looked at Jevarsch from afar.
The soldiers were busy since before the dawn, standing guard, and preparing to meet the rising sun.
‘Shit.'
Just looking at them made me angry.
A situation where the excitement of the battlefield had been dominating my body, a situation where Bernard had been in my front.
If not for such a situation, I would've exploded in a frenzy every single moment I had been inside Jevarsch.
Tuk.
"Oh! I'm sorry!"
A soldier scuffed my shoulder as he walked by.
He was holding a large stack of munitions in his hands.
Looked like that he didn't see me in the way due to how high the munitions had been piled up. It was quite plausible and understandable.
Isn't this a time of war?
A soldier wouldn't normally dare touch me, but this just happened because of the emergency wartime situation.
But –
I drew my sword without any hesitation over such a trivial matter.
"You're not somebody who can touch me."
Irrespective of my own will, the trait of a maniac dominated my whole being.
"Ah! I, I'm sorry! Please forgive me just this once!!"
As his neck neared the brutally drawn blade, the soldier fell flat and begged for his life. Callius naturally stepped on the soldier's head. So natural was the action that there was no way to stop it.
"You shall be forgiven."
“Th-, thank you…?”
"God in heaven will forgive all your sins."
Saying that, Callius immediately struck down with the Predator Sword.
"Ugh, aaaaaah!"
The aura of murder emanating from Callius, honed from his three days of repeated slaughter in the battlefield, enveloped the soldier.
The soldier, fallen on his back, peed himself at the sight of the blade hovering over him.
“Tch… go away.”
"Yeah… yep! I'll go away!!"
Just before slicing off the soldier's head –
He'd blocked his right hand with his left.
‘This shitty trait.'
His left hand, which he had used to momentarily block his own sword arm with so much force, was tingling.
The trait of a maniac demanded that he really kill that soldier with a single sword.
The combination of his terrible traits put Callius in such a dreadful situation.
The soldiers and the Knights performing their respective missions were looking at him in surprise.
"This is why I didn't want to come to the North."
The coercion of his own character.
The characteristics of the Scapegrace of the Count Family was holding him by the ankles and slowly taking over his body.
The more he would approach the centre of Jevarsch, the more this dominance would grow.
‘My notoriety will spread more widely.'
Jervain's maniac, who they'd thought had awoken, did not actually change.
The rumour would spread like this.
"Haa…"
Notoriety doesn't matter however widespread it is, but the important issue is elsewhere.
The real problem is that I can't control myself.
Murmur, murmur.
When I put divine power into my ears, whispers that I would not normally be able to hear were heard and interpreted by Bard's Blessing.
It wasn't very good.
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– They said he was a maniac… That's not the level of a maniac, that's just insane.
– Shh, be quiet, or that crazy guy might hear.
– I thought a war hero had come to save us…
So I heard.
And as soon as I heard, my heart sank, because my crazy trait activated.
"Now isn't this because of the original Callius' innate nature?"
I don't even know what that is.
That's why I didn't want to get close to Jervain.
Were that all, I'd have been able to endure it, but the fragments of Callius' memories and emotions keep rushing in and making my blood boil.
Memories of being ignored.
Of enduring corporal punishments for committing adultery.
Memories like that just keep coming to the surface of my mind.
"I need to look for a way to silence the trait."
Or, leave here. Either one should have been an option, but unfortunately –
[Fatalite's Wheel]
<Reward> [A+] ???
The quest is still there.
There's no other way out.
‘If you don't reach S-rank after coming all the way here, you'll regret it for the rest of your life.'
If so, there is only one way.
Find a way to suppress my traits.
"What if I can't find one?"
I pondered for a while, but there was no right answer.
"If I can't find one, there's nothing I can do."
I have no choice but to keep living as a maniac.
"Nochtel. Did he really say that?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Haha…."
The master of Jevarsch –
Elburton von Jervain, was speechless at Nochtel's response.
"Has he gone crazy?"
"Maybe so. Still, I remember that he used to be respectful to the Lord in the past…"
He didn't have that kind of spirit.
He'd followed etiquette, although he had been confrontational and arrogant.
No matter how much he'd been expelled from his family and sent to the Church to become a Pilgrim, there was no justification for blatantly rejecting a request from the Master of the North.
"He's crazy."
"This can't just be swept under the rug with that. No matter what happened in the past, his behaviour towards master…"
"No. It's better than being a dog wagging its tail in front of me. Yeah, that's how big his guts should be."
Elburton suppressed a smile.
It's better to be this bold than to look like an obedient puppy in front him like in the past.
Besides, didn't he deserve to be proud?
These last three days of dreadful battle.
There, Callius had fully imprinted his existence on the northerners.
In this War of the Wheel –
He was a necessary talent for Jevarsch, and an indispensable sword for the North.
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"He knows his own value best. That's why he's doing this. He couldn't, otherwise."
Elsewhere, this rudeness would have surely been punished.
However, this was his original hometown.
And –
"He must have a lot of resentment backed up. Where would that personality go? Haha."
"This is not the time to laugh…"
"No one else in the North can slander me like that. Strangely, I'm not even mad."
Elburton laughed bitterly.
Nochtel was relieved and worried at the same time as he saw the smiling face of his owner.
"There's no way he would have come back to the North if he didn't have that courage. Even I had underestimated my own son a bit."
"What are you going to do? If you leave it alone, it will harm the Lord's status."
"If my son's being so arrogant, I'll also have to fulfil my responsibilities as a father. Will I not?"
Duruk.
Elburton rose from his seat and left his office, heading towards the makeshift barracks inside the fortress grounds.
"He's complaining about me now, but he'll soon be heading somewhere else anyway."
"Where…"
"You'll see soon. Then all I'll have to do is watch."
As the Master of the North arrived, all the Knights, as well as the soldiers who'd been rushing about, bowed their heads.
Because he was the Supreme Ruler of the North.
Even though everybody within Jevarsch bowed their heads at Elburton when they saw him coming –
Only one person did not.
Only a man with dark hair and a red cloak kept his stiff neck straight.
"Callius."
A voice that seemed to press down on his shoulders called for Callius. Even though it was just a voice, Callius felt more pressure than when he'd faced the giant beasts.
He wanted to bow his head in response.
But the nature of a maniac rejected it.
Was this due to his characteristics?
Or was it the will of the original Callius?
He couldn't judge.
"You're still alive."
However.
One thing was certain.
‘This feeling…'
Sarui.
Callius had hated it enough to live a life that his father had to endure watching.
"You've grown so much. Enough to keep your neck upright in front of me."
Callius did not respond to Elburton's words.
He just quietly started drawing his sword.
"It feels good."
Callius' eyebrows rose.
What do you mean that it feels good?
While he was beset by such doubts –
A man walked out from one side of the fortress.
"Are you alright? Father."
It was Callavan.
Editor's Notes:
[1] 성선설과 성악설 – the two conflicting schools of thought in Confucianism, that human nature is inherently good, vs it being inherently evil, were championed by the Warring States era Chinese philosophers Mengzi and Xunji, respectively. Mengzi believed that humans were by nature righteous and society was a bad influence on them, whereas Xunzi posited that humans were born evil and ethics was needed to rectify them.