It was a very small emotion.
Compared to all the ugliness of human nature Siegfried had seen so far, this emotion was truly insignificant.
Siegfried had seen it.
He had seen people consumed by jealousy give rise to wicked thoughts.
He had seen the nightmares born from those consumed by hatred.
People possessed all kinds of emotions.
Compared to those emotions, the one before him was really nothing.
Because it was merely a wish to keep living.
It was something humans understood from the moment they were born.
The Homunculus before them merely happened to possess the same thing. There was nothing particularly rare or moving about it.
Yet it was this small emotion that made Astolfo—who, like him, was a Heroic Spirit, whose reason had been vaporized, yet was undoubtedly a hero—say such words.
"I want to help him!"
With an earnest expression he had not shown before, Astolfo shouted at Siegfried.
"This child wants to be saved, so I have to help him!"
"You're a hero too, right?"
"Then even if this child didn't ask you for help, you should at least help him! Only then can you call yourself a hero!"
Those words entered Siegfried's ears with utmost clarity.
His eyes trembled slightly.
"Even if he didn't ask for help..."
Yes.
He should not help others merely because they asked him to, but because of his own wish—because he genuinely wanted to help them.
Even if only once, this was his wish, wasn't it?
"But, Master..."
His Master had a wish too.
And now, that wish conflicted with the small wish before him.
Of the two wishes, he was destined to fulfill only one.
In that case...
"In that case, I should fulfill my Master's wish."
After all, Siegfried had long known this.
No matter how great