"Heh."
I heard a soft laugh.
I couldn't believe it.
After that laugh, Greenleaf spoke in a voice still laced with amusement, unhurriedly: "He was the one who helped me make up my mind. It all started with him."
My eyes widened.
"Is that so strange? He lived there for so many years. He understood that place better than anyone. He knew there was no hope in a future like that. Like you, I had my doubts once. But after meeting him, I made up my mind. That was where it all began." Greenleaf sounded relaxed.
I heard footsteps. He was coming closer.
Sacrificing their friends, sacrificing themselves, risking everything.
They had staked it all—and placed every bet on me.
I didn't feel trusted or moved. I just thought it was absurd.
That feeling of being manipulated by Greenleaf, pushed forward against my will, had returned.
Only now, compared to before, I felt more horrified.
If we're talking about control, parents control their children, spouses control each other, friends influence one another. More broadly, a country or a people can shape the next generation through education and guide the way people think. All of that could be called control. Some of it is unintentional, some deliberate. Some forms of control have a clear goal from the outset. Some even end up influencing the person doing the controlling first.
Greenleaf and the others had taken their control over me to an extreme.
They had even wagered their lives and souls.
What had they been thinking when they died?
They'd all been killed by "their own people"! And every one of them had died in a cruel, horrific way...
"You're crazy." That was all I could say. "You're all completely crazy."
Greenleaf didn't respond.
"This is absurd... What if we fail? Besides,