"Huh?" Watching Rita get worked up again, Sogo Doma merely said calmly, "What do you mean, all-powerful? I never said anything like that..."
"I don't care whether you said it or not..." Before he could finish, Rita said, "What I mean is, painting is Mashiro's entire world. Or rather, Mashiro only has painting."
"That's just your opinion..."
"Then what do you think Mashiro can do if you put painting aside?"
Hearing that, Sogo Doma couldn't help glancing at her. "But wasn't that your choice?"
"Mine?"
"Isn't that right?" Sogo Doma continued. "You were the one taking care of Mashiro before, weren't you? But did you ever teach her anything? Before she came here, she didn't even understand the concept of money..."
"I..."
"Don't tell me you're about to say that artists shouldn't be tainted by the stink of money?" Sogo Doma cut her off again. "If someone doesn't even know how to spend money, what do they have? You say you were protecting Mashiro, but what exactly did you protect? You turned her into a useless person who can't do anything."
"Sogo..." Before Rita could respond, Mashiro asked with an expressionless face, "Am I useless?"
Sogo Doma: "..."
It was a figure of speech, a figure of speech! Though this girl really wasn't all that different from useless.
"..." Fortunately, just as he was feeling awkward, Rita spoke again. "I wasn't... I just didn't want Mashiro to waste her talent..."
"Oh?" Sogo Doma said, "You say you don't want Mashiro to waste her talent. What about you?"
"Me?"
"That's right..." Sogo Doma raised a finger and pointed at Rita. "In my opinion, your talent isn't necessarily much worse than Mashiro's..."
"How could that be..." Rita couldn't help saying. "Mashiro, she is, she..."
"Why couldn't it be?" Sogo Doma said. "Mashiro