"..." Rita was ultimately driven away—or rather, she fled in disarray. After all, she truly could not devote herself wholeheartedly to painting like Mashiro did. Thus, faced with Sogo Doma's accusations:
"From where I stand, even if you didn't treat Mashiro as an experiment, you merely treated her as a tool to fulfill your own dreams. Or perhaps as a tool for escape. As long as you told yourselves that no matter what you did, you could never surpass Mashiro, you could lie down and give up with a clear conscience... You could even make Mashiro the target of your shared resentment. Because Mashiro existed, everyone gave up painting; because Mashiro existed, everyone left. Uh... honestly, I have a question. Why did you start learning to paint in the first place? You gave up painting just because you couldn't compare to Mashiro—did you ever truly like painting?
"If you liked painting, how could you possibly be so crushed just because Mashiro painted well? And if you only learned to paint for rankings and glory, then I really have to ask, Rita—was this what you called an artist's bearing?"
Those words, each one piercing straight into her heart, left Rita at a loss for how to refute him. "..."
"If this is what artists are like..." Sogo Doma continued, "then I probably won't let Mashiro go back. After all, spending an entire life muddleheaded just to become that kind of artist? It disgusts me."
Hearing that, Rita could not hold herself back. "No, no, artists aren't—"
"Oh? Then why did you give up painting?" Yet before she could finish, Sogo Doma interrupted her again. "Think carefully before you answer. If someone cannot even speak up for what they like, and even blames Mashiro for giving up things they hate, then I