A New Meeting 4

"We had a future we wanted to achieve, and we chose to fight for that future." His voice grew firmer. "Fighting is not the goal, but a means. We fight to protect, to create a world where there is no need to fight anymore. Perhaps that sounds naive, but it is the will of every one of us."

He looked at Sven again. In those blue eyes was reflected the boy's hollow profile.

"So, Sven Carl Bayen, I want to ask you this. What is your will? Do you also agree with our goal? If you have any doubts, say them here."

Char's words echoed through the conference room, every syllable striking the listeners' eardrums. This was no longer a discussion over how to deal with a prisoner. It was an inquiry into will, a conversation between souls.

"If you cannot agree, or if what you desire is to leave all this behind—to leave battle and killing behind—then you can say so now. I will inform Mr. Muruta and ask him to send someone to collect you."

A cold curve formed at Canard's lips. To him, Char's performance was full of hypocrisy. How could anyone from the Flaga Family possibly show such "misplaced kindness"? There had to be some calculation behind it, some scheme he had yet to see through. He studied Char even more carefully, trying to find the slightest crack in his expression.

Everyone's gaze focused on Sven.

"------"

Sven Carl Bayen's body went completely rigid. His eyes—those gray eyes devoid of any light—underwent a visible change in pupil size. They contracted, then dilated, as though some intense light had suddenly pierced the world of darkness he had inhabited for so long. His breathing stopped, the air in his lungs compressed there, unable to leave and unable to