He finally met Princess Shirahoshi in person.
Sephiroth genuinely found her cuter than he had expected. Even though he had prepared himself, her cuteness still landed a double critical hit.
Based on his "understanding" of this world, objectively speaking, Shirahoshi, as "Poseidon," would certainly play a role in the so-called "final battle."
Before coming here, he had indeed harbored some more or less "self-serving" intentions.
But there was the fondness carried over from his past life, and now he had seen such a kind, adorable child with his own eyes.
That "kindness" and "innocence" seemed almost to spill out of her.
Sephiroth could sense them clearly without deliberately using Emotion Absorption.
Of everyone he had met in this world so far, only Kuma had reached this level, though the two were entirely different types.
It wasn't that Shirahoshi possessed the sort of "goodness born of ignorance."
Although her suffering couldn't compare to Kuma's...
She had witnessed her mother's death, and she knew her mother's final wishes and the killer's identity.
She had also been attacked by Vander Decken since she was six, forced to spend all these years in a largely enclosed environment.
For someone of her age and mental maturity, the hardship and malice she had experienced were already considerable.
Yet even so, Sephiroth couldn't detect the slightest trace of darkness in her mind.
...Sephiroth admitted that he really wasn't some ruthless overlord destined to "achieve great things."
He couldn't bring himself to "scheme against" good people like her.
Sephiroth wasn't a good person himself, but...within his power, he didn't want good people like her to suffer.
He simply had power now, so he acted on his own preferences to resolve things he couldn't stand.
His so-called "international aid" did serve objective goals of his own, but it also