章 32: Chapter – 32 A Moral Dilemma

In the Isshin Dōjō's hall, four individuals—Ryuma, Kuina, Koushirou, and Belo Betty—were seated. Koushirou occupied the Master's seat, while Betty sat in the Guest's position opposite him. Ryuma sat to the side, with Kuina positioned a step behind him.

After a period of silence, Koushirou, stroking his chin, remarked, "So, that's how you ended up in this village, huh?"

Betty nodded in agreement, saying, "Yes, it was a coincidence, but I'm really glad..." She sighed and continued, "If it had been some completely unknown place or an island with a marine base, things might have become rather troublesome."

With a chuckle, Koushirou remarked, "That is certainly the case. Honestly, when I saw my daughter and Ryuma-kun coming to the Dōjō with the East Army Commander, I was really surprised... but everything is clear now."

Betty expressed, "Koushirou-sama, I need to inform the base that I am safe, lest everyone there would be worried."

"Of course, of course... I will help you pass the message to Dragon-san," Koushirou assured.

Betty bowed gratefully, saying, "Thank you, Koushirou-sama."

Koushirou smiled lightly and shook his hand, signaling her not to worry about such a trivial thing. He then asked, "Is there anything else you would like my help with?"

Betty hesitated for a moment, then sighed lightly and said, "That... I was hoping that Koushirou-sama could also help me find the person who might have attacked our ship. I suspect that the person is also on this island."

"Ah, someone from Frost Moon Archipelagos?" Koushirou was curious and questioned, "Can you describe the entire incident to me? That might help me identify the person responsible for the attack."

"Certainly," nodded Betty and began to explain the entire process of how her ship sank.

Hearing the detailed description, Koushirou felt a sense of unease. From the corner of his eyes, he looked at Ryuma and his daughter, both of whom had complicated expressions, and he sensed that something was amiss with them.

Turning his gaze back to Betty, Koushirou nodded, "Alright, I will make sure to find out who the attacker was." He then suggested, "For now, I suggest that the first thing you do is to inform Dragon-San about your well-being and also confirm the status of your subordinates. Meanwhile, I will try to find the person who might have attacked you and bring them before you."

Hearing Koushirou's words, Betty asked, "Do you know that person, Koushirou-sama?"

Koushirou hesitated but nodded, "Maybe... I am not certain. Firstly, I have to confirm whether it is really that person or not. And if it is, then why did they do that? I will let you know once I have confirmed."

Koushirou is no fool. Based on Betty's description of the attack, he figured out the culprit. There are few people in this village capable of such a feat. If it was two to three decades ago, then the number of people might have been more. However, most of them have gotten old or passed away. These days it's only him and Ryuma.

If Betty is saying that the person responsible for the attack is possibly in this village, then it's got to be one of the two of them. Certainly, it wasn't him, which means the attacker is Ryuma, and considering Ryuma's expression, it's already obvious that the attacker is him.

After a moment of silence, Betty accepted Koushirou's decision, "Alright."

"Well then, follow me. I have a few transponder snails in my study; they would be of help in getting in touch with the base," Koushirou said. With that, he got up and led Betty to his study.

…

While Koushirou led Betty to get in touch with her superiors, the duo of Ryuma and Kuina weren't free either. As soon as the two 'adults' left, they started to discuss what they should do.

"What do we do, Aniki?" Kuina was particularly nervous.

Ryuma sighed, "It would be best to come clean. Lying or deceiving might help us escape this incident now, but it would leave a guilty conscience and shame, something I don't want to deal with. Moreover, there are also fairly good chances that it would make things awkward between Koushirou-san and the Revolutionary Army."

Shimotsuki Koushirou has a connection with the Supreme Commander of the Revolutionary Army; this is quite obvious now. And Koushirou should have figured out the 'culprit' too. The only reason he didn't point it out immediately was probably that he wanted Ryuma and Kuina to make their own decision.

Honestly, the death of a few individuals whom he doesn't know or hasn't met does not bother Ryuma too much. After all, he has already dealt with dozens of lives from his bandit-hunting days back in the mountains of the Goa Kingdom.

What makes him a little uncomfortable is the fact that these people—although it hasn't been confirmed whether they are dead or not—are members of the Revolutionary Army. Ryuma does not wish to cause damage to the Revolutionary Army. They are people who are fighting for the liberation of the oppressed and weak. In his eyes, they are really admirable people; thus, he doesn't want to unnecessarily antagonize or oppose them.

Moreover, Ryuma wishes to live a life without any regrets. Trying to hide this incident would definitely make him regret making such a decision. Hence, he wanted to come clean.

Kuina nodded, saying, "Okay." She too did not want to lie her way out of this. Therefore, when Ryuma proposed to speak the truth, she immediately agreed. However, there was still a worry in her eyes, "But would Betty-san forgive us?"

Ryuma shrugged, "Don't know..." and added, "But maybe I can offer her something to overlook this incident."

Ryuma wasn't certain. If it was just the loss of some material or a ship, she would have easily overlooked something like that. He is quite confident because he is offering her something good, at least he thinks he is. But the point is, the lives of her subordinates. Ryuma doesn't think that she would overlook the deaths of her subordinates. In fact, he would be disappointed in her if she did that so easily.

"Well, whatever happens, let's see this through to the end. At worst-case scenario, we would antagonize the Revolutionary Army, and we would have to 'disappear' from this village. Although that would be different from my initial plan, it's not going to be such a big deal," said Ryuma. It's not like he was trying to establish a close connection with the Revolutionary Army or had any intention of joining them. Even if she didn't want to accept the apology and wanted to avenge her comrades—in case they were dead—he wouldn't care too much.

Kuina nodded, saying, "Alright. If it comes to that, I too will be ready to leave with you, Aniki." She too had resolved herself.

"Hmm," Ryuma acknowledged her resolve.

…

Koushirou's study

[I see... well, I will inform Kuma; he is already on his way to the East Blue, so he will be there to pick you up within the next two to three days.] A rough voice came from the other side of the Transponder Snail.

"I understand, Dragon-sama," nodded Betty, and apologized, "I apologize that I caused everyone so much worry."

[No problem.] said Dragon. He was more relieved that she was safe.

At this time, Betty asked, "Dragon-sama... about my crew... what's their status?"

[We have only confirmed the status of a few of them; so far, none of them is dead, although there are injuries. The others are still missing, but we are working on it. When Kuma arrives in East Blue, the search speed will increase. Until then, we can only wait, and hope that they are safe.] answered Dragon.

"I see," Betty was really glad that none of them was dead so far.

Dragon added, [As for the matter about the attacker... I will leave that up to you and Koushirou.]

"Got it," accepted Betty.

Koushirou also nodded, saying, "Very well."

[In any case, now that that's dealt with, I will be taking my leave. There are still a lot of things that need my attention. Betty... Koushirou, take care...] spoke Dragon.

Both Betty and Koushirou nodded, saying, "Yes." And with that, the call was cut, Kachak!

"Sigh, that is certainly a relief," said Betty with a tired expression. Now that she has informed Dragon about her status and knows that Kuma is coming to East Blue to help her, she is finally relieved.

Knock Knock

At this time, there was a knock on the door. Koushirou stood up and opened the door, only to find Ryuma and Kuina on the other side. "You two, is something the matter?" Although he asked such a question, given the determined expression of Ryuma and Kuina, he had a good guess why the two of them were here. "Well, come on in."

As Ryuma and Kuina once again arrived before Betty, she looked at them with a confused expression. She was wondering what the two of them wanted.

Both Ryuma and Kuina stood before Betty and bowed, saying, "Betty-san, please forgive us!"

"Huh?" muttered Betty, unable to understand why they would suddenly apologize to her.

Koushirou smiled lightly and sat down. He didn't interrupt them, just patiently watched. He was happy that they were willing to apologize.

Ryuma spoke, "Actually... the person who might have attacked your ship last night... it's probably me."

"You?" Betty blinked in surprise and asked with a doubtful expression, "How could it be you? You are only a child! Are you trying to cover up for the person who attacked us?"

Ryuma shook his head, saying, "No, I am not covering up for anyone. It was certainly me. While I may look young, I am quite strong, and the Flying Sword Slash that destroyed your ship, I was the one who created it. I had used every ounce of my strength in that attack; hence it covered such a distance."

Betty looked at Koushirou. She still didn't believe Ryuma's words. In her eyes, it's impossible for a child as young as him to have such strength. She was hoping that Koushirou would ask Ryuma to stop. But contrary to her expectations, Koushirou shrugged and said, "Well, Ryuma-kun is certainly capable of such a thing."

"Are you being serious?" asked Betty.

Koushirou nodded, saying, "Indeed... other than me, he is the only person on this island capable of such a thing. It wasn't me, and since Ryuma-kun is saying that he is responsible, then that means he is responsible. He has no reason to deceive you."

After a while of silence, Betty looked at Ryuma skeptically, saying, "Since Koushirou-sama is also saying that it might have been you, in that case, let us assume that it was you for the sake of argument," and questioned, "Tell me... why did you do such a thing? Why did you attack us?"

"Actually–..." Before Ryuma could speak, Kuina interrupted him and said, "It's because of me..."

"Because of you?" Betty turned her attention to Kuina.

The younger girl nodded, saying, "Yes, I was curious about Aniki's full strength and requested him to display it to me. So, he used all his strength to release his strongest attack, and that attack most likely damaged your ship... The one at fault... it's me. I was being selfish. Aniki even said that this was probably not a good idea, but still, I didn't listen. I wanted to see the gap between our strengths, and I insisted."

"That's not true... Actually, I wanted to show off my strength, therefore, I complied. If I really didn't want to show, I wouldn't have shown," Ryuma interjected.

And so, the two of them started to go back and forth about why it was their fault and not the other person's fault.

Looking at the two of them arguing, Betty became annoyed, saying, "Can both of you please stay quiet?" Both Ryuma and Kuina immediately became quiet and looked down.

Betty sighed, "What's up with all this!" She was having a hard time processing all this information and said, "I need some time to think about this... so please leave me alone."

"Alright," Ryuma and Kuina nodded, then left the room.

Now it was just her and Koushirou in the room. Betty remained silent for a while, then suddenly asked, "Koushirou-sama, do you really believe it was him?"

Koushirou answered with a sigh, saying, "As absurd as it sounds, it is not impossible. That boy... he has extraordinary strength and knowledge for his age. If he says he is responsible, then he might really be... To the extent that I have learned about him in the past few months, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he were to cause big storms all over the world when he grows up."

"You really think quite highly of that boy, Koushirou-sama," muttered Betty. She did not expect that Koushirou would give such a high evaluation to Ryuma.

"Some people are just meant to be different and extraordinary... and he seems to be that kind," said Koushirou.

"Sigh, what should I do now? Obviously, I can't ignore this matter... if something happened to my subordinates, then he and your daughter would become indirectly responsible for it. But at the same time, it wasn't their intention, and they are children… children are supposed to make mistakes, and get punished for their mistakes… but this…? This mistake… how can I punish them with death or imprisonment?

And if I am being honest I am no less responsible for this. It's because of my weakness that our ship was destroyed. Had I been strong enough, I would have countered that attack and saved my subordinates, but I couldn't," said Betty with a troubled expression.

She was in a dilemma now. As the commander of the East Army, the safety of her subordinates is her responsibility, but should she deal with this situation? She really didn't know, and couldn't help but wonder, 'What would have Ginny-sama done if she were in my shoes?'

But thinking about her former superior, Betty's expression became more troubled.

Looking at Betty who wasn't able to reach any conclusion, Koushirou gave the matter some thought, and said, "If you'd like to listen... I do have a suggestion that might be of help."

"Huh?" Betty looked at Koushirou curiously and prompted him to speak, saying, "Please go on, Koushirou-sama..." Anything would help at this point.

Koushirou nodded and continued, "So, I was thinking that maybe..."