The Primeval Era-Chapter 60: Details Matter III

Her eyes moved across the tribe once more, searching for what should be there but wasn’t.

"As for the Warrior or Warriors that could be defending this tribe to give them this confidence, I don’t see any sign of them. No powerful auras within the village. No figures that stand out from the common Tribesmen. Whoever protected them isn’t there right now."

At such a moment, the Saint finally gave another nod, her smile returning with genuine warmth.

"Good. The defenders of this Unbound Tribe that should have made such a difference are on that mountain there."

She gestured toward the image, toward the peak shrouded in purple mist that dominated the horizon beyond the village.

"You weren’t able to see them because they’re not within your field of observation. I can sense at least one Bone Tempering Warrior there even from this distance, and there may be others whose cultivation is still too weak to register clearly."

She settled back in her throne, her demeanor shifting from examiner to philosopher.

"But alright. We now have all these details, and we know what will soon be happening. The hidden force will attack. The tribe will resist. People will die, one way or another."

Her stellar eyes fixed upon her disciple.

"So what would my disciple do now?"

...!

The question hung in the air between them, heavy with implications that extended far beyond this single conflict.

"If we weren’t here, everything would unfold as it was meant to unfold. The strong would prey upon the weak. The innocent would suffer. The cycle of violence would continue as it has continued since the first stones cooled and the first humans walked upon them."

She spread her hands.

"As you said, there are likely multiple other Sworn leaders like this woman in other areas, also increasing the number of their forces, also butchering Unbound Tribes as they wish. This scene is playing out across countless territories at this very moment, and we cannot be in all of them simultaneously."

Her voice grew harder.

"Should we intervene here? And if so, why? What makes this particular tribe worth saving when a hundred others are being slaughtered elsewhere? What about all the other areas where all of this may still be happening?"

She leaned forward.

"In these cruel Lands of Stone, why should we bother to do something and not nothing?"

...!

The question was a heavy one, pressing down upon the Holy Daughter with the weight of all the suffering she couldn’t prevent, all the injustices she couldn’t stop, all the lives she couldn’t save no matter how powerful she became.

She was silent for a long moment, her wing-shaped pupils dimming slightly as she turned inward, searching for an answer that felt true rather than merely convenient.

When she spoke, her voice was quiet but certain.

"In lands without honor, those with any semblance of honor have to act in places where others wouldn’t."

She met her master’s stellar gaze directly.

"If it happens right before your eyes, you do what you can to prevent atrocities. That is the minimum that honor demands. To witness evil and do nothing is to become complicit in that evil, to stain your own soul with the blood of those you could have saved but chose to abandon."

Her voice grew stronger.

"And if you have the power to prevent suffering in areas you cannot see, you do so as well. You send your influence outward. You create systems that protect the weak. You use your strength to change the conditions that allow such cruelty to flourish."

She paused.

"But if we are all like that Sworn, butchering and killing as we wish, treating those beneath us as nothing more than resources to be harvested or obstacles to be removed, then the Lands of Stone will have no honor, no good, and everything will eventually fall apart."

Her wing-shaped pupils blazed with conviction.

"Empires built on cruelty crumble. Powers sustained by fear collapse. The Lands of Stone endure because somewhere, somehow, there are those who choose to do good when it would be easier to do nothing. Without them, without that thread of honor running through the darkness, everything would consume itself until nothing remained but blood and stone and silence."

...!

She said these words with absolute certainty, and the Saint of Stone heard them with a smile that held both approval and something else, something that looked almost like affection for this young woman she had taken as her student.

"Ehh, a decent reply, but not solid enough."

Her voice was gentle despite the criticism.

"You speak of honor and good and the necessity of action, but you haven’t yet grasped the weight of what those words truly mean when applied to reality rather than philosophy. You haven’t felt the cost of choosing to save one while knowing that choice condemns another."

She waved her hand dismissively.

"I’ll ask you about this again later. I want a better answer, one that comes from experience rather than principle."

Her stellar eyes returned to the reflected image, to the hidden Warriors and the unsuspecting tribe and the violence that was slowly building toward eruption.

"But for now, we watch and observe. Many more lessons can be obtained here, lessons that cannot be taught through words alone."

Her voice grew stern.

"If a move is made, you will be the only one to make it. I will not intervene. My guards will not intervene. You are forbidden from acting unless absolutely necessary, and even then, you must be certain that your intervention serves a purpose beyond mere sentiment."

The Holy Daughter nodded, her expression serious.

"Understood, Master."

She returned her attention to the reflected pool of Mana, watching as the serpentine-eyed Sworn continued her surveillance, as the Tribesmen continued their preparations, as the defenders on the mountain remained unaware that their enemy had already found them.

The Saint of Stone watched it all with ancient eyes that had witnessed the turning of ages.

And she waited to see what lessons her disciple would learn from the blood that was about to be spilled!