Chapter 534: Chapter 518 – Two Wrongs

“Whether two wrongs could make a right or not is an often debated topic amongst the learned and the scholars. The problem is that most of the time they couldn’t even agree what constituted a wrong in the first place, or how far they should apply it.” - Leigh Wainwrought, student at the Levain Institute for Higher Learning, Circa 684 FP.

“Didn’t expect you to still be flustered about killing bandits, to be honest,” noted Eilonwy after the caravan stopped to rest for the night later that day. After Aideen and Eilonwy joined the battle, the bandits were quickly routed. Fifteen of the twenty seven bandits were slain on the spot – with Aideen and Eilonwy accounting for ten of those – and another eight were left to die, with only four escaping.

 

The caravan guards couldn’t even be bothered to finish off the dying bandits and just left them to slowly perish from their fatal injuries, though given the place, chances were that not long after the caravan left some wild beasts would come as they noticed the scent of blood. The ending of those bandits could well be imagined from that.

 

“I just… can’t get used to the idea of just putting them down like rabid animals, I guess,” admitted Kino, who looked rather flustered by the general nonchalance of everyone involved – Aideen and Eilonwy included – when they dealt with the bandits without mercy. “It was easier during the campaign… back then the enemies were doing horrible things and we were stopping them… but what if these people were just driven to crime out of desperation like those we met long ago?”

 

“It’s good that you can think that way, but those people earlier did not deserve your kindness,” said Aideen thoughtfully in answer to Kino’s question. “I don’t know if you noticed from your seat or not, but six of those bandits were wearing proper armor and carrying good weapons. The armors were mostly damaged, in spots that would lead to fatal injuries. That meant six lives they had already taken.”

 

“If you assume that they attacked a merchant caravan like ours, six guards would usually mean no less than three wagons, that’s a merchant and three drivers added to their tally,” she continued. “Ten lives they would have taken just to satisfy their greed, since the ones we fought clearly showed clear signs of avarice as they came for us.”

 

“Now that you mentioned it, Miss, I do know of a caravan that fit that description which went missing around three weeks ago, before I left towards Elmaiya,” said the head merchant who overheard Aideen’s discussion. “Shame, that one. The one in charge was a promising young man, he would have gone far given some time to grow. Guess we know why he vanished.”

 

“Thanks,” said Aideen to the merchant for his confirmation. “As you heard it, that’s ten lives likely lost in the hands of these bandits. But that’s not all that would result from their actions. Those ten unfortunate victims meant up to ten families would suddenly find themselves missing a member, who was likely the primary provider for the family as a whole.”

 

“The merchant’s family would probably be better off. Most merchants knew better than to store all their honey in the same pot, so they likely had ways to make do even with the loss, but what about the others?” said Aideen as she presented Kino with the question. “The family members of the guards and the drivers would be far less likely to have such preparations, and they would need to rely on the mercy of others to survive. As such, the bandits may have only killed ten people, but in the end their actions affect far more than that.”

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“I… see…” muttered Kino quietly as she processed what Aideen just said. 

 

“Also, Kino, people who were forced to resort to banditry tend to be the exception to the rule,” mentioned Eilonwy with a shake of her head. “Very few people would actually go that far, even if they were pushed to the point where they might otherwise die. Not many have the mentality of willing to do anything in order to survive. People who can think like that are a rarity in the world.”

 

“Most people who resort to banditry are the ones who could never fit in with society in general, often people who were slave to their desires to the point that society refused to tolerate their presence. If you’ve seen the gleam in their eyes when they rushed towards us with weapons drawn, you wouldn’t have questioned whether those bandits from earlier needed to die or not.”

 

“In the end, I guess some might consider the act of killing another person as a wrong, no matter who the victim is,” offered Aideen. “I’ve definitely met more than a few people who think that way. People who believe in their heart that every person deserves to be treated equally, and that even the worst criminals deserve a fair trial before the law and the like.”

 

“I don’t think you’ve told me about those,” noted Kino as she listened to Aideen’s words. Aideen had often regaled Kino with tales from her past, and the girl had kept note of many of them as lessons to be learned from, so it was something she paid attention to. “There’s something off about those people I assume?”

 

“Most of the people who had such opinions were akin to flowers that lived in a well-cared garden. They had no experience with the actual hardships of the world beyond hearing about it, and fail to understand that the world as a whole just isn’t that nice,” said Aideen with a sigh. “As such they often end up being opinionated and foolish about things that they frankly have no business giving opinions about.”

 

“As for me, I don’t care much whether taking a life is a wrong or not. If by committing that second wrong, I would prevent many more potential wrongs like the first one, then in my opinion it is worth doing so,” admitted Aideen frankly. “As for the opinions and rights of those I killed, they had long given their right to be treated as people the moment they committed to that first wrong they did.”

 

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