Walking in the Question and Answer System of Heroic Spirits

[Amakusa Shirou: "Joan of Arc, the Holy Grail War is over. I have used the Third Magic to redeem humanity."]

"It's not a half-baked immortality, but a complete immortality that abandons the decaying flesh. And it's not targeted at a single individual, but shared by all humanity, regardless of good or evil. Passion and selfishness will fade, vanity will become meaningless, and it will be perfect peace—well, Joan of Arc, I'll ask again, am I wrong?"

Joan of Arc: "..."

[Amakusa Shiro: "There's nothing wrong with it, nothing incorrect. The level of completion is so high that it leaves you speechless. I think it would have been better if we could have talked to each other sooner, but some things won't be truly felt until they're done. Even if I had explained my purpose earlier, you would probably still have been in my way."]

Humanity has been redeemed; there is no more suffering, no more despair.

No problem, no rebuttal—

But for some reason, she felt that something was off.

"Joan of Arc, open your eyes. Surely you can't be so blind as to not understand that what he's saying is true."

[Gil suddenly appears in the real world and speaks to Joan of Arc.]

Joan of Arc: "But, that—"

Jill: "You know my nickname, don't you? The infamous Bluebeard. I've done many evil deeds to blaspheme the gods who betrayed the saints! Let me show you the cries of the children! Their desperate lamentations!"

Joan of Arc: "No, don't... stop..."

Jill: "That's right, I killed them, and you killed them too! My madness stems from the regret of being betrayed by you! As long as you live, I will never go mad!"

Jill's face changed again, transforming into a crazed bluebeard.

Weber: "What utter nonsense are you spouting!"

Rin Tohsaka: "Exactly! Bluebeard, you're the one who caused the killings, what does it have to do with Jeanne d'Arc! This isn't how you shift the blame!"

Bluebeard: "No! This is definitely not me!"

Bluebeard: "Joan of Arc, this is not me, I would never defile you like this!"

Joan of Arc: "..."

She's completely numb right now and doesn't want to talk.

Joan of Arc: "I...I—"

[Gilles: "Those children cannot be brought back to life! The past cannot be changed, the deaths cannot be erased! But the future certainly exists here! Joan of Arc, the miracle that allows us to atone lies here!"]

Atonement is possible.

[You can escape the guilt of lost lives, lives lost because of yourself, and share in the miracles of humanity—]

[Gilles: "It is not God who saves us! Then we must save people ourselves! Joan, answer me, is this the salvation of mankind?!"]

Joan of Arc felt a sharp pain in her chest, desperately trying to hold back her tears, yet unable to think of any words to refute her.

[I feel like something's wrong, but I can't figure out what it is.]

What exactly am I rejecting in my heart?

[Gilles: "Joan of Arc, reach out your hand, accept your defeat, let us fight side by side. No, this is not a battle, but redemption, a journey to redeem humanity—"]

Joan of Arc: "Gil..."

[Gill: "That nameless homunculus probably hoped the same. His death was necessary, a necessary sacrifice for humanity to move towards the future it desires."]

Joan of Arc: "..."

Feng Xi: "What a clever trick of using both sticks and sweet treats. By using Sieg to shake Joan of Arc's heart and break down her defenses, you can then use nonsense and twist the concepts to brainwash her and make Joan of Arc agree with your approach."

Feng Xi: "Amakusa Shiro, don't you firmly believe that you are right? Then why do you use such methods to make your opponent submit?"

Amakusa Shiro: "I just wanted to eliminate a potential threat."

Feng Xi: "Then why didn't you just kill her? Why go through all this trouble?"

Feng Xi: "To put it bluntly, you just want the approval of others so that you can be satisfied."

Amakusa Shiro: "Are you saying that I need a sense of validation?"

Amakusa Shiro: "Ridiculous, I don't need that kind of thing."

Just as she was about to give up completely, a strong sense of unease welled up inside her.

Joan of Arc vaguely recalled a scene.

"You haven't—"

Someone died because of me; that person must have been very important to me, perhaps even more important than me.

I deserve this death. Even saving tens of thousands of people cannot atone for it. I don't want saving humanity to become the meaning of Sieg's death. I caused his death; I killed him.

There is countless deaths in this world.

Countless lives produce countless deaths, a hellish chain reaction, but it is by no means necessary for the world. "Unnecessary deaths exist in the world." Unjustified deaths are the burden that the lives that bring about those unjustified consequences must bear.

"No! That's not how it works!"

Joan of Arc cried out, "His death was not necessary for the world! It is my responsibility, and I must bear it!"

Chapter 312. Negotiations Break Down

[I was so close to blaming someone else for his death, but that would have been too despicable. If I had killed him, then the guilt would belong solely to me.]

At the same time, Jill must continue to bear the responsibility for the deaths of children.

They rose not with hope, but with anger, and with the will to rebel. The tears that flowed were so fiery, yet even so, they somehow regained the strength to fight.

Rin Tohsaka: "It's good that you've come to your senses. I thought we'd have to wait for Sieg to come and save her."

Weber: "Lady Joan of Arc, you truly deserve the name of a saint."

Joan of Arc: "No, I was actually saved by Sieg. I just stopped running away."

Amakusa Shiro's face darkened. He hadn't expected things to backfire so badly. Jeanne d'Arc's heart, which was on the verge of collapse because of the homunculus's death, held on a strong enough to hold on.

There's no room for a proper discussion anymore.

Tensions were high between the two sides, and a battle seemed imminent.

Amakusa Shirou was confident that, with the blessing of the Greater Grail, he could easily defeat Jeanne d'Arc in her current state—that was his certainty—until that voice appeared.

"Thank goodness, you're still alive."

Joan of Arc stiffened. She wondered if she was hallucinating, or if Shakespeare was playing a different character to distract her.

When she turned around and saw that familiar figure, she almost collapsed back down.

[Siegfried: "Sorry I'm late, but Black Saber Siegfried has successfully defeated Red Lancer Karna."]

Joan of Arc: "Siegfried...why?"

【“???”】

Sieg tilted his head slightly, a little habit he probably wasn't even aware of, but Joan of Arc knew it all too well.

This is definitely the real Zieg, no doubt about it.

Ilya: "They have such a good relationship, they even know each other's habits perfectly."

Zig: "I didn't even know myself."

Joan of Arc: "After spending a few days together, you'll naturally find out once you get to know each other better."

"I'm sorry, there's really nothing I can do to help."

Sieg, having misunderstood Joan of Arc's meaning, apologized.

Now that he has lost Siegfried's power, there's really no use for him here.

However, his battle with Karna helped him understand his own inner thoughts.

"I want to see you."

Sieg looked shy, but his eyes never left Joan of Arc.

Ilya: "I confessed! I confessed!"

Zig: "?(???ω???)? This—"

Joan of Arc: "(つд?)"

Afu: "(。ˇ?ˇ。)"

Bruchild: "Pure love."

Bluebeard: "Aaaaaah!!! Unforgivable!!!"

Bluebeard: "Sieg, how dare you be so disrespectful to the Holy Maiden! I will kill you!!!"

Rin Tohsaka: "What business is it of yours if other people are in love?"

Feng Xi: "This is what they call a sasaeng fan, right?"

Upon hearing this, Joan of Arc nearly burst into tears, but managed to ask, "Brother Sieg, may I ask you something?"

[Zig: "Mm."]

Joan of Arc: "Are you still thinking?"

[Zig: "Of course, there are so many things I don't know. Perhaps these are difficult questions I could never answer in a lifetime, but I still want to think about them. Because I'm gradually understanding them, little by little."]

Sieg's words instantly made Joan of Arc understand everything, realizing exactly where her inexplicable mistake lay.