Danmachi: Westward Cloud [Complete]

[Vol.3] Quest 277- Words Of Advice

When Cirrus returned to where he first shot the flare, he found everyone gathered.

"Welf!" said Bell.

"Bell!"

They all got together, but the people from another world looked at Bertholdt and Reiner, who are roughed up.

"Captain Levi did you…" said Eren, thinking Levi got his hands on him.

"No, it was the kid. They took him hostage, and he beat the living hell out of Reiner." A smile grew on his face, which shocked them. "It was fun to see him get beaten down."

It must have been something to make Levi smile.

"Well, now that everyone is here, we should leave the forest, Cirrus. Did you find anyone else?" Artemis asked.

"No, there seems to be everyone I can find."

"Then let’s move. We don’t know if these Titans have made their way to Orario."

Bell asked the question they were all wondering as they made their way out of the forest.

"S-so are you really Cirrus?"

"I am. Artemis can confirm it."

They turn to face her, and she nods.

"He was turned back to an 8-year-old by a potion made by the Miach Familia for… Private reasons."

"Then you don’t remember us?" asked Ais.

"Nope, sorry girl, but seems I would have met you as I grew older."

"T-then who do you remember?" asked Bell.

"People who were close to me and a High Elf that came by my aunt's store come to mind."

Immediately, Ais and Artemis' ears were perked.

"… Did she have jade hair?" said Ais.

"She did. Do you know her? Her name is Riveria something, something I forgot what the rest of her name is as well. When I woke up, I was busy… Oh, wait. I had already finished it by this point, so I guess I can say what I was doing."

"I’m afraid of asking, considering you were this strong." Said Eren.

"Oh no, I was level 3, so like 5 levels weaker than I am now."

"So, what were you doing?" asked Lili.

"I was destabilizing a merchant city, which was the nation's crowing jewel that was in leagues with an Evilus Familia by the name of Vritra. A lot of bandits and slave dealers to um… Well, they’re not doing that anymore."

"Oh, then there in jail?" said Bell.

"No, I fucking killed them and took their shit man, their fucking slave dealers. They deal in human trafficking, which is messed up; no one should be deprived of their freedom to serve another."

‘… I really like this kid.’ Thought Eren.

"What’s done is done." Said, Lili. "But how long were you there?"

"Uhh… well, I was currently 4 months in. Me and my crew were on our way to hit up another supply line and deal a major blow to their whole infrastructure."

"You were going to be there for 5 months," Artemis said. "You said you waited for Hermes to arrive to send Vritra back to Heaven."

"Ah… Seems you and my future self really loved one another for him to say what happened then…"

Everyone could see the regret on his face. For Bertholdt, he felt like he was looking in a mirror. He is so young, yet he is carrying so much sin on his shoulders.

"You said you had a crew, right?" said Levi. "Where you like a roaming band of bandits?"

"No, we were privateers hired by the Shalzard kingdom. Given your attire war, I am assuming you're all from a world in war or something?"

They all showed an expression as they knew what he meant, especially Bertholdt.

"… Do you regret what you did?" Bertholdt asked.

Everyone looked at him and at Cirrus.

"Of course I do." There was hesitation in his voice. "The people I killed and the things I did to draw out their level 6 captain. I have blood on my hands that will never be washed clean. When I sleep at night, I hold something dear to me close to ward off the feeling of my blade’s coldness."

Artemis hid her face behind a mask as she remembered all the times they were in bed; Cirrus would always have Ai or her tightly wrapped in his arms. When Cirrus told her about that moment in his life, it broke her heart, even more so now, with Cirrus saying it as a child.

"… Do you regret what you did, Bertholdt?" Eren said, looking at him with daggers.

"… I don’t know." Bertholdt’s voice lacked the convictions of Cirrus and was laced with deep-seated regrets. "I was raised and trained to do whatever it took to complete the mission... but I still think about that day and the man who told us his story... before he hung himself for abandoning his wife and daughter."

"A child soldier, huh?" Cirrus said, looking at him. "I can see it. You have the eyes of a child who was forced to kill their dog because of rabies."

"Yes…" He said, looking down.

"Well, tell us, why did you betray them?" Cirrus looked at Eren and the others. "I spilled some personal stuff, so out with it."

"W-well um… it is a long story."

"We have time," Erwin said on his horse that was being ridden by Artemis.

"Yes," Artemis said. "We have plenty of time before we reach Orario."

Bertholdt told them everything he knew, how he was born and raised in Marley. Everything, down to the Warrior Unit, to the history they were taught.

"… So my father's research wasn’t wrong after all," Erwin said with a neutral expression. "However, it appears that the places beyond the walls and titans are enemies."

They had solemn expressions on their faces.

"I-it’s there a way to resolve this?" said Armin. "So we won’t have to shed any more blood?"

"I doubt it," Cirrus said, walking forward.

From what Bertholdt said, Cirrus fully understood their situation. After all, he knew the baseline of Earth’s history and its struggles.

"No offense, but I’m sure we can—"

"No, I mean it. You won’t solve this through peace. I am sorry, but from what he said, the people of the world and especially Marley. Two thousand years of hatred isn’t so easily undone in your lifetime."

"I have to agree with Cirrus on this." Said Artemis. "We are currently in a similar situation as you. It’s a very delicate and slow process."

Bell and the others remember the Xeno and their struggle.

"B-but there has to be a way!" Armin said, wishing that was true.

"There is," Cirrus said bluntly. "One side simply has to die off."

His words were cold, leaving everyone a bit stunned at how brazen he was at this suggestion.

"T-that can’t be the only option!?"

"I’m sure there are more, but if you wanna solve the Marley and Paradis two-thousand-year problem, annihilation is the only option. Peace negotiations could be a viable route, but well… What’s saying after you're dead, the people of the island would want peace? They turned your people into Titans to keep you on the island. Plus, this big guy committed a massive slaughter of innocent people living their lives without a reason or warning, you know, a war crime."

Armin came to a halt as he recalled that day. The people were killed while screaming in fear and pain.

"I-I can’t accept that!"

"You don’t have to. Someone else can do it while you can fuck off somewhere with a pretty girl or boy, but that is the only option you have. A slow death through negotiations that can turn on a dime or a war with the world that was taught to hate your existence for two thousand—actually, there is a way?"

"What is it?" asked Mikasa.

"You said Marley has you in a concentration camp, right?" Cirrus looked at Bertholdt.

"W-well we have buildings and—"

"Are you fucking surrounded by fences and armed guards, right?" Cirrus said, cutting Bertholdt off. "Even like things to identify you as Eldian?"

"Y-yes but—"

"Then sorry to break it to you, but you’re a fucking animal to them. What other things are kept behind fences and tagged? Fucking animals and they would kill you as one would an ant. That nation has literally brought you up thinking you can be redeemed, but tell me; what would happen if you succeeded in the mission? Without the Founding Titan, Paradis is kinda fucked, right? And that would make Marley into the world’s strongest country with their own little farm-raised pigs of war… what then?"

"T-they…"

He didn’t think this far ahead. What comes after the mission?

"They would take over the world," Eren said, connecting the dots Cirrus was making. "Using what made them so angry at us as their own weapon. That’s the only plausible outcome."

"Exactly! So what do you do? You find sympathizers that are kind to your cause, and you get the world to agree that should Marley win this war, they would turn their sights on their neighbors next, which, from what you said Bertholdt, they already do, but now they have the power of what is your world's equivalent to a god. Your country would receive support to ensure Marley's power does not grow any further, and the country would receive some nice resources—a win-win situation for both parties. I mean, they get an alliance with a country of supposed devils along with valuable resources, all for a couple of scientists and engineers! Hell, if that doesn’t work, you would still at least plant the idea in the world's head. Marly could be the next Country of Devils."

They all thought of one thing at this moment.

‘Holy fuck.’

"T-then peace is an option!" Armin said it with a happy expression.

"Well, not exactly when that happens. You'd be in a cold war where information is more valuable than human lives and all the gems and gold in the world, and blood from both sides would run down the empty, cold streets. Friends become foes, foes become friends… it will become a game of spies. Paranoia will fill the people and needless bloodshed will happen."

Armin’s and everyone’s expressions soured.

"Is there no way for peace that doesn’t involve blood?" said Bell.

"Sorry, but blood alone moves the wheels of history, be it for good or bad intentions, it will always be done in blood. That is a universal truth of humanity."

His words carry more weight than what they expected an 8-year-old to say.

Their expressions darkened even more as they remembered what they had to do to crown Historia. They didn’t shed Titan blood, but the blood of their own people.

"You are pretty sharp for a kid." Said, Levi.

"Yes, thank you for your thoughts on the situation in our world." Said, Erwin. "It was enlightening."

"Not at all."

"… How do you know so much about this?" asked Ais. "Your knowledge is far greater than even Riveria… just how?"

‘His intelligence… It makes sense now how he could do so many amazing feats.’ Ais thought.

"… It doesn’t take a genius to know how people work, even Elves are easy to read. They are taught and brought up in an elven village where they all have the same viewpoints, yes?"

Ais remembers all the Elves she met in her life. They all had a few of the same similarities.

"That is… accurate. None of them from villages liked to touch and are more hygienic."

"And what do you think I was to say insult Elven Royalty like Riveria? An elf from a completely different forest from themselves. What would they do?"

"They…" Thinking on it, the elves in her Familia were very respectful towards Riveria, but now it could also be because she is royalty. In fact, only the Elves called her Lady. "I… I can see that a bit."

‘How did I never think about that?’ Ais was seeing the world through a new lens, Cirrus’s lens.

"Ais was it?"

"Yes, that is my name."

"Ais yes, sorry! You really got me in a bit of a heated moment. If it helps, I'll let you ask any questions you want! Er, um… maybe not all of them based on the question."

"… Do you hate humanity? As in every race? If you look at the Elven race that way, do you do that to every other race?"

They all looked at Cirrus as he came to a halt.

"… Yes and no."

"Can you explain?" said Lili.

"Well, for one, I don’t hate humanity or every other race. I picked the Elves as they are the easiest races to understand. I mean, every one of us not from another world knows they do not like to be touched."

"Hm." Everyone nods in agreement. That was knowledge everyone knows.

"And what of humanity?" Welf asked. "We are more complex than certain races?"

"Well, from what I've seen, humanity is nothing but a fucking cesspool of sins. I mean, I just told you I killed people along the slave dealing line of trade. Humanity, if nothing else, is a dualistic one. There are extremes of good and evil in the world, and there are shades of gray; that is why we are so amazing. We can create great things like poetry and music, but make tools or weapons of war. Humanity is chaos, and that is why the gods love all of us so much, from the evil gods to the righteous gods. Good people can turn evil and people who are evil." Cirrus looks at Reiner and drops him on the floor. "Has the potential to be good. Regardless of race, one can always strive to be better."

They look to see Reiner with his eyes open.

"… And what if they can’t…" Reiner said softly.

"They can. It's simply a matter of whether they truly want to."

"And… what if they try to really can’t?" asked Bell.

"Then they need a helping hand to get better, be it the hand of a friend or lover… or the end of a blade; perhaps even the end of a barrel. The change will either come to them or you can come to it."

For the people who knew Cirrus, they felt as though they gained an understanding of who he is, but that is left to be seen if that point of view remains the same as an adult's.

For the people of the other world, they found him completely at peace with himself for the actions he’s done. There is lingering regret in his words. There is no helping that much. Overall, the thought remained.

‘Is this really a child?’

Even Artemis was surprised at how mature Cirrus was at this age.

One of his words caught Bell's ears, as he never heard that saying.

"Say Cirrus, what do you mean by the end of a barrel?"

"Oh, it’s a saying used in the Kaios Desert. Yeah, it’s rather interesting seeing how a place with no gods to give Falna developed. So, in the Kaios Desert, they have cannons and flintlock pistols. Given that trees are not exactly common, the people make use of the resources that they have to make Black Powder or Gunpowder."

"Are they any good?" asked Welf. "If so, we could—"

"Not really. I mean, one of the reasons they use it is that there aren't enough gods to distribute Falna, so there's no magic. Besides, if you were to use a gun you would smell of gunpowder, should you use a gun in the dungeon every monster will not only make running away from monsters harder but every monster in the area of you firing the gun will quickly come towards you? Plus, I would say guns are only good up to the 15th floor, given their bulkiness."

"Ooh! I see!" All the adventurers understood his words.

They left the forest with no problems.

"Hmm, no one has escaped from the forest," Artemis observed.

"Then we need to hurry and get back to the city," Cirrus said. "You two going to act like reasonable people, or am I going to knock your old ass out again?" He looked at Reiner when he said it.

"… We won’t try anything." He said this while looking away.

"Good, Lady Artemis. I will take you back first. You are far too precious to be out here."

"Very well."

Cirrus dons his armor and takes Artemis back through the air.

"So, are any of you as strong as him?" asked Connie.

"I am the closes." Said Ais. "And I can easily crush you should you attempt anything." Ais has her hand on her sword.

"…" Reiner looks away as he slowly walks, as did Bertholdt a few steps behind him.

"S-so, um, I thought Cirrus would be bigger?" said Sasha.

"He said he was changed back because of a potion." Said, Lili. "But his power is still that of when he was 22."

"He’s a very… unique kid." Said, Levi.

"Yes... it felt like I was listening to someone much more experienced than myself," Erwin admitted.

"I’m shocked he was still so smart even as a kid." Said Welf.

‘He’s truly superhuman. I thought Ais was a talented adventurer, but Cirrus... he's something else when compared to her.' Thought Bell. ‘What was I doing when I was eight? I… I don’t think I would be able to do what he’s done.’