The Hero’s Party Members Treat Me Well for Some Reason - Chapter 94



Enen(2)

They say there was a world at the beginning.

An era when there was no magic, no swordsmanship, and even gods as we know them today.

That place was not solely for humans, and naturally, the masters of the world were not humans either.

Danger lurked all around, and without knowledge, they did not know what was good or evil.

As it is with the world, there is no tutorial upon birth.

From the moment of birth, countless problems lay scattered, with nothing to guide them.

Since there was no such thing as a correct answer, people always yearned for one.

Enen was said to have been born in such a time. A solitary absolute being with power.

When she looked at humans, she felt an endless pity for them. Thus, she resolved to rule over them.

In this way, light was born into the world, definitions of good and evil emerged, and someone arose to speak the answers.

‘This is as far as…’

It was her origin that could be gleaned from mythology. A god who intruded upon an already existing world.

I didn’t know how it would feel to the people of this world, but for me, an outsider from another realm, it came across quite differently.

At least as I felt, she was closer to a manager than a creator.

Wasn’t her role to cultivate the original world beautifully and peacefully?

Up to this point, it didn’t matter much. The problem was whether the managed world functioned well.

The method of recognition was rather unremarkable.

It was all about understanding the other person’s values and personality, much like a blind date.

“Wow, suddenly alcohol… you must know that neither of us can handle it anyway. You didn’t think I would get drunk, did you?”

“Oh, it’s the atmosphere, the atmosphere.”

As I said this, I poured wine into my glass.

Unlike yesterday, when I mistook the glass for Gregonyu’s, today I was able to properly handle the wine glass.

Enen tilted her glass with discontent but then immediately emptied it by herself.

I made a note. Enen does not know the culture of toasting.

“Ah, it’s been really, really long since I had alcohol. Almost hundreds of years, maybe?”

“Still, it seems you’ve had some before?”

“Of course. I do have a certain daily life.”

At this point, I brought up a curiosity.

“Speaking of which, Enen, what did you do before you became a god… um, before ruling over people?”

“Oh my, are you curious about my past story?”

She looked at me as if I were cute.

“I’m sorry, but my story is a bit precious. It’s a tale that isn’t even in the scriptures~.”

It seems she won’t easily reveal anything after all. Watching her brush it off nonchalantly, I licked my lips.

There was information in the scriptures, but she was more secretive than I had expected.

Of course, that didn’t mean I was going to stop. I continued to ask her many questions.

Did she ever have a time when she was human? If so, what did she mostly do back then? Did she live up here in this boring cloud all the time?

I pressed on with my questions, somewhat bluntly. I did gather some information, but for the most part, I didn’t get answers to my inquiries.

The only thing I managed to learn was where she lived. When she complained about the boredom of the clouds, I snapped back, asking what was so bad about where she lived.

But that was all; I couldn’t hear much about her time as a human.

‘Is this a secret…?’

I was curious about her origins, but if she had no intention of sharing, I had no choice but to give up, regrettably.

“Hehe, it seems you have a lot of questions about me. I understand; my followers are always curious about me too.”

The good thing was that despite my persistent questioning, she didn’t seem particularly uncomfortable.

In fact, she even looked a bit pleased. It seemed that this kind of interest wasn’t unwelcome.

At this point, I fell into contemplation.

‘What should I ask…?’

She mostly avoided talking about the past, and even aside from that, the response rate to my questions wasn’t very good. It seemed better to approach my inquiries indirectly…

‘Ah.’

Fortunately, a fun question popped into my mind.

“There’s a famous dilemma in our world.”

This was a matter of values and perspectives.

“Have you heard of the trolley dilemma?”

There are people tied to two separate tracks.

On one side, five people are tied up, and on the other, one person is bound.

A train with broken brakes is speeding toward the track with the five people, and you are the only one who can change the direction of the tracks.

If you switch the tracks, the one person will die.

At that moment, will you pull the lever to change the track’s direction?

Is it permissible to decide another person’s life by involving others? Is the sacrifice of the few for the many truly justified? This issue is a staple in ethics.

Ennen listened to this story with interest. It seemed the problem intrigued her quite a bit.

“It’s a problem I’m somewhat familiar with. It’s an easy one, too.”

“Familiar, you say?”

“Of course. When you’re in a position like mine, moments of choice come up quite often.”

—

I hope this captures the essence and atmosphere of the original text!

In fact, for someone like her, who often directly engages with the world, it might even feel familiar.

“My answer is firm. I will kill one person. From my position of governing many, I have no choice but to sacrifice a few if it’s unavoidable.”

“Well, that makes sense.”

I nodded indifferently. It was an obvious answer.

To be honest, even if I were in her position, I would have killed a few. While I can’t say that every life holds the same weight, the sheer quantity does seem to make it appear more valuable.

“Let’s change the problem a bit.”

So, I decided to introduce a slight variation.

This time, you are the engineer. And you have the lever that can change the tracks.

“There are two tracks. On one track, there is one person tied up, and on the other track, there is no one. The train is heading towards the track where no one is tied up.”

“Then there’s no reason to change the track, is there?”

“Just hear me out. If you go down the original track, you will have to take a long detour to reach your destination. If you switch the track, one person will die, but you can arrive at your destination directly.”

“… How long would the detour take?”

“Well… let’s see, about 10 or 20 years?”

“What kind of train does that? Does that even make sense?”

“Just go with it. That’s how these problems work.”

She looked at me as if in disbelief, as if to say, what kind of train is that?

But that was only for a moment; she soon bowed her head deeply, seemingly lost in thought.

Fortunately, it seemed a bit more challenging than before. The nature of the problem had changed.

While the previous problem was about life and death, this one was merely about convenience versus life.

Though 10 to 20 years might seem like a long time, considering the weight of life, it was certainly worth pondering the answer.

Personally, I hoped she wouldn’t pull the lever.

“This is still a simple problem.”

But her answer was:

“I pull the lever.”

It was the exact opposite of what I wished.

*

After that, we continued to chat lightly,

until all the prepared wine had disappeared. Neither of us got drunk enough to turn red, but we managed to create a certain atmosphere.

But to be honest, it wasn’t fun. Specifically, it was the trolley problem that made it so.

The reason I posed such a ridiculous problem was nothing special.

‘I will be the victim.’

It was as if I were bound to the tracks myself.

In the end, if someone had to be sacrificed, it was clear that it would probably be me. That’s why my heart couldn’t be at ease.

“Since you’ve been asking me questions since earlier, it seems like you have a lot of worries about me······.”

But it seemed she felt that same suspicion.

“I’ll tell you this much.”

She continued speaking with a benevolent expression.

“Whatever it may be, I’m on your side. As long as you’re capturing the Demon King, I will support you as much as I can. Once you’ve captured him, I will definitely reward you.”

“······Yes.”

I quietly nodded. I may not know much else, but at least those words seemed sincere.

Our values might not align, but she was undoubtedly my strong ally.

In that case, there was no reason to be hostile, even considering the lingering discomfort in my heart.

And anyway, what could I even do if I were to be hostile?

I was far too weak compared to her, who could crush me without a second thought, and the entire world was her follower.

“Please hand me the cup and the bottle. I’ll put them in my pocket and clean up later.”

Thus, I tried to wrap up the conversation. I had asked enough questions by now.

“Oh, wait a moment before that. I’ve answered a lot, so let me say one thing too.”

However, she was quicker to speak than I was.

“I’ve noticed you’ve been looking up ‘the Moon’ quite often lately.”

The moment I heard that keyword, chills ran down my spine.

“I can see a lot from up here. There are ways to observe. So, let me give you a piece of advice from someone in a position to see many things.”

Finally, a piece of sincere advice came from her lips.

“Don’t delve too deeply into your curiosity about the Moon.”

I broke out in a cold sweat.

I really couldn’t fully trust her.