Falk asked Kyle a couple more questions, and he answered them honestly.
Did he view Tracy and Bormine as his friends?
Of course!
He had risked his life many times for them!
Why would he do that if he didn't view them as his friends?
Why did he give so much money to their family?
Because it was the right thing to do.
Falk had a lot of difficulty understanding Kyle.
On one side, Kyle's actions seemed logical and correct. He was doing the right thing.
Yet, his absence of negative emotions, like pain, made it hard to understand.
Falk risked his life for his team due to emotions.
If he could have prevented their deaths, he would feel regret for the remainder of his life.
If he refused to put in his all, he would feel guilt and shame.
If he didn't give the money to the relatives of the deceased, he would feel like a gigantic, selfish asshole.
If he didn't take revenge, he would feel like he was letting everyone down and would feel useless.
Yet, Kyle had none of these feelings, which made Kyle feel almost alien to Falk.
Kyle was essentially doing the same thing as Falk, but for completely different reasons.
The fact that Kyle barely felt anything after two of his friends died felt dangerous to Falk.
He felt like Kyle was not trustworthy.
He seemed like a snake.
However, if that were the case, why did Kyle risk his life so many times for the team?
It was strange.
Outside, Kyle was very similar to Falk, but inside, they couldn't be any more different.
Meanwhile, Theodor just snorted.
In his mind, Kyle had done incredibly stupid and risky things.
30 Ether Stones was a lot! He should have kept them!
Why was he trying to be friends with others? They would all be left behind or betray him anyway!
Why did he let Horatio escape even though he could potentially destroy the entire world?!
If Falk knew Theodor and thought of him as a snake, he would be completely right.
Theodor was a selfish monster, and he acted like a selfish monster.
Funnily enough, deep inside, Kyle was very similar to Theodor.
Both of them didn't have many feelings about friends.
Both of them wouldn't feel too guilty if they just kept some money or stole something.
A dead human was not a big deal to them.
Yet, on the outside, Theodor and Kyle couldn't be any more different.
Kyle risked his life for his friends and did what would be considered to be the right thing to do, while Theodor was completely selfish, opportunistic, and greedy.
Inside, Kyle was like Theodor, but outside, he was like Falk.
Who was the real Kyle?
Such a stupid question.
Both.
A person felt things, thought things, and did things.
Everything together was what made a person.
That was why people were unique.
Permutations of hundreds of individual character traits created a unique combination every time.
Some people felt angry about the torture of farm animals for human consumption while not caring about the environment.
Some people cared about the environment while not caring about the animals.
Some people were fine with eating fish but not meat.
Some people were fine with eating dogs but not cows.
Some of these values seemed almost contradictory, but only to outsiders.
To the person themselves, everything seemed perfectly logical.
These were simply their values.
Kyle was unique, as was everyone else.
Yes, everyone was unique…
But unique didn't mean equal.
From a biological perspective, yes, everyone represented one life and thus had the same value, but from a societal and ethical perspective, that was not true.
One just had to ask 100 people to choose between the life of a serial child predator and a firefighter who abided by the law.
Both were unique, but nobody gave a shit in this scenario.
Falk and Theodor were unique, but if put to a vote for societal value…
Well, it wouldn't be a 50/50.
After talking with Kyle for almost two hours, Falk sighed.
"I'm sorry, Kyle," he said. "I misunderstood you and acted impulsively. Thank you for stopping me from running to Janus' Hold."
"Dude, no need for thanks," Kyle said. "I was also about to kill that stupid fucking Sorcerer, and you stopped me from doing it."
"Sometimes, we lose control. Having friends around to pull you back is a blessing."
Falk nodded with a sad smile.
"So, what do we do now?" Falk asked. "We lost three of our members. Do we just disband?"
"Hmm," Kyle uttered. "We could ask Michael to join. Having a Sorcerer would be a big help, and I think he would want to join."
Falk nodded. "Michael is a good guy and a very capable Sorcerer. Even when he thought he was going to die, he followed your orders. Not many people can do that."
"That means we need two more," Kyle said.
At that point, Kyle remembered someone.
'I mean, we are a Fighter Guild, but we don't necessarily need to exclusively use Fighters.'
'We already have a Sorcerer.'
"What do you think about recruiting non-Fighters? " Kyle asked.
"In what way?" Falk asked.
"Like, what if the last two members are not Fighters?"
"Sure," Falk answered. "A bit unusual, but why not? They just need to be strong and reliable."
At that point, Kyle remembered someone he had met a couple of times within the past six months.
'Oh boy, I'm not sure. That guy is… special.'
"Say, Falk."
"Hm?"
"What do you consider reliable?" Kyle asked.
"Reliable," Falk said. "You know. Reliable."
"Yeah, but can you describe to me what you mean?" Kyle asked.
"Someone who will do what they are told to do and won't run away when things get serious," Falk said.
Kyle nodded. "Is being… socially bearable… a part of being reliable?"
Falk raised an eyebrow. "You have someone in mind?"
Kyle nodded. "Yeah, but he's… special."
"In what way?" Falk asked.
"Like, imagine Dylan… but more arrogant."
"More arrogant than Dylan?" Falk asked. "That's possible?"
Kyle nodded. "However, in a fight, they are absolutely trustworthy, and they are very powerful and talented."
Falk furrowed his brows.
Some seconds later, he sighed.
"Seems like being in a team will no longer be as pleasant."
"Trust me, it won't," Kyle said. "But we will get much more done."
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