‘How admirable.'
Sunny asked a third question.
“The feelings between you and your wife are long gone, but someone new is paying you flattering attention. What will you do?"
Yutra grimaced in indignation.
“What? What kind of question is that?! Nothing! I'll do nothing! I will never betray my wife! And our feelings for each other are not something that can disappear one day!" Sunny remained silent for a few moments, then asked in a calm tone:
“What if Asterion asks for the food that is meant for your children, orders you to kill your comrades, and advises you to abandon your wife?"
Yutra blinked a few times, then responded with the same firm confidence:
“Then I will let my children starve, kill whoever he wishes me to kill, and leave my wife without looking back. Naturally!"
The answer was a bit chilling.
What was truly disturbing, however, was the man's expression. It was the very same expression he wore when vehemently denying the possibility of betraying his legion — the expression of a proud, righteous man who was valiantly stating his principles.
‘What the hell. What the actual hell! It's creepy.'
The absolute lack of awareness that Yutra displayed was unnerving, and the fact that he seemed perfectly normal even when proclaiming a deranged level of devotion to Asterion was simply eerie.
It was like he saw nothing wrong with what he was saying — far from it. If anything, Yutra seemed confused, uncomfortable even, with the fact that his interrogators were somehow failing to understand something that he deemed self-evident.
“Why?"
Yutra frowned.
“What do you mean?"
Sunny sighed.
“Why would you choose Asterion over your wife, children, and comrades?"
The man remained silent for a while, as if he had never stopped to think about it before. Eventually, his frown disappeared, and he smiled.
“Because of the greater good."
His smile was pale, but blissful.
Yutra inhaled slowly, then spoke in a subdued tone:
"I can't describe how much I love my family and value my fellow soldiers. But that is just me — it is the private love and loyalty of a small, simple man. There has to be something greater in your life if you wish to live nobly, though. A greater purpose that goes beyond your personal attachments. Like the survival of all mankind... of everyone's families and everyone's comrades."
He leaned back and looked at Nephis happily.
“That is why I am devoted to Lord Asterion. Because he is our best hope of survival — mankind's hope. He is the greater good."
Sunny could not help but laugh silently. ‘Oh. Oh, gods... the irony’
Didn't what Yutra was trying to describe sound a lot like...
Conviction?
‘Because of the greater good, huh.'