The Hero Should've Known Better

Chapter 26: The Capital

"Just... just look at this mess!" Junil exclaimed, her arms outstretched. She was referring to the New Frontierland docks, of course, which were currently a small disaster unraveling in broad daylight.

Aluminum bars were strewn across the street that was headed directly to the docks. Most people were running over or past the mess — not ignoring it, but rather, they were headed directly towards the commodities exchange. Some had aluminum in their hands, the aluminum that they had bought with their own money prior.

Junil was not a market expert, by any means, but she knew that trying to sell now was a futile task.

"The economic damage that this will result in is worrisome," Ronn stated. "The Second Coming is far more forward-planning than I had anticipated."

The Healer's head whipped over, to allow her to stare at the Hero.

"You think this is her fault?" she asked.

Ronn stared back, through his metal helmet.

"Yes. I do," he said. "Is it not clear as to the immense amounts of damage she has caused so far?"

"That she—? Ronn, I didn't take you for a fool, but it's clear that your chase was what caused the damage! She was just running away, you were the one bowling over everything!"

"Even so, even if we were to allow the Second Coming to go free, even if she truly is innocent, would it be correct to allow her to go without any questions, after all the damage that has already been wrought?"

Both stood there, quiet. The Healer was the first to break the silence. Her voice was low.

"A gambler's fallacy," Junil stated. "You've sunk so much cost into trying to apprehend the Second Coming... that you're now using it to justify what you're doing."

"I see little wrong with justifying our pursuit of the Second Coming. She is a genuine threat. The same applied to the Demon Lord. It is basic risk assessment, Miss Junil."

The Healer stomped her foot, then pointed down at the ground in rage.

"And this is the exact reason that the other Demonfolk Generals aren't in our custody, either!" the Healer yelled. "It's partially your fault!"

The Hero stopped.

"Miss Junil," he said. "Are you really bringing that up again?"

"During the War," she clarified. "You were so determined with confronting the Demon Lord that we didn't bother with trying to capture the Generals until after Luth was in our custody."

The Healer clenched her fists.

"And by then, most of them had just up and disappeared! And now one of them's causing problems!"

"Luth was a priority. Taking any detours to apprehend the other Demonfolk Generals would have added, at minimum, a month to the conflict."

"So what?" Junil rebutted. "The Demon Lord is captured a month later. All the other Generals would've been captured, too. But you decided

"And those Generals are still around. We just know General Forge is helping the Second Coming, and we don't even know where General Seis and General Brington are! Is the war really finished, Ronn? Would you call that 'concluded'?"

"The other Generals are not relevant at this moment, and I am not budging on apprehending the Second Coming," Ronn stated. "We have little time to loiter. Miss Junil, let us go."

Junil stood there, even as Ronn turned away from her. He paused, then glanced back at her.

"Must I repeat myself? We will be headed to the Capital immediately, before the Second Coming wreaks havoc there."