link???volume_up
Hey, did you hear? We rounded up the last stragglers from House Kleiman.
link???volume_up
Yeah, and brought destruction raining down on one of their villages in the process.
link???volume_up
Of course, it was partially their fault for mustering an army, but...I can't believe His Majesty would allow such meaningless slaughter.
linkDimitrivolume_up
I suppose you have a point. Very well, I'll take you up on your offer. The journey will not be a pleasant one, but your assistance will surely prove valuable.
linkShezvolume_up
I was wondering where we were going. This is the village that was wiped out during our recent battle.
linkShezvolume_up
Hold on, you're not planning to bury the dead by yourself, are you? That's not really a job for a king.
linkDimitrivolume_up
Perhaps not, yet a resting place is all I am capable of offering them now.
linkDimitrivolume_up
Were it possible, I would not have let this village lose a single brave soul. I never intended to see them incinerated by the all-consuming flames of this war.
linkDimitrivolume_up
But as the one who authorized our battle strategy, I alone am culpable for their deaths.
linkShezvolume_up
It's not like you made the decision lightly, though. You discussed it for hours with Rodrigue and the others.
linkDimitrivolume_up
Even so, no means can possibly excuse these ends. No amount of justification will bring back the lives that were lost here.
linkShezvolume_up
True. And no matter how hard you fight for a better outcome, there's no guarantee you'll actually achieve it.
linkShezvolume_up
But there's nothing more you could've done. You did your best, Dimitri. No reason to regret that.
linkDimitrivolume_up
Could you truly face those who have lost loved ones—parents, siblings, children, friends—and proudly declare you did your best?
linkDimitrivolume_up
No. I cannot shut my eyes to the cruelty my actions have wrought.
linkDimitrivolume_up
Yet if I do not claim this battle and its aftermath to be just and proper, my soldiers will lose faith in me.
linkDimitrivolume_up
How long must this horrible cycle continue?