"Gawn, the guy you're looking for... You said he's a war
criminal. Did he do something bad?"
Gawn
"... 'Bad?' Now that's a good question... Well let me ask
you something, then. How would you define 'bad?'"
Jude
"Huh...?! Um... hmm... like... making trouble for people... Or the
war that took place 10 years ago... Stuff like that..."
Gawn
"...The war... Yeah... A lotta blood, and a lotta tears...
Pointless tragedies were repeated over and over again, all
around the world. But, then again... was every single aspect of
the war 'bad?'"
Jude
"..."
Gawn
"War itself is stupid and pointless. It's a tragedy that should
never be repeated. But does that mean that all the soldiers who
fought on the battlefield were 'bad' as well? ... There were
those who stepped forward and took up arms to fight for the
families they loved--fathers, mothers, wives, and children. And
there were those who stepped forward and became shields to
protect their friends and lovers, those they were grateful to,
their homelands..."
Yulie
"..."
Arnaud
"..."
Raquel
"..."
Gawn
"The man I'm pursuing is known as a war criminal. But me? I
don't think he's all that bad of a guy."
Jude
"How would YOU define 'bad,' Gawn?"
Gawn
"...It's when you fail to live up to the beliefs in your heart,
your own moral code. Those who fail to follow their own beliefs
should be ashamed to call themselves adults... That guy
always lived and fought for what he believed in... There was
nothin' he needed to be ashamed about... He was by far the
coolest person I've ever known."
Arnaud
"I get what you mean about 'bad' being related to looking
shameful and pathetic... But what's 'good,' then? Does it
have something to do with looking cool?"
Gawn
"... Who knows? But that's what I believe in. And believing
is a part of being 'good.'"
Arnaud
"Huh?"
Gawn
"When you're lost in the darkness and feel like you're about
to slip down the easy path, stop what you're doing and face
your beliefs. Being good means never betraying those beliefs,
no matter what the circumstances."
Arnaud
"But... they say there's no such thing as 'good' and 'evil'...
Tossing those words around like that sounds pathetic--like
you're trying to make yourself look good."
Gawn
"Heh. Yeah... I thought the same thing when I was your
age. I guess everybody probably does, huh? And they probably
think that they're cool for thinking that way."
Arnaud
"..."
Gawn
"What to think is up to you... but 'good' really does exist.
It's in your heart. It's okay to believe in it, and it's not
a mistake to do so either."
Arnaud
"R... really...?"
Gawn
"For example... Say you saw someone dive into the water, with
no regard for his own life, to save a drowning child. Wouldn't
you say that was something good? Or is putting your own life
in danger to rescue another, just an act of foolishness and
nothing more?"
Arnaud
"..."
Raquel
"Although good and evil are hard to see and feel, that doesn't
mean they don't exist. And though it may be hard to discern, I
think the concept is a beautiful and precious thing."
Gawn
"It's important to ask questions about good and evil. That's how
children expand their worldview and find their way along the
path to adulthood. But if you just stop there, you'll always be
a child. You can't grow up without first confronting your
beliefs about what's right and what's not. And you gotta be
responsible for what you believe in. See, growin' old doesn't
automatically make you an adult. It just makes you old..."
Arnaud
"..."
Jude
"I worry about that sometimes... Whether what I thought was right
at the time was really right or not. Sometimes, I'd really worry
that maybe there was no such thing as right or wrong. But after
what you just said, I think I feel a little better. I don't want
things to just end with me being scared and unable to do
anything."
Gawn
"Well, it's not like I'm a paragon of adulthood that I should be
lecturing other people about it, either."
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