"Now, why would Nanoha do such a thing?"

"Huh?"

Looking at the stunned Zero, Cheruth realized that her problem seemed to be a little abrupt.

"I mean, why would Nanoha be involved in the rebellion...... Uh, that's why do such a terrible thing?"

Despite wanting to help Zero as much as possible, Cheruth doesn't have any bad habits of forcibly selling values, and if Zero is really willing to do something for the rebellion led by the Prime Minister, she can only bless the other party at most.

“...... Because, Peter III was not a good emperor, only ...... In this way, more people can live happier lives. ”

There is no struggle for power, or a grudge, not even a faith-like belief in fighting for one's own faith in the faith of those who follow...... For the sake of more people's happiness, as a rebel's sincerity, it is too naïve to speak.

Cheruth looked at Zero seriously, trying absurdly to find some sympathy of a saint or the hypocrisy of a politician from the other party's expression, but she soon found that Zero's expression was not as firm and natural as the first two, and if she insisted on saying it, it was as if she was memorizing the answer to the test that had been prepared a long time ago, and although she didn't know the reason, she still hypnotized herself that this was the answer she needed.

She hoped that Zero was fooling herself, but from the look of confusion on her face after answering, it was clear that the chestnut-haired girl was real, and she didn't know if she was right.

It's just that I'm being asked like this, so I'm answering like this.

You don't have to think about it to know who told Zero that.

And what should she say, to question the bizarre logic of "benefiting the people means assassinating the rebellion"? to question the prime minister who used this idea to instruct Zero to do things for himself, or to question how Zero himself really took such an idea as a code of conduct?

Cheruth opened her mouth slightly, but Zero seemed to realize something and seemed to want to avoid something, and before Cheruth could speak, she suddenly took a step back, and then seemed to speak with some embarrassment.

"Cheruth, you can stay here with peace of mind, I'll go and see how the Prime Minister is doing, I, I'll definitely try to ask the Prime Minister to let Cheruth leave safely. ”

As he spoke, Zero came to the door, seemingly unwilling to give Chelus a chance to speak, and Zero opened the door and walked out quickly.

Looking at the closed door, Cheruth pouted a little depressedly, then scratched the wolf's ears on her head.

“...... Nanoha, what do you think like that...... Are you happy?"

－－－－－

－－－

Happiness is a very strange feeling for Zero.

Before being caught in that nightmarish dungeon, Zero couldn't remember if he had ever experienced happiness as an ordinary orphan. But she remembers clearly that after coming out of the dungeon, she did not experience much so-called happiness.

After leaving the crazy old man and his dungeon lab, Zero was sold like cargo to her current owner, Chancellor Butler. It has to be said that Butler is worthy of being the prime minister of the three dynasties of the Great Empire, and from the moment he saw Zero, Butler saw that this chestnut-haired girl was different from the rest of his subordinates: he should probably be more concerned about whether this little girl could live to the day when she could be useful for himself than about loyalty.

It's not that something has gone wrong with Zero's body after going through those brutal experiments, it's that Zero's mental state is that it can't support her to do any more autonomous activities...... For some reason, despite the magical transformation of Zero's body, Zero's personal will was retained as the key to her transformed abilities. And Zero, who witnessed the changes in his body during those experiments, is only a child in his early tens, and he is already admirable without a nervous breakdown.

Zero, who has just left the dungeon, is like a lifeless doll doll, often sitting alone all day long, without anyone to watch, and has no desire to even eat and sleep. For such a Zero, Butler's final thought of dominating her is to give her a meaning of existence that is conducive to her own control.

“...... Compared to you, you also know that you can no longer be counted as a 'person', and you can even be said to have been turned into a 'tool' in the form of a 'human', but you must remember that even a 'tool' has its own existence value - 'tool' is to exist in order to be able to benefit more people. ”

This is the reason for Zero's survival in order to be able to benefit more people, and no matter how ridiculous it sounds, Zero accepts it verbatim and uses it as a support to start his life as Butler's subordinate.

Just like a person who has been hungry for a long time is suddenly told that he has the right to eat a big meal every day in the future, for Zero, who already thinks that he can't live a good life anymore, suddenly being told that not only does he not need to die like this, but that he has the opportunity to do something that sounds so noble, then it seems natural to take this as his new meaning of existence.

As far as the results are concerned, Butler's brainwashing of Zero is indeed relatively successful, Peter III's absurd behavior, the resentment of ordinary people against this faint king, and Butler's ability and diligence as prime minister and the good reputation of the people, make Zero gradually feel that Butler is indeed not a "bad" person, and what he said about "benefiting more people" seems to be a really achievable goal.

Therefore, although she does not like to fight or assassinate, Zero still earnestly follows Butler's instructions step by step, and even she sometimes begins to feel that even if she becomes such a person, she may really be able to play a useful role in a great thing, and if she can really do it "for the benefit of more people" as Butler said, then it is not necessarily difficult to accept to live as a "tool".

This thought lasted until she met the wolf sisters.

What is true happiness?

At the very least, Zero felt that the smile on her face when she was with Hero and the gray wolf was enough to make her feel envious, and she was called "Nanoha" by Cerus without saying anything, and she was also happy like never before...... That's supposed to be happiness.

Zero has met a lot of people, but only a handful of them really know each other, and among them are friends...... No, for Zero, I'm afraid there are not many things that really worth caring about, and it just so happens that although they have only known each other for a short time, Zero really cares about Cheruth and others...... Zero himself can't tell whether it's because of the kindness of saving his life, or because of friendship, or because of his envy for Cheruth, who is not much different from him.

Chelus, they are undoubtedly happy...... However, what she, or Butler, the prime minister who had always told her to seek happiness for others, did not bring happiness to Cheruth, but seemed to break their original happy days.

What I have always believed in and spurred on by this, it was found that this was not the case, and Zero, who was not confident in the first place, was really a little confused and panicked.

Isn't it true that the value of oneself as a "tool" is also incorrect? ”

Walking in the secret passage between the secret hideout and the Prime Minister's Mansion, such an idea suddenly popped into Zero's head, but it was immediately extinguished by Zero himself.

She didn't want to get into this kind of thinking again, after all, she was afraid that everything she had done before and now would be denied...... Even if she was really wrong, she didn't want to accept this denial.

Prime Minister Butler is a good man, and he is doing his best for this country, so what that person says, what she does, should be meaningful, and what will ultimately bring happiness to everyone.

Just as Zero was convincing herself like this, she was slightly startled by the light in front of her, and she realized that the secret passage had come to an end, and she had come to the underground of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

The exit of the secret passage was in the garden in the backyard of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and after Zero walked out, the Prime Minister's henchman guards guarding near the secret passage immediately noticed her.

"Lord Zero. ”

"Good work...... Is the Prime Minister here?"

"The Prime Minister went out with Master Gurney just now, and I don't think I'm back yet, so you can rest in the reception room first. ”

Zero nodded, followed the guards to the reception room, and halfway through it, he suddenly thought of something, and asked:

"Uh, the Blood Panther Leader, is he there too?"

"Ah, Lord Blood Leopard is also resting in the reception room, you can meet him in the reception room if you have any problems. ”

Zero was tempted to say that it was better to forget it, but it seemed suspicious to think that in this case, he would immediately say that he would not go to the reception room and go to other places, so he finally made his way to the reception room, and when he walked in, he saw the blood leopard sitting on a side chair and carefully wiping his scimitar.

Blood Leopard glanced at Zero, who was a little embarrassed, and his expression did not fluctuate, as if he was not dissatisfied with Zero because of the previous disagreement on the disposition of Cheruth.

"Sit down, the Prime Minister should have negotiated with Marshal Wall outside the city, wait here for a while, there should be news. ”

Zero nodded, and sat down on the chair diagonally opposite the blood leopard without a sound, although because of the matter of Cheruth, Zero dared to confront this nominal boss in person, but in fact, Zero still had some fear of the blood leopard in his heart, not because of the strength of the two, but because the other party's body did not know whether it was born or because of too many killings, and the evil spirit brought by this girl with a simple mind was a little uncomfortable.

"You came sooner than I thought. ”

The Blood Leopard didn't look up, but Zero froze for a moment, and he had the impression that the chief assassin leader under the Prime Minister was not the type to talk much.

"Uh, uh-huh......"

"It seems that you and your so-called friend are not so speculative. ”

Zero was silent, she knew what the Blood Leopard was trying to say, and the Blood Leopard seemed to feel that her provocation was a bit naïve, and did not continue.

The reception room was silent for a while, and after almost half an hour, I heard some hurried footsteps and the greetings of the guards in the courtyard.

Both Zero and Blood Leopard stood up and waited for the mansion owner to return, and soon the door to the reception room was opened, and Prime Minister Butler walked in with a somewhat angry face, and behind him, Gurney, who also looked a little bad, followed into the house.

“...... Very well, you're all here," Butler nodded after seeing Blood Leopard and Zero, and then went directly to the center of the meeting room and sat down, and said with a serious expression, "Blood Leopard, tell our people, all ready to fight, Zero, you have a new mission...... Very important task. ”

[Ahem, so I just came back to pick up the festival exercise, and I have to break it again again......

The author bacteria are generally the night before the code to be more content for the next day.,Monday is tonight, everyone in the research room can come back very late for dinner.,There's no time code.,So tomorrow and Tuesday you need to ask for a day off.,Don't worry about the author's update these days is short-lived.,Wednesday update as usual.。

In other words, don't wonder why Ben Wang doesn't code words during the day, and there are no holidays here abroad to have normal classes......]