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[X] "Let's hear what she has to say."

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"Let's hear what she has to say," says Vincent. The Captain raises an eyebrow at him, but says nothing. Chen, on the other hand, looks furious.

"What are you saying?" cries Chen. "She is a murderer and a heretic! She admitted it herself! We have no reason to hear her blasphemy!"

"She is only one left," he replies calmly. "Heretic or not, we can't destroy the last source of information we have. We musn't let something like this happen again."

The girl raises her crossbow at the Master. Her hands shake as she aims her shot. For a moment, he thinks that she is going to do something reckless. But after a few seconds, she slowly lowers the weapon.

"We will hear your story," declares the Captain. "Then, we will deal upon you fit judgment."

The Master nods slowly, a sad smile upon her face. Again, she puts her gaze upon the moon, watching it in silence. She does not raise her claws to fight.

"The moon is quite beautiful this evening," she remarks. "Don't you agree?"

...

It had all started a year ago. A group of merchants and nobles came into town with gold and equipment. Everyone was excited. The townsfolk had never seen such activity in years. Even the mayor went out of his way to dine with them, along with the other leaders in the village.

They had come to build a new dam. The structure would serve two purposes. It would provide a reliable water supply for the area, and it would increase the amount of land that could be used for farming. This would increase both the commerce and productivity of the village. Perhaps it could even change the place into a small city.

Everyone was excited, at first. But after the construction started, the details of the project began to create new problems.

The landowners living near the river would have to move away, and several of them refused, as their houses were ancestral homes, passed down for generations. Others refused because they claimed that the gold the strangers offered was not enough, and that the strangers were sending thugs to threaten them.

On the other hand, a lot of other villagers sided with the strangers. The construction of the dam brought jobs and tools to the village, which had been doing poorly over the last few years. Many of the workers and artisans saw the dam as their opportunity to earn a good amount of gold. They weren't going to let the stubborn landowners stop the construction that easily, and they were willing to fight for their jobs.

Over the next three months, the dispute would turn into open hostility between the two factions.

"I chose to stay neutral, as I had no interest in politics," the Master said. "I am only a simple school teacher, after all."

"But you said that you were the village guardian and deity," said Vincent.

"I was," she said sadly. "And perhaps I got involved when it was already too late."

One of the young men of the village knocked at her door that night. He had a long gash on his chest, and he wouldn't stop bleeding. The teacher did her best to bind the man's wounds, but she knew that he would not last much longer in this world. He whispered to her that he was attacked, and that the village was in danger. Before he could explain, he fell unconscious.

"I was in panic," she said. "The young man was going to die if I didn't do anything."

The Master lowered her eyes.

"As the guardian of the village, I decided to break the taboo and share some of my powers with the man. Like myself, he would be able to regenerate his wounds and survive."

"But he would also become a monster," the Captain commented. "You knew that, didn't you?"

"It was a mistake," she replied. "I didn't realize it until the next day."

The construction foreman was found murdered. His body was heavily mutilated, as if he had been attacked by a wild animal. There were no witnesses, but she knew who did it. It took her several days, but she tracked him down in the hills.

...

"I killed him myself, in the end," says the Master. "But it wasn't enough. He had spread the curse all over the village."

"The infection couldn't be controlled, and everyone was killed or corrupted?" asks the Captain.

The Master nods sadly.

"Men, women, and children," she says. "The curse does not distinguish between them. I only retain my sanity because I am the guardian."

"T-then, that means," whispers Chen. The girl turns away and empties her stomach on the ground.

"The beasts you killed were the last of the villagers, mostly," she replies.

The Master takes one last, forlorn look at the moon before turning to them.

"This is enough," she says. "My story has been told."

Vincent watches as she looks at them with pleading eyes.

"Please. Kill me."

[ ] Let the Captain do it. This is her duty.
[ ] Let Chen do it. She desires retribution.
[ ] Do it yourself. Make it quick.