After Bishop Heinemann left, it was just me and Arte in the sitting room.
“I’m sorry. You must have been surprised by such a sudden summons and this kind of conversation,” I apologized to Arte.
I thought it would be faster to show Bishop Heinemann rather than explaining it with words, but I didn’t consider Arte’s feelings in my actions.
“No, it’s actually good that I learned about it,” Arte responded.
From Arte’s perspective, religious figures of the Aresto Church could be considered enemies.
“But there is one thing that bothers me,” Arte said.
She turned to look at me as she sat next to me. Perhaps something in the earlier conversation had caught her attention?
“Why does the duke not seem to have any awareness of the persecution of beastmen? Bishop Heinemann looks at history and Lady Leila has friends who are beastmen, but I don’t think the duke is the same,” she asked.
I never expected that question to come up.
Honestly, it’s partly because in my previous life I liked beast-eared cute girls, but I can’t answer it that way. However, there is a proper reason.
“Arte, do you know there are several causes for persecution?” I asked.
“…Physical ones?” Arte answered after a brief pause.
I nodded in response to her answer.
“That’s one reason, but there’s also another one—social class persecution.”
Arte murmured, repeating “social class…” softly.
“Nobles and knights are generally the ones who persecute commoners. Of course, there’s the aspect of suppression by force, but it’s also generated by social class differences.”
In the end, even if beastmen are set as an external enemy, humans still cannot unite as one.
“But I’m a noble, and knights like Werner and Erich, who are my vassals, come from commoner backgrounds. But I’ve never had any awareness of persecution toward them,” I explained.
Werner was raised in the slums, and Erich was a refugee. Even though they were commoners, they were both excellent knights and important friends.
“I don’t care about social class persecution, and similarly, I don’t care about physical characteristics when it comes to persecution. Well, the reason I don’t care about social class persecution is that I was born into it,” I added.
“…I see,” Arte said thoughtfully, seemingly understanding.
Well, it would be nice if I could just say it’s because I like beast-eared girls! But it seems like she wanted a serious answer, so it couldn’t be helped.
“As Bishop Heinemann said, my views have been changing little by little. What we can do is not disrupt that flow, but instead eliminate obstacles and encourage change,” I said.
In the end, there’s only so much one person can do.
