“No, then you deceived Leoric…!”
“I don’t know.”
Along with the clattering noise as she closed the canteen’s lid, the woman left such a curt answer.
It was a short reply whose meaning was hard to guess. Naturally, my brows furrowed, and before I could even ask what she meant.
“I said I don’t know. ‘Agnostic’… It means it can’t be known. Who goes to heaven and who goes to hell.”
“No, then what you said to Leoric…!”
“Have you ever heard of ‘confirmation bias’? People are inherently weaker to stories they want to believe… Especially right before death, no need to say more. That’s how I sent him off with peace of mind at least in the end.”
In the unhesitatingly spat-out answer, there was no sign of reflection or guilt whatsoever. At that attitude, which was even cynical, I felt the heat rising in my throat once more.
“Then it’s a lie…!”
“No.”
Already the third time.
It was an assertion digging into my eardrum…