George stopped in his tracks to look at Inna, sitting on the floor, beaten and battered. She was staring straight at them, her eyes empty and her face expressionless.
He didn't expect this reaction from her.
It would've eased his guilt by a bit if she were to get mad at them, to scream at them, or even cry at them. But for some reason, he felt even worse looking at her empty expression. It looked like her soul had been sucked dry and what was left was the body.
He felt his eyes sting so he looked away. He truly felt bad as he dragged their loot. He felt guilty for doing this to her. But he had no choice. Rod needed a scapegoat to lure out the Golden Bear. It was the only problem we had in that quest. And she came at the right time. She appeared out of nowhere like a blessing. She was oblivious to everything, dumb, and easily trusts people. She was the type that can be easily fooled. Plus, she was a stranger to them, so there wouldn't be any lingering feelings. It fit all the requirements they needed for a scapegoat so they had no choice.
He actually quite liked her after getting to talk to her. And he actually defied orders and tried warning her subtly, but she didn't seem to notice. In the end, he did all that he could.
And he did say to her, that he will become stronger, no matter what. But how can anyone be strong without any money in their hands? He had to do this. He has no regret in doing this. And if given the chance again, he will still choose to do this to her. Because it's either her or him. There was no other choice.
Rod noticed George's quick glance at Inna and momentarily placed his loot down. He grasped his shoulder and muttered.
"George, don't think too much about it. She's bound to get tricked anyways. She's too naive. We're doing her a favor by ending her life earlier. It saves her the future pain of multiple betrayals."
Renee snickered quietly as she made her way past them.
"Besides, if it wasn't her, it would've been one of us in her place. The world isn't so kind that it can pamper a naive idiot forever after all. It was either her or us. Think about that. We've told you this before. The rule of surviving is simple. It's either you die, or the others will." Rod patted his shoulder before removing his hand.
George mulled over Rod's words as he dragged his loot behind him.