[ Ehe. ☆

She's right about that, that it isn't common at all where he's from, to such an extent that whenever he needs to ask he generally already knows the answer is "no." And he seems delighted in a very quiet and understated way that she plays along with the act, covering up her own mouth like they're children playing a game.

But whereas once he could give an answer he felt confident and knowledgeable in, that would sound dashing and noble even if he sees none of that in himself, the truth is... he's certain about almost none of it anymore. It might have all been pretense and lies he fell for, for all that he knows. Even if there's a core of him that still needs to believe in it.

So he smiles, not with assurance or coy showmanship, but gently and a little sadly. ]

A weapon.

[ But: ] One that lets me save the souls of those who have died and been corrupted. That have been reanimated against their will and turned into weapons too, that suffer and lament what they have become and only know to kill.

Without Innocence, those souls would just be destroyed.

[ That part, at least, he thinks he can still believe. ]