He said nothing, staring at his feet because yeah, Heiji was right, even if he desperately didn't want to admit it. "I'm sorry..." Is all he could finally say after a long moment, tone quiet.

After another long pause Hershel swallowed and lifted his head again. "What happens if it was one of the group who did it? What could we possibly do? We can't-" Kill them, obviously, that was unacceptable to the extreme. "We can't hurt them, we can't just lock them away."