Help understanding だからこそ、という場合もある

Question

I'm struggling to understand the sentence in the exchange below. To explain the context, these characters have been shipwrecked and landed on an unknown island. They find that several of their companions have been killed, by monsters, and so they go to find the culprit. As part of this they meet a friendly monster, and ask them the location of the strongest monster in this area, thinking that this monster will either be the culprit, or they will be able to talk to them and find out who did kill their companions. And in the end they find out it was this monster that killed their companions.

話を聞きに行く。もしも犯人なら―

アーリンちゃんと戦うんですか～？

場合によってはそうなる。

アーリンちゃんは優しいですよ。

そうか。だからこそ、という場合もあるな

I understanding the meanings of だからこそ and という場合もある individually so that is not what is causing me difficulty in understanding. What is causing me difficulty is that the words before and after だからこそ are not explicitly stated.

Could the implied elements something like 同じ魔物だからこそ優しい or is there a more obvious interpretation to a native speaker?

Answer 1

I have two interpretations but not sure which is correct.

1. だからこそ refers to “アーリンちゃんは優しい”. I.e. especially in such case [a fight may still be necessary]
2. だからこそ refers to the speaker’s previous line (場合によって), i.e. “As I just said, [it depends]”. In that case, という場合 refers to “アーリンちゃんは優しい”.

However, こそ makes #2 somewhat unnatural so #1 looks more likely.

Answer 2

Let's translate the entire dialogue first

話を聞きに行く。もしも犯人なら―
I'm going to go ask. If he's the culprit, then—
アーリンちゃんと戦うんですか～？
You're going to fight Arin?
場合によってはそうなる。
Depending on the situation, yeah.
アーリンちゃんは優しいですよ。
Arin's really nice, you know?
そうか。だからこそ、という場合もあるな
I see. That's exactly why I'm saying it's depending on the situation.

Please note that the translation of that last sentence is by no means a literal translation—the grammar definitely does not match word for word. First, だからこそ can also be used in the beginning of a sentence to mean "That's why". "That" refers to "Arin is nice". From your post, I think you understand this.

という場合もあるな
The mentioned situation exists as well.

This という is not quoting だからこそ. I feel like it is easier to look at という場合 as one word. The という場合(the said circumstance) is referring to what he said before「アーリンちゃんと戦う」.

So maybe to make this simpler:

アーリンちゃんと戦う ＝ という場合

And then if you put it into the sentence:

だからこそ、｛アーリンちゃんと戦う場合・という場合｝もあるな
That's exactly why I said that there is a possibility that (I will fight with Arin / the aforementioned situation might occur).

Okay, then why would "Arin being nice" lead to "I want to fight him/her"? Well, the speaker isn't saying because Arin is nice, he wants to fight her. He's saying because Arin is nice, depending on the situation he might not have to fight her.

So maybe a more clear/literal translation would be:

そうか。だからこそ、という場合もあるな
Because Arin is nice, the situation where I fight Arin also/might exist.

場合もある→That possibility also exists.

This "also" emphasizes the possibility that the situation might not occur. The situation where they don't fight is the assumption from "Arin being nice". What he is saying that the situation where they do fight exists in addition to the larger possibility that they don't. He is giving Arin the benefit of the doubt, but expressing that there is also a possibility that Arin was the one who did it and they will have to fight.

I hope this makes sense. Please note that I am not a native, so if I made any mistakes, feel free to correct me.

Answer 3

I think Shurim's answer is more or less right, but let me add my own answer.

First, filling the omitted words in the last sentence becomes as follows: [アーリンちゃんが優しい]からこそ[私たちはアーリンちゃんと戦う]という場合もあるな。

(Note: だ in だからこそ appears because the clause is omitted; な at the end does not affect the meaning, so 場合もあるな=場合もある here)

A translation would be アーリンちゃん is kind, that could be the exact reason we [the speakers] fight with her (assuming アーリンちゃん is female in some sense.)

As Shurim mentions in the answer, fighting with the kind アーリンちゃん might sound a little strange. More background is required to understand why the 2nd speaker says this, but the following examples should help in understanding the sentence.

1. 私は彼の友達だからこそ、彼に金を貸さない - I am his friend, and that is exactly why I don't lend him money (background: lending money would spoil him)
2. 医者は優しいからこそ、患者を殺した - The doctor was kind, and that is exactly why he killed the patient (background: the patient was terminally ill, for example)

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A little grammar:

X + こそ expresses that the speaker thinks X is important among other things. So, the last sentence basically implies that the 2nd speaker thinks there could be many reasons for fight, but アーリンちゃん's kindness is the chief reason (leading to the killing of his(?) companions and ultimately to fighting).