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She fled!""Well, Saffron wouldn’t have offered any opinion anyway.

'...'

'Increase fields to reduce starvation.'

'Preserving the lake to maintain a water source.'

Neither side is wrong.

Both are sound arguments.

Yet, one of them must be the real right answer.

'...'

Wait a minute.

Is there such a thing as a fake and a real right argument?

Even if there is, how do you distinguish between them?

I can't understand that.

After all, it’s me who's thinking.

A kid who barely passed the military academy, just learned what 'reclamation' means, and at 18, how am I supposed to know if the pros outweigh the cons of drying up a lake?

'Let's defeat the Demon Lord.'

'Vanquish evil.'

'Conquer dungeons.'

'Protect the world.'

'Protect humanity.'

The hero will do that.

Wasn't it supposed to be that simple?

I'm just an ordinary person.

Someone who asks the hero to protect the world.

Now I'm supposed to contemplate food and environmental issues and come up with answers?

'Crow! Stop being silent and say something!'

'Wait a minute, instructor... Does it even matter what I say? Hasn’t the country already decided to reclaim the lake?'

'The local people are opposing it, forming a rebel army! Iris's father is involved too!'

'Eh!?'

As I was speechless,

'If they try to forcibly remove the locals opposing the project, I'll fight to protect my hometown, even against you, Cattleya.'

Iris made an even more unbelievable statement.

'Oh? Bring it on, Iris. If you’re going to interfere with this reclamation work, I won't hold back.'

'You can’t, instructor!'

As the situation seemed to get unimaginably worse, I panicked more than ever.

'The two of you fighting is absolutely unacceptable! That just can't happen!'

'Then you figure it out!'

'It’s impossible!'

'Don’t interfere with me without a better plan!'

'You’re being too hasty, instructor!'

'...Huh? Hasty?'

Hearing the words that slipped out of my mouth, Cattleya looked puzzled.""Actually, that’s true.

'Food increase is needed. We want to reduce starvation deaths. So, if someone opposes, we'll fight.' That's too hasty. Please don’t resort to violence so quickly."

'...'

'Think a bit more before acting. Saying things like ‘kill before being killed’ is fine, but if you can’t distinguish between enemies and allies, that’s a failure as a military officer.'

'...'

'...Instructor?'

At that moment, Cattleya, who had been silently listening to me, suddenly froze, staring at me intently.

'What's wrong?'

As I wondered, tears suddenly started pouring from her eyes.

'Eh!? Instructor, why are you crying!?'

'Waaaaah!'

Cattleya suddenly stood up, grabbed my collar, pulling me to my feet, and started hitting me with her fists.

There it was again – Cattleya's regresshion to childish behavior when cornered.

Tears and pitter-patter punches.

'I’m not an idiot, you idiot! I can’t stand being ridiculed by you, idiot! Damn you, idiot!'

'I’m not ridiculing you, though...'

'Quiet, idiot! You can’t ridicule me, idiot! I won’t forgive you, idiot! Waaaaah!'

'Uh, instructor, please calm down.'

'You should respect me! Adore me! Admire me! Love me!'

What is she even saying...

This regresshion was quite severe.

Even Iris was looking at Cattleya and me, utterly appalled.

Not that it mattered, but why was she appalled at me too?

'No, I do respect you, instructor.'

'...Really?'

Cattleya, still teary-eyed, looked up at me, tilting her head.

That was tough...

Cute, but considering Cattleya’s actual age, it was a bit hard to take.

Although I didn’t know her exact age, considering her years of wielding the Blazing Sword and her heroic deeds, she must be close to thirty.

'Yes. Everyone who joins the military academy thinks the same, but I’ve never seen an adult as respectable as you, Cattleya. Everyone respects you.'

'...Really?'

'Of course. Right, Iris?'

Suddenly brought into the conversation, Iris replied,

'Eh? Oh... yes... I respect her. Or rather, I did...'

Her voice trailed off, almost inaudible at the end."So, don’t be in such a hurry to conclude. Let’s try to solve this calmly through discusshion," I said.

"Okay… I’m sorry for getting angry…"

I can never get used to her behavior, no matter how long I know her.

"So? What are we going to do? Come up with a proper alternative," Cattleya said, having calmed down after her outburst.

But the problem between Cattleya and Iris was still unresolved. I had no solution either.

I made a decishion.

"I've decided. I won’t think about it anymore," I declared, under their intense gaze.

"What!?" both Cattleya and Iris exclaimed in unison, outraged by my decishion.

"I don’t understand what the right choice is, so I give up on trying to find an answer," I continued.

"That’s nonsense!"

"I’m not joking. What I don’t know, I don’t know. What I can’t do, I can’t do," I replied firmly, despite Cattleya’s yelling.

"In such cases, it’s better to let someone else think about it. Not amateurs like us, but experts."

"Experts? You mean the bureaucrats of this country?"

"No," I immediately denied Iris’s suggestion.

"Bureaucrats are just a group of people with high grades or high social status, not experts. They have authority but don’t take responsibility. They have decishion-making power but lack decisiveness. They always influence the country's course but lack creativity and extraordinary abilities."

Cattleya and Iris were stunned by my harsh criticism of bureaucrats. My disdain for the powerful, like nobles and bureaucrats, was something I picked up from my foster father.

"The laws of the country are all made by bureaucrats. Physical strength, violence, cunning, wealth - these are visible powers. But political power is less visible, yet it's the greatest... My old man used to grumble about that.""Frankly, if the powerful decishion-makers of this world were competent and morally sound, concepts like poverty and war wouldn't exist," I mused.

After all, the primary duty of those with great power should be to ensure their citizens don’t die unnecessarily. They reap benefits from everything citizens create, so the least they should do is take care of them. Yet, what we see is disparity, discrimination, and chaos everywhere. It’s as if those in power don’t deserve it at all. This seems to be true everywhere, all the time. Maybe humans can’t live in peace unless ruled by someone godlike.

"Logically, we should just ask the smartest person we know for advice. The three of us discussing this will never find a solution."

Cattleya and Iris looked puzzled.

If I can't fight, I ask someone else to fight for me. Similarly, if I don't know something, I ask someone else to provide the answer.

Though it’s debatable if he’s an acquaintance or expert in development and reclamation, Pratanus is the smartest person I know. He’s a top graduate from the Royal Officer Academy and currently a tutor to a hero. He must possess a wide range of knowledge, surely more than Cattleya and Iris who resort to violence too quickly.

I left Cattleya and Iris and headed to Shion's room, where her training should be ending, and Pratanus should be teaching her. I’ll consult with Pratanus there.

I reached Shion's room and knocked on the door.

"Shion? It's me."

"Why, it's Crow. Please, come in," Holly responded, surprisingly.

Why was Holly answering instead of Shion? Though they are always together during training, it's strange for Holly to respond when others can't hear her. She usually doesn’t interact in such a way.

Entering the room with a sense of bewilderment, I was met with a scene that left me utterly astonished.No, it's not like Shion was lying naked or anything.

Shion was lying face down on the bed, sound asleep.

And there was Holly, massaging Shion's body.

That same Holly who claimed to detest children and girls to the point of nausea.

She was giving Shion a massage.

"…What are you doing?"

"Massaging, obviously," Holly replied.

"Why?"

"What do you mean why? Today's training was intense, and Shion's muscles are filled with lactic acid. If I don't massage her thoroughly, it won’t be good for her."

As she spoke, Holly continued to meticulously massage Shion's legs, from her thighs to her feet, with a remarkably gentle touch. Shion looked blissfully relaxed in her sleep.