Chapter 113: His Path

I always disliked strict teachers. While I have nothing but respect for the job, I always thought that the "good enough" result was... well, good enough. And since I could somewhat reliably wing it, it never made sense to me to try hard and go above and beyond.

I really like Mia, but she reminds me of those strict school teachers. Her excuse for training usually involves a variation of me struggling for my life in a spar, because apparently, if I'm not putting in serious effort, it doesn't count as training.

While they evoke similar feelings in me, it would be a bit unfair to say that these two are the same. At least with her training, I see the results every day as there might not be anything as important for someone whose current job is literally risking his life in battles for money, so while I think it's a bother, I could never argue against its importance.

Ellie: "...So you decided on an excuse about us doing archery training together today to avoid putting in any real work."

Miwen: "Not at all, as I said, there's a tangible effect in her training, and I agree that it's necessary, so I don't mind it too much. The problem is the other one..."

We all knew that Elizabeth was holding back from making too many comments, but during today's dungeon raid, she demonstrated a bit more familiarity with us, and left her shell a little bit more, which allowed us to experience once again the demeanor she showed us before our fight during her Invasion.

She gave tips to Licia, Anna, and Ellie on the way they use their magic, and even Mia listened to her advice, even though much like Anna, she doesn't use magic too much as she treats it as a straightforward way to add power to her attacks when needed.

The biggest surprise in that regard was Claire. She's a mage on par with Bea when it comes to fire magic. And that's not a matter of power since Claire obviously has a better output due to her skills and Gift, it's more that she's kind of a natural at it, having a deep understanding and feeling for this form of magic without even studying it.

I think she has less than five chantings memorized, and sometimes she either messes them up or makes changes on the fly, both of which are impressive considering I've never seen her magic backfire and her power is never lacking, it's almost as if the flames understand her as much as she understands them.

It's a surreal sight, but all of us who are exposed to the image of her fighting with it always think that they must be synchronized in some way.

As such, the fact that even she sought out Elizabeth is absurd. For Claire of all people to trouble herself with something is already incredible, but for it to be about her fire magic feels weird, almost as if the world somehow went wrong at one point.

In the end, Elizabeth managed to help everyone out a little bit, and with the classes Bea and I were having with her, I had no doubts that when it came to magic, she was a positive influence.

The advice she gave in the raid brought her closer to the girls and also helped them understand each other more, enabling Elizabeth to do a better job when it came to their teamwork.

However, it was also a fact that this scored her some points with the others, and made them trust her a bit more by extension, which I didn't consider such a good thing...

Elizabeth: "...There are many ways to lead others. You're a master when it comes to creating the best environment and conditions for those around you, which makes you a man who leads by taking responsibility for others and controlling the situations you and them face. You lead by inspiring and empowering.

Without you, be it in everyday life or on the battlefield, every one of them would be worse for wear, thus creating an incentive for them to follow your lead. It's commendable, really, but at the same time... you understand it's impossible to keep this up, right?"

Perhaps sensing my suspicions and mixed feelings about her actions, she started to talk to me when she got the chance.

I did agree with her statement, I even thought it was somewhat obvious. I'm not a wizard who understands everyone's needs and likes by simply glancing at them. I need to commit a certain amount of time to knowing and developing a relationship with them.

With such an approach, it would be almost impossible to become a king for more than like, a hundred people, it's just the limitation that this approach brings.

Miwen: "...I'm not keen on ruling through fear. So I'll assume you're going to suggest to me the symbolic inspirational ruler approach."

For large quantities of people, a ruler needs to become less of a man and more of a symbol. The embodiment of a quality that those who follow desire to attain or embody themselves. A figure that represents the objectives of others, a king that follows this path is an end goal to be reached. He might be the apex of strength, intelligence, power, authority...

Anything that makes people dream about and only a few can truly demonstrate.

Her actions were an example of that very concept. Simply showing her magic prowess managed to get her on a greater standing amongst others, and judging by how well it fit in the discussion she brought up, I thought she did it on purpose to demonstrate her point.

Of course, I lack any grandiose quality like that, so believing that I could become a symbol of aspiration was a pipedream.

Elizabeth: "...Rule by fear huh... you could certainly do it with your Gift but I understand that you might believe such a method to be beneath you... As for the other path you proposed, you only believe that you're not sufficiently capable because you still see yourself as a man, and not a king, thus, you fail to see that you've already taken the most important steps in that direction."

Miwen: "...Meaning?"

Elizabeth: "...Meaning you don't think you can become a king that is a symbol of strength because you don't see Anna's as your own. You don't believe yourself smart enough to become a symbol of intelligence because you don't see Beatrice's as your own, and so on. You see, the actions I took today... who do you think they belong to?

Of course, they are all yours, for as my king, I am but one of your many limbs..."

It was different from giving me credit. She spoke as if the pieces of advice she gave today came from me, treating herself as a simple messenger and disregarding the notion that I had no involvement with it whatsoever.

She was taking the position of a representative, even though I saw her as the sole instigator.

Elizabeth: "There's no rule saying that you need to choose a single path. Continue acquiring talent, take control of them, and make their qualities your assets. Any feat of power they show will be seen by those outside as your power. Any situation they resolve will be due to your insight, even if you don't speak a word.

We're the foundation you created, it is your right to use us and also your duty to take responsibility for our every action, as they shall always be in your name and under your will."

It was the dehumanization factor of the representative. When you think about the actions of a nation, you might stop at that and say "That nation managed to...", but you could go further and say "The leader of that nation managed to...".

Results accomplished by a large group often end up attributed to one or two names who end up credited, for better or worse, as being responsible for their accomplishments, even if their operations required contributions from several people.

Thus, Elizabeth was telling me that while a powerful leader might simply be the strongest, he might also be the one who has the strongest army or has the best generals as he embodies those under his influence, and their success, in whatever field, is the king's success.

Miwen: "Oh, so you were paying attention..."

She looks at me from below with a bit of an unsatisfied expression and softly tells me that she is always paying attention to me.

Miwen: "Very cute, but your request is denied. I shall dedicate an entire book to pictures and reports of your missed shots. I'll even ask our librarian witch to keep it updated."

Ellie: "N-no... I would die of embarrassment..."

Knowing her, she actually might.

In which case I'll keep it a secret from her.

Miwen: "Speaking of dying of embarrassment, shall we head to the bath?"

Ellie: "...E-eh??? B-but I... well, I'm not training anymore... but it's still a bit early right?"

Everyone prefers the bath on Earth, and for a while, it was manageable to have them all bath in there, but with the addition of Elizabeth we now waste a bit too much time with it, so I decided to introduce bathing in pairs, which faced a bit of resistance coming from a rebellious group calling themselves the Anti-Playboy Camp.

They quickly failed to prevent my new policy though, as their leader was caught by surprise when I pointed out that one of them couldn't go against my orders.

Claire and Licia didn't have any problem with it for obvious reasons. Anna quite liked the idea of having more chances to spend some time together, and Beatrice is still under my control for now. Ellie took a bit of convincing but ended up conceding too.

So with a completely fair and democratic vote that didn't involve any cheating at all, my side ended up winning 7-1 and we'll take turns changing partners every day.

Incidentally, I only mentioned the last part after the vote, which made Anna change her position once she realized she wouldn't be able to choose the same partner every time.

Licia did her best to reassure her, even promising to join her as much as possible but for some reason, this not only made her agonize even more but also had her worrying quite a bit.

Miwen: "Hm... Licia and Claire have already requested to join the kingdom, so I'll give you just a moment to prepare your heart..."

Or so I thought...

After Elizabeth's event, I had 15 tickets. On the day off I grabbed 40 more, and before heading to the dungeon yesterday I grabbed another 40, making me reach 95 tickets in storage.

I felt like there was a possibility that something might happen if I managed to store 100 daily tickets since after reaching 500 kingdom points I unlocked more buildings...

And I was right.

A new option became available to me, by trading 100 daily gacha tickets, I could get an [Uncommon Gacha Ticket]...

The word was different from that of the [Rare Gacha Ticket], but it was obvious what it meant. There was some sort of ranking for the tickets, and I could trade them upwards.

I thought that since Ellie was going to need a second to calm her heart, I could just get and use this ticket now but...

My mind drifted away, and I found myself looking at a blue screen... my eyes couldn't adapt to the blur very well but it felt... familiar...

I thought it looked like the sky. It was a beautiful clear blue, unlike the ones you see in a city. My eyes were about to adapt to it so that I could take a good look but...

Ellie: "...Miwen, are you alright? Miwen?!"

Miwen: "Hm? S-sorry... I... got distracted... how long was I gone for?"

Ellie: "...I noticed you weren't responding about half a minute ago but, perhaps an entire minute passed..."

It didn't feel even close to that... it was almost the same time it took for a blink. Perceivable, yes, but also almost instantaneous...

In exchange for my trouble, I ended up gaining a skill...

[Body Double

Allows you to create a copy of your body. The copy won't act on its own unless instructed to do so by the user. By developing this skill, the copy will be able to follow more complex instructions, the mana consumption required to maintain it will diminish and the maximum amount of time it lasts will also increase.

This is an active skill, at level 1 it will consume 10% of the user's mana per minute, and any existing body double may only last for up to 5 minutes.]

That's... one of the strangest skills I've ever seen.

It almost looks like a skill unique to a specific Gift...

Well, I already had a lot to think about, so I decided to ponder after a relaxing bath.