How can a retired savior be considered retired if his price drops to 40,000?

Chapter 362: The Impossible Plan

"It's the same question again: the situation now is different from the time when human nature was reorganized. There are actually many people around you who can be driven." Odysseus stated calmly again, and then made a different argument. "You have to learn how to use this resource properly, which will make any work much easier."

"I can't learn it." Fujimaru Ritsuka hid himself in the quilt again, half reporting the result, half giving up on himself, "Believe me, I really tried... and I'm sure I really can't learn it."

Odysseus sighed, reached out and gently tugged at a corner of the quilt:
"…This is a serious matter, Master, please don't joke around."

"I'm not kidding! I really can't learn it!" Fujimaru Ritsuka screamed and pulled the quilt hard, pulling it away from Odysseus's hands, and wrapped herself tighter. "If you don't believe me, ask Cleopatra! I really don't have any talent in this area! I'm just making a living by 'throwing things I can't do to people who can do it'!"

Odysseus was stunned, and after careful recollection, he found that it was true - the main victims of this problem on the Storm's Edge included: Sevatar, who was responsible for managing the Night Lords, Sigismund, who was responsible for managing Sevatar, Hastings, who was responsible for handling all paperwork issues and providing situation references, Vasilian (and the Guards) who was responsible for keeping the peace during external contacts, and Cleopatra who took over all diplomatic communications and relief tasks after being summoned. Lanmaroc was stationed on the Lion's Mane, otherwise he should be counted as one of the victims here.

If we want to trace the root of this problem, we probably have to blame the very special structure of Chaldea. Various reasons have led to a scarcity of normal human employees in this organization, which in turn has resulted in the main responsibility for maintaining the operation of the organization being the Heroic Spirits. The "Heroic Spirits" who are recognized by the world and have their realm records engraved on them often have strong personalities and sufficient self-management abilities - in other words, "most of them are almost undisciplined and can only be gently guided in their behavior." As a master living in such an environment, Fujimaru Ritsuka will naturally resist the "use of power", which is likely to have a counterproductive effect in actual operation. Over time, this ability that can almost be regarded as a human instinct has even been stifled in her.

"To put it bluntly, one of the basic elements of 'power' is 'coercion'. I don't want to force others, so I instinctively resist exercising power. Even though I now hold the seal and scepter granted by the throne room, and I have power that is second to none in the empire, I still... In short, the more I face people who agree with me or the empire, the more I don't want to use my power to oppress them..."

A frustrated voice came from inside the quilt, and the voice became quieter and quieter until it was completely buried under the soft fabric. Odysseus sighed, realizing that the situation was not quite what he had originally understood, and then he withdrew his thoughts and spoke to complete the other party's unfinished point:
"But you also know very well that being on the same page doesn't mean there won't be disagreements. In order to solve problems efficiently, it is inevitable and necessary to use this power at the appropriate time. Everyone can recognize this, so everyone will agree with this. But you still question it, and you feel a certain degree of guilt about it."

"...I know, and I admit that this is just the wild imagination of an adolescent girl. Laugh if you want to." It sounded like Fujimaru Ritsuka had decided to throw in the towel.

"I don't think there's anything funny about this." Having said that, Odysseus still had a gentle smile on his face. "This shows that you pay attention to and think about things in detail, which is not bad. I didn't think about things so clearly when I was young."

There was a brief silence, with only the rustling of fabric as the only sound. Fujimaru Ritsuka poked his head out from under the covers again suspiciously.

"That being said, most people have had this desire when they were young: I wish the world could run according to my ideas." Odysseus continued, "That's roughly the idea, but this idea is different for everyone. Some people dream of being famous and famous in the future, some dream of getting enough wealth to spend their whole lives, and some dream of being loved by everyone... So it seems that you are the most greedy and arrogant one among them: you expect the whole world to run in the peaceful and harmless way you want."

Fujimaru Ritsuka's expression became obviously confused.

"Wait a minute, I didn't—"

"--You have. These things are all connected at a deep level." Odysseus said, "People have expectations for the world around them, but the cold world always tells people the gap between these expectations with reality. Then, in order to pursue these expectations, people will try to change the world, and in the process draw traces of their own lives on the world--in the end, they really change the world, or at the same time they are changed by the world, or they fail and are killed by the huge gap between their expectations and reality. But in any case, this is the way that 'people' survive from generation to generation in the world, and this is also a problem that everyone must face when living in the world: change the world? Or be changed by the world? Find a compromise? Or stay firm as it is until you are crushed by the ruthless operation of the world itself? You are just beginning to realize it."

Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't reply, but during this silence, she clearly looked thoughtful.

Perhaps because she hadn't figured out a solution, or because she wasn't confident in her solution, she chose to ask Odysseus again two minutes later: "So how did you deal with this problem? Or, Odysseus, which one do you think you are?"

"... Such a sharp question." The person being questioned smiled bitterly. "I am... After all, judging from the results, I am the same as you, the type of person who 'keeps his word'. I said I would capture Troy, and I captured it; I said I would escape from a dangerous place, and I escaped; I said I would defeat a demon beast or monster, and I defeated it; I said I would return to Penelope, and I returned successfully - but what was the price? If you say so, Master, you must understand. I said I would overcome the seemingly insurmountable difficulties in front of me, and I would overcome them. What is hidden behind this seemingly glorious and easy sentence?"

He paused, then added: "To put it more clearly, in order to preserve more strength during the journey and achieve the ultimate goal, we as commanders sometimes have to order the crew members who trust us and whom we trust to light torches."

——When passing through the strait occupied by the sea monster Scylla, Odysseus gave this order to his six crew members. The fire in the darkness attracted Scylla's six heads. When the sea monster surfaced, Odysseus and other crew members hunted it down. But the six people who lit the torches were inevitably eaten by Scylla and lost their lives.

"..."

This answer caused Fujimaru Ritsuka to remain silent for a while, until Odysseus' voice echoed in the room again:
"I have made similar decisions more than once," he said. "Maybe I judge others by myself, but I think you must be the same. You still want to fight the laws of the world with your own principles, and still want to find alternative solutions to problems other than coercion or sacrifice. This is good, and I admire this kind of youthful vigor that never yields. But I still have to remind you that sometimes before you realize it, you have indeed been changed by the world."

"I don't know." Fujimaru Ritsuka recalled his experiences in the illusion. "Your guess is right. I have indeed made many similar decisions, even more than you think. But sometimes when I think back, I am surprised and question my decision at the time. At that time, my state of mind seemed to be as vague as a dream... If I became smarter, would I be able to think more quickly about the cause and effect of the whole thing and the possible impact on the overall situation, so as to make a decision faster and more firmly?"

"It's hard to say. It depends on the person. People with different personalities use their wisdom in different ways." Odysseus didn't understand the causal relationship between the two sentences, but he still answered according to his own experience. "But for you, considering that every time you make a similar decision, it's when there is 'no other way'. If you still decide to do that after you 'become smarter', then maybe the world is really that cruel, and there is really no other way. If you feel that you make similar decisions faster, it may just be because that extra wisdom makes you despair a little faster."

As if in response to stress, Fujimaru Ritsuka quickly pulled out the pillow from behind his back, crawled to the edge of the bed and launched an attack on the other person present, which was weakened by the down sponge filling: "You are just an Odysseus, what do you know!"

"Of course I don't understand." Odysseus raised a hand and perfunctorily expressed his defensive intentions, then let his master hit him with a pillow. "No matter what, I am not you. The advice I give is for reference at most. You are not really seventeen years old. You should have your own independent thinking on this issue. How to reconcile yourself with yourself and find a methodology to live in harmony with the world is something that you can only give the answer to after thinking based on your own thinking and logic-"

"——I'm not talking about that!" Fujimaru Ritsuka still looked angry, but refused to explain further, and increased the frequency of hitting people with the pillow, "Okay, I'll think about it. Now get out and leave me alone for a while!!!"

So, forty seconds later, the door of the master's room slid smoothly behind Odysseus and locked. Of course, with the authority of the Chaldean Heroic Spirit on the Storm's Edge, Odysseus could swipe the door lock open and go back in, but as an adult man, it would be too tactless to do so. This is the truth, but Odysseus stared at the sensor door lock for a few seconds and struggled with his thoughts before he sighed and finally accepted this reality. He turned around and prepared to leave, convincing himself that the part that was not discussed in this conversation could be worked out slowly in the future, but in front of him, in the silver-white clean corridor of the Storm's Edge, a ball of black flame suddenly appeared.

It was indeed a surprising and unusual sight, but not usually a cause for alarm. Odysseus paused and said nothing until the fire grew stronger and stronger, then gathered into a human shape, a strange but stubborn shadow in the bright light of the gallery, from which the figure of Edmond Dantes, the Count of Monte Cristo, could barely be seen.

"You are a rare guest," Odysseus said, taking the initiative to ask, "What can I do for you?"

"Please tone down your topic." The Count of Monte Cristo was not hypocritical and directly expressed his point of view, "Don't push her too much."

"'Growth' is painful. In the long run, such appropriate pain is beneficial to the future development of the person concerned." Odysseus pointed out, "You are a little overprotective."

"'Growth'." When repeating this word, the Count of Monte Cristo's tone was sarcastic. "After going through 'that series' of things, do you still think she should go through this painful growth?"

"The Master has not received the complete Third Magic." Even though the other party did not explain clearly, as a heroic spirit who accompanied the last Master of Chaldea through the final journey of human order, Odysseus knew very well what the other party was referring to with vague words. "Perhaps her mind, soul and body are all fixed at a certain stage of life at the same time, but she has not achieved true 'immortality'. Her channels for receiving external information are not completely closed, and she is not completely isolated from external threats or dangers, so she still has the internal driving force of 'self-transformation'. Even though it is indeed difficult for her to grow under the above conditions, I don't think that is absolute."

"I agree with that, but that's not what I want to talk about," the Count said calmly. "I mean what happened 'after that'."

"...You have been in this universe longer than I have, so you will know better than me." Odysseus, who still understood the riddle, responded, "Even if the problem of the abandoned hole cannot be ignored, the evil intelligence contained there is something that cannot hatch in this ignorant world that relies too much on religious theology."

"The universe is different, and the rules that the world follows are also different. This is hard to say." The gatekeeper of the abandoned hole sneered, "You are too reckless, Odysseus. This is not an issue that should be discussed openly."

Once again, the words were vague. Odysseus instinctively wanted to refute, but after a brief thought, he finally kept silent.

"I know what you essentially want to do." The Count of Monte Cristo suddenly took a step forward, threateningly closing the distance between him and Odysseus, and lowered his voice and said, "You want to persuade her to accept her current identity and status. You want to convince her that it's fine to live like this. You want her to adapt to the new environment around her and build new interpersonal relationships on this basis. You want her to give up that stupid 'plan' and think of other ways to live better in this universe-"

"——I don't see what's wrong with this." Odysseus interrupted him coldly, "Can you agree with her plan? Do you think Chaldea from another world can be successfully internalized into a department of the empire? Do you think the spirit portrait can be "inherited" by anyone other than Fujimaru Ritsuka? Can you accept that the only master recognized by all of us will burn everything he has according to the plan within 20 years——"

“—I can, if that is what she is after,” said the Count of Monte Cristo.

Odysseus took a step back, almost in fear.

Everyone knew that Edmond Dantès was the one who could least accept the above. But now, the Count of Monte Cristo said that he could accept it, and the pain and determination in his voice were almost equal, and it didn't seem fake.

"'Forever' is a false proposition. Nothing can be truly permanent. Even stars will eventually go out. I understood this fact from the beginning, but I didn't expect it to happen so soon." said the man who hid himself in the shadows, "But this is nothing to be surprised about. So I accept it."

"but--"

"——There is a saying that the legends that a person can achieve in his lifetime are limited, Odysseus." The pain in the Count of Monte Cristo's words weakened, or rather, he hid it better. Now, the sentences he spoke were only soaked with his firm will: "Don't torture her anymore, let her rest."

The other party still did not give any clear explanation, but for Odysseus, these words were enough to send a chill down his spine.

"…Since when did it start?" He asked nervously and uncontrollably, "When did she start to have this kind of-this kind of idea of ​​wanting to die?"

"Sooner than you thought - don't blame yourself, it took me a long time to find out." The face of the Count of Monte Cristo was hidden in the shadows and could not be seen clearly, but Odysseus felt that he showed a little bitter smile for no reason:
"It started when Mash Kyrielight also decided to agree with Chaldea's proposal to have Ritsuka Fujimaru go to the source and reorganize the desolate human order."

"…wait, but that's—"

"That's right." The Count of Monte Cristo admitted the other party's guess, "That was before she accepted Irisviel's incomplete Third Law. In other words -

"——This idea was also 'solidified'."

(End of this chapter)