The World Is Mine For The Taking

I looked at the five heroes again.

Honestly, I was surprised that they had come to me themselves.

They could have simply asked Lilia for additional training, or perhaps spoken to one of the instructors already assigned to them, but instead they had specifically decided that they wanted me to train them.

That alone told me how seriously they were taking this.

"You hear them," Lilia said.

I turned my attention toward her again.

She seemed to be watching my reaction carefully, almost as though she already knew what I was thinking.

"Don’t misunderstand what happened here," she continued. "I was the one who originally told them to stay put until the war was over."

I raised an eyebrow slightly.

"But they told me themselves that if something happens to the Kingdom and we lose this war, then they’ll lose their chance of going home anyway."

Lilia’s expression became a little more serious.

"Literally, because there’s a good chance they could end up dead."

She said it so casually that it almost sounded like she was talking about something completely ordinary.

Then again, this was Lilia.

She had a habit of saying things that would probably make most people uncomfortable without changing her expression in the slightest.

"So, are you sure you still don’t want us to use them?" she asked.

Use them.

That was certainly an interesting choice of words.

Still, considering who I was talking to, I figured Lilia probably wasn’t trying to make them sound like disposable tools.

She was simply looking at the situation realistically.

They were heroes.

They had power.

They wanted to fight.

And if the Kingdom was going to be involved in a massive war anyway, wasting capable fighters didn’t exactly make much sense.

"Besides, their current instructors are already lacking in several areas," Lilia continued. "The heroes have already surpassed them in quite a few aspects, so keeping them under the same instructors probably isn’t going to help them improve much anymore."

I looked toward the heroes again.

That actually made sense.

They had already received training from the Kingdom’s soldiers and instructors, but there was only so much those instructors could teach them.

If the students had already reached the point where they were stronger than the people teaching them, then continuing the same routine would naturally cause their growth to slow down.

"Shredica is also somewhere around the Kingdom right now," Lilia added. "I promoted her to captain, and she’s currently helping train the new recruits as well."

She briefly glanced toward the heroes before continuing.

"Because of that, she isn’t really available to focus on them either."

Lilia leaned back slightly in her chair.

"So, as things stand, they don’t exactly have the right instructors for what they’re trying to accomplish."

I remained quiet for a moment as I looked at the five heroes.

They were all waiting for my answer.

None of them seemed impatient, but I could tell they were hoping I would agree.

Their expressions also made something pretty clear to me.

They weren’t asking because they wanted to show off.

They weren’t asking because they were bored.

They weren’t even asking because they thought training with me would be some kind of shortcut to becoming powerful.

They genuinely wanted to become stronger.

They wanted to contribute to the war instead of sitting safely behind everyone else while other people risked their lives.

Considering what was waiting for us outside this room, I couldn’t exactly blame them for feeling that way.

The Kingdom was already preparing for a massive conflict, and the Republic and Empire weren’t exactly going to wait patiently for everyone to finish their training before attacking.

If these heroes really wanted to fight, then perhaps the better question wasn’t whether they should train.

The better question was whether I was actually willing to take responsibility for training them myself.

And honestly, I still hadn’t decided whether that was going to be a good idea.

To be honest, I wasn’t particularly inclined to get involved with any of them again. Seeing them come all the way here and involve themselves with me directly was a little surprising, but for some reason, I couldn’t really bring myself to see it as much of a bother either.

Perhaps I had simply gotten used to people coming to me with strange requests.

At this point, that kind of thing had practically become a normal part of my life.

And considering what Lilia had explained, I suppose it made sense that they had come looking for me in the first place. Their power had apparently increased to the point where their regular instructors were no longer capable of properly teaching them, which was honestly something that should have been expected sooner or later.

After all, they were heroes who had been summoned into this world.

Their growth wasn’t going to remain at the same level forever.

The stronger they became, the more difficult it would be for ordinary instructors to continue teaching them, especially if the students eventually surpassed the people who were supposed to be guiding them. At that point, having them continue under the same instructors would be like asking a beginner to teach an expert simply because they happened to be holding the title of teacher.

"These particular individuals have exceptionally high growth rates, according to what their instructors have told me," Lilia explained. "At the rate they’re developing, they won’t be able to continue growing properly if their instructors are already weaker than they are."

"Well, I understand that much," I replied.

It was pretty straightforward when I thought about it.

If an instructor could no longer keep up with the growth of their student, then the obvious solution was to find someone stronger who could actually continue teaching them. Otherwise, the students would eventually reach a point where their training stopped being useful, and that would be a pretty terrible waste of their potential.

There was also the fact that heroes weren’t exactly ordinary people who had some predetermined ceiling on how strong they could become.

Their potential was much greater than that.

They could continue growing stronger as long as they had the right circumstances, the right training, and enough opportunities to push themselves further.

In other words, their growth could potentially continue for an incredibly long time.

That was probably one of the biggest differences between them and normal people.

While I was listening to Lilia explain the situation, my eyes eventually drifted toward Kaori.

She was already looking at me.

Our eyes met for a brief moment, and I could immediately tell that she was paying attention to what I was saying. I didn’t keep staring at her for very long, though.

I quietly shifted my gaze away and continued listening.

"Well, I suppose if they’re really that determined to be taught by me, then I’ll agree," I eventually said.

The moment those words left my mouth, their expressions immediately brightened.

It was almost ridiculous how quickly their moods changed.

A moment ago, they had been waiting anxiously for my answer, and now they looked as though I had just handed them exactly what they had been hoping to receive.

Apparently, they had been considerably more worried about my response than I had initially realized.

I suppose I couldn’t blame them for that.

Still, I couldn’t help wondering whether training them was actually the right decision.

It probably wasn’t going to be a bad idea, especially if they genuinely needed someone capable of keeping up with their growth. At the very least, I could give them something their current instructors apparently couldn’t provide anymore.

However, I was still somewhat against the idea of training them specifically for war.

That part bothered me more than anything else.