The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

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[“H-hell if I know! Did you seriously keep something that important to yourself?!”]

[“H-hey, wait a sec! What’s the Philosopher’s Stone like?! Shape?! Color?! Size?!”]

[“…-“]

Oh, for the love of… he hung up! …Bastard won’t even let me reconnect!

Damn it, I’d made the false assumption that I’d be able to contact him at any time!

And he threw at me important stuff so randomly, as if he’d just remembered them!

I swear, this is why I hate dealing with geezers…!

Ugh, now… let’s get the situation sorted out.
Faltown was attacked because of the Philosopher’s Stone presumed existence, even though, for all I know now, it was just a vague possibility? In which case, it was now clear as day why Faltown had been abandoned by the Nation.
As the Philosopher’s Stone was a key for one to attain great power, it was the duty of the Devil King’s advance party to intercept it… gah, the more I know, the more troublesome this business gets.

I wouldn’t be able to reach a verdict on the situation by myself.
I suppose it’ll depend on how much information Mel has managed to gather.
And THEN we would be able to plan our next move, huh.

Tūs, on the other hand… he said he was “kind’a busy”?

He would have been fine being on call while doing his usual stuff… really, what is he doing?

Anyway, right now, we’ve got to do something about Faltown.
The place once had a population of almost a thousand, but because of the incident, there were now not much more than two hundred left.

That hadn’t had much in terms of valuable manpower in the first place, and neither the means to increase their population.
The townspeople had children, of course, but in reality, the elderly had been passing away faster amid the harsh state of affairs.

I would like to do something, anything, but the Pochisley Agency can’t possibly accommodate them all.
Moreover, some people would surely prefer to remain in this town.
While I laid face down, lost in deep thought, Bruce came up to sit next to me and sparked a much-needed conversation.

“Hey, Asley.
Thinking about stuff by yourself again?”

“Yeah, considering how many people are in need now, we’d need to migrate away, but I can’t come up with any good plan…”

“Hahaha, you’re trying to take care of absolutely everything, man.
Of course, you can’t.”

“I-I mean, should I not? If I don’t do anything, everyone would die here, right?”

That turned out harsher than I would have liked.

Having heard me say what I had said, Bruce proceeded to pick his ear with his little finger, with half-exasperation painted on his face.

“People live, people die, man.
Everyone does – same goes for you.”

I understood that Bruce was speaking of something other than one’s life span.

Still, I couldn’t quite get a read on his intention, and could only stand myself up.

“If they keep living here, they’re gonna die.
With how harsh this region is and how bad the place’s become now, almost absolutely will, I say.
But just look at the people.
Even in a bleak place and time like here and now, they haven’t lost hope.
I know we’ve been traveling for a long time ourselves, but this is the first time we’ve seen people like them.
They’ve got old Ryan’s power with them, but that’s not all.
It’s you, Asley – you’ve supported them when they needed it most.
What’s important is that they never became too dependent.
Everyone’s got the will and guts to fight for their lives.
They’ve been living without you spoiling them every step of the way.
And now you’re saying you need to do something? Say that to them, and it’ll be like you pouring warm water on them.
Do that when things are cold as they are now, and THAT will kill them off for real – got it?”

Bruce showed me his rare streak of anger.

Still, those words resounded with me.
I felt something – not quite explainable with words, but definitely something.

“…These guys aren’t kids, you know – just give them the stuff they need once they’re relocated to Beilanea.
The town’s in need of manpower now, so they’re gonna get themselves a job easily if they’re not picky.”

I’d thought Bruce was angry, but then he softened down as he talked more, seeming a tad bit embarrassed.
While he did that, Ryan silently approached him.

Ryan looked at me, then at Bruce, and said the one sentence that dispelled all my fears.

“I propose that… we move away from Faltown, sir.”

Index