Chapter 1668 - 232 - Preparation Done (5)

"Morofuji," I said while looking toward her. "You have to take care of yourself, alright?"

After I said that, she suddenly went quiet for a moment, and I watched as her face gradually turned red from the bottom of her cheeks all the way up to her ears, almost like a kettle that had been sitting over a flame for far too long and was now dangerously close to releasing all of its steam.

"Uh... O-Okay," she finally replied, sounding noticeably flustered while avoiding my eyes for a moment.

"Did I say something weird?" I asked her, genuinely confused by her reaction because I couldn't understand why something as simple as telling her to take care of herself had affected her that much.

"Well, no... although, I suppose you kind of did," she replied while looking away for a moment. "It's just kind of surprising hearing the words 'You have to take care of yourself' from you."

Was that really so surprising?

I looked toward the other heroes, and judging from their expressions, they seemed to agree with her assessment as well, which honestly made me question what kind of impression I had apparently given them until now.

"Should I start saying nice things like that more often from now on?" I asked them, half-seriously and partly because I genuinely wanted to know whether they thought that would make things better.

The heroes suddenly looked a little awkward after hearing my question, as though I had somehow managed to put them in an uncomfortable situation simply by asking something that should have been completely normal.

Their expressions almost made me regret asking in the first place.

Well, naturally, I had to be stern whenever the situation required it, but at the same time, I also had to be kind when the situation called for kindness. There was nothing particularly strange about that, especially considering the position I was in and the responsibilities that came with it.

Being too harsh all the time wouldn't exactly make me a good leader, especially when the people around me were already dealing with enough pressure without having their own leader breathing down their necks constantly.

Likewise, being overly kind at every possible opportunity wouldn't work either, because eventually people would stop taking my warnings seriously if I treated every dangerous situation like it was nothing worth worrying about.

There had to be some kind of balance between the two, especially when the people around me were going into a war where their lives could genuinely be on the line.

I couldn't simply tell everyone that everything would be fine when I knew perfectly well that it might not be.

At the same time, constantly reminding them that they could die wasn't exactly going to improve morale either.

That was the sort of thing that could make a perfectly motivated soldier start wondering whether staying in bed for the rest of their life was actually a reasonable career choice.

After that little bit of prelude, I finally left Morofuji together with Agneis so they could start figuring out how the jet was supposed to work.

I still had some doubts about whether Morofuji could actually pull the whole thing off, considering how complicated it was going to be, but at the same time, she didn't seem like someone who would simply give up halfway through.

She was extremely enthusiastic about it.

That much was obvious.

In fact, she looked more motivated talking about the fighter jet than she had during most of our previous discussions about combat training.

That alone told me quite a bit.

Maybe this was simply something she had been looking for all along.

She wanted a way to participate without necessarily having to fight the same way everyone else did, and the fighter jet gave her exactly that opportunity.

I couldn't blame her for being excited about it.

"She apparently wants to become a pilot," Sakai said after watching the two of them leave.

She seemed to have seen straight through my expression, which was becoming a rather irritating habit among the people around me.

I really needed to work on controlling my expressions better.

At this rate, I might as well start carrying a sign that explained what I was thinking, because apparently my face had become far too easy for everyone to read.

It was getting ridiculous.

I could spend several seconds carefully thinking about something without saying a single word, and somehow someone would still figure out what I was considering just by looking at me.

Maybe I really wasn't as difficult to read as I thought I was.

"You sure didn't try to argue with her, huh?" I said to Sakai. "I honestly thought you all would want to go to the front line together instead of letting her stay behind and work with the aircraft."

"It's not like we particularly want to do that," she replied. "I mean, this world is basically forcing us to fight, isn't it? If we don't participate, then we won't be able to go back home, right?"

Well, I couldn't exactly argue with that.

She had a point.

None of them had come here because they had decided that fighting in some completely unfamiliar world sounded like a fun adventure.

They were here because circumstances had forced them into it, and the possibility of returning home was tied directly to their willingness to participate in the war.

It wasn't exactly the sort of choice anyone would make if given a completely free hand.

"And so, we just have to let her go," Sakai continued. "If that's what she wants, then I think it's fine as it is."

I remained quiet for a moment after hearing that.

She was right.

If Morofuji had made her choice after understanding the risks, then there wasn't much reason for us to stop her simply because her decision wasn't what we expected.

She wanted to become a pilot.

She wanted to contribute to the war in her own way.

And as long as she understood what she was getting herself into, I figured that was enough reason to let her pursue it.

Besides, forcing someone into a role they didn't want was rarely going to produce good results.