To hell with the War of Valor, the boy muttered in his heart.

　The fires of the Fourth War of Valor had turned the boy's home country into a wasteland.
　Originally, it was a small country that could not be said to be rich, but the fires of the war ruthlessly took away everything from such a small country. Houses were reduced to piles of rubble, food was turned into massive waste, those who survived suffered from hunger, and those who died had their flesh ripped off by wild animals.

　A young boy receives a ration of food and sips on a small bowl of salty soup.
　The park, familiar to him since his childhood, was filled with people who had lost their homes and families. An adult woman standing in line to receive rations suddenly sobbed. It was as if she had exploded with an indescribable grief. Seeing adults crying in a park that used to be a playground for children, I felt an inexplicable sadness.

I shouldn't be the one to tell you this, but ...... looks terrible.

　A voice is heard from next door. 　
　The king of this country is standing there.

This country is ruined. It will soon be absorbed into a kingdom or empire.

　I guess so, the boy thought.
　This possibility had been explained to him many times before. The people would already know about it.

"Which do you think is better?

　The boy was speechless for a while at the sudden question.
　Perhaps it was because he was the king of a small country, but this man had a tendency to treat the people in a friendly manner. Usually, when he does this, his subjects who are standing beside him will chuckle and warn him, saying, "The king's dignity will be compromised," but right now, his subjects were nowhere to be seen. Half of his subjects had been sent to rebuild the country, and the other half had died in the war.

　The boy felt pity for the king in front of him.
　He can't spend all his time in sorrow like the people. He cannot escape from reality by immersing himself in the work he has been given like his subjects. We have to face this horrible reality head-on more than anyone else. That is the job of a king, the boy now understood. ---- It really was a new thing.

　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you want to do.
　Kingdom or empire? The boy came up with his own answer.

I'm not sure about the ...... details, but I think I prefer the kingdom.

Why?

Because they helped us rebuild right after the war ended. They may have had ulterior motives, just like the Empire, but ...... the Kingdom of Terraria is still better because they took care to show as little of their ulterior motives as possible.

...... I see.

　The king nodded, not sure if he was satisfied with the boy's answer or not.

Then you will go to the Kingdom of Terraria next year.

What?

　The boy rolled his eyes at the suggestion.

"In the near future, our country will be annexed by either the Kingdom of Tellaria or the Empire of Lusia. If so, we need to find out exactly what's going on in those countries. --You'll be assessing the kingdoms from now on.

But I'm an ...... idiot, if I do say so myself.　I don't think I can do that kind of difficult ...... work, let alone hard work.

I'm not going to ask you to do anything difficult.

　I'm not going to ask you to do anything difficult." The king said with a gentle look, as if he were admonishing a child.

I'm not going to ask you to do anything difficult. You just live your life the way you want to live it and one day you'll show me. I will entrust the future of this country to the kingdom if you are living happily when I see you again in ...... a long time.

　The king seemed to intend to place a great deal of responsibility on the boy's shoulders.
　The boy was too confused to say anything. But the king, who was well aware of the boy's character, opened his mouth with a cheerful smile.

"You're in good hands, Gran.