Then Roselle began to study with me every day.

　The second and third time, he was frightened, not completely off guard, but the more times he came to the quarry, the more he seemed to understand that we weren't the ones who were going to cause him harm.

　Now, for the twentieth time, I'm completely used to it. He began to call Rietz his teacher and dismissed me as Ars.

　He also reads a great deal of books, and is on the verge of reading every book in my study room.

　Books are quite valuable in this world, so it's not a tremendous amount, but even so, it's not an amount I can read through in twenty days, so I'm a terrific fast reader.

　He's also acquired a lot of knowledge that an average adult would not know.

　However, even so, the number of wits still hasn't skyrocketed that much to 48.

　Perhaps the status of intelligence is not something that can be raised by having a simple memory or knowledge.

　It's important to know how to use the knowledge you acquire in a meaningful way.

　Still five years old and inexperienced in life, Roselle didn't know how to use his knowledge, and no matter how much knowledge he acquired, he probably wouldn't be able to become that high in wits.

　However, if you consider his wisdom limit, as he gets older and gains more life experience, he will surely be able to use the knowledge he has acquired in a meaningful way and his wits should continue to rise.

　Anyway, I think it's important for him to acquire a variety of knowledge for now.
　Fortunately, he has shown an interest in reading.
　If he decides to acquire knowledge on his own initiative, he will learn faster than if he had to learn it from others.

　His studies are progressing well, but there were some things that bothered me about Roselle.


　○




　Today, as usual, Roselle came to the mansion to study, but she seems to be very depressed, as if something has happened at home.

　He doesn't read his books, but sits in a gymnasium and buries his face between his knees. He is in a position where he does his best to appeal to those around him as if he is depressed.

　It's not the first time Roselle has been like this.
　This is what happens on the days when I'm angry with Greg at home.

　I listen to him to comfort him.

'You're mad at me again?　Why are you mad at me?
..........

　As if it was hard to say, Roselle shuts up.

'Have you been pissing in your sleep?'
Ugh!

　I let my voice trail off, as if he was right.

'As I've said before, we all piss ourselves in bed when we're kids. Don't worry about it.
...do you do the ars?
....

　I was silent.
　Bedtime urination is a phenomenon that occurs in young children because their urinary system is immature. In other words, it is not something that can be prevented because the mentality is adult.

　When I was about three years old, I urinated in bed several times, and each time I felt so embarrassed that I wanted to die.
　Fortunately, my urinary system developed faster than others, but I don't urinate in bed now.

　If he answered honestly that he doesn't now, he might hurt Roselle.
　He wonders if he should lie, and there is a slight pause in his response, wondering if he should lie. In that pause, Roselle seems to have guessed.

No!　It's just me. Shit!　I'm going to cut this dick off!
Wait, wait!　What an outrageous thing you're trying to do!

　Roselle is carrying a knife, I don't know if it's for self-defense, but she carries a knife, and she pulls it out and tries to cut her own figs off. I hurriedly stop his crazy behavior.

'And don't stop! If only this hadn't happened!
No, don't do it. Cutting it off won't fix it, it'll just make it worse!　And it's pretty painful!

　When he said that, Roselle's hand snapped to a stop.

'I-is it hurting?'
Of course.
How much?　Instead of getting your shins kicked?
It's going to hurt a lot more than that.

　I've never done it before, though, so I don't really know what it's like.

　Frightened by the fact that it hurt, Roselle put the knife away.

　Huh, a guy who tries to do something outrageous. This is why dealing with children is so tiring.

　This kid's flaw is that he's still too negative.
　If you're going to be a military strategist, positive thinking alone won't be good, but still, being as negative as Roselle would not be good either. Can't we somehow make his thoughts a little more positive?

　I want to do something about it now, as much as possible, because if he gets older and stays like this, I won't be able to change it.

　Will you discuss the specific method with Reetz later?


　○

　After Roselle left, I discussed Roselle's character with Reetz.

'Yes. Putting aside the good and bad of being a military strategist, Roselle's character was on my mind as well. It's not a very pleasant thing to see when you have so much talent and yet you think you're inferior.

　It seems I wasn't the only one who wanted to do something about Roselle's personality.

'Roselle's negativity is entirely due to her father, Greg. I think his constant denial has caused him to be negative.
'I agree with you on that. Do you think we should just let Greg praise him?
'If you order Greg to praise Roselle, but don't make him really praise her, he'll probably notice because it's a clever Roselle thing. I think it would be good if we could get Roselle to do something that would impress Greg...

　To impress.....

　What would it take to show Roselle how smart she is?
　To show Greg, the hunter, how easy it is to understand, isn't it still to use your brain and hunt your prey?

For example, how about letting Roselle come up with some useful new traps to hunt, and then using them to show how smart Roselle is?
'Traps......................may be difficult. If Greg is a hunter, he knows a lot of traps in his own right, and no matter how clever he is, coming up with new traps isn't that easy.
Hmm, okay.

　It certainly wouldn't be easy to create a new trap.
　Was it difficult for Roselle, who was only five years old, to do so?

'But it's not a bad idea to let him make them. In order to develop knowledge, you can't just read books. You have to actually think about things. Thinking up traps for hunting is good practice in that sense.

　Would it be good practice for Roselle to improve her wits?

　If that makes an awesome trap, contrary to what I expected, I can get my father to admit it, and even if I can't, if it's good practice, I might as well let him try it anyway.

　I demanded of Reetz that he let me try to make a trap tomorrow when Roselle came over.