Chapter 149: Yokoda Shuichi as a Tail

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"Sure. I lived alone before I died. My mother and father had already passed away, so I had no family left. They were kind, selling their cars so I could enroll in school. However, I couldn't find a job. And even when I eventually got one, I was placed at the bottom of society, unable to keep up with the younger and smarter ones. I was ashamed of it. Maybe it was karma that I needed to spend my whole life as a follower, never becoming a leader."

"That's not true. You may have been my follower, but you have always taught and guided me."

"Is that so? Thank you for the praise. So, that's my life in a nutshell. I was a menial worker without any dreams, always following other people's whims. Even when they fired me, I didn't put up any resistance and merely accepted it."

"Could you have resisted?"

"Yes. Just like the elves, humans on Earth also had a judicial system. They had judges who swore to judge fairly, and they had laws too."

"I see." Lily listened attentively, as always. She was an attentive kid, unlike most students during my school days. I wonder if the lack of information raised her attention span.

"But it cost money."

"Ah. My impression of humans on Earth plummeted all at once. I thought the elven system was good and was considering implementing it in our new country."

"I shall continue. There were libraries and web novels on Earth. All of them were free, so you could read and gain knowledge."

"I see. Even when you were at the bottom of the totem pole, the government had some way to give you hope so you could rise through the ranks. Clever."

"Yes. Getting a job feels the best. But to get one, you have to go through an interview. It was about a 1% chance to pass the interview and secure a job."

"Can the companies and the world sustain such a low acceptance rate?"

"Well, if there were 100 companies and their interviews only had a 1% chance of acceptance, there would be a 100% acceptance rate, right?" I said. However, sadness still permeated my voice at the ignorance and coldness of the system on Earth. "The government doesn't really care, but it was sad and a struggle to apply, get interviewed, and then fail. Some lucky individuals could get in on their first try, while others couldn't secure a job even after five years. If that happened, they wouldn't get any high-ranking job for the rest of their lives."

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"I see. How sad. Even though the system was better here, the way it dashed your hopes was cruel, wasn't it?" Lily replied, turning in her bed. She now gazed upon the moonlight shining through the window.

"And then, I also wanted to talk about academy stuff. It was excellent that you would automatically get a job here if you passed the academy."

"Huh? Of course. Getting into the academy wasted a ton of money. It was only natural to get a job after graduating from there. There were a lot of failures in the magic academy, though," Lily replied, reminiscing about her academy days.

"Well, there was no magic in our world, so people's capabilities couldn't be easily measured."

"Huh? So your world only had swords and military?"

"Those were among the less popular options. There were schools and lessons about them, but not to the extent of needing academies."

"Ah, schools and academies are different?"

"Yes. Schools are mandatory, regulated by the government, and attended by kids until the end of their teenage years. So, at sixteen years old, you should still be in school."

"Whoa... learning is essential in your world, huh?"

"Well, the usefulness of schools has been questioned lately, so I wouldn't place that much bet on it." I laughed dryly. After all, I'm an example of someone who graduated with slightly above-average scores but struggled in real life.

"That's not fair!"

"Every world has its own difficulties and despair," I replied.

"I see. Then tell me more. What was it like when you were in school?"

"Well, it was the greatest time of my life, I guess. Unlike you, who skipped grades and basically finished the entire academy in a year, we attended school from childhood to adulthood. I did fairly well during that time and managed to achieve some rankings in my class."

"Oh! A top scorer? That's awesome!"

"Well, it only mattered in college, though. Being a high achiever in elementary school didn't amount to much."

"I see." Lily's ears drooped sadly. Her eyes started to doze off as our conversation grew longer. As always, she hugged me like a pillow when she fell asleep.

"And then... I even managed to have a girlfriend in high school. It was a fleeting love that only lasted a year. She was kind of cute, but I guess she was a bit too extroverted for my liking, so we didn't match up and soon went our separate ways. Then, I... I guess she already fell asleep." The blue moon was quite beautiful tonight. The day of the assault was tomorrow. I wondered what we would encounter. Would she succeed or fail?

Would we remain as followers forever, destined to be enslaved and killed, or would we rise up and become leaders? If we think about it, a follower and a leader are both parts of us. They are one, yet people still discriminate against and belittle followers. I wondered if Lily would speak like that influencer before I die if she succeeded in her attempt to rebuild the tailfolk kingdom.

"Now that I'm here, I don't hate that job as much as I thought. They were mean, but I knew I wasn't worthy. It's a shame that in that world, the competition is so fierce that anyone who didn't make the cut would be trimmed and let go." I kept thinking unnecessarily until dawn broke, and we were ready to begin our assault.