Ch.24Human (3)

As soon as I gave my answer, something popped out from the top of Leona’s head with a “poing” sound. Seeing it happen twice now, I could roughly figure it out.

Leona wasn’t human, but a different species. Judging by what sprouted from her head, she was likely a beastkin.

‘Do beastkin even attend the academy?’

As I’d learned in lectures, relations between humans and beastkin are terrible. Even worse than those between elves and dwarves, who have historically been at odds. Because of this, there had never been a case of beastkin enrolling at Halo Academy.

One might wonder about the beastkin I occasionally saw in the downtown area on weekends, but they were employed as security guards, not students. Beastkin are excellent as security personnel thanks to their naturally superior senses.

Above all, the main reason they work in human society despite the terrible relations is “money.” The beastkin nation was established relatively recently and is in a situation similar to a developing country. So they frequently endure all kinds of scrutiny while working.

‘She must have her reasons.’

But it’s not my business to worry about. She probably has her own reasons for hiding her identity. More importantly, I should address Cecilly’s question first.

“…Humans can hold dominance over the world because they’re stupid?”

“Yes.”

“Sometimes I find it hard to understand what Issac is saying.”

Cecilly put down her utensils and stared at me with a subtle gaze. Under her piercing red eyes, I also paused my meal.

After thinking for a while, she rested her chin on her hand and spoke.

“Could you explain it so I can understand? No need to be roundabout like last time.”

“It’s not really anything grand. It’s similar to what the professor explained in anthropology class.”

“I’m still curious. Tell me quickly.”

I glanced at Leona over Cecilly’s shoulder. The ears that had popped up on her head had subsided, but her gaze was still fixed on me.

Wondering if she could hear from this distance, I tilted my head before ignoring it and starting my explanation.

“As you know, humans have nothing going for them except their exceptional learning ability. They’re inferior to other races in lifespan, physical abilities, magic, wisdom, and dexterity. They don’t even handle mana well. A race with a short lifespan and no innate advantages. Doesn’t that give you a hint?”

“Not really?”

“They have the advantage of learning quickly, but what about when they started from zero? With nothing learned and nothing to learn, how did they survive until now?”

“Oh? That’s true.”

Cecilly’s eyes widened. She seemed to be pondering my words.

In my previous life, there were only humans, so competition was among the same species. But this world is different. There are races all around with abilities far superior to humans.

Could humans compete in such a situation? If humans were smart, they would have avoided competition, hiding or submitting as slaves.

But humans, whether stupid or reckless, chose to compete with other races. From other species’ perspective, they must have been bewildered, thinking “What’s wrong with these guys?” If it were me, I’d scoff at a monkey trying to compete with me.

“Naturally, it wasn’t easy at first. They hadn’t learned anything. But humans didn’t give up and began imitating the strengths of other races. That’s when ‘knowledge’ started to accumulate, but it was still insufficient. After all, imitation is just imitation.”

“That’s right.”

Cecilly nodded in agreement. In reality, humans have a population exceeding 1.5 billion, but only a small minority can match other races in ability.

No matter how skilled a human is, unless they’re an unprecedented genius, there are clear innate limitations. The balance is off when an average elf warrior has the fighting ability equivalent to a human knight.

“I think their superior reproductive ability compared to other races is also because of this. Initially, they had to focus on quantity rather than quality just to survive. To other races, it must have seemed like a simple-minded, useless struggle. At least beastkin have good physical abilities, but humans don’t even have that.”

“Hmm… Come to think of it, don’t beastkin also have good reproductive abilities? Even though they were massacred by humans during the racial war, they must have existed before that, right?”

“That’s when human adaptability shows its true value. Historically, elves were the first to establish ‘civilization,’ but humans were next. Based on knowledge and abilities learned from elves, they built civilization and gathered their scattered kin to accumulate power. A race living in tribes versus a race that created civilization and society. Isn’t the difference already apparent?”

“I see. Beastkin only established their own country 300 years ago, right?”

As I mentioned before, beastkin established their nation just 300 years ago. I heard they formed it after feeling threatened when many of their kind were massacred by humans during the racial war.

However, unlike humans who had solid foundations, the beastkin nation was established hastily and remains unstable. There are various ethnic groups within the beastkin, and barbaric customs persist.

“Yes. Anyway, to conclude, humans are too stupid to just die without doing anything. If they had been smart from the beginning, wouldn’t they have given up long ago? With so many superior beings around, they would have despaired and been discouraged.”

“That’s paradoxical. Wouldn’t being stupid make them die faster?”

“No. As I said, they’re stupid, reckless, and foolish, yet despite having almost no advantages, they chose to compete.”

“So it’s about tenacity?”

Cecilly hit the nail on the head. Although I explained at length, the main reason humans have survived until now and hold dominance over the world is their “tenacity” that knows no surrender.

Humans are the ones who persistently dig into what everyone else deems impossible and make it possible. During the demon war 3,000 years ago, it was humans who fought to the end, regardless of age or gender. If nothing else, human tenacity can be considered a kind of “ability.”

But there’s one more decisive reason why humans currently hold dominance over the world.

“That’s right, but humans also have a stronger sense of unity than other races when it matters. They might be busy fighting among themselves normally, but when crisis comes, they unite to overcome it.”

“Like during the racial war and the demon war?”

“Exactly. Tenacity that knows no surrender and unity in times of crisis. These two characteristics interlock to give humans their firm grip on dominance.”

What’s even more frightening is that human potential is limitless. Humans are well aware of their deficiencies and tend to develop continuously. I can assert this because of my memories from my previous life.

However, there are concerns. I poked at my food with my fork and spoke.

“Of course, that’s not always an advantage. It can also lead to terrible atrocities like the beastkin massacre. What’s more frightening is that such events will surely happen again in the future. I’m certain of this.”

“Why do you think so?”

“We don’t have to look far—just a few thousand years ago, demons were massacred, weren’t they? Who do you think led that massacre?”

“…”

Cecilly’s face stiffened slightly at my question. Although it might be direct for her, there’s no better example.

“Anyway, do you understand now?”

“…Yes. Thanks to you. Humans are truly complex beings. I need to study more.”

“It’s good to learn about humans, but I hope you don’t learn the bad parts. As the demon massacre and beastkin massacre show, humans often commit acts worse than demons.”

“Thanks for the advice. Fortunately, I’ve only had good people around me so far.”

Cecilly said with a refreshed smile. I smiled back and then shifted my gaze to Leona behind her.

She was staring at me intently, forgetting even to eat. It seemed she had indeed heard everything I said.

“What are you looking at?”

“Nothing. By the way, have you finished eating?”

“No. I couldn’t eat while listening to your story. Do you have any more classes after this, Issac?”

“I don’t. What about you, Cecilly?”

“I have one math class.”

“Isn’t math really difficult?”

“Not really? I find it easy.”

There was an incident Cecilly wasn’t aware of, but the meal itself proceeded smoothly. Until classes started, I enjoyed a pleasant time chatting with Cecilly in the cafeteria. She played some harsh pranks occasionally, but since there weren’t many people around, it wasn’t a big issue.

However, Leona was somewhat concerning. Her characteristically stoic gaze made me uncomfortable.

“It’s already this late. I’ll get going first.”

“Okay.”

“What about you, Issac?”

“I’ll eat a bit more before leaving. You go ahead.”

“Alright. See you later~”

After finishing her meal, Cecilly waved cheerfully. I waved back, seeing her off warmly.

With Cecilly gone, only Leona and I remained in the already sparsely populated cafeteria.

“…”

“…”

I stared at Leona, and she stared back intensely.

Wondering what to do, I came up with an amusing idea. First, I placed my clenched fists against both temples, then spread my fingers wide.

I was mimicking the ears that had popped out on Leona’s head.

“…!”

The effect was tremendous. As soon as I made the gesture, Leona’s eyes widened like saucers, and her body stiffened.

Poing-

Additionally, Leona’s ears that she couldn’t control popped out. She tried to recover hastily, but it was meaningless since I’d already seen everything.

*Stands up abruptly*

While I was inwardly chuckling, Leona suddenly stood up. Thinking she wanted to talk, I also started to get up.

*Grab*

“Huh?”

“You, come with me for a moment.”

Before I could even blink, she was right in front of me, grabbing my collar and dragging me away. I didn’t even have time to process what was happening.

I blinked in confusion and urgently called out to Leona, who was gripping my collar.

“W-we need to clear the dishes…!”

“Grrrr…!”

“…”

As soon as I responded, Leona growled fiercely.