By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 16 - Chapter 4

Chapter 10, Episode 4: Close Call

On my last night in Korumi village, Korumi was looking through some of my memories.

“Ryoma! Your school! It has so many people!”

“School? I suppose there were a lot of people there,” I said.

“Wow. I want to be a school.”

“I never thought I’d hear a sentence like that... If, in the future, a lot of people start gathering here, something like a school could be a good idea,” I said.

“Really?!”

“Well, there’ll be a lot of things that have to be set up, but your power could be really useful in teaching... It’s not a bad idea. Once they settle in, have the goblins help you test out a school-like setting.”

“Okay!” Korumi went through more of my memories as a student for a while...until his mood sank. “Ryoma...?” he whimpered.

“What’s up?”

“Why does bullying happen?”

“Oh... I can’t really give you an easy answer. It’s a web of complex factors, like the school environment, the individual situations, the psyche of the bullies... I’m sure you were watching me in school, but bullying doesn’t just happen there. It’s common for working adults to bully each other, and it even happens in packs of animals. Unfortunately, we all just have to do our best knowing that bullying is going to happen, or suffer the inconvenience of keeping a distance from everyone... That’s kind of why, when I was reincarnated, I wanted nothing to do with other people...”

“Then how do you deal with bullying when it starts?” Korumi asked.

“That’s another million-dollar question. The best I can tell you is that it depends case by case...”

“On the...internet? It said that the only way to stop bullying is to crack down on it. That’s not it?”

“Depends what cracking down looks like... And I won’t tell you not to look into my memories of the internet, but don’t believe everything it says. That’s an important lesson, actually,” I said, still struggling to explain bullying to him. What do parents say when their kids ask them? I’d had my fair share of being picked on, so I certainly wasn’t going to make excuses for bullies. If “cracking down” meant creating a system of detecting and dealing with cases of bullying early and administering consequences to the perpetrators, I was all for it. But if “cracking down” just meant making the punishment for bullying more severe, I doubted that would make much of a difference.

From my personal experiences, bullies rarely believed that what they were doing was wrong. Or, at least, they thought they wouldn’t get caught or punished. I’d seldom heard of a bully who knew the difference between right and wrong and calculated the risk and the consequences of their actions. I couldn’t say it never happened because I’d seen bullies become sort of addicted, even when they knew it was wrong. But then there were others who went along with bullying because they didn’t want to be made a target themselves. If the point of “cracking down” was to prevent bullying, the best way to do that would be to make sure the consequences were doled out, not merely threatening more severe punishments.

“Kids aren’t stupid...” I said. “When parents or teachers don’t notice—or pretend not to notice—the bullying, or let them get away with warnings, kids start to pick up on that. They don’t mind risking getting caught because the consequences don’t affect them. Most bullies I’ve met probably felt that way. The longer a child carries that false sense of security, the harder it’ll be for them to pull themself back. And things we learn as children tend to stay with us through adulthood.”

Teachers were as vigilant as possible, I was sure, but I’d often heard how grueling their job could be and how parents too often let the school raise their children... So putting all the blame on teachers felt neither appropriate nor fruitful. Wouldn’t it be more productive to think of prevention strategies under the assumption that there were not enough teachers to monitor every student throughout the school day? Even though I had no background in education or school management, I could already think of a few ideas: hiring security officers to patrol the halls and monitor students, or installing cameras where there weren’t adults to supervise. I’d heard that security or even police officers in schools were commonplace in America. As for cameras, I was sure it would come to a debate about protecting students’ privacy...even if I didn’t believe any place in a school was all that private, save for bathrooms and locker rooms.

“Another issue is that, barring violence and clear threats, a lot of bullying can come down to the eye of the beholder. One guy at my office thought I was bullying him when I gave him a warning for showing up late... That’s an extreme example, for sure, but there needs to be a line drawn between bullying and proper discipline,” I added.

If telling someone to follow the rules—even for their sake—could result in being punished, I could see how some kids would stop bothering with trying to help others, or even making friends altogether. It was pretty common for a group of bullies to gang up and make a false accusation as a form of bullying in its own right. A thorough investigation and fair judgment was key.

“Another thing that will help is to make sure the victims are supported. Exposing bullying at school can be a whole ordeal on its own, especially if the victim stops going to school because of being bullied...”

Not that I wanted to sound like a college kid bragging about his semester abroad, but there were different systems in other countries. For example, America had homeschooling, where a parent or guardian could opt to perform the teaching at home instead of sending their child to school.

“How will they make friends at home? And won’t they learn less than they would at school?” Korumi asked.

“Those are probably the risks they weigh, but I think it’d be nice for everyone to have that choice. A lot of people say that school isn’t just a place to learn subject material, but also how to navigate in society. If someone’s getting bullied, though, they’re not learning anything good socially. It can’t be easy to concentrate on their studies when they constantly have to look over their shoulders.”

Once bullying started, it was incredibly difficult to break that power balance, even as adults. Grinning and bearing bullying almost never improved the situation... In fact, that almost always made things worse, further fostering the victim’s sense of inferiority. That much I’d experienced firsthand. Psychological damage, as well as physical, took time to heal—if at all. Considering that some kids felt like suicide was the only escape from their bullies, I didn’t see the value of forcing them to remain in school. Actually, the risks of forcing victims to stay in school seemed to greatly outweigh the benefits. For those who were in that horrible situation, it was admirable and important to try and improve it...but it wasn’t worth destroying their bodies and souls over.

“The actual experience of having gone to a school isn’t important. I think homeschooling works when the student and parent can set up an environment where the student can build the same amount of knowledge, social experience, communications skills, and self-esteem as they would have gotten from attending school. That might have been difficult when I was a kid, but the internet had developed by the time that I died. They had to be careful about staying away from toxic communities or people, but having some sort of interpersonal connection online had to be better than none at all. It isn’t a child’s responsibility to attend school—it’s on the parents to provide opportunities for education. I guess I feel that a school is just a facility that makes it easier for parents to do that.”

In America, I’d heard that parents could be held criminally responsible if they didn’t follow protocols that attempted to ensure that homeschooled students were actually receiving quality education. PTAs were often considered a burden in Japan, but I’d heard that American parents often volunteered to help with extracurriculars. Regardless of how bullying was handled in each country, western culture had a vastly different attitude towards education than Japan did. That was something I realized a long time ago.

“Let’s get back on track. If a child breaks a rule, they do need to receive some sort of consequence. It’s important to follow through with those consequences, but even more important to set up a system of early detection and de-escalation, as well as caring for the victims. That’s my take, anyway. If you ask someone else, they might give you a different answer, though. All those ideas are just what I’d thought of from the concept of cracking down on bullying. I can’t give you a clearer solution—I’m not an expert on this,” I explained.

“Okay...” Korumi said.

“Once you can talk to other people, you can learn more. That will give you more perspective to think about things.”

***

“That’s how that conversation went,” I explained.

“That is a tough question with no right answer,” Reinhart said.

“It’s a question that shows his innocence. Which makes it all the more difficult to answer,” Reinbach added.

“It must have been easier than talking to a human child, thanks to his ability to read minds. He could comprehend most everything I said, and there was no room for miscommunication,” I said.

The three Jamils shifted a little.

“I keep forgetting that Ryoma isn’t that old,” Elise said.

“It’s only natural that you would struggle with something like this. But we should be of aid to you. We have some experience in raising children,” said Reinbach.

“Once you clear him to meet with other people, we’d love to meet Korumi. You can ask us for advice about him anytime. Is that okay for now?” Reinhart asked.

“Thank you. I’m not sure when or how I’m going to make it happen, but it’s a relief just to hear you say that,” I said. Come to think of it, the Jamils had raised Elia. Their help with Korumi would be invaluable. As relief hit, I noticed how parched I was from talking nonstop.

While I drank the tea Sebas poured for us, Elise said, “You certainly know how to talk about some complex topics.”

“What? No, I found myself in that situation because I didn’t know what to say.”

“Not from what you told me. Actually, I’d be interested in seeking out your opinion as a child of the gods on more topics and glean any insight that comes from your foreign knowledge,” Elise said.

Did she mean she wanted me to present my viewpoints like in a debate? I didn’t think I’d ever done anything like that in my previous life. It wasn’t that I hadn’t spent much time around anyone whom I could have a decent discussion with, but I was mostly afraid of offending someone in the process. “What kind of topics, specifically?”

“How about land management or politics?” Elise said.

“No thank you, I don’t want to get canceled,” I blurted out.

“Canceled— You mean killed?!” said Elise.

“What does that mean? How will that harm you?” Reinbach asked.

“Is talking about politics deadly to children of the gods?” Reinhart added.

“Perhaps the gods restrict his speech in some way,” Sebas suggested.

My instinctive word choice had caused some confusion—I quickly clarified what I meant.

“So ‘canceled’ means to be verbally criticized and attacked by a mob of sorts,” Reinhart paraphrased.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t clear,” I said.

“Some miscommunication is to be expected in conversations across cultures. I’m sorry we lost our composure,” Elise said.

“That’s all right... In my country, the topics of religion, politics, and baseball—a type of sport—were the three taboos of conversation in most places. Is that not the case here?”

“Discussing politics is expected among nobles. Especially among lords and ladies like us,” Reinhart said.

“There isn’t much fiefs can do if we can’t discuss politics. In our house, we regularly exchange ideas of all sorts—including politics—even with Elia. I’d expect that to be no different in most noble households,” Reinbach said.

That was a rather simple and convincing reason for them to engage in political discussion. Not that I ever suspected Elise of suggesting those subjects out of any malicious intent, but Reinbach’s explanation made it clear that she had only suggested topics of discussion familiar to her. They just happened to be ones that were taboo in my culture.

Almost as soon as I finished my cup of tea, Sebas brought me a fresh cup, and along with it he brought a fresh subject of conversation. “Sir, there was something else you wanted to discuss.”

“Oh, that’s right. We have a formal request for you, Ryoma, as our engineer,” Reinhart began.

“Please,” I encouraged.

“Before you left for the Sea of Trees, we briefly discussed developing a village, setting up more systematic slime farming practices, and expanding the manufacturing of instant meals. We would like to expedite that process,” the duke said.

“Of course, I’ll help in any way I can. Why the rush?” I asked.

“Harvest hasn’t started yet, but we’re getting reports that our crops aren’t growing very well. You know how it’s been hot lately? Many villages have let us know that the higher-than-average temperatures have affected crop yield. This won’t immediately lead to famine or anything, but we need to deal with it.” Reinhart went on to add more concerns regarding this. The weather was affecting far more than the Jamils’ territory—so much so that the neighboring lands and even the whole country could face food shortages. A disparity in food supply between territories could lead to a rise in robberies and raids. To mitigate that situation, the Jamils were ready to send aid to neighboring territories as needed.

“That sounds like a serious problem,” I said.

“There’s little we can do about the weather. We’re lucky we at least have a contingency plan,” Reinhart said.

“I’m glad I could help with that contingency plan.” Talking about food supply reminded me that Glen had requested to buy the instant meals. I relayed his request before I could forget about it again. “Glen is someone who eats and spends money with abandon—he’ll probably try to buy them in wholesale quantities.”

“Okay. We were planning a large-scale project to build more plants to make the instant meals. We’ll bump that up the list,” Reinhart said.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Glen is renowned throughout the country. Even just accounting for his S-rank status, his endorsement will carry a lot of weight and lead to massive profits. Once we decide on a specific timeline for the manufacturing of the plants and the development of the village, I’ll pass it on to Eleonora. She can tell you once she begins work as your assistant,” Reinhart said.

“As much as we will try to expedite, developing a new village will take more than a week or two—don’t push yourself too hard,” Elise made sure to warn me.

“I understand,” I said.

“I’m sure Hughes and the others are dying to speak to you,” Reinbach said.

“Yes. I brought back some things from the Sea of Trees, so I hope they’ll enjoy them.”

That concluded our somewhat secretive meeting. Now...it was time to celebrate!