Ple-Sen
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Returning to her room, Leila cast a weary glance at the portrait of her father. By sending his daughter to study far away from danger, in a safe place where she could discover new talents, Lionel had sent her straight into the lion's den. And then, she herself, unwilling to run from danger for the rest of her life, returned to that very den. Throughout her life, she believed that Lionel's work would, sooner or later, lead him to an early grave. That her father, by the nature of his duty, would part with life and leave her alone. But in the current circumstances, another scenario was possible, one in which she had every chance of outliving him. For this reason, it was painful for the girl to look at the picture with such warm memories.
It was also painful for another reason – she could no longer continue to live as before. She never would be able to. Survival was now the top priority, and, contrary to Futaba's naive attempts to save everyone, it was perfectly clear that, even without the chaos orchestrated by Fortis, blood would soon be shed. The blood of their peers. And it would be shed not by the servants of His Highness, at least not directly. The blood of some students would be spilled by others. NAILS had gathered a diverse group of individuals, many of whom held diametrically opposed views. This fact alone hindered the achievement of unity. This was compounded by the ranking system, where more successful students had a whole range of privileges. But all of this was merely fertile ground. Ever since Alidum's enrollment, they had been actively pitted against each other, incited to conflict. Then they held elections with voting, encouraging particularly bold and ambitious students to seek leadership positions, and demonstrably gave the position to one of them in the most unfair way. They even staged a coronation ceremony to add fuel to the fire. The goal of all this was one: to divide the students of NAILS into many camps and to deliberately cause many of them to feel animosity towards the new "queen." And for every person who openly expressed animosity, there were two more resourceful ones who hid their antagonism. If Leila's assumptions were correct, after some time, particularly ambitious students would have the opportunity to create their own Factions, and Futaba's authority would no longer be so unquestionable. However, this time, the NAILS staff was unlikely to stand up for her – in the new conflict, the strongest of the Factions would win. And therefore, the new "queen," however unpleasant it might be, would have to prepare for bloodshed. She would have to surround herself with loyal, talented, and, most importantly, competent people. Not clowns like Fortis and Vailis, who shout about not wanting to be anyone's pawns, but then, as a flock, go to certain death. They don't want to be cannon fodder, but they are incapable of being anything more. If she wants to survive, she should suppress potential opponents in the bud. However unpleasant this position may be to Futaba, she has no choice. No one does. Either you eat, or you are eaten. Leila quite admitted that for her own survival, she would have to do terrible things. And it would be naive to rely on "comrades" here – half of them had already discredited themselves. That's why it was so painful to look at the portrait of her father – she didn't want him to see what NAILS might turn her into. All that remained was to hope that the image of Lionel looking at her would help her preserve at least a part of her former self.
It was also painful for another reason – she could no longer continue to live as before. She never would be able to. Survival was now the top priority, and, contrary to Futaba's naive attempts to save everyone, it was perfectly clear that, even without the chaos orchestrated by Fortis, blood would soon be shed. The blood of their peers. And it would be shed not by the servants of His Highness, at least not directly. The blood of some students would be spilled by others. NAILS had gathered a diverse group of individuals, many of whom held diametrically opposed views. This fact alone hindered the achievement of unity. This was compounded by the ranking system, where more successful students had a whole range of privileges. But all of this was merely fertile ground. Ever since Alidum's enrollment, they had been actively pitted against each other, incited to conflict. Then they held elections with voting, encouraging particularly bold and ambitious students to seek leadership positions, and demonstrably gave the position to one of them in the most unfair way. They even staged a coronation ceremony to add fuel to the fire. The goal of all this was one: to divide the students of NAILS into many camps and to deliberately cause many of them to feel animosity towards the new "queen." And for every person who openly expressed animosity, there were two more resourceful ones who hid their antagonism. If Leila's assumptions were correct, after some time, particularly ambitious students would have the opportunity to create their own Factions, and Futaba's authority would no longer be so unquestionable. However, this time, the NAILS staff was unlikely to stand up for her – in the new conflict, the strongest of the Factions would win. And therefore, the new "queen," however unpleasant it might be, would have to prepare for bloodshed. She would have to surround herself with loyal, talented, and, most importantly, competent people. Not clowns like Fortis and Vailis, who shout about not wanting to be anyone's pawns, but then, as a flock, go to certain death. They don't want to be cannon fodder, but they are incapable of being anything more. If she wants to survive, she should suppress potential opponents in the bud. However unpleasant this position may be to Futaba, she has no choice. No one does. Either you eat, or you are eaten. Leila quite admitted that for her own survival, she would have to do terrible things. And it would be naive to rely on "comrades" here – half of them had already discredited themselves. That's why it was so painful to look at the portrait of her father – she didn't want him to see what NAILS might turn her into. All that remained was to hope that the image of Lionel looking at her would help her preserve at least a part of her former self.