Building a paradise—just hearing the goal sounded far too grand.
Other than Adalbert, the other two could not truly grasp what lay behind that term.
No, rather, who in this world could actually describe what "paradise" was supposed to look like? Who knew how an ideal world should be built? And who understood why paradise was paradise, rather than another kind of hell?
No one could understand it.
"Boss."
For example, Azure Tide frowned slightly and asked with great seriousness, "Can I understand it as... you want to build a prosperous and peaceful territory where everyone can live and work in contentment?"
Scott, too, watched Ian with a solemn expression.
They could not afford to be anything but cautious. On Terra, a lord's will mattered far more than anything else, and a lord truly could use his own power to alter the development of an entire territory.
Ian looked at Azure Tide and Scott, at the faint confusion on their faces, and could not help but sigh.
You could not call the world of the Terra Continent good, but neither could you call it bad.
In this world, one Taler could buy nearly half a ton of grain in a grain-rich region like the Central Plains. As long as one had a job, there was no war, and one lived near a city, everyone could get by reasonably well. At most, becoming an ascendant depended on luck.
Rather than change, the vast majority of people in this world would prefer to maintain the status quo.
Unless the entire world became a hell like a Grand Duke's domain, people simply could not imagine paradise.
That was the saddest thing of all.
"This is my personal wish."
So, as a compromise, after silently sighing, Ian spoke of more practical goals. "Leaving everything