"I asked around. It wasn't this extreme a couple of years ago, but it's been getting worse these past few months." Moon Shadow sped toward the temple as she explained to the two of them, "First, the military structure started falling apart. Powerful Espers rose up and seized power. Then came coups of every size, internal strife, and fighting everywhere. It's turned into something like the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods."
Chu Ge asked, "Then what's the attitude of the other countries? Ours, for instance? Surely we're not just watching?"
Moon Shadow glanced at him in the rearview mirror. "Everyone's stirring up trouble. Us too."
Chu Ge said, "Ummm..."
"Other people's chaos serves our interests. That seems to be how things work between countries. I heard that before long, up north... uh, never mind. I really don't understand this stuff."
Chu Ge said, "..."
"My clearance isn't high enough to know the details of the situation here, but this sort of thing should fall under General Chu's responsibilities... so I find it pretty funny that you're asking me."
"...He's responsible for all sorts of things. I can't ask him about every single one. We don't actually talk about this stuff at home."
"Generally speaking, we do support one of the factions. I've received instructions about that, and I'll be following up on it... anyway, that's a separate assignment of mine. It doesn't have much to do with what you're here to do."
Chu Ge nodded. "All the better if it doesn't. I don't want to know about the higher-ups or some other country's internal strife, either. I only want to know about Esper Abilities."
"As far as Esper Abilities go, it's a bit like the social landscape in webnovels about spiritual qi revival." Moon Shadow gave a mischievous