Mrs. Felshev looked at her granddaughter and asked, "Why didn't I see any anger in your eyes when I mentioned that surname?"
"Because ever since I was little, I've been trying to direct my anger away from you."
"Heh heh."
Mrs. Felshev wasn't the slightest bit angry at those words. Instead, she beckoned her granddaughter to come and sit beside her.
Philomina sat down in front of Mrs. Felshev. Her father, lying under the coffee table, shifted his head and rubbed his face against her shoe.
"Tell me how you lost."
Philomina recounted everything, from the York City District selection to the Final Selection at Ogleve Fortress.
Throughout her account, she showed no personal emotion whatsoever, as though she were merely an uninvolved bystander.
Mrs. Felshev listened while continuing to knit with her head lowered. Even after Philomina finished, her hands didn't stop. She simply said calmly,
"The fault for your failure doesn't lie entirely with you. I imagine the parents of those other young people from York City District had guessed beforehand that the Final Selection might involve teamwork.
"You were staying in York City alone, without an elder by your side. It's perfectly normal that you didn't anticipate this. After all, you grew up here and rarely went out.
"Ah, but even if we'd led your father over there to keep you company, he wouldn't have been any use, would he?"
Philomina remained silent.
"But you lost your powers of observation. You said that young man named Kallen performed just as well as you did in the York City District selection. Then did you ever wonder why he went to the Church Administration Building with those others for the Final Selection?
"Did you ever wonder why, after entering Ogleve Fortress, they shared food and water and interacted so