"Hello, we don't think what you said earlier was correct."
Ileina took Elashia's hand and walked into the crowd, looking at the woman who had spoken earlier with a serious expression.
"Oh? Unfamiliar faces."
"These two girls... don't seem to be regular customers of the tavern..."
"They look... quite serious..."
"Whose children are these two?"
Seeing them, the tavern's patrons began whispering among themselves, while the woman took a sip of wine and smiled at Ileina.
"What? Do you have some other perspective?"
Ileina nodded seriously.
"Yes."
"You said earlier... that what decides a government and nation's fate isn't the people, but the army... I think your view is shallow."
"I won't ask about anything else, I'll only ask—where does the army come from? Where does money come from? Where does grain come from?"
"Do all these things simply come from violence?"
The woman smiled somewhat disdainfully.
"Then... what do you think they come from?"
"The essence of government is nothing more than an institution monopolizing violence. Without violence, what meaning could those laughable ideals have?"
Ileina shook her head seriously again.
"If you believe violence can decide everything, then Northern Fire, with no soldiers or money when first established, couldn't have survived before the Holy Court's powerful army."
"If you believe violence can decide everything, then half a month ago the Blood Slaves, superior to Northern Fire in both numbers and equipment, couldn't have collapsed at first contact in the Holy Capital battle."
"If you believe violence can decide everything, how could resistance movements throughout the Holy Kingdom have been conducted before Northern Fire was established?"
"The army comes from the people, government comes from the people, money and grain also come from the people!"
"Once popular support is lost, even the most powerful army is ultimately just a castle in the air."
"In my view... you've confused something very important."
Ileina's gaze gradually became more determined with her words.
"You've conflated the concepts of 'power' and 'violence.'"
"What can truly decide everything is definitely not 'violence,' but 'power.'"
"'Violence' is just a small part of 'power,' even just an insignificant small branch within it."
"True power definitely isn't just having a strong army..."
"If soldiers have no faith in their hearts, nothing they're willing to risk their lives to protect, and only have food and money in their hearts, how are they different from bandits?"
Ileina placed her small hand over her heart and said seriously to the woman whose expression had changed slightly:
"True power is definitely not determined by numbers, food, equipment, and such things."
"What can truly determine these is what's in the soldiers' hearts."
"Soldiers fighting for food will mutiny when there's no food, mercenaries fighting for money will defect for the enemy's money..."
"Only soldiers armed with faith will fight to the last moment for their superiors' orders."
"True power exists in human hearts, and definitely not just in weapons and grain."
"Ileina..."
Seeing Ileina suddenly say such words, Elashia felt somewhat uncomfortable...
This... was indeed what the Holy Princess from the plot, who sacrificed herself for the Holy Kingdom's tomorrow, should say—very fitting for Ileina's character.
But... hearing it from the current Ileina's mouth... made her feel somewhat strange.
Maybe it was because she'd spent too much time by her side...
After suddenly hearing Ileina's enlightening discourse, the shock experienced by the tavern patrons was no less than what Elashia felt.
True power exists in human hearts...
These words were truly impactful...
No one in the tavern regarded Ileina as a child anymore.
"Is she... the child of some Northern Fire high official..."
"These words definitely couldn't be spoken by an ordinary child..."
But after hearing those words, the woman showed an somewhat angry expression.
"Just a child, what grand words are you spouting?"
"You say true power exists in human hearts, but this world has always been like this!"
"As long as you're starving, no matter how brave or unyielding someone is, they'll bow their head!"
"What is humanity's most basic need? Is it faith?"
"Having enough to eat is humanity's most important need! Without food there's no faith!"
At this point, the woman seemed almost hysterical.
"This..."
"What's wrong with her?"
"First time seeing her like this..."
The tavern patrons, seeing her in this state, retreated fearfully...
Even Elashia's small face showed a trace of confusion.
What was wrong with this woman?
Why... did it seem like she was having a stress response?
However, among the crowd, only Ileina's expression remained unchanged.
Looking at the emotionally out-of-control woman, she instead walked toward her.
"Beatrice... you've fallen too deep..."
"But it's not too late to start over now."
Ileina's sudden words stunned everyone present, including Elashia.
"This..."
"Did they know each other before?"
"..."
"By the way, I have something at home, can everyone come help me at my house?"
Amid the various discussions, a burly man suddenly made an abrupt request to everyone present.
Knowing the woman's background, he knew—what would develop next wasn't something they should know about...
...
"Why not earlier... why not come earlier..."
After most people left the tavern, the woman completely lost emotional control.
She cried like a child in front of Elashia and Ileina.
"Who exactly is she? Did you know each other before?"
Elashia looked at Ileina with confused eyes.
"Mm... we don't actually know each other."
Ileina shook her head, answering quietly:
"She's just on the list for the 'talent repatriation' plan that Adeline drafted earlier."
"Talent repatriation plan?"
Elashia seemed to understand something.
"Yes..."
Ileina nodded and explained:
"Previously, many people couldn't join Northern Fire for various reasons, and even served the Holy Court for a while."
"Now that we've regained control of most of the Holy Kingdom's territory, we can re-employ some of these people..."
"These people have all been secretly verified by [Night Shadow] members. We can guarantee they're not Holy Court spies."
"Then..."
Looking at the woman kneeling on the ground crying hysterically, Ileina smiled at Elashia:
"Coaxing children should be your specialty, right?"