Since the recent incident, Lil had been working hard to come up with solutions for the active season. Today, Ria was helping her think it through.

“First, isn’t it important to notice abnormalities as early as possible?”

Ria offered realistic solutions that Lil hadn’t thought of.

“Look, they say the basics of being a working adult are reporting, communication, and consultation, right? Last time things got out of hand because we couldn’t do that properly. If we had reported early, the problem would’ve been much easier to handle.”

Ria neatly wrote down her ideas on paper.

“So, let’s create a communication network. Just like we did with the greenhouse, we can ask the bird divine beasts to make regular reports. If we make it so the information gets to you, Lil, then the military can respond quickly too.”

Lil was moved. As expected of her big sister. Lil thought once again that her sister was the coolest person in the world.

“Also, in case a powerful enemy appears that the military can’t handle, we need to be able to request reinforcements from the dragon right away. We should also ask each base to share monster information with this base.”

Ria continued writing swiftly. The document titled “Active Season Countermeasures” was beautifully organized and easy to understand.

Watching the two of them from behind, Justin was speechless. Could this sister be too intelligent?

What was that about the basics of being a working adult? He had never heard of such a thing. But it made perfect sense.

“And there’s one more thing I was thinking,” Ria said. “Since divine beasts understand our language, wouldn’t it be fine if we taught them to read and write? That way, we wouldn’t need an interpreter anymore.”

Justin couldn’t help but agree. Why had no one thought of that before? It was almost strange.

Lil clapped her hands innocently, declaring her big sister a genius. But if this became reality, the country would change. Working together with divine beasts, things would develop far beyond what they were now. Divine beasts live long lives—they’re walking encyclopedias of the world.

Justin was speechless at the way the sisters spoke of such things as if it were nothing. Was Ria’s skill Sage or something?

And so, the “Active Season Countermeasures” was completed and delivered to Ian, who was left just as stunned.

“Amazing, right? It was all my big sister’s idea!” Lil reported with delight.

“Impressive, Ria. This is medal-worthy,” Ian said, patting Ria’s head with a slightly tired expression.

“Well then, we’ll get started on what we can do from this side. We’ll leave the official request to the kingdom to you.”

Hearing words that sounded like a conversation between a superior and subordinate, Ian found himself wondering whether it was wrong to expect Ria to act more like a child.

Justin, watching from behind, also decided to revise how he viewed Ria.

Lil, endlessly innocent, remained a source of comfort.

Lil immediately went out to the front garden and asked for a hawk, representing the birds, to be summoned.

When she talked about the active season measures, it turned out the divine beasts were already holding strategy meetings of their own, and they were happy to hear they could cooperate with humans.

Justin, overhearing this from behind, was impressed. So divine beasts hold meetings too, huh.

When Lil asked the hawk about creating a communication network, it readily agreed. It promised to report daily on the forests near each base. Lil thought, as expected, hawks are kind and care deeply for their allies.

When she brought up the plan to teach divine beasts how to write, they showed great interest. They said they used to feel very frustrated when there was no interpreter. But since they would be busy during the active season, the full-scale effort would have to wait until after. Apparently, the active season lasts about a year starting in spring, and during that year, they would have to endure with everything they had.

They had to perfect their countermeasures before spring.

As Lil was talking with the hawk, Ria suddenly asked:

“Hey, how much weight can birds carry?”

“About the same as their own body weight, at most,” the hawk replied.

Lil interpreted for it.

“Then, do you think it would be possible to carry an injured divine beast in a basket made with a weight-reduction magic device? If we could get them to someone with a ‘Healing’ skill like Dad, that would make the active season a little less scary, right?”

“Oh, that’s a good idea. It might be too much for one bird, but if several worked together, they could carry even large ones.”

Ria smiled at the hawk’s response, relayed through Lil.

“We’ll have to consult the kingdom about this, so it’ll be a while before anything’s decided.”

“All right. I’ll be looking forward to the result,” the hawk replied happily.

Ria gently stroked the hawk, then ran off to report to Ian right away.

Three days later, Livian Wilson and Merlin arrived at the base.

“Hey there, you two are cute as always,” Livian said, patting the twins on the head. Justin grimaced. His father’s flirtatious comment made him react in disgust.

“We’re here to talk about the Active Season Countermeasures from the other day.”

They moved to the commander’s office with Ian to discuss things in detail. Livian immediately began speaking.

“The proposal itself is mostly good to go. But there are still too many decisions to make regarding medical aid. There aren’t exactly few people with ‘Healing’ skills, but there aren’t a lot either. If a bird suddenly flies into town, there’s a risk people might attack the divine beast. And how would the divine beast know where to find a skilled person in the first place?”

Ria responded calmly to Livian’s concerns.

“In that case, we’ve already prepared a set of measures. Please take a look at these materials.”

A moment of silence filled the room.

“I see. Already finished, huh? We actually brought our own proposal today too—let’s compare them. We’ll go with whichever is better.”

The discussion proceeded very smoothly. Lil didn’t fully understand everything, so she left the details to Ria.

After the meeting finally wrapped up around midday, Livian said:

“Man, I thought this would take longer. But as expected of the genius girl, it was quick and painless. I’ll dock just one point for taking off your bracelet right before the meeting, though.”

Ria stuck out her tongue a little. Livian was a bit surprised by her childlike gesture, but it also made him happy. He noticed that the tense atmosphere that used to surround Ria had vanished. This must be the real her.

Livian quietly prayed that, with the upcoming active season, these children wouldn’t have to suffer.