Are you certain the report you'd write for your father wouldn't work, though?
Maybe they just want you to sink in a long time into this so you'll feel Appropriately Contrite.

She really didn't seem impressed with my tactical analysis.

Right but if the point is just making you lose time she might not even read it and just make sure you actually spent enough time on it.

...He sits there blinking at his screen for several seconds.

Like, if the goal is punishment then making it look like you were appropriately punished would be sufficient.

I can't decide whether I'm more insulted or appalled.
I think I'm going with appalled.
If that is actually the way they run things around here, I am surprised this organization is still standing.

I think your society is very different
This wouldn't be much different than how High School teachers would treat you.

If I save the world and then ask very nicely, do you think maybe I can abolish high school?

Don't think so, sorry
What would you even put in its place?

If everyone here wasn't so Ceirene I'd invite them all to live in Aluvanna.
As soon as Aluvanna isn't under threat of destruction by invading aliens, anyway.

I'm not entirely sure lots of people would take you up on that.
What's technology like there anyway?

Not like it is here. But we'll catch up fast.

If you do they might go.
But immigration isn't super easy or even desired, people get very attached to the place they're from.

Believe me, I know.

Also there's probably a lot of cultural variation that way
Like, people go to school because they need that for proper jobs, especially specialized ones
And then there's the thing where making everyone literate and knowing certain basic facts improves quality of life enormously.

What do you mean by cultural variation?

I mean stuff like that, I'm not sure people here would know what to do if they didn't have some form of school when they were young and stuff, it's a basic part of the landscape.

I'm sure they'd adjust.
I'm just
This is like going to a country where everyone is hit on the head with bricks once a day from age eight to eighteen
And hearing "but the daily bricking is important, it's where we learn to read"
I'm all in favour of literacy but come on

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
It's not that bad!
And it's not just literacy, there's basic math and geography and history and stuff.

From everything I have heard about high school
If I had to attend it while I was here
Someone would have to sit on my grandfather when he found out or he'd start a war

Over high school?

He'd react like he would if I spent half my time here in prison

You can go home, you can socialize, you don't actually need to learn stuff, just pass exams...

So it's not like spending all your time in prison, just some of it

Okay, yeah, I suppose.
I never really contemplated the alternative because it was not in fact feasible.