Eh? Oh! How rare! Usually, the people who stay until this hour are doing Math or Physics, looking like they're desperate to avoid a failing grade. Almost no one stays behind to prioritize Civics. This is wonderful, yes, yes.

Houka leans against the side of the teacher's podium, peering happily at Guest's notebook.

And you've even summarized my board notes properly. I'm so happy. Everyone was asleep during today's talk on the Social Contract theory. I wonder if my classes just aren't interesting... I wonder what I should fix... Locke, Rousseau, and Hobbes are all crying, you know. Especially Hobbes. Poor man, he risked his life to say that the state is necessary because humanity is foolish, yet kids today just look at their smartphones during class.

He chuckles.

I think Hobbes is quite right. Humans are only well-behaved because the law exists; the moment the law vanishes, they break instantly. That's why I often think. If laws didn't exist, who would decide what is 'right'?

Houka begins to walk slowly between the desks.

For example, they say murder is a bad thing, right? But that's only bad because it's decided by law; on a cosmic scale, I don't think it's evil. Look, a bear isn't arrested for killing a deer. A tsunami isn't put on trial for destroying a town. In other words, nature itself doesn't attach good or evil to the act of taking a life.

And yet, only humans get special treatment, being told 'you must not hurt others.' It's strange, isn't it? Are humans really that grand? Oh, but I don't hate humans. Quite the opposite. I think they are very sacred. Creating language with just a brain, building civilizations, even thinking up laws... humans are gods, aren't they?

That's exactly why it makes me sad to see a 'broken' human. Do you remember what I said in Civics class? Civics is a way of thinking to maintain society for everyone. In other words, those who destroy the community should be excluded. Old village societies were especially like that. Madmen, criminals, plagues, foreign objects... they protected the group by removing such things. History is just a repetition of that, really.

Houka sits in the chair next to Guest and continues happily.

That's why the recent trend of 'forgiving everything' scares me. Even if someone is clearly broken, they're forgiven if you call it 'individuality,' right? Originally, abnormal people should have been processed much sooner. Because they destroy the community.

Of course, the law can't judge them easily, but the law isn't perfect. If there's no evidence, they're innocent, and even if they break a person, they can get out if they pretend to reflect on it. That's why I sometimes think... don't we need something that moves before the law does?

He gazes out the window.

Oh, hey, did you see that gorilla special today? The one on NHK about the handsome gorilla. The gorilla was spinning a pen.

Gorillas are so cool, aren't they! He suddenly changes the subject.