"And even if there were ways to show off, there were far fewer things to show off in the old days than there are now. ”

Eve looked at the photos on Levy's phone and nodded thoughtfully.

"In the past, people wanted to show off that apart from jewelry, handicrafts, and artworks, there weren't many things that could show off their status and wealth. Which like now, you have luxury cars, I can buy yachts and private jets. You travel to Europe or even to the Antarctic and the Arctic, and I can go around space on a rocket. ”

Although Eve has always lived in the environment of the 'Great Universe Age' in the past, it is not that she has not been to some planets that are relatively backward in technology and have not yet reached the level of technology that can enter the universe. As she listened to Levi, she remembered some of the general conditions of life on that planet. Even if the people living on those planets may not be the 'humans' in the concept of earthlings, I have to admit that what Levy said is very right. As long as it is an intelligent life, most of them really have similar thinking patterns and needs and desires.

"There's not a lot of novelty to show off and pay attention to, so those people can only work on the details of what they already have. Just as it is now that mechanization is developing in the direction of artificial intelligence production, many things in the field of high-end luxury goods are still 'backward' handmade. ”

No matter how much emphasis is placed on 'human ability', at least in the delicate work, no matter how skilled the average human is in the fine work, it is not comparable to the machine precisely controlled by the computer. Lévy does not believe that ordinary people who have worked for decades can cut leather goods that are more elaborate and 'precise' than high-precision machines. I don't believe that hand-carved jewelry can be more ingenious than machine-carved jewelry.

"Even pure mechanical products such as automobiles have begun to be handmade at a certain level. Obviously, ordinary workers who do not have special abilities can no longer do better than machines, but because manual production is more difficult and time-consuming than machines, this has become a 'reasonable' increase in prices, so that those who have money can 'reasonably' buy at a higher price, so that they can 'reasonably' show off their wealth. ”

"Worse things sell more expensive, but they make the person who buys them feel more worthwhile?"

Eve couldn't understand this train of thought, and tilted her head in confusion.

"It's pretty much the same as you said, but those who buy it don't think it's worth it, and it's not because of the quality of the things they buy. It's because those things are made by hand, and what they buy is someone else's craft, someone else's labor, and the concept that it takes more time and trouble to let more people have. These are the true values of those products. ”

Eve shook her head, as if she still understood a little and didn't quite understand it. Fortunately, she didn't have much interest in this kind of thing, so naturally she wouldn't be entangled in breaking the casserole and asking to the end. Otherwise, Levy, who is a good teacher but is not a real person in all aspects, will have to expose his background as an English teacher.

"So it's because people didn't have so many new things in the past, so they paid special attention to details that didn't make sense at all. It's because these things don't make sense, but they can make them 'different' from other people, right?"

Lévy wasn't a good teacher, but Eve was a good student.

The other teachers in the school felt that it would be tiring to teach students like Eve and Yuki Nagato alone, who were always silent. But Levi knows that Yuki doesn't like to be silent, and Eve is actually not of the same 'level' as her.

Not only is Eve like this with Levi now, but when she stays with girls who have a better relationship with her at home, she is also more active and can play well with people. Although it can feel a little dull at times, it's mostly a matter of tone of voice and facial expression. When you really communicate, you will find that this girl is not as difficult to get along with as she appears to be from the outside.

For example, when I'm at home, Eve has a very good relationship with a girl like Naha Takamachi who is more lively and easy to contact and very pure. Although they haven't known each other for a long time, even Eve herself admits that Naye is her best friend, and she can often see the two of them sitting and chatting together, or running around without knowing what to do.

"Yes, that's what you said. At least I think that's how it should be. ”

In the end, this is just the explanation of the imagination of a middle school teacher who teaches English in Levy's district. Whether or not it is exactly what he said, I'm afraid Eve is not interested in asking experts in history or sociology. At least what Levi said sounded like it made sense. Let her listen to it and then look at the man that Levi found suspicious, as if she also felt that something was wrong.

"That person did look a little strange. ”

Eve blinked, looking at the man's appearance and demeanor that felt more and more abnormal.

"His movements are more like looking for something than looking for a buzz?"

Not only was it a matter of dressing after Lévy's explanation, but Eve did notice some strange behaviors of the man after taking a closer look. For example, he doesn't stare at the door of the museum and the police officers who come in and out like the people around him who are also watching the fun. On the contrary, from time to time, he would sneakily turn his head to observe the pedestrians crowded with him.

The appearance of that man gave Eve the feeling that he was a bit like a criminal who openly returned to the scene of the crime to observe the situation after committing a crime. On the one hand, I was observing the actions of the police, trying to see what clues the police had found. On the other hand, he pays attention to his surroundings, and is afraid that others will find out about his abnormality. In particular, plainclothes policemen who may mix in the crowd, or the 'detectives who happen to pass by' that are common in mystery novels.

"As far as I know, there are indeed many criminals who return to the scene of the crime after committing the crime. ”

Levi has never been a police officer, but in the past he was nominally a killer, and many of the jobs he did were not too fundamentally different from those of the police.

The police are responsible for arresting suspects who have committed crimes, and then handing them over to the judicial authorities for trial and conviction. Most of Lévy's work omits part of the judicial review of convictions, and he replaces the police in arresting criminals and plays the role of a cameo 'executor'.

Perhaps those who uphold the rule of law will find Lévy to be an unforgivable crime.