“Overall, I was against Cato’s plan,” William finally spoke up.

“A rather evasive phrasing,” Rodrguez pointed out. “What exactly do you mean by ‘overall’?”

“I thought we should wrap the game up since we had the advantage. But, Cato posed some arguments that I found difficult to shoot down, so I ended up going along with his idea.”

“Man, the guy totally pressured bro into this!” Ronald exclaimed. “I saw it all. That dang Cato swindled my bro, word!”

This little rascal...! Cato twitched. Buuuuut he’s right, though. I did press some of William’s buttons to make him cave in. Indeed, quite befitting an intelligent overlord like me, muhahaha!

“Hmm. I believe I see the picture now.” Rodriguez nodded. “So, let me guess, things probably went something like this: Cato used some sophistry to make Will play along with the plan. Then, Ron being Ron, he followed in his older brother’s footsteps without thinking too much.”

“Ack! Exposed...” Ronald slumped.

“Then, with Matt and the two brothers on his side, Cato won an overwhelming majority. At that point, it must have felt impossible to overturn his decision, am I right, Sonya?”

“Y-Yes, that’s how it felt...” Sonya lowered her head.

S-Scary. Cato shuddered. He figured out my brilliant plan in an instant! Then again, I guess it’s partially my fault for being such a one-trick pony. I almost always push my ideas through in this fashion, so I guess Coach is onto me, ehe~

“So, it’s the usual script, huh.” Rodriguez sighed. “Cato, I’d be really thankful if you could tone down your swindling when it comes to your teammates. Tactics like that should be used on your opponents, not your teammates.”

“But Coach, don’t you always teach us to voice our opinions and push for what we believe is right regardless of what others say? That’s all I did~” Cato smiled innocently.

“Yes, you’re right.” Rodriguez sighed. “In your own twisted way, you do follow my teachings, which is the only reason I usually let it slide. But, you really have to tone it down. Not just for the sake of the team, but for your own sake as well.”

“I’ll keep it in mind~”

“Anyway,” Rodriguez continued as he turned to the others. “I’m sure you’ve all figured it by now, but in essence, Cato was the only one who really wanted to draw the game out. And yet, all four of you allowed him to enforce that plan on you. In that sense, all of you are just as guilty as he is, if not more.”

“But c’mon, Coach,” Ronald argued. “Even you said it. That snake Cato totally swindled us.”

“Watch how you call your teammates, young man.”

“Geh, okay, okay. Anyway, my point is, Cato totally played us! It’s not our fault.”

“Cato made a mistake, but that’s all he did,” Rodriguez summarized. “He had a terrible idea in mind that he genuinely believed in, so he pushed for it to happen. That’s not a capital offense as far as I’m concerned, I’m sure you agree?”

“Well, if you put it that way…” Ronald scratched his head.

“On the other hand,” Rodriguez continued. “You realized it was a bad idea, yet you still went along with it. So tell me, who is worse? A player who commits a mistake without realizing it? Or, a player who willingly commits a mistake that he’s aware of?”

“Ack...” Ronald opened and closed his mouth. “W-Well, bro also agreed with it, so I thought maybe it’ll be fine...”

“Is your brother some sort of superhuman who can never do any wrong? Does he never make mistakes? Do you plan to always follow everything he says without ever thinking for yourself?”

“Well, I mean...” Ronald lower his head and glanced at his trustworthy brother. Real talk, I trust my bro 100% blindfolded. I’d follow him to the ends of the earth if I have to! Buuuuut that’s not the answer Coach wants to hear right now, is it?

“I’ve said this many times before and I’ll say it again.” Rodriguez switched to his lecturing tone. “In almost every team, will always be those whose shot-calling ability stands out from the rest. And, if you trust their judgment, then it becomes very tempting to rely on their decision-making for the entire game.”

Everybody nodded even though they’d heard similar lectures god knew how many times by now.

“By itself, putting somebody in charge of the shot-calling isn’t a bad thing,” Rodriguez continued. “Having somebody who can handle the difficult decisions for the entire team can boost the team’s overall productivity.”

Muhaha! Cato cackled internally. Yes, that’s how important the duty of the overlord is!

“HOWEVER, appointing one shot-caller comes with a cost, as I always say,” Rodriguez stressed. “It’s true that a competent shot-caller will generally make good decisions, but in the end, they’re just one person, and nobody is perfect.”

Yes, yes. Cato nodded. That’s usually my excuse when I make a mistake, ehe~ I might be an overlord, but in the end, I’m also just a single human being.

“Any shot-caller, no matter how skilled, is prone to human error like everybody else. On top of that, they might be blinded by their own bias every now and then, like a certain somebody who really enjoys dragging games out for no good reason”

“Geh.” Cato pouted. He put me on a pedestal for a moment there, just to kick me down really hard. It’s so heartless! Though, I already saw it coming.

“Considering all that,” Rodriguez said. “It’s important to not be overly reliant on the shot-caller. No matter how good the shot-caller usually is, or how much you trust their judgment - never stop thinking for yourself. If you ever stop questioning the shot-caller’s decisions, then you’ll regress to nothing more but a pawn who blindly follows every order, both good and bad.”

But, that’s how I like my cute little soldiers~ Cato thought. They should all be obedient and follow my instructions to a T. That’s how we can bring to life the most fun strategies~

But obviously, Rodriguez disagreed with that sentiment. Like every time before this, he lectured rather passionately on the topic. It almost felt like he had some bitter personal experience with this before, therefore he felt compelled to deliver a prolonged lecture about it every time.

“Your brain is your most precious possession,” Rodriguez stressed. “You can’t shut it down under any circumstances, no matter how tempting it is. The moment you stop thinking, you stagnate as players.”

Everybody kept quiet and simply nodded at every word Rodriguez said. They knew it was the best way to get through these needlessly long lectures.

“This has to be the 20th-or-so time I lecture you about this, so I hope the message was clear enough this time?”

“Yes, sir!” Everybody answered together, hoping to put an end to this lecture already.

“Good.” Rodriguez nodded. “Now, William.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sure you won’t like hearing this, but you have a very big responsibility on this matter. Everybody respects your skill as a player, so they’re the most likely to turn to your opinion when they disagree with Cato.”

“Hmph. I guess.” William glanced away. This was one topic he never handled too well.

“I know you don’t like this,” Rodriguez said. “But, it’ll often be up to you to stand your ground against Cato in situations like this. The moment you give in, Cato is assured to get his way.”

“I understand...” William grumped. I gave up on the captain role in order to not deal with annoying things like this, but it seems like they insist on chasing me regardless. Sigh.

“As for you, Ronald,” Rodriguez continued. “Don’t blindly follow everything your brother says. You know him better than anybody, so I’m sure you’re aware of how he hates dealing with these organizational matters. He often cuts corners with things like that, doesn’t he?”

“Welp, I mean...” Ronald glanced back and forth between the coach and his brother.

“If you’re seriously aiming to become the captain next year, then you have to be able to think for yourself and stand your ground when it’s necessary.”

“Y-Yes, sir!” Ronald saluted. Just hearing the word “captain” gave him a boost of energy.

The captain? This clown? Please. Cato shook his head. It sounds like the Leopards are doomed next year. But well, that’s not my business.

“And Sonya,” Rodriguez continued. “You said you were against Cato’s game plan, right?”

“Yes, definitely.” Sonya nodded. “But, at some point, it became a 4v1 against me, so I had to concede.”

“I understand. But tell me, did the majority convince you that they were correct?”

“... not quite. I followed along, but I still thought that dragging out the game was unnecessary and potentially dangerous.”

“And, did you keep insisting about it? Or, did you immediately discard your opinion and went along with the majority?”

“With 4 teammates already in agreement, I felt like it was a bad idea for me alone to keep pushing for it. I thought I’d be sparking unnecessary conflict.”

“Very considerate of you.” Rodriguez nodded. “In general, avoiding in-fighting is a good idea. But, as you just saw, the majority isn’t always correct. Even if you have four voices against you, it doesn’t mean you should immediately give in and discard your own opinion.”

“So, I should’ve kept objecting? That doesn’t sound right.”

“Hmm. It’s certainly a complicated matter,” Rodriguez admitted. “There isn’t just one correct answer to this. It’s a case-by-case thing.”

“Right.”

“In general, it’s fine to play along with the majority’s decision in order to not waste any time on pointless arguments. But, you shouldn't ever fold entirely. If you still disagree, then it might be a good idea to continue voicing that opinion every now and then.”

“I understand.” Sonya nodded. It’s easier said than done, though. Does he really expect me to stand my ground against all my teammates?

That was impossible, or so she wanted to claim. But evidently, sometimes it might be the right thing to do. If nothing else, she decided to keep a mental note of this for future games.

“As for you, Matthew...” Rodriguez wore a difficult expression. “Hrm. I suppose you really had nothing against Cato’s game plan, seeing as you both learned unnecessary techniques like that from the same mentor.”

“Yep.” Matthew nodded. Though honestly, at some point, even I started thinking that Cato is stretching things a little too much. But, there’s no need to mention that, is there? Still, I guess next time I should say something if Cato gets carried away again.

“That aside,” Rodriguez said. “Was it just my imagination, or were you a little distracted during the game?”

“Me?” Matthew blinked. “I don’t think so.”

“Hrm, is that so.” Rodriguez shrugged. “Alright. Maybe I was reading a little too much into things.”

Or, were you? Cato wondered. I also felt like Matt wasn’t as sharp as usual in this game. Normally, his concentration goes beyond 100% and it’s one of his strongest points, but in this game, he randomly stumbled a few times.

Was it because Stratus had a player that Matthew used to know? If so, it might be a good idea to get to the bottom of this during the break. This team had more than enough problems to juggle, so they didn’t need another one.

In this fashion, Rodriguez’s words gave everybody some food for thought.

“This is all I had to say about the first game for now,” Rodriguez summarized. “Keep all these points in mind as you proceed to the second game. I’m expecting to see a far more professional performance there.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Good. You’re free to enjoy the rest of the break as you see fit.”

The coach left the stage and everybody sighed in relief. His armor-piercing criticism has been running all over them like a truck for a while now, but fortunately, they still had some time to rest after all that hell.

As each member learned an important lesson or two from the coach’s lecture, everybody will be heading into the next game wiser than before. There wasn’t going to be any more unnecessary stalling, no matter what swindling or peer pressure techniques Cato will try to apply on them.

In the next game, they’ll crush their opponents properly and reign supreme, in a fashion that truly befits the regional champions.