"So that's how it is!"
After listening to Kaoru's report, King Gandhi of the Kingdom of Seth clenched his fists, stood up, and stared at the sky. A sharp gleam flashed in his eyes!
As the king of Seth, Gandhi was indeed a fairly competent ruler. He had always hoped to change this environment. In fact, many people didn't know that King Gandhi often traveled incognito in his daily life, going out under the identity of "The Punitive Mite," personally arresting and punishing the children of corrupt high officials and first-tier citizens who committed crimes.
Simply put, at that time King Gandhi was somewhat like a fusion of Emperor Kangxi's incognito inspections and Batman.
He also hoped to change Seth's current predicament, yet he had no real solution. In truth, King Gandhi himself was deeply pained—why was it that in the Kingdom of Seth, only a small portion of first-tier citizens possessed compassion? Could it be that all the other first-tier citizens were truly heartless and bloodless creatures?
But now, after hearing Kaoru relay Duanmu Huai's analysis of Seth's political system, King Gandhi suddenly felt as if he had been struck with enlightenment, his mind instantly clearing!
Why do first-tier citizens hate second-tier citizens?
The reason was far too simple: because second-tier citizens had infringed upon the interests of first-tier citizens—and not just a little!
In fact, King Gandhi knew how this system in Seth had come into being.
As mentioned before, on this continent there was no such thing as having or lacking magical talent—everyone could learn magic. The only difference lay in their MP upper limits. And logically speaking, given Seth's educational system, most people should have been able to graduate successfully.
Translated into modern terms, this was like sending all students to school, where the vast majority could at least persist until graduating from high school.
Thus, under this policy, second-tier citizens were originally meant to take care of those who were unqualified.
People similar to elementary school dropouts, or those who couldn't even finish middle school—lacking skills and in need of social assistance. That was only natural.
But in a normal society, such people should be a minority. Most people could at least make it through high school.
So according to the original plan devised by the Kingdom of Seth, first-tier citizens should have made up the majority, while second-tier citizens should have been the minority.
For example, out of one million people, there should have been one million first-tier citizens and only one hundred thousand—or even ten thousand—second-tier citizens. That was the normal trend.
Just like the development model of modern society: the middle class is the largest, while both the bottom and the top are small. Only a spindle-shaped structure can sustain healthy development.
But Seth's current situation was equivalent to a city with one hundred thousand middle-class residents—and one million homeless people!
Holy shit, could anyone even live in a city like that?!
Why did this situation arise?
The reason was very simple: "relaxed education"!
Just like what that mercenary had told Duanmu Huai on the ship earlier, the Kingdom of Seth had implemented a series of educational reforms, calling it "relaxed education." Simply put, they drastically reduced the curriculum in public schools and allowed students to study whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, based on their interests.
Heh. If that could produce results, then hell would freeze over.
On the flip side, while public school students were gleefully fooling around to avoid studying magic, the children of high officials, nobles, and wealthy merchants in noble academies and private schools were being forced to study rigorously! With massive resources poured into them, as long as they weren't the kind of once-in-ten-thousand freaks with absolutely zero magical aptitude, they could at least reach the level of a first-tier citizen.
But what about students from ordinary families?
Free-range education from childhood. By graduation, some of them might not even understand basic arithmetic—and people still expected them to know magic?
Thus, one of the reasons first-tier citizens looked down on second-tier citizens lay right here.
They had studied diligently and conscientiously since childhood, while the children of second-tier citizens did nothing but mess around and play. So wasn't it only natural that they became lowly second-tier citizens? Why should they want to be equal to us?
And why should we be equal to them?
Of course, it couldn't be said that all second-tier citizens lacked ambition. But after Seth carried out its educational reforms, most public schools had weak teaching staff, incompetent teachers, combined with laissez-faire "relaxed education," and students who didn't strive themselves—so they were doomed to remain second-tier citizens forever!
"Those damn bastards!"
After figuring this out, King Gandhi clenched his fist in fury and slammed it into the massive rock beside him. With a thunderous boom, the two-person-high boulder next to him shattered into pieces!
He finally understood where the Kingdom of Seth's problems lay!
Seth's national policy itself had no issues—but those high officials and nobles below, in order to stabilize their own status, had actually committed such insidious, despicable, shameless acts! They hadn't tampered with the first-tier and second-tier citizen system directly—instead, they had extended their filthy hands toward magical education, the very foundation upon which Seth was built!
After all, this way, if someone failed to become a first-tier citizen, it wasn't because opportunities weren't given—it was because those second-tier citizens were stupid themselves!
They were stupid, couldn't become mages, couldn't become first-tier citizens—serves them right!
As a result, the group that was originally meant to assist a small number of extremely disadvantaged people instead became the majority within the Kingdom of Seth!
If nine out of ten people in a country were extremely poor or homeless, then that country wouldn't be far from collapse!
What made King Gandhi even angrier was that after discovering the cause, he fell into even deeper despair—there was no particularly good solution!
After all, education is a hundred-year plan. It takes ten years to grow trees, but a hundred years to cultivate people.
And now, Seth's domestic educational system was rotten to the core. This was absolutely not something that could be changed overnight—it might not even show improvement in twenty or thirty years!
What was he supposed to do?
"I never expected that this Hero would possess such wisdom…"
After calming down, King Gandhi let out a long breath. He was the king of Seth, and he wasn't some tyrant or incompetent ruler. Ever since ascending the throne, he had been trying to solve the deep-rooted conflict between first-tier and second-tier citizens. Yet even he… had never truly understood why things had turned out this way.
And Duanmu Huai had merely toured Seth for a short time—and immediately pinpointed the core issue?
Previously, when he met Duanmu Huai, King Gandhi had indeed respected him—but more for his martial prowess. He had never imagined that Duanmu Huai's political insight was also this outstanding!
This was actually quite normal. On one hand, Duanmu Huai was big and burly, and people's first impression of him naturally leaned toward brute force rather than intellect. On the other hand, Duanmu Huai really did act recklessly—fight if dissatisfied, even daring to kill the former Demon King. Anyone would assume such a person was just a hotheaded brute.
But clearly, Duanmu Huai was not that kind of person. In fact, all veteran players of Star Ocean OL had brains.
The reason was simple. Just like the earlier "newbie village exploding on the spot" incident—similar outrageous situations were quite common in the game. For players, if you weren't sharp enough, you might one day find yourself facing a "victory and defeat are common in war; hero, please start over."
Of course, players could resurrect—but if it happened too many times, weapons and equipment could shatter, and even skills might become corrupted by evil gods. At that point, wouldn't the entire account be ruined anyway?
So any player who reached the top tier had no one with a bad brain. After all, who were the enemies of the Inquisition?
Demons, xenos, and heretics.
Every single one of them was a treacherous, sinister bastard. If you weren't smart, you'd have been played to death long ago!
As for why Duanmu Huai seemed reckless, it was more about his personality and style.
Just like generals commanding armies—some prefer meticulous planning from afar, others love wild frontal assaults. It's purely a matter of personal style.
Within the Inquisition, this meant that upon discovering a cult, some inquisitors might lay a long trap to catch the big fish in one sweep. Others might infiltrate, identify the leader, and strike decisively. And some simply preferred head-on confrontation—if you have the ability, summon a Chaos Greater Daemon or Chaos God; if you can't, I'll smash all of you to death!
But frontal confrontation didn't necessarily mean stupidity, just as laying long plans didn't necessarily mean intelligence. If you weren't careful, you might end up hooking a great white shark—and then you'd feel like dying.
Especially when your opponents included Chaos Gods of obsession and deceit—entities that toyed with hearts and schemes—thinking too much could actually lead to a worse death.
So for Duanmu Huai, a mere small nation's political problem was something he could grasp at a glance after a brief tour.
Thinking of this, King Gandhi made his decision.
"Take me to see that lord. I want to personally seek his guidance!!"
Duanmu Huai, of course, had no idea what King Gandhi was thinking. And precisely because of that, when late at night—just as Duanmu Huai was preparing to engage in a profound and in-depth discussion of life philosophy with Kanami—he was interrupted by a knock on the door, he was extremely displeased.
However, when Duanmu Huai opened the door and discovered that it was Kaoru standing outside, he was even more puzzled.
"What is it?"
"It's like this… I have some extremely important matters I'd like to discuss with you, my lord. Would you be willing to come with me?"
There was none of Kaoru's usual gentle expression on her face. Instead, she looked serious and tense. Duanmu Huai didn't know what this woman was up to, but he still nodded.
"Alright. I hope you're not looking for me over something trivial."
Although a bit annoyed, Duanmu Huai agreed, while Kanami let out a sigh of relief. To be honest, being with Duanmu Huai every night really did put quite a bit of pressure on her.
How should I put it… it's not that it's bad, it's just… my capacity is limited. Every morning my legs are trembling.
Looks like I can finally sleep peacefully tonight.
Thinking this, Kanami even clasped her hands together in her heart toward Kaoru.
Best if this lady also gives herself to my lord, so she can help share the burden!
Unfortunately, Kanami's wish did not come true.
Kaoru led Duanmu Huai out of the resistance base and into a nearby grove—yes, of course not to flirt, but to meet someone.
Someone Duanmu Huai had already met before.
"King Gandhi."
Seeing King Gandhi opposite him, Duanmu Huai remained completely unconcerned.
"I really didn't expect you to be here. Don't tell me this resistance organization was founded by you?"
"Of course not…"
King Gandhi shook his head, then solemnly lowered himself and bowed deeply to Duanmu Huai.
"My lord, I have come this time to ask you to point out a path… a path to save the nation!"
(End of Chapter)