Episode 127

When it came to the education gap between Nostrum and Tersian, the kingdom and the empire, one could write a thesis on it.

However, this thesis would ultimately be just kindling.

Were you speaking from the kingdom’s perspective?

Or from the empire’s perspective?

Because the stances of the two countries were fundamentally different, no matter how much one tried to explain their way to the other, the other would never understand.

Just as city dwellers and country folk could not understand each other’s hardships.

Just as the wealthy and the poor could not understand each other’s struggles.

Because the kingdom and the empire had different ideals for education, a cultural gap in education was inevitable.

The prime example of this was alchemy.

“Vice-Chancellor Batory. Before you came here, you must have heard various things about the kingdom.”

As a close aide to the Crown Prince.

“But you couldn’t have imagined it would be this bad. Am I right?”

“…….”

Whether you judge based on reports sent by the empire’s shadows or rumors, experiencing it firsthand always told a different story.

“One week at the academy. How do you feel? Not just about alchemy, but about the ‘future’ of the kingdom that you observed as Vice-Chancellor.”

“…I wondered if this was really okay.”

“In what sense?”

“This is Nostrum’s future?”

Vice-Chancellor Batory spoke sarcastically.

“It has always been like this, but this time it feels particularly worse.”

“Always?”

“…Well, the children leading Nostrum’s future are always like this every generation, aren’t they? Though I have lived a few more years than the chairman, I had heard rumors about the average standard of the kingdom’s nobility even in the empire.”

“Is that so?”

Although there’s a slight air of suspicion, it’s just a hunch.

“It must not have been easy to hear news about the kingdom.”

“Not easy, but not impossible to hear at all, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I understand.”

The Vice-Chancellor Batory standing before me was a high-ranking official in the empire and a genius alchemist, just in their early thirties this year.

If I rashly stepped out of line here, it could become a bigger problem, so I needed to handle this situation just right.

“I have always thought that the reason Nostrum’s history has flowed like a hamster wheel without any progress for 500 years is because of the ‘hero omnipotence’ deeply rooted in the entire kingdom.”

“…….”

“Why bring up hero omnipotence suddenly? Because it has always been this ideology that prevented any academic progress.”

All of Nostrum’s focus was on ‘heroes.’

“If they had spread even a little of the effort spent on studying swordsmanship and magic to other fields, they could have developed magitech, which is about a generation behind the empire at most.”

“And such a hero would appear, right?”

Vice-Chancellor Batory mocked sarcastically.

“When the empire showed overwhelming prowess in magitech, and when it threatened this country with that magitech, a hero would always appear as usual. A super-genius born in this magitech desert to outshine all of the empire’s craftspeople.”

“You don’t have to speak so self-deprecatingly, but I agree somewhat. And that hero, as Gibraltar has always done, will become the hero who protects the Kingdom of Nostrum.”

“Oh my. Don’t you wish for a new protector to appear?”

“It’s not that I don’t wish for it or am jealous; rather, I hope one appears.”

“Hmm…?”

Speculations about vampires or elves were on hold.

I must deal with this woman solely from the perspectives of education, technology, and culture.

“When the times change, so must the protectors. If our family has loyally served the kingdom for 500 years, isn’t it time to live a bit more comfortably?”

“…Are you saying you’ll break the glory that your ancestors built over 500 years?”

“I’m not saying to break it. If there’s no longer a need to guard the gorge, I just want to live according to the new era.”

“…….”

“Like the guardian dragon that protected the Nostrum royal family for 500 years, broke its leash and spread its wings to the sky, I’ve thought many times about Gibraltar doing the same.”

Subtly, I hinted at it.

“Gibraltar… Hmm, no. This isn’t something to discuss now.”

Pretending it was a mistake, as if inadvertently revealing my true feelings.

“Anyway, I, Grey Gibraltar, hope that the kingdom will change in many ways. Based on what I have seen and learned at this Orosol Academy, I hope the kingdom’s nobles will not repeat the traditions and past mistakes again.”

To what extent the Crown Prince had told her, I didn’t know, but having seen and heard it himself, she could judge more clearly.

“Do you think Nostrum can change if a graduate school is established?”

“At least it would give commoners a chance to rise to higher social positions.”

“It could take a very long time, and even if Grey Gibraltar becomes an old man, there might be no results.”

“Even if 100 years later, Nostrum, or what might no longer be Nostrum, if humanity is not extinct, there will certainly be results afterward.”

“…….”

“Admitting various students through exams out of 300 was not done for no reason. Although most are still from wealthy backgrounds, eventually commoners will start entering Orosol Academy one by one. Those who overcome their circumstances and proudly pass the exam.”

Nostrum’s history proved that.

“Heroes can’t keep wielding swords and staffs forever. Sometimes, heroes wielding feather pens must appear, don’t you think?”

“It’s the first time I’ve heard someone talk about hero omnipotence that way.”

“Though I’ve lived only 17 years, and only recently learned about the various levels of the empire, Nostrum’s education level is so dire that it needs heroes.”

From now on, I started dropping hints.

“What Nostrum needs is not a single hero overcoming each crisis every time, but many commoners working together to overcome crises.”

“…….”

“For that to happen, commoners must realize that they can become heroes themselves without being restricted by status.”

Although it’s still a premature concept, the Hapsburg ‘Emperor’ once said something similar.

-They must realize that they are not subjects of someone else, but citizens themselves.

Citizen.

It wasn’t a word that resonated much with me, but I could understand its implied meaning to some extent.

“Vice-Chancellor Batory. What is your reason for researching magitech?”

“…….”

“I read an interview you gave to the Imperial Newspaper. It was about your activities in Nostrum after being selected as Vice-Chancellor of the academy.”

“That was already more than four months ago.”

“Yes. But I remember. Vice-Chancellor Batory. Don’t you need ‘companions’?”

Vice-Chancellor Batory licked her lips and fidgeted with her fingers.

“Human life is finite and short.”

“But scholarship is infinite. …You know it exactly?”

“It was a memorable phrase.”

Through a conversation with Astasia.

Through the information that she was the closest aide to the Crown Prince.

And through speculations about her background.

“Vice-Chancellor Batory. You desire to leave a significant achievement in history.”

Whether human or not, I stimulated her fundamental intellectual desire.

“An honorable achievement that won’t end with a short human life but will be remembered in human history.”

I dug into the ultimate desire of the woman in front of me who called herself ‘Batory.’

“Some want to become heroes, some want to build an empire in their name.”

“……!!”

“And some might wish for many to understand, sympathize with, debate, and discuss the new theory they discovered, hoping their discovery will be praised and revered.”

“Ha, haha….”

Vice-Chancellor Batory crossed her legs and leaned back comfortably on the sofa.

“You say interesting things, Chairman.”

She appeared relaxed but wasn’t at all.

“So, Chairman, what is it that you want from me to say such things?”

“As long as we continue to hide our true intentions in conversation, it’s natural that we keep probing and circling without connecting. So, let’s speak frankly.”

The one with the leisure was me.

“I, Grey Gibraltar, simply want to live happily with Astasia von Tersian, loving her without any bothersome interruptions, for 365 days a year until I die.”

“…Pardon?”

Vice-Chancellor Batory’s composure vanished.

“I want to wake her up every morning before she wakes up, whispering ‘Good morning,’ hold her when she wants to sleep more and wash her, eat the breakfast I prepared together while planning the day, hug her when she comes home tired to relieve her fatigue, and spend comfortable days sharing warmth in the same bed.”

“W-wait.”

“Instead of living like livestock within the confines of the Gibraltar Gorge for a lifetime, I want us to travel freely around the world, taking pictures and sharing experiences, enjoying everything together.”

“Excuse me.”

“And when we eventually have children, I want them to live a comfortable and peaceful life, unaffected by any surrounding threats or adversities.”

“…….”

“After considering various things, I concluded that this is the best life for me. Since we are humans named Grey and Astasia, we cannot ignore the names and bloodlines of Gibraltar and von Tersian.”

Batory couldn’t say anything.

“I dislike people expecting me to devote my life and loyalty to Nostrum as Margrave of Gibraltar.”

Now.

“I also don’t intend to let Astasia, who lived in the empire, live in such an inconvenient and backward place.”

Grey Gibraltar’s actions were all rooted in the ideology for Astasia von Tersian.

“No matter where Astasia travels in this kingdom, I want her to be comfortable. Warm water when she washes, no concerns about hygiene when eating, no local kids throwing stones at her because she’s an imperial, and magitech alchemy machines in hotels making it cool in summer and warm in winter without magic.”

“…….”

“Some imperial historians say this, right? If our empire enjoys ‘modern civilization’ through the development of magitech, the kingdom is a ‘medieval hero land’ living on heroes. Though it can’t break out of the medieval era instantly, if we start now, it can catch up to modernity in ten years.”

The ‘modernization of Nostrum’ that Grey Gibraltar desired was:

“I won’t say much.”

All for one person.

“I need your cooperation to make this country a world where Astasia can live happily.”