A Core Ship From The Start
Chapter 518 - Chapter 518 Chapter 385 Asking for advice_1

Chapter 518: Chapter 385 Asking for advice_1 Chapter 518: Chapter 385 Asking for advice_1 “I see!”

After listening to Sho’s report, Gandhi, the king of the Kingdom of Seth, clenched his fists, stood up, stared at the sky, and a gleam of understanding sprung from his eyes.

As the king of the Kingdom of Seth, Gandhi was indeed a decent ruler, always hoping to change the existing circumstances. Many did not know that Gandhi often traveled undercover as “Mite of Conquest”, apprehending and punishing high officials and First Class Citizens who were misbehaving.

In simple terms, Gandhi at that time was a fusion of the Manchu Emperor Kangxi touring incognito and Batman.

He wished to change the current dilemma of the Kingdom of Seth, but was helpless to do so. In fact, it deeply saddened Gandhi that only a small portion of First Class Citizens in the kingdom of Seth had empathy. Were all the other First Class Citizens heartless creatures?

But now, having heard Sho relay Duanmu Huai’s analysis of the political system of the Kingdom of Seth, a sudden realization dawned on Gandhi!

Why did First Class Citizens despise Second Class Citizens?

The reason was simple: Second Class Citizens infringed on the interests of First Class Citizens, and this was not a trivial matter!

In fact, Gandhi knew how the hierarchical system of the Kingdom of Seth had originated.

As mentioned before, on this continent, there was no issue of whether one had magic talent or not, everyone could learn magic, the only difference was the maximum level of magic they could use (MP limit). Technically, given Seth’s education system, most people should be able to graduate successfully.

In modern terms, it would be like letting all students go to school, with the majority being able to make it through high school.

So, the Second Class Citizens in this policy were originally intended to cater for those who were unfit.

These were people akin to early school dropouts or those who couldn’t finish middle school, lacking skills and needing societal support, which seemed only natural.

However, these individuals would certainly be in the minority under normal societal circumstances, with the majority being at least high school graduates.

Therefore, according to the original plan of the Kingdom of Seth, First Class Citizens should have been in the majority and Second Class Citizens in the minority.

For example, having 1 million First Class Citizens and 100,000 or 10,000 Second Class Citizens would be the norm.

Just like the societal model of oday, the middle class is the largest, with the lower and upper classes being the smallest. This olive-shaped distribution helps maintain healthy development.

But the current situation in Seth was like having 100,000 middle-class members and 1 million homeless!

Good heavens, how could anyone live in this city?!

Why did this happen?

The reason was simple, relaxed education!

Just like what the mercenary on the ship told Duanmu Huai, the Kingdom of Seth implemented a series of educational reforms, euphemistically called relaxed education. In other words, they substantially reduced the curriculum of public schools, allowing students to learn what they wanted based on their interest.

Ha! If that could yield results, I’d be damned!

On the other hand, when students at public schools were excited about not having to study magic, those in noble and private schools – the children of high officials, nobles, and rich business owners – were all forced to study! With such an abundance of resources at their disposal, barring those lacking any magic ability, at least they should reach the standard of First Class Citizens.

But what about the commoners’ children?

With relaxed education from an early age, they might not even understand the four basic operations of arithmetic by the time they graduate, let alone mastering magic.

So, this was one of the reasons why First Class Citizens looked down upon Second Class Citizens.

They had studied conscientiously and diligently from an early age while the children of Second Class Citizens only knew how to fool around. So, wasn’t it just right for them to be lowly Second Class Citizens? Why do they want to be equal to them?

Why should they be equal to them?

Of course, not all Second Class Citizens were unambitious, but after the educational reform in Seth, the bulk of public schools had weak faculty. The ineffective teachers, coupled with the laissez-faire relaxed education and students not putting in enough effort, meant they could never rise above being Second Class Citizens!

“Those bloody bastards!”

After coming to this realization, King Gandhi clenched his fists in rage and punched a massive rock next to him. With a thunderous bang, the rock as tall as two men instantly crumbled.

He finally understood where the root of the Kingdom of Seth’s problems lay!

The national policy of Seth was not flawed. But those underlings, the high officials, and nobles, in order to secure their positions, had resorted to such treacherous and despicable tactics. They did not alter the arrangement between First and Second Class Citizens but made their move on the magic education, the very foundation of the Kingdom of Seth!

After all, this way, failing to become a First Class Citizen was not due to their unwillingness to give opportunities. It was a result of the Second Class Citizens’ own stupidity!

They were foolish, failing to become magicians, not attaining First Class Citizen status. They deserved it!

Thus, this Second Class Citizen group, which was originally intended to aid a small number of truly needy families, instead became the majority in the Kingdom of Seth!

If nine out of ten people in a country were exceedingly poor or homeless, then the country was not far from ruin!

What further frustrated King Gandhi was that upon discovering the cause, he found, to his despair, that there was no particularly effective solution!

After all, the development of a hundred years relies on education. Tree take ten years to mature, but educating people takes a hundred years.

Now, the Kingdom of Seth’s educational structure had deteriorated to such an extent, it was impossible to change it overnight, and it might even take twenty or thirty years to see improvements!

What to do now?

“I never expected this hero to have such wisdom…”

Catching his breath, King Gandhi exhaled deeply. Despite being the King of Seth, he was far from a tyrant or an inept ruler, he had been trying to fix the problem between the first and second-class citizens within Seth ever since he came to power. However, even he could not figure out why things had turned out this way.

And now, Duanmu Huai, after merely touring in Seth, had managed to pinpoint the crux of the problem?

Although he had indeed respected Duanmu Huai when they first met, at that time his respect was largely due to Duanmu’s bravery. However, unexpectedly, Duanmu Huai’s political acumen was also profoundly remarkable!

Actually, it was quite normal. On the one hand, Duanmu Huai had a very rough exterior. The first impression that everyone got from him was that of an intimidating figure, and few paid attention to his cunning mind. Indeed, Duanmu Huai was fearless and decisive. He even dared to kill the former Demon King. This person must be rash!

But clearly, Duanmu Huai was not that kind of person. In fact, all of the veteran players in Star Ocean Online were intelligent.

The reason was simple, similar to the explosion incident in the Novice’s Village, the game had a lot of tricky situations. If the players didn’t think clearly, they might end up “losing is the common fate of a soldier, please start over.”

Of course, while it’s true that players can respawn, if you die too many times, your weapons and equipment may shatter, and even your skills can get corrupted by the Evil God. Wouldn’t your whole account be wasted by then?

So, all of the top players, none of them are unintelligent. After all, who are the enemies of the Tribunal?

Demons, aliens, heretics.

All of these are cunning and deceptive creatures. Without a sharp mind, they would have manipulated and killed you long ago!

Duanmu Huai’s apparent recklessness was more a reflection of his personality and characteristics.

Just like a general in a battle, some prefer to plan strategically from afar, some prefer wild and direct confrontations. It’s purely a matter of personal style.

In the context of the Tribunal, when encountering a group of heretical cultists, some Judges may choose to play the long game, waiting for the big fish to take the bait. Some may infiltrate the enemy ranks, perform a fatal attack on the enemy leader. Some just like to confront them directly, challenging them to summon the Chaos Daemon or Chaos Evil God. If they can’t, then he would crush them all!

However, confronting head-on doesn’t necessarily mean recklessness, and playing the long game doesn’t guarantee intelligence. You might end up catching a great white shark and wish you were dead.

Especially when the god of Obsessive Sin and Cunning Deception, masters of manipulation and strategists, are among your opponents, thinking too much can lead to more tragic consequences.

So for Duanmu Huai, a minor political issue in a small country was seen through at a single glance just from strolling around a bit.

With these thoughts in mind, King Gandhi made a decision.

“Take me to him, I wish to seek his advice personally!!”

Duanmu Huai had no idea what King Gandhi was thinking. Therefore, when there was a knock on his door late at night, interrupting his philosophical chat with Kaname, he was quite annoyed.

However, when Duanmu Huai opened the door and saw Sho standing outside, he was even more puzzled.

“What is it?”

“Well… I have some very important matters to discuss, I wondered if you could accompany me?”

Sho’s face was not as gentle as usual but rather, it looked tense and serious. Duanmu Huai had no idea what this woman was up to, but he still nodded anyway.

“Alright, I hope you have a good reason for this.”

Despite his annoyance, Duanmu Huai nodded, and Kaname felt relieved. Having to be with Duanmu Huai every night was indeed putting a lot of pressure on her.

How to put it… it wasn’t bad, just… she was genuinely lacking in energy, waking up with shaky legs every morning.

It seems like she could finally get some good sleep tonight.

Thinking this, Kaname silently thanked Sho from the bottom of her heart.

Hopefully this lady could please him, and help her share the burden!

Unfortunately, Kaname’s hopes fell through.

Sho brought Duanmu Huai out of the resistance base and into a nearby small grove to meet someone.

Someone Duanmu Huai had met before.

“King Gandhi.”

Seeing King Gandhi, Duanmu Huai was completely nonchalant.

“I never thought I’d see you here. Did you start this resistance organization?”

“Of course not…”

King Gandhi shook his head, then he bowed deeply before Duanmu Huai.

“Sir, I came here to ask for your guidance to show us a way… to save our country!”