Ruler.

—

"Wow. Is this what Order magic is? It's like glimpsing the Creator himself."

"Like I thought. It is basically science. See, Ciri? When I order you to read many books in the Melitele temple, it is for your own good."

"Well, well. What a foolish decision I've made. All those years in Redenia, and I never credited those Oxenfurt scholars with having a single useful thought in their heads."

"Hmm. Why does this knowledge remind me of what those priests at the School of Julianos preach? Is this the naivety fostered by the lofty Mages Guild in Cyrodiil? Mages Guild? Cyrodiil? Hmmm..."

Looking at the Order magic in the memory of the schematic, Margarita decided, "From now on, Aretuza will make this knowledge part of the main curriculum, not just complementary education."

"Is Order magic truly that accessible to learn? With this, I could easily reshape mountains and oceans, given enough study and adaptation to my magic system. But no, relearning from those who came before is the simple part. Breaking through the barriers, now that is the true challenge."

Looking to the right of him, Richard nodded to the male sorcerer. "Yes. That's why I realize that without these stages of breakthrough, human scholars would not be able to do anything no matter how hard they tried. Unlike magic, where an individual can instantly apply their epiphany."

Turning to the schematic, especially noting his 5% contribution since everyone was already giving their all, Richard continued, "And I don't know why, but I feel like this knowledge is still in its infancy. There's still so much gold to mine out there. That's why I want to spread a scholarly ideology to everyone in the world so that we can see this gold mine clearly and have many scholars interested in mining it at the same time."

"A knowledge to instantly become a god. I find that appealing. But this means you don't intend to rule the world yourself, do you?"

Nodding his head to this ambitious man and knowing that it's still a long way before he or anyone can resign to their monarchy ideology, Richard explained further, "Yes, that's right. I don't like the kingdom or empire system. It's just hindering the advancement of civilization."

"Sigh. What should I do then? I want to forge a force in this new world I've stepped into. You've shared this knowledge with me, clearly believing you can outpace everyone else. For that confidence, I've made my choice—I won't face you on the battlefield. So tell me, what path should I take?

Looking at this man and knowing there will be many people who like to rule others, which is not a bad thing if not done excessively, Richard once again scrutinized him in minute detail and advised.

"If you want to rule the common people, create a political party and become a merchant. Then you can pick and choose the puppet kings of many countries, whoever you like. You can dictate the terrains and how each of these kingdoms is divided, from how their society works to the monetary system they have to purchase something. But if that puppet king becomes the true king, then let it be since that means that person has the ability to rule."

"If you want to rule the combatant people, create a non-governmental liaison officer organization and become an arms dealer. Then you can dictate the conflict of the era like playing chess games. Make this pawn a bishop, a rook, or a knight; it doesn't matter. The king and queen without their army are just empty shells of a title. But if those chess pieces are eventually owned by them, once again, let it be since their loyalty would not be swayed again."

"And if you want to rule the competent people, well, sorry, I want to take that place for the time being by creating an academia, starting from this very ground. Providing everyone a safe place and a platform for their scholarly research."

Looking at everyone who had already stayed silent during his conversation with the male sorcerer, and knowing that hatred and prejudice would never be eradicated, Richard continued.

"Only that whatever you do, never rob them of their choice and free will. You can guide them to become whatever you like, but never manipulate them with despicable means. If you succeed, great, but if you fail and it results in rebellions, then send their kids, elderly, and post-traumatic people to me. I will care for them until they are able to walk on their own two feet again. If they decide to continue, then it's their own choice. I will not provide them with any help beyond that."

"What is the difference between 'manipulate' and 'guide' to you, then?"

Sighing because he too isn't able to tell the difference completely, Richard replied as best as he could to Philippa, "They are two sides of the same coin. Guiding is like giving kids a mathematical book for their entertainment. But if they find something more interesting outside the house, then that's their choice. Manipulating is barring these kids from even looking out the window and finding out there is something more interesting than mathematical books."

"No. What I want to know is what is your bottom line in all of this?"

Knowing that these two words can be mistaken for one another since it is normal to make a blunder, especially with an ideology that has not yet touched upon modern society, Richard answered Philippa, "If they are able to fight back and rebel, then that's guiding. If not, then it's manipulating."

"So you don't reject the idea of someone having a lust for power, which could result in a war?"

Since he knows there is always hatred between people when there is a conflict of interest and he is not delusional enough to think there will be no bloodshed, Richard explained further.

"Yes. But if conflict is about to break out, there must be laws of warfare in place. For example, children of certain ages should not participate. Orphans left because of the conflict must be given to me until their education is finished. Women who were won in battle and don't want to die with their husbands must be given a period of mourning before becoming concubines to the soldiers who won them. Etc., etc."

"Huh. I thought that your righteousness blinded you to the reality of the world."

"Oh, I remember, I remember! Knights Radiant! Skybreakers! They are the ones who uphold the law and justice!"

Ignoring Philippa's jab and Sylphrena talking to herself, he then continued his conversation with the male sorcerer named Logain Ablar about how to become a good ruler in finer detail, while at the same time organizing the schematic in front of them into different pieces until it resembled a magical version of a first-generation computer.

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