200 – Everyone’s Motivation
“Now, let’s stop nagging the old man and talk about triathlon.”
From nob le mt l dot com
Nelson said with a laugh. I came to my senses belatedly and brought out a glass of cool barley tea. Nelson happily drank barley tea and wiped the water from his beard with the back of his hand.
“Okay. My throat was also dry, so it’s time for Hosa to return to Nelson after a long time.”
With a mischievous smile, Nelson looked away, as if searching for his memory, then turned his gaze to me.
“Before we start talking, I want to ask you one thing. Ross, what do you think of Transcendence Academy?”
I couldn’t answer the sudden question right away. The academy is like home to me. The messiah club room is where I feel most comfortable in this world. It is also home to the beloved Luna and her friends. Transcendence Academy is precious to me. Either in a place or in a personal sense.
It’s embarrassing to say it with my own mouth, but I scratched my chin and said what I thought as quickly as I could.
“It is like a warm home to me. I met a precious friend, and I met a lover who I love. We also made unforgettable memories. I learned and grew quickly. It’s all thanks to my admission to Transcendence Academy.”
As if agreeing with me, Nelson nodded his head.
“When I was a student, I also thought of Transcendence Academy that way. It’s a new home, a precious place. In particular, this club room remains as a good memory for me.”
From nob le mt l dot com
Nelson smiled happily and threw his head back as he leaned back comfortably on the sofa. The ceiling of the club room today was a night sky full of stars. Seeing Nelson staring at it without a word, I waited for him to continue without impatiently.
After closing his eyes for a moment, Nelson opened his mouth.
“… The emperor who unified the continent feared the power of learning.”
I swallowed my saliva without realizing it when I heard the word “Emperor” Suddenly pop out. It’s a past story of a novel that I don’t know. I don’t know how the probability worked. I focused on Nelson’s words.
“For peace on the continent to last, I thought magic and technology had to be strictly controlled with the permission of the emperor. So he tried to get rid of all the academies on the continent. If so, I thought that even if there was a rebellion, I could easily get rid of those without magic and combat skills.”
Deliberately choosing to degenerate civilization in order to easily control the rebellion. It was an idea that only the emperor who unified the continent could do.
“When the emperor made the idea public, of course there was great opposition. Not only the mage tower recruiting graduates from the academy, but also the educators all stood up against it. But the emperor had no intention of breaking his will. He believed that if he abolished the academy, he would further strengthen the distance between the nobles and the commoners and weaken the power of the local nobility.”
Looking up at the ceiling, Nelson lowered his gaze and continued talking while looking at the cup of barley tea.
“Despite numerous objections, the emperor was determined to destroy the academy by force. The local nobility united to stop it, and the continent seemed to be at war again. Because the emperor was not the type to reject blood.”
From nob le mt l dot com
Nelson sighed and smiled bitterly.
“I had to make a choice like the village chief in the story I told you earlier. Whether to watch the academy disappear like this, or to do something to protect the academy. I couldn’t sleep a sigh, and I was troubled and conflicted.”
From nob le mt l dot com
Now I understand why Nelson told me about the old days. Nelson finds himself in the same situation as the village chief in the story. The one who quietly watches the academy disappear and the one who tries anything to save the academy.
In fact, somewhere in my heart, I was feeling disappointed with Nelson. There was a suspicion that the reason why Nelson, a great wizard with the title of wise man, continued the vicious cycle of triathlon was not for his own benefit. It is a suspicion created by my narrow point of view that did not know the truth.
“I suggested a triathlon so that the emperor could get what he wanted without abolishing the academy. I persuaded them that the higher the status of Transcendence Academy, the more descendants of local nobles will flock to the capital, and the unity of local nobles can be lowered. Rumors were circulating that even the masters of the tower would join the aristocratic union, so even the emperor had no choice but to take a step back.”
The emperor really took a step back. He made a regression over 30 years and a distribution of power centered on the capital, not an immediate one.
If it is not Transcendence Academy, other academies spread the perception that they are not good enough to break the will to learn.
Even the most powerful aristocrats in the province are trying to enter Transcendence Academy. Even if you try to change the situation belatedly, there is no center of rebellion. Nelson’s proposal worked all too effectively.
“I knew that triathlon was a bad structure, but I couldn’t stand to see the learning stop.”
With a bitter smile, Nelson asked me.
“What do you think of me?”
It is definitely a better choice than having the academy disappear on the continent. However, from the point of view of other academies who lost during the triathlon and were in despair, it was just a hopeless competition to recover from defeat.
I feel like letting out a big sigh. Politics is black and white. We know that it is not exactly divided into two. Some things are complete only when black is mixed.
“The principal… I think I chose the lesser evil.”
At the careful reply, Nelson lowered his head slightly and smiled.
“Yes, my choice was the lesser evil. Despite the triathlon, in the end, the number of academies dwindled, just as the Emperor had hoped. Because now there are only four academies left on this wide continent.”
Somehow, I felt emotional. Although I criticized it as the lesser evil, Nelson was a very good person to me. He couldn’t even blame me for making a choice he couldn’t help.
“It’s the worst, but I couldn’t help it. If it weren’t for triathlon, there wouldn’t even be four academies left. I don’t think the principal’s choice was wrong.”
At my reply, Nelson let out a small sigh.
“Thank you for thinking that way. But I have no intention of justifying my actions.”
I couldn’t agree with Nelson. He was a grateful person who treated me better than anyone else. I said it sincerely.
“Don’t say that. The principal is a better person than anyone else. If it wasn’t for the principal, I would….”
“Even if it wasn’t for me, you would have done well.”
From nob le mt l dot com
Nelson’s determined voice left me speechless. Somehow the atmosphere is heavy. Now that I knew the truth about triathlon, I thought it might be a good idea to move on to another topic. I just had something to ask.
I cleared my throat and opened my mouth.
“Come to think of it, did you officially accept Ellie as your apprentice?”
From nob le mt l dot com
Nelson nodded with a warm smile as if he had understood my intention to change the subject.
“Well then, Eli is an excellent disciple. The growth rate is so amazing that it can’t even be compared to the me in the past.”
“Ellie is very talented in her own way.”
From the setting up, he is the future great wizard. Despite being a commoner, she was able to become a lucrative wizard because she showed outstanding talent from an early age.
“Well, Ellie’s talent isn’t really unique. She had seen a similar talent a few times during her principal career.”
I was taken aback by Nelson’s answer. Ellie, a genius who will become a great wizard, isn’t her talent unrivaled? What does that mean? Seeing my flustered expression, Nelson made an amused expression.
“You must have failed to grasp the strengths of your childhood friend. The greatest thing about Ellie is not natural talent.”
Somehow, I had an intuition that the current conversation would be of great help in understanding Ellie. I asked with a trembling heart.
“If not talent, what is… ?”
From nob le mt l dot com
Nelson smiled.
“Ellie’s greatest strength is her endless greed. She, like a stubborn woman, never rests and continues to work on her own growth. In order to make more and more magic her own, she visits the Forbidden Area every day to learn magic, and asks me endless questions to make it her own. It is said that innate talent works well with greed and stubborn personality.”
I felt a shock as if I had been kicked in the chest. Little by little, it feels like the fog in her head is clearing. If the driving force behind Ellie is pure greed, then everything is explained. Being an archmage in the future and dealing with all elements, and creating a black mage tower that integrates all elemental magic, are also the result of greed. The setting created the probability of greed.
“However, Ellie is still mentally immature. She doesn’t know how to control her greed. She hasn’t learned how to sincerely admit that her methods are wrong.”
I know why. The trigger for Ellie’s spiritual growth is the death of Ross. Now that her ordeal is gone, of course she can’t grow.
Thanks to Nelson’s help, all the puzzles in her head have been put together. Now you just have to put the puzzle together and find the answer.
Bruh
Damm already catch up.