**Kuro**
One day, while I was still in Cherhom fixing the few persistent problems that Seirna left there, I received a letter…
"…"
It was inside a clean, paper envelope, sealed by a red wax stamped with the insignia of the Biorno clan. At first, I was suspicious; I only get a few letters addressed to me ever since I came here in Chersea, even when I returned from my 'prison' after six years of non-existence. What made it more suspicious to me was that, it was from the Biornos, my formidable foes from the Unification Wars in Cherflammen. While I did make a few friends in the demon clan of the incubi and succubi, there were still those who remained faithful to their old lord, the former Head Scholar, Emile Biorno. Nevertheless, after examining every nook and cranny of the innocuous envelope, my curiosity got ahead of me and opened it.
The letter, written on a paper sheet topped with the Biorno coat-of-arms, was from the leading vassal of the actual Biornos, the Lord Castrio Sargdhinerri. It read:
To the demon-friend, the Lord Kuro of Arles, Eternal King of Cherwind, Duke of Maverny, Captain-Emeritus of the Paladin Corps, Baron-Commander of the Life Guards of Her Holiness the Elf Saint, and the Greatest Lord Head Special Scholar of the Conclave, greetings!
First, I'd like to personally congratulate you on your accomplishments. News have certainly reached that you found favor in the eyes of every saint and their peoples, as such, you are now poised to succeed the Lord Gaius. Knowing your feats, and sincerity shown to my Biorno masters and our entire clan—as well as your help given to the demons, I am convinced that you will be greater than the god you will replace. I am excited to witness the auspicious reign of the Lord Kuro the Human, and bring harmony and prosperity to all your subjects under heavens.
Second, and forgive me for dropping all the formalities, our goblin friend, the Lord Tenguri insisted on inviting you over for a private wine tasting session. What do you say? That guy hired some elves to help him in the basics of vineyard and brewery management. He told me that he wants to offer the 'first fruits' of his venture to us, and well, I believe it is also a good time to take it easy. Will you oblige, milord?
And third, well, this is a bit more complicated. See, the poison of the Lord Haya hasn't fully died with him. Instead, his beliefs on the supremacy of mixed blood only evolved. Now, there is an alarming growth of groups espousing this ideology of the superiority of mixing demon blood to other races as well. This is true within the Conclave, especially among the younger students. I have no objections on the existence of halflings, with you having opened my eyes to the harm brought by 'purist' thought, but these children are falling to the same trap our ancestors—and we—fell in before your arrival. These youngsters refuse to believe the lessons of the Unification Wars. I plead that—as the esteemed teacher of the Lady Cassandra David and the legendary Special Scholar—to help us in cutting the weed before it becomes stronger.
I'll wait for your favorable response!
Your faithful friend, ally, and servant, Castrio.
Well, I was silent after reading that. There was this feeling within me that I was both in shock, yet I was never surprised. I did expect that development.
"…"
The ideology of demon supremacy coincided with the latent revanchist attitude among the demons, stemming from their bitterness for the defeats they suffered in all the eleven wars they fought against the successive generations of humans in the past. Like the nations of Earth in the aftermath of major conflicts, there was a period of national shock, and racial 'soul-searching,' as the defeated looked for something and/or someone to blame for the tragedy. A proof of this was the so-called 'Occupation of the Ruhr' in the 1920s Europe. France and Belgium, viewing themselves as victims in the aftermath of World War 1, sought to enforce the Treaty of Versailles on the German Weimar Republic, which was by then, had repeatedly defaulted on their obligations because of dire economic situation.
Germany, humiliated by the punishments they had to endure, threw the blame on the Jews, and communists. In fact, Adolf Hitler's rise to the chancellery in 1933 was because of every ordinary German's desire to avenge 'Versailles' and make their country the 'great power' capable of influencing the world stage, as is the German Empire in the years that led to the First World War.
Of course, such attitudes and feelings were no stranger to the demons of the Federal Demon Republic.
The current demon lord-president, Prince Hurion Devras IV, was the only 'moderate' leader powerful enough to lead the demons. She was the only one in her 'radicalized' family line, beginning from her great grandfather, Melqart Buvor III, the instigator of the 11th Human-Demon War. The demon forces' eventual defeat in that conflict started the idea of mixing human and demon blood, to produce a supposedly 'powerful and superior' generation of demons. Prince Hurion's real persona, Princess Noir, was a 'product' of this concept; her demon father kidnapped her human mother, that led to her depression and eventual death. Her half-brother, the Lord Haya of House Usarved, continued the policies of Melqart Buvor…though for another, less 'martial' reasons, gathering supporters to his cause from both human and demon races.
And yes, that also led to his fall and death. The fucker made a mistake of touching and harming my student, after all.
"…"
In any case, I've seen a lot of ugly events in my world to let this dangerous ideology to fester. The peace between the demons and the other races may seemed to hold for now. However, just like the beginning of the biblical Exodus, everything we worked so hard to achieve would come crashing down should leaders who had no memory of the true events would rule.
And, I'm taking no chances. It's not a question of 'if they would rule.' Those kinds of leaders will come, it's only a matter of 'when.'
As the Demon Federal Republic was in the same world as Chersea, I gave it a 'go.' Not only did I plan to deal with that dangerous ideology, I also wanted to talk to Maddie and the Prince Uhrian once I returned.
----------
From Cherhom, I eventually went to Cherwoods to solve their problems about the desertification of their forests. Once I was done in that place, I caught a ship from the Saint's Tree and crossed the sea border into Chersea. I preferred to travel alone this time, leaving Lily back in Cherhom to help the Lady Helgath sort out her issues and other matters about the new religion. The Dwarf Saint promised to teleport her back to the Holy Palatial Gardens after everything settled down.
As for me, I took the opportunity to enjoy the solitude of journeying alone. My life had been in the fast lane lately, and it wouldn't be bad to take it easy occasionally. When I arrived in the port city of the Mouth of Calabria, I took a train that passed through the Confederacy of the East, Nerfes, and into the border city of New Goblinhom in the Demon Republic. The entire journey lasted for about four days, including a few stop-overs, which was far beyond the usual one week to reach the Northern Desolation when horses were the main means of transports.
And that would have to come from the Holy Palatial Gardens, which is considerably nearer than the Mouth of Calabria.
"…"
But man, this world really evolves fast…
"Papers?" the demon sentry conducted the usual border check upon my arrival at the customs office. Since I was traveling incognito, I gave my identity as 'Lawrence Beatty.' I mean, I could always tell them who I was, but that would result in a huge fanfare. As I was hurrying to the Conclave, attending to the well-wishers wasn't at the top of my priority list right now.
"Lawrence Beatty?" the sentry took another peek on my appearance, as well as the papers. "Sorry, mister, but you look awfully familiar."
"Haha! I do get similar comments at the all the border checkpoints," I decided to play along with his suspicions. "Officials like you will always say I look like the Lord Kuro of Maverny."
"Well, I must say, what a blessed coincidence!" the sentry gave back my identification papers. "I mean, while I believe in having people around with similar faces as us, yours is that of our hero and friend! My left eye might've been blinded from the Unification Wars, but I remember the face of our race's savior. It's a good thing they distributed his image for us to marvel at!"
I couldn't believe my ears. "Excuse me?"
The sentry pointed towards a huge reproduced painting of me that hung on the checkpoint office's wall a few distance behind us. It was enclosed in glass and gold, and personally signed by Maddie herself. Below was an inscription, embossed on a gold plate. Using my right eye's (the one that I offered to the Lady of Time) sight, it said: 'The Most Holy Lord Kuro, favored by the Saints, and the new god of Chersea and of the Other Realms.'
"I can't believe you're human, yet you don't have that image of the Lord Kuro! That living man-god is a legend among legends, even greater than the Lady Cassandra David herself!"
"Haha…" I could only let out an awkward laugh, as I was not one to marvel at my face displayed on every gilded frame, hanging on the walls, for everyone to see…and even worse, to pray at. "Eh, I live in Cherwoods, and I only came here for a private matter. As such, I haven't received such painting. Besides, I don't think I'll need one when I can always look into the mirror."
"Heh, fair point," the goblin sentry chuckled. "But yeah, honestly, I thought you're really the Lord Kuro. I do hear stories about him traveling around and experiencing the plight of needy people. I always pray for an encounter with him, at least, let him bless my eyes."
I gave him a pat on the back. "I'll pray for you as well. And thanks for your hard work!"
"Thank you for that, Mister Beatty! The Demon Republic welcomes you, human! I hope you like it in here!"
"Sure thing!" I smiled, and then, leaned back and whispered. "Once I'm gone, check your left eye."
The goblin sentry was surprised by that, and immediately turned to me. However, I slipped away, blending in with the crowd. From a distance, I watched him remove the eye-patch on his left eye, and…much to his pleasant surprise, his vision was back to normal. The sentry couldn't help but shout, "The Lord Kuro! I met him! I met him! He healed my eyes!" The people coming through the borders were also in shock, yet they began to clap and cheer as the goblin celebrated.
See? This is what I want to protect. People of different races welcoming and celebrating together without hate and prejudice, though with respect for each other's culture and traditions.
----------
Reminiscent of the old Conclave town, the Saint's Tower, in Cherflammen, the new Conclave had similar features, though with a bit of modern touch to reflect the 'progress' embodied by the demon institution. Honestly, I'd been so busy with stuff ever since I returned from Cherflammen that I literally had no time in visiting this new place. And really, looking at it amidst the sea of golden grass instead of the desert sands felt strange, though the pleasant kind of strange.
"…"
The sight of humans, beastmen and elves walking alongside demons and freely interacting with them was reassuring. Though there was a threat of 'supremacist' ideas, the demons still preferred to open the Conclave to other races…a far cry from the isolationist institution ruled by Emile Biorno before.
Ah, Kuro, stop your daydreaming and focus on what you came here for.
Turning to the nearest staff available, I asked, "Excuse me, but can you help me get to the Head Scholars' Office?"
The staff member, an old demon maintenance lady, smiled and countered with her own question, "A new enrollee?"
"Ah, no!" I shook my head. "I just have an appointment with the Head Scholars. Are the Lord Gracchio and Lady Capaldi still the Head Scholars?"
"Yes!" Then, she gestured for me to follow her. "Come!"
----------
Well, the first thing that came to my mind when I asked this demon lady for directions was that she was a member of the maintenance staff. Her uniform told everyone who saw her that she was one, unless they changed the rules while I was gone… which was also unlikely because the Chersean letters for 'maintenance' was printed on her clothes. It was also placed at the most prominent part behind her. Nevertheless, the old lady brought me around, passing by several corridors, buildings, classrooms, faculties, cafeterias, and even the dormitories.
It's as if she had me on tour, and she doesn't have an idea of where the Head Scholars' Office is.
Still, I followed her. Not only does the new Conclave had a new floor layout, I also took the chance to observe the classes, and the 'general mood' of the place. The letter of the Lord Sargdhinerri gave me the impression that the situation was dire; however, when I came to it with my own eyes, I saw a 'lively' and 'active' school of many races.
Nevertheless, I kept my eyes up, for 'there was no smoke without fire,' or as a saying in my culture goes. The Lord Sargdhinerri alerted me on an issue, and I knew him; though he fought against me before, that Biorno vassal was an honorable demon. So, basing off on his words, I suspect I was only witnessing the 'tip' of an iceberg.
"This should be the standard!" My ears picked up someone's voice just now. It was loud, nearly shouting, and came from one of the classrooms we just passed by. "The only phases of matter are four: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma!" Curious, I went back the way I came and peeked into the heated discussion. It was one of the demon teacher-scholars, caught in a debate against a young student, and they were so passionate about their stands that they never noticed me looking behind the door's glass window.
"I object on that information, sir! You forgot the fifth phase, which is magic!"
"Magic? That's another topic! In the first place, magic is outside the phases of matter."
"Can't we make things out of magic?"
"Yes, we can, but—"
"See? You said it! You said it!" the student repeated her words, as if she was trying to drown the objections of her teacher. "You're contradicting yourself!"
"I am not! Those things you tell me can still be classified as solid, liquid or gas! You—as the magic caster—only brought those forth by manipulating mana!"
"Are you looking down on me just because I'm younger than you?"
"I did not say anything about your mental acuities! I'm just correcting your mistakes—"
"You're dictating upon us! You're forcing your beliefs on me!"
Observing that classroom drama gave feelings of cringe to me. I mean, even back when I was the Head Scholar, the phases of matter were solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. I remember teaching that to these folks before! Magic, for its benefits and uses, had a science of its own, for any phenomenon that couldn't be explained by the usual scientific topics would be answered by the latter.
"We are the future of this land!" the student raised her voice in an attempt to rile up her classmates. "You cannot stop us! We are the force of the next generation!"
Ah, I've heard this before…
By that time, the maintenance lady must've noticed I was not following her, and went to look for me. When I saw her coming, I asked, "This always happens here?"
She nodded. "These young ones think highly of themselves, they regard the opinion of the older people as obsolete."
Yep, I really saw this before…
----------
It was always the romantic ideal that the youth would always spearhead changes. TV shows and movies in my world would have young actors play 'righteous' characters, going against the old bad guys, no matter how simple or complicated the story was. And yep, I believe in that, too. The youth had the energy to pursue their 'dreams' with determination and vigor, whereas the old people would likely want to keep the status quo.
However, there was a problem if everyone just let the youths run rampant with their advocacies. For one, no matter how 'forward-thinking' were the young people, they were still impressionable, preferring to fight for things that go in-line with their previously learned biases. Second, their tendency to decide base on their feelings and ideals made them the perfect 'useful idiots' to unscrupulous individuals seeking to advance their own interests under the guise of 'liberty' and 'equality.'
It is the same problem of my world, especially after the introduction of social media, where everyone's opinion can be seen, heard and discussed. One could clearly see the divide; many of the younger social media users were open to 'new ideas,' and they were ready to argue with everyone who stood against those. The old people, on the other hand, would just share GIF greeting animations with shiny butterflies and flowers, and would rarely post their own opinions online.
"…" By this time, the entire class I was observing was in an uproar. I could see some of the students taking the teacher-scholar's side, while there were others who stood by their classmate. Still, the teacher and his student were locked in a heated argument, even as the pieces of crumpled papers flew around them.
This is getting out of hand. I looked around for other teachers to intervene, but found out that I was alone in the hallway. No one, including that maintenance lady, was there.
"…"
Make no mistake, I still believed in the equality stuff, but like other cases, excessive liberalism and equality could only lead to chaos and instability. There were always be 'imperfections' and 'exceptions,' for the mortal plane was never perfect in the first place. And the youth, while they should be trained to lead, nothing good would happen if they would never learn discipline and responsibilities first. After all, leadership was all about order, and order required discipline and responsibilities on part of those being led.
Hence, while I think the youths were indeed the catalysts of change, not all 'change' was beneficial and applicable in all situations. And they should approach any attempts on change and reform with care and diligent research on the possible consequences of such actions.
"…"
Hmm, honestly, I've encountered this problem before, so I have an idea of what the results look like. I tried opening the classroom door, but it was locked. And everyone inside was so busy cheering the two warring sides they didn't notice my knocks.
This is just anarchy. It's useless to continue talking in this atmosphere.
"…"
And, really, such problems like 'radicalization' and 'anarchy' would never fade for as long as there was no 'genuine' change in the attitudes of the people. As the Lord Sargdhenerri said, the Lord Haya's ideology only 'evolved.' If we wish to completely eradicate this type of thinking, the first thing we could as a school was to teach critical thinking and responsibility at the same time. Not everything they hear or learn was right, so they need to test those 'ideas.' See if those were really applicable, and if not, tell them it was their responsibility not to spread it.
Another thing to consider was to get Prince Hurion's government to double its efforts to inform the people about the benefits of this peace, and also do more in suppressing people and events that could lead to the disillusionment of the populace, and lead to the strengthening of the radical ideas. The Nazis came to power in Germany by exploiting the suffering of the Germans, combined with effective propaganda. Similarly, we are going to intensify the 'propaganda,' while alleviating the lives of everyone.
Sure, there would come a time when old beliefs and traditions would be challenged. Nevertheless, there were still lessons to learn from those. Progress was not about a complete turnaround from the past, but rather, an appreciation of its lessons. This is what the modern societies of my world failed to remember…
"And there you have it, ladies and gentledemons," I heard the voice of Natasha. "Sir G, in his 'silent planning' mode. By this time, everything that he has in his mind, I already revealed to you."
"!!!" Much to my surprise, the maintenance lady disappeared. Instead, the Demon Saint wore her dress, and the head scholars of the Conclave, the Lord Gracchio and Lady Capaldi, stood before me. Their sudden appearance made the atmosphere awkward, so I was forced to break the ice by asking, "W-What?"
"Milord," it was the Lady Capaldi. "Surely, those ideas of yours will be put to effective use! Nevertheless, you should've told us you'd drop a visit!"
"As a former prefect of discipline," the Lord Gracchio bowed, "I'll instruct the other teacher-scholars to create a new curriculum with those concepts in mind. I thank you for imparting your wisdom to us, Your Heavenly Majesty."
"Ah, eh?" was all that I could say. I mean, I haven't even elaborated on those, and yet, they are ready to implement it?
"This is how much the demons trust your judgment, Sir G!" Natasha smirked. "Don't worry; I'll help you teleport to Prince Hurion's palace to discuss the matter about their education."
"W-Wait! I still have to explain those to you!"
----------
***The Demon Federal Republic, at a much later time…***
"And in our exclusive interview with the first demon lord-president, Prince Hurion Devras, we will talk about the Eternal Library of Knowledge, the Demon Conclave's greatest repository of archives from the past."
"Uh, is the camera on?"
"Yes," the interviewer whispered to the demon-lord president. "Your Infernal Highness, it's your floor now!"
"A-Ah! Yes," the demon lord-president quickly fixed himself and faced the camera. "Hello there, demon, human, beastmen, elvish, and dwarf children! I am the first demon lord-president, Prince Hurion Devras IV, here to take Miss Yuna Rey on a tour inside the Demon Federal Republic's Eternal Library of Knowledge. As you can see, this place was founded two millennia ago, back when I was still young."
"Ahaha! Your Infernal Highness, you surely jest!" the interviewer commented. "You look like a beautiful 20-year old human!"
"Thank you for the compliment, Miss Rey, but really, this is just magic. And we demons rarely age unless we allow it! Nevertheless, returning to our library, we built the Eternal Library of Knowledge to fight against misinformation and fake news."
"Oh! So even during that distant past, misinformation and fake news are already rampant?"
"Yes," the demon lord-president chuckled. "We call it 'propaganda,' though nowadays, the term 'fake news' is used more often."
"But I wouldn't find you fake, Your Infernal Highness, even if you use magic to conceal your age."
"Ahaha…" the demon lord-president could only laugh to deflect the awkward references and flirting. "I-In any case, the books and archives you will find in our library are mostly written by contemporary sources. Meaning, we never accepted hearsays. Through a meticulous, and detailed system of lie-detecting magic spells, and hard-working scholars, we determined what is worthy of preservation, and what should be thrown away."
"Ooh…but Your Infernal Highness, a lot of people say that 'history is written by the victors.' What is your take on that saying?"
"As a historian, I believe in that," Prince Hurion nodded. "However, think of this; if such 'idea' promoted by the history of the victors is harmful in the long run, then do you think it will survive? Such thinking proposes that the people are incapable of deciding for themselves. While it may be true to some extent, at the end, they will still take whatever side is convenient to them…or worse, adapt the events to remove the faults of one side, especially if the people belonged to that group."
"You mean…?"
"Take our race, for example. The demons have been consistently defeated in all the Human-Demon Wars of the ancient past. So, because we are bitter with our defeats, some of us thought, 'hey, maybe it's because the humans are naturally superior to us from the blessings of the gods!' And with that, they created groups that wanted to create demon-human halflings. These groups espoused and supported the spread of that false idea, much to the detriment of harmony and order. Naturally, there were also demons who disagreed with them, saying, 'pure demons are the best!' while there's me and my supporters who just want to get along with every race out there. At the end, there was another war, where demons fought against their own brothers and sisters."
"Quite an interesting history lesson, Your Infernal Highness! But where's the fake news?"
"The belief that 'this certain race is superior.' You see, humans, demons, beastmen, elves and dwarves, we all have our strengths and weaknesses in our respective cultures and physical builds. However, as you can see in today's society, we are all successful…though, of course, there are minor hiccups, like the recent revolution in the North Beastman Republic. I guess, we're mortals, and these conflicts are products of our imperfections; our own desires and ideas on how to prosper. But, going back, we are still marching on. It's just a matter of how we cooperate and respect each other, not in supplanting and proving that one race is greater than the rest. This is the purpose of the Eternal Library of Knowledge; it was founded to ensure that future generations will be guided by the past, so we can have a better future together."
The interviewer, overwhelmed by the words of the demon lord-president, remained silent after that reply. And Prince Hurion didn't know what to do, as the camera kept rolling. Fortunately, a member of the crew stepped in, and brought Miss Rey to her senses.
"Ah!" the interviewer smiled, trying to take back her lost minutes. "S-So, yes, this is Prince Hurion Devras IV, former demon lord-president, and one of the board members of the Eternal Library of Knowledge. One last thing to ask, Your Infernal Highness, and I'll really break character here, if it's alright."
"Yes, what is it?"
"What will you see to your fans right now, watching this show on live?"
"Please come to our library any time! If you're lucky, you might see me, and I'll take you on a personal tour around this place."
"And the comments go alive!" Miss Rey chuckled. "User Marina says, 'If I come there, will you marry me, Prince Hurion?'"
Prince Hurion Devras smiled, admitting to his fans, "I'm actually a lady in a male's royal dress."