Chapter 44

We set a new date. In the round table chamber, the same faces as before had gathered.

Without standing up, while remaining seated in my chair, I slowly surveyed the members at the round table.

“We will introduce learning credits.”

The room fell silent.

“A certain amount of time spent on lectures, research, and practical training will constitute one credit. We will mutually recognize these in both countries.”

After a silence, the Marquis opened his mouth.

“You mean we treat them like currency?”

Elysia raised her gaze.

“If it means maintaining value across borders… it certainly resembles currency.”

At those words, I nodded.

“Yes.”

—She’s sharp.

It was a gamble how far the concept of a credit system would convey to the people of this world. Dividing time, quantifying learning, and making it valid across borders.

From the sensibilities of this era, it is quite an abstract system.

But just now, she grasped the essence.

Currency. Preservation of value. Right of mintage and standards.

These two—Elysia and the Marquis—instantly understood the structure behind the metaphor.

That saves me trouble.

I continued.

“Yes. It is a learning history that is not lost even if you cross borders.”

“Dangerous.”

Another Count said immediately.

“The value of currency is decided by the one who mints it. If credits are the same—which country decides the value?”

The air pulled taut. Elysia asked quietly.

“Then, who will hold the initiative for that system?”

I answered immediately.

“We will place the mandatory subjects at the main school in the great power.”

“Mandatory subjects?”

“Basic academics, etiquette, governance theory. They will be mandatory under the name of the Royal Academy.”

One of the nobles furrowed his brow.

“In other words, the standard of value lies with our country?”

“The main school sets the standards.”

I chose my words.

“The credits of the sister school will be recognized after undergoing an audit by the main school.”

“The auditing authority lies here, you say.”

“Yes.”

A stir. Elysia layered another question.

“Then will the small country simply be in a subordinate position?”

I shook my head.

“No. We will concentrate specialized research at the sister school.”

“Specialized?”

“Agricultural policy, irrigation, engineering, field research. They are applied fields of theory.”

The Count spoke in a low voice.

“It sounds like you are pushing the practical work onto yourselves.”

“Practical work is exactly what makes a country strong.”

I retorted immediately.

“Basic theories will be unified at the main school. But for applications, the country holding the worksite is stronger.”

Elysia narrowed her eyes slightly.

“In other words, basics in the great power, applications in the small country?”

“It is a division of roles.”

“Not superior and inferior?”

“It is a difference in function.”

Silence. The Marquis cleared his throat once.

“If credits are currency, the right of mintage belongs to us. That makes the main school the central bank.”

“As a metaphor, that is correct.”

I did not deny it.

“However, the ones who increase the circulation volume are the sister schools.”

“Oh?”

“Research results will be published under the name of the main school. However, the rights and interests of the field results will be joint.”

Elysia‘s gaze grew sharp.

“The attribution of intellectual results?”

“Under joint names. However, basic theories belong to the main school.”

The stir grew stronger again.

“The small country provides the labor, and only gets half the name?”

“Not half.”

I said.

“The small country will gain a lot of practical profit.”

“Practical profit?”

“Irrigation technology, agricultural policy improvement, engineering development. Things directly tied to national power.”

Silence. One of the nobles muttered.

“…The great power protects its honor, and the small country gains profit.”

Elysia quietly summarized.

“Basics at the main school, applications at the sister school. Credits are common, but the standard of value lies with the main school.”

I nodded.

“Yes.”

The Marquis asked one last question.

“And if the sister school desires basic theories in the future?”

A moment’s pause.

“At that time—”

I didn’t avert my gaze.

“We will open them in the form of joint research.”

It is not complete reassurance. But it is not rejection either.

I continued.

“All students shall study in the small country for a certain period.”

A moment of silence.

“…What did you say?”

The Marquis’s voice lowered.

“Their status remains as students of the great power. Credits are common. We will have them learn diplomacy not at a desk, but as an experience.”

“Make them live in another country, you say?”

“Yes.”

The stir erupted.

“Is that not practically a hostage situation!”

“It is not.”

I answered immediately.

“The stay is for a limited time. Their status and family registry remain belonging to the great power.”

“But their life will be under the laws over there.”

“The academy district shall be a special jurisdiction.”

The air stopped.

“Do you intend to establish extraterritoriality?”

“In a limited manner. Rulings regarding student status will be conducted by the main school.”

“And the small country will swallow that?”

Elysia quietly opened her mouth.

“It is not complete extraterritoriality. The norms of life will follow the laws of the small country. However, status, credits, and disciplinary authority will be subject to a joint review by both countries.”

The Marquis looked sharply.

“In other words, what is the possibility of our children being dyed in the customs of the small country?”

I nodded.

“There is a possibility.”

A stir.

“Then why go that far?”

“Because they will be dyed.”

The room fell completely silent.

“Ruling after knowing other countries carries fewer dangers than ruling without knowing them.”

“Naive.”

With the air still pulled taut, the Count spoke in a low voice.

“If they come into contact with other countries, their hearts will waver. A wavering heart will eventually turn its back.”

I did not avert my gaze.

“If they don’t know others, they can’t even doubt.”

The Count’s eyes narrowed.

“There is no need to doubt. Loyalty exactly means not doubting.”

“No.”

I quietly shook my head.

“What remains after overcoming doubt is true loyalty.”

The stir spread slightly. The Count spoke as if spitting the words out.

“If they know others, they will betray.”

I answered.

“It is stronger to know others and still choose.”

Silence.

“Loyalty kept in an enclosure disappears if the wall crumbles.”

I continued.

“But those who return after looking outside are standing on their own two feet.”

“An idealistic argument.”

“A realistic argument.”

I didn’t raise my voice.

“Those who follow without knowing will move if shown a better option. But those who remain after knowing will remain with a reason.”

Silence fell over the round table.

“Loyalty is not nurtured in isolation.”

I said finally.

“Understanding and profit are what fix it in place.”

The Count fell silent. He probably has counterarguments. But they didn’t come out immediately.

Silence. Elysia layered another question.

“Then will the students of the small country also go to the great power?”

“Similarly.”

“Their status?”

“Remaining with the small country.”

The Marquis spoke in a low voice.

“You said earlier that even if they mix, the hierarchy will not break.”

“It will not break.”

“The guarantee?”

“Domestic law holds the right of succession. The academy will not touch it.”

The stir weakened. I said further.

“If traffic increases, the economy will move centering around the academies.”

“Economy?”

“Inns, merchants, copyists, artisans. If people move, money moves.”

The Count narrowed his eyes.

“Will the citizens profit?”

“They will.”

“Will our power not cease to be something ‘special’?”

“We are moving from an era of making countries obey with the military, to an era of connecting them with money and systems.”

“Is that what you desire?”

I paused a beat.

“It is cheaper than war.”

Quietness.

“An academy is not a military.”

I continued.

“However, it will likely leave an impact longer than a military.”

The Marquis spoke in a low voice.

“It is too peaceful a picture of the future to speak of during wartime.”

“It is exactly because it is wartime.”

I didn’t avert my gaze.

“It is a system to reduce the next war.”

Silence. It was not complete agreement.

But counterarguments had decreased.

Elysia listened silently.

War had begun. But no one touched upon it in this setting.

I directed my gaze straight ahead.

“Wars are temporary things. However, an educational system shapes a nation in units of a hundred years.”

Quietness.

“The sister academies are not a decoration of friendship. We are sharing the system itself.”

Elysia nodded slowly.

“…Fascinating.”

That tone was not that of a battlefield commander.

Nor was it completely the voice of a politician weighing interests.

It was something else entirely.

---

Elysia had realized.

This man is not trying to destroy bloodlines. However, while saying he will protect them, he is trying to pass a new flow through their interior.

Status remains. The hierarchy also remains.

But those who have learned together will eventually be bound by understanding before borders.

That will leave an impact in places a sword cannot reach.

—Is he already seeing the scenery a hundred years from now?

A faint tremble ran deep in her chest.

The corner of Elysia‘s lips rose slightly.

It was a smile that could neither be called approval nor vigilance.

It was an expression she would absolutely never show in her daily life.