The First Prince’s Faction.
Also known as the conservative or militarist faction, most of the old, senior nobles publicly support this faction.
Their focus is on traditional conservatism and gradual reform, with an emphasis on strengthening defense forces. They advocate for a “big government” that actively intervenes in the market to control the economy and aim to centralize power within the royal family.
… While this may sound like a grand vision, to me, it’s absurd to discuss “gradual reform” in a country on the brink of collapse.
It’s like siding with the royals and nobility on the eve of the French Revolution. A bit of an extreme example, but that’s the idea.
At this transitional period where the old ways have reached their limits, the conservative faction is a sinking ship.
On the other hand, there’s the Second Prince’s Faction.
This is the so-called liberal faction.
Rapid reforms, liberalism, free economy! Sounds nice, doesn’t it?
… But, well, this is also just a group of upstart nobles and merchants looking for a quick reversal of fortunes.
Compared to the idiots in the conservative faction, at least they realize that the country is in trouble, which might make them the better option.
You can’t easily say whether a political stance is “right” or “wrong” until history judges it, but if I had to choose, I’d say the liberals are the winning side for now.
At first glance, the conservative faction seems superior in both numbers and quality of forces, and indeed, they are the higher-ranking group…
But that’s only among the nobles.
The bureaucrats, intellectuals, and other middle-class people who don’t rely on noble titles are all on the liberal side.
Why?
Because they’re smart enough to realize they’re on a sinking ship.
They’re fleeing while they can.
And they also have the flexibility to leave if necessary.
The nobles in the First Prince’s Faction are no longer in a position to betray. They’re bound by their status.
On the other hand, the Second Prince’s Faction, which consists of intellectuals, craftsmen, bureaucrats, and small-to-medium nobles, has the option to abandon their positions if necessary.
Those with skills and education can survive anywhere, even if it means facing hardships. Just having the option to flee makes all the difference.
The nobles of the First Prince’s Faction are tied to their identity as “nobles of this country” and, unlike those who are confident in their intelligence or practical abilities, they can’t abandon the sinking ship.
To put it in concrete terms, the First Prince’s Faction controls the “national body”—the framework of the nation and its external recognition.
In contrast, the Second Prince’s Faction mainly controls the “mechanisms”—the bureaucratic apparatus and the systems necessary to keep the country functioning.
While both are vital components of a state, if I had to choose, the mechanisms are more important.
Losing recognition from foreign nations would indeed be a serious issue… But the greater damage would come from letting the country continue as it is.
This country is in a “final crisis” state, like the Later Han Dynasty’s downfall. At this point, prolonging its existence might be the worst option.
It’s like an elderly person hooked up to machines, kept alive through medical procedures despite their suffering. Letting them die might be more merciful. Are we really going to tarnish the nation’s legacy further and squander the next generation’s inheritance?
… That’s what I personally think, but who knows?
In this world without the internet, all we have is the surface-level, limited information spread by rumors.
I’m just making this judgment based on the information I have now, and I could be wrong…
So, what’s the problem?
Helping the smarter, more interesting Second Prince Gilbert is clearly more “entertaining” than siding with the brainless, stubborn First Prince. Right?
That’s all there is to it.
I don’t care what happens to the country.
As long as it’s interesting, and as long as it benefits me, that’s enough.
Ada and I have already met the requirements for graduation by forcefully convincing our professors like a barrage of bullets, so we could graduate right now if we wanted to.
However, Francis, Yuki, and Grace still need to study properly—they’re not at graduation level yet.
But if they don’t overload their course registrations, they can graduate with about two classes per day.
Noble schools generally leave plenty of free time for socializing.
Even if you subtract the non-compulsory but practically compulsory classes like military studies, students still have quite a bit of free time.
So, I decided they would take some lectures from me during those open hours.
I gathered the members who registered as part of the secret society and gave them a lecture.
But today will be the only day I personally lecture.
Now, it’s time to use the learning program data I’ve developed through teaching Ada…
I projected a PowerPoint presentation using VR vision and showed them the slides…
Each student received personalized assignments tailored to their learning abilities…
This is Adaptive Learning!
“Open the Magia Pad you have in front of you. This will be your teacher.”
This setup allows for learning anytime, anywhere, using personal information terminals.
In other words, it’s e-learning.
These Magia Pads are connected to the school’s LAN (I’m secretly sending magical communication waves), and I’ve ensured scalability for future system expansions, while the current system reproduces an LMS (Learning Management System), albeit in a simplified form.
Additionally, leveraging the popularity of gaming, I’ve incorporated gamification, using game characters to make learning fun and engaging.
With this system, I’ve standardized and automated the instruction process, greatly reducing my workload!
Of course, I understand that the model data I’ve gathered from teaching Ada over the past few years is still weak as a sample.
So this system is not just for teaching magic in a somewhat organized way but also to collect data on how the kids are learning.
Where do they struggle with the problem sets? If they make a mistake, how did they come to that conclusion? All of this is valuable data.
Heh heh… It’s been a while since I engaged in such agile software development…
I can practically smell the tight delivery deadlines…
But since I’m handling development, operations, and QA all by myself, it’s tough…
Lately, Ada’s just started becoming somewhat useful, but it seems like I’ll have a lot of work for a while…
Well, I anticipated this, so I made various templates during my idle childhood, and I’ve also created a knowledge graph about magic, so I should be fine. Hopefully.
I’m more of a developer than an operator anyway.
QA? I usually outsource that… Not that I can’t handle it, but… yeah.
