After a night of heated debate and repeated deliberation, the members of the Ten-Man Council finally reached an agreement.
They decided to formally petition Emperor Antonio: the Secret Art Society would take charge of replicating and researching Aldo firearms.
The stated reason was suitably grand: "The principles of firearms coincide with ancient alchemy, and only Spellcasters can control the risks involved." This would silence both the military and the nobles while keeping the technology firmly in their own hands.
At the same time, the concept of "Magic Socialization" proposed by Sebastian was incorporated into their core strategy. Not only did everyone approve of this direction, they also systematized it further, proposing a new theory on the evolution of human civilization: a three-stage model for magic's intervention in human society.
Doherty summarized it at the end:
"We divide human society into three stages according to the degree of magic's penetration."
"First stage, Low-Magic Society—magic exists only in the hands of a very small number of secret practitioners and is almost entirely unrelated to the lives of the masses. Mortals rely on human labor, animal power, and simple machines to maintain production. They either fear or worship Spellcasters, but remain generally isolated from them. This has been the norm for the past thousand years, and it was also the era when we were forced to lie low."
"Second stage, Medium-Magic Society—magic is no longer regarded as absurd or taboo, but is openly acknowledged by mainstream society as a legitimate force. Official Spellcaster institutions exist, or legal guilds do. Nobles and wealthy merchants hire mage advisers, and the military formally establishes magical units. Ordinary people know that magic truly exists and can even buy simple magical products at markets. But magic still has not truly become 'widespread.' It is expensive, scarce, and highly