You Must Stand atop the Mountain

What exactly did ordinary people represent to the Ascended?

Perhaps they existed only to maintain the scale of the nation, to preserve the potential of the "future," to provide a larger base from which to cultivate more geniuses and Ascended. That was why they still worked to protect these "ordinary people."

Back then, Inaga II had been able to persuade the Empire's major internal factions to implement universal education not merely because he was strong enough. The other factions had likely also believed that universal education could improve the quality of the populace, create more Ascended, and fill out their own ranks.

When the Emperor ate meat, they could at least drink the soup. They were all subjects to begin with, and none of them could defeat Emperor Inyaga or the First Knight. Since that was the case, so be it. Listening to them and getting some soup was not bad either.

But in the end, because technological progress had gone too far, these educated ordinary people had instead lost their paths of advancement—Inaga II had misjudged human nature. He had believed that learning and knowing more in itself was a reward, a form of compensation, but many people did not see it that way.

They needed more direct, more tangible "rewards."

And while this group had indeed produced more Ascended than in the past, their numbers had fallen far short of expectations, while also creating social chaos in quite a few regions.

The Empire, from top to bottom, recognized the benefits of universal education—and its "drawbacks." Inaga II's death made them even more cautious about the policy. They were only willing to invest in a portion of geniuses and psychics who were certain to become Ascended.

The reason Ian had received so much preferential treatment throughout his journey was