Once enough talent had been cultivated and selected from among the citizens, the Charlotte Family would gain ever more powerful support. More precisely, that support would only continue growing stronger. Charlotte Mousse's brothers and sisters, as well as his future nephews and nieces, would also have more and better choices when it came to marriage.
More importantly, Totto Land could truly become a normal nation capable of sustaining and developing itself through its own strength, rather than remaining a utopia maintained entirely by the power of the Charlotte Family as it had been before.
Of course, the intense studies and training beginning in elementary school were somewhat cruel for children of mediocre aptitude, or those who hated studying and feared hardship.
But in the Pirate World, where individual differences were frighteningly vast, mediocre ordinary people could not create much value even if they worked. Naturally, education had to focus on selecting and cultivating elites who could drive the world forward. Therefore, the curriculum was designed around the needs of outstanding students: better to have poor students repeat a grade than let excellent students skip one.
Then again, even those who could not keep up still had a far better life in Totto Land than they would in other countries.
First, anyone who fell behind during the free compulsory education stage could repeat grades, all the way up to the age of sixteen. Totto Land children enrolled at five, so there was plenty of time. If they still could not finish by then, they were generally advised to give up. If they still wished to improve afterward, they could pay for further education themselves.
And if they could not afford tuition, did not wish to improve, simply could not learn, and had no outstanding special talent—identifying special talents was also an