Politics and Mythology

"But aren't there more ordinary people? And from the way they act, the wizards don't seem like rulers at all."

Daily Life Li Ke couldn't help commenting.

"That's because the wizards never shifted to a wartime system. They don't even have an army. As for their political system, well, it's much like an alliance between aristocratic landlords and some powerful commoner wizards. And because it's a fairy-tale-like world, most wizards are fairly mild-mannered. Except for a few completely deranged ones, most of them are good-aligned."

Naruto Li Ke immediately launched into his performance.

When it came to politics, he was certain that aside from Smiling Proud Li Ke and French Li Ke, none of the Li Kes here could hold a candle to him!

"Aurors could hardly even be called armed police. The people who most resembled soldiers in the entire British Wizarding World were the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters. Even a housewife could fight better than an aristocratic lord... though that housewife was an aristocrat herself, just one from a fallen family. And once you give these people even a little training in tactical thinking, you'll realize how frightening they are... Nobody ever said wizards couldn't use ordinary people's weapons."

Smiling Proud Li Ke added his thoughts.

He'd also noticed that Daily Life Li Ke seemed a little absent-minded. He had no idea what had caused it.

"Exactly. What's more, the Wizarding World has hardly ever gone on a war footing. And because wizards can provide for themselves, the Ministry of Magic's control is actually very weak, nowhere near as strong as a government in the ordinary world. But once a real war breaks out, the entire Wizarding World will go into battle mode. If wizards who usually spend all their time looking for fun put all their energy and intelligence into the war..."

French Li Ke stated a fact that left every Li Ke present silent.

"And since Hogwarts can make every electronic device brought inside stop working, there's no reason other wizards couldn't band together and disable most electronic devices in developed regions. If they have something like the Muggle-Repelling Charm, then developing a large-scale spell that prevents gunpowder weapons from firing isn't unrealistic either."

Naruto Li Ke spoke again. He was looking at the matter entirely from a military perspective.

"And the reason it seems like they're protecting wizards is simple, too. In my world, magic is tied to emotion. A person's feelings can affect their spells, and ordinary people can give birth to young wizards. So dividing wizards and ordinary people into two separate races is incredibly foolish, because there are simply too few wizards."

French Li Ke added, and when he finished, Smiling Proud Li Ke picked up the thread.

"What's more, since emotions can affect magic, wizards don't dare take an extreme path. Extremism only leads to self-destruction. Raise the banner of wizard supremacy, and countless wizards will become extremists, then turn into madmen like Voldemort... If everyone in a society were like Voldemort, the world would be destroyed. There's also the problem of how people see things. If an African American showed up in front of you claiming to be the rightful heir of China and a descendant of the Yan and Huang emperors, would you accept that? It's the same principle."

After he finished, French Li Ke summed it all up.

"So it's easy to see why wizards haven't conquered the whole world. The wizarding community simply can't function as a single dominant ethnic group, because much of its population comes from the various peoples and countries of the ordinary world. These people are naturally shaped by the cultures and beliefs of the countries and ethnic groups they come from. For example, French wizards and British wizards don't get along, because they still think of themselves as 'British wizards' and 'French wizards.' The important part isn't 'wizard.' It's 'French' and 'British.'"

French Li Ke's words made Daily Life Li Ke scratch his head. He could understand, but at the same time, he didn't really get it.

In practice, he didn't understand this part or that part.

He had the memories and knew the other guy was right, but it still felt a little too realistic.

"Why do I feel like I'm sitting in a politics class?"

Dark Li Ke couldn't help commenting from the side. He couldn't really keep up with the thinking of these three political science teachers, either.

"No need to wonder. This is a politics class."

Apocalypse Li Ke piled on. He could think of all this, but the problem was—

His shitty world had no use for any of it!

Firmly kill or drive out the do-gooders, the slackers, the troublemakers, and the freeloaders. That was the apocalypse's only rule and political system!

Naruto Li Ke still seemed eager to continue, but Wizard Li Ke had already said everything he could, so he responded to the Li Ke beside him.

"Because the Ninja System is a pile of shit! I've always wondered why I have to live in this mess, and why this idiotic world ended up such a disaster."

Naruto Li Ke bluntly explained why he'd become a politics teacher. Smiling Proud Li Ke spoke up from the side, too.

"For me, it's because the world I live in, Smiling Proud Wanderer, was written by someone to comment on politics..."

Smiling Proud Li Ke stopped there. He wasn't sure if his world was a novel, and if it was, the River Crab Deity would punish them all. Just then, French Li Ke spoke again.

"Because I'm old Parisian White Banner! My ancestors crossed the pass with Napoleon. I've got the blood and titles of five noble houses, and if you count them all, I've even got Ottoman, Greek, Egyptian, and Roman nobility in my family tree! Politics is practically a required course for me!"

French Li Ke gestured to himself, wearing the unmistakable expression of an upper-class snob.

"If I hadn't gone to Beauxbatons, there's a good chance I'd have inherited my family's seat in parliament, or gone straight into politics. At the very least, I could've become environment minister before I turned forty, then made all of France use paper straws and cups that met the environmental standards I set, so my mother's factory could make money."

"How dark!"

Daily Life Li Ke stared at French Li Ke in shock. He hadn't expected there to be such a dark Li Ke! Dark Li Ke, however, had noticed something else: French Li Ke's ancestry.

"Then aren't you just as much of a mongrel as Naruto Li Ke... though I'm not much different."

The Nephalem of the Dark World were a mixture of Angels and Demons. If you rounded up, that made them the small-time creator gods of that world.

"I don't think there's any point obsessing over this. It'll only attract Tzeentch. Besides, French Li Ke, you wouldn't give up the wealth of the ordinary world, either, so none of this really matters. You don't actually have any demands of the Wizarding World, unless you want to do something."

Warhammer Li Ke spoke up. He had a feeling that if these three political science Li Kes kept discussing the subject, Tzeentch would catch the scent and come running as soon as he returned to his own world.

"Politics and sex... they always manage to attract men."

Type-Moon Li Ke murmured from the side. He wasn't especially sensitive to politics, either. Lately, Scathach had been putting him through brutal training. His Magecraft and fighting abilities had improved by leaps and bounds, and even his body was getting stronger and stronger.

But he still probably couldn't trade blows with real Heroic Spirits. Right now, he was very interested in the abilities of his cheat.

"Come to think of it, haven't you noticed the black fog has lasted unusually long this time?"

Type-Moon Li Ke pointed around them. The black fog, which had been churning constantly, had now settled down. It looked much more stable than last time. Usually, it would disperse after they exchanged a few words, but this time it had lasted an unusually long time.

But the moment he said that, the black fog began churning again.

Just as all the Li Kes thought this meeting was about to end, a figure appeared in front of them once more.

His style was clearly unusual.

Seeing so many people, this Li Ke froze, too. Before he could react, Naruto Li Ke slapped him on the shoulder. The next moment, Naruto Li Ke's expression turned strange.

The other Li Kes saw what happened and patted one another on the shoulder. Their expressions turned strange at the same time.

Because...

The place where this Li Ke lived was rather special.

The land where this Li Ke lived was generally called Youxiong by later generations.

Or, the Youxiong Clan.

And the most famous person from the Youxiong Clan...

Was Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan.

It was just that the Youxiong Clan was having a rather rough time at present. During the day, the men went out hunting, while the women searched the safe fields for berries and foxtail grass, gathering the seeds and fruit. They basically had no food stored away.

Most importantly, this Li Ke had an axe in one hand and a spear in the other. Judging by their appearance, they were unmistakably made of stone.

His clothes were standard animal skins, too. Never mind modern civilization—the place hadn't even reached the agricultural age.

But Naruto Li Ke, the first to finish looking through the memories, couldn't help blurting out a comment.

"Wait, why are there actual dragons in your primitive world?! You hunted two dragons with stone spears? And this world really has Sages?!"

That was right. This Li Ke, from the Yellow Emperor's tribe, and his people had hunted two evil dragons that could summon rain at will with stone spears. They'd also killed plenty of demons and monsters by beating them with torches and throwing rocks at them.

Of course, there were stronger demons and monsters, too. But there were usually Qi Refiners around to deal with them. The Qi Refiner currently freeloading at their tribe was generally known as Guangchengzi.

Guangchengzi's clothes weren't much better. They were mostly tree bark tied together with animal skins. But he really did know spells. He could start fires and block out the sun.

But the last time he stole some cured meat Li Ke had made, Li Ke punched him to the ground. Guangchengzi promptly fell asleep and didn't wake up for half a day. When he came back to settle the score, Li Ke pinned him down and beat him again, then they shared some roast meat and made peace.

Myth Li Ke still didn't like Guangchengzi much, though.

Guangchengzi smacked his lips when he ate, and he liked to fart.

"..."

Daily Life Li Ke didn't want to accept a xianxia world like this. He couldn't accept that the ancient deities he'd imagined looked like the people in these memories.

He couldn't accept the fact that the Yellow Emperor had to take a dump, and that it smelled especially bad!

He didn't want to know such dark things!

"Your world... really is..."

French Li Ke also found himself at a loss for words. If he said Guangchengzi wasn't powerful, he could still be knocked unconscious for half a day by a single punch from Myth Li Ke. And Myth Li Ke himself was only about average in terms of physical strength in the tribe. He mainly relied on his brains.

The one who could really fight was named Xuanyuan—the Yellow Emperor. Li Ke had once seen him wrestle a black bear head-on and knock it out with a single slap.

But then three or four black bears chased him off.

That was right. The Youxiong Clan had that name because there really were bears on their land!

And there were lots of them!

But this world was powerful in its own way. Guangchengzi really could block out the sun for several days, helping them hide from some of the more powerful beasts.

And yet, before he came to the Xuanyuan tribe, someone like him could barely get enough to eat. The Yellow Emperor had only one thing to say about his spells.

"What do I need darkness for? It's harder to catch prey in the dark!"

There was nothing fancy about it!

"I think the medical books I've read would be enough to make you Shennong in that world..."

Smiling Proud Li Ke couldn't help chiming in. He lived in ancient times, so of course he knew how revered the gods of those myths were in antiquity.

After all, the Mount Hua lineage belonged to the Daoist tradition. He had to read the Daoist scriptures, or he wouldn't even understand the martial arts manuals.

And once he'd read the Daoist scriptures, he naturally read some medical texts, too. With his Hard Drive Spirit talent, he had no need to worry about wasting time.

"Ah, well, I was pretty surprised at first, too."

Myth Li Ke had just finished looking through the other Li Kes' memories and responded.

"But I think my world is actually pretty real. After all, whether gods or ancestors, they all came into being step by step, didn't they? Though my world doesn't have anything like merit light."

As he spoke, he gave a plain, simple smile. There was a touch of relief in it, and a touch of helplessness.

"If something like that existed, a lot fewer people would die."

All the Li Kes present fell silent. In Myth Li Ke's memories, they'd seen all sorts of ways to die: eating the wrong mushrooms, eating snails and then watching their bellies swell as parasites emerged from their bodies before they went mad and died, being bitten by venomous snakes or insects, or being killed by all kinds of strange beasts while hunting.

Some had been bitten by a bug and died, too. There were too many bizarre ways to die. But before they died, these people would try their best to tell the others how it had happened, so that the next generation would know what was dangerous.

In short, the average lifespan in Myth Li Ke's world was even shorter than that of the people in Naruto Li Ke's world. At just eighteen years old, he was already an elder of the tribe. And because of the memories he'd brought from his previous life, even Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan wanted to abdicate and let Li Ke lead the Youxiong Clan.

"So this is the Prehistoric World."

Dark Li Ke gave his verdict.