--Temple · Regent's office.
"Hmm, Sephi, where's Lilith?"
Seeing that Sephiroth had come to her office alone, Isabella put down the documents in her hands and couldn't help asking.
"She's playing with water balloons."
"...?"
However ditzy Isabella was, she was no longer the clueless girl she'd been a few years ago. She gave Sephiroth a look that said, "She'd better be playing with water balloons."
In this feudal world of supernatural powers, even though Sephiroth's moral standards had only been those of an ordinary citizen in his previous life, here he still qualified as a wise and benevolent ruler.
An existence indistinguishable from a god to ordinary people actually listened to reason. Most kings in this world had little power of their own, yet still behaved like scumbags.
Sephiroth's power grew by the day, but his mindset remained normal and his emotions stable. His "common sense" counted as "benevolent governance" in this world.
If Sephiroth had constantly touted his own actions as good, Lilith wouldn't have been quite so obsessed.
It was like one of the criticisms Daoists on Blue Star leveled at Confucianism: that Confucians actually considered "filial piety" noble was utterly absurd. Filial piety wasn't noble; it was simply what one ought to do.
Although Lilith hadn't grasped it on that level, she could understand the feeling.
Having once belonged to Birka's lowest social strata, she'd regarded Sephiroth with awe and attachment during his time as the Holy Son. But ever since his "ascension to godhood," her feelings had been growing deeper.
Hearing him say something like that in such a casual tone, Lilith had impulsively gone on the offensive... and by now, she'd already called GG.
"About the situation... Lily has already discussed it with thee, so I shall not belabor it. The question is how we should now resolve these issues with the Purity Faction..."
According to Birka's traditional experience, all they needed to do was issue a so-called "divine decree" through the religious system.
But after receiving the earlier situation brief, Sephiroth had told them not to take any direct measures yet. They were to wait until the ideological trend had clearly emerged before addressing it.
Indeed, this had drawn out practically everyone behind it, but the ideology had also spread fairly widely throughout Babylon.
Some old Birka natives from the Plain Yellow Banner even privately called the people of Cocoyasi filthy beggars from outside.
Without a "true god" keeping Babylon in check, there was no telling what the situation might have become.
"I've left the people behind this to Lilith's Security Committee. But we can't deal with ordinary people that way. Neither 'divine decrees' nor 'government orders' will do."
"...Hmm?"
"Because this is human nature. They're not wrong; they just aren't smart enough... or rather, they don't know the 'full picture.'"
As Heaven's regent, Isabella had access to information from all of Babylon, as well as all sorts of intelligence gathered from the Blue Sea.
The data showed her very clearly what Sephiroth's foreign policy had brought Babylon: more foreign trade, a richer variety of products, more resources, and more diverse cultural entertainment.
Babylon was a Sky Island, after all. Its natural resources lacked variety, and from the perspective of industrial development, they could even be called scarce.
Based on Sephiroth's experience in his previous life, the Sky Island's current geopolitical circumstances resembled those of Great Britain, while its international standing resembled that of the Country of Compounding Favors.
The lunar reconstruction also lacked resources and essentially depended on supplies from the surface.
(Original story: they came to the blue planet because of a lack of resources.)
The lunar reconstruction was also a crucial part of the "Artificial Heaven" project, determining whether they could establish a strategic deterrent against the World Government.
"So you're looking at this from a position of enormous informational advantage and deciding they're unruly troublemakers. That's actually a kind of arrogance. It has nothing to do with morality; it's a danger rulers find difficult to avoid."
The nobility of this world always seemed rather clueless when it came to politics. On Blue Star, never mind comparing them with a historical monster like the Celestial Empire-they couldn't even compare with Europe during the Dark Ages.
Babylon's current situation closely resembled Great Britain's departure from the European Union on Blue Star in his previous life.
Ordinary people in Great Britain only saw the government spending money to help poor allies. They never considered how much that system benefited their three islands, isolated overseas.
As a result, they were now diverting navy funds to build gardens, their last domestically owned steelworks had gone under, and they were eagerly hoping the Celestial Empire would build factories and railways for them.
They'd gone from the disgrace of the Five Permanent Members to the disgrace of the Five Permanent Members (lol).
In the end, they'd become just like the Great Qing. Curses... truly terrifying.
"So even if some information can't be disclosed, we should still guide people based on what can. With discussion running so hot right now, this is actually a good opportunity."
"I see. Thou intendest to reveal part of the truth to the people?"
"No, that's only one part of it. I remember quite a few young people on the Sky Island have started liking Carina's idol activities, right?"
"Yes. I heard reports earlier that many young people disliked the Purity Faction's xenophobic behavior. There have also been some verbal clashes."
Present-day Babylon had a high degree of automation, with robots taking over labor.
Materially, life could be considered quite prosperous. Even someone who did nothing and stayed home could rely on basic welfare to live without worrying about food or clothing.
Instead, this had led bored people with nothing to do to start trying all sorts of things... good and bad alike.
However, thanks to the Servo Angels' law enforcement system, few people dared commit crimes. More importantly, with such comfortable material lives, breaking the law simply wasn't worth it.
That was why Isabella felt the Purity Faction was making trouble for no reason. Their interests hadn't been harmed; they simply felt upset when they saw Blue Sea People receiving help.
"Then let them argue to their hearts' content. As long as there are no insults or violence, they can argue all they like. And while we're at it, regularly arrange for groups to take airships down to the Blue Sea and broaden their horizons."
It might not have been entirely appropriate here, but as the saying went, truth became clearer through debate. As long as it didn't create public-order problems, a nationwide discussion wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
"...Huh?"
Isabella didn't understand, but she was deeply shocked.
"Of course, we'll secretly favor one side a little at first. For example, besides supporting Carina's idol activities, have Nami get ready to go show up the Meteorology School."
Didn't the Purity Faction look down on Blue Sea People? By Sephiroth's judgment, Nami's current mastery of meteorology already surpassed that of most bishops in the Meteorology School.
"I see. Mm, I merely thought... if one explained something clearly, the other person would naturally understand."
Isabella spread out the documents before her and leaned back into Sephiroth's arms.
These documents had already been screened by the Sixty-Four Chambers, thanks to the Servo Angels' effective work in grassroots administration.
The documents that ultimately reached Isabella could be completed in around four hours a day on average. Although the workload wasn't heavy, there were always things that irritated her.
"Leaving aside whether you can get through to them, even if you do, people usually only believe what they're willing to believe. Otherwise, wouldn't they have 'lost'?"
Holding Isabella in front of him, Sephiroth rested his chin on her shoulder. He made little affectionate gestures, as though soothing her mood.
"But canst thou not use Emotion Absorption? Canst thou still not get through to them that way?"
"That's precisely why I understand better that, most of the time, it's just an outlet for their feelings. Besides, the act of 'communication' itself introduces 'distortion.'"
People couldn't truly understand one another or feel exactly what others felt. That was merely an approximation of empathy. Human limitations meant understanding was inevitably limited.
Hearing Sephiroth's reply as he sucked gently on her earlobe, Isabella gave a soft hum.
"So thou chose to stop being human?"
"Where did you hear that?"
"Thou talkest in thy sleep. Incidentally, who is JoJo?"
"...He's a gentleman."
Oh no. The people in the Church absolutely couldn't find out about this. Otherwise, who knew what they'd make up in the Holy Scripture next.
Yes, the "Holy Scripture." After Babylon was founded, certain people in the Church had begun working on it in secret.
But Sephiroth had chosen neither to support nor oppose it. After all, he didn't know what practical purpose a tradition stretching back over a thousand years actually served. In a world where the mind had some power over reality, he didn't want to casually undermine mystical traditions without understanding their specific reasons.
Of course, other harmful remnants were a different matter. He only left the "mystical" parts alone.
"Speaking of the Church, I have noticed... recently, its Scroll School has been undergoing a schism."
Isabella knew Sephiroth's attitude toward the Church, but this had begun over the past year or so and had only recently become more apparent.
As lunar technology was reverse-engineered, academic disagreements had emerged among the traditional Scroll Priests. The main turning point had come after Memory Crystals entered widespread use among the priests.
"What exactly happened?"
These people were always burning incense and kowtowing before his portrait. Sephiroth really had no idea what academic disputes they could possibly have.
"The red-robed Tech-Priests have broken away from the 'Scroll Order.' They have begun calling themselves the 'Mechanicus.' Hast thou any idea why?"
"...That's quite a mystery."
"Couldst thou look me in the eyes when thou sayest that? They have begun calling thee the 'Machine God.'"
"-I'm not, I didn't, don't make things up."
(Let's talk about trying to add pictures.)
Before you continue