CH 62

Ray-sensei’s POV

Laminasism. (***T/N: can also be called Lamina religion)

It is a sect that considers the imperial family of this Holy Svelastrian Empire to be descendants of God.

Due to the complex domestic environment, this is now a fully unified—that is, it is not the state religion.

However, because the imperial family has officially recognized the content of the doctrine that is advantageous to them, it is almost like a de-facto state religion.

Incidentally, there is also a sect called Hastasism (***T/N: or Hasta religion), which recognizes no gods other than those in primitive mythology, and has repeatedly engaged in what might be called a religious war with its Sinhalite neighbors, who use it as their state religion, for various reasons.

But, well, most religious wars are, in effect, a scramble for land, people, and resources with the pretext of a ‘missionary’ or a ‘holy war’…

Well, back to the main subject.

It is not publicly known what the origin of the whole thing was. But at some point, the distance between the new aristocracy and Laminasism suddenly grew rapidly.

Originally, Laminasism was a cult with more doctrines and activities for the people than for the nobility. It was structured in a way that demanded loyalty to the emperor from the people.

And it demanded that the farmers, commerce and industry folk, and pastoralists—the majority of the people—lived earnestly, simply and honestly to contribute to society.

But as it got more entwined with the new aristocracy, their way of being began to change a bit. One might say that the aristocracy, which had been the users of religion, began to be used.

It could be that it was the new aristocracy’s way of getting closer to the emperor, or it could be that ardent followers just happened to be many of the most powerful.

Whichever it was, the religion, which had previously been closer to the commoners, was changed by the close inclusion of one of the aristocracy’s forces. The Lamina religion became even more powerful.

Its power gradually extended to the three academic institutes, and the content of the classes changed dramatically depending on the content of its doctrine.

Some of the doctrines’ influences in included…

—A child is a child of God until they become 10.

—God’s children are to be loved and cared for.

—Parents are to help and watch over the children of God.

The meaning of these words was not to be taken at face value.

The meaning of this doctrine, which was largely aimed for the people, was that children should be with their parents…or, to put it bluntly, they should stay home and help out in the family business rather than go to school.

The result of mixing this with the following doctrinal content caused the trend of  “equality and peace for children” and the neglect of magic.

—Do not harm others.

—Never learn the art of warfare.

—Everyone should work hard on the soil and help each other.

—Grow livestock and crops honestly, without leaning on your desk.

Again, this kind of doctrinal content was essentially for the commoners.

On top of that, it was probably a mixture of words interpreted from the underlying doctrines that had been handed down from long ago, and added by the leading figures of the church.

……Haa~

The reason why I’m thinking about such a difficult thing is because of the Headmistress’ sudden partial skipping suggestion…rather than a class exemption, a research recommendation statement.

I thought about this as I walked down towards the class.

In the aftermath of the stronger ties between Laminasism and the aristocracy, the content of classes at school had changed, which naturally led to changes in the work of the teachers as well.

Compared to the teachers of the past, I’ve heard that today’s teachers have it a lot easier.

And that’s just as well. The content of the classes taught is now four-fifths of what it was a while ago.

If the lost techniques and theories are included in this number, I can’t even tell how much it has been reduced by.

I can only guess how much the burden of teaching has decreased.

The people who looked uncomfortable at the staff meeting just now might have been so because of the doctrine of Laminasism, but it seems that it was also because they really didn’t like the increased burden that would be put on them.

Naturally, there were those who were concerned about the future of the country and the future of their children in these changes.

However, everyone felt that it was not a good idea to turn the emperor into an enemy, as well as the Lamina religion supported by the financially vigorous new aristocrats.

And they decided that it was sufficient enough to provide higher education only to the students of Mystico, who were not “children” in the sense of the doctrine.

“………”

To that end…

This time, Headmistress Ortensia was going to resist in earnest.

It’s going to be messy, that’s for sure.

The emperor usually leaves the decision about education to the Three-School Council. But one of the representatives of the three schools, Director Godholt of the Mystico Prova Research Institute, is an ardent follower of Laminasism. I don’t think he’ll keep silent about this.

This matter will surely reach the ears of the Emperor.

In the past year or so since Headmistress Ortensia had taken office, there have been no shortage of minor disturbances, but now, something else is about to happen that can’t be compared to that.

I found that deeply troublesome and sighed.

……I was actually elated.

When I had first became a teacher, I had had high aspirations, unlike now, where I had fallen into the world of mediocrity.

For me, I had been working diligently with the kids, trying to teach them to be better and improve the status quo.

I studied old materials in the library and tried to incorporate old and lost knowledge into my classes. I also tried to improve upon the studies of the older students in advance.

However, that was soon put to a halt.

The senior faculty, some radical parents, and most of all…

Reigatos, the former headmaster of the school.

“If you don’t want to be fired, you must follow the policy of our school…no, the policies of Laminasism.”

“You’re standing out too much. What do you want to do? I can’t cover up for you any longer.”

Those were the words of the other resigned teachers who left me frustrated and defensive. And I felt rotten, thinking that this was the reality.

There was only one teacher I used to admire. A person who had already disappeared, but I had pursued his image and became a teacher.

Unfortunately, the pressures of reality forced me to choose the other side.

However…

Due to that chance encounter with Alice and Headmistress Ortensia, someone who was influenced by Alice, a major movement in the Three-Schools Conference emerged.

Rather, in hindsight, Headmistress Ortensia must have been waiting for a plan to form. After a year of repeated minor investigations, perhaps she used Alice’s answers as an opportunity.

Besides…I had become rotten…and although I paused to say it, I could feel the passion that had been lost inside in my heart, slowly returning.

Damn it, it’s not like that. I’m embarrassed to death by this impulse***, this urge to become a student once again. (***T/N: This translation was confusing and kept referring to ‘blue impulse,’ but I believe it can be translated as a ‘youth’ or ‘schoolboy impulse’ or even ‘tempting’ or ‘passion’ impulse—that urge to become a kid again)

I had called the Headmistress, the ‘stupid Headmistress’ in my head. It was because I couldn’t stand the sight of her doing whatever she wanted to do…but in reality, it was because I just couldn’t stand the sight of my own frustrated impulses poking around.

I didn’t want to have hope, and just couldn’t stand it.

I swore and refused it so many times in my head.

But this time, just maybe…

I walked into the afternoon classroom with that in mind, ruminating on the Headmistress’ last words from the staff meeting.

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T/N: More world building and getting some insight on Ray-sensei!