Chapter 3189: Top-Down Reform

There are many High Elves who scramble for power, but very few like Ruigeante who openly admit to being attached to it; most power-holders prefer to use "the people" as an excuse, always claiming everything is "for the sake of the people."

Of course, Xia Duo also believes that Elder Ruigeante, who can go against mainstream opinion to find ways to improve the status of Druids, is likely not trying to satisfy his own desire for power by retaining it.

Sure enough, after Xia Duo asked further, Ruigeante gave an explanation—

"The Evereska Council of Elders has an unwritten convention, one that almost all Elf nations have, which is that once a High Mage needs to resist death, they no longer possess real power."

"At that time, while they certainly still possess powerful deterrence and even a more lofty social status, they can no longer manage specific affairs."

"Simply put, once my lifespan reaches its end, I must step down as a Council Elder. Afterward, while my words will become a reference for Council decisions, it will be very difficult to directly change anything."

"Why? Elder, why are you so persistent about changing things yourself? I know you have been dedicated to changing the status of Druids in Evereska in recent years, but if I may be blunt, I feel that the changes in the status of Druids since the establishment of the Northland Alliance may be more than all your efforts in the past combined!"

Xia Duo's words seemed to hit Ruigeante's fatal weakness. Indeed, he had put in countless efforts in the past, yet failed to substantively change the status of Druids. Instead, it was only after the Northland Alliance was established, with frequent exchanges between countries and the influence of abnormal weather, that the status of Druids improved, but that was all.

But soon, Ruigeante regained his resolve. Thinking about it, if not for his own persistence, how could he have been persuaded by Kalishi?

Could it be just because of the longevity promised by the other party? In fact, High Mages do not need to rely on extra means to achieve longevity, or even immortality; only when they need to retain power do they need to avoid the end of their physical lifespan.

"While I cannot guarantee that the status of Druids will undergo a qualitative change while I am in this position, it certainly won't deteriorate. As for the positive influence brought by the Alliance, I admit it exists, but how long has the Alliance been established? Just because there is an influence now doesn't mean there will be in the future. If I can't watch over it myself, I won't be at ease!"

What a straightforward reason. If someone else had said it, Xia Duo might have thought it was hypocrisy and a flare-up of power lust, but coming from Ruigeante, there was an inexplicable sense of righteousness.

It was as if what he was attached to was not power, but a kind of responsibility.

Perhaps this was Ruigeante's Reality.

However, in Xia Duo's view, while such thoughts are worthy of respect, they are not worth emulating. He told Ruigeante, "The reason you are uneasy, and why your previous efforts yielded no results, is largely because you did not cultivate companions with the same philosophy. If you had, would you still be uneasy?"

"No, Consultant Xia Duo, you are wrong there!" Ruigeante seemed very happy to have finally picked out a place where Xia Duo was wrong, but after laughing, a flash of sadness that could not be hidden appeared in Ruigeante's eyes.

"Actually, as early as two hundred years ago, I tried to cultivate subordinates who agreed with improving the status of Druids, and even tried to cultivate them from the Druid community. At first, it was indeed successful, but as time went on, they became just like other Elf Mages. After trying this many times, I gave up the intention of continuing to cultivate them."

He really had cultivated them! This made Xia Duo look at him with renewed respect, while at the same time, Ruigeante's experience made him worry again about the original intention of the Progress Society.

Right now he is still here, firmly holding onto all the upward mobility resources of the Progress Society, but in the future, when the advancement of Progress Society members no longer relies on him, will he still have his current influence?

Impossible!

Then how can one maintain the same philosophy and the same goal for a long time in an organization where everyone is equal? This is indeed a difficult, long-standing problem.

Even if Xia Duo has cases from his hometown to refer to, he cannot guarantee that the entire Progress Society will be of one mind with him, let alone that even the ready-made cases from his hometown cannot keep everyone true to their original intentions.

It is just that they won't deviate too far in the general direction.

Perhaps this is also the future path of the Progress Society.

Even the Territory might not be of one mind with him in the future, but Xia Duo believes that the attraction of the Ziyou Wangguo is enough to draw people in; even without considering any external factors, it is enough to attract a group of like-minded people.

And as for the improvement of the status of Druids that Ruigeante wants to achieve, to be honest, this goal is really too small and too easy to achieve, so much so that those Druids whose status changed overnight immediately changed their class stance.

Perhaps only a sufficiently grand common goal can truly unite a large group of like-minded people to strive for this goal one after another.

Otherwise, a group that can gather for this small goal today might scatter tomorrow for their own other small goals.

This is the truest portrayal of Ruigeante's experience. If the goal were grand enough and attractive enough, perhaps it wouldn't just be the grassroots Druid fence-sitters who were interested; perhaps other High Mages would join as well.

That would be the power truly capable of changing the situation!

Judging from Ruigeante's past words and deeds, this should be an ally worth winning over, so Xia Duo told the other party his thoughts.

After hearing this, Ruigeante was stunned for a few seconds, and only after a long time did he say: "You mean my goal is too small and too easy to achieve, so that once the goal is achieved, it is difficult to condense the hearts of the people?"

"Yes, and one more thing: if you only mention improving the status of Druids, what will the ordinary Commoner think? It has nothing to do with them, so why should they support you? But is the status of ordinary Commoners already very high? Does it not need improvement?"

Not only that, Xia Duo also proposed, "And the grassroots Mages, whose Magic Knowledge and resources are monopolized by the upper levels—do their status and circumstances not need improvement?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Ruigeante suddenly sobered up and blurted out subconsciously, "You are trying to subvert the rule of the Upper Family!"

"Otherwise? Or do you think that without those Upper Family, the ordinary masses wouldn't be able to survive? Or perhaps you cannot face your own family?"

Revolution must, of course, be thorough; an incomplete revolution is sometimes more hateful than direct surrender. This can also be explained by that classic saying—heretics are more hateful than infidels.

After saying this, Xia Duo stopped speaking. At this moment, the last glimmer of the sunset had already faded, but because it was near the end of the month, the moon was very bright, so it was not completely dark.

At this time, Xia Duo caught a glimpse of Butler Wuerban waiting silently not far away, and a trace of regret arose in his heart, feeling that he shouldn't have said these things to Ruigeante, causing him to delay important business.

Since it is already known that Kalishi used the promise of longevity to exchange for Ruigeante's change in attitude, then by the same logic, perhaps the situation in Yierlan is also for this reason.

Even further, Comantho, whose attitude has not yet changed, might also change its attitude for this reason.

After all, Yilisier Mianwang has ruled Comantho for a thousand years; who knows if he wants to rule for the next thousand years!