"Three races coexisting, that's too simple," Rosse smiled as he spoke. Truth be told, compared to true equality, racial equality was far too insignificant.
After all, racial equality was something that could actually be achieved, but true equality, as long as humans still had desires, was impossible to realize.
"How would we do that?", Otohime looked nervously at Rosse, yet without any suspicion or doubt.
In her eyes, Rosse was far more capable than herself.
A problem that troubled her greatly might, to Rosse, just be a small matter.
The things Rosse cared about, she believed, must be matters that concerned the whole world.
Just like the Holy Land incident not long ago, and the subsequent governance and handling of pirates. Compared to those, what she was asking now was a trivial matter.
"Within the Mermaid Kingdom, eliminate the very concept of race," Rosse said.
He had no idea that, in Otohime's eyes, he seemed so great. He was simply voicing an approach he thought feasible for her to hear.
As for how Otohime would execute it, how she would improve it, and whether it could lead to a good outcome in the end, that would depend on her.
In this area, it wasn't even his strong suit.
If anything, he was actually someone who most followed the law of the jungle.
The strong rise, the weak are trampled, simple as that.
When he had been weak, it wasn't as if he hadn't been bullied.
But personally, he held no view of racial discrimination.
Simply because, in his eyes, as long as one was strong, regardless of race, they should be respected.
As long as one was weak, regardless of race, they could only passively accept their fate.
From this, one could deduce that the best way to achieve racial equality was to erase the concept of race entirely.
Put simply, replace racial divisions with divisions of class or strength to completely resolve issues between races.
"Eliminate the concept of race… you mean, promote that everyone is just part of the Kingdom?", Otohime might not have instantly grasped it, but she could vaguely sense Rosse's meaning.
"That's right," Rosse nodded, then explained, "Right now, the Mermaid Kingdom is built on the foundation of humans, fish-men, and merfolk. If you keep emphasizing the concept of these three races, no matter what, you'll never achieve true mutual understanding."
"The more you promote racial equality or coexistence, the more the three races will focus on their own rights. Naturally, they'll feel they are unequal, and racial inequality and discrimination will persist all the more."
"I understand now."
Otohime nodded in realization, "If I bring it up too much, regardless of whether I can truly be fair, just mentioning it will make people think along those lines. Even ordinary matters would turn into issues of racial discrimination."
If it had been the old her, she would never have been able to think of this.
But these past days of governance had taught her many truths through experience.
When many merfolk or fish-men argued, they would use her proposed racial ideals as an excuse.
Yet in reality, those bringing them up were often the side that had benefited, still, they felt unsatisfied.
Otohime quickly understood this point. But as she continued thinking down this path, another idea occurred to her, "Then, according to this logic, if we also spoke less about class and strength, could we make everyone equal?"
"That's a dangerous thought," Rosse halted his steps and glanced at Otohime, "I won't deny that your thinking has the potential to be realized. In theory, if everyone stopped caring about their own gains and losses, then true equality for all could be achieved."
"But here's the problem—"
"Why are you the queen of the Mermaid Kingdom, while others are dockworkers or café servers?"
"I think a leader should have the ability to manage everyone…", Otohime pressed her lips together as she spoke.
By the end, her voice grew quieter, she herself realized something was off.
Rosse had mentioned this to her before.
The differences in people's thinking were so great they could never truly understand each other.
Some believed a leader should have strength.
Some believed a leader should have capability.
Some believed a leader should have noble blood.
Some believed a leader needed nothing at all, that even a fool could do the job.
But there was one point on which most people agreed, a person in a high position must be more honored and live better than those in a low position.
A king of a nation must live better and be more prestigious than a dockworker.
A restaurant server could never compare to a kingdom noble or a local mayor.
In short, no matter how much they curse those above them, everyone wants to be one of them.
This, Otohime could now understand.
"Between people, equality is impossible," Otohime sighed.
She was happy her dream had a potential solution, but the topic was still heavy for her kind nature.
Humans, once they experienced reality, would slowly mature.
This was something Sora had once told her.
Otohime felt she was in that very process now.
"This is inevitable," Rosse looked at Otohime and said calmly, "Leaving aside meaningless things like birth, just in terms of obvious factors like talent, people can't be equal."
"You were born with Observation Haki, while some people are born with an S-class physique, born at a height others can't reach in a lifetime. Where's the equality in that?"
"That's true," Otohime nodded silently. She could understand what Rosse meant.
In the past, without exposure, she hadn't realized how precious her abilities were.
Though she hadn't been with Rosse for long, hearing and seeing more had led her to learn for herself.
Her natural, special Observation Haki was absolutely a power the whole world dreamed of having.
To exaggerate a bit, among all intelligent races in the world, at any given time, there were fewer than a hundred individuals born with natural Observation Haki.
With such a staggering rarity, she truly was someone favored by fate.
Afterwards, Otohime led Rosse to tour the current Mermaid Kingdom.
At present, the Mermaid Kingdom was based on Punk Hazard Island, temporarily divided into three zones, port Rosse Town, the central island Mermaid Royal Capital, and Punk Underwater City on the far side of the island.
All three areas were still in a very early stage of completion. Port Rosse Town was only 1% of the planned build.
According to Otohime's vision, it would become the largest port in the New World, a bridge linking the first half of the New World and the Holy Land.
In other words, the role of Rosse Town would be equivalent to the Sabaody Archipelago on the other side of the Red Line.
For now, however, only the bare framework was done. A few warships could fill the entire port.
In the future, it would need to dock at least a hundred large ships and nearly a thousand medium and small vessels at the same time.
This was Otohime's vision, her dream of the Mermaid Kingdom, formed through these recent days of experience and growth.
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