Patchouli closed the book, revealing on its cover a title written in strange characters. Translated, the title meant—[The Utopia Paradox].
Her great library didn't only hold magic books; it contained all sorts of knowledge she was interested in.
The glow emitted by the Longinuses formed an almost transparent light screen before the two of them. On the other side of the screen were several miniature cities and islands.
Those were proof of Zeroy's repeated failures, constantly spewing black smoke like extinguished candle flames. Yet they were also milestones marking Zeroy's steps toward her goal.
"Why don't you take a break?"
Patchouli returned the book to the extra-dimensional library. Her violet pupils glimmered with rational light in the sunlight.
"Zeroy, perhaps you should tell me your specific view of utopia now."
Zeroy waved her hand, making the simulated cities in chaos disappear. This question made her raise an eyebrow slightly.
Ddraig had also asked her this question when she first began the simulations, and she'd answered then.
It was just that Patchouli hadn't been there at the time.
"Very simple."
She lay on the table, exhausted.
"A society without oppression and conflict, people coexisting harmoniously and respecting each other, abundance in both material and spirit, nature and civilization in symbiosis—that's also how people generally conceive of utopia, isn't it?"
Before she finished, she suddenly sighed, showing a smile mixed with exhaustion and mockery: "Yet such a society can't exist. It only grows on the pages of literature, a dream shaped by crushing reality into dust."
"Conflict will never completely disappear, nor will the selfishness in human nature."
She lowered her eyes as if talking to herself, or perhaps she was simply tired.
"Humans are like this. They're not only beautiful; their ugly side is also part of them. I don't actually deny that. What I deny is when they put malice into action, harming others."
"So long as people exist, so long as thought is free, so long as thinking isn't narrowed to ignorance, different flames will always ignite each other's piles of firewood. When different ideas collide, they'll spark beautiful fireworks, yet inevitably also unfriendly sparks."
"People need the iron cage of institutions, the discipline of absolute order."
"So my goal is actually a resource-equal society. That's the utopia I want."
Zeroy's nails unconsciously dug into her palm. "It will be like a vine climbing toward the moon, inch by inch ascending toward a true utopia, until one day I can pluck the dream down and tuck it into reality's pocket."
"A fairer starting point means no one will be trapped forever in a swamp just because they were born there. Education, healthcare, employment, housing... these basic resources should be as universal as air, not restricted by birth."
"All reasonable demands should be caught and met, so society can run smoothly like a clock oiled with lubricant."
"The crime rate will be utterly crushed; after all, only those with unreasonable demands would touch the red line—and such people are merely pests that need sweeping away."
"Equal resources will let the gold buried in sand shine on its own. There'll be no more regrets of pearls cast into darkness."
"Society's potential should surge like underground magma, forever flowing, never cooling."
Looking at the slowly dissipating miniature cities, Zeroy's voice was as light as a sigh: "No one should be forgotten in the gutter. Everyone should be lifted with respect and caught with security."
"A resource-equal society?"
Patchouli seemed thoughtful, then for once showed a faint smile.
"I'm glad you have such a clear and more realistic goal."
Before this, although she'd heard Zeroy say her goal was utopia, she hadn't paid much attention.
Because it was too broad, too hollow, without any sense of reality.
What is utopia? How do you realize it? What should every person and every day in utopia be like? What needs to be done to achieve this goal? And what had Zeroy actually done for it?
It was so vague that you couldn't even see the rough outline of the goal, so naturally, she hadn't wanted to focus on it.
Better to let Zeroy figure it out herself first.
Otherwise, she might think about it for half a day, only for Zeroy to forget it the next moment.
And in any case, a true utopia is impossible to realize. Just as Zeroy said, people have all kinds of thoughts. Even the same person can have completely different ideas facing the same day. Sparks of conflict are inevitable.
In a true utopia, people's thoughts must be highly uniform and strictly restricted. That kind of strictness far exceeds Zeroy's requirement of no crime.
At that point, humanity might hardly be considered human anymore. They might not even be living beings with thought and selfhood.
When you actually saw such a world, any normal person's reaction wouldn't be longing or joy but—fear.
A fear akin to the uncanny valley effect.
People would feel that although the humans in this utopia looked exactly like humans on the outside, inside, they weren't humans at all but some kind of pseudo-people.
Humans are supposed to feel joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, yet these people wouldn't.
Even if you punched them, they'd just keep smiling with bleeding eyes and ask you—"Is your hand okay?"
If they could feel joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, then it wouldn't be a utopia. As long as people have emotions, there will be contradictions and conflicts, yet utopia allows no contradictions.
"However, precisely because you now have a clear goal, you should rest even more. This isn't something accomplished overnight. Rushing will only cause more oversights, won't it?"
"Mm... I understand..."
Zeroy didn't refute her.
She wasn't swept up in passion; she certainly knew Patchouli and Ddraig's advice was correct.
Otherwise, she would've already started another simulation.
"Really, you've troubled yourselves keeping me company this long."
Patchouli and Ddraig hadn't just sat with her. Like her, they'd been observing the simulated societies, constantly offering ideas.
"I don't mind. I'd just be sleeping if I went back anyway."
Ddraig was completely unconcerned: "And I'm also interested in your goal. This is something even that old good guy never achieved."
"More than that, have you decided what reward you'll give me?" Patchouli raised an eyebrow.
Zeroy's ability to play with simulations was entirely thanks to borrowing Patchouli's two Longinus.
Since she was borrowing them—and would likely need to borrow them long-term—Zeroy needed to pay Patchouli compensation. This was also a gesture of thanks that Zeroy herself had proposed.
...
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