"Then… How would a Competent Ruler act in this situation?"
Vaan questioned.
"How else? He would simply send people to fight for him, rather than it only being him and his few loyal subordinates, the chances of victory are much higher if the entire Vesta City fights together. The most ideal situation would be winning without the ruler having to make a move.
That is why you don't see me knocking on everyone's door to 'exact' revenge every day. I only move when it is absolutely required, before that, I let my subordinates handle everything."
"So a competent ruler would let his people fight for him? People as in these Mage Families? What makes you think that people who would run away the moment they sense danger would be willing to fight you?" Vaan questioned. He felt like he was getting back to square one again.
"We make a condition where we give them no choice but to fight," Astra replied calmly.
"So you force them to fight?" Vaan started at his mother with a deadpan look on his face.
"Well, we are not actually forcing them, we are just making them believe that they do not have any other option."
"…"
Vaan had no clue what his mother was talking about.
And sensing that, Astra started explaining,
"As I said before, it is in human nature to seek protection. Everybody wants to live in a safe environment, we just need to create a safe area for these mages to live in and protect it."
Then, a small smirk appeared on Astra's mouth and, "While we do that, we also create an image where everything around this 'safe area' they have is hell. Create an impression that even if they do leave and their 'safe area' is destroyed, then there would be no other safe area left. Making them think that not only them but even their children would also be forced to live in this hellish world just because they were cowards and left their safe area when it needed them.
'Mages are looked down upon by others outside the Vesta City', is one example of how it is done, the Vesta City here, is the 'safe area', while the 'outside' is hell.
Are you getting what I am trying to say?
We provide a 'safe area' for them, and guarantee them that not only are we strong enough to protect them, but we are also fair and righteous. Give an impression that we value them and they will not be abandoned or bullied.
Not only that, as they work hard, they can also get countless opportunities to raise their status by sending mages to work in the Vesta Family. The more Mages you send to the Vesta Family, the more 'influence' their family gets and the higher they soar.
Make them live in this fake illusion where they live in a safe place, their efforts are paid off and they have the opportunity to shine as long as they continue to work, trap them in this lifestyle, make them think that Vesta City is the entire world. Cut them off from the rest of the world, making them believe that the outside world is just a one-dimensional 'hell' they can't live in.
If you manage to do that, that's when you actually rule them.
A 'Safe Place'? They will be the ones keeping this place safe, we will just be taking the credit.
'Opportunities to grow if they work hard?' Heh, the opportunity they are talking about is working for our Vesta Family, even in their dreams, the best they can imagine is all of their family members working for our family.
Them working for us is not doing us a favor, rather, it is us doing them a favor by hiring them.
Now, my dear son, tell me, if this can be achieved, just with us being 'Fair, Just, Upright, Righteous', would you still call our actions dumb?
Or would not doing this and living a life where you do everything on your own, fight your enemies yourself, and waste your and your loyal subordinates' lives be dumber?"
Astra questioned, the slight smile on her face as she revealed the actual truth behind her actions was… horrifying…
Vaan… he wasn't just sitting in front of his mother… he was sitting in front of the Head of the Vesta Family… the ruler of the Vesta City…
A woman who can crush any single person with just a few words…
A scheming leader who not only understood how the world worked but also capitalized on it and used it for her own good…
The Vesta Family, they were never 'fair', on the contrary, they were actually evil! Behind the mask of being fair and just, they were simply manipulating everyone, making them do what they want them to do while making them think that they were doing this for their own good.
"Mother, I have another question." Suddenly, Vaan spoke up.
"Ask away, after all, I am here to answer all your doubts today."
"The 'hell' you mentioned… the outside world…
Do people outside the Vesta City actually look down on mages or is it all just a lie our family is spreading in order to control the mages of our city?"
All the history books mentioned how Mages are looked down on and discriminated against and that only the mages living in the Vesta City were living a decent life where they can have all the freedom they want.
Vaan actually believed that to be the case, since… why would the books lie?
Now, however, if he thought about it, the oldest power in the Vesta City was his family, everything the books contain, it is not confirmed by anyone else other than the people of the Vesta Family. Heck, some books are even written by the members of the Vesta Family.
Vesta Family was more than capable of manipulating the content of the books.
To be honest, Vaan was a little scared, his entire worldview had changed, he didn't know what to believe or what not to believe, however, what he did know was one thing,
His mother was not his enemy.
He was not on the side of the victims being used here.
He was on the other side.
He was on the side of the rulers.
And of course, Vaan didn't hate that at all.
He finally understood what his mother said about not being the dog but the owner. His thinking of threatening them to the point they fear betraying you, it was good, but it would only work for an underworld gang leader, he, however, wanted to be the Ruler of the entire City which was as big as a Kingdom.
Threatening all his subordinates wasn't possible. He needed to create a scenario like his mother and the other heads of the Vesta Family had done. He needed his subordinate to act like he wanted them to while thinking that this was for their own good.
And to do that, he needed to learn more from his mother.
Seeing her son's intense gaze, Astra chuckled. Then, she cleared her throat and started explaining,
"The world is not Black and White, Vaan. There is no definite Yes or No answer to your question.
The world is Grey.
Are mages looked down upon outside the Vesta City? Yes.
But is the real condition so bad that it can be called hell? No.
This is just a human perception Vaan.
Do you think nobody ever doubted our words and went outside just to check how the real world is? Of course, they did. However, when they did leave the Vesta City, where everyone was a mage and strong mages were deeply respected, and entered the outside world where people with other interests other than magic lived, the perception they formed was according to our words.
Mages are looked down on and the Magic is weakened since the God of Magic stopped blessing us, that is indeed the truth, those mages, who experienced that feeling of being looked down on by the people around them, automatically compared it to 'hell' we were talking about.
So whether it is hell or not, honestly, I do not know. Thousands of years have passed, the definite facts had blurred up, even as the head of the Vesta Family, I do not know everything, I do, however, know what I have to do to keep ruling the Vesta City.
You can say that earlier, our words may not have been true, however, as time went by and more and more people started believing them, it came to a point where it actually did become the truth."
"So it is more like, 'Fake it till you make it' kinda thing?"
"Huh? 'Fake it till you make it?'
That's the first time I have heard of that saying, but I think it works here.
Our words eventually became the truth.
And in truth, though it may sound that way, we aren't actually completely evil either, as I said, the color grey, we actually do provide a safe environment and are righteous and just, to some extent.
People living in Vesta City, they aren't exactly living a bad life, I'd even say their life is actually quite better compared to people living in other Kingdoms."
