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「Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve seen many students from other countries in the academy; Mia, do you know why that is?」

As promised yesterday, we are doing hunter work with Mia today. We went to a spot with no people, and I watched over Ciel and Mia as they gathered medicinal herbs.

Out of the blue, a thought popped to mind, so I asked Ciel to switch out and inquired Mia. To be honest, I would have preferred if Ciel asked this question in my stead, but she probably doesn’t understand my rationale―it’s likely not even interesting for her―so considering the flow of the conversation, I decided to take control.

Hearing my question, Mia paused her working hands for a moment and turned to me, muttering, 「Let me see.」

「My lady, how much do you know about world affairs?」
「I barely know anything about it. Before arriving at Central, I didn’t have the leeway to be concerned about it, and ever since arriving at Central, it still didn’t pique my interest. While I do know that Estoque doesn’t recognize non-human races, I don’t really know why that is the case.」
「Then how about the church’s stance towards other races?」
「I know even less about the church, but I did hear that there are factions with different opinions of Jobs.」

Jobs were granted by the gods, so there are those that believe people with useless Disappointing Jobs must have been forsaken by the gods and those that believe otherwise.
Continuing that line of thought, it isn’t particularly difficult to guess how they might treat non-human races.

「In that case, are races that don’t possess Jobs a target of discrimination?」
「There are factions that discriminate, but the church as a whole considers them good neighbors. Even elves and dwarves can utilize church services like any other people.」
「So they recognize them, huh.」
「… That’s right.」

Was Mia’s reluctant nod due to her knowing that nearly all factions of the church don’t recognize Song Princesses, or because she feels bad about me knowing this fact? Or perhaps I’m just reading too much into it. Without answering my inner doubts, Mia continued her explanation.

「Returning to world affairs, Estoque holds ideals similar to those of the church. Like them, they are critical of Misfortunate Jobs. And much like the church, they view the other races as fundamentally different—but unlike the church, Estoque harbors outright disdain for them. While the church at least makes public efforts to build bridges, Estoque doesn’t even pretend to try. That’s the greatest difference between Estoque and the church.
Because of that, some people even refer to it as a kingdom founded by the church’s racist faction.」
「But Estoque isn’t actually acting against church doctrine, are they?」
「Apparently, the scriptures don’t specify how other races should be treated, so technically, no. Partly because of this, very few people from Estoque choose to study at Ausente, where other races are accepted and commonly seen, even in towns and villages.」
「Still, that doesn’t mean there are no students from there at all, right?」

If I recall, there isn’t much non-human discrimination in the rural areas. Besides, there should be people willing to turn a blind eye to the presence of other races in order to obtain technologies.
And it seems that I wasn’t wrong, as Mia nodded in agreement.

「True, having zero students from them is unusual. Not only are there none in your grade, there aren’t any in the other years as well; it’s unprecedented.」

In that case, should I assume that something has happened in the past few years? Maybe the relations between Estoque and Ausente have soured, or so.

There is one incident that I think could be related, but that should have happened a little more than a year ago, so while there being no students a year above us is understandable, it shouldn’t affect the students two years above us, should it?

That’s what I thought, but contrary to my assumptions, Mia brought up the said incident from a little more than a year ago.

「What triggered this was Royal Capital Estoque’s stampede. However, you may be more knowledgeable than I am on that topic.」
「That may be the case… but does it really affect all years?」
「It’s an affair that is concerned with their nation’s survival, after all, so their enrolled students must have rushed back to the kingdom.」
「Is that how it is?」
「That is how it is.」

When you put it that way, I guess that’s how it is. It’s been so long since I last felt any sense of patriotism, so while I can understand the logic, I can’t really relate to it.

Still, thinking about it more, most of the students abroad should be nobles; they probably have a stronger sense of duty towards their homeland compared to the people in my old world. At least, to the point that they feel the need to return home when there’s a disaster happening. They can surely provide some help in the reconstruction, no matter how small, and if they didn’t return home and simply ignored the chaos, they’d probably be criticized by their people. There’s even a chance that it could lead to other nobles taking advantage of their absence against them.

「Moving on to Eusreuk, for the past few years… no, few decades, their nation has been experiencing turbulent times, so they don’t really have children studying abroad.」
「In the south, right? Isn’t there also an empire further south of them?」
「Yes. This very turbulence is due to their conflict with that Empire.」
「I don’t really know much about that part; why did the conflict between the two nations happen?」

I completely forgot Eusreuk, but Estoque, Ausente, and Eusreuk are the three great nations. With the Empire included, they’re considered the great four, if I recall. I asked Mia for more information, and she provided me with more context.

「Estoque, Ausente, and Eusreuk were originally called the continent’s three great nations. Among them, the king’s ruling hand is most felt in Eusreuk, and it’s said that the burden on the commoners is far greater compared to other nations. Anguished by this, Marquis Digratoria of Eusreuk began a revolt, won the favor of the surrounding lords, and named themselves the Empire.」

「What was the other countries’ reaction?」

「Most simply observed. Marquis Digratoria’s frontier lands did not border any other nation. Instead, they bordered the wildlands—the monster-infested region south of Eusreuk. Not only were there no neighboring countries to contend with, but the territory itself lay deep within Eusreuk’s heartland.
Because of this geographical reality, no foreign power would intervene unless Eusreuk explicitly requested aid. Eusreuk initially believed the rebellion could be swiftly suppressed, but the Empire managed to amass enough influence to fracture the nation. Then, by publicly declaring that it had no intention of waging war against any country other than Eusreuk, the Empire effectively reduced the likelihood of outside intervention.」