Chapter 408: Tear-Stained Graduation Thesis 3
For mages, desire was the ultimate fuel.
From the start, the term 'mage' was synonymous with 'lunatic'. This was a truth as undeniable as fire being hot or water flowing downhill.
In a place without human rights, the concept of research ethics simply couldn't exist.
The Goddess had said that monsters and humans were equal in life, and this was the irrefutable first verse of the prophecy. When the Goddess of Life who created this land spoke about life, denying it would naturally lead to a meeting with Temple Knights, followed by a full-course tour of the temple basement, personally guided by the heresy inquisitor.
Starting with villagers throwing stones, progressing to steel flicks from gauntleted hands and beatings with iron rods, and ending with a talent show (displaying one's innards) - this wasn't what shy nobles wanted. So instead of denying the Goddess's words, they carefully added detailed conditions to that sentence.
Monsters and humans are equal life forms, yet they fight to the death. Carnivores eat herbivores - isn't this the essence of life?
It's natural for the capable to rule over the incapable!
No matter how much equality is preached, it's logical for intelligent beings to want to be a bit more 'equal' than others. The 'special' royalty chosen by the Goddess, the 'special' nobles who supported them, and the 'special' mana-users who guarded them quickly adopted a slightly twisted version of the survival of the fittest logic.
Of course, even powerless commoners had no intention of saying "We're all equal humans, let's be friends" to the sword-wielders who protected their villages and slaughtered monsters in one strike. So it was a logic everyone could understand.