Chapter 329: Yukino's Despair: The Darkness of Academy City!
Yukinoshita Yukino was stunned into silence for a long moment before she finally grasped the heart of the issue.
She had always analyzed the falling birth rate through the lens of traditional human society, but now she realized that was wrong...
But if what Raiden Mei said was true, then why was the birth rate in Academy City still plummeting?
"The fall in the birth rate is achieved by redirecting humanity's innate drive to procreate through other means. It happens when people's sense of beauty is no longer their own, when they feel their loved ones aren't truly theirs, and when they believe their own genes lack any intrinsic value worth passing down."
"Humanity's worldview becomes warped, and people in this state won't voluntarily choose to have children. But reproduction is an essential part of societal expansion and meeting its needs. So, what's the solution?"
Recalling the chillingly decisive manner in which Noldrei and Dr. Tesla had discussed these things, Raiden Mei fell silent for a long moment before sighing. "A specialized organization will be created to handle this task—to seize control of humanity's reproductive rights. The entire development of Academy City has been leading to this very moment."
"I think," she added, "some people have started to grasp what Academy City is planning, and there are clearly those who oppose it."
Yukinoshita Yukino's expression was blank for a long moment before a shiver ran down her spine, snapping her back to reality.
She asked in disbelief, "Are you saying the entire purpose of building Academy City was to one day control the collective reproductive rights of humanity?"
Raiden Mei nodded. "Yes. As life evolves and changes, people themselves will lose the desire to have children, or they'll be unwilling to accept the burden of raising a life that is destined to have no real connection to them. Changes in genetic information will completely sever the blood ties between people."
Yukinoshita Yukino scratched her head, her scalp beginning to itch with anxiety.
She asked, incredulous, "And you all don't have any intention of changing this? I mean, you just accept this outcome?"
Raiden Mei asked very calmly, "Yukino, let me ask you this: who do you think is at the top of the organization that has 'taken over humanity's reproductive rights'?"
"You already told me," Yukinoshita Yukino replied matter-of-factly. "It has to be the highest echelons of Academy City."
Mei asked again, "And who is in the highest echelon?"
"The high..." Yukinoshita Yukino fell silent again.
That's right. Raiden Mei was the highest echelon. She herself would retain control of her own reproductive rights. In this transfer of power, whether the upper class had fertility rights was irrelevant, because the very rights taken away by collectivized reproduction would be returned to them in any way they saw fit.
Yukinoshita Yukino gasped, finally understanding what Raiden Mei was trying to say.
In other words, there was an invisible chasm between the middle and upper echelons of Academy City. This divide was making the people in the middle realize they couldn't just surrender their reproductive rights. They were demanding to be given sufficient benefits as compensation.
Raiden Mei had long grown accustomed to her family discussing how to control Academy City. She explained, "So, I believe the halt in the Phase Three Urban Redevelopment Plan isn't just because of insufficient compensation. It's more likely that many of the mid-level administrators have realized what Academy City truly intends to do."
This wasn't just a wild guess from Raiden Mei. Cocolia had clearly sensed this shift in execution, especially how various plans she was pushing forward had begun to stagnate. Cocolia had reported this to Noldrei, but at the time, he couldn't have cared less.
To him, such changes were completely insignificant.
'That guy really has a knack for being an emperor...' Raiden Mei thought, though she didn't know what to say about Noldrei neglecting his official duties to play with Herrschers all day.
"But, why..." Yukinoshita Yukino was utterly shocked. She couldn't understand why Academy City's leadership would operate this way.
If it were just a matter of compensation, there were many ways to appease the mid-level administrators. Yet, Academy City deliberately chose not to, allowing this schism to fester among them.
It was as if they were worried Academy City wasn't chaotic enough.
Yukinoshita Yukino could never have guessed that what Noldrei wanted was a world that developed through chaos—not a world where everyone gave up and wallowed in chaos.
Only then could the new Herrschers he needed be born.
The young woman had never witnessed political maneuvering on this scale, and a deep sense of unease washed over her. She finally understood the feeling Hikitani Hachiman had—of sitting in his position as if treading on thin ice.
What were the leaders planning? No idea!
Why were they doing it? No idea!
How would they clean up the mess afterward? No idea!
Unable to make sense of any of it, Yukinoshita Yukino felt like she was trapped in a swirling vortex, unable to escape.
In that instant, she was struck by a fierce impulse: she had to seize this time to prepare, to expand her own sphere of power and increase her personal capabilities.
"Mei, do you know any more secrets?"
Raiden Mei shook her head. "I don't know anything else, just the broad strokes of the plan. My father won't tell me more. I only learned this much by overhearing him talking with others."
What other plans could there be? Once Noldrei knew what was happening, he had delegated everything to his subordinates. His main job was to clean up the messes and wait for the conflicts to ferment to the exact point he required.
In this state, even if everyone wanted to know his plan, they would never be able to guess what he was truly after.
If there was anyone who was actually being useful, it was probably Kiana.
At least Kiana knew to protect the weak amidst all this conflict and turmoil. Compared to the cold, invincible Emperor and his grand choices for humanity's future, even a slacker otaku Crown Princess like Kiana seemed like a paragon of virtue.
Raiden Mei was only trying to warn her friend to not get easily involved in such conflicts. Otherwise, one careless misstep and she could end up as a beastman.
Although, to be honest, Mei was a little curious to see what Yukino would look like as a beastman. It might be fun to try, but being permanently locked in that form would be an agonizing punishment.
Noldrei wasn't particularly concerned with punishments like imprisonment. He seemed to prefer stripping criminals of their rights.
For example, his cruelest method was to strip someone of their fundamental human rights, then publicly declare it before casting them out into society.