Chapter 755 Conflict Resolution
“Your Majesty, the accident rescue statistics are out,” Barov and Juan entered Roland's office together.
“Oh?” Roland asked with concern, “How is the situation?”
“Fortunately, no one suffered life-threatening injuries as a result,” the City Hall Director's reply relieved him. “Three people suffered fractures, all from accidentally falling while fleeing; two people lost their hearing, likely caused by the explosion; and one person suffered burns, but after Nana Wawa xiaojie's treatment, everyone has recovered.”
“The teachers who were taking a lunch break in the lounge immediately organized the evacuation after hearing the loud noise. Philin. Hill asserted that the First Army was conducting exercises, simulating an enemy raid on the academy, and asked the students to cooperate and not panic. This statement stabilized the scene—except for Class Six, who witnessed the witch's awakening firsthand.” Juan added, “So the injured with fractures and hearing loss are all students from the same class.”
“Worthy of the Dawnlight,” Roland couldn't help but praise, using the First Army's great prestige in Neverwinter to both control order and reduce panic. In this way, the impact was minimized. As long as the follow-up remedial measures are appropriate, most people will not realize that the witch's awakening is actually a very dangerous process.
Of course, it is also crucial that the Awakened controlled her ability within a very small range—the huge explosion came from the current arcing through the air and the metal latches of the window, similar to the principle of thunder. It sounded earth-shattering, but it was not very harmful.
As for extinguishing the fire, it was Agatha's specialty. When she arrived at the scene, she froze the source of the fire in just a few minutes, saving the main teaching building from disaster—although Roland was already considering whether to replace these houses with brick-concrete structures to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
“Your Majesty, how do you plan to deal with this matter?” Barov asked.
“What are your thoughts?” Roland tapped the table, not answering directly.
“I think it should be viewed as two separate matters,” the Director pondered for a moment. “The children's brawl is not the key issue, the main problem is the underlying conflict from different places. According to the current understanding, the conflicting parties are from the Southern Territory and the Eastern Territory, and the cause was a dispute over whether the Eastern Territory is the land of rebellious kings—you know, Tifeiko's territory is the Golden Harvest City of the Eastern Territory, and it has not yet surrendered to you. So…” He paused, omitting the second half of his words, probably not wanting to talk too much about royal struggles. “In short, if adults were not claiming these things behind the scenes, the children would be unlikely to know about them. Punishing the parents who initiated the conflict, and explicitly announcing a ban on discussing the matter of rebellious kings, would eliminate such conflicts.”
“Hmm… continue.”
“The second point is the potential harm that witch awakening may cause to the public. My suggestion is, whatever judgment you make, write it into the law, so that it can effectively avoid disputes.”
Roland glanced at the old Director with interest, noncommittal.
In fact, being able to notice the root cause behind the brawl already proved that Barov had a broader vision, which was obviously not something that the former assistant to the Minister of Finance could have perceived—he had also made considerable progress in the past two years of governance.
However, the limitations of the era still remained in Barov's thinking, believing that everything would be fine as long as the decree was written into the law. But the law still has to be enforced by people, especially in a political system that eliminates the power of local nobles and implements central authority. After all, the greater the power, the greater the responsibility. If the law conflicts with the demands of most people, the hidden dangers buried will erupt sooner or later, and it will not be easy to deal with at that time.
“What about you?” Roland looked at Juan.
“Your Majesty, I have some different views. Now the people of Neverwinter come from all over Graycastle, and there will always be various conflicts. If we prohibit one thing after another happens, the law will probably become quite bloated. I suggest that we guide the direction of their discussions, clearly tell them what is right and what is wrong, and complete prohibition may be more appropriate.”
Juan paused for a moment when he said this, “As for the second point, I think you can first ask Agatha xiaojie for her opinion.
Takira has many Awakened, and they should be very familiar with this kind of situation.”
Roland picked up his teacup and took a slow sip.
Indeed, compared to a one-size-fits-all policy, he preferred to use yulun to control people's hearts—this matter did not involve ethnic or kingdom conflicts. Compared to the complex situation caused by the awakening of later generations' nationalism, it was much simpler. The propaganda that the entire Graycastle, even the Four Kingdoms, belong to the same kind of people is not difficult to achieve. This conflict is just the simplest regional contradiction, and there is no need to treat it as a typical case to be dealt with severely.
Writing into the textbook that everyone is the same kind of people, and that the rebels are just a small group with ulterior motives, and that the general public should not be held responsible for this, is far better than prohibiting everyone from discussing this matter and increasing the isolation between different regions.
The difficulty lies in the relationship between ordinary people and witches.
He didn't want to make witches special, but the existence of witches is special in itself. There is a certain irreconcilability between the two. Alleviating this contradiction as much as possible is undoubtedly a very long-term task, and may even run through the future of all mankind. Since there is no way to solve it immediately, simply follow Juan's advice, first refer to Takira's approach, and then slowly adjust it.
Fortunately, this matter has a very small impact, and a more relaxed approach can be used to start the implementation of the integration policy.
Thinking of this, Roland instructed, “Handle this matter as an ordinary brawl. The student who injured the witch with a chair will pay for both of their medical expenses and be verbally criticized; the medical expenses of the injured in Class Six will be paid by the Witch Union, and the City Hall will be responsible for repairing the school, and the normal teaching of the academy will be restored as soon as possible.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The two replied in unison.
“In addition, follow Juan's advice for subsequent preventive measures, and try to use yulun to guide the people. I will give you a draft of the specific content to improve and implement.” Roland breathed a sigh of relief, “By the way, that witch…”
“Her name is Shirley, Your Majesty, do you want to see her?” Juan asked.
“No, let her rest for a few days and calm down. If possible, ask Wendy to accompany her and tell her some basic information about the Witch Union.”
“I understand.”
After the two left, Roland immediately summoned Agatha and Phyllis to the office.
“Your Majesty, I also have something I want to talk to you about,” Agatha said solemnly before she even sat down, “The witch awakening situation in Neverwinter seems a bit wrong.”