Is that a Wisp?

"Good morning, class!" A scholar entered the class, watching everyone get up in response and bow at him. He then motioned for them to be seated, taking out a brush that he dipped in ink and began to write on the scroll hung on the wall behind him.

The scroll would be changed by a servant at the end of every class, replaced with a blank one.

"Even though this is just the first day of their term, you still have the responsibility as our Empire's pillars. So, we'll be discussing the administrative affairs…" The scholar began to speak. Eventually, his gaze fell on Krune, noticing the other party sporting a humble, focused expression, with his head occasionally nodding in response to his words.

'Man, such a studious young man. Everyone should aspire to become like him,' the scholar thought, noticing his mood improve automatically as he continued his lecture with greater enthusiasm. Suddenly, he thought of something, 'Eh? I don't remember having such a student in my class during the previous term.'

'Well, maybe he's someone that came here from another class to listen to my lecture.' Upon arriving at this line of thought, the scholar's expression was priceless, controlling his urge to cry, 'Students should be like this, always pursuing the best of education. Only with this would our Empire prosper even further.'

Suddenly, Krune's hand shot up, surprising the scholar, prompting the latter to nod. Getting up from his seat, Krune asked a question, "Sir, it is a known fact that Nightmares feed on the negative emotions harbored by the people. So, a general consensus is that poor villages are more prone to this and have to be supported. However..."

He said in all seriousness, "Based on what I had tallied, the frequency of a Nightmare's appearance is greater in richer cities. Plus, the Nightmares birthed in the capital are by far the most terrifying of them all. Why is there such a disparity? How would you propose we solve this issue?"

"This…" Upon hearing the question that many well-known scholars had been racking their heads to think up an answer, the scholar almost shed tears in joy. 'Such a bright student. I should give him a worthy answer.'

He turned silent, wracking his brains as his past flowed into his mind like a revolving lantern. He experienced his entire life once again, finally sighing as he said, "There's no concept as absolute suffering. Everything is relative."

"For a beggar that had been suffering from hunger every day, the day he gets a sumptuous meal is the happiest day of his life. For a rich man, even if he's given more food than he could ever eat in a day, he might complain about its taste, find fault with the maid's service, and so on."

"If you're looking at it from an absolute perspective, the beggar's suffering daily. However, staying at hunger has become the norm, a life he had become accustomed to. So, he's not expressing any negative emotions. In contrast, more negative emotions are generated by the rich man just because the served food wasn't exactly to his palette." The scholar then concluded, "So, even if everyone in the Empire became rich, the generation of negative emotions would never decrease."

Upon hearing the answer, Krune's eyes widened as he shuddered. 'Then, does that mean I won't be able to return to the God Realm even after killing the Demon?'

Seeing Krune's frown, the scholar sighed, realizing that he had only given a clear context to the problem and hadn't offered a solution yet, raising his hand after a while, saying, "However, there is one way in which we can reduce the generation of negative emotions."

Upon seeing Krune's expectant look, the scholar smiled and said, "Devotion and Legacy. They are a must to combat this ever-present issue."

Everyone that heard the answer was utterly confused. At the start, the only reason Krune had asked a question was that his acting was too good that the scholar might ask him to answer a question. However, as he hadn't been hearing anything, he wouldn't be able to answer. His ruse of sleeping would be discovered.

So instead, he had timed in advance, waking up in the middle of the lecture to pose this question in an effort to show that he was listening all along. As for the question, he expressed his thoughts. He didn't expect much, asking it just like that.

But now that he obtained such an enlightening answer, Krune became wide awake, listening to the scholar with rapt attention. 'This guy's a genius scholar. Maybe he'll be able to offer me a solution.'

"Devotion could also be termed as faith. And, it should be directed at the Empire instead of an individual." He then saw many students frowning, prompting him to explain it in terms that everyone would understand. "Suppose everyone places their faith onto the Emperor. What do you think would happen once the Emperor dies of old age? The faith shatters. Faith isn't something that could be transferred from one to another so easily. So, having faith towards our Empire is the best bet."

"If you're devoted to our Empire, you would work to give the best for it. Your devotion should be at a level that it's contagious." The scholar smiled as he continued, "As for the second, it's legacy. No matter what, the future is uncertain. Not only are there worries about that, but we also face many things that we don't like. So, to avoid us expressing negative emotions in such cases, a legacy is necessary."

"In the darkest of times comes the brightest of light to quell all our sufferings, the warrior of light," he spoke, laughing a little. "If what I said is the truth, then whenever we face something that we dislike, a certain thought would resound in our mind…"

"Ah, my suffering is only temporary. The warrior of light would definitely come to save me."

The scholar raised his hand after that. "This line of thought would firm the person to endure and persist with the sufferings without generating any negative emotions. It won't solve the root issue of things, but it also wouldn't fuel a Nightmare's birth that would cause further sufferings."

"So, Devotion and Legacy. They are the answer that would minimize the creation of Nightmares to the greatest extent." The scholar sighed in relief after that, glad that he had actually managed to think up a proper answer on the fly, one that was infinitely better than anything his peers had ever managed to come up with.

"Devotion and Legacy…" Krune muttered as his eyes widened. "I see…"

"That makes perfect sense."