Stelle's words left Black Swan at a loss.
If it were just Stelle she was talking to, things would have been quite simple. Black Swan had many ways to make Stelle understand her position and choose a stance closer to her own.
But Noldrei was always lurking behind Stelle, allowing her to constantly compare anyone who tried to influence her.
Would you trust a person who spoke only in riddles and always insisted, "I'm doing this for your own good"?
Or would you trust someone who broke things down, explained them clearly, and then let you think for yourself to find the real answer?
It was a no-brainer. Stelle would choose the second option without hesitation.
'What's your level, that you think you can compare yourself to my brother?' Stelle thought. 'You couldn't even win a battle of words against him, and now you think you can come here and order me around?'
Stelle had her own pride. Was she the kind of person to be swayed by a few simple words?
"I don't know how much of what you said is true, but I've basically confirmed a few of my questions," Stelle stated. "First, the Clockmaker's Legacy does exist, and it exists on the 'other side' of Penacony, a place untouched by Penacony's dreamscape and unreachable by the Family."
"Second, if we destroy Penacony's dreamscape, then the related dreamscape controlled by the Clockmaker will also be affected. This also means the Clockmaker's dream is built upon the same material foundation of Memoria."
"Third, you're not trying to stop us because you care about Penacony, but because you care about the Clockmaker's relationship with the Astral Express. This further proves the Clockmaker's identity. He was once a Nameless!"
"Fourth, since Penacony is destined to perish, the Family's current collective stance is not for the benefit of Penacony's people, but for the continuation of a Penacony that serves their own ruling interests. This matter is undoubtedly critically linked to Robin's brother, Sunday."
Stelle's voice dropped to a serious tone. "There's no such thing as 'the emperor was deceived by treacherous ministers.' The emperor is the ultimate version of a minister. He's simply the final victor who emerged from the same ministerial class. So-called 'heredity' is just a minister's attempt to conceal their own class characteristics, allowing the strongest minister to play the role of 'emperor' for generations."
"Right now, if we want to uproot the Oak Family, we first need to win over the most important faction to our side, making us the strongest 'ministers.' Then, we can usurp the authority of the entire Family and consolidate all power under a new 'king'."
"And what a coincidence, we even have Robin on our side. We can win the support of all the people of Penacony, with the sole purpose of sweeping the old-era Penacony completely off the stage."
Black Swan detected a strange undercurrent in Stelle's words. It sounded like a plan to reform Penacony, but in reality, it was another way to accelerate its destruction.
Stelle smiled. "Ms. Black Swan, do you think it's better to let the Oak Family lead forever? Or would it be more devastating if one of their own, an Oak Family member, stood up and publicly declared, 'As a leader of the Harmony, I will embrace every citizen of Penacony having the chance to step into this leadership position!'?"
Acheron was stunned. She hadn't expected Stelle to have this waiting for Black Swan.
Stelle glanced around at the astonished faces and explained, "You've all overlooked a crucial point. In a dreamscape, the cost of letting everyone vote is so low that every single person can influence the leadership."
"In the past, the selection of leaders in various real-world civilizations was crushed by the huge disparities in real-world costs and power, making universal suffrage impossible. But in Penacony, that's not the case!"
"Think about it, isn't it true? With the help of the Harmony's power, the highest and lowest echelons can be directly connected, completely eliminating the distortion of policies and documents that occurs during the usual top-down transmission process."
"To achieve this, the Clockmaker's Legacy must benefit every person in Penacony. In other words, the dream that the Family finds unacceptable must be brought back into the world. This will create a tangible channel between reality and the dream. To achieve class integration in reality, one must use the dream as a feedback loop to reality."
"A new ruling class for Penacony will emerge, shifting from the old banner of the Family system maintaining dream-order to a new banner of maintaining order in the communication between dream and reality."
"Which ruling order do you think is better?"
If it were just a simple matter of destroying Penacony, Black Swan might have tried to contact other factions to stop this accelerated demise.
But now...
Someone had actually provided a solution, turning the dreamscape into a tool for reality, a low-cost communication tool that could be monitored and seen by all.
With this as their banner, they could even turn the Harmony within the original Family to support the new leadership.
Robin's mind was still reeling. She had no idea how she had suddenly become the new leader; it felt like a dream.
And what a coincidence—she was in a dream right now!
The conflict of stances between Black Swan and the "demolition crew" instantly vanished.
Could you say Noldrei destroyed Penacony? Yes, but he also proposed a way to build a new Penacony on its corpse.
Black Swan sighed. "I've lost. Such a thing truly exists in this world... a power of words that can manifest the effects of Harmony without relying on its power, but solely on human wisdom."
In Noldrei's hands, various schools of philosophical thought were tools to be picked up and used at will. There was no hierarchy among them; they were merely instruments for resolving real-world contradictions.
'Could... could this be the true Harmony?!'
Robin felt the current situation was just too bizarre. She watched as "Noldrei & Stelle" used this unconventional method to "harmonize" people who should have been on opposing sides.
They hadn't relied on any power from an Aeon, but simply on the establishment of human relationships and a change in the way people used their tools.
Now, all eyes were once again on Robin.
This left her completely flustered. Her goal was just to solve the problem of anti-Harmony elements within the Family. Who could have imagined that this group, who had been planning to wipe out Penacony, would suddenly turn around and support her as the new leader?
Robin stepped forward and said, trembling, "I... I'm not just being modest... you should really find someone more qualified."