Chapter 792 - Sorry, Am I Late?

As soon as 9am arrived, the debate commenced.

This debate had already been raging for two months, and it became very heated right away.

…

The man sitting at the center of the conservative white-robed had a large black mole on his glabella. His name was Erma, and he wore a disdainful look on his face as he said in a haughty manner, “The hexadecimal system is something left to us by our ancestors. It is the manifestation of the wisdom of our forefathers. During our history of thousands of years, it has played an extremely important role, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that it’s an imperative part of human society. For this system, countless mathematicians worked and researched tirelessly to enrich themselves and expand this field. It’s the brightest star in the history of the human race, and the result of countless blood, sweat, and tears shed by those who lived before us.”

All of the conservatives nodded in agreement, and Erma’s disdain was mirrored in their eyes as they looked at the revolutionary azure-robes.

These people had somehow been swayed by Byron to try and revolutionize the numerical system, and it was ridiculous that they were making such a big deal out of this farcical matter.

The decimal system was only used in the Roth Empire when applied to currency, and all of the scholars in the field of mathematics had always looked down on it, thinking that it was an inferior numerical system that wasn’t worth researching. If it weren’t for the fact that they were trying to make the currency system easier to understand for the general public, the decimal system wouldn’t even exist in the Roth Empire.

Byron was the deputy minister of the department of education, and he was the highest-ranking figure among everyone gathered here. However, even with his lofty status, it was still quite difficult for him to try and implement this revolutionary new system, and that was an indication of just how deeply rooted the hexadecimal system was in the field of mathematics in the Roth Empire.

This event had become the laughingstock among the scholars of the Roth Empire of late. Master Byron was an extremely esteemed figure in the field of mathematics, and was close to retirement age, but he was getting involved in such a massive farce. His entire career would most likely be blighted by this foolish decision.

The youngest scholar among the revolutionaries, going by the name of Lister, vehemently countered, “The decimal system is far simpler and more efficient than the hexadecimal system. If we were to implement it in conjunction with the Mamy Multiplication Table, we’ll be countless times more efficient when making calculations. It has so many distinct advantages over the hexadecimal system, and widespread implementation would significantly increase the general IQ of the entire population! We’ll be paving the way to a future where even common citizens can make calculations for themselves!”

“Commoners? Heh.” The portly Leeroy sitting beside Erma pursed his fat lips with disdain, and said, “Arithmetics is an art, not something for those lowly and ignorant commoners to dabble in! It is an exclusive art form passed down between nobles; those lowly commoners should just do what they’re told! And who gave you permission to raise the IQ of the general public? The more those idiotic commoners know, the more ideas they’ll have, and that’s not a good thing.”

Lister’s expression changed as he slowly clenched his fists. He was born in a noble family that had already fallen from grace, and he had been accepted into Bauhinia Academy for his prodigious talent in the field of mathematics. At the age of 30, he had already become the youngest professor in the academy.

During his youth, his gambling addict grandfather had lost the entire estate, so he had to live among the commoners with his parents in the northern region of the city. As such, he lived a life that was no different from that of commoners, and he still had many commoners as friends.

As such, commoners were not lowly beings in his eyes.

However, the current caste stunted their potential for growth, barring them from the academies that were exclusive to nobles, thereby cutting off their only avenue to accumulate knowledge.

It was just as Leeroy had said: the commoners could only do as they were told, while the nobles received the best education and became the elites of society. In contrast, the commoners had no right to access education, and could only live in ignorance for generation after generation.

Lister also knew that all of the commoners had to work hard every day just to fill their stomachs. They had no spare time nor money to receive education in order to better themselves.

However, if the decimal system could replace the hexadecimal system and be widely implemented along with the Mamy Multiplication Table, then even commoners would quickly be able to grasp basic arithmetics. That would be enough for them in everyday life.

A quantitative change of a large enough degree would inevitably result in a qualitative change. Once enough commoners grasped the decimal system, the entire human race would advance, taking a huge step forward.

Mathematics wasn’t some kind of so-called artistic endeavor. Instead, it was a tool that had been invented for use in daily life. However, he simply couldn’t convince these stubborn “masters” who held extremely high positions in the world of scholars within the Roth Empire.

Byron looked at Leeroy with a serious expression, and said, “What we’re doing is not educating the ignorant masses. Educational exclusivity for the nobles has been in place for many years, and the next step for us is to choose some talented children among the commoners and give them an education, making them become the pillars of our Roth Empire.”

“Commoners all have ignorant blood running through their bodies, so they won’t become pillars of our empire even if they do receive an education. Our mathematical committee has already voted yesterday, and over 90% of our members have voted against the implementation of the decimal system. That is our final stance on the matter. Besides, you expect us to implement an untested multiplication table proposed by some random person? If we overthrow the hexadecimal system that we’ve used for thousands of years in preference of something so ridiculous farcical, we’d become the laughingstock of the entire continent! You’ll be ruining the field of mathematics in the Roth Empire; can you shoulder the blame for such a massive travesty?” The white-robed Earlton chuckled coldly.

The revolutionaries fell silent upon hearing this, and everyone turned their eyes to Byron. Only Byron could shoulder such a heavy burden, so he was the only one who could rise to the occasion.

Luna was wringing her hands together with an urgent expression as she looked at Byron. Earlton had dug a massive pit for Byron, and he was going to lose regardless of whether he jumped into the pit or not.

All of the conservatives wore confident smiles on their faces, seemingly having already anticipated this result.

“Sorry, am I late?”

Right at this moment, the doors of the hall were suddenly pushed open from the outside. A young man strode in, holding the hand of an adorable little half-elf girl, who was, in turn, holding a little orange kitten.