Fantasy Starting from the Stone Age - Chapter 150
Only Noblemtl
Episode 150. Religion and Diplomacy, New 5
Historically, philosophy has been faster than science. It was the same in Datang. Before the advent of Castel Lorraine, there was a primitive philosophy and primitive religion that explained the world.
Philosophy is a discipline that deals with the way of looking at the world. It first develops into religion. Then it develops into science. If there is a little bit of a trigger, it makes explosive progress through scientific revolution.
On Earth, the scientific revolution took place in the West, but does that mean that if the scientific revolution had not taken place in the West, there would have been no scientific development at all afterwards?
In the end, even if the times were different, science had not developed and there were no weapons of mass destruction, so wouldn’t something have been discovered in East Asia, the Middle East, or India at some point and completely changed things?
Sometimes, actually often. Some, actually many people, often claim the greatness of Western civilization, saying that its foundation is Greek and Roman philosophy and mathematics, and that it was superior from the beginning.
To be frank, it’s not like Greco-Roman philosophy developed continuously and became complete Western civilization. It was forgotten and destroyed, and then later, during the war, the old translated books were found and accepted again.
In any case, this process that leads to philosophy-religion-science. This development from a thoroughly humanistic field, a thoroughly religious field, to a thoroughly rational field.
Although the progression may not be linear, the goals of these disciplines ultimately converge.
It explains what the world is.
As accurately as possible, and as simply as possible.
The crudest explanation is that an omnipotent God created the world out of thin air. But it is still an explanation. If we go a little more complicated, we can say that there was a Big Bang in the beginning and prove it with physical evidence.
If philosophy provides a way of looking at the world itself.
Religion gives it a value judgment.
Science explains facts themselves, excluding value judgments.
In short, this is what it is. Philosophy sees a lion and defines it as an animal, a being different from humans. It distinguishes between the concepts of humans and animals.
Religion either attaches an image of evil to such lions, given their man-eating nature, or attaches an image of brave kings, given their strength and appearance.
Science simply states that lions are large carnivores belonging to the feline family.
In that respect, the reason science is held in the highest regard in modern civilization is because it is so easy to refute and prove.
In short, lions are felines. How do you prove this? At the crudest level, by their cat-like appearance. At the more complex level, by using molecular biology to trace the evolutionary lineage and prove that they are descendants of creatures we define as felines.
There is no refutation. We just assume that proven facts are proven and move on, and then delve into the details. Or, in a broader category, we look for the intersection and genealogy of felines and canines… … . That’s science.
On the other hand, what about religion? It’s something like this. ‘A lion uses all its strength to catch a rabbit.’ ‘A lion throws its cubs off a cliff and raises only the ones that survive.’ ‘A lion is brave and strong.’ Things like that.
Science explains.
‘A rabbit is too small and too fast for a lion to catch, so the lion has to use all its strength to catch the rabbit.’
‘Such behavior has not been observed and cannot possibly occur. The survival rate of cubs in the wild is very low. Even lions are very devoted to raising their young.’
‘Lions not only hunt, but also often scavenge or steal prey that has been hunted by others.’
Religious virtue is under attack. How should religion respond?
It’s easy to dismiss the lion as nothing more than a metaphor to illustrate an ideal.
Another strategy is to ignore it.
The worst thing is that when I just tell the truth, he suddenly gets angry. Why are you disparaging a great lion like that? Are you insulting me?
And furthermore, we try to modify reality.
“A lion is not such a bad creature! I cannot forgive you for insulting a lion!”
Roughly speaking, religious wars and conflicts break out like this.
If we delve into pure philosophy, these problems will disappear, but virtue sublimated into religion causes these problems.
The country of Datang was initially founded on moral philosophy. The laws of All Chaun were the most universal morals that the people of that time could accept.
Castel Laurent talked about how to make the world an organic world and how to explore that world.
Paron Echacado pointed out that there were contradictions in the laws we had established.
By the time the Lejohui Medakbo came around, they had created a law that was universally acceptable to everyone, and gradually revised it.
Mana School, on the other hand, introduces mathematical proofs and calculations into reality to make the country’s system more rational and sophisticated.
But times have changed.
Nononono Hakang explained the world with myths and legends.
Manum Lapang made it a virtue to follow myths and legends, making what had been the realm of law and philosophy a religion, so that it could embrace a wider range of people.
Everyone is completely unified in religion, and there is a legal system separate from religion. And now, thanks to science and learning, the world seems to be complete. It is completely under control.
But what about those of other complete religions?
Do they also… … strictly distinguish between law and science, philosophy and religion?
Let’s check it out for yourself now.
The Daton pilgrims and traders from the Dimanang region interact with the Baekans and on their way back, they stumble upon some unexpected people.
“No. Are you Erin from the West?”
“Oh. Is it Daton?”
Both of them communicate in Baekkan. We didn’t have many opportunities to meet while interacting in the Baekkara region, but now that our territories have expanded, we’ve met like this.
It is customary for travelers to be hospitable to each other, unless they are robbers. In fact, it is also a tradition to bring along a large armed force to prevent robbers.
The Western trader, who appears to be almost a pure-blooded Erin, bows his head in greeting. The Datons also show their respect in their own way.
“Yes, that’s right. I came from the invincible Luca Empire.”
“Wow. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that name. It’s been 400 years since I went west, right?”
“Yes. We’ve only recently come to this east. This is our first time seeing Daton, which we’ve only heard rumors about. We’ve come quite far east.”
As we were talking, the topic of religion finally came up.
“Do you know about the One who created this world?”
Daton tilts his head at Erin’s question.
“Hmm? I don’t know. It hasn’t been revealed yet.”
When Daton said that, Erin tried to proselytize. She originally came to proselytize. They are a trader, a pilgrim, and a missionary group.
“All things in this world were created by the great Creator and the only God.”
“Oh… … Really? Can I hear a story about who you are?”
Whether it’s a story or a religion, merchants are friendly to foreign cultures. They listen to it without making fun of it. They don’t know if it will give them some clues.
And Erin speaks without thinking.
“Yes. So this world was created 15,000 years ago… … .”
“Huh? Hehehe!”
Although he says he’s not laughing, Daton can’t help but laugh. Erin tilts her head, not expecting him to laugh here.
“Why are you doing that?”
“No. Does it make sense that the world was created 15,000 years ago?”
“Why doesn’t that make sense?”
Erin was upset, but Daton knew that was complete nonsense.
“The age of the god of Datang, Ol Chaun, is definitely over 19,000 years old, and soon he will be close to 20,000 years old. And the Mainilun in that holy place is a structure that contains 19,000 years of history. How can the world be 15,000 years old? It doesn’t make sense.”
Erin, who knew of All Chaun’s existence but didn’t know he was that old because they hadn’t interacted for a long time, was startled and asked again.
“Z, do you have any proof? They say that Datons live long lives, but that’s just talk… … .”
If it comes out like that, it can be proven simply. The upper owner, Daton, shows the fire spirit.
“Now. Look at the flame of my Orotbetbe. It contains my memories. It cannot be distorted, and even if it is, it will be obvious.”
“… … .”
“Great spirit king, friend of the All-Chan. Datang Oram contains the entire history of the past 20,000 years. Of course, history can be proven, and such history is also written. 15,000 years ago, we were in a period of stagnation, groaning in the Hanjutamal.”
“… … .”
“I am also 150 years old this year. I have never seen anyone other than Anrai Giriwang Darida, but he was already 150 years old when I was young. Even before that, he was Anrai. Thousands of years before him, and thousands of years before that, Anrai and Mainirun existed. Your God, I think, is a joke, not history.”
“… … .”
The meeting ended here. The atmosphere became strange.
Daton goes down as is, and the Erins remain silent. Then they go to the nearest southern city of Baekkan and ask.
“How old are you? Isn’t it exactly four digits this year?”
“A thousand years old?”
“No. It’s in base 12, so 20,000.”
“How can you believe that? Isn’t that just what the Datons claim?”
“How can I believe it? Well… … Because there are records? Among our monarchs, there are some who are 2,000 years old. When they were young, they were said to be 18,000 years old. And in our history books, about 4,000 years ago, it was written that they were 16,000 years old. Even the Anraiers have no contradictions when calculating their own age… … .”
They can’t believe it, so they ask the other boatmen.
“How old are you? 20,000 years old.”
“I heard that Mainilun was already over a thousand years old when it was built… … . Mainilun is the oldest building in the world. About 20,000 years old?”
“Was there a Datang 15,000 years ago? I don’t know about that, but there is a story about Baekkan going to the ranch 10,000 years ago. Oh. At that time, the ranch was already about 3,000 years old… … .”
“Did All Chaun create the world? Are you crazy? I heard that All Chaun had parents before he was born, and he said that he discovered Datang Oram and founded Datang. In reality, wasn’t the world at least tens of thousands of years old?”
The Erins’ sole faith is shaken.
Erin’s only religion developed independently while communication with the East was cut off. They thought that roughly 15,000 years was close to an eternity, so they wrote a fictional history and made it a reality, but in reality, there is a person who lived to be 20,000 years old.
Even before that man, the world existed. In other words, their faith and belief were all false.
How will they do this?
“If the world was created 15,000 years ago, that means Erin was created at that time!”
“All beings that existed before Erin were ‘demons’!”
“Datun is a demon! Exterminate them who are trying to destroy our world!”
You’ve decided to redefine a lion as not being a lion at all if it’s not brave enough.
That would also be one of the paths. The Second War of the Age of Faith begins with Erin’s sole faith.
By the way, wasn’t this originally Baekkan’s faith? How did it become Erin’s faith?
Let’s go back to the time before the war, to the Invincibles and the Erins of the West.
They have no plausible philosophy or science, so they have unified all perspectives on the world into one religion.
This is a review for Volume 6 (Chapters 126-150). As always, you don’t have to read it.
-World map at the time of episode 150-
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I drew it because there were some requests. I used a map of the Earth as a motif, but I think people got confused because the place names kept appearing.
Far West: North America. The distance from the continent is about the same as the distance from England.
???: It’s South America. It’s a region that hasn’t appeared yet. It’s actually further southwest.
Eron: Southern Europe + Mediterranean countries. The meaning of the land where Erin lives gradually expanded, and later the entire West, including the wild lands, was called Eron. Now it is synonymous with the Lucca Empire.
Dator + Shuzor: Africa. It borders the Bakara region through the Isthmus of Olsozorah.
Desert + Forest: Sahara. About half of this world is forest. To the east, there is a desert that crosses the Great Forest and the Great Mountain Range, following the orbit of the Red Moon.
Dimanan: The motif is North Africa, and specifically Egypt.
Baekara: The land of Baekhan. It is a land that is roughly the size of Eastern Europe + Arab + Iran.
Seiwamuyu: The autonomous territory of Iyakan that joined Datang. It is East Africa.
Lokoro: The sacred land of the Iyakans. It is Madagascar. As described, the territory is much larger.
Iyakoro: The land of Iyakan, distinct from Seiwamuyu. It is in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula. It is separated from Baekara by a large forest.
Kiamor: A developed western port city. West Africa.
SHUZOR: Central Africa + South Africa.
Goaran: The country ruled by the King of Mystery. It is India.
Great mountain range: Himalayas.
Orient: The region that includes Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and the islands and systems below.
Far East: Australia + Japan is the motif. In this world, it is closer to the East, so speciation such as marsupials has not occurred.
Seiwamuyu, Goaran, and the East are widely spread out islands to the south. Although they are marked with dots, there are many large islands that are larger than the Korean Peninsula or as large as Japan. At present, they are the territory of the Iyakan.
At first glance, the size of the land is overwhelming compared to other countries. Since it is impossible to cross the sea, if only the Olsojora Isthmus, which borders Baekara in the northeast, were blocked, Daton would not be able to go out into the world.
The area of the ranch, which is not that wide by the standards of the picture, is expressed to be about half of the land of Baekkara, which is Baekkan’s land, but this is the actual setting.
-Questions & Answers-
Question 1: Do the demons also get a one-week ban?
Answer: Polar demons and underground demons don’t get it. Space demons don’t get it. Disease demons don’t get it either, but variant demons do get it… It’s modified by genetic code.
Question 2: The devil is in heaven and the celestial bodies are in heaven, but are the celestial bodies indifferent to the devil?
Answer: The celestial bodies have very little self and no sense organs. It is not that the celestial bodies are indifferent to the demons, but rather that they are not even aware of them.
-Demon-
How to introduce new rookies when you say there are only a handful of them… .
That’s exactly what it means to create a being who is a rookie but isn’t called a rookie…! That’s what the academy teacher said, not me! And that’s what the narrator said, not me!
I like the idea of the Demons, even though it was added later. I like the underground Demons more than the polar Demons that are blatantly based on penguins and seals.
In reality, there is no evolutionary relationship on Earth, but it is quite convincing that a bat’s fingers are closely related to a mole’s claws.
‘They’ are also lumped into the Demon Tribe, but they seem to be a slightly different category. After all, it seems like the fantasy world has to have some incredibly bad guys.
-religion-
As those of you who have seen my previous work know, I like gods. And I like them to be real, explainable beings.
In the Three Brothers of Gaenodap, all religious believers were lumped into the category of demon worshippers, so there was no such thing as a ‘priest’ profession. The main character was a ‘self-proclaimed’ holy knight.
The knight who beats with an anchor does have a god-like appearance, but he is just an incredibly strong being, not an omnipotent being.
The god of this work is more cynical than that. The primordial god who created the world is a being who simply gave birth to laws without intelligence, and the primordial gods are fossils from the Paleozoic era. The gods are just extremely strong humans, and the monotheistic faith is a divine power that operates through circular reasoning.
However, society needs religion. In the age of faith, Datang became a global community through religion, but conversely, religion was destined to overthrow all others.
-Disastrous diplomacy-
I like it when the main character has a weakness. In short, if you eat a devil fruit, you can’t swim. Your body turns into rubber, so you’re immune to blows, but you can’t block slashes or stabs. Things like that. In fact, I like it when villains have weaknesses even more. That’s the so-called strategy point.
The weakness of Datang and Ol Chaun is diplomacy. They have never tried diplomacy before, so they can’t do it. They can’t do any kind of diplomacy. They make enemies of themselves and don’t treat their allies well.
We have seen too many real-life examples to say, “Where in the world is there a country like this?”
-Invincible-
The motif is Greco-Roman. In fact, it is not a motif like that, but think of the invincible legion as wearing clothes like the Roman legion. The direct motif of the character is Alexander + Xiang Yu.
He is a rookie who shows incredible and aggressive moves. He is the only rookie who fights on the front lines. He leaves internal affairs to his capable subordinates and goes about waging war.
In this volume, he had to abandon the conquest of the East and return to the West for reasons that are not revealed, but as you can see at the end, he is a character who will cause great trouble again.
I intentionally made sure that all the newcomers were complex, not just good or bad. Every famous character has strengths and flaws.
-The King of Destruction-
Is this the new person mentioned in the last volume? The motif is Sakyamuni and Asoka. It’s such an obvious motif. He also has more arms than a human.
The man who was the King of the Tyrant has finally entered Nirvana, having thrown away all his obsessions about being cast off, and has become a god. Or Buddha. This one, so to speak, is a concept of being good at diplomacy. The gods around him have poor diplomatic skills, so he shines even more.
It just absorbs everything that comes without causing any conflict. It follows the motif, but the motif, India, is too big a land to be lumped together as ‘India’.
-Review review-
Finally, volume 6! Are we halfway through the story? I suddenly feel like this work is progressing quickly compared to the previous ones.
Thank you for watching so far. The warm-up is over, and I’ll see you in the next explosive volume.