Night 328

A Shared Hope (共通の希望 Kyōtsū no Kibō) is Night 328 of the Manga manga series.

Characters in Order of Appearance
'' Characters in bold denote the character's proper appearance. Characters in italic are only seen briefly and have yet to make a proper appearance. ''

Magic
'' Magic in bold denotes the magic's first appearance. ''

Summary
Aladdin and Alibaba visit Reim Empire to inquire Titus and Muu Alexius about their decision to join the International Alliance. Titus tells them that they reconsidered their initial decision not to join, which was made in order to protect the empire's territory and culture. He points out that under Sinbad's rule, the world would be unified, which would be good for Reim's sake in the long term as well, as it would essentially mean world peace. Muu adds that Lady Scheherazade would have wanted the same thing, as her last words were to consider the world as a whole and not obsess over the idea of Reim Empire as a single country. Listening to them, confused Alibaba states that it surprises him, how everyone seemed to have changed their minds on this matter after having been adamant on it for so long. He asks Muu whether Reim's uniqueness wasn't a very important thing to him. Muu and Titus look at each other, and then the Fanalis says that it used to be, but now he wonders why he was so obsessed with the idea. He tells Alibaba that he became more open minded, after allowing himself to look at the situation from a long term perspective.

Shocked Alibaba wonders to himself, what's wrong with him, because he's unable to keep with everyone's sudden change in attitude. Aladdin has a bad feeling as well, and he senses it's coming from within him. He suddenly realises that the rukh's essence has changed, as he remembers Sinbad mentioning going to the Sacred Palace to rewrite the principles of the rukh system. He informs Alibaba about his discovery, telling him that Sinbad can essentially manipulate everyone's minds like that, overwriting all of their answers that they fought and suffered for, according to his own will. Alibaba asks whether it is good that he could do such a thing, and angrily, Aladdin replies that it isn't and that he has to be stopped no matter what. As Alibaba shakily agrees, he thinks to himself whether Sinbad would really do such a thing.

In Pathevia, the two meet Sinbad, who confirms he indeed went to the Sacred Palace to rewrite the rukh. Aladdin reminds him of how he once told them while they were still in Balbadd, that everyone should choose the best path they are able to come up with on their own, asking why he took that right from everyone. Sinbad tries to calm him down, telling him that he's not manipulating anyone's minds and that everyone is living and thinking freely. Aladdin asks how is it possible for everyone to follow him. Sinbad replies that he placed a shared hope in everyone's hearts. He explains that every person is guided by some kind of hope: a family is guided by the head of the household and the people are guided by the king. He points out that people lose their way, when the guiding light is dispersed. However, he gave them a single shared hope. Aladdin asks if that means he made everyone in the world believe he's the only absolute and rightful king, saying in pain that he will never accept such a thing. Sinbad points out that he did the same thing as king Solomon, who covered the rukh with his own will and spread it throughout the world. The people, who opposed his will, which was to live with hope and face the future, were removed under the pretext of falling into depravity. He challenges Aladdin, asking whether he believes that wasn't a cruel and unreasonable world.

Alibaba watches as Aladdin and Sinbad face each other fiercely. Sinbad continues his thread of thought, saying that Solomon left the definition of hope up to every single person out there, but he reduced that strife by creating a common ground for their hearts. He points out that there's no need for economic strife between Kou and Reim anymore because of that. Alibaba listens, starting to realise that he's right about that, as the empire's leaders are indeed going towards the same objective. Sinbad continues, asking Aladdin whether he wants to throw the world back into chaos after it finally achieved peace. Aladdin answers that he came to face him after he saw people choose to fight against their own decisions they had made of their own free will. Sinbad asks whether that isn't just his own personal point of view. He points out that Aladdin will probably go back to the Sacred Palace and rewrite the rules of rukh once again, this time with his own will. He asks how that would be any different from what he did. He yells at Aladdin, asking him if a magi of a destroyed world like Alma Torran pushing their views onto them isn't what one could call arrogance. Aladdin grits his teeth together as he stares at Sinbad. The latter turns to Alibaba, asking him for his opinion on the matter.