BTW to everyone confused by Ars thinking high ambition = danger:
tl;dr
An honest and loyal person who would never betray others will have a low ambition stat even if they are sincerely desiring and striving to become emperor. On the flip side, a person who doesn’t give a lick about loyalty and thinks of others as tools to be used and thrown away will have a high Ambition Stat. . . even if they don’t have any particularly strong or sincere ambitions beyond “get the best fiancé I can and live comfortably”.
tl;dr2
So far as Ars (and us) know about his appraisal ability, the fiancé’s high Ambition Stat isn’t proof that she wants a strong and prosperous territory or that she’ll value and love her husband. . . it’s more like a measurement of her willingness to poison him if he stops being useful towards her goals.
— — —
It’s true that the true definition of ambition has a broad meaning and doesn’t require any potential for betrayal or lack of loyalty.
However, the initial descriptor of the “Ambition” STAT that Ars sees on people’s boards was something like, “potential for betrayal”.
An easy to understand comparison would be the “Bravery” STAT.
For Ars’ appraisal “Bravery” is a measurement of someone’s strength/combat power, but the actual word “bravery” has NO direct connection to a person’s strength or combat ability.
It’s true that the Charlotte arc has shown us that the Ambition Stat is more than it’s initial, simple definition; but the core meaning of the stat shouldn’t be forgotten.
Ars’ appraisal ability SUMMARIZES a person’s abilities and dispositions with numbers and grades. The Ambition Stat is a numerical summary that INCLUDES a person’s general ambitious nature. . . but, at least insofar as we have currently been shown, the summary should place a higher emphasis on the person’s willingness or capacity to betray others.
Plus, a person’s ambitions can be good or bad for the people around them. . .
“Other people exist for my sake. I want to be emperor and make all the trash of this world now to me. Life and death shall be in my hands and everyone will follow my whims.”
Is just as much an ambition as Ars’ ambition to create a place where children smile, people live with hope, and nobody lives on the streets or goes hungry.
— — —
Caveat:
This is an isekai.
The author may or may not throw any and every rule and explanation we’ve been given out the window; and they may or may not do so with a good explanation, world building, or character development. 🤣