Afternoons in Backlund always carried a subtle sense of leisure,not because the pace of life here was slow enough, but because those who weren't leisurely enough were unable to appear on the streets at this time.
Workers were either working overtime or seizing a brief gap to take a nap. Unemployed paupers and vagrants were either queuing outside relief shelters or finding a warm place to accumulate strength, praying they could find new work next.
However, the situation had been clearly different over the past few days. While Snow was enjoying the rare warm sunlight of a clear day in Backlund, noisy shouts echoed from afar.
Slightly disorganized slogans, bobbing placards, and a long queue... it was as if a stirring march had suddenly burst into a country tune, instantly diluting all the tranquility and peace.
Those who could live in the West District weren't the high-earning proletarians dubbed "middle class," but the true wealthy class. They possessed vast wealth, land, manors, chambers of commerce, and stocks; many were even the owners of the factories in the factory district.
One could say that if parades in other districts were meant to garner sympathy or attract attention, then here, the workers were staging a demonstration.
These factory owners likely hadn't quite realized what was happening yet; they were even confused as to why a strike that previously involved at most a few hundred people had developed to its current scale. Nor did they understand why their usual bribery tactics had had no effect this time.
But they knew that with such numbers, both the Church and the nobility would likely react soon.
Backlund was the capital, but it was also the largest industrial city in the Loen Kingdom. Among its millions of residents, how many belonged to working-class families? It was thousands now,would it be more later?
The factory owners were in fear, while the workers continuously waved the placards in their hands. Words like "Reasonable Working Hours" and "Reasonable Salary" rose and fell on the wooden boards. The look in their eyes, so different from before, seemed to declare that this group was on a completely different level from the small-scale disturbances of the past.
The factory owners began to realize the severity of the problem and truly started to take this so-called strike seriously. Standing in the crowd, Xio also keenly sensed the difference between today and previous days.
Her nerves,which had relaxed slightly,tightened once more. She followed closely behind Lavis, no longer paying attention to the occasional chatter from her friend.
Fors also seemed to sense the abnormal atmosphere. Her professional intuition as a famous novelist told her that if this strike were a script, its conflict and tension were about to arrive.
Equipped with the [See Through No One] state, Snow stood by the roadside, watching [Honor] lead the team forward. He added a buff from a distance and then turned to leave as if nothing had happened.
He wasn't worried about this matter attracting the scrutiny of the Orthodox Churches, because it was inherently flawless.
The [Persuasion Reinforcement] that Mr. Honor had prayed for wasn't a supernatural power like brainwashing or hypnosis; instead, it forcibly made those listening concentrate on the speaker.
It didn't change anyone's will, so naturally, no trace of it could be found. The reason these workers joined the strike was simply that, in their state of focused attention, they understood the concepts Lavis was telling them,
They understood what class was, what capital was, and what the proletariat was.
The workers of this era were true proletarians; they had nothing, which was why they possessed the power to sever everything.
After understanding Lavis's soul-piercing concepts, all the workers spontaneously joined the parade and spread his words to even more workers.
From one workshop to one factory area, and then to an entire factory.
In just three days, Lavis's strike team had expanded to thousands of people, covering three large factories. It was predictable that as the parade continued, even more workers would join.
And the root of all this was merely a book Snow had passed to Lavis through a ritual.
"The Condition of the Working Class in Loen."
Yes, it wasn't the more lethal "Manifesto," nor the more famous "Das Kapital," because those were things the current Loen workers couldn't understand. But the content of this book was something any working-class person could empathize with, for those were things truly happening to them.
Sometimes, knowledge is more useful than Beyonder abilities.
...
Seeing Mr. Honor's "career" slowly get on the right track, the corners of Snow's mouth curled up slightly. Compared to Mr. Victory, who had decided to be a "Slime-killing Sage" (Shilipo Sword God), the change Mr. Honor had brought about gave Snow a greater sense of accomplishment.
With relaxed steps, he arrived at the Mordred residence and began today's training. Seriously, this Mordred truly had some skills; with the learning ability of [Respondent], Snow had spent three days and still hadn't drained his techniques.
It wasn't until evening, when Snow returned home and was about to have a glass of warm milk before going to bed, that overlapping prayers suddenly echoed in his ears...
"O Voyager from a distant spacetime; you are the contradictory spiral of logic and wisdom; the reflection of knowledge, the reverse side of truth..."
... Rewinding time a bit...
"I've almost finished digesting it. Mmm, that fellow mentioned he had the formula for the [Pleasure] potion. I wonder what he'll ask me to do this time... He hasn't contacted me in nearly a week. According to previous intervals, at most three more days and he should find some trouble for me... I wonder what it'll be this time..."
In Tingen City, Trissy felt the digestion progress of her potion, a beautiful smile appearing on her face. She played with her hair while thinking about her next move.
Ever since knowing there was a possibility of turning back into a man, Trissy was full of motivation for advancement. However, thinking that the next stage was [Pleasure], she felt a bit troubled...
"Mmm, it seems it's time to leave Tingen." Trissy pondered in her heart, arriving at the dressing table to adjust her clothes.
Although Tingen had returned to its usual peace after the Evil God's Child incident, Trissy didn't intend to stay here. She wanted to find a more inconspicuous place, buy a small manor, hire two or three cute maids, and then...
"What a cute smile! It seems you've been having a good time lately?"
A voice that made one's body feel numb suddenly appeared by her side. Trissy's pupils contracted sharply. Her expression went stiff, and she slowly turned her head, only to see an exceptionally graceful woman standing behind her.
"How did you..."
Trissy was about to stand up but found she was completely unable to move. The woman slowly came before her and, with cool and tender fingers, lightly tilted her chin up, "You rely too much on Beyonder abilities! Don't forget, I was once a [Witch] as well."
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika Kagura]
---
A/N: "Mr. Honor" (荣耀) - Snow's code name for the worker representative Lavis, based on the philosophy of "Universal Nature."
A/N: "Pleasure" (欢愉) - Sequence 6 of the Demoness pathway. Trissy's goal, which she finds "troublesome" due to the sexual nature of the acting required.
T/N: "The Condition of the Working Class in Loen" (鲁恩工人阶级现状) - A direct reference to Friedrich Engels' "The Condition of the Working Class in England," translated here to fit the novel's setting.
T/N: "Slime-killing Sage" (Shilipo Sword God - 十里坡剑神) - An internet meme referring to a player who reaches a high level by grinding weak enemies in the starting area. Referring to Snow's recruit "Victory."
T/N: "Madame" (夫人) - The mysterious woman who appears to Trissy. Based on her dialogue, she is a high-sequence member of the Demoness Sect or a related organization, possibly sent to monitor or "retrieve" Trissy.