After the two shared a moment of reflection, Lina continued her presentation:
"My brother used to always say his boss was a good man, and that statement is actually true."
"According to the workers, Mr. Ivern not only secretly gives extra subsidies to the 'contract laborers,' but he also provides the 'ghost employees' with treatment on par with formal apprentices."
"In other factories, most business owners desperately suppress the wages of these ghost employees—"
"Because the official status of these ghost employees is that of domestic servants to the employer. Their very existence exploits a loophole in the regulations."
"As a result, they cannot freely seek employment like regular apprentices, nor can they jump ship to another factory. They rely entirely on their employer's protection to remain working in Piltover."
"Therefore, a de facto relationship of personal dependency has formed between the employers and the ghost employees."
"Then... doesn't that make them slaves to their employers?" Viktor asked in astonishment.
"They hardly count as slaves!" Lina sighed helplessly. "If the ghost employees are squeezed too hard, they can always just flee back to Zaun."
"Those 'contract laborers' are the real slaves!"
"Their personal freedom is completely controlled by the labor contractors. They suffer dual oppression from both the employer and the contractor. Not only is their compensation lower than that of regular apprentices, but the lion's share of their wages is also taken by the contractors."
"If they try to run away... heh."
"Professor Viktor, did you know—"
"The labor contractors operating in Piltover are actually mostly Zaunite gangs like the Iron Fist Gang."
"And those contract laborers are, in fact, debt slaves controlled through usury."
"If they run away, they'll be beaten to death, and everyone will just say they had it coming."
"Piltover Enforcers certainly won't bother with this kind of thing."
"This..." Viktor was even more shocked.
Only now did he understand why Lina said Ivern had a conscience and was a good man.
Those ghost employees were workers in name, but domestic servants in reality.
Ivern could easily have exploited them twice as hard with even lower pay. But he didn't.
Those contract laborers were workers in name, but slaves in reality.
As an employer, Ivern only needed to pay "rent" to the labor contractors—the slave drivers. Yet he bypassed the contractors and secretly used his own money to subsidize these slaves.
'Thinking about it this way...'
'Calling Ivern a good man really isn't an exaggeration.'
However, it was exactly this kind of good man, exactly this kind of conscientious factory... that they had investigated for less than an afternoon, only to uncover so many shocking truths.
"What else?" Viktor instructed Lina to continue her report. His tone was heavy, as if he were also asking himself.
"Right, I'll continue... There are a total of 148 apprentices of various types. Among them are 52 male workers, 72 female workers, and 24 child laborers under the age of fourteen..."
'There are fucking child laborers too?'
'Ivern, do you have any conscience at all?!'
Viktor was just about to curse inwardly.
But after briefly recalling his long-departed homeland of Zaun, he understood—
For the children of Zaun, being a child laborer in Piltover really wasn't a bad thing. Not only was it not bad, it could even be called an enviable blessing.
Working in Piltover meant the environment wasn't entirely atrocious, and basic food and clothing were guaranteed.
And if these children had remained in Zaun... just staying alive would have been incredibly difficult.
"Women, children... it is very hard for them to survive in Zaun."
"Mr. Ivern hiring so many female and child laborers could actually be considered 'doing a good deed'."
Viktor sighed with endless lamentation.
But Lina immediately informed him that Boss Ivern's goodwill wasn't quite so pure:
"No, Mr. Viktor."
"Boss Ivern generally pays market rates: 10 Silver Wheels a week for male workers, 6 to 7 Silver Wheels a week for female workers, and 3 to 4 Silver Wheels a week for child laborers."
"The difference in labor pricing among men, women, and children exists because, in most physically demanding jobs, their labor efficiency varies."
"However, according to our investigation, the factory's most heavily staffed position—circuit board soldering—does not require much physical strength. Therefore, the actual work efficiency of the men, women, and children is practically identical."
"Which means..."
"Mr. Ivern likely hires more women and children because their work efficiency is no worse than the men's, yet they are paid less. Hiring women and children saves on labor costs."
"This..." Viktor completely abandoned his illusions.
Right. Anyone who could become a business owner and survive in such fierce competition certainly wouldn't be a purely good person.
Sure enough, Lina continued speaking:
"When these Zaunite apprentices enter the factory, they all have to sign a 'guarantee contract' with the management."
"The general gist of this guarantee contract is that whether an apprentice faces illness, old age, death, or workplace injury, it has nothing to do with the company. Any damage to the factory's interests must be compensated. In severe cases, they will be fired, stripped of their apprentice status, and deported back to Zaun..."
"The contract unilaterally protects the business owner's interests and offers absolutely no so-called protection for the workers."
"..."
"Once the workers enter the factory, their situation is extremely passive. Not only are they monitored by foremen, but they are also subjected to a series of unequal 'house rules.' The most prominent ones include body searches, termination, demerits, fines, unpaid extra labor, and strict time limits for using the restroom..."
"And these body searches mean that after their shift ends, the foremen and security guards conduct unified pat-downs to prevent apprentices from stealing precious materials like Mithril, circuit boards, or Hextech Crystals from the workshop."
"The searches are conducted regardless of gender. If any theft is discovered, the foremen carry out vigilante justice. Light offenses result in public standing as a humiliation, while heavier offenses lead to physical beatings. Stringing people up and beating them is not unheard of."
"What?" Viktor couldn't listen anymore. "This... this is going too far!"
"How is it going too far?" Lina couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Even with this, the workers still have to thank Mr. Ivern for his lenient rules and for giving them a chance to turn over a new leaf—"
"Other factories just drag thieves straight to the police station and let the Enforcers kick them right back to Zaun."
"After all, Piltover's factories will never have a shortage of people. If they kick someone out, they can just hire someone new."
"Honestly, if it were my brother... I think he'd rather take a beating from the foreman than be chased back to Zaun by the Enforcers."
"So the apprentices' fear, pandering, and even sycophancy toward the factory foremen... all these seemingly slavish behaviors are actually not hard to understand."
Viktor fell into another bout of silence.
Finally, he could only sigh. "Alas... alas!"
'But what use is sighing?'
They were Windguides. They couldn't just stand here wringing their wrists and sighing.
They had to get the workers to join them, to raise their voices, to gather their strength, and to change this world together!
"We must launch our propaganda work as soon as possible and get these workers to unite..."
"Unite?" Lina shook her head helplessly. "Professor Viktor, that's exactly what we wanted to talk to you about..."
"Through our investigation, we discovered that these workers aren't united in the slightest."
'Everyone is living a bitter life, all brothers in hardship. Shouldn't they naturally be united?'
It turned out they really weren't.
"Due to various differences in age, gender, region, bloodline, status, and education level, the apprentices are actually divided into several incompatible factions."
"Male and female workers are hostile toward each other. The women feel that the men get unequal pay for equal work, taking home more wages for nothing; the men constantly insult the women as slutty and cheap, claiming they love crawling under the covers of Piltovans and throwing themselves at old Piltovan men."
"Furthermore, adult workers often bully the child laborers;"
"Those with good relationships with the foremen often bully those with poor relationships;"
"The minority who share blood ties band together to bully those without brothers to help them."
"There's even a chain of contempt among the formal apprentices, ghost employees, and contract laborers. Those with legal status look down on those without, and those without status look down on the slaves."
"And the most ridiculous part is:"
"Even though everyone is from Zaun, those from the Border Market District actually look down on those from the Underground Black Lanes, and those from the Underground Black Lanes look down on those from the Deep Sump District..."
"Everyone has naturally divided themselves into various gangs and factions, mutually hostile and tearing at each other."
"Unite? How can they unite?"
"Sigh..." Lina expressed with a massive headache. "Professor Viktor, how exactly are we supposed to do our propaganda work?"
Power Stones, reviews, and comments— really helps a lot
Want to read ahead? Get access to 50+ extra chapters on my Patreon:
👉 patreon.com/Aragai_Sama