Chapter 490: Ogre(2)
Chapter 490: Ogre(2)
It was while I was deeply contemplating the absurd request from the three idiots—no, the three dwarves.
Perhaps it was because they had been riding around like madmen outside to get my attention, but news of their arrival seemed to have reached the ears of the students currently in class.
This meant the news had also reached the high-ranking noble children—in other words, my acquaintances.
As a result, even more people flocked to my dormitory than before.
"So, these people asked you to pass on your knowledge?"
"Yeah."
"To overthrow the corrupt Machina?"
"That's what they said."
"How can you be so nonchalant when an entire country might be turned upside down? Do you even realize what you're doing?"
My lovely fiancée, Marie, pressed me with an exasperated tone at my blunt answer. I scratched my head, feeling a bit sheepish at her reaction.
Reflecting on her words, I realized I was indeed about to embark on something incredibly dangerous. An entire nation could be thrown into chaos.
It had been this way since I started writing the Xenon Chronicle, but I always took a long time to process rapid changes in circumstances.
I tended to have a "it is what it is" personality, and frankly, I was damn slow at reading the room.
As Marie said, the three dwarves coming to me went far beyond a simple request for advice.
It feels like they've come seeking a hidden sage or something...
I wasn't hiding, and I certainly wasn't a sage, but the situation was similar enough.
"I understand the situation in Machina now. The exploitation is even worse than I'd heard. They must have bribed the press heavily to keep the news from spreading."
"That is correct. If things continue like this, Machina may be damaged beyond repair."
"Hmm..."
While Marie was scolding me, Lina gathered information about the current state of Machina from Geas. She, too, had rushed to my dorm after hearing the news.
"They treat their people that harshly? Why on earth would they do that?"
While Lina was organizing her thoughts, Cecile, who had also come to the dorm, spoke up in anger.
Possessing the qualities of a wise ruler herself, she found the situation in Machina impossible to accept.
Demons, in particular, tended to share a common bond of suffering and were inclined to look after one another. Even if someone poked at their wounds, they would usually just laugh it off at first.
The reason Helium had managed to endure without collapsing despite being isolated from international society was partly due to the demons' strength, but also due to this shared disposition.
Because the entire race carried a great tragedy, the King never oppressed the people, and the people recognized the King's authority, acknowledging the hardships he faced for them.
"It hasn't even been a hundred years since the revolution in the Ters Republic. What is the King of Machina thinking?"
"It's likely due to Machina's educational situation and its unique insularity. From what I've heard, Machina has no separate educational institutions. Instead of education, children are sent to factories to increase the workforce. They probably know almost nothing about the outside world."
"What?"
At Lina's answer, Cecile's red eyes widened in shock. She looked like she couldn't believe it.
And for good reason—while Helium had been forced into isolation, Machina had chosen to close itself off.
Furthermore, basic educational institutions usually existed even in small countries. The Academy was essentially a university.
But Machina was different. While they were incredibly skilled with their hands, they lacked basic academic knowledge and had to seek advice from other nations.
I knew that for "magical items" like refrigerators or water heaters, the "magic" part was mostly handled by Elves on their behalf.
"Princess of Helium. We dwarves have a tendency to rarely leave the forge once we enter. Furthermore, because we are so skilled with our hands, we tend to move our fingers before we think with our heads."
"I-I see. I didn't know much about dwarves, so this is the first I'm hearing of it."
Cecile responded hesitantly to Geas's polite explanation. Although the Demon tribe had entered international society, it had only been two years, and there was still much she didn't know.
"It's only natural you wouldn't know. Unless you're in Machina, dwarves are hard to find. There are hardly any dwarves living here at Halo Academy, are there?"
"Can't even the economic power of the Minerva Empire bring them in?"
"It's not that we can't. It's just that the King of Machina is such a jer—"
Lina caught herself mid-insult and glanced at the three dwarves. No matter how much his reputation had hit rock bottom, openly insulting a King was still a breach of etiquette.
However, if that reputation was already in the gutter, the story was different. Geas gave a small smirk at Lina's hesitation and spoke quietly.
"Feel free to insult him as much as you like; we'd love to hang the King ourselves. We don't mind."
"Do you see my hand? This is the reward for working hard for the country."
Following Geas, Handai showed his mangled hand. I had thought something looked off earlier; a segment of his left ring finger was missing.
Lina's blue eyes shifted, and she spoke in a cautious voice.
"......He's just a bit of a jerk."
"You mean he's good at diplomacy?"
Usually, when you insult someone you dislike, it's practically a compliment. Cecile understood that perfectly.
"Yeah. We'd love to poach the dwarven master craftsmen, but he refuses to budge. If we try to persuade them, he raises tariffs. If we apply military pressure, we're in trouble because he might stop production. Machina is a country where it's difficult to gain any diplomatic advantage."
Machina didn't just produce weapons. They manufactured a wide variety of goods, starting with paper.
Because they were dwarven-made, their reliability was guaranteed, and they even had mass production capabilities. Of course, the massive tariffs slapped on top were a given.
Bullying others with resources has existed everywhere throughout history. In Machina's case, the resource was human talent.
"I see. But what are tariffs?"
"......"
At Cecile's innocent question, Lina stared at her with an "are you serious?" expression. I could practically see the various anxieties flashing through her mind.
Given Helium's long isolation, it was understandable. They had only been involved in international diplomacy for a little over a year.
Still, hearing such a thing from someone of national leader status was staggering.
Cecile giggled and gave Lina a playful nudge on the shoulder.
"I'm joking. Did you really think I wouldn't know that? No matter how inexperienced Helium is in diplomacy, we know the basics by now."
"That's a shame. If you didn't know, I was going to squeeze you for everything I could. I heard Helium-made weapons are quite good."
"You're serious, aren't you?"
"Who knows?"
Of course, Lina was no pushover either. When Cecile narrowed her eyes and glared, Lina simply shrugged.
No matter how close they were personally, diplomacy had to be handled strictly. The heads of those two would likely only get busier from now on.
"By the way, I have something I'm curious about. May I ask?"
"Ask anything."
"Is it really worth coming all the way to find Xenon, even at such great risk?"
Lina crossed her arms and looked down at the dwarves. An untouchable aura began to radiate from her.
Usually, Marie and I were the ones breaking the mood, but Lina was an Imperial Princess. Her dignity and elegance as a princess never truly vanished.
Geas and the other dwarves seemed slightly overwhelmed by her spirit, as they swallowed hard.
"Now that you've come to find Xenon, rumors of this will surely reach the ears of Bourgeois V. And didn't you say you were conducting propaganda even before entering the Empire? You know what this means, right?"
"......We know. It means we've raised the banner of rebellion," Geas answered in a heavy voice.
As Lina said, this trio of dwarves had openly rebelled.
If I were just a man of rumors, it might be different, but I was a globally famous "public figure." One recognized even by the Gods.
They had already caused quite a stir to summon me. It would definitely reach Bourgeois V's ears.
They had literally crossed the Rubicon. In other words, they were that desperate and that longing for change.
"The only saving grace is the carriage you arrived in. If you use that carriage, you might arrive before Bourgeois V receives the news. But after that, Machina will effectively enter a state of civil war. Even now, many countries, including our Minerva Empire, are watching Machina like hawks. You understand what that implies, don't you?"
"......"
The three dwarves said nothing to Lina's explanation. Her words carried a multitude of meanings.
She was essentially saying it out loud: the moment the three dwarves started a rebellion, the Minerva Empire would reach out.
Not to help the revolution, but to poach the dwarven master craftsmen who would be displaced by it.
From the Minerva Empire's perspective, it would be like a giant windfall falling right into their laps.
The reason she laid out the whole situation was simple. It was to show that the trio's prospects were so grim that she could afford to show all her cards.
"The Jayros Revolution was only half-successful. Thanks to it, the Commoners' Assembly was established, but a failure is still a failure. However, Machina will be different. The moment you fail, the leaders will be executed. And the exploitation will become even worse than it is now. While our Minerva Empire will reap the benefits without lifting a finger."
"......"
"Is it really worth going this far? Especially you, Eins—you invented the magic engine. You could easily seek asylum in another country."
Eins slowly raised his head after hearing the criticism. Due to the typical dwarven stature, he had to look up, but his eyes burned with the same intensity.
He stared at Lina for a long time before giving an answer that stunned everyone.
"Does one need a reason to repair a broken machine? Perhaps it's because I was born a dwarf, but if I don't fix it immediately, I feel like thorns are growing in my mouth."
"......"
"I thought my invention would make the dwarven factories more comfortable. But the greedy King didn't think so. He views Machina not as a country, but as a single forge. To him, we are nothing more than hammers, anvils, and pickaxes."
Eins paused for a moment, then continued in an agitated tone.
"We are not hammers or pickaxes. We are simply dwarves who desire true creation. If this isn't slavery, then what is?"
"So, you intend to become the King."
"No. I don't want to be a King."
At the statement that he didn't want to be King, not only Lina but also I, who had been listening quietly, widened my eyes.
I could understand a revolution to drag down the greedy Bourgeois V. However, if a country has no leader, it falls into extreme chaos.
No matter how much of a tyrant he was, a King is the pillar of a nation. If you pull the pillar out by its roots, you must replace it with a new one.
If you don't replace it in time, the country will collapse.
"Instead, I simply want a country where everyone can create equally. That's why I'm so engrossed in the ideology of communism."
"......Communism doesn't mean everyone is equal, you know? Have you been reading War of Blood and Iron?"
"I read it constantly."
"Then think about why Stalin of the Soviet Union is called the 'Butcher of Georgia.'"
So that's why he asked me to tell him about the essence of communism. It wasn't strange, considering Lenin shouted for communism during the Russian Revolution as well.
However, while communism might be close to perfection as an ideology, its limits and potential as a political system are clear.
Democracy has high potential even if wealth gaps occur through 'competition,' but communism weakens competitiveness by distributing everything equally to everyone.
The Soviet Union also grew explosively at first thanks to communism and Stalin's Five-Year Plans. But it eventually lost the Cold War against the United States.
"Above all, a leader is absolutely necessary for a state to survive. This is an unavoidable social structure once a civilization is established."
"Then you be the King, Geas. I'm no good at speeches."
"What?"
"Just do it for about five years. I have a plan."
"Wait, what the—"
Geas looked dumbfounded by Eins's reckless demand. Still, the fact that he didn't shout suggested he trusted Eins.
The situation was progressing at breakneck speed, but there was definitely a vision.
Is the first Dwarven General Secretary about to appear?
Or perhaps it would be a structure where the three of them held equal power, each handling their own responsibilities.
"Either way, the goal is the same: to liberate the suffering dwarven factories. You called them the bourgeoisie? Instead of those bastards hogging all the power and factories, I want every single person to become a master craftsman in the truest sense and create. Even if they don't want to create, that's fine. That's equal in its own way. That's the kind of society I want."
"......"
"So, if the revolution succeeds, I'm going to distribute the blueprints for the magic engine to all of Machina."
"......What?"
I couldn't help but widen my eyes at Eins's shocking statement. Distributing the magic engine blueprints to all of Machina?
Of course, it's difficult to build something just by looking at a blueprint. At least, by the standards of other races.
But what if they were 'Dwarves'? Master craftsmen who were naturally gifted with their hands and already well-versed in all kinds of machinery?
What if they were the dwarven factories, possessing such immense productivity that they were called 'public master craftsmen'?
"A society where all dwarves have equal technology and can attempt various creations."
Eins clenched his fists as he declared his ideology.
"A society where those creations spark a desire for competition, but where those craftsmen are guided to the right places."
Truly.
"That is the society I desire."
I could only describe it as a form of communism that only dwarves could pull off.