Chapter 500: Destruction, Creation, Birth(2)
Chapter 500: Destruction, Creation, Birth(2)
Eins looked down into the furnace where the incarnation of greed had vanished along with his symbols of avarice.
Inside the furnace, which bubbled and seethed like magma, only molten iron overflowed; no trace of the King remained. Having fallen into a vat exceeding a thousand degrees, not even his bones would have survived. That molten metal would eventually be forged into a different kind of symbol.
'What on earth drove him to such madness?'
Eins furrowed his brow, unable to comprehend it. No matter how obsessed one might be with money, Bourgeois V had gone beyond all reason.
Was it paranoia, greed, a lust for power—or a monster born from the fusion of all three?
It was impossible to pin down. It was so severe it bordered on a mental illness, making one wonder if a demon worshiper had been pulling the strings from behind the scenes.
In fact, when the demon worshipers were rampant, Machina had suffered little damage. But what if Bourgeois V himself had been influenced by them?
There were rumors that he had poisoned his own siblings in the past; it was worth investigating. The possibility that his corruption by greed and the specific paranoia common to monarchs had been subtly manipulated was not insignificant.
"..."
Eins stared at the bubbling molten iron for a moment before turning his gaze forward.
The crowd was deathly silent, perhaps stunned by the sheer extremity of Bourgeois V’s greed. They likely never imagined that someone could be so blinded by avarice as to throw away their own life.
However, now that a clear 'precedent' had been set, all that remained was to prepare for the future. Since Bourgeois V had committed suicide rather than being assassinated, there were no legal complications to worry about.
Eins raised his loudspeaker and began to speak, his voice low and resonant.
[You have all just witnessed the end of greed with your own eyes. Greed in Xenon's Life met a similar end. In the story, greed lost its life to its own creation; likewise, Bourgeois V was consumed by his own avarice.]
The crowd had seen firsthand how terrifying greed could be and how it could utterly ruin a person.
Yet, in a society driven by 'capital,' greed was an inevitable byproduct. It was the natural order of things, a necessity as long as 'money' existed. Even without capital, any emotion, when taken to excess, becomes a sin.
[The incarnation of greed is gone from this country. But that does not mean greed itself has vanished. Sins, including greed, can arise in anyone, anywhere, at any time. These emotions have shaped history, including that of Machina. Even this current revolution was expressed through 'wrath.' As long as we exist, sin will never disappear.]
Eins’s words were undeniably true. The revolution had indeed been sparked by a wrath that could no longer be contained.
This didn't apply only to Dwarves. As long as humans possessed joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure, they could never be truly free from sin.
[Bourgeois V’s excessive greed incited wrath, and because of that, we have been able to reclaim our rightful rights. In other words, if such emotions become extreme, another sin can emerge at any time. We must prevent such a cycle from repeating.]
Today’s revolution was successful because the people could unite against a common enemy like Bourgeois V. However, while the revolution was over, the aftermath was far from settled.
Historically, whenever politics fell into chaos, many would succumb to greed to snatch up the crumbs.
Eins was issuing a warning. Set aside your greed, if only until our internal affairs are stabilized. Only when we are united as one do we have the opportunity for true progress.
The crowd seemed to understand his point, nodding in agreement. Bourgeois V served as a vivid, sufficient warning.
"Then, how are we supposed to develop?"
"As long as the Factories are given rest and freedom, it should be fine, but..."
"What if someone like Bourgeois V appears again?"
Of course, there were concerns. Bourgeois V’s tyranny had been so impactful that the Factories were fearful. While they would be granted rights and freedom once things settled, there was no guarantee that another Bourgeois V wouldn't emerge.
That was what the Dwarves feared most—the reappearance of unscrupulous owners who would exploit them under the guise of the law.
[I know well what you worry about. We have amassed immense wealth since the Race War, and that wealth brought about terrible consequences. However, we will continue to create things as time passes. That is what it means to be a Dwarf. We will not stop, even as we gain freedom and rest.]
[But we must prevent a new Bourgeois V from rising. If that happens, this historic day will lose its meaning. Therefore, I ask you all: Who do you believe yourselves to be?]
Eins’s question seemed to come out of nowhere. The Dwarves blinked in confusion, then began to murmur among themselves.
"What district are you from?"
"I work in the mines. You?"
"Weapon manufacturing. And you?"
"I'm weaving fabric."
There was a saying: Not every Dwarf is a Factory, but every Factory is a Dwarf. In fact, the term 'Factory' was something that only truly applied to Dwarves.
Even children were born with an innate talent for metallurgy, and the skill of a veteran was beyond question. While there were occasionally Dwarves without talent, they usually focused on primary industries, like mining.
This was a nation that lived solely on production and the resulting exports and imports. A nation where most of the population were master artisans.
[We are Factories. And each of us is a technician who has honed their craft for decades. Since the Race War, Machina has been blinded by greed and distanced itself from true progress. We simply made what we had always made, never even dreaming of true creation.]
[The ownership of the 'Mana Engine' I recently invented was nearly stolen by Bourgeois V. And that Mana Engine was intended not for the convenience of the Factories, but for even harsher exploitation. In my fury, I invented that steel monster over there—the tank—and started this revolution.]
The Mana Engine was a masterpiece praised not just by the Dwarven Factories, but by technicians everywhere. It was a machine powered by the mana generated from burning coal. It allowed coal to substitute for the mana that only living beings were supposed to be able to produce.
To think the ownership of such a masterpiece was almost stolen. Furthermore, Bourgeois V had intended to use it to exploit the Factories even further rather than easing their burden.
As the Factories cursed Bourgeois V in their anger upon hearing the truth, a few Dwarves raised questions.
"But why is he telling us this?"
"Is he going to make our lives easier with the Mana Engine? That would be great for us."
"The demand for miners is going to skyrocket."
Most Dwarves assumed Eins would use the Mana Engine to make their work easier. After all, the ownership belonged solely to him. Logically, that was the only thing that made sense.
But Eins had a different idea.
[Therefore, I declare this to you all: I will release the blueprints for the Mana Engine to you, and to the entire world.]
"What?"
"What did he just say? The blueprints?"
"Is... is Mr. Eins crazy? People could figure it out just by taking it apart, but he's giving away the blueprints?"
The crowd erupted into a roar of confusion. They couldn't understand Eins’s statement.
As mentioned repeatedly, Dwarves were a race blessed with extraordinary manual dexterity. Even if they didn't understand something theoretically, they could whip something up with their hands.
Physics? Mathematics? Engineering? Rather than pondering those things, they could create through trial and error and modification. Their talent was so transcendent that the term 'Factory'—meaning a public master artisan—had come into existence.
That talent had merely been dulled because it had been focused solely on mass production until now.
[At some point, you must have felt it. The desire to create something innovative. The wish for the things you made to be recognized. The hope that your name would become known through your work. These were the dreams we had as children. But those dreams were crushed by ruthless greed. Instead of creation, we repeated simple labor, and we were oppressed as we conformed to the times.]
[Now that the revolution has succeeded, that oppression is gone. The shackles that bound our hands and feet have vanished, and the Factories have united as one.]
[But are you satisfied? Will you simply return to your daily lives and go back to making the same things you always have? What kind of race are we? We are Dwarves, whose skill is so great we built this massive palace atop a mountain.]
[Now is the time for progress. We have stood still for three hundred years with our feet shackled. Now that those shackles are gone, it is time to move forward, step by step.]
From today, everything would change. Production would no longer be mere 'replication'; instead, true 'creations' would pour forth.
If Geas had planted the seeds of revolution in the Dwarves of Machina, Eins was planting a different kind of spark. It was the true desire held by most Dwarves, which had nearly vanished under endless exploitation—the genuine 'greed' that had faded but never truly died.
[Create without end! The chains that bound you are broken, so move forward! Use the Mana Engine as a starting point to ignite your creative passion!]
[And share your creations with everyone! Just as I shared my blueprints, let others see what you have made so they can create new inventions of their own!]
[Compete constantly, develop through that competition, and let new births emerge from that development!]
[Not as 'individual' Factories driven by greed, but as 'everyone's' Factories, sharing and advancing our technology together! We will revive and develop Machina!]
[That is the ideal and the system I desire. There is no need to fear failure. Our Geast will provide the opportunity to rise again!]
Eins paused his impassioned speech and looked out at the crowd.
Their faces were lost in thought, perhaps already imagining the inventions they wanted to build. Of course, not many among them would show true 'innovation.'
However, the potential of every single person becoming a 'technician' instead of just a 'Factory' was terrifying.
Eins believed in that potential. While flaws would surely appear along the way, they could be solved slowly.
[Now, everyone.]
Eins spoke softly as the crowd grew quiet. They looked up at him, standing proudly on the platform, without a word.
[What kind of work do you want to create?]
His question struck right at the heart of the Factories' desires.
[A machine more efficient than the Mana Engine? Or a tool that can handle delicate details? Or perhaps an auxiliary device to help miners work more easily?]
There was so much to make. So much they wanted to make.
The creative urge they hadn't realized they possessed during three hundred years of exploitation was now surfacing. The era of being satisfied with silently churning out goods was over.
Now, it would be by their own will, not by force; for the sake of everyone, not for a greedy individual.
[If you invent something that serves as a foundation, like the Mana Engine, our Geast will grant that person an honorable prize. A prize not for wealth, but for honor alone.]
Finally, he offered a reward to satisfy their ambition. Eins pointed to the battered tank and spoke quietly.
[The engine of that tank—its power source—is the Mana Engine. And the Mana Engine was inspired by the steam locomotive that appeared in Xenon's Life. The steam locomotive is a machine from Xenon's Life. And finally, the author of Xenon's Life is Xenon.]
[Therefore, to those who create innovative inventions like the Mana Engine, we shall award the 'Xenon Prize.']
If Isaac had heard this, his eyes would have nearly popped out of his head. He would have wondered why on earth his pen name was being attached to a prize.
However, not just Eins, but the crowd as well, seemed to find it perfectly natural.
If the steam locomotive hadn't been described in Xenon's Life, the Mana Engine might never have appeared. Even the 'tank' had been depicted in illustrations. There were more than enough reasons to accept it.
Of course, all these things were destined to appear naturally with the 'flow of time,' but because Isaac had shown them first, he was being treated as a prophet.
It was a bit much to say he had dug his own grave, but it was similar to the Nobel Prize of his previous life. The only difference was that, given the nature of Dwarves, it was heavily focused on mechanical engineering.
[Now. Everyone. I ask you one last time.]
Eins looked around at the crowd once more, bringing his speech to a close.
[What do you want to create?]
