Become a Rebel
There are five races on the Europa Continent.
Humans, elves, orcs, dwarves, and demonkin.
These five races each settled in lands suited to them, building civilizations of different forms, sometimes competing and sometimes cooperating to advance the continent—
The dwarves, armed with superior metal armaments and robust physiques, once reigned as the overlords of the central continent, but incurred the wrath of the chief god Tyr and were annihilated.
...I shall correct myself.
There are four races on the Europa Continent—humans, elves, orcs, and demonkin—and they each hole up in their own territories, casting wary glances at one another.
First, the humans.
They have no particularly fatal flaws, yet nothing especially outstanding either. At least their numbers are fairly large. They dominate most of Western Europe, including Germany and Italy, but being split into multiple kingdoms means they rarely manage to unite. Overall they give the strong impression of a big, clumsy oaf.
Next, the elves.
They live long, eat little, and move with grace. As a race of old fossils with lifespans measured in centuries, each individual is quite capable, yet their population is desperately small and society as a whole feels stagnant, so progress crawls. Centered on Austria and Czechia they form a single nation that exerts influence across the Alps, though precisely how far they consider their own territory remains unclear. Suspicious pointy-eared bastards in every respect.
The orcs.
Tough, stupid, and warlike. On top of that their numbers multiply disgustingly fast, so once they start rampaging they are hard to stop. They once tore across the continent with the momentum to conquer it all and turned Paris into a sea of fire, but the other races, horrified by the orcs’ explosive growth, lent the humans a hand; the orcs were forced to spit out every occupied territory and driven east. They rule a vast swath of land around Russia, yet their innate belligerence and way of life leave their industrial capacity pathetic. In this already half-barbaric Middle Ages, if even the locals treat you like a savage, you might as well call yourself a primitive.
And finally the demonkin… except I have so little information I cannot even tell what the hell they actually are. Books that deal with them are already rare, and the few that exist contradict one another so wildly that none of them can be trusted. The only certainties are that the demonkin’s domain lies in the southeast of the Europa Continent, around the Balkans, and that they are mortal enemies of our Order.
“Tsk. This is getting troublesome.”
I have nothing to my name and enemies just keep piling up. At least the distance is far enough that I need not worry about them immediately—small mercies.
In any case, only these four races possess the capacity to seize the initiative on the Europa Continent. A little digging shows that goblins and dragons and the like do exist, but the former are far too stupid and the latter far too few to form independent powers. Goblins in particular are treated as outright vermin. Plunder, murder, and rape are their baseline, so people say the whole breed should be wiped out.
But isn’t it pretty much the same in the modern world once public order collapses?
Either way, they are creatures one should never associate with. Not only goblins—most higher intelligences other than humans fall into the same category. I cannot even trust my own kind; how am I supposed to trust things whose racial values are completely different? I have no desire to get involved, and even if I am forced to, I have no intention of cultivating friendship at a loss. Chase ideals half-heartedly and you are guaranteed to fail. If you truly want to accomplish something worthwhile, you must decide in advance whom you will protect and draw a clear line. That is the precious lesson my senior taught me while dying of a gunshot wound.
Honestly, in an age when helping even fellow humans is already overwhelming, fretting over pointy-ears or blubber-heaps is just ridiculous.
…Though fretting over how to treat alien races I have never even met, when I cannot even handle a single count and have already been dragged into treason, is pretty ridiculous too.
“How about it? Roughly correct, right?”
Having sorted my thoughts to a reasonable degree, I went to the old librarian and rattled off the knowledge I had just acquired. It was a little embarrassing to present such elementary facts as if they were grand intelligence, yet the truly lamentable part was that here they actually were grand intelligence.
“Oh. Good heavens. You truly understood the contents of these books? You are not simply repeating something you overheard?”
The fact that this world is crawling with people who cannot even grasp something this simple is even more lamentable. Realizing that I had properly understood the books, the old librarian reacted as though he had suffered culture shock. I already knew, but watching him be this astonished still made me dizzy. And that was not merely the expression of someone impressed by a child’s cleverness. It was the face of an intellectual who had discovered a single ray of light among a throng of uncommunicative idiots.
“Uh… yes. Am I the strange one?”
“No. You are absolutely not strange! Everyone else is the strange ones! Yes, exactly so! Do not let the words of fools discourage you! You have simply been blessed with a gifted talent!”
Just as expected, the old man freely fabricated my life story, then, tears of emotion streaming, pulled me into a fierce hug and began vigorously ruffling my hair. I… roughly understand the feeling, but you smell, so I would prefer you let go. And if this were modern times this would be jail time. Be grateful it is the Middle Ages, old man.
“Then may I have the books brought over now?”
“Of course. Ask for as many as you like! And here.”
“Pardon?”
“The first month is free. Think of it as a special service.”
Huh. So he was actually a very kind old gentleman. But I have no intention of staying here that long. I can just read the free books and run.
“Thank you.”
I bowed my head politely and tucked the silver coins back into my pocket. I must not forget this surprising consideration; later I should at least get him a set of dentures. Ah, will he die of old age before I earn that kind of money?
“Be sure to brush your teeth regularly. Rinse thoroughly so nothing gets stuck between them.”
“Hm? Now you are giving life advice to this old man? Do not worry. I may have aged a bit, but I am still perfectly fine.”
No, if that were true your teeth would not be that yellow. And modern medicine is far more trustworthy than Grandfather’s life experience, so would it not be better to just go brush quietly?
“Yes. Cavities will be a real headache later, so please be careful.”
Ah, whatever. If he ends up with cavities that wreck his jaw, that is on him. For a mere twenty florins I have already given him a health check and disease-prevention guidelines; I have done enough.
“I will stop reading here for today. See you again tomorrow.”
It was nearly time for dinner. I stacked the books neatly, set them on the return counter, and offered a polite farewell. I would be seeing this face for a while; no harm in staying on good terms.
The greatest difference between modern people and medieval people is the presence or absence of patience. The reasons include the existence of public education, the form of administrative systems, the development of civic consciousness, and various other factors, but to put it simply, that is the correct answer.
Medieval society does not run on sophisticated systems and the rule of law. There are no half-hearted police who show up late when an incident occurs, nor judges who take bribes from the powerful and hand out slap-on-the-wrist sentences. All that exists are feudal lords who wield unlimited military and judicial power over their own subjects, and pseudo-magistrates tossed about by the grotesquely tangled interests of the guilds. Consequently, very few people trust the system. For trust to even be possible the structure has to look halfway decent; hanging a banner that says “Our restaurant is open for business as usual” in the middle of a concrete ruin does not make anyone want to eat there.
Anyone with even a shred of brains would rather risk solving matters with their own hands than place trust in bastards who do not even pretend to be fair.
“We have to deal with it! Right now!”
“Ah, so you want to make an enemy of Count Montpellier?!”
“It is not as if we do not know what that man is plotting.”
Thus the spinners of Montpellier City were not cowed by the count’s letter of guarantee. To be precise, that very letter only made them more frenzied.
A guarantee is, literally, staking one’s own name to vouch for another’s worth. Few people willingly perform such madness, and a noble’s guarantee is rarer still. When the subject is a commoner’s daughter without even a surname, it is absurd. Yet Asty had appeared at the city gate boldly carrying the count’s letter of guarantee. What, then, did that signify?
That the famously fastidious Count Montpellier had written a letter of guarantee for a mere girl meant—
“The Water Frame… actually exists…!”
“We’re fucked.”
In that instant warning lights blazed inside every spinner’s head. The spinners of Montpellier were not idiots. From the moment Asty carelessly produced the letter of guarantee they had roughly grasped the count’s scheme. So they gathered in an instant and convened an emergency council.
“Hey! You’re talking about making an enemy of the count’s house right now?!”
“Isn’t he the same man who has been itching to revoke our autonomy anyway? If we join hands with the other guilds and form a united front—”
“At least half will betray us! How can we trust people whose interests do not even align with ours?!”
“N-no, does this even make sense? A lord intending to infringe on business rights he himself promised in his own name?”
“He must believe the profits will be that great. The count is a cunning man.”
“Let’s just fight.”
After fierce debate they resolved to prepare an honorable resistance to defend the city’s freedom. In that moment the first breakwater against the count’s treason was established.