Stand Up
The roles had been reversed.
The police, those who had once been wardens. And those who had lived in luxury, swaggering as the rulers of this city—they were now prisoners, locked inside the detention camp.
And the Labor Theorists, who had once been prisoners, were now the wardens managing the newly arrived inmates.
The first day of the camp.
Mayor Bias was, fortunately, not so lonely.
The factory owners and the police had all been brought in together as his fellow inmates.
"You son of a bitch!! It was you who talked!! If only you hadn't talked about that!!"
"You traitorous bastard, where do you get off yapping your mouth?!"
The moment it became clear that maintaining dignity and decorum no longer offered any benefit, the factory owners and the city's upper class began behaving in a manner not so different from the lower classes they had so despised and looked down upon.
They screamed, threw punches, crudely grabbed each other by the collar, and rolled around on the floor.
It was hell.
It felt like a nightmare.
At any moment, it seemed as if waking from this dream would find them back in the cozy, warm master bedroom of their own mansions.
But such a thing did not happen.
The camp's first day was vicious.
"I'm supposed to do labor like this? Me? Do you think I'll......"
"Frederick!! This one says he doesn't want to work!!"
"Oh-ho! Is that so?"
After a round of clubbing and a full day of going without food, there were no prisoners left who could still act high and mighty.
When night fell, the sound of weeping echoed throughout the camp.
Everyone seemed to be struggling to come to their senses, reeling from the shocking sentence that they would have to spend the rest of their lives here.
But only one person, Mayor Bias, did not weep.
'There will still be a way out.'
He believed there would still be a way to escape.
Wasn't there a saying that the rich last three generations even after ruin?
Someone might still need his knowledge, his assets, or his know-how.
Even a small chance was fine.
Getting out of here was what mattered first.
He thought that if he could just get out, he could seize another opportunity.
"Number 982. Visitor!!"
The day the wardens said he had a visitor instead of barking at him to go to labor, Bias realized the chance he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
He knew it.
He was, after all, a magnate who had run this city.
How could such a magnate be useless?
Someone must have come seeking his help.
Bias walked to the visitor's room with a confident expression.
And the moment he stepped inside.
His face had to harden into a stiff mask.
"Ah, Daddy."
"Dear."
His wife and children were waiting for him.
Unlike the well-dressed family he knew, they looked poor, as if he were seeing them for the first time.
And standing behind them as if using his family as a folding screen, quietly watching him, was the figure of Jonathan Karma.
"Welcome, Mr. Bias."
".....Why is my family here?"
"They said they wanted to follow. They wanted to see the father and husband. How could I stop them?"
Bias's hands trembled.
Jonathan calmly offered him a chair.
"Have a seat. Though the conversation won't be that long."
Jonathan looked at Bias and smirked.
"I'll be direct. I will take responsibility for your family. They won't be able to live in luxury as before, but I will see to it that they can live as an ordinary middle-class household."
"......."
"Transfer the entire enterprise to me."
At those words, Bias felt his vision go dark.
A smile, mixed with spasms, tugged at his lips.
"Are you threatening me?"
"Does this look like a threat? I believe I'm being sufficiently merciful. Think of your family, who would be thrown out into this cold world without a penny right now. Even if I turned a blind eye and let that happen, no one could say a word against me."
"......."
"Refusing is also an option. But judging from your past deeds, I doubt your family would spend a very pleasant remaining life either. You have quite a few people who hold grudges against you."
Behind Jonathan Karma's leisurely smile, a demon seemed to loom.
Bias could not hold out for long.
"......I'll sign. Bring me the documents."
"A wise choice, Mr. Bias."
Bias had to sign with trembling hands.
He had no other option.
And it was much the same for most of the other factory owners imprisoned in this camp.
And so, that day.
Every enterprise in the Scrap Yard came under the ownership of Karma Company.
I had no idea how many days had passed.
I had been frantically healing the sick, again and again.
Having had experience in the capital, it wasn't that difficult.
I lacked the time to figure out how the situation had come to this.
I even lacked the time for introspection on just what the thing inside my soul had done to cause this.
After dashing around tending to and treating injured children and critical patients, I ate a simple meal, went to my bed, and took a fitful nap.
And if a critical patient appeared, having to jump up urgently was a given.
Then one day, as I spent time in that frantic haze.
"Saint."
Karl Lenaro and the Labor Theorists came before me, dressed in splendid uniforms.
"Would you come with us for a moment? There is a place you must go."
"What is it?"
"His Imperial Majesty has provided a building to serve as the headquarters of the Imperial Labor Office. Now that the city's capitalists have received their lawful punishment, we will be moving up to the capital to officially begin the task of investigating and managing the actual conditions of workers throughout the entire empire."
Hearing that, I felt my strength drain away.
"Is that so?"
Who would ever believe that things had escalated to this point just because I had received a piece of black bread?
Looking back, it really made me laugh in disbelief.
"Before we begin our official work at the government building..... we would like you, Saint, to offer a congratulatory address."
"Yes. All the comrades are hoping for it."
"Would you please do so?"
Faced with their earnest expressions, I hesitated a moment before nodding.
Well.
I supposed it would be better to clearly wrap things up before leaving anyway.
In the end, my plans had failed, but still, the living standards of the city's people would improve......
Well.
Could I consider it a success?
"Peter. Anna. Jim. Amy."
I called the family of four who had been continuously assisting me by my side.
"Saint."
"Yes! You called?"
I looked with fondness at the family that had approached me.
They were the very ones who had ruined my reclusive life.
But seeing them smiling, I didn't feel so bad.
"I will now be going up to the capital."
"Pardon?"
"I can't stay here forever, can I? Karma Company and the Labor Office will manage this place well from now on."
I placed a hand on each of their heads.
"Don't ever be sick again. I hope you can be healthy and happy..... and live like that. Please live without forgetting the kindness you showed me back then, when you handed me that black bread."
At my words, the family grew choked up, their eyes reddening.
"I will remember it all my life. Saint."
"I will never treat lightly the life you gave me."
I nodded to them.
Then I turned and followed the Labor Theorists out.
"Saint!!"
"Saint! Are you leaving?"
"Yes. Because my work here is finished now."
Amid the calls of many people, I answered each one, waving my hand.
"High Priest Yodel."
"Yes, Saint."
"Please continue to steadily care for the sick and the poor of this city. I ask this of you."
"Yes. Of course."
After earnestly entreating the Order of Grace as well, I departed for the capital with the Labor Theorists.
Riding the teleport installed by the Magic Tower mages, I returned to the capital in an instant, and the familiar cityscape of the capital came into view.
A large building not far from the Mars Mage Tower caught my eye.
The appearance was closer to a temple than a government office, wasn't it?
"We were granted one of the Sun Order's old, disused order buildings without compensation. We will be working here from now on. Saint."
At Karl Lenaro's explanation, I finally understood the building's appearance.
As we slowly walked toward the Labor Office building that looked like a temple, the inscription Department Operarium, splendidly carved above the tall door, entered my sight.
"Let us go inside."
Within, countless people were gathered.
There were figures who looked like nobles from the Senate, and mages from the Magic Tower.
Priests and holy knights of the Pantheon, and judges of the Supreme Court.
And at the highest seat of honor.
His Imperial Majesty and Her Imperial Majesty the Empress.
And I could also see the figures of Almene and Iomene.
It was a scene where, literally, the magnates who could be called the core figures of the empire were all gathered.
"The Healing Saint enters!!"
The moment I stepped in, I could hear them all erupt in thunderous applause at the same time.
With a slightly awkward expression, I was guided to the very center, where I was handed a small pair of scissors.
A long red cloth was draped in the building's lobby area, and the scissors I had received seemed to be provided to cut it.
"If you would give the address and then cut the cloth with the scissors."
So said Karl Lenaro before stepping back.
Everyone stopped their applause and began looking at me quietly.
Reporters were ceaselessly snapping their cameras, and the noble and the lowly,
the faithful and the faithless were all gazing at me with brightly shining eyes.
A congratulatory address, huh.
What qualification did a cowardly and pathetic half-baked fool like me, who thought only of destroying his soul to return to Korea, have to give a grand thing like a congratulatory address?
I quietly looked down at the scissors, shrugged my shoulders, and opened my mouth.
Still, if there was one thing I could say.
This was all I had.
"I consider myself not to be a particularly great person."
Striving to hide my awkwardly trembling voice, I stammered on.
"Nevertheless, if there is one thing I can say I did well in coming to this world, I think it was trying to care for those weaker than myself."
I still think of it from time to time.
If I had used these abilities literally as befitting an erotic game......... what would have become of me now?
Probably, it would have been a little fun at first, but considering that the source of this authority ultimately belongs to a Demon King, I would have eventually been corrupted.
As I said, the one thing I did right was hold on to compassion for the weak. I still believe that was the only thing.
"The future is not fixed. Depending on what kind of heart one lives with, the same person can create hell or create heaven. I think so. So, I truly wish to say this to you."
I looked at the Labor Theorists.
"Let your compassion for workers not become hatred for the haves. You must be careful not to fall into the sweetness of the power you are now given and end up being devoured by lust for power."
This time, I looked at the nobles and the businessmen.
"Give more, as much as you have. Please always remember that without those below, those above cannot help but eventually waver. As I have given. I hope you all will have a heart that gives. That is the one thing I desire."
I felt like I had said something terribly obvious.
I was so embarrassed that I swallowed dryly once, then hurriedly turned around and raised the scissors.
With a snipping sound, the cloth was cut and fell.
At that sight, His Imperial Majesty stood up and declared in a great voice.
"From this very moment. I declare the Department Operarium! The Imperial Labor Office established!!"
At that moment.
Everyone rose from their seats.
Along with thunderous applause.
"Rise!!"
"Everyone rise!!"
"For the Empire!!"
"For the Workers!!"
The unprecedented sight of Labor Theorists and capitalists laughing together and applauding.
As I watched it in a daze, a belated sense of reality crashed over me.
Just what was I doing?
Had I gone on the run to do this?
Just thinking about the number of people I had proselytized to in the Scrap Yard, I could not even imagine how much faith the Demon King inside my soul had now absorbed.
It dawned on me anew just how much I had botched things.
'This time, I really need to go somewhere completely uninhabited. So this kind of problem can't arise at all.'
Sighing inwardly as I was making those plans.
Suddenly, Erpa, Iomene, and Almene, standing and applauding, came into my sight.
The three women simultaneously pursed and opened their mouths, speaking something.
'Tonight. I'll come find you.'
'Wait for me.'
.....Right.
I had been forgetting about those three.
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
I could not help but wear an ambiguous smile that was neither.