Chapter 112

Chapter 112: Transfer.



Meanwhile, the situation in the central continent was getting worse and worse.



“Oh! Is this what’s so popular in the mainland these days?”



“Have I ever lied to you? You have no idea how popular it is, it’s sold out everywhere.”



“Ha ha! How can I not trust you? Alright. Then I’ll buy all of these.”



“Oh, thank you as always!”



The nobles bought anything that they thought was trendy in the empire, no matter how expensive it was.



They had no choice.



“Tsk tsk. What is that? Wearing a wool coat that’s already out of fashion. He’s really ruining the reputation of the nobility.”



“I know, right? Doesn’t he feel embarrassed to walk around like that?”



“Ha ha! He has such a thick skin!”



If they fell behind the trend, they would quickly become the laughingstock of the noble society.



It was so bad that they were more sensitive to fashion than the capitalists in the imperial capital.



As a result, the nobles’ extravagance reached its peak.



And in proportion to that, the dissatisfaction of the residents also increased day by day.



“There’s no end to those leeches sucking our blood!”



“Damn those nobles…”



Where did the money for the nobles’ extravagance come from?



Of course, it came from the residents who worked all day long.



The more the nobles indulged themselves, the lighter the residents’ pockets became, and their lives became harder.



At the same time, the number of followers of the spirit religion increased exponentially.



This was all because of the egalitarian ideology of the spirit religion.



Thanks to that, the spirit religion became the most common religion in the central continent.



As things went on like this, even the nobles who were immersed in luxury and pleasure began to feel a sense of crisis.



“What’s wrong with the people?”



“They openly curse and insult the nobles. Lately, there have been many posters with malicious intentions everywhere…”



Crash!



“How dare those lowlifes forget our grace and rebel! Catch those troublemakers right now!”



“But, if we do that, their discontent will only grow…”



“Are you questioning my words?”



“…No. I’ll do as you say.”



“It’s all because of that damn spirit religion!”



Of course, they couldn’t touch the missionaries of the spirit religion unless they were crazy, but instead they indiscriminately arrested their fervent followers.



They were the ones who expressed the most dissatisfaction with the current society.



“Here we go again. Isn’t this too much? What did they do wrong to deserve such a horrible punishment?”



“It’s what the nobles do. Sigh… I wonder when we’ll have a better world.”



“I heard that in Wakan Tanka Empire, everyone lives richly and happily…”



Every time they punished the followers of the spirit religion excessively, the residents’ perception of the nobles worsened, and as they compared their reality with the lives of the mainlanders who kept coming in, the central continent continued to rot.



***



“Damn it! Our comrades have been arrested again in large numbers! How long are we going to just watch this happen!”



“That’s right. It’s time to make a big move. If we join forces with our many comrades, we can do it.”



In a dark room.



There were representatives of the people who had gathered from all over the central continent.



They were all fervent followers of the spirit religion, and secretly spread egalitarian ideas and dreamed of overthrowing society.



But not all of them agreed with each other.



They were divided into three factions.



“It’s true that we have enough comrades with us, but it’s not clear if we can achieve our goal in this state. The nobles’ regular army is well-armed and well-trained warriors.”



“The difference in weapons and training is too great. Even if we succeed in our move, we will have to pay a huge sacrifice.”



“What does the Empire say? Will they supply us with weapons?”



“…I mentioned it, but they seemed quite reluctant. They seem to be hesitant to get involved in the politics of the Central Continent.”



“Hmm…”



The representatives let out a sigh.



Then, one of the factions’ leader, who had a clear bell-like voice, opened his mouth.



“I knew this would happen. Why would the Empire supply us with weapons? Do we have money to arm our comrades?”



“…No, we don’t.”



“Even if we did, we shouldn’t get into a money fight. If we do, we will lose to those greedy pigs.”



“Well, we can’t beat the nobles’ financial power.”



Everyone nodded in agreement, and the clear bell-like voice raised his voice even more.



“In the past, the Empire sold a lot of weapons to the South Continent. They traded with any faction that paid a lot of money. We can’t let that happen. We have to receive weapons unilaterally. And to do that, there is only one way I always told you!”



“…You mean the plan to annex the Central Continent to the Empire?”



“Yes.”



At that, the leader of the opposing faction, who had a blue flower-like voice, frowned and immediately objected.



“That’s nonsense! How can we hand over our success that our comrades fought for to the Empire? We have to build our own independent country. We are fundamentally different from the Wakan Tanka Empire’s people, so we will surely be discriminated against. If we are fully incorporated into the Empire, many of our comrades will be persecuted.”



“How can you be sure of that? The Empire is a country where many people from all over the continent gather. It’s an exaggeration to say that we will be persecuted in the future. You just want to become a new leader after succeeding in the revolution, don’t you?”



“What? Are you done talking?”



“Then promise me that you will step down from the front line after building a new country. Can you do that?”



“…”



The blue flower-like voice closed his mouth.



He didn’t know if he would have to step down without any reward after the revolution if he said something wrong.



He just glared at the clear bell-like voice who was on the opposite side of him.



After that, a heavy silence fell for a while.



There were quite a few people who wanted to take a place by building a new country following the blue flower-like voice after the revolution.



“You are exaggerating. Please refrain from such extreme attacks.”



“That’s right. This is not the time for us to fight like this.”



“I apologize if I went too far.”



The clear bell-like voice smiled and agreed.



He felt a bit excessive, but he was satisfied because he exposed the true face of the blue flower-like voice in front of everyone through this debate.



Thanks to that?



The last faction, who had been neutral, gradually leaned toward his opinion.



“Let’s think about it more for now. We have time. Let’s end it here for today.”



***



The representatives continued to meet and coordinate their opinions.



And as time passed, their opinions gradually shifted from building a new country to annexation.



“Hmm. That’s how it is, right?”



“It seems like it’s only a matter of time now.”



“We don’t know yet. What if the blue flower-like voice has other thoughts? How can we know? So we have to be careful of him and his faction.”



“Yes. I am doing so.”



The governor of the Central Continent Direct Territory and the crown prince of the Empire, Wide Sky, kept track of every move of the representatives.



He had planted quite a few spies in this meeting, and he monitored their every move through them.



The fate of the Central Continent would change completely depending on their decision.



‘The blue flower-like voice is really dangerous.’



The wide sky saw it clearly.



His ambition to become a new power holder by succeeding in the coup.



If the situation unfolded as the clear bell sound wished, and the central continent was annexed by the empire, the blue flower and his faction would not gain much benefit even if they succeeded in the coup.



They would eventually be subjugated to the empire’s administrative system.



The blue flower knew this very well, and kept shouting for the founding of a new country.



‘But things are not going his way.’



What would he decide then?



The wide sky felt like he knew what he would do.



‘He would probably side with the nobles.’



If his accusation caused the coup to fail, the blue flower would reap a great profit.



‘I hope it doesn’t go as I think.’



The wide sky did not want to see such a despicable sight of him betraying his comrades for his own glory.



But soon enough, his hunch was proven right.



There was evidence that the blue flower was trying to contact the high nobles.



“So it turned out like that…”



“What should we do?”



“We can’t intervene directly. Just quietly tip off the clear bell sound.”



“Yes, governor.”



***



As a result, the blue flower’s betrayal was nipped in the bud.



Thanks to the wide sky’s tip, they caught him in time.



And when everything was revealed by his confession and evidence, the representatives were shocked, and this soon turned into anger.



“How could you do this! Don’t you know that your actions are selling out all of our comrades?”



“Look at these bat-like bastards!”



“If you have a mouth, say something!”



The blue flower, on the other hand, raised his voice.



“What did I do wrong? Should I have joined your plan to forcibly make the central continent’s residents into imperial citizens, as you wished? We have been thriving independently for a long time! We have to protect what is ours!”



“You’re spouting nonsense. No matter what you say, it doesn’t change the fact that you tried to betray us.”



“That’s right. There’s no need to listen to this filthy traitor who tried to cozy up to the nobles.”



“Death to the traitor!”



The blue flower’s excuse was not accepted by the representatives at all.



After that, the faction that followed the blue flower was destroyed and met a miserable end.



Thanks to that, the opinion of establishing an independent country quickly faded away.



The representatives’ opinion leaned towards getting weapons support from the empire, even if it meant being annexed by them.



And then, the real negotiation between the representatives and the wide sky began.



“You want us to provide weapons. Well, we do have some old weapons piled up in our warehouse…”



“Those alone will surely help us complete the coup successfully.”



“I suppose so.”



They were classified as old weapons in the empire, but they were no different from state-of-the-art weapons in the central continent.



They were much better than the regular army’s equipment of the nobles.



“As I said before, it’s a bit difficult for me to interfere with your political situation.”



“Most of us believe in the words of the great spirits. Please consider that we serve the same spirits.”



“Hmm…”



The wide sky deliberately stroked his chin and pretended to ponder.



Then, the representatives’ bodies tensed up.



And they looked at each other and nodded their heads.



“Governor. May I say something?”



“…You’re clear bell sound, right?”



“Yes.”



“Go ahead. Say what you want.”



They had met several times before and knew each other’s faces, but they couldn’t reveal it because they met secretly.



Clear bell sound calmly spoke.



“I know very well that you don’t want to get involved in external political situations. However, as we said before, we believe in your empire’s religion and admire your empire.”



“That’s very kind of you.”



“And we wish that if we succeed in the coup, the central continent will enter into your empire’s embrace.”



“Oh, is that so?”



“If you only provide us with weapons, we will succeed in the coup and offer its fruits to your emperor.”



The wide sky widened his eyes and asked.



“Is that true?”



“Yes. Here, we have brought our pledge. Please take this as our sincerity.”



The wide sky took the pledge from clear bell sound and quickly checked it.



And he looked around and asked.



“Do you all agree?”



“Yes, governor.”



“Our people want to live a life of equality and happiness with your imperial citizens. We want to get out of this life of being exploited by the nobles unjustly!”



“Please accept our wish, governor!”



As all of them bowed their heads, the wide sky closed his eyes for a while and pretended to think.



And shortly after,



He opened his mouth.



“This is not something I can solve on my own. For now, just step back. I’ll ask his majesty and give you an answer soon.”



“We’ll be waiting.”