20demayo Chapter 164 : Workers of the World, Fight (4)
Chapter 164 : Workers of the World, Fight (4)
Chapter 164: Workers of the World, Fight (4)
‘…I’ll have to wait and see how effective this actually is.’
Advancing the declaration by one day was probably part of their strategy as well.
It was likely intended to further amplify the impact of the articles they would expose afterward.
Leaving the noisy area where everyone was loudly asking what the hell all that meant, I hurried toward the cafeteria.
Right then, I spotted Michel entering through the cafeteria entrance and headed toward her.
“Chairwoman!”
“…Ah, Instructor Eugene.”
Unlike her usual self, who always addressed me by surname, my given name slipped out instead.
I was briefly startled, but quickly asked,
“You saw what happened in the plaza, right?”
“Yes.”
Watching her completely unmoving expression, I crossed my arms.
“…The key issue will be how many cards he’s actually holding.”
“…….”
“What do you think, Chairwoman?”
“…Before that.”
At my casual question, Michel silently glanced at me before turning her head and answering,
“Rather than a title… I’d prefer if you called me by my name.”
“……Huh?”
That wasn’t the answer I expected.
To make matters worse, a faint blush had appeared beneath her expressionless face.
I coughed awkwardly twice before asking again.
“…Do you believe the cards he holds are enough to deal serious damage to Bernhardt, Michel?”
Only then did she nod with what looked like subtle satisfaction before opening her mouth.
“I don’t think they’ll be lacking in the slightest.”
“Hmm….”
After receiving our food, we moved toward the table.
Unlike my tray, piled high like a mountain with bread and meat, Michel’s tray looked rather modest.
“Today’s speech also felt more like an attempt to enlighten the citizens than directly attack Bernhardt.”
“So Bernhardt is no longer even considered a worthy opponent?”
“I don’t think they’ve gone that far yet… but they probably believe it’s already beyond their control now.”
That made a fair amount of sense.
Whether it was Maximilian or Greenwhistle, their ultimate objective lay beyond Bernhardt’s collapse.
The exposure was already a foregone conclusion, and there was nothing more they could do at this stage.
The meeting two days ago had probably allowed him to resolve much of what had built up inside him over the years, so now he was likely preparing to charge toward the next phase.
‘So it’s finally time for us to move too.’
After devouring the meat in an instant and wiping my mouth, I spoke.
“Will you be alright becoming enemies with Maximilian, Michel?”
“…I expected it would eventually come to that.”
Michel stabbed the remaining chunk of meat on her tray with her fork and slightly lifted it.
“If necessary, then we’ll have to.”
But… wait just a little longer.
“There’s still one final person left for me to negotiate with.”
“Negotiate…?”
“There’s a limit to going alone anyway… so come with me.”
“Come with you… where exactly?”
Her gaze remained fixed on the distance.
“Bernhardt Territory.”
---
Craaaash!
KWAANG!
Crash!
Without caring that blood was flowing from his hands, Edgar Bernhardt continued venting his rage.
It felt as though only smashing everything within sight would ease the fury boiling inside him.
Even Igor, the head servant who would normally have stepped forward to restrain him immediately, could only watch from afar this time.
And understandably so.
To Bernhardt’s direct bloodline, this incident was both rebellion and betrayal.
After all, Igor himself still served Bernhardt as a servant.
One of those servants had detonated a bomb of this magnitude.
If he carelessly approached, he might end up catching stray fire himself.
However, separate from that, he couldn’t help but feel confused.
‘How in the world did he remove the Code?’
Unless someone literally died and returned to life, the Code’s effects should have been permanent.
Did that mean there was someone among his allies capable of removing it?
“If something like that… is really possible….”
At that moment, Igor entertained a thought he never should have.
Unlike slaves, he had been formally employed as an official servant.
He had received a Code for confidentiality purposes, but his restrictions were nowhere near as severe as the others’.
Because of that, he knew his treatment had been far better than that of the other servant workers.
But even so—
Just because he himself lived relatively peacefully compared to them…
Didn’t mean he could pretend not to see the treatment and conditions they suffered under.
The reality he encountered most often wasn’t the lavish pleasures of the direct bloodline—
But the labor of his fellow servants handling every miserable task behind the scenes.
Because he believed it impossible, he had never even considered it until now.
Yet the sensation of forbidden desire echoing within his chest instantly shattered his composure.
It was then—
“Head of the Family, are you inside?”
Before him, Vice Head Mikhail had already arrived.
“Ah, ah….”
“Your reaction alone tells me enough. Step back. You could get hurt.”
Leaving behind the speechless Igor, Mikhail entered the office.
At the appearance of his closest ally and partner, Edgar collapsed to the floor as though crumbling.
“…Mikhail.”
Carefully stepping around the shattered glass, splintered wood, and stone fragments scattered everywhere, Mikhail approached his partner.
Dropping to one knee, he smiled bitterly.
“You haven’t knelt, so I’ll let it slide, Edgar.”
“Mikhail….”
After anger came confusion and resentment simultaneously.
“I don’t understand… I have no idea how that bastard could still be alive… none at all.”
“Yeah. I don’t understand either.”
“…….”
“But that’s not what’s important.”
Toward the comrade who was steadily losing his composure, Mikhail spoke with firm eyes.
“At the earliest tonight, and at the latest tomorrow evening, the details of the exposure will begin surfacing.”
Those bastards had prepared this for an extremely long time.
It was no coincidence that they gave this speech exactly two days before the assembly passed the Karbenna–Special Task Force suppression policy.
“Compared to that, our response has been somewhat delayed. There’s a limit to how much we can silence people, and it’ll definitely affect the vote.”
But that doesn’t mean everything’s already too late.
“If they intend to rally the citizens and create division among the nobles, then we simply need to become the nobles’ focal point.”
At those words, Edgar’s twisted expression softened slightly.
“Maybe the pro-Bernhardt faction… but will the others really be persuaded?”
“Well, that depends on how we approach the discussion.”
Touching the corner of his mouth, Mikhail leaned against the edge of the table.
They must have believed Bernhardt could only be destroyed through wide-scale agitation and exposure, so in a sense, they had launched a massive area-wide provocation.
But whether noble or commoner, humans always unite in times of crisis.
“Of course we’ll suffer the greatest damage, but do you think the other nobles won’t suffer too?”
“…They will. Severely.”
“If they managed to bring down Bernhardt, then other families will be even easier—that’s what countless fools will start thinking. This is no time to be arguing over pro-Bernhardt or anti-Bernhardt factions.”
Only then did Edgar finally begin thinking of ways to overcome the situation as he barely managed to stand back up.
“…This new variable is certainly troublesome, but not impossible to handle?”
“Exactly.”
Nodding his head, Mikhail’s expression suddenly hardened.
“Of course, they’re probably expecting us to respond like this… which means we need to strike first.”
“You already have a plan?”
“If they intend to become the focal point of the citizens, just as we intend to become the focal point of the nobles… then we simply need to make them realize that belief was mistaken.”
Holding up two fingers, he folded them down one by one as he continued.
“First. We locate Greenwhistle’s headquarters and destroy it so thoroughly they’ll never again spout such worthless nonsense.”
And second—
“…We show them that citizens do not follow fellow citizens, but rather proper and legitimate leaders.”
---
3 PM, Epoch Region of Ribenia, Arta Family Territory, Guest Hall.
Only two hours after Greenwhistle’s shocking “Workers’ Speech,” every head of the subordinate noble families had gathered in one place.
Rachel Ribenia, leader of the Second Faction and queen of high society, sat in the central seat of the banquet hall and smiled toward the man before her.
“So far, everything has gone exactly as expected, hasn’t it, Arta?”
Kalli Arta, head of the Arta Family, silently nodded while lifting his glass of champagne.
Rachel then turned her gaze toward the greatest contributor to this matter—
Their spy, Dale Wedmeyer.
“Excellent work sharing Greenwhistle’s exposure schedule, Dale.”
“It was nothing. I merely did what needed to be done.”
“Well then, shall we begin with a toast?”
Rachel elegantly gestured toward the twenty or so subordinate family heads gathered around her.
The clear sound of clinking glasses rang out, followed by loud applause.
“That lunatic Abel and the criminal group Bernhardt were never fit to lead the Empire.”
Now comes the truly important part, everyone.
With a bright smile, she spread her arms wide.
“Before Greenwhistle can unite the workers and incite them to rise up, we need to offer treatment so unprecedented that it completely differs from before. That way, we can focus all hostility entirely toward the pro-Bernhardt faction.”
You’ll all receive detailed manuals regarding the improved treatment policies before returning, so make sure to take them with you.
“Once the First Faction collapses, the wealth we’ll gain from that alone will be more than enough to recover these losses. One step back for two steps forward, understood?”
As everyone loudly voiced their agreement, Rachel slightly inclined her knees in gratitude.
“You’ll all be busy starting tomorrow, so tonight, enjoy yourselves to your hearts’ content before returning. I’ll see you again later.”
Once Rachel left the stage, the voices within the banquet hall gradually grew louder.
She exited through the back door and entered her private room on the second floor above the banquet hall.
Below the massive window opposite the room, the members gathered beneath could be seen clearly.
Watching them chat harmoniously with a satisfied expression, Rachel spoke.
“So, have you thought about it yet?”
As if answering her question, footsteps emerged from the darkness.
The one stepping out from the gap hidden between clothing and decorations—
Was the Third Princess, Edel Ribenia.
Rachel casually dropped onto the sofa beside the window and crossed her legs.
“As you can see, the nobles under me will follow my demands without complaint. They don’t have any other choice.”
“…Probably.”
“But I really don’t think a little improvement in treatment alone will calm all those workers.”
“So that’s why you called me? Edel Ribenia, the one with the highest public approval among the citizens.”
“Don’t be sarcastic. You know that’s not my intention.”
“Who knows.”
Watching Edel’s indifferent reaction, Rachel shouted with a hardened face.
“Of course it’d be great if everything works out! But shouldn’t we also prepare for the possibility that it won’t?”
“…….”
“If the workers start aiming beyond protecting their rights and begin reaching for our positions too, how exactly are we supposed to stop them?”
“We probably… can’t. The larger the suppression becomes, the larger the backlash will grow.”
“That idiot Abel would probably try using the army to stop them, but there’s no way the military would completely obey the Crown Prince over the Emperor, and they don’t even have the physical capacity for that right now. If this goes wrong, the Imperial Household itself could end up completely swallowed by the citizens.”
Despite the repeated persuasion, Edel’s expression remained empty.
“…Would that really be so bad?”
“Of course it would! The ones who should lead the Empire are chosen people like us! You know that too!”
“There’s no guarantee that we alone are the chosen ones.”
“……What?”
Edel patted both of her sister’s shoulders, bringing the discussion to an end.
“I understand exactly what you’re trying to say.”
I’ll give you my answer soon enough, so for now, face this adversity in your own way, Sister.
“Because every single choice we make now will gather together and become the future.”
And then, she vanished almost instantly.
“…Seriously, I can never understand what she’s thinking. Neither before nor now.”
Well, whatever. I’ll never get a better opportunity than this either.
Rachel lightly swirled the glass she had brought with her and smiled.
“Let’s hurry and get rid of that idiot brother of ours and properly face each other, Edel.”
The fragrance of fruit and flowers simultaneously stung sharply at the tip of her nose.