Novel Full Chapter 583 Les Miserables - IV
Conversely… no matter how the rules change, as long as the distinction between extraordinary beings and mortals exists, the core essence remains unaltered.
Because no rule can compel the extraordinary to be subjugated beneath the ordinary. Replacing higher disdain with class-based oppression is, in fact… a better choice.
Oppression, paradoxically, is the better choice?
Marlina, dazed, could no longer hear Hastings or Ansel, only vaguely aware of being pulled along.
Even the most corrupt and vile nobles and rulers are bound by the constraints and responsibilities of their [identity], but what of the adventurers, the extraordinary beings?
Do they bear any obligations towards mortals?
No, they act purely on their whims.
Adventurers do not care, adventurers are not emperors, adventurers… are merely a pack of hyenas.
Chasing after the relics of dynasties, the remnants of the labyrinthine realms, driven by instinct and pleasure.
They seek the same joy as the Empress but lack the capacity to establish a vast, meticulously regulated Empire that governs all extraordinary beings.
They merely… indulge in the fleeting pleasures of draining the pond… to catch the fish.
The suffering of mortals, their gratitude, their adulation—whatever brings them joy, they pursue. And when this fervor wanes, the fate of mortals and their futures are of no concern. Perhaps, on a whim, they might remember the existence of these people and bestow some grace, or take delight in their suffering.
This is a terror greater than oppression. If oppression maintains a minimal shred of “human” dignity, then this manipulation and toying with the very meaning, value, and dignity of mortals is a far greater hell.
And what is even more despairing…
“My cute little honey, I’m truly sorry, but you must leave now.”
“…What? W-Why? Why, please, Lord Hastings!”
The panic-stricken and anxious cry briefly pulled Marlina back to reality.
She saw, somewhat dazedly, a delicate… girl? Wearing a beautiful dress, with tear-filled eyes, desperately clinging to the adventurer’s arm, pleading.
“Have you abandoned me? What have I done to displease you? Please, don’t abandon me… please, Lord Hastings!”
“Ah, it’s just that your father is looking for you.”
“My… my father?”
“Yes, follow this gentleman, Lord Faust. Although I’ll miss you… haha, just kidding, Lord Faust. How could I miss him? You can take him away.”
“No!” The “girl” cried out, saying something incredible, “I don’t want to go!”
It was not a girl at all, but Ansel’s target, the missing boy who had been sold to Hastings by the Speckled Snake.
Dressed in women’s clothing, he had become the plaything and pet of this adventurer.
In Marlina’s eyes, the image of the boy was reflected.
He was clearly abducted.
He had clearly suffered so much.
His father was willing to spend all his savings just to see him again, even if it was only his corpse.
Now, he was merely a slave… no, not even a slave, just a plaything.
Yet he… did not want to abandon this identity of being a plaything.
“Have you… never thought about it?”
As the boy begged Hastings, Marlina, in a wavering, almost dying voice said, “Have you never thought that he will eventually, no… soon grow tired of you?”
“His words couldn’t be clearer; he doesn’t care about you at all.”
These words stunned the boy, but he clung to Hastings’ arm, silent.
He had thought about this—Marlina could read it in his hesitant and shrinking eyes. But he still chose to stay here, and the answer was… clear.
—Just like the answer to the question Marlina dreaded to accept, the one that made her tremble.
“I don’t want… I don’t want to go back.”
He didn’t want to go back.
“I don’t want to go back…”
He did not want to return to that filthy, putrid slum.
Even if the price was to become an adventurer’s plaything, even if he would soon be discarded.
The commoners living in the Western Lands also did not want to endure the oppressive rule of the nobles, did not want to feel that suffocating pressure of class hierarchy.
They would rather accept the unruly, lawless governance of adventurers, precisely because… adventurers do not care about mortals.
Thus, there would be inexplicable, cost-free gifts—like treats casually tossed to pets by their masters.
This capriciousness was something most nobles, entrenched in their class environments, would never exhibit. They too treated commoners as playthings, but it was built on a foundation of disdain and contempt.
Unlike the independent adventurers, the extraordinary beings… who did not even regard them as creatures connected to themselves.
Even if life might be miserable and they might suffer due to this chaos, what did it matter?
[“If lord extraordinary beings deign to help us, it is already an act of mercy!”]
The commoners of the Western Lands distanced themselves from the Empire’s class oppression…
Yet willingly saw themselves as countless times more insignificant than the oppressed, mere playthings for the extraordinary beings to dominate and slaughter.
And they believed…
“If Father…” the boy timidly said, “if Father knew I was living well with Lord Hastings, he… he certainly wouldn’t force me to return. Please, lord adventurer, could you convey this to him?”
Marlina closed her eyes, a tragic and mocking smile appearing on her bloodless face.
And she believed it was only right.
Without external oppression, without external threats, they spontaneously considered… the extraordinary beings to be inherently superior to ordinary people.
—The unconditional self-deprecation and… enslavement.
They might even think their lives were much better than those in other parts of the Empire. Stay connected with empire
Is this… what you wanted me to see, Mr. Ansel?
Marlina finally understood why Ansel had shown such disappointment towards her then, why he would ponder so seriously and silently when alone with her.
He was wiser and more foresighted than anyone, and more determined to change the Empire.
And when he used this wisdom to pursue his desires, unraveling the essence of the Empire bit by bit, discovering the true nature of the world—
When he realized that extraordinary beings eternally and absolutely transcend mortals, and that even a hellish Empire is more “humane” than a lawless wasteland—
When he discovered that even if he could completely overhaul the Empire’s system and rewrite all the rules, he still couldn’t solve that fundamental issue—
How utterly despairing must he have felt?
“…Mr. Faust.”
Marlina gazed at the fabled Faust, who had diligently sought out the target over these past few days. She looked at the pitiable figure who, for anything, did not want to return, and murmured somewhat dazedly:
“Can you tell me, am I dreaming?”
“Please tell me, when I wake, this world is not so tragically mad.”