Chapter 117: Population

After 1947, when the people’s Hearts began to awaken, a massive change swept through the world.

Under orders for more Vitalists and soldiers, governments at the time urged people to have more children and offered rewards based on the number of children they were raising.

This old policy they created decades ago was inspired by Nazi Germany’s Mother’s Cross.

Because of this policy, it only took roughly two decades to repopulate their military. But as the population continued to grow due to this policy, they discovered something abnormal.

The women who were pregnant were only pregnant for around 6 months before having to give birth. And the most magical thing about this was that the fetuses born this way didn’t show the slightest bit of disability or weakness.

They were just like regular babies.

Initially, researchers thought this could’ve been caused by a sickness or mutation brought about by stress. But they quickly forwent that idea and replaced it with another idea.

Was this possibly an early tell of a child awakening their Heart later on in life?

At first, researchers were confident in this theory. After all, it made perfect sense!

Since Vitality naturally boosted a Vitalist’s physical abilities, it would obviously assist in a fetus’ growth in the womb. Right?

...

Unfortunately, they were proven wrong years later.

Whether you were born early or late, it was nearly impossible to predict a person’s awakening even when a Vitalist was the one pregnant.

Countless theories passed through the world of research, but nobody could reason as to why this strange phenomenon occurred.

Why had the gestation period been shortened by an entire third? It didn’t make sense!

...

Regardless, though, this strange phenomenon did assist them. Maybe... Too well.

From the initial global population of 8 million, Humanity’s population skyrocketed, reaching past billions — something that should’ve taken at least a century to do was done in roughly 80 years.

Although humanity had recovered from going extinct, they now faced a new problem — the population was growing too fast.

Food, land, and resources...

Such limited supplies were being used up faster than they could procure them, especially land.

On top of the mountains of waste constantly being made, it was difficult to sustain and take care of so many citizens.

This eventually led to... immoral decisions being made.

Herman tapped at the board and pondered whether he should continue. He then shook his head and moved on to the next topic.

’They’re not ready for that.’

He then moved on to land segregation, which was named "Land Tiering & Segregation Act".

Towns and cities were grouped into three Tiers: Low, Middle, and High, depending on the quality of their land, their historical value, size, location, and their general residents’ background.

Most Low-Tier towns and cities usually housed the poorer folks of the United Kingdom; those who weren’t able to make a decent living, or who didn’t have the potential that could enable them to live in a higher Tier location.

These types of towns and cities were extremely overcrowded and had soil that was overused, which made it difficult to grow anything worthwhile.

On the other hand, most Middle-Tier towns and cities usually housed office or factory workers, people with enough talent and hard work, who were able to make a decent living. Unfortunately, similar to low-Tier towns, these types of lands were also overcrowded with people.

But High-Tier towns and cities were different. They only housed the rich and wealthy, like tycoons or powerful Vitalists. And unlike the other two Tiers, these types of lands weren’t overcrowded.

"Because we grouped the towns and cities into these Tiers, it allows the government to more effectively designate the Public Order Reinforcers (POR). This was stated by one of the higher ups, during the hearing when this act was made 7 years ago."

As everyone continued to jot down in their notebooks, showing little reaction to what they’ve learned...

"It’s a stupid act..."

Hilda couldn’t help but pick up Nadia’s quiet comment on the matter.

Turning to her left, she found the blonde beauty with a sour and disgusted look on her face, like she had the taste of something horrendously foul.

It was clear the woman wasn’t fond of this particular act.

Hilda chose to ignore the woman’s negativity, seeing as there were no benefits to talking about it now, and continued on with her noting.

Although...

’She’s not wrong.’

That didn’t mean she didn’t have her own opinions on this matter.

...

The lecture eventually ended, and they were back on another 30-minute break.

The group were outside, standing around a few vending machines for drinks.

But not everyone.

Nadia, who didn’t want to pay for one, sat on a nearby bench with Seraphine, who wasn’t willing to spend her money as well. And because of that, she had front-row seats to Nadia’s venting.

"It just doesn’t make sense!" Nadia complained. "There’s no real justification for grouping up the towns and cities like this. Even if it’s to be more effective in designating law enforcement, the government can just hire more people!"

If it had been anyone else sitting where Seraphine was, they would’ve been shocked by how passionate Nadia sounded. After all, it’s not common for someone like Nadia to be so expressive about something.

But for obvious reasons, Seraphine wasn’t the slightest bit surprised by how Nadia was reacting, considering the Heroine’s past.

Nadia turned to Seraphine. "What do you think? I’m not the only one who feels this way, right?"

Seraphine chuckled nervously. "Yeah... I see what you mean, Nadia; it’s not right at all."

"Exactly!"

As Nadia continued to vent, Seraphine smiled wryly inside.

If she had to be honest, she didn’t really care all too much about this. Although her answer to Nadia’s question was the truth about how she felt, she was really only focused on things that could help her get home.

Was she a bad person for not caring about this sort of thing? Maybe.

But...

’Learning and getting stronger is what’s important to me, as of right now. Stuff about politics and other law-related things can come after.’

With that thought tucked away in her mind, she kept on listening to Nadia’s venting until the rest got back.

"Yo, we’re back, you too!" Elias waved with a drink in hand, having begged Ross for one.

Seraphine waved at them before jolting when Callum handed her a soda can.

"This is for you." He smiled. "I didn’t know what you might like, so I just got the same one I’m having."

Callum held up a can with an apple logo. It was a carbonated apple juice drink.

’He got me something!’ Seraphine’s eyes instantly sparkled, her inner fangirl sparking out of control. ’Hehehe...’

After regaining control over herself, she coughed, then said:

"T-that’s fine! You really didn’t—but I really appreciate it, Callum!"

Callum smiled brightly. "My pleasure."

Seraphine froze in place and felt a tingle in her nose. Was she about to have a nosebleed?

Nadia, having calmed down, watched as the two interacted before noticing someone parking in front of her.

The moment she looked up, the first thing she saw was an orange soda can.

She blinked in surprise and looked up at the one holding it out to her.

It was none other than Hilda.

With her usual tender smile, the German said, "For you, my sweet Dame~"

Nadia blinked a few more times before unconsciously taking it. "You bought me something else again? I didn’t ask you to do this."

She then looked down at the can, inspecting its illustration, and was surprised at what flavour it was. "And how did you know I like this flavour? I never told you that I liked oranges, did I?"

Hilda smirked and sat down beside the Heroine. Then, after a brief moment, she answered:

"I have good hearing. I also just guessed."

Nadia watched as the woman cracked open her own soda and drank it. She had a deadpan expression on her face, especially after an unsatisfactory answer like that.

’What does good hearing have to do with anything? Why is that even related?’ She thought.

Figuring she wasn’t going to get anything else out of the woman, she cracked open the soda. "Thanks for the drink."

"No problem," Hilda briefly answered, then winked playfully. "But if you really wanna thank me, how about a bit of hand-holding later—"

"Not a chance," Nadia instantly responded, indifferently.

"Ehhh? Not even a little?"

"Not even a little."

Nadia ignored Hilda’s pouty expression and turned to Callum, who had just asked Seraphine a question.

"So, what were you two talking about over here?"

"Talking about?" Seraphine tilted her head, then said, "We’re just talking about how the whole Land Tiering & Segregation Act is an immoral thing, that’s all."

Seraphine then froze in place, forgetting that Hilda was with them as well.

This reaction was about the same with everyone else — apart from Callum, who didn’t think much of it.

"Oh, is that so?" Callum, ignorant of the possible dangers of this topic, added to the conversation. "I guess it is quite a strange thing, the whole separating thing. But things were a bit different 7 years ago, and politics is always quite a tricky thing to deal with."

He then looked over to Hilda. "What’s your opinion of the Act, Miss Hertel?"

The moment he asked this, everyone instantly froze in place, their gaze now fully settled on Hilda’s relaxed figure. Wary yet incredibly curious about her thoughts.

Nadia also reacted somewhat similarly, but more subtly. She turned to Hilda and waited for the woman’s answer, as curious as everyone else.

With everyone’s gazes on her, some wary and some fearful, Hilda placed down her drink beside her on the bench and thought about it, surprisingly. "Hmm..."

But after a while, she finally answered:

"Dunno. I don’t have much of an opinion about these sorts of things."

Hilda then made a silly, innocent expression, which left everyone on their heads. Having held their breath for so long in anticipation, Hilda’s answer left them immensely unsatisfied.

Nadia, now unsatisfied with Hilda’s two times in a row, sensed something off about the woman’s words. With {Truth Finder} activated, she discovered that:

’She’s lying...’

...

On their way back to the classroom, Nadia noticed something odd. ’Where did Hilda go?’

Seeing that the woman was nowhere to be seen, she asked the group.

"She had something to do, is what she said," Ross stated. "Apparently, it was something that was going to take a while, so she said we can all go back without her?"

"... Huh?" Nadia blinked. "When... when was this?"

"..."

Roxy answered in his stead. "Hehe, it was when us ladies went to go pi—"

"Don’t say that so blatantly!" Beatrice smacked the woman’s arm.

"Alright, alright!"

Sensing that they were all telling the truth, Nadia couldn’t help but feel an odd premonition about this...

...

"Welcome back, everyone. Take a seat."

The moment they got back to class, they found Herman already inside. Although...

Instead of sitting or standing at the front, which he had been for the last three lessons, he was now... sitting at the back on a spare chair?

What was going on?

At his order, everyone immediately went to take their seats.

Nadia glanced at the empty chair beside her with some confusion. ’Is she actually going to be late to the very last lesson of the day?’

Could it be her excuse earlier was just to sneak away and not attend?

"Hmm..." Nadia grumbled inside, but paid it no mind. Instead, she began to throw curious glances at Herman, who waited patiently for the rest of the class to arrive.

Nadia raised an eyebrow. ’Is he not going to stand at the front in this lesson?’

Interested in what he had in store, she waited for the rest of the class to arrive.

And the moment they did, they took their seat, and the clock struck 3 o’clock—

BAM.

—Someone slammed the door open, making a loud entrance.

Everyone flinched in their seat and watched as the person who entered made their way to the very front in imposing attire.

They wore an all-black uniform and a black military cap, which instantly made many in the class sit up straight. The person also looked to be a young woman with long brown hair and striking red eyes, who happened to wear a pair of black latex gloves.

Nadia, noticing all these features, immediately sat up straight, her eyes widening in shock. ’Wait, isn’t that—!’

"Guten Tag, Meine Freunde! I, Hilda Hertel, will be your teacher for last period!"