"Ruuuuumble—!!!"
Under a sky filled with dark clouds, thunder roared.
Howling gales mixed with torrential rain battered the windows, producing a rapid pa-li-pa-la sound.
Hearing the noise, the blonde girl lying on the bed suddenly trembled, sat upright, and looked around, then let out a long breath.
This blonde noble girl was none other than Amy, the daughter of the high-ranking Seth official Radon.
However, at this moment, she had long lost her usual domineering arrogance. Instead, her face was pale, her expression haggard, filled with fear and unease.
Saham's corpse had been placed in a park in the first-tier citizen district. His head was impaled on a wooden stake, and the killer had even deliberately left a letter explaining the reason for Saham's death. It stated that he had transformed into the Saber Knight and slaughtered second-tier citizens wantonly, and that he had deserved to die!
Regarding this matter, most of the upper echelon didn't take it seriously. After all, many high-ranking noble officials in Seth had engaged in similar behavior. It was just that someone as foolish as Saham—who personally ran into the second-tier citizen district to court death—was the first they had seen. So in the eyes of Seth's high officials, Saham was just like the others: he wanted to amuse himself, and as the saying goes, those who often walk by the river will eventually fall in and drown.
But Amy knew that the "Saber Knight" game had actually been her idea, and Saham, as her fiancé, had merely wanted to lend a helping hand!
And precisely because of this, after news of Saham's death spread, Amy had been living in constant fear. Although others didn't know, she knew very well that she was the true culprit. After all, Saham had been her fiancé, and that was why he had gone so far to please her. The only fortunate thing was that his father didn't know Saham had died just to accompany her in playing around. Otherwise, her family's days would definitely not be easy.
But even so, she was still terrified. Although she lived in the safest area of the first-tier citizen district, and her father had assured her that security forces were stationed here and nothing would happen, Amy—guilty and paranoid—still locked herself alone in her room. Her father merely thought she had been traumatized by her fiancé's death and didn't think much of it.
And Amy didn't dare tell her father the truth either. After all, if her father found out Saham had died because of her, that would be a huge problem!
So she stayed holed up at home, not daring to go out. Even so, Amy's days were not easy. After all, Saham had been her fiancé, and he had died because of her "game." Although for Amy, killing people wasn't anything new—she had watched her fiancé kill second-tier citizens many times—for Amy, those second-tier citizens didn't count as people. But Saham was different. He was her fiancé, someone she knew. Even if their relationship wasn't that deep, witnessing the death of someone you know felt very different from watching strangers die.
In fact, these past few days, Amy had constantly been having nightmares—dreaming of Saham, whose head had been twisted off, coming to her door, asking why she hadn't saved him, pointing at her and shouting, "You did this to me! You have to pay!"
She had been so frightened that she hadn't slept well for days.
For some reason, she always felt… a vague sense of unease, as if something bad was about to happen around her.
Meanwhile, at the resistance organization's camp, Duanmu Huai was giving Uruze a lecture—or rather, the leader of the resistance wanted to consult Duanmu Huai about whether there were any good solutions to the Kingdom of Seth's current situation.
Besides Uruze, Kento Kanami and Moxiang Shizuka had also joined in, since they wanted to hear what Duanmu Huai had to say. In addition to them, Kaoru and the old doctor, each for their own reasons, also wanted to hear Duanmu Huai's view.
However, Duanmu Huai's very first sentence stunned everyone.
"Strictly speaking, first-tier citizens looking down on second-tier citizens actually has a legitimate reason."
"Huh?"
It had to be said—this shocked everyone.
First-tier citizens discriminating against second-tier citizens had legitimate reasons?
"Do you remember what that man named Saham said before?"
Duanmu Huai looked at Kento Kanami and Moxiang Shizuka. Both nodded.
"Of course. That man said that in front of first-tier citizens, second-tier citizens were no different from beasts, and that he was just eliminating monsters—it didn't count as an evil act…"
As she spoke, Kento Kanami showed a look of disgust, and Moxiang Shizuka nodded as well.
However, Duanmu Huai's next answer startled them again.
"What he said was actually correct."
"My lord???"
Uruze felt like her ears were malfunctioning. Was he helping them—or sabotaging them?
"Let me review Seth's laws for you again… actually, let this gentleman explain it."
As he spoke, Duanmu Huai looked at the elderly man in a white coat standing beside Uruze.
"Please restate the difference between first-tier and second-tier citizens in the Kingdom of Seth."
"Alright."
Although the old doctor didn't know what Duanmu Huai was getting at, he nodded and spoke.
"First-tier citizens enjoy privileges, but they also have obligations to pay taxes, serve in conscription, and provide magical power. Second-tier citizens have no privileges, but also no obligations, and can only live under the protection of first-tier citizens."
"And that's exactly where the problem lies."
Duanmu Huai nodded.
"The problem?"
"That's right. Haven't you noticed yet? First-tier citizens have privileges, but they must pay taxes, serve in the military, and provide magical power. Second-tier citizens have no privileges, but they also have none of those obligations. In simple terms, a significant portion of the taxes paid by first-tier citizens goes toward supporting second-tier citizens. And second-tier citizens basically amount to being raised by first-tier citizens while doing nothing… honestly, I don't even understand how the Kingdom of Seth thought this was a good idea…"
"Ah…!"
Only then did everyone seem to realize what he meant.
"So what you're saying is…"
"Exactly. Simply put, first-tier citizens need to work and put in effort, while second-tier citizens—put bluntly—even if they live poorly, don't need to work to survive, and they aren't assigned jobs either. Honestly, if the living conditions of second-tier citizens weren't so bad, I'd start wondering which side were actually the masters."
As he spoke, Duanmu Huai spread his hands.
To be honest, when he first heard about this, Duanmu Huai thought he had misheard.
Normally, lower classes existed to provide labor or productivity. Even ancient slaves at least built pyramids.
But in Seth, second-tier citizens didn't work and still received rations. No forced labor. Dedicated residential zones.
In other words, aside from being discriminated against or killed, they could just lie flat and survive.
Meanwhile, first-tier citizens worked, served, paid taxes—and supported ten times their number.
Who the hell could stand that?
This was a 1:10 ratio.
Who would be willing?
After Duanmu Huai laid it all out, everyone fell silent.
It actually… made sense.
"So what Saham said wasn't entirely without reason…"
Silence followed.
Putting themselves in the position of first-tier citizens…
I work myself to death and support ten strangers?
Sorry, goodbye.
Even draft animals aren't squeezed this hard.
Examples from modern society followed in Duanmu Huai's explanation—elder killings, homeless violence, tax resentment.
If this happens in modern societies, he reasoned, how could Seth be any different?
Second-tier citizens had no purpose, no contribution.
So what is the meaning of their existence?
Even tyrants knew you couldn't kill everyone.
But in Seth?
They contribute nothing.
Kill them and nothing changes.
That was why officials could even propose genocide.
"In my view, this is the true root of Seth's class conflict—not simply a surface-level conflict between mages and non-mages."
Duanmu Huai concluded.
"So… whose fault is it, exactly?"
Uruze was completely stunned.
"A systemic problem."
Duanmu Huai answered plainly.
He explained how other nations functioned, how non-mages were essential.
Kanami and Shizuka nodded.
Of course that would collapse a country.
"Then… why Seth?"
Duanmu Huai shrugged.
Probably a brain-dead attempt to preserve mage supremacy.
But when numbers grow… systems break.
Then—
"Bang!!"
Kaoru stood up, chair overturned.
"I've realized something extremely important."
She fled.
She finally understood.
This was the root.
She had to report it to the king immediately.
(End of Chapter)