“As early as ten years old, I witnessed the worsening dark side of the new regime behind its flawless facade.” “The crime rate drastically increased when King Richard took the throne,” Robert added. “And many illegal businesses are freely operating in the kingdom, especially slavery.”
“Even our family has slaves. My brother personally has his own sex slaves.”
“I see.” Rick nodded his head twice. “Slavery has been rampant nowadays.”
In recent years, slavery has become more prevalent throughout the kingdom. The slave system in this world worked by utilizing the abilities of the Contract skill. For a person to be branded as a slave, the slave merchant, who possessed the skill, would make a pact between the slave and the master. The contract implemented that slaves should obey their master, even if it’s against their own volition. If the slaves were to disobey the orders of the masters, the contract would trigger and send an extremely painful sting to the slave’s mind. Though their bodies were unharmed, the traumatic experience would make the slaves think twice. In addition, the slave could not take actions that could cause potential harm to the master. With the new technology, which introduced magical devices, a slave collar was developed to punish the stubborn slaves by delivering an electric shock to the slave’s neck. Slavery was not totally illegal on the continent, as it was used as punishment for some crimes. Depending on the crime, the convicted criminals could become slaves, temporarily or permanently. But during the reign of Paul’s father, slavery became more and more common, and the demand for slaves, either for manpower or personal use, significantly rose. Naturally, the dealers needed to catch up with the demand, so some even negotiated with a massive syndicate for a good influx of goods. Out of the countries on the Northern Continent, the Kingdom of Astley had the most enslaved individuals. For that reason, the location of the human trafficking division of the Five Headed Hydra was situated within the kingdom, which was eventually raided by the international authority.
“Not only the scale of slavery is the problem; the government itself is rotten to the core,” Robert grumbled. “The integrity of the kingdom has been tainted with corruption, pocketing gold that is supposed for the masses. In addition to the increase in taxes many lords have implemented, many people lost wealth and properties, and many people were reduced to poverty.”
“Even if Father descends from the throne, he will be replaced by Brother, whose personality is as bad as, or even worse, than Father’s. That is why I need to do anything to avoid that.” “So that is why you are using people’s anger and desperation to spark a revolt against the authority.” “That is correct, Rick. I could not just bear myself seeing people we are supposed to protect suffering from while they are gaining more and more fortune.” Right after saying that, Paul’s expressions turned dark, as if he had resentment toward something. Concerned, Rick noticed his change and deeply thought about it. “Your Highness, I know I am not in the position to say this, but it seems that eradicating the corruption was not the only reason why you wanted to oppose the regime.” After hearing him, Paul looked at Rick while maintaining his for several seconds before flashing a defeated smile.
“You really see me through, Rick. Indeed, there is another reason why I want to overthrow the monarchy. However, it is personal, so I am afraid to discuss it with anyone, including Duke Lancer. I’m sorry, Duke Lancer.”
“It’s totally fine, Your Highness.” Robert spoke with a calm tone. “I know you have reasons, so I won’t push you into it.”
“Thank you for your understanding.” Paul nodded his head before facing Rick. “Well then, Rick, were those statements answered in your inquiries?” “I am satisfied with your responses, Your Highness.” Rick was a bit curious, but he decided not to dive deep into it. Now that he knew some of the reasons why Paul wanted a revolution, Rick then decided to reveal the thing that Robert asked for.
“Oh, by the way, I almost forgot. Could you give me a second?”
“Do as you please.” 𝑙𝑖𝓇𝒶.𝑐ℴ𝑚
Once permitted by Paul, Rick immediately cast his Inventory midair, and a pitch black disk appeared beside him. “Woah! Is that a space magic spell?”
“Actually, it’s not, Your Highness,” Robert responded as he saw it several times. “Rather, it’s a skill, an Extra Skill called Inventory, as Rick told me.”
“Wow, that would be truly convenient to have a skill like that…”
As the two were chatting, Rick put his right hand into the disk, groping for something. When he found it, he pulled the thing out of his subspace before carefully placing it on the fragile table. “What is that? It looks like a musket, though.”
“Ho ho.” Robert chuckled in awe upon seeing the thing, which was actually a new type of firearm. “Is this the new gun you invented for the revolution?” “Yes.” The thing that Rick just picked was a weapon—a firearm. It had a wooden body made out of durable Treant wood and a metal barrel. The firearm had a bayonet with its sheath attached at the end of the barrel and a scope sight for better aiming.
Of course, Rick just recreated it inspired by a rifle on Earth called the Kar98k, a five-shot, bolt-action rifle. Rick completely replicated its design and even reinvented the smokeless powder for its cartridges. “This rifle is called Karabiner, a sniper rifle. Unlike a single-loaded musket, this rifle uses an internal magazine that can load up to five rounds.” “Five rounds?! And emit less loud smoke?” Paul yelled. “Isn’t that way better than a musket?”
“One more thing: with this scope, Karabiner shoots more accurately than a musket, and it doesn’t require you to apply magic to it since the cartridges, which contain the bullets and the smokeless powder, have substances that ignite the powder.”
“What?!” Out of all the firearms he could choose, Rick decisively picked the Kar98k; it was the best bolt-action rifle he could think of. Releasing a semi-automatic or automatic firearm in this world would be devastating, so he chose the bolt-action type. This world did not seem to reach the industrial period yet, so Rick thought choosing a bolt-action weapon instead of automatic or semi-automatic weapons was the best option. “It seems like this rifle was crafted with intricate craftsmanship and a complicated mechanism,” Robert uttered. “From the sounds of it, the production of this weapon must be costly.” “You are right, Duke Lancer, the production is somewhat expensive since the manufacturing process of this weapon requires precise craftsmanship. We already had a few thousands of stocks, but we can produce it with your help.” “Was that why you requested smiths, woodworkers, and alchemists on our last meeting? If that’s the case, I already hired around a hundred from my territory and our allies, and I have prepared the workplace in my territory as you requested. Don’t worry, you’ll be safe in my domain.”
“As for the materials, I will assist you,” Paul stated. “If you need anything else, just let me know.” “Thank you very much, Your Highness Paul and Duke Lancer. I deeply appreciate your help. For the sake of Astley.” “”For Astley.””
After discussing the new weapon that would be used for the revolution, the three men continued to tackle their plans for the upcoming days until the right time.