The quiet rain fell gently.
As I watched it, I slowly leaned back in my chair.
It had been a year since the war ended and the Leaf Empire fell.
After finishing the hectic aftermath and, more recently, the fact that I had completed the biggest event in my life—my marriage to Flantsu—I was now enjoying a rare moment of relaxation, savoring what could be called a break in my life.
“I’ve brought the tea. Please, drink.”
“Thank you.”
Although it had only been a few months since our marriage, Flantsu already felt very much like the hostess of our home, perhaps because we had spent so much time together.
As I sipped the tea she poured for me, I opened up the day’s newspaper.
Since the fall of the Leaf Empire, the Demon Kingdom had firmly established itself as the most powerful nation on the continent.
Though various favorable circumstances had allowed the war to end without major losses, war, in itself, still placed a huge strain on national power.
Moreover, with Alexander and his forces being wiped out, the Makedon region he had governed was left with significant economic and security gaps.
To address this, a new Demon King had been chosen, and support was sent, but that situation was now nearly wrapped up.
“The grain we were supposed to send to the Makedon region has all been shipped. This should resolve the food shortage issue to some extent.”
“Good work. Now, we won’t need to worry about that for a while.”
As I felt a sense of relief that the troublesome time had ended, I began to carefully read through the newspaper in my hand.
And then…
“Hoh…”
“Is something the matter?”
“No… Haha, I see… I’ve heard the stories, but it seems things are going smoother than I expected?”
Inside the newspaper was an article about the occupied lands of the Leaf Empire.
As I read through the various policies being implemented there, a smile of interest appeared on my face.
The world I had witnessed as a young man in South Korea, a country once known for its struggles—seeing something similar happening now in the occupied lands of the Leaf Empire, I couldn’t help but feel a strange, twisted sense of familiarity.
‘Just because the weak speak up doesn’t mean it’s always good. Just because someone is weak doesn’t mean they are virtuous. In fact, in some cases, the voices of the weak can be more horrifying.’
The existence of the weak isn’t only caused by the oppression of the strong; their own mistakes also play a significant role.
Those who put in effort will receive corresponding rewards, while those who waste time and talent will see their lives worsen over time.
Of course, not all efforts lead to success, but there is certainly a difference between making the effort and not.
However, even knowing this fact, effort is not an easy thing.
It means suppressing immediate desires and dedicating all of your strength to tasks you don’t want to do.
Whether it’s studying during school years or working in a career after adulthood, it inevitably requires patience and suffering.
And many people, instead of putting in that effort, choose to avoid it, letting time pass comfortably.
It’s completely natural to want to lie down after sitting, or to sleep after lying down.
Thus, the difference between those who strive and those who don’t naturally creates a distinction between the strong and the weak.
It’s not just a difference in social status.
Even among the nobility, there are those who rise higher and those who don’t, and even among farmers of lower status, there is a divide between the wealthy farmers and the poor.
Yet, despite becoming weak due to their own lack of effort, these people harbor hatred for those above them.
Even though equal opportunities have been given, instead of acknowledging their own mistakes, they prefer to envy and blame others.
And so, they cry out.
That the rich oppress the poor.
That those who are wealthy must be punished for the sake of equality.
When viewed coldly, it is an unreasonable argument.
However, as much as human nature desires laziness, the number of people who raise such voices is by no means small.
In fact, they often become the majority, creating a situation where those who truly strive are oppressed.
In the process, they tear down and plunder what others have built with their hard work.
As a result, this situation suppresses the motivation of those who truly put in effort, weakening the overall productivity of society.
Ironically, under the banner of equality, this fosters a sense of elitism and divides society further.
This was the blind spot of democracy.
And simultaneously, the contradiction of equality.
Because of this, in the world of my past life, communism that advocated for extreme equality collapsed, and countries like Korea and America, which were capitalist nations, allowed their societies to be severely bruised by what they called “PC” ideology.
And this phenomenon…
Was making those living in the (former) Leaf Empire drink its sweet yet terrible poison without exception.
The ‘poison’ that spread faster and larger as the shock of the Empire’s collapse due to the incompetence of leadership added to the dissatisfaction that had accumulated from the class system.
Of course, from our position as occupiers, situations where citizens divide and antagonize themselves were much better, so I had no intention of stopping this situation or preventing Lady Mari from continuing.
Rather, hoping that this work she was conducting would proceed smoothly, and harboring expectations for the situation that would follow once everything ended,
I slowly put down the newspaper I had finished reading thoroughly.
“Have you finished reading it?”
“Yes, there wasn’t anything significant.”
“I see… Um… Then, my lord.”
“Yes?”
At that moment, Flantsu approached me cautiously.
Looking at her flushed face, I could roughly understand what this meant… but I pretended not to know.
“What’s the matter? Your face is red, are you perhaps ill somewhere?”
“…Yes. I… I am ill, my lord.”
“That’s serious. Where does it hurt so much?”
“He… here… Here hurts… a lot.”
In response to my question, she slightly lifted her skirt.
Revealing her underwear that was already slightly wet, I had to suppress a chuckle trying to escape, as I slowly extended my hand toward her precious place.
It was still a bit early in the day, with the sun high in the sky.
However, at this moment, such facts were not important to us two at all.
For newlyweds, passionate moments know no distinction between day and night.
The concept of ‘equality’ was spreading like wildfire.
The idea of giving equal opportunities and rights to those who were below quickly captured the hearts of many humans.
And for good reason—the beneficiaries of this ideology were women, who made up half of humanity, and the lower classes who constituted no less significant a proportion.
When suddenly one day the country implements policies for their benefit, who would dislike it?
Especially when they heard that the resources would come not from themselves, but from the pockets of men whom they had always despised and from those high-ranking individuals—this was certainly enough to entice them.
And so, amid the enthusiasm of countless people, new laws, systems, and ideologies were rapidly taking root.
In reality, the “weak” who previously had no power began to receive benefits both large and small.
As a result, many people seemed to be living happier lives than in the past.
However.
As time passed, people gradually began to realize.
That something was going wrong.
That the world, which had been functioning somehow despite its creaks and groans.
Had begun to slowly come to a halt at some point.
It began with the absence of children’s cries that had disappeared at some point.
“No… what exactly is going on here?”
“It’s strange indeed, these days there are hardly any people getting married or trying to have children…”
The priests and nuns of the order expressed doubt and concern.
From their position as those who officiate marriages between adults and serve as midwives receiving children, the current situation created a sense of deep crisis along with questions.
It wasn’t simply because their work was disappearing.
In the decades they had been doing this work, such a situation had never occurred before.
Especially after a war, the birth rate should increase significantly, yet now it was rather decreasing.
Faced with this anomalous and ominous situation, the clergy began their own investigation to understand the cause and somehow devise countermeasures.
However, as a result of their investigation, the priests were seized by an even greater question.
“They don’t want to get married? What does that even mean?”
“It’s exactly as it sounds. Perhaps due to the recent changes in laws and women taking advantage of them, there is now a severe aversion to marriage among men.”
“It’s the same with women. The response is that women can do anything, so why bother marrying an unattractive man? Having children only interferes with a woman’s work. Instead, they think it’s better to live alone and leisurely enjoy their one and only life.”
“…No… how did things come to this…”
In just a little over a year, views on marriage had become severely distorted.
A country with a declining population could be said to be a country whose lifespan was gradually decreasing.
And so, worried that if things continued this way, something truly serious might happen, the order could only continue to carefully monitor the situation.