novelraw Chapter 181 : Beastkin Faction (8)
Chapter 181 : Beastkin Faction (8)
“Is everyone here?”
Valencia, Eliya, Jerry, Tom.
And even Shim Cheong, who seemed largely unrelated.
The six members, including U-jin, were seated at a long table that occupied one side of the mansion's first floor.
It was a given, seeing as U-jin had just asked if everyone was here, but the reason for their gathering was that U-jin, after sending Tan off, had immediately convened them through Eliya.
Of course, while it was called a Guild House, it wasn't properly established yet, and each of them was a stubborn individual in their own right, not the type to simply nod and follow U-jin's orders.
However, because of a single clue U-jin added when he requested the summons through Eliya, they all gathered here at once without exception.
That was.
“……Let's get straight to the point.”
“……”
“You said you'd tell us the plan to regather the Beastkin Faction?”
The resurrection of the Beastkin Faction.
It was possible because the pretext U-jin used to gather them was a 'briefing on the plan for the resurrection of the Beastkin Faction.'
Well, to be fair, they probably would have gathered even without that clue.
If not, the time it took for everyone to assemble would have inevitably been delayed by questions and dawdling.
“Right. It's not like we have anything else to do anyway.”
“……”
“It's better to get started right away. We have more than a few things to do.”
Agreeing with Tom Hardist, U-jin nodded and began the main topic.
“The gist of it is simple. I phrased it as the Beastkin Faction, but in the end, this is the process of rebuilding the Beastkin Nation that fell before.”
Ssk-
“Eliya?”
As if they had discussed it beforehand.
When U-jin turned his head and called her name, Eliya took out a piece of paper and spread it in the middle of the table.
“First, for a nation to be established, three elements are necessary.”
“……”
“Territory, people, and sovereignty.”
The words she emphasized while folding three fingers one by one were written on the paper she had spread out.
…Presented in a slightly more precise and intuitive form, that is.
A map of the area showing the territory's borders, a figure representing the Beastkin, and a crown symbolizing sovereignty.
Three tangible things corresponding to territory, people, and sovereignty were drawn on the paper.
“As for the territory, we'll be using this old guild territory. It's small compared to other nations, but it's impossible to acquire any more private land at this point.”
“……”
“And of course, the people will be all the Beastkin scattered across the continent, and as for sovereignty…”
Ssk-
“That will go to Princess Valencia.”
The form sovereignty takes is incredibly diverse, so theoretically, it could be a point of contention.
But in the case of the Beastkin Nation, it wasn't much of an issue.
No matter how diluted their blood, the Beastkin would have undoubtedly inherited loyalty to the Royal Family.
Even if outsiders could challenge the legitimacy of that sovereignty, it was not a problem to be concerned about internally.
“To be precise, building a nation isn't accomplished with just these three elements.”
“……”
“The definition of a nation by the Order has a much more specific and strict meaning, and while it might be different if a nation outside the Order Territory were to be incorporated into the Order Alliance, it is strictly forbidden for those already belonging to the Order Territory to establish a new nation-level organization.”
Just as Eliya said, building a new nation was practically impossible.
They might satisfy the three elements, but it wasn't even certain if those three elements would actually be recognized by the Order.
Even if they were recognized, the establishment of a new nation was impossible.
It was explicitly forbidden, and while it might have been possible in the past when the Alliance's interdependence was crude, the birth of a new large organization now that the Order Alliance had formed a single massive group was not something the Order would welcome.
In other words, being recognized as a nation could be blocked not just by legal issues, but on a political level as well.
“However, we don't want the actual title of 'nation.' So that doesn't matter much.”
Ttak-
As Eliya snapped her fingers, new images were overlaid on top of the drawings of the 'territory,' 'Beastkin,' and 'crown' on the paper.
“The gist is the same, but we'll change the pretext slightly.”
A crest symbolizing a guild, and a crest signifying refugees.
And over the crown, the symbol of a Master, signifying the head of a guild, was superimposed.
“This is why I spoke of the resurrection of a faction, not the resurrection of the Beastkin Nation. It's easier to establish a guild than to build a nation.”
“……”
“Nothing will actually change. This is just the external pretext.”
Of course, establishing a guild couldn't be described as easy either.
The guild system had been de facto abolished, having not been permitted for over 100 years.
However, it could be said there was a bit more of a loophole compared to building a nation, which was forbidden even in name.
At least this was 'de facto abolished,' so there was relatively less room for the Order to exert the kind of political influence that would actively prohibit it.
“So, with the territory secured, what we need now is permission for the guild and the accommodation of refugees. The Hero said he'd take care of the guild part, so we'll skip that.”
“……”
“We need to accommodate refugees.”
The accommodation of refugees.
To put it more directly.
“……So you're saying we need to gather more Beastkin.”
Valencia muttered in a low voice.
Nod-
As if agreeing with her, Eliya nodded.
“It's not exact, but if we roughly count the number of Beastkin right now, it's a little over 5,000.”
“……That's right. I don't have a list, so I can't specify the exact number either, but even at most, it won't exceed 6,000.”
Seizing the opportunity as Jerry expressed his agreement, Eliya asked a question.
“You said the Beastkin here aren't all of them, right?”
“…That's correct. Due to various issues, there are quite a few Beastkin who haven't moved from other regions yet.”
“How many are there in total if you combine them all?”
Hmm-
Stroking his eyebrow with a low hum, Jerry answered cautiously.
“The Beastkin outside are about 3,000… This isn't exact either, but it would be a number just under 10,000 in total.”
Nod-
Nodding once more at Jerry's answer as if she had expected it, Eliya added to her explanation.
“It's certainly not a small number, but it's insufficient to be considered the people of a nation or the refugees of a guild.”
“……”
“Looking at the records, the minimum number of refugees a guild could accommodate was around 50,000. Strictly speaking, there were guilds established with fewer refugees, but it was very rare, so we can say this is roughly the minimum benchmark. Considering various factors, we'd generously need about 100,000.”
Clap-
As the rough explanation came to a close.
U-jin clapped his hands to draw their attention and concluded.
“In other words, our first task from now on is 'gathering a significant number of Beastkin'.”
Ssk-
“That's all for now. Any questions?”
U-jin raised a hand and scanned the room.
A moment of silence passed.
Jerry cautiously raised a hand.
“……I have a question, partner.”
“Go ahead.”
“……First, it won't be difficult for me to bring the rest of the Beastkin. I couldn't go until now because I had set up a security measure that requires my presence, but as long as I'm given time to move, I can bring them anytime.”
Nod-
“But even if I bring them, as you said, it's only about ten thousand, and we need to accommodate at least 40,000 more Beastkin to meet the minimum requirement.”
Hoo-
Jerry let out a breath, pausing for a moment before continuing.
“……Excluding the Beastkin under my care, most Beastkin exist as slaves, and the rest are those who have somehow escaped slavery and are living in hiding.”
“……”
“……The former are overwhelmingly greater in number. So, in practice, we need to accommodate the Beastkin who are treated as slaves. Is there a method for this?”
He wasn't pointing out a flaw in the preceding plan.
It was, so to speak, about the methodology.
The plan was good, but he was asking how it was possible.
“It's simple.”
“……?”
“Just as you said, we'll free the slaves ourselves and bring them here. The Order defines it as an illegal system, doesn't it?”
On the surface, there was no flaw in U-jin's answer.
Slavery was certainly illegal, and fighting an illegal practice was, by principle, a justifiable act.
…That is.
On the surface, at least.
“……That method would take too long.”
Jerry's low mumble hit the core of the issue.
“……The minimum is 40,000, partner. Even if all six of us here participate, it would take a countless amount of time.”
Freeing slaves, shameless as it was, was the same as stealing property from the perspective of a slave trader.
In other words, legal or not, it inevitably meant friction with the slave traders.
Of course, with Tom Hardist personally involved, they wouldn't face much difficulty in terms of force, but the problem was time.
There was only one Tom Hardist, and the number of Beastkin slaves they had to free was a whopping 40,000.
To exaggerate a bit, it meant Tom Hardist would have to pick 40,000 locks himself.
Moreover, those locks weren't gathered in one place; they were scattered all over the continent.
Of course, since Jerry had experienced most of the slave black markets, he knew where each nation's black market was located.
The slaves brought directly to the market by the traders were only a fraction of the total.
Most slaves were usually stored in other specific locations unknown to the general public.
Those locations were managed so secretly that even Jerry didn't know them.
It was information so strictly guarded that even the low-level slave traders who appeared on-site didn't know the locations directly and were only given directions.
Jerry could only think that it was practically impossible to travel to every black market on the continent to rescue the Beastkin.
Unless Tom Hardist had ten bodies, he was certain it was utterly impossible with just one.
…But strangely.
A smile was playing on the lips of U-jin, the one who had made the ridiculous statement.
“That.”
Grin-
“There's a way for that, of course.”