Chapter 92

Chapter 92: Flames Spread Across the Land

Hopeland, the headquarters of the Nisos Guild.

At the entrance of the courtyard, which usually saw a steady flow of people, crowds of protesters now stood. They were mostly employees from wineries and workshops, struggling to make ends meet in their daily lives.

Generally speaking, when a guild grew larger, they would give better treatment than smaller guilds due to reputation and long-term considerations, and their credibility was higher.

However, the Nisos family was different. Not only did they not raise wages, but working hours were also longer, with almost no days off.

Especially since Fenertun took over the family business, they recently developed a new type of wine, hiring many new employees. If it were just about working hard, these people might have accepted it. Where wouldn’t one find such conditions?

But recently, people who had worked at the new winery began to deteriorate physically and even go mad mentally. At first, everyone thought those people were already weak, but as more and more people started having issues, suspicion grew that the new wine was toxic. To prevent damage to their reputation, the Nisos family arrested those who dared to speak out, suppressing them for a time.

But ultimately, paper cannot cover fire. One day, this matter came to light, and many employees began to claim compensation and protest. The guild ignored them and sent thugs to disperse the crowd.

It wasn’t until recently that a young man named Grete organized everyone, uniting the employees from a dozen workshops to strike and protest. This made the Nisos family somewhat unable to handle the situation.

Facing hundreds of people protesting collectively, the Nisos family was also hesitant to act. It wasn’t because they couldn’t fight back, but because doing so would severely damage their reputation within the business alliance and openly violate many laws and regulations, making it difficult to conceal.

“Fenertun, it’s bad news! The Aonai Guild has heard that our new wine has problems and has refused to continue purchasing it. Moreover, other families have started returning their orders,” someone reported.

Bang—

Cups and tea sets were swept to the ground, shattering loudly.

“Didn’t that alchemist say there were no problems?” Fenertun shouted angrily.

“Where is he?”

“Sir, the alchemist left a month ago to find new materials and went to purchase them.”

“What happened then?” Fenertun’s eyes widened in anger.

“Then… we never saw him again.” The servant trembled as he answered.

“Fool!” Fenertun kicked him.

Not long ago, Fenertun had introduced a new wine at the banquet, calling it ‘Soma,’ meaning the legendary fine wine. This wine gave a mild hallucination, allowing one to see beautiful scenes from dreams. The Nisos family claimed that this wine was completely harmless and non-addictive, so it was immediately loved by some high society individuals.

It was not just a drink; it became a form of enjoyment. Had the incident at the winery not been exposed, the Nisos family could have earned several times the profit of previous years this year.

However, things didn’t go as planned. The secret of the new wine was still exposed, and orders from various families stopped coming, demanding returns. Moreover, orders for other types of wine from the Nisos family were also greatly affected, with all kinds of orders beginning to decrease.

—

Since the victory on the northern battlefield, the war in the Westwind Kingdom entered a stage of flames spreading across the land.

“Release!”

As the rebel officer ordered, huge stones larger than a person were rolled into the baskets of ten tall trebuchets.

The dull grinding sound echoed as gears and wooden frames slowly turned under the lever mechanism, accelerating the stones, which were then thrown high into the air, drawing arcs in the sky and crashing heavily onto the city walls, scattering debris like divine wrath.

On the brick-built city wall, archers in red and blue cloaks continuously shot arrows from over 20 meters high, the arrows in the sky blocking out the sun like swarms of locusts.

Below the city walls, the rebels in black cloaks fought fiercely, countless banners with blue backgrounds and golden stars fluttering in the wind.

Bang—

With a loud thud, heavy wooden city gates shook off dust, and some steel bars and rivets began to loosen.

Outside the city gates, a group of strong men lifted a battering ram made of thick logs, their veins bulging, faces bloodshot, shouting slogans as they repeatedly struck.

Despite the shield bearers’ protection, the falling rocks and arrows from the city walls were merciless, some being crushed to the point of spitting blood, bones showing. But when one fell, another immediately stepped up to take his place.

Mournful horns sounded continuously, batch after batch of brave warriors singing ancient battle songs, charging forward.

…

The mournful song spread for miles, running through the wilderness. The rebels waving banners with stars and ears of wheat fought fiercely. The blue banners with golden patterns fluttered in the wind, faces covered in grime rushing through the mountains and fields, spreading the seeds of hope to more places.

They did not expect the revolution to be achieved in their hands, but that did not mean their actions were meaningless. At least, they wanted to tell those who suffered oppression like them that in this dark and fallen world, there still existed torches of hope, burning fiercely to drive away darkness and indifference, bringing a bright and warm dream.

That was a world where equality and dignity could be obtained, a real and beautiful world where oppression could be broken.

“There is nothing noble about bloodlines. Why should they be above others by birth?”

A clerk wearing a star pin badge shouted from high up, reading the lofty dreams to every citizen of the Westwind Kingdom in fields, deep mountains, squares, and taverns. It was a world that many yearned for, a world full of flowers.

“The world is not all sunshine and rainbows.”

“It is a place filled with despicable and dirty things.”

“It doesn’t care how innocent you are.”

“It will still cruelly crush you.”

“And leave you with no chance of redemption unless you resist.”

“If you know your worth,”

“You must strive to achieve it.”

“Instead of blaming others for failing to become what you wish.”

“Constantly complaining without changing is the behavior of cowards.”

“But you are not a coward!”

“You are much stronger than a coward!”

The audience below was stunned, most of them poor commoners, farmers who labored tirelessly. Their long-term life had made them cold and numb, like stubborn stones in the fields, hearts cold and devoid of luster.

But today, these stubborn stones were struck by sparks, an impulse long suppressed finally began to surge from the depths of their hearts, their blood gradually boiling.

“Long live Clancia!”

At first, it was just one or two, then three or four, and then more and more people joined in, until the overwhelming and unified voices echoed under the vast sky.

“Long live Clancia!”

—

Thank you to YY Yue Tian and single.dog for your support!

End of Chapter 92