Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse

"Please, forgive us."

'Impressive,' Justin thought as he looked at Dylan, slightly amazed. Given that he was within the range of Justin's skill, he must have been paralyzed with fear. And yet, here he was, standing up and speaking his mind. Although Justin had promised earlier to spare his life, it still took incredible courage.

"What do you want me to forgive?" Justin asked.

At his question, Justin released the skill, and Dylan coughed violently, gasping for air. After a moment, once Dylan had regained his composure, he bowed his head.

"...Before that, I must tell you something. There is no domain better than this one."

"Hm."

"The walls are sturdy, making invasions less likely, and the labor quests are voluntary for the civilians. Even though there's a class system, the nobles can't harm civilians as they please. The living conditions are far superior, and there's even medicine for the sick. Where else could we find such a domain?"

"I didn't ask for flattery," Justin replied.

Dylan bowed his head even deeper, as if begging Justin to hear him out until the end.

"Because life is so comfortable here, people have grown complacent. The danger has disappeared, and that leaves a lot of time to think. Too much time for reflection."

"...Is that supposed to be an excuse?"

"It's not an excuse," Dylan said, glancing at the crowd around him, raising his voice so that others could hear.

"This would never have happened in any other domain. No one would care if your family died. If you were lucky, a pioneer might not beat you up for crying too loudly. Any remaining family would be forced into hard labor with no time to mourn."

"...!"

"And the bodies? They'd be tossed into the woods to rot, or maybe thrown to the monsters because it's more 'eco-friendly.' Of course, pioneers wouldn't use healing skills on civilians—if anything, they'd make sure not to pamper the people too much. That's just the way things are."

All this injustice, and they wouldn't be able to say a word about it. They would suffer silently because they were too afraid of dying. As much as it enraged them, the fear of death was stronger.

"But under your leadership, Lord, we've seen things that are far from normal."

"...."

"You gave medicine to the sick. You explained why healing skills couldn't be used. You even arranged for the dead to be cremated properly. The taxes are low, and even the labor is voluntary. It's abnormal. And because of that, people have become abnormal, too."

If they were dealing with fellow civilians, surely it would be okay to vent some anger. If the people they were upset with had been mere civilians just a few days ago, surely they could treat them a bit harshly.
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In any other domain, doing so would mean certain death, but here, it seemed like they could get away with it.

They thought, "Even if I get punished, I won't be killed. I've lost my family, so I have a reason to lash out."

Surely, they thought, they could get away with a little.

"It's ridiculous, isn't it? Just a few days ago, we were desperate enough to give up everything to escape being sacrificial lambs. But as soon as we found a safe place to lie down, we stretched out. There's no one to offer us a bed to lie in anymore, and we'll have to live standing from now on."

"...."

"...."

When Dylan finished speaking, silence fell over the plaza, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The civilians stared blankly at the ground, their faces reflecting the shock of his words, as if they had been struck from behind.

Justin pondered for a moment before asking, "It's certainly an irrational situation. So, how do we make these people rational again?"

"They've already become rational."

"What?"

"Now that they've heard our conversation, they've returned to their senses."

"Hah."

Justin let out a laugh in disbelief. 'This guy…' He narrowed his eyes as he stared at Dylan.

The atmosphere around them was exactly what Justin had been aiming for, but if he had continued talking alone, it wouldn't have had the same effect. It was because Dylan, someone in a similar position to the civilians, had spoken that it had worked so well.

Did Dylan know exactly why Justin had put on this entire show and decided to help out?

'I was just thinking I needed someone to gather information from the civilians,' Justin thought. It seemed like he had found the perfect person.

"Because you weren't officially nobles, I'll let it slide this time. However, if something like this happens again, I'll have no choice but to exile you."

After concluding his conversation with Dylan, Justin left the plaza, delivering a light sentence. There was no need for a harsher punishment now that the civilians' misconceptions had been shattered.

The mood among the new civilians remained subdued for some time afterward, but they were surprisingly obedient to Justin's orders.

"They became so compliant, it was almost shocking. How could just one conversation change so much?" Zachary remarked.

"They've stopped expecting too much," Justin replied.

"Stopped expecting too much?"

"They've given up on the idea that somewhere in this world, there might be a 'normal' leader by Earth's standards."

Of course, no such leader existed. A leader who followed Earth's rules would never survive here. But for civilians from Earth, it was a hope they found incredibly hard to let go of. In a world where revolutions were impossible due to the power gap between pioneers and civilians, the absence of a leader who truly cared for them meant that their situation wouldn't improve.

'And that's the truth.'

Civilians would remain civilians forever. The only way to dramatically improve their situation was to take the dangerous gamble of becoming a pioneer. Most civilians probably understood that already, but they had avoided the choice because the risk of death was too great.

But after yesterday's events, they had faced reality and lost their last shred of hope. Naturally, they became more compliant.

"Keep an eye on things, just in case. And give the pioneers a three-day break."

"A break?"

"Yes, a break. Though, it's more of a hunting ban. But 'break' sounds nicer than 'ban,' don't you think?"

Up until now, pioneers—aside from Justin's companions—had been free to hunt as they pleased. This break was simply a way of telling them not to hunt for the next three days. But wording was important, and presenting it as a "break" was better.

Zachary tilted his head in confusion at Justin's command.

"Is there a specific reason for the hunting ban? I thought most of them would rest on their own anyway."

"There's a very good reason," Justin replied, smiling at Zachary's curiosity.

"In three days, we're going to crush all the neighboring domains. I don't want anyone tired or injured before that happens."

"...!"