Chapter Thirty Four
I am bored, System. Give me gold.
I rolled across the bed, letting my head hang off the edge as I stared blankly at the closed door.
[Ping!]
[Is the Host truly not worried at all?]
Why would I be worried?
Worry is reserved for those who cannot see beyond the next step. People who lack foresight are forced to panic, but those who understand the flow of events only need to wait.
[Ping!]
[But the citizens will see the Host as a monster. The Host assaulted one of their own people.]
Your assumption is incorrect, love.
I did not assault "one of their own." I beat a drunkard who was publicly abusing children. His position as an orphanage director does not change his nature or the nature of his actions that the villagers have been witnessing.
Titles like Duke or Orphange Director do not inspire loyalty or gratitude.
Justice does.
Let me ask you something. Would you hate a man who beats someone for beating innocent children who have no protection? Would a parent curse the person who stopped someone as the same age as their child from being hurt?
[Ping!]
[Obviously not… Wait. Host, was this your plan from the very beginning? You did command Hans to bring all villagers. That means Lily and that director were already included...]
From the beginning? No. I would really be some sort of trash to plan something like getting a child beaten for my gains.
Plus, I didn't even think Lily would recognise me. I was really angry when he hit my money sensor.
[Ping!]
[What was Host's original plan then?]
My original plan was simple and efficient. I intended to offer rye and potatoes in exchange for the citizens to spend five minutes in igloo.
There was no realistic scenario in which the villagers starved for months would refuse. It's just five minutes for two years worth of rations after all.
And, once they would try it out and experience the warmth and stability, they would naturally abandon their crumbling homes and come begging to me to build them an igloo.
However, circumstances changed, and a better opportunity presented itself.
[Ping!]
[What opportunity? Lily being hit?]
Unfortunately, yes. It presented me an opportunity where I no longer needed to pay for them to try the igloo.
Violence, when used correctly, is cheaper than generosity and far more effective at shaping memory. A kind gesture can be forgotten, but a decisive act becomes a story that spreads like wildfire.
[Ping!]
[But the Host asked them to stay in the greenhouse. What does that have to do with the igloo?]
You are thinking too directly, Sysi.
[Ping!]
[Who's Sysi!?]
You. It's my nickname for you. Now, don't interrupt me. Listen.
Humans are beings that are not at all motivated by commands. You tell them to do something if they are not interested even if it benefits them, they will not do it.
They are motivated by emotion, curiosity, and the need to rationalize their gratitude to do something.
Consider the situation from their perspective. A duke appears who does not bother defending his reputation. He openly brutalizes a man to protect orphans and willingly accepts being labeled a monster. Then he feeds the villagers, shelters their children, and offers warmth without demanding obedience or thanks. He even put the monster who suggested raising our taxes in the dungeons.
They will start to wonder. They will ask themselves why I summoned them.
Was it just to feed? But, that can't be. A monster can't change overnight. He must have wanted something from us.
Then, they will notice the igloo right infront of the greenhouse.
Curiosity will compel them to try it. Is this the reason Your Grace fed us warm porridge?
Gratitude will push them forward. We've eaten the porridge without payment? Should we just try it out? Your Grace helped an orphan maybe he isn't that bad of a person.
Shame will prevent them from refusing. I will not need to order them to enter.
[Ping!]
[We understood gratitude and curiousity come from. But, you didn't explain shame?]
Mhn. Imagine your legs are fine and still you just walk by a pile of trash. And while, you're leaving, a crippled comes by and starts cleaning that mess. I am that crippled in this case.
Hence, shame.
[Ping!]
[So the beating was not meant because you're purely angry?]
Not really. I could have asked Kaelen to just execute him on spot. But, then neither would I have been able to take my anger out nor would I have been able to shame the villagers for watching children being abused for all these years.
It was probably my revenge against them for watching money bank suffer all these years...
Putting that aside, I would have also lost the opportunity to make him suffer for the things he had done to Lily.
To keep your calm and your wits gearing even while you're irked is very important, Sysi. Or else, you'll just become a puppet in the hands of a person who knows to play your emotions well.
I didn't beat the orphanage director simply because all I could see was red in that situation. I beat him because it would create a narrative that benefits me.
By tomorrow, I will not be remembered as a monster who beat a man.
I will be remembered as the duke who did not hesitate to dirty his hands. I will be remembered as a ruler who protects children. I will be remembered as a lord who offered warmth without bargaining for anything in return.
Reputation, obedience, and labor will follow naturally.
All without further effort.
People who say it doesn't matter how many times you fail as long as you achieve your destination are stupid. It does matter because those same people will only remember the one reached the destination in the most efficient way.
The person who hit bullseye in one shot.
I closed my eyes sighing, my interest already fading.
[Ping!]
[Host sounds like a very calculative villain rather than a noble hero.]
Haha... Sysi, History indeed tells people that morality leads people forward. But, the people forget a very important thing. History is written by winners. Which person will want to appear as a villain if they have a chance to paint themselves as a noble hero?
And, the people also don't care about the truth, Sysi. They follow whoever makes them feel safe in the present and secure about their future.
Everything else is decoration.
[Ping!]
[Host is not acting like a crybaby today. It's surprising.]
I'm old, Sysi. I've lived long enough to see and experience everything.
[Ping!]
[Then, why do you complain like a baby? It doesn't even seem like Host means them half of the time.]
Because, I don't want to lose the touch of being human. Immortality is not a gift. It makes life dull. And, when life becomes dull you lose your path. Nothing motivates you to move forward except death.
I don't cry because I'm scared, Sysi.
I just don't want to lose my path. Ever.
I don't want to ever want death more than my will to make money.
BAM!
"YOUR GRACE! THE VILLAGERS WANT TO DEMOLISH THEIR HOUSES AND BUILD ICE HOUSES INSTEAD!"