After leaving home, Levi spent his last Copper Ring on half a loaf of rock-hard black bread.
He soaked it in a free public fountain to soften it up, making do with it for dinner.
"You treat that child very well," Janna suddenly remarked while he was eating.
"It was her brother's dying wish," Levi replied.
"I'm starting to believe you now, Mr. Summoner. You don't seem to be an evil person."
Compared to before, Janna's hostility had lessened significantly.
This was not only because of Levi's care for his sister, but more so because of the article they had written together.
An evil person could never write such words—
"Where Did Zaun Come From?"
It seemed to be nothing more than a popular history article.
Indeed, much like an ordinary history textbook, the article traced the timeline chronologically. It covered the era of tribal civilization following the great human migration 7,000 years ago, the Shuriman Empire era beginning 6,000 years ago, the era of warlords and kingdoms starting 3,000 years ago, the parliamentary city-state era from 300 years ago, and finally the era of the Twin Cities' division over 200 years ago. It detailed the entire history of the land of Zaun from ancient times to the present.
Janna had never been interested in such articles before.
After all, she herself was a living history book thousands of years old. How could the history books compiled by mortals—relying on hearsay and fragmented perspectives—possibly know more than she, a direct witness to history?
Yet, Levi's article had profoundly shocked Janna.
Not because Levi had unearthed some obscure or novel historical records, but because he provided an entirely new perspective.
Before Levi, the historians of Runeterra, and even Janna herself, only knew how to recount history from a "ruler's perspective," or rather, a "hero's perspective."
For example...
If the past Janna were to describe the birth of the Shuriman Empire, she would definitely say:
"Guided by the celestial Aspects, the Ascended Warrior Queen Setaka was baptized by the Sun Disc to become the first Ascended in history. Relying on the formidable martial prowess of the Ascended, she purged and annexed all the tribes of Shurima, establishing the first unified slave empire in human history."
But Levi merely treated this as background information. His focus was written as follows:
"With the development of productive forces, the increase in products reached a surplus relative to survival needs. This transformed tribal prisoners of war from being slaughtered to becoming economically profitable slaves. Tribal leaders transitioned into slave owners, while others gradually became slaves..."
"Driven by economic interests, tribal slave owners, including Setaka, plundered, annexed, and allied with one another, constantly expanding their power. Human civilization gradually moved from individual tribes to tribal alliances, and from tribal alliances to slave kingdoms..."
"..."
These words almost completely subverted Janna's understanding of the world.
She had previously believed without a doubt that humanity's ability to build the civilized Shuriman Empire from savage, primitive tribes relied entirely on the great power bestowed by the Aspects and the Sun Disc.
However, Levi argued that even without the Aspects and the Sun Disc, humanity would have eventually progressed from tribes to slave kingdoms.
The appearance of the Aspects and the Ascended merely acted as a cheat code for humanity, greatly accelerating the process.
In the final analysis, it was the advancement of productive forces.
Yes, productive forces... Janna had learned many new terms from Levi and had come into contact with an entirely new ideological theory.
After encountering this knowledge, certain questions that Janna rarely thought about in the past—and could never figure out—suddenly became clear.
Why was the slave system already gradually collapsing during the late Shuriman Empire?
Why, after the fall of Shurima, was it replaced by various feudal kingdoms?
Why did the Kingdom of Zaun, once ruled by kings and nobles, gradually develop into a commercial city-state controlled by a plutocratic council?
It seemed as though all of this now had an answer.
However...
Was knowing this of any use?
Could propagating this history that few cared about truly make people follow and believe?
As she pondered, doubt crept into Janna's mind again.
Thus, she couldn't resist asking,
"Mr. Summoner, I still don't quite understand. The things you are promoting seem more like a scientific theory rather than a faith."
"Can simply imparting theories and knowledge truly attract followers?"
"Of course it can," Levi replied with a firm tone. "Only by mastering this knowledge can one understand the past. And only by understanding the past can one comprehend the present."
"What Zaunites lack the most right now is critical thinking—they must seriously consider why Zaun is the way it is today."
"If they can figure that out..."
"...then they are already 'your' followers."
Meanwhile, back in the rented apartment.
Lina finished reading the article as if entranced, completely forgetting to eat or sleep.
Now she truly believed that Levi had been blessed by the Goddess Janna and enlightened with divine wisdom.
Otherwise, with her brother's abysmal level of education, it would be absolutely impossible for him to write such an article.
'What exactly is going on? Did my brother really meet the true Goddess Janna? I'll have to interrogate him properly when he gets back tomorrow.'
Lina worried about Levi for a good while before her attention shifted back to the contents of the article itself.
'To think there were so many hidden secrets in Zaun's past history...'
Unlike Janna.
Janna's existence transcended the mortal realm, her perspective encompassing all directions. The moment she read the article, she realized that what Levi wanted to share was not the history itself, but the ideological tool used to analyze it.
But as a Zaunite struggling to survive in Piltover, Lina's first reaction upon reading the article was:
'These damn Piltovans—so they were never any good from the very beginning!'
What Lina cared about the most were the various historical secrets mentioned in the article.
Especially the dark history of Piltover.
In Piltover's official textbooks, the city was founded 300 years ago by a group of merchants pursuing freedom and democracy.
They worked together to overthrow the evil rule of the old Kingdom of Zaun, establishing the first independent parliamentary city-state in Runeterra, and bringing unprecedented freedom and prosperity to the people of this land.
As for these great merchants who pursued freedom...
...how they initially accumulated enough massive wealth to subvert a kingdom was merely glossed over in the history books.
But with Janna's help, Levi had written the process of their wealth accumulation with absolute clarity:
"Accompanied by the rumbling of steam machinery, the Kingdom of Zaun's scarce resources, land, and population were rapidly swallowed by that gradually awakening behemoth... A small nation with a sparse population like Zaun naturally could not satisfy its endless desires..."
"The Zaunite merchants, who had relied on maritime trade since ancient times, soon cast their gaze across the ocean toward the continent of Shurima, which had already been in decline for a millennium."
"In the centuries that followed, privateer ships armed with guns and cannons gradually filled the seas. Coastal colonial outposts, like the pustules of a smallpox patient, almost entirely covered the skin of the Shuriman continent..."
"Shurima was reduced to a commercial hunting ground for slave labor... The indigenous inhabitants were exterminated, enslaved, and buried in mines, factories, ports, and anywhere else where profit could be squeezed from them."
"The virus even gradually spread from Shurima to the rest of the world... Demacia, Noxus, Ionia, Bilgewater... As long as it was profitable, the merchants dared to risk beheading to appear on any coast and target any nation..."
"..."
The great fighters who overthrew the kingdom's rule over 300 years ago, those ancient commercial families who still held the power of the Piltover Council today...
...when their history of rising to power was uncovered, almost every line reeked of blood and filth.
'These Piltovans actually have the nerve to call us savages... when they themselves are clearly the descendants of a bunch of robbers!'
After reading this article, Lina only felt that she had been deceived all her life.
She had hated Piltover before, but she only hated the arrogance of the Piltovans and their discrimination against her.
Deep down, however, she had believed that Piltover was inherently better than Zaun.
Piltover was so civilized, progressive, and prosperous; Piltovans were so gentle, kind, and elegant.
While Zaunites would slaughter each other over a few Silver Wheels until rivers of blood flowed, Piltovans would pull the city's main power switch just to save a little bird tangled in the power lines.
Zaun didn't treat human lives as lives at all, whereas Piltover treated every life with humanity.
Perhaps this was the reason why Zaun could never compare to Piltover.
...
That was what Lina had thought before.
But now, regarding the question of why Zaun was so backward, she seemed to have a new answer:
Piltover's Enforcers still firmly controlled Zaun, and the factories in Zaun were all backed by capital from Piltover. Did this count as a form of colonial plunder?
Her brother coming to Piltover to work as an apprentice—how much difference was there between that and the slaves plundered 300 years ago?
'It's all because of these hypocritical Piltovans!'
'If we could make Zaun independent from Piltover's rule, perhaps we would also have a chance to live the lives of Piltovans.'
Lina found herself harboring such thoughts.
But as she thought about it a little more, she felt as if she had missed something:
Levi's article didn't seem to just be simply cursing the Piltovans and exposing the scandals of those old nobles.
He seemed to be using the opportunity of dissecting this true, cruel history to impart some deeper knowledge.
'What exactly is it...?'
Lina still couldn't figure it out.
That was when the novel theory Levi used when analyzing history finally began to catch her attention...
She suddenly realized something:
"Ah! It's almost six o'clock..."
"Professor Jayce's assessment interview is at six-thirty. If I don't leave now, I'll be late."
Lina snapped out of her thoughts.
She had no time to think about it any further.
She haphazardly stuffed Levi's notebook into her bag and hurriedly left the house.