Before the propaganda meeting began, Lina approached Viktor on behalf of the students, her face etched with worry.
"Professor Viktor, I think we made a massive mistake."
"What happened?" Viktor asked. "Did someone get into a conflict with the workers?"
"No. The workers are extremely cooperative and highly respect us. But the problem is, they respect us a little too much right now."
"Because..." Lina's face was full of regret. "To encourage the apprentices to communicate actively and attract them to voluntarily attend our meeting, we acted on impulse."
"We prematurely told them about the plan you and my brother decided on to improve their treatment."
"What is the problem with that?" Viktor did not realize the issue at first.
He and Levi both felt that the Zaunite apprentices lived too bitterly, so they planned to improve their treatment immediately after taking over the factory, achieving equal pay for equal work between Zaunites and Piltovans.
This was going to be announced sooner or later. Was there a problem with announcing it a few days early?
"Yes, and it is a massive problem. The main issue is that our propaganda work has not yet taken effect, and the workers have not awakened even the most basic class consciousness."
"Raising their wages, improving their treatment, and saving them from their misery at this time inevitably makes them..."
"Treat us as saviors."
As she spoke, Lina happened to spot something.
She gestured toward the entrance, and Viktor followed her gaze.
Mr. Ivern, dressed in a suit, wearing a top hat, and leaning on a walking stick, had just walked into the factory building arm-in-arm with Seraphine. They were immediately and enthusiastically intercepted by the apprentices in their tattered clothes.
The apprentices surrounded Ivern and his daughter adoringly, asking excitedly, "Mr. Ivern! We heard that we will be able to get the same wages as Piltovans from now on. Is... is this true?"
After receiving an affirmative answer from their boss, Ivern, and repeatedly confirming that this was neither an illusion nor a joke...
The apprentices were moved to tears.
They were genuine tears, without a hint of falsehood.
"Mr. Ivern, you... you are truly a great man. Thank you! Thank you!" someone thanked him through their tears.
"May Janna bless you, and may you and your family be happy and peaceful for the rest of your lives!" another prayed devoutly.
"Mr. Ivern... no, Lord Ivern!" Some even acknowledged him as their master on the spot. "We are rough people and do not know how to say pretty words. In short, from now on, our worthless lives belong entirely to you!"
"We eat Lord Ivern's food, so we will serve as Lord Ivern's soldiers!"
As the business owner, Ivern had now seemingly become the apprentices' sole provider—no, their non-blood-related biological parents. Even their actual biological parents were not as close to them as Ivern was.
After all, most Zaunites never had the chance to enjoy the nurturing grace of their parents.
Yet Ivern, who was neither family nor friend, not only fed them but also wanted to lead them to a good life.
Treatment equal to Piltovan workers... this was something they never dared to dream of before!
"Ahem, everyone has misunderstood!" Ivern was very self-aware.
He was neither willing nor brave enough to take credit for this, so he immediately clarified with a firm attitude, "Improving everyone's treatment was not my idea, but the will of the Goddess Janna."
"It is Professor Viktor here, and these students acting as Windguides, who fought for these benefits for everyone!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone turned their eyes to Viktor and the students from the Windguides in unison.
Looking at these gazes filled with gratitude and satisfaction, Viktor felt a wave of apprehension wash over him.
He was genuinely afraid that in the next second, everyone would kneel down before him.
"This is bad." Viktor finally understood where the problem lay.
Levi had said that no matter how the Windguides educated the masses, it would never be as profound as the direct education the capitalist class provided to the masses. The role that truly awakened the masses could only be played by the enemy themselves.
But now, before they had clearly explained the principles to the apprentices, before they let everyone understand what kind of organization the Windguides was, and before they let everyone know what they should do, they had hastily delivered the life they dreamed of.
In the eyes of those apprentices, Viktor was their savior.
And Viktor, in their eyes, was also just a business owner.
So, before they recognized the true face of the business owners and realized the direct education from them, they first received a massive gift package of benefits from the business owner.
"Not only that, because they do not understand the theories of labor creating value and surplus value, these workers generally cannot figure out who is feeding whom between them and the business owners."
"Mr. Ivern used to take slight care of the apprentices, so many people felt that the business owner fed them and gave them the opportunity to eat their fill."
"And now that we have significantly improved the apprentices' treatment, even more people feel that:"
"Giving too little money is exploitation; giving a lot of money is not considered exploitation."
"Giving as much as we do is an enormous act of grace."
Zaun was a city ruled by Chem-Barons. Zaunites were more or less influenced by gang culture, valuing loyalty and pledging allegiance.
Whoever could feed them and let them live a good life, they would sell their lives for.
As for whether this bite of food was a gift from the Chem-Barons or something they earned with their own lives... they never considered it.
Because in Zaun, having a life did not necessarily mean you could earn a bite of food.
But a bite of food from a Chem-Baron could always save their lives.
Thus, ignorant and backward thinking combined with Zaun's cultural traditions resulted in this:
"Not only did they not awaken, but they also started to feel deeply grateful to 'good business owners' like us... and even willingly treat us as their masters." Lina sighed helplessly.
"Just like those Piltovan workers, they have been bought off by the benefits brought by high profits."
How was this propagating Janna Thought?
It was simply a reverse operation, doing propaganda for the Piltovan business owners.
"It seems our strategy has indeed run into a problem." Viktor fell into deep thought.
Because this was a world with supernatural powers, individual might surpassed everything. Therefore, Levi's initial strategy was to mobilize the masses, but not to mobilize them to rise up and fight.
This could avoid meaningless bloodshed. But looking at it now... a victory easily achieved without struggle inevitably gave everyone a savior complex.
They only knew they were saved and should thank the savior.
If this idea spread, people in the future might start looking forward to the descent of a savior, or even rely on the existence of a savior. When encountering difficulties, they would just give up and do nothing, only waiting for the omnipotent goddess to save them.
"We must find a way to avoid this situation."
"In the future, we must first complete the ideological education of the workers, let the workers realize that Janna's power is the power of the masses, that it is power that comes from them, and then fight for their rights for them... no, lead them to fight for their rights."
"At the very least, we have to let everyone understand that they fought for this victory themselves!"
Viktor summarized his experience through practice, planning future propaganda strategies.
The immature team of the Windguides was also gradually maturing.
But these were matters for the future.
The problem they had to face now was that, after this wave of reverse operations, the apprentices' lives had already improved. And once people's lives improved, they naturally did not want to change the status quo.
Unknowingly, the difficulty of the Windguides' propaganda work had increased again.
"We can only keep moving forward." Viktor placed his hopes on the upcoming propaganda meeting. "Let's hope that 'Airing Grievances' tactic will be useful."
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