"Ah, this is wrong. Completely wrong."
"This has turned into a corporate annual gala."
The boss hands out benefits, and the employee representative gives a speech. There's motivational talk, expressions of gratitude, hype, and empty promises. If this wasn't a corporate annual gala, what was it?
The bluebird perched on Seraphine's shoulder suddenly made this sarcastic remark.
But the voice it emitted didn't belong to Janna; it belonged to Levi.
"Mr. Levi, you're 'online'?!"
Seraphine used the new word she had just learned today, pleasantly surprised as she scooped the bluebird into her palms and held it to her chest. She looked at it face-to-face—as if trying to see Levi on the "other side of the network cable" through the little bird's eyes.
"Mr. Levi, where are you right now? When can you come back?"
"Uh... I'm in prison right now," Levi replied. "Give it a few days."
"Eh?" The pink-haired girl trembled with worry.
"Don't worry," Levi quickly explained. "With Miss Kiramman covering for me, I'll be fine. It's just that the young miss, who is even more naive than you, is probably going to be taught a lesson this time."
"Once she's educated and wakes up to reality, she should give up struggling and use her mother's privileges to bail me out, just like she promised."
"Rest assured, it won't take more than a few days."
"But..." Seraphine was still worried. "The environment in the prison must be terrible, right? Mr. Levi, do you want me to visit you in prison and bring you some food?"
"Uh... Seraphine, actually..."
"There is no prison cell in this world smaller than my rented apartment. And the food the inmates eat here isn't much worse than what the apprentices usually eat."
"Moreover, because the management costs have exceeded the profits generated by forcing these dangerous individuals to work in the prison factory, the inmates at Stillwater Hold don't even need to work normally. They just need to lie flat in their cells."
"Honestly, serving time in Piltover is easier than working..."
Seraphine: "..."
"Alright, let's talk about what's going on over there," Levi promptly steered the conversation back on track. "When that apprentice was airing his grievances just now, were you 'listening'? I mean, listening with your ability?"
"Mhm." Seraphine nodded.
After Janna's training, she could now barely control her innate magic.
During the promotional meeting just now, she had been carefully harnessing her magic under Janna's guidance, attempting to actively listen to the soul melody of the person airing his grievances.
"Then what did you 'hear'?"
"Pain, suffocating pain... and some very dark, despairing memories that uncontrollably surfaced in my mind when he recalled his past."
As soon as Seraphine recalled this, tears began to well up in her eyes.
She was naturally emotional and prone to crying.
But even someone as sentimental as her didn't actually shed a tear after listening to the apprentice's grievances.
"Because that person's current soul melody isn't painful at all."
Not only was it not painful, but it was also filled with light and hope.
"His soul melody has been consistently joyful and cheerful, even when he was recalling those painful experiences."
"Yeah..." Levi sighed helplessly.
That was exactly the problem.
If the person airing his grievances didn't even feel bitter himself, how could he possibly convey an atmosphere of suffering?
As for why he didn't feel bitter?
It was obvious—
The boss suddenly increased his salary tenfold. No matter who it was, they wouldn't be able to cry about suffering.
Let alone those apprentices who didn't understand theory, even Levi himself:
If his boss in his previous life had a sudden brain cramp and gave him a tenfold raise, he would probably also willingly go on stage to deliver a massive, cringeworthy speech, thanking the boss's entire family and every single leader in the company.
Sincere and wholehearted gratitude, without a hint of falsehood.
People are realistic. If calling someone "Daddy" could earn them ten thousand bucks, the vast majority of people would be more than willing to have an extra father.
"Sigh..." Levi finally realized just how naive and short-sighted his and Viktor's urgent efforts to secure benefits for the apprentices had been.
Some things truly had to be fought for by mobilizing the masses themselves.
But now that a grave mistake had already been made, how could they remedy it?
Perhaps he needed to change to a different propaganda method.
A propaganda method that was more approachable, better at building atmosphere, touching emotions, and drawing people in.
"Seraphine?" Levi said thoughtfully.
"Mr. Levi, do you need me to do something?"
"I'll find someone else to go up and try. You pay attention and 'listen'."
"Mhm... okay." Although she didn't know what Levi was planning, Seraphine still nodded earnestly.
She carefully controlled the massive magical power within her body—a power that had naturally awakened in her childhood and grown over the past dozen years—concentrating intently as she prepared to activate her ability.
Meanwhile, under Levi's command, Janna flapped her wings and slowly flew onto the stage.
"Everyone!" Levi projected his voice to the crowd through Janna's magic. "You all know me, right?"
Of course they did.
Because of the Windguides' communication and propaganda from the afternoon into the evening, everyone already knew that their former colleague, Levi, had somehow stumbled into dumb luck and been chosen by the Goddess Janna, becoming her mortal Divine Selection.
And these people calling themselves Windguides were all believers Levi had developed for the Goddess Janna.
Now that Levi wasn't physically present, his voice being transmitted through the goddess's bluebird avatar created an even greater effect of divine manifestation.
Thus, everyone instinctively stopped treating him like the familiar colleague they used to know, not daring to joke around in front of him. Instead, they unanimously showed him—the spokesperson for the Goddess Janna—the reverence that mortals hold for a divine envoy.
Levi didn't stop this behavior for the time being.
He simply leveraged the authority of a divine envoy and spoke to the apprentices:
"First of all, I need to make one thing clear to everyone—"
"The treatment you received today wasn't given to you by Professor Viktor and me, nor was it charitably bestowed upon you out of the goodness of Mr. Ivern's heart... It was fought for by the Goddess Janna to save the suffering masses."
Propagandizing like this was actually very problematic.
Because it would only incite everyone's worship of Janna, the worship of a god.
But right now, this grievance-airing session had turned into a "recall past bitterness and savor present sweetness" meeting, a team-building exercise of gratitude toward the factory and the boss.
Having everyone temporarily worship a god was still better than letting them attribute this kindness to the boss and thank the company and the business owner.
"So, why did the Goddess Janna come to save everyone?"
"Because she is the god of the poor, the protector of Zaun. She wants to ensure that no one in the world suffers anymore, and she wants all oppressed people to stand up..."
Levi simply resorted to the propaganda tactics of a religious charlatan.
This actually proved to be more effective than the previous grievance-airing activity.
At the very least, the apprentices present were all moved by the goddess's benevolence and greatness. One after another, they praised the Goddess Janna in their hearts, rather than thanking some corporation or boss.
"Janna has always been blessing everyone, protecting all the people of Zaun."
"So don't be afraid, and don't be nervous or embarrassed. Pour out all your bitter grievances! Let the Goddess Janna hear your voices and understand your suffering!"
The grievance-airing activity of publicly exposing one's scars transformed into a confession and prayer to a god.
The instinctive resistance everyone felt suddenly diminished.
That's right, the goddess's bluebird avatar was right here!
There was no need to worry about the boss or anyone else; any suffering could be spoken of openly and freely.
By recounting these painful experiences in full detail, they might even receive the goddess's sympathy, pity, or even her grace!
Thus, before they knew it, the apprentices actually began to look forward to the upcoming grievance-airing activity.
"Um..."
"Baku—you come up!"
Levi picked the most eloquent person out of the crowd.
His good friend at the factory, Baku.
"Eh... me?" Baku was a bit slow to react.
He had been worrying about Levi's safety all day, and as soon as he came in for the night shift, he discovered that the good friend he had been mourning as a dead man all day had suddenly transformed into a Divine Selection.
Baku was still in a prolonged state of shock and disbelief, unsure of how to interact with Levi when they met again.
He hadn't expected Levi to single him out from the crowd first and make him perform on stage.
"I... what do I have to say?"
In front of his now-prosperous friend, Baku felt a bit embarrassed.
"Levi, pick someone else... My life isn't that bitter."
"Bullshit your life isn't bitter!"
"You're so damn poor you can't even afford underwear, and you still come to work bare-assed! A thief would cry seeing your wallet, and a rat would starve to death in your house—stop dawdling and get your ass up here!"
"You? N-Nonsense! I'm wearing underwear..."
"Then if you've got the balls, take off your pants and show us!"
"..." Baku's face flushed bright red with embarrassment.
"Hahahaha..." Everyone couldn't help but laugh.
Levi's familiar string of Zaunite slang made everyone feel a little less distant from him.
"Fine—I, I'll come up!"
"Damn it, it's just telling a story..."
Amidst the laughter, Baku stepped onto the stage.
Meanwhile, Levi had Janna fly off the stage and return to Seraphine's side:
"Seraphine, get ready to listen."
"Remember, you don't just have to 'listen'... you also need to compose a song for his story, and then find a way to use your ability to share this song for everyone to hear."
"Eh?" Seraphine didn't quite understand.
"What do you mean, compose a song for his story?"
"It means using your intuition as a musician to pair Baku's recalled memories with fitting music—"
"Edit his story into a music video."
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