It’s sometimes better to be unemployed than to work in a place where you’re not treated like a person.
For instance, there’s a job that starts at a pre-tax salary of 2,060,000 won, with work on alternating Saturdays or every three weeks, and shifts that run until 8 or 9 PM.
Even if you accumulate seniority and get a promotion, after ten years, you won’t be earning more than 2,500,000 won pre-tax.
Starting your career with such a job might make it objectively better to prepare for employment for a few more years.
“For someone in desperate need of making a living, they’d be grateful for such a job anyway.”
After all, it’s not a crime, and if you work, you can live under a roof and avoid going hungry.
Moreover, people in this era’s poverty are willing to resort to pickpocketing, stealing, threatening, violence, or even murder just to get a bite to eat.
‘Even if I’m forced into employment, it’s a humanitarian effort.’
With that thought in mind, I found myself in a slum.
My colleague, who was covering for me, shouted so loudly that it almost hurt my ears.
“His Majesty has granted you useless beggars the grace to live like human beings! So you must immediately honor His Majesty’s grace and be reborn!”
The citizens of this era, especially the poor, shiver at just hearing the words “the grace of the country.”
Because this usually means being dragged off to endure long hours of grueling labor under the guise of rehabilitation, with only a thin bowl of oat porridge as payment.
Or they’re conscripted into the military and forced into work that turns them into cannon fodder.
Thus, the impoverished made active use of the wisdom they gained from life, even if they hadn’t received formal education.
“Damn it, run away! If caught, I’ll be taken to the battlefield!”
Even cleaning isn’t something like some ‘great massacre’ being enforced by the empire.
They just give you a chance to voluntarily enlist in the military and work you to the bone.
The chances of returning alive are slim, and military service is a duty owed by the citizens, meaning you get only a few coins even if you manage to survive.
Choosing to flee because getting caught seemed like it would lead to a bad outcome, the poor who hadn’t grasped the love of His Majesty also began to escape.
“Ugh, no wonder tonight feels unlucky!”
“Get caught and you die! I really mean it!”
“Which crazy idiot touched a high-ranking official?!”
Seeing this, Captain Marine, who was following us, wore a suspicious smile and said,
“Should I really request that my performance evaluation at the military department be positively reviewed if I bring those guys in?”
Captain Marine was someone whose rank progressed slowly considering her status, age, and job performance, so I thought she’d strive hard upon receiving my request.
But perhaps blinded by thoughts of promotion, she was licking her lips in delight.
Marine, which also means “marine,” by the way.
‘Now that I look closely, her skin is exceptionally tanned.’
Voluntary enlistment, no, gathering excellent people to improve the hygiene of Florence and boost gunpowder production seems to suit her just fine.
The soldiers behind her were also wearing suspicious smiles.
“You know that if you catch those guys, Captain will treat us to drinks later, right?”
“Are we getting beef?”
“That depends on how satisfied Medici Young Baron is with your performance.”
For some reason, I have a feeling I should buy these guys red eight-pointed hats.
Even if other companies are different, I need to maintain a good relationship with Marine’s company.
“Just bring back exactly 200, no, 400 of them. Don’t let anyone die or get injured in the process.”
“Our soldiers will handle it neatly. Just wait a moment.”
Captain Marine and her soldiers raised wooden clubs that resembled baseball bats while grinning suspiciously.
I cast a spell of motivation on the soldiers here.
“If you catch 400 by tonight, I’ll treat this company to unlimited beef and beer. And I’ll give you a little bonus too.”
While one should save money most of the time, there are times when it needs to be spent.
And it feels like now is that time.
With the prospect of meat, alcohol, and money in play, Captain Marine’s unit and others charged toward the beggars while blowing their horns.
“If we beat those guys, we’ll get paid! Do it just enough to capture them!”
If they had voluntarily enlisted, they wouldn’t have to go through this.
Poor and pitiful beggars, really.
But still, to survive in this slum, they probably have experiences ranging from petty theft to serious crimes, so there isn’t a need to feel too sorry for them…
Leo, a local from Florence’s slums, was desperately fleeing.
“Ahh, help me!”
His reason for running away was quite simple.
If caught by the pursuing soldiers over there, he’d be dragged off to some unknown battlefield to die; it was a foregone conclusion.
He might not like his life as it is, but he certainly didn’t want to die like a dog.
‘Better to roll in the mud and live.’
Despite that, the soldiers chased him hard with wooden clubs in hand.
“If you stop now, you’ll just get hurt a little and be taken away. If you don’t, you’re dead!”
“Make the wise choice! Beggar!”
“Refusing His Majesty’s grace is a capital offense!”
If he could, he’d like to shout out,
‘If I accept that damn Emperor’s grace, I’ll end up as a corpse with holes in a few months, obviously!’
However, the respect instilled by the Deus church regarding the Emperor and the caste system stopped him from saying that.
“Step forward voluntarily and receive His Majesty’s grace! It will make you happy, you know?”
Happy? More like I’ll be dead and heading to heaven.
Leo ran as if his life depended on it, but the soldiers, trained and accustomed to manual labor, ultimately caught him.
“Kid, running away is useless. You’d be better off submitting willingly. Why must we both get our faces red and suffer?”
A senior among the soldiers gave the signal and raised his club.
“Let’s give this fool a taste of His Majesty’s grace.”
With those words, someone kicked Leo, making him fall.
“It’s time for you to learn the spirit of being an imperial soldier, or rather, the spirit required to live as a subject of the empire.”
Then they started to beat him all over without targeting any vital spots.
The way they struck him hard enough to only bruise but not crack a bone showed they were masters of beating.
If Fabio had seen this, he might have seriously considered hiring several of them as his bodyguards after their service.
One soldier lifted Leo’s chin and mocked him.
“Why were you running away and bothering people? Just submitting to enlistment would have been so much better!”
To Leo, “voluntary enlistment” sounded like this:
‘If the Emperor says die, go get yourself killed as a soldier voluntarily.’
Those guys might have it better than the beggars, but being serfs, they were likely still trampled on.
However, his survival instincts and street smarts, honed through years of violence and murder in the slums, thankfully kept Leo’s mouth shut.
Had he spoken up, he might have faced a sorrowful end.
“Um, excuse me, soldiers, can I just ask one thing? What happens to me now? Am I going to be dragged off to the battlefield to die like a dog?”
Leo mentioned that serfs and beggars were in similar exploited positions, but there’s a massive difference between the two.
The beggars, with no registration, are practically not considered “human” and can be abducted and killed for amusement by nobles without anyone caring.
Unless another noble or someone steps on the tail of the criminal, that is.
Put in other words, as long as you don’t get caught, you can commit all sorts of crimes against beggars.
On the other hand, when a serf is killed by someone, the guards or soldiers from the territory might show some reluctance and will at least investigate, sometimes even siding with the church.
There’s a huge difference between not being a person and merely being regarded as lowly…
The serf-born soldiers sneered at Leo as they saw him.
“You won’t be taken to the battlefield. You’ll just be assigned the job of cleaning up excrement in the city. It’s a lowly job, but they’ll feed you properly and give you a place to live.”
Leo couldn’t believe those words.
The country is going to do something for them?
He’d only ever been extorted by the country and suffered all sorts of abuses from noble lords.
‘Am I really going to escape the life of petty theft in this damn slum?’
“And isn’t it just cleaning up when His Majesty has the filthy beggars killed on the battlefield? I’ve learned while serving in Florence’s defense that 70% of all crimes happening in the city are because of you beggars. You might not have been caught, but how would anyone know if you murdered someone, pickpocketed, or raped a woman?”
According to imperial law, beggars face very harsh punishments.
If a judge decides poorly, it’s not uncommon for someone to be sentenced to death just for stealing a loaf of bread.
And the reason such verdicts are handed down is simple.
The socially weak beggars have to touch upon some crime to survive, so by the time they’re caught, they’ve likely committed several offenses.
“So, with His Majesty’s grace, you’ll get to do this lowly work, but at least you’ll be fed properly. Are you going to refuse His Majesty’s grace?”
Even clearing dung is better than a life of petty theft.
“No! I’ll go along with you.”
And Leo, grinning despite being covered in bruises, followed the soldiers.
That day, more than 400 men received a salvation, or rather, a pseudo-salvation.
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