Chapter 982: Plebeians Protest

"Let's put an end to the tyranny!"

"The nobles need to be shown their place!"

"Just because we do not hold titles does not mean we are weak!"

"Hell yeah brother! Let's put an end to this!"

Multiple shouts arose in the city square as a mass of protesters bellowed their discontentment.

Throughout the city center, there were many such gatherings of Plebeian Vampires.

The spectating plebes were confused as to what was happening while the protesting plebes seemed to not know the immensity of heaven and earth for their open opposition of the nobility.

Lith folded his arms and watched the fiasco along with many commoners beside him. He blended well due to the clothing choice as many plebes weren't rich enough to wear luxurious clothing every single day.

Men wore simple and plain tailored coats, trousers, and vests with flat caps or bowler hats. Women wore long skirts with modest high-necked blouses and shawls or bonnets. As for the children present, they seemed to be wearing a miniaturized version of the adult outfits.

Any foreigner that visited this place would think it was a conservative society, but the truth was obviously far from that.

"Mr. Adventurer, what do you think of these protests?" A voice suddenly called out Lith.

Turning to the side, he saw it to be a middle-aged baker, evident from the flour dust on his apron.

"No clue. I haven't been at home for many years now, I'm really clueless," Lith said in a neutral tone, his voice neither too haughty nor too humble.

"Ah, it's a pity then," the baker shook his head. He then grinned, causing some smudge of flour on his cheek to fall down. "The past few years have been quite entertaining. If Mr. Adventurer wants to ask anything, please feel free."

The polite attitude was a Vampire Society norm. People paid a lot of attention to ethics, ranks, and societal standings. It was a common courtesy to address others as sir or lady. Only if there was someone of a lesser ranking would the people not use such words.

The baker could guess that being an adventurer meant danger and money. Coupled with how Lith looked and had an air of authority around him, the baker did not even need to think before addressing Lith in a formal manner.

'Honestly, it still feels a headache to maintain such formality,' Lith thought to himself. 'But anyway, these guys are just too used to it now. Plus, they barely cared about a small address.'

There had been many instances of commoners cussing the nobles openly, showing their middle finger to them, and doing something degenerative or vile. Their attitude could be summed up in one sentence: "Good sir, please go fuck yourself."

Their aggression contained formal and polite salutations. It was a funny sight to look at.

"Then, if it isn't a problem, can Mr. Baker tell me what's the cause of these protests?" Lith asked.

"Ho ho, you must have gone on a really long adventure if you didn't know the reason," it wasn't the baker's voice, but of a young man in a green mechanic uniform beside Lith. He seemed to have overheard their conversation and decided to barge in.

Lith sighed and spread his hands. "Tell me about it. There was this dungeon where the time difference was huge. Almost two centuries had passed by the time I arrived outside."

"That... is quite the adventure you've been through," the baker said with a hearty laugh.

"Well, well, since you don't know anything, let me brief you up. You see those guys over there?" The mechanic pointed his greasy hand in the direction of a group of plebes wearing similar white shirts.

"Apparently, a young lady from their group was abducted by Baron Willis. This was followed by a series of kidnappings and later, those girls were found in Seysenegg, being sold as slaves in an auction house."

The baker chimed in at this point. "Not only that, the House of Willis is under heat for discrimination against us commoners. Many tens of thousand years ago, education was made free and access to public libraries were based on merits. If one lacked that, they could use money. However..."

He paused and looked around. Since everybody appeared to be busy watching the protesters, he leaned towards Lith and was about to whisper, but the mechanic crossed his arms and said nonchalantly, "In the city of Brassburgh, under the jurisdiction of Baron Willis, they've chosen to ignore the points regarding merits. Education has become monopolized, accessible only to those with wealth."

"Hey! You shouldn't say it out loud like that," ther baker reminded with a worried expression.

The mechanic shrugged. "Not like it matters anymore. Everyone knows of this, I just don't understand how the authorities at the top haven't noticed it."

Lith had an interested look on his face. He was silently smiling in satisfaction.

'The authorities at the top aren't taking action because it is I, the authority, who caused such problems in the first place.' Lith felt like an evil Prince pulling the strings in the background.

Although he was not aware of the finer details such as these, he had instructed people to make a few noble houses do things that would cause problems to the commoners and sow discord.

Restricting education was not something he knew would have such a big impact and was a surprise. Though, as the mechanic had stated, such a monopoly was restricted to one city. If someone wanted to study, they could always go to another place. Travelling wasn't too expensive and even the poorest of plebes could afford moving cities with a month's minimum wage savings.

As for the kidnapping part, it was once again a surprise. Lith suddenly became a slave trader, which wasn't in his goals. He did ask to cause troubles, but not so much.

Taking his phone out, Lith swiftly texted Kyonumarru, who was tasked with being a messenger between Scelestus and the plebes.

Lith: "What's with the situation in Seysenegg? Why are the commoners abducted and turned into slaves?"

Lith's phone chimed instantly with a ding as he asked that. Not even a second had passed. The reaction speed was scary fast.

Kyonumarru: "Your Highness, the Scelestus side felt it would be appropriate to cause resentment this way. Please do not worry, the commoners are being treated well."

Another text followed right after.

Kyonumarru: "They have suffered through some trauma due to being sold openly, but are being treated really well in the Nine Roses Hotel branch of Seysenegg. They are given jobs and privileges that would help them reach Rank 9 in the future."

Lith put his phone down and rubbed his chin. Was this a good thing or was it bad? He couldn't properly tell. On one hand, slave trading was fairly common, not in the Vampire Society, but everywhere around the world.

It was thus a big deal if trafficking like this occurred. No wonder everyone is so riled up.

"Ahem. Excuse me, Mr. Adventurer," the baker's voice made Lith get back to his present situation. He had somewhat been lost in his own domain for a moment.

"Yes?"

"Did you cross check this news?" The baker asked with a wry smile.

Lith raised an eyebrow in surprise. "How did you know?"

"Haha!" The baker grinned widely, more flour falling off his cheeks and apron. "Even my own family and friends did not believe me at first. Not only them, I too didn't believe it when I overheard a conversation in the bakery. I believe everyone's reaction was to cross-check whether it was true or not."

Lith nodded in understanding. This was certainly big news so cross-checking was inevitable for most.

"Is there anything more or just this?" Lith asked.

The mechanic at the side put his hands in his uniform's front pockets. "There's honestly so much that, it's really a big shock to everybody. For so many years, life has been peaceful, but why all of a sudden such chaos has erupted?"

"Let me answer this!" A young girl with twin ponytails hopped beside the mechanic, surprising him. She had a rabbit-cased phone in her hands and herself seemed quite cute for her age.

"Who are you?" The mechanic asked, dumbfounded. "Where did you come from?"

The young girl pouted, causing blood to flow in her cheeks and turn them rosy. "You guys are talking so openly, do you think others can't hear you?"

The baker scratched his brittle hair and said, "Isn't this common knowledge? I thought no one would be interested in our conversations."

The young girl giggled and said, "Yes, the conversation is not anything new. But you guys stand out quite a lot. Look around, many have stopped looking at the protests and are instead staring at you guys."

The mechanic and the baker pivoted their heads to look around, then broke into a cold sweat as everyone was indeed staring at them!

'How did we become the center of attraction?' The two wondered silently.

The girl, as if understanding what the two might be thinking, said, "You two misters don't have to worry. People are definitely not staring at you. They're actually staring at the tall adventurer mister."

The mechanic and the baker were dumbfounded. They craned their heads to look at Lith, and finally realized why was such the case.

'So handsome!"