Kholingen proper, a few days later…
The Koba group was now at a table, in a quiet corner of the main room of a tavern.
This was also useful for allow them to think more to their strategy…Since there had been, how to say, a major "glitch" that have happened during their travel from Novi-Sad to Kholingen. A "glitch" that showcased that Koba was deep in trouble, right now…
Marianne was quietly reading to them the front page of a newspaper, more or less legal, but nevertheless much more read that the press of the government, that was lacking any credibility. There was a pile of similar "daily" next to her. They had all more or less the same headlines…
"The Crow Hills Monastery had been ravaged by fire. The Abbot is confirmed dead"
"Well, said Locke, there are two possibilities. It's either a fire from natural causes, or from…not natural causes. By "natural" causes, I include of course explosives and the like. By not natural causes, I include a…actual action made by the Phoenix. Which I find quite unlikely…"
"Yeah", replied Marianne, who was busy calculating dates. The fire had occurred shortly after they had left Novi-Sad. Which meant shortly after the government had been warned of the operation: from what she had gathered, the first emissaries of the monastery arrived mere hours after their departure from Novi-Sad. "Metaphysical considerations put apart, the fact that Phoenix was obviously did not there help to reach this conclusion. In fact, this look like they hope that people will blame the relic-whatever this thing could really be-on this…And on this point", continued Marianne while picking up an "people" newspaper, there is an enlightening info up there…The leader of the Orsanis is currently in Vector ! Pretty telling, hey ?"
"Pretty telling, yes. It's hard to follow all the deals and backstabs here-what matters is that the Orsanis are trying to hide the disappearance of the relic. We know that the relic was not there. And we also know that there is only one way to really secure the silence of someone. The only way to get out of this is to, how to say, "attack" first, take the initiative…"
"Oh, this sounds like you are going to tell us one of those plans you have from time to time!" said sarcastically Miyuki. "Which have the common point of being completely insane…"
"Ah, ah, very funny. They are insane, but they work. Usually. Anyway, my idea is simple. Did someone actually know what Phoenix is supposed to look like. I mean ?"
There was a minute of silence. Of course, no one did. And they saw where Locke was going…
"You are saying that we could just give the shells to our contact, like that, and hope to get away? To leave the place in one piece, alive, and remain in this condition afterward?"
Miyuki sounded to be quite doubtful about the possibility of meeting all those conditions.
"This will require clever planning, and bluff. But I think this is possible. What will save us is the fact that our contact will be the one blamed if something goes wrong. Not us…"
"Hey…just had an idea", said Marianne, who looked to be uneasy. "To…make gil. And to do this while trying to do the goal you just stated, Locke…in a very simple way. Pretend that we have the item…we could attempt to sell…pieces…of the "relic". We just have to use the rumours that already exist about this relic. We could even spread some rumours of our own, like…like telling we saw a golden fiery bird bursting from it, when we opened the final shell…"
If Marianne was uneasy, it was because, as she had said shortly after the raid-she hated to be associated with money. The problem was that Marianne's mind was quite geared toward numbers-this was why she was the one that had been put in charge of the finances of the group. This was related to her ethnic background, like sickening racists said, bur rather to her familial background. Her role had led to the usual comments such as "ah, sure, Hasais are good in those matters", that Marianne had accepted with clenched teeth.. To the Shéol with those bastards. It was a slight improvement over being called an "Hasai rat" or vermin. What really mattered for her what was her friends thought of her-not idiots believing this propaganda…
"Marianne…this is not a good idea, this is an awesome idea! I'm sure we will find easily a market for this! With the fire, this will add a lot to the credibility of the whole thing…"
Locke mostly thought that this was an after all inoffensive forgery, that would not hurt anyone: what the heck if Nobles paid some Gil for getting a trinket? If they were stupid enough to believe that a rock had magical power, it was their problem, not the one of the sellers…Miyuki, however, even if she found the idea quite good, was rather angered by some elements of it…
"What a joke. They would buy something stolen to guarantee their afterlife…It's the sickest, cheapest form of bigotry I ever saw. And once again, money rules everything. According to the Church, you can negate a life of sins by paying. What kind of religion is that !"
Locke felt in phase with Miyuki, but he also feared to "launch" her sister in a political speech –which could be tricky, considering that they were in a tavern. They had spoken with low voices until now, but, when Miyuki was angered, she had a tendency to raise her tone…
"Miyuki…you know like me that our mother would…would be among the first to buy it…"
The issue raised by Locke was the core problem that she had with Miyuki…
Locke and Miyuki's mother was quite pious. Not a zealot, a hothead, or anything. Just pious. Apparently, the priest of her birth parish was sincerely convinced that he could improve things for his flock. He had tried to put into place a minimal education system for the children (hence the little education Locke's mother received), he had tried to organize social things like child crèche, communal kitchen, workers cooperative…He had obviously made a lasting impression on Locke's mother, and made her very religious, for the rest of her days.
According to the (flowery) depictions of his mother, the priest was a true holy man. Locke, don't knowing him, thought that this was quite possible, since there was priests that were caring about the material lives of their flocks. As well as priests who were on the payroll of the government for spreading propaganda. Miyuki had always been highly sceptical on the question, but some of her accusations, that she thankfully never voiced to her mother, such as the fact that this was not such a surprise that a priest organized activities to be with little girls (there had been a couple of scandals like this in the recent years) were probably completely false. Others insinuations, such as the fact that this priest was just trying a softer approach, had maybe some truth in it. For instance, sure, Locke's mother learned to read…but all she was given to read was pious books, whom unsurprisingly taught resignation and acceptance of the things of this world…
Deep down, there was also the question of what a single man, well-intentioned or not, could do to change things in a system rotten to the core, without making fundamental change to the regime.
For Miyuki, Locke and Marianne, the answer to this question was easy: not much.
This was why the relations between her and her daughter were a bit strained at times. Miyuki, as she had said it, viewed religion as a cure people invented for social wrongs. So, she more or less saw her mother as someone who had been deceived all her life, who needed to see the truth. While her mother thought that her daughter needed to see the Light. Her mother still loved Miyuki deeply: it was because of her love that she was so worried about her. Still, the relation between the twos, mostly because of such questions, was quite strained at times. Which left Locke in the crossfire, attempting to patch up things the best he could.
"It's just a lie", continued Miyuki. The priests probably did not even believe into this c…Religion is just a drug for the people…an invention for the social control. A neat one, I have to admit. Be obedient, be submissive, and you will be rewarded in next life! "
"So, you are saying that our mother is a kind of junkie? You don't think that, I know it…"
"Of course I don't think that! No. I mean that people clings to it because they have nothing else to help them make their live more supportable…They are not "drugged". They take it because it's the only way for them to live. Without it, she would have failed into despair a long time ago…"
Miyuki was almost crying while saying this. Her mother had been exploited all her life, by a system run by the Church-and she could not accept it. She would die persuaded of it…
This little discussion raised the interest of Marianne. She did liked this "religion is a drug" metaphor-this was an relatively easy step for her, since she was not even a part of the religion Miyuki had been raised in-this also meant that she was less violent than her concerning religion.
"Well, to take in medical terms, the best would be to treat the problem rather than the symptoms…Which means" she said in a very neutral tone, "to treat the regime itself…"
Miyuki heard the word "treat", and smiled. This was an euphemism on the class of "treasure hunter". Since, with the socio-economical system of Kholingen, solutions were quite limited.
This was one thing to try to avenge yourself from society by being…well, thieves, that preyed on the rich. This was much better to try to change society, to improve things for everyone.
And there was two ways of doing it, that Miyuki considered as viable as each other.
Reform….trying to change things by peaceful means, by consensus, instead of outright violence. This was how things had worked out in Figaro, and to a lesser extent the Empire. Unlikely, alas.
Revolution….forcing change, by an insurrection, by the force of arms. Bloody, alas.
To do the Revolution, they needed to win the hearts and minds of the people. This was where was going, a way or the other, most of the money they earned with their operations. Miyuki and Marianne were not doing it primary for the political gain, but this played a part, and they were honest enough to recognize it. This idea was expressed perfectly into the tracts that Miyuki took great pain to wrote and diffuse, after a "redistribution" of wealth…(with the means of Koba, it was pretty small things, this redistribution. The best thing they had ever achieved was organize a tiny fund for providing legal defence to people for the slums-the Nobles were not fully wrong when they said that the traditional charity of the Church was all those "lazy" workers needed, since dissidents had trouble to do anything meaningful. But Miyuki, on this point fully followed by Locke, thought that workers needed dignity, not charity. They wanted to be able to have decent lives-not to be at the mercy of the variable generosity of Nobles)
When we help you to ease out your wretched lives, we are heroes for you. And for the tyrant and his so-called government, we are at worse annoying flies, who take scraps of their wealth…
When we ask you to think about WHY you live those lives in the first time, we are labelled as dangerous monsters. Because, in this situation, we are a threat for the tyrant…
According to you, what is the best way to end up this oppression?
Saying that those tracts did not have exactly the impact Miyuki had hoped was an understatement. It had never discouraged Miyuki. She would find a way to convince people that the Revolution was the only possible answer. She would convince them. At whatever price!
And, right now, they were about to have an golden opportunity to do "political work". Both Locke and Miyuki realized that Marianne was trying desperately to look unconcerned, to not react… She struggled to keep a very neutral face, but that her hands were now crisped on her glass. She has holding it so tightly that cracks began to appear. The cause of her trouble was easy to locate; there was a newcomer in the tavern that was speaking loudly at the bar. Way too loudly: he was not actually speaking to the one he seemed to speak to: the guy who was on the stool next to him was nodding, of course, but he was so drunk that he would have nodded to any proposition, from "Want another drink, chap?" to "Want to enlist in the Imperial Army?"
Right now, the individual was busy to describe to his captive audience, and by extension to the rest of the tavern, about his experiences as a dock worker, stating that he had been moved, shocked, to realize that there was plots organized by "secret societies" to keep the grain supplies low, and by extension anger the people against "our beloved Prince". The said secret societies looked to not be that secret, or very efficient, since the "insider" had been apparently able to infiltrate them quite easily, and unmask their nefarious leaders, that were quite close to the stereotypical depictions of "enemies of order and religion" What followed was quite crude accusations concerning those supposed leaders, Hence the reaction of Marianne. The speech of the guy was basically an open call to murder Hasais on the spot…
Locke dislike for racists was shared by his sister, and it was almost a match for her hatred of clerics and nobles. This dislike was of course even stronger when someone close of him was affected.. It did not take long to Locke to decide what to do. He could not stand to let his friends be threatened. Miyuki neither. Both of them rose from their chairs, and smiled at Marianne.
"Don't worry, Marianne. This…will not speak like that for long" said Locke, quite serious.
Upon seeing the individual from closer, Locke and Miyuki managed to place quickly a lot of pieces from the puzzle. They knew him. They had seen him in a recent operation in the outskirts of Kholingen, concerning an Orsani household…The power of the Orsanis was rising those days. They were the actual power in Kholingen, in fact. Their power did not mean much concerning competence, that said. In Kholingen, dissent was on the rise, especially in the new urban working class. The countryside was in theory quieter, but peasants were asking, more and more, for the agrarian reform. And there was a consensus of hatred toward the Orsanis, which worried the head of the family. In addition to stepping up the repression, they had also used, with variable success, the age old tactic of finding scapegoats, and blame everything on them…
The said scapegoats had been relatively easy to find: the Hasais. They always been targeted by the government, but Count Orsani had markedly stepped up its measures against them.
There was riots because of high bread prices? This was not due to incompetence and grain speculation, but because of a nefarious Hasai plot. The governor of Lowian had been caught red-handed, using state funds for pay his gambling debts? The poor fellow (well, according to official circles. Locally, he had a wide array of nicknames: "Sponge" was one of the most known, because of the governor's lone capacity: absorbing vast quantity of stuff. With a remarkable tolerance for bribes and alcohol) was not guilty! This was in fact due to Hasais, who wanted to destroy the trust of the Kholingenians in their institutions (as this had not been done decades, centuries even, ago). All the foreign policy of Kholingen was completely discredited, thanks to it's incoherence, as well as numerous human rights issues raised by the Empire and Figaro? This was due to the actions of the Hasais communities within those lands. And so on.
This was in similar circumstances that Locke and Miyuki had meet for the first time Marianne…
At that time, they were trying, with variable success, one of their very first jobs…
In Kholingen, many "golden boys" from the Noblesse considered that visiting the slums was a kind of thrill. For them, it was not unlike visiting a zoo: it was amusing, to see how the commoners scrapped a living. Nobles were so sure of their superiority that often, they did not even thought that commoners could fight back. (Not to mention the fact that the private goons of their parents could exact a vengeance) They also enjoyed to terrorize the inhabitants (beatings, petty harassment), knowing very well that unless they did something really abominable, they would not even get the proverbial slap on the wrist. And, in all honestly, it was probable that this was this feeling on complete impunity that motivated much of their behaviour
The idea was, to visit the slums, it took guides, to show to the "most aristocratic Noble lords" what were the most wretched places, all this while being as humble and deferential as possible.
Well, Locke and Miyuki offered them an "all-included deal": they said to the Nobles that they were going to show them all the aspects of the lives in the slums: Especially the most interesting ones. Obviously, "interesting" was a pretty vague term. What the golden boys planned was likely to be something in the lines of a brothel, or illegal substances. Especially when Locke said that they could lead their clients to an experience that they would not forgot….
As with all travel agencies, however, there was some catches in the deal. That said, Locke and Miyuki were not lying when they said they proposed an unforgettable experience. Indeed, their clients usually had a great first hand experience with the criminal life of Kholingen.
And this was actually interesting, exciting, amusing even. The only thing, not for the clients.
The seedy empty alley…the heavily built thugs closing on the golden boys….the beating, with hilarious attempts of resistance …and finally the looting of everything valuable….This truly made up for priceless memories, and would give to the Nobles a whole new perspective on their value, as well as a new position on the supposed stupidity and submission of commoners.
Of course, in addition to their rather ridiculous salaries paid by the golden boys, the "guides" received their percentage on the…collected resources. A rather sizable percentage, in fact.
Not only because they lured the Nobles, but because they were the ones that had conceived this.
The only issue was that tips were problematic to get. As well as good feedback on the clients
Who, on the other hand, were not exactly eager to say that they had been stupid enough to be crossed by twelve years old kids. The side issue was that they did triy to kill them afterward. Locke and Miyuki got their first bounties on their heads before they were thirteen.
If they had stopped, it was not because of this threat, but because their mother had realized what they were doing, and begged them to stop. Hence a quick change of profession. Similar events lo their various jobs in pyramidal schemes, smuggling, forgeries, blackmail, cons and scams, up to their current occupations. Locke and Miyuki had both the depressing opinion that if their mother had not complained on this, it was because she had more or less given up on them…)
Anyway, as they were still doing this kind of "guided tours", they had once walked upon a group of Nobles visibly enjoying themselves in a manner that appeared quick sick to outsiders.
They had picked up a random Hasai girl in the Pale, in this case eleven years old, and began to insult her in every possible manner, hoping that she would react in an amusing manner.
Marianne was as calculative as Miyuki, but not as cold. She was not exactly impulsive, but, as Locke had politely pointed her some times, she sure had, an, how to say, fiery attitude sometimes. Like right now, she had always felt that she should not be ashamed of being a Hasai girl. She was even proud of her background: her people had survived to anything, over centuries, if not millenniums. Why she should felt like an inferior by birth? Why she would stand to live in fear, awaiting the next riot triggered by the Church? Why she would live in submission?
Those feelings were widespread among younger Hasais.. This was why both Miyuki and Marianne considered the Hasai community as a great pool of potential recruits for the Revolution.
The fact, real, that many Hasais were dissidents, allowed the government to pretend that, after all, all this "agitation" was just the work of Hasais. A little or two "spontaneous" riots organized by one of the Noble-backed "self defence group", the worse of them being the Black Militia, was thought by the Nobles as a failsafe way of venting off the anger of the "rabble".
Speaking of that, with his trademark dark garb, the "well informed" individual was probably a member of the Black Militia, and not one of its brightest or smartest members…
This organization was another sign of the decay of all institutions in Kholingen, and also a telltale indicator of how things actually worked in Kholingen. An recent huge but unarmed manifestation organized by workers for getting better conditions had been greeted with machine-gun fire, because of a supposed threat to public order, while much smaller manifestations of those self defence groups, the most nefarious of them being the Black Militia, armed to the teeth, were saw with benevolence by the police. Being subtle had never been a forte of the Kholingenian regime, but the supposed spontaneous Black Militia was really a farce. It was surprising, to say the least, that an movement, that was in theory coming from the people, was mostly used as strike-breakers, agents provocateurs for the organization of riots against supposed dissidents, or could actually address petitions to the Prince, requiring that he "stop to be so merciful against the hordes threatening his throne, and that he authorized his true servants to attack the rabble…" (sic) Not to mention the shameless use of religion against the opponents of the regime (the Black Militia was recruited partly among fanatics). This, with the methods of the Black Militia, had been enough that several key figure of the Church, with some Human decency left in them, had seriously considered withdrawing any clerical support to the organization.
Some Nobles, ecclesiastics or other members of the elite that merely wanted to keep things in the state they were, had began to open their eyes, and realized that Orsani, to fight off the growing dissent, had gone to the other end of the political spectrum, which was probably not a good thing on the long run…Indeed, the birth of the Black Militia had been, in many cases, the breaking point for many Kholingenians, Hasais or not. The Nobles were acting this way? Fine. They would see that this little game could be played at two. And especially that a real popular movement, not a bunch of drunken fools or fanatics paid by the Nobles, was hard to stop….
To return to Marianne's own story, the girl, who had grew up in such a climate, was quite for "change", in any form this could take. But she could not stand being humiliated. Still, she had managed to remain calm, and not react, for a long time, as the verbal insults of the Nobles became to be more and more violent. Exasperated by her reaction (or rather, lack of reaction), they began to pelt stones at her…No one raised to the defence of Marianne: this was not because, as propaganda said, Hasais were cowards, but because the people living in the Pale knew very well that everything they could do would just bring more trouble. This was not a courageous reaction, but a sadly common one, in Kholingen and in other nations.
After having been hit several times, and tracked down each time she tried to leave the area, one stone hit Marianne so badly in the arm she began to bleed. This was greeted with cheers of joy, as congratulation to one that had scored the hit, for his accuracy. This made Marianne snap. She had silently picked up the stone, and threw it back at the Noble, touching him in the face…
This act had completely stunned the Noble. For a minute. Then, he and his friends had proceeded to make Marianne pay for daring to touch a Noble, a very step price according to them.
As Hasais were widely labelled as "rats" or "vermin" by the propaganda, they had thought that this would be funny to drown Marianne like a rat. And as merely drowning someone was not that fun, they were doing slowly. After dragging her away, they had forced her to kneel on one of the banks of the Khol river, and where amusing themselves by shoving her head into water, waiting her to almost suffocate, then drag her by her hair…to shove her back after.
They probably did not planned to actually kill Marianne, but they were treating her in such a way (kicks, slaps) that her life was threatened. Not to mention the humiliation: they wanted her to crawl at their feet, begging them to excuse her action. Marianne could either refuse to humiliate herself and die…and either accept, and be dispirited for the rest of her life. No win situation.
As they were now outside of the Pale, possibility of intervention dwindled a lot. Sadly Hasais, were being hated almost as much as Nobles in certain places, thanks to the propaganda. It was unlikely that anyone would have lifted a little finger for her. When some people had voiced a comment on the matter, the Nobles had the perfect answers. That Marianne was just a Hasai girl, and that, accordingly, harming her or killing her was at worse a funny joke…
That is, until Locke, with Miyuki, had seen this so charming scene, and did intervene.
Locke had told to the Nobles, using all the "catch words" he had learned during his trade as a guide, that Marianne was the daughter of a rich merchant from the Hasai community of Figaro. He would certainly pay up for excusing his daughter action. The idea that Hasais were almost all wealthy merchants or bankers was so ingrained in many minds that the Nobles believed it almost instantly. Threatening a rich banker about the life of his daughter was going to be so fun ! Although, as Hasais loved money better than anything else, he would probably prefer to keep it rather than save his daughter. Bah. Teaching her a lesson would be neat, too….
They also believed Locke when he told them that, for ten Gil, he would lead them to the place where they could meet Marianne's father. The Nobles, tremendously enjoying terrorizing helpless commoners, threatened Locke that if he did not led right away, he would be drowned also…Locke, playing appropriate terror, gulped and accepted to lead them, as Miyuki was discreetly helping Marianne back to her feet, and moving with to the rear of the group. The Nobles visibly never heard about the little "tourist" trick performed by Locke…
Ten minutes later, Locke and Miyuki were the ones laughing, as they were leading Marianne back to her real family, after giving to their "employees" their share of the operation. In fact, Marianne's family was only in a slightly better position than Locke's mother, which does not mean much: her parents were clerks for a shipping company. They were as overjoyed of seeing Marianne back as they were a little cold concerning Locke and Miyuki-a feeling that was a neat parallel with the reaction of Locke's mother when her kids brought at home for the first time their new friend-Miyuki had developed an instant liking for this girl, that was not impressed by Nobles. And Locke, well, was really the chivalrous time (who loved to rescue princess, more or less. He did prefer to save smart princesses, the kind that could fight back and were not helpless). Marianne, over the next operations of the newly born Koba group, had proven to be far from helpless. Despite issues with both families (Marianne's parent had major trouble believing Humans outside their community, and Locke's mother had been, even if she tried to hide it the best she could, deeply influenced by the anti-Hasai rhetoric of the Church. And there was also the questions concerning the lifestyle of the trio), she was almost always with Locke and Miyuki.
In fact, Miyuki had…had trouble figuring out life without Marianne: she wanted things to stay this way. She did not want to see Marianne heartbroken because Locke rejected her. Despite her friendship with Miyuki, she would probably have to leave the group afterward, if only because of the tensions that would exist between Locke and her. On the other hand, she could not tell, honestly, that she would have endless joy if Locke and Marianne got involved…
Thanks to their raid against the Orsani manor in the outskirts of Novi-Sad, crude portraits of Locke and Miyuki (as well as Marianne) had been well distributed among the servants and clients of the Orsani. So, of course, when Miyuki passed in front of him, the individual, startled, rose, Conveniently, this made him ignore almost completely Locke, as he was sneaking next to him…
Thanks to a well placed feet, the individual collapsed. Locke had worked previously on his purse, which burst as he contacted the floor. Spilling a surprising amount of Gil for a "poor but loyal to the Prince peasant". The crowd shut up immediately upon seeing this.
"Wow", said in a matter of fact manner, with a hint of irony, Locke, breaking the sudden silence "He was right. His experiences truly moved him….to a better life style, no doubt." (His remark was greeted by cheers. Snappy answers or wry comments are always popular…)
The agent was helped back to his feet by numerous hands, not showing outright concern for his safety. The mood of the crowd worsened when they saw the insignia of the Orsani House.
It was of course very counter-productive for a provocateur agent to have such thing on him, especially with the hate generated by the Orsanis: the said insignia had been put there by Miyuki. With his Black Militia garb, this was far enough for categorize him as a "guy sent by the Nobles". The agent tried to explain the situation, but, as Locke had thought, he did not even have the time to say Koba before the first chair was broken on his head. After, well, it would have been hard for him to say anything. Locke and Miyuki returned to their table, as the agent was finally expulsed of the tavern in a very energetic manner….
"It's great working with you two," Marianne said very sincerely after a while