Chapter 120.1
The next day .
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It’s my first time coming here again since I came here to recruit Caulkin-san and the others .
I knocked on the door of a bigger house . When I felt the presence of mana, the door opened .
“Enter!” [???]
“Excuse me . ” [Ryouma]
I obeyed the voice and went inside . Inside was the same man from before .
“It’s been a while . Revel-san . ” [Ryouma]
The rumor yesterday had me concerned, so I asked Dolce-san to get me an appointment with someone who knew more about the situation . The person he introduced me to was Revel-san . He is both the counselor of the slum and the person that negotiates with the government office, so according to Dolce-san, there was no person more appropriate than him .
“Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule . ” [Ryouma]
“If it’s just talking, then I don’t mind . Use that chair over there . ” [Revel]
I borrowed the chair from the corner of the room and sat myself in front of him .
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“From what Dolce tells me, it seems you’re hiring again . ” [Revel]
“It’s only for part-time work, but yes, we are preparing to hire more hands . ” [Ryouma]
“That will do . As you know, there have been more restless people in the slums these days… That’s what you came here to talk about, right? But what exactly do you want to know?” [Revel]
“If you don’t mind my asking, everything . ” [Ryouma]
“Haven’t you investigated the rumors already? I’m sure there are things you already know about . ” [Revel]
He’s heard that Carm-san has already investigated the rumors . He’s also heard that I met the head of the government office coincidentally yesterday . But despite that, I barely know anything about the situation at the slums . After talking to just two people, at most, all I can do is guess, but whether that guess is right or not, I don’t know .
There could be false rumors and misunderstandings between the residents and the government office .
And besides, I’m sure the slum also has something to say about the situation . That’s what I want to find out .
If there’s anything I can do, I’d like to help, but without sufficient knowledge, I might just end up getting in their way instead .
“In that case… Let’s start with the cause of the rumors . It’s true that we can’t trust the government office . We’ve been agreeing to their inspections for a while now, but because of the people being evicted, the people are growing restless . ” [Revel]
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“So what is the reason you can’t trust them?” [Ryouma]
“Everyone knows that the head has changed . But that doesn’t mean we can just forget about how they treated us before . It’s still too early for everyone here to forget what the previous administration did . ” [Revel]
“It hasn’t even been a year, after all…” [Ryouma]
“Ahh… But I actually want to try believing in the current administration . ” [Revel]
Oh? This might be rude on my part, but that’s unexpected .
“Why do you want to trust Bernheid?” [Ryouma]
“Because he came here just like you did . And we talked about the situation over at the office and the situation here, as well as the reason for their requirements, and then he left . Settling at the roads, obstructing the roads, and the danger of collapsing buildings… I think he’s right . The previous administration never really bothered to come here and inspect, so there are many here who’ve grown negligent . I can’t deny that . ” [Revel]
He paused for a moment, then continued .
“But… There are people who lost their homes because the government office refused to pay for the cleaning of the latrine pits . ” [Revel]
“…” [Ryouma]
I was speechless .
As I quietly listened to him, it turns out that a portion of the people, who relied on cleaning the latrine pits to make a living, were unable to pay their rent and were chased out when their pay was cut . Because of that they had no choice but to live on the roads or in abandoned buildings .
In other words, the previous administration was the cause for the increased homeless on the streets .
These people were victims . And to have the people who took their houses away from them and tell them ‘Don’t live out here in the streets! Find a proper house!’ was just flat out insulting .
“Well, it’s something like that . That’s why there’s a lot of dissent among the people . Those who’ve lost their homes are renting a room from their acquaintances, but everyone’s been doing that since they started being chased out of their homes . Things aren’t going to change just because the public office started talking . There are volunteers that help out with the repairs, especially those with construction-related skills, but it’s just not enough…” [Revel]
“I see…” [Ryouma]
It seems the slum people are already doing what they can .
“We’re currently looking for another way to remedy the situation… The new head, that youth, Arnold, says he’s preparing jobs for us, but there’s a lot of people wary of him . They say that even if the head changes, the things the government office does won’t change . ” [Revel]
Given the circumstances and the state of mind of the affected people, it’s only understandable . The trust needs to be fixed… Hmm?
“Excuse me . I have a question . ” [Ryouma]
“What?” [Revel]
“Are the people able to make a living?” [Ryouma]
If I recall correctly, it was after the day I cleaned the latrine pits… When I received the payment for the job…
“This is a mining town, so as long as you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, there’s plenty of jobs to go around . ”
“If you can make a living elsewhere, there’s no reason to waste your time cleaning the latrine pits . ”
Right . Those were the reasons Wogan-san gave on why the people refused the latrine pits job .
“Ahh… There were some stubborn guys right after the incident, but if we help each other out, we can get by if it’s just food . There wouldn’t have been a fuss if the administration just kept quiet . ” [Revel]
“The credibility of the government office aside, hypothetically speaking, what would happen if the housing problem were to be solved?” [Ryouma]
“The people wouldn’t have any reason to complain and the rumors will also calm down… What about it?” [Revel]
“…I think I might have been looking at this the wrong way all along . ” [Ryouma]