I Became A Black Merchant In Another World-Chapter 337: I’ll be a mess (6)

The serfs of Renault Village gathered in a group and made their way to the Bailiff’s house.

They set up camp in front of his house and shouted loudly.

"Bailiff, we’re all going to die at this rate! Please, save us!"

"Working 12 hours a day is too cruel!"

"Isn’t it written in the customary law that serfs should not be made to work more than 8 hours a day?"

Isaac and the other serfs believed that the Bailiff would listen to them.

Even during times of severe famine, they had honestly petitioned the Bailiff and other officials, explaining their circumstances.

The higher-ups had adjusted their burdens reasonably, reducing taxes by half or even a quarter during famine, or cutting down the mandatory work hours if they were too much, offering a small amount of money in compensation.

Had these kinds of cases not existed, the serfs wouldn’t have expected anything at all.

‘If we plead earnestly, surely Bailiff will listen to us.’

And among them, Karl began speaking so eloquently that he hardly seemed like a mere serf.

"Bailiff Torez, please listen to our humble plea as suffering serfs."

If the other serfs were not emotionally charged, they might have felt some discomfort seeing Karl speak so fluently.

But in the heat of their frustration, no one suspected Karl’s outstanding oratory skills.

From this point on, the "rebellion" led by Karl was sailing smoothly, just as planned.

"We are serfs, but we are not slaves or livestock. We are people united under Deus. But the Baron is treating us as if we are animals, or worse. Think about it, cows and horses aren’t made to work more than 8 hours a day. Even if they work 8 hours, they are given rest after every hour of labor!"

This wasn’t actually meant for the Bailiff.

The real audience for Karl’s words were the serfs surrounding him.

He wanted them to realize that their situation was worse than that of livestock, and without resistance, accept this cruel manipulation.

"Bailiff, is it really a sin to want to live like a human? We don’t ask for much. We only want to work 8 hours a day and live a life where we can rest."

The other serfs echoed in agreement.

"13-hour working days are too long!"

"We just want to live like humans!"

The fact that everyone was following his words made Karl’s heart race.

Before meeting Fabio, he was just another common serf in the Toscana Empire, someone who would have been trampled underfoot.

But after meeting Fabio, Karl’s life had changed 180 degrees.

Though he was still at the bottom, he had entered the nobility’s ranks and was about to become a father with a beautiful wife.

But more than that, he was elated by the fact that he could now incite people with nothing but his words.

‘Is this power? Is this strength?’

"And I heard that once we clear more land and start farming it, the food we harvest will increase, and they’re going to raise the taxes. Is that really true?"

Now Karl began mixing baseless incitement into his speech.

Using cowardly facts was not considered an appropriate method of incitement in Fabio’s style, so Karl decided to proceed with a mix of legitimate agitation and falsehoods.

Doing things correctly according to the elite’s methods—that’s what he aimed for.

Thus, he continued his speech with 95% truth and 5% fatal lies.

More than a hundred serf men gathered, and the Bailiff himself came to address the emergency.

Bailiff Torez scolded them immediately upon seeing the situation.

"You lot! If you want to make your demands known, you should have sent the village chief here, not gathered and caused this ruckus! Do you think you can threaten me, Michael Torez, who was appointed by Baron Nassau to represent his authority?"

The shouting from Karl’s protestors died down suddenly in response to the scolding from the higher-up.

"If you don’t want to be branded as rebels, then only a representative should come forward quietly and deliver your demands to me."

Though the village chief was present, the villagers chose Karl as their representative.

They thought he spoke so well that he must be the one to address their concerns.

"I am the representative of this protest."

"What a fool. Fine, what do you want?"

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

"We are not livestock or slaves. Please return our working hours to 8 hours a day."

"That’s not acceptable."

Torez was not a nobleman, but he held a very high position among the officials.

He could command multiple village chiefs, and under his command were thirty soldiers, much like a police force.

However, in comparison to the Baron, he was in a very low position.

If the Baron told him to die, he wouldn’t be pretending to die, he’d have to die.

A mere public servant begging the Baron to reduce working hours?

‘I’ll probably get fired from my position as Bailiff.’

If he was removed from his position, he and his family would just be another regional figure, with only a little more money than a common free citizen.

Therefore, there was no way he could accept Karl’s demand.

"The order to increase the working hours to 13 hours came from the Baron. And what you’re doing now is defying his orders. That’s the same as disrespecting the Baron’s authority and inciting insurrection."

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Torez drew the sword he carried at his waist, which was for showing off his noble status.

He raised the sword to the sky, and behind him, the local defense force aimed their spears at the protestors.

"I, Michael Torez, who has been ordered to carry out my rights and duties as Bailiff under the legitimate authority of Baron Nance, command you to stop."

Torez might not have acted so harshly if the protestors had come with a demand unrelated to reducing working hours.

He knew that suppressing them too harshly would only lead to a drop in public sentiment, and if that happened, he would likely be sacrificed by the Baron and executed.

But now, it was a situation where the serfs were rebelling against an order that had already been given by the Baron.

He acted based on self-preservation, thinking and moving in his own interest.

"The order to increase working hours to 13 hours is the Baron’s command. Anyone who disobeys is a traitor and a rebel. If you don’t want to die horribly, turn back now and go back to your work. This is my final warning to you."

If Torez had been a bit more competent, he might have pretended to listen to the protestors, then report to the Baron, saying the protestors were planning a rebellion.

Then, the Baron would have acknowledged his avoidance of unnecessary troop usage, possibly keeping him in his position or even promoting him.

But the reality was different. Above Torez, there was the Communist demon, Karl Marx.

"Did you hear that, everyone? The Baron has commanded us to live like animals, working ourselves to death for him! But tell me, have we made any unreasonable demands?"

"We just want to live like humans!"

"Whether we die here or there, it doesn’t matter, does it?"

"Right!"

"Let’s turn this whole thing upside down, damn it!"

In a moment of madness, Karl kicked the Bailiff Torez right in the groin.

Torez, feeling the worst pain a man could endure, collapsed to the ground, rolling in agony.

Losing his rational judgment due to the excruciating pain, Torez immediately gave his next command.

"AAAH! Kill them all! Kill every single one of these rebel bastards! Leave not a single one alive!"

With the order to massacre given, the soldiers of the local defense force aimed their spears at the protestors.

An older sergeant, commanding nearly thirty soldiers, gave his orders.

"Crush these rebels who’ve trampled on the Baron’s authority!"

The battle began, and the serfs, led by Isaac, fought with farming tools against the armed soldiers, but Karl seized the opportunity to quickly flee.

‘Fabio told me—after inciting the rebellion, make sure to escape first.’

Following that advice, Karl swiftly escaped, sticking to the planned escape route.

The one who started the fire was running for his life, while the villagers were already locked in a fierce battle with the local defense ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) forces.

Casualties started to emerge from both sides, but the regular soldiers, who were better trained, managed to take less damage.

In the end, the rebels were executed on the spot...

And Karl Marx, true to his role as the bloody Communist demon, began to unleash his revolutionary power.

"Bailiff Torez massacred the protestors who only asked to live like humans! Does that make any sense?!"

And at that moment, a 'revolutionary organization' began to form in the Baron’s domain.

Fabio, in turn, began preparing to move according to the plan.