To cope with the influx of refugees, which was nearly two to three times the population of the territory, Lind had made early preparations.
The main task was to temporarily train a group of grassroots officials who could simply read and write to register these refugees.
As for the food supply, there was no cause for concern. Not to mention that Lind had just received full payment of twenty thousand silver leaf coins from Viscount Jefferson, Duke Lars had shipped in a large surplus of food.
Like Count Yager, the nobles were not short on food; in fact, a substantial amount of food was rotting in their granaries.
The remaining issue was sanitation. In addition to the newly constructed temporary toilets, group leaders emphasized to the refugees receiving relief food that they were not allowed to defecate freely. Violators would either have their food distribution privileges revoked or face confiscation of their tools.
However, the actual enforcement was relatively flexible, as the relief food distribution was happening on the outskirts of the territory, which conveniently acted as a fertilization process for the land around the territory.
The repeated emphasis was merely to instill a sense of proper conduct in these people once they entered the territory.
Thanks to Isa’s assistance, the refugees were quite obedient. Lind had initially thought that accepting refugees double the size of the population would be fraught with difficulties, but the process was far smoother than he had imagined.
Perhaps it was due to Isa’s unique charm as the female protagonist.
“It’s an honor to meet you, my Lord.”
Looking at Isa, who bowed to him, Lind suddenly felt an absurd sense of reality; even a female protagonist who had only studied in the royal capital for three years had a more standard bow than Lena’s.
“You are Isa Nebet, the White Saintess spoken of by the refugees?”
Curious, Lind walked around Isa.
“It’s just a false title.”
Isa felt a bit uncomfortable under his gaze, wondering if this seemingly very young lord had any interest in her, which was why he was willing to offer help.
However, thinking of those bowls of hearty wheat porridge, Isa decided that even if the lord before her had some ulterior motives, she would simply close her eyes and accept it.
But what she had imagined didn’t occur. Lind’s gaze, rather than having any ill intent, was more out of genuine curiosity.
The title of White Saintess was originally given to the female protagonist by the Church in the game. Lind couldn’t believe that after all the twists and turns, the protagonist herself had ended up using this title again. At that moment, Lind began to suspect that this world truly had a mechanism for self-repairing timelines.
Moreover, in the game, whenever the protagonist was in a dire situation, apart from the mystical divine revelations, a young, handsome, and mysterious male would always appear to help her out of trouble.
Lind was curious if a similar male had also appeared by the side of the current female protagonist, after all, it was a time when the territory needed talent.
“What’s wrong, my Lord?”
Isa could no longer endure being stared at. Lind’s gaze felt akin to that of someone observing a rare animal.
“Sorry, I was just curious about what kind of person could lead refugees to conquer a count’s castle.”
This was no mere excuse; Lind was genuinely curious about what had transpired after the female protagonist deviated from the original timeline, thus he let Isa share her experiences since leaving the royal capital.
Once she started talking, there was no stopping her. The more she spoke, the more astonished Lind became, especially when Isa, like a former great archmage from her past life, conquered foes thanks to a meteorological phenomenon—turns out the rumors were true. It was no wonder she was the female protagonist; her luck surpassed ordinary standards. He was glad he hadn’t chosen to oppose her.
What surprised Lind even more was Isa’s nearly heretical reinterpretation of the Church’s doctrines.
After hearing Isa’s new insights about the Church of the Light Goddess, Lind tentatively asked her, “Imperial liquor?”
“What? My Lord, do you want to drink?”
Isa looked at Lind in confusion, puzzled by his abrupt and disjointed comment. Surely a lord willing to aid refugees couldn’t be too far from sanity?
“Odd change, unchanging odd!”
Lind didn’t want to give up and asked a second question.
This time, Isa did not respond but looked at Lind with the same gaze she would use when observing Lena.
“Sorry, let’s forget about those last two lines.”
Lind rubbed his forehead and shook his head.
Thinking it over, though Isa’s thoughts were very close to liberation theology, they were still quite naive. Many aspects had not been clearly summarized, and they did not emphasize secularization as heavily as liberation theology.
While it could be attributed to the necessity of adapting due to the existence of deities in this world, seeing Isa’s gaze, which was filled with three parts sympathy and seven parts confusion—as if regarding a fool—Lind felt he had possibly overthought it. The true traveler must still be the one in the royal capital who had replaced the female protagonist.
“My Lord, in my new interpretation of the doctrines, I believe that all nobles are bad people, even those aristocrats in the royal capital who are largely hypocrites. However, after meeting you, I find myself confused; does that mean my previous thoughts were all wrong?”
Of course, Isa did not regret killing Count Yager previously. She was just genuinely perplexed; her instincts as a female protagonist told her that the lord before her might actually be able to explain many of the problems she had encountered along her journey.
At that moment, even after repeatedly going over many signs, Lind still suspected that the female protagonist had been replaced by someone else.
This matter involved class theory; Isa, this female protagonist, was more progressive than Lind, who had come from a different world. Conversely, Lind was increasingly adapting to the role of a feudal lord.
Seeing Lind’s silence, Isa did not force the matter and prepared to take her leave.
“Wait!”
Though it was just a moment, Lind had considered many things. Was exposing these thoughts beneficial or detrimental to himself and the world?
Lind shook his head. When did he become so selfish? Or was it that sitting in this position for too long led him to think only in terms of benefits and losses?
“First, you need to understand what class is.”
Without weighing his options, only driven by impulse, Lind decided to help Isa refine some of her theories. After all, he feared that in the future he might not be able to speak or wouldn’t dare to. While he still had the courage, certain things had to be done.
No matter what the future held, regardless of whether the dragon slayer ultimately turned into the evil dragon, these ideas had to be disseminated.
Liberation theology did not have a clear stance on class theory, but they would analyze the class contradictions within societal structures and advocate for class struggle undertaken for social liberation.
Combining these views with the existing phenomena in this world, Lind introduced the concept of class theory to Isa.
When speaking about how the noble class would inherently exploit serfs actively or passively, Isa raised an objection.
“But my Lord, aren’t you an exception?”
Lind found it impossible to explain to Isa that he was actually not substantially different from those nobles, and could only weakly say, “That’s what you raised earlier; what I want to tell you is, while there is no class that betrays the system, there are individuals that betray their class.”
To be honest, Lind believed he did not deserve to be uttering such words, since he was simply not as ruthless in his exploitation, yet still, those people in the territory were genuinely grateful to him.
A journey must be taken step by step, a meal must be eaten bite by bite. Lind’s actions in this world filled with monsters and villains had to be considered progressive, yet he always felt that he hadn’t done enough and never dared to slack off.
Upon hearing this response, Isa, with her understanding of class theory, seemed to have unlocked many things as if she had just cleared some vital pathways.
Isa, like someone learning physics with a hint of foolishness, immediately began to extrapolate.
“Since you say society is composed of conflicting classes, what should we do about these class contradictions?”
Beyond the scope of the original topic.
Lind pinched his temples, unsure how to answer Isa’s question.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t learned about contradictions; it was just that he didn’t have a version of liberation theology.
Not that it truly didn’t exist, but liberation theology, like class theory, also lacked a fixed stance on contradictions, and while it did not deny the existence of supernatural forces, some people would place their hopes for resolving contradictions on these forces while this world indeed had supernatural powers.
Lind had no choice but to step beyond the bounds of liberation theology and began to discuss contradictions, explaining to Isa that the development of things spirals upward amid contradictions. He spoke of what constitutes a primary contradiction and what is a secondary contradiction. Although these were all teachings learned in middle high school, they still left Isa feeling enlightened.
To be honest, by this point, Lind had broken out in a cold sweat, yet Isa’s inquiries were far from over.
“If things continue developing, is it possible to construct a truly egalitarian world? How can this world be realized?”
“……”
“This classmate, please do not ask questions that even the author cannot solve.”
That said, Isa remained perceptive, sensing that Lind certainly had more to say. According to etiquette, both parties should have left it at that, as Lind’s expression clearly showed his reluctance to pursue that topic further.
“My Lord, surely you haven’t finished conveying your ideas?”
However, Isa felt it was insufficient. Lind’s explanation of class theory and the theory of contradictions directly addressed the various issues she had observed along the way. This methodology must have been practiced by someone before; Lind had provided nothing more than a set of internal principles, which still needed to be complemented by actual external techniques to form a complete combo.
That was the true dragon-slaying technique.
With internal principles in place and Isa’s own practice, it would only be a matter of time before she comprehended external techniques. Lind didn’t know if discussing these matters with the female protagonist was good or bad, but ultimately to prevent her from becoming too fiery and lost in her pursuits, he decided to impart this set of internal principles to her.
After having steeled himself, Lind turned to Isa and said, “Alright, I’ll explain it all to you in full, just promise me that if you stir up trouble in the future, don’t let it slip that I was the one who told you.”
Lind was serious; once some things were spoken, certain clever nobles might genuinely wish to tear him apart. The female protagonist might be protected by divine luck, but he had no such shield.
