The reception room of the Workers' Party headquarters in Wischeim.
A dozen or so miner representatives from the Wasser Fief Grand Region sat uneasily on a long bench.
Their clothes were ragged, their faces sallow and gaunt, their bodies covered in the dust of a long journey and coal soot that was hard to wash away.
Etched upon each of their faces was the weariness carved by the heavy pressures of life.
Their leader was a middle-aged man named Markus.
He had lost an arm in a mining accident; only an empty sleeve remained.
He was once a foreman in the Eisenwald mining district. Wanted for organizing workers to resist the abuse of the overseers, he had been forced to flee for his life with his family and companions.
When Lacey entered the room, accompanied by Serafina and Taylor, Markus and all the other miner representatives shot up from the bench almost simultaneously.
They looked at the young man before them, dressed in simple work clothes, his expression calm and gentle. Their eyes shone with an excitement as if they were beholding a deity.
"Are... are you Mr. Lacey?" Markus's voice trembled with emotion. His lips quivered, wanting to say something, yet not knowing where to begin.
"I am Lacey." Lacey's gentle gaze swept over each person, without a trace of condescension.
"Comrades, you've come a long way from Wasser Fief. It has been arduous. Please, sit and speak."
That one word, "comrades," caused the miners' eyes to redden in an instant.
On their journey, they had been treated as fugitives and beggars, enduring countless scornful looks and dismissals.
This was the first time they had been treated with such equality and respect.
With a thud, Markus dropped to one knee.
The people behind him followed suit, kneeling in a uniform wave.
"Mr. Lacey!" Markus's voice was hoarse, choked with tears.
"I beg you, save our brothers in Wasser Fief! That butcher Otto, he's trying to kill us all!"
He raised his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Lacey, and said, word by word, "We didn't come here to beg for handouts! We bring with us the will of the three hundred thousand workers of Wasser Fief!"
"You need only raise your arm in a call, and as soon as the Workers' Party flag is planted in Eisenwald, we three hundred thousand will be your most loyal soldiers! We are willing to use our lives to carve a bloody path for you and the Workers' Party in Wasser Fief!"
"Carve a bloody path..."
Taylor, listening at the side, felt his blood boil, his fists cracking as he clenched them.
But Lacey stepped forward and personally helped Markus to his feet.
"Comrade Markus, and everyone, please rise."
"We in the Workers' Party do not kneel."
"I have heard your will; I share in your suffering."
He had everyone sit down before speaking calmly, "But to pave a road with lives is the most foolish method. The life of every worker is precious."
"What we want is not a tragic victory, but a revolution that allows all laborers to see a tomorrow."
These words stunned Markus and the others, who had come with the resolve to die.
Lacey said gently, "For now, go and rest. Take a hot bath, eat a full meal."
"Afterward, Serafina will speak with you in detail. I need to know everything about Wasser Fief, the more detailed the better."
Markus and the others wanted to say more, but looking at Lacey's unquestionable gaze, they ultimately nodded.
They were led away by guards. When steaming hot meat stew and bread were placed before them, these iron-willed men could hold back no longer, and one by one, they buried their faces and wept bitterly.
On their long flight, this was the first time they had felt the warmth of something called "hope."
...
After settling the miner representatives, Lacey immediately convened a meeting of core members in his office.
"Mr. Lacey! What are we waiting for! This is a godsent opportunity!" Taylor slammed his fist on the table, the thick wood letting out a dull thud.
"There are three hundred thousand worker brothers in the Wasser Fief Grand Region! Just give the order, we'll charge in, plant the Workers' Party flag in Eisenwald, and that old bastard Otto is finished!"
"And then we'll face a joint siege from the other eight Electors," Serafina shook her head in negation.
"That's three hundred thousand unarmed workers, not three hundred thousand well-trained soldiers."
"They wouldn't even touch the walls of the Tower before being burned to ash by the Caster Corps' spells. Is that a scene you wish to see?"
Taylor's face flushed crimson, veins bulging on his thick neck, but he couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal.
Gertrude's expression was also grave. As a noble, she knew better than anyone what challenging an Elector meant.
"Attacking an Elector without cause is legally tantamount to treason. All the legitimacy we currently possess will vanish, and we'll become a public enemy of the noble class, and perhaps all of Leithanien."
"Count Leinia of Salem, and the nobles and wealthy merchants who are showing us favor now, will no longer support us."
"So, we just do nothing?" Taylor growled, unwilling to concede.
"Who said we're doing nothing?"
Lacey, who had been silent, finally spoke.
He walked to the map on his office wall, his eyes locking onto the Wasser Fief Grand Region in the northwest corner.
"Otto Gladstone is cruel and unjust, exploiting his people, causing widespread resentment and displacing workers."
"We, the Leithanien Workers' Party, at the request of the people of the Wasser Fief Grand Region, will proceed there to maintain order and protect the lives and property of the populace."
"Politically, this is called having a just cause."
Gertrude's eyes lit up, immediately grasping Lacey's intent.
But, the problem remained.
They would have to defeat Otto Gladstone with lightning speed, occupy his Tower, and force him to abdicate.
Otherwise, if they got bogged down in a stalemate, it wouldn't be long before other Electors interfered, and the support of Her Majesty the Empress alone might not be enough.
Lacey understood this as well. His finger moved across the map. "But a pretext doesn't solve the problem of strength."
"Serafina's concerns are correct. A purely military adventure is incredibly foolish."
"Although Otto's army suffered heavy losses in Kazdel, it's more than enough to defend his Tower."
"If we can't knock down a wall from the front, then we find a way to make it crumble from within."
"Therefore, we need the people of Wasser Fief to make the first move themselves."
He looked at Taylor. "Immediately dispatch our most elite propagandists and Action Team members to secretly infiltrate the Wasser Fief Grand Region. Contact the union leaders Markus mentioned."
"We are going to set the entire Wasser Fief ablaze!"
"Ablaze?" Taylor was somewhat confused.
"Yes. Strikes, marches, demonstrations."
"Erupting simultaneously in every city, every mine in Wasser Fief."
"Completely paralyze Otto's mines and factories. Run him ragged."
Gertrude's breath caught. She instantly understood the core of the plan. "A feint to the east to attack the west, luring the tiger from the mountain!"
"When the last of his forces are completely scattered and his Tower is empty, that will be the moment for our decapitation strike!"
"Correct," Lacey nodded. "But even so, to take an Elector's Tower, relying on just our forces and the Countess's guards is still not safe enough."
"We need outside help. Preferably the kind of mad dogs who don't play by the rules, only recognize money, and have extremely high combat strength."
"Sarkaz mercenaries!"
Gertrude and Serafina said the name at almost the same time.
Lacey nodded.
"Gertrude, you are responsible for contacting the Sarkaz mercenaries. Tell them there's a big job. I want their most elite warriors. Price is not an issue," Lacey said, looking at Gertrude.
"No problem. I know a few channels," Gertrude agreed without hesitation.
"Serafina, you will assess their strength and reputation, and complete the negotiations."
"I need an elite squad of at least three hundred, and they must be in position within one week!"
"Understood!"
"Taylor, mobilize the entire Picket Team and bring them to the highest state of alert! I want everyone ready for a long-range raid and siege warfare within a week!"
"Yes, sir!" Taylor puffed out his chest in excitement, his eyes burning with fighting spirit.
Lacey concluded, "Remember, we are not invaders. We are liberators! Wherever our flag goes, it is not to conquer, but to end suffering!"
"This is a battle for hearts and minds. We must stand on the moral high ground!"
...
Late at night, the lights in the Workers' Party headquarters gradually went out, leaving only the lamp in Lacey's office lit.
Serafina walked in silently, carrying a bowl of steaming hot meat congee.
Lacey was hunched over his desk, marking something on a newly drawn structural map of a city in the Wasser Fief Grand Region by the light of an oil lamp.
"Still busy?" Serafina placed the bowl gently on the corner of the desk.
"Mm, simulating attack routes," Lacey replied without looking up.
Serafina said no more, simply standing quietly to the side.
Her Originium Arts could clearly perceive Lacey's emotions at that moment: nervousness and excitement, but also calmness and rationality.
She recalled how he had been in the meeting during the day—devising strategies, thinking clearly, as if everything was under his control.
But she could feel that beneath the impassioned rhetoric, there were no great waves in the depths of his heart.
Ever since coming to Wischeim, he had changed.
He had become more unfathomable, and also more... lonely.
"Lacey, are you really... certain about this?" she finally couldn't help but ask.
Lacey stopped his pen and looked up, the oil lamp casting two small points of light in his eyes.
"The plan has an eighty percent chance of success. The remaining twenty percent, we'll leave to luck."
"I'm not asking about that." Serafina shook her head. She looked into his eyes. "I'm asking about you."
"You've arranged everything perfectly for everyone else, but what about you? Are... you truly ready?"
Lacey fell silent.
He picked up the bowl of congee, the steam blurring his expression.
After a long moment, he said in a low voice, "Serafina, I ran out of retreats long ago. From the moment my parents fell before my eyes, I could only move forward."
"No matter what lies at the end of this road."
Serafina's heart tightened.
She knew she couldn't stop him, nor could she share the heavy burden on his shoulders.
All she could do was stand by his side.
"The congee is getting cold. Eat," she said.
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