The Man Picked up by the Gods – Volume 3 Chapter 171: The History of the Slaves and the Traces of the Otherworlders (2/2)

Being unemployed and not working isn’t a bad thing, so unemployed people weren’t arrested.

But working was considered a duty, so the people who didn’t work were failing to uphold their duties.

As punishment, they had to pay more taxes.

…Or at least, that was the idea behind why such a tax was implemented. Unfortunately, the tax only worsened many people’s lives.

The tax could be avoided so long as one worked, but if one had family members that didn’t work, then even with a job, one was still damned to suffer from the unemployment tax.

And what awaited those who could not pay their taxes was forced labor as a slave.

The introduction of the unemployment tax also unintentionally empowered the employers.

Since employees no longer sought work just to earn money but also to flee from the threat of heavy taxes and slavery, the employers started demanding more from them.

The employees grew to fear unemployment.

Before long the employers even started thinking that it didn’t matter even if the working conditions worsened. Because of that the lives of those who worked under others became even worse. …But the clergy and the nobles who were in charge with coming up with the laws were originally a privileged class, that or they received money from the wealthy who bribed them, so the introduction of the new tax had little effect on them.

Because it was such privileged people in charge of the laws, the situation never improved. Power began to centralize, the country lost the ability to fix itself, and the disparity in wealth between the slaves and the employees versus the ruling class continued to worsen.

After this the country finally took a grim turn.

It only stands to reason that such an unequal system would cause people to grow unhappy. Among those unhappy people were people not reluctant to use force. Like that a rebel army that stood against the country’s policies was born.

In the end, the rebel army managed to destroy the country’s army and successfully bring about a revolution.

The leader at the time was a ‘black-haired black-eyed man’ with the power to match a thousand warriors and the cunning to command the battlefield.

This man is probably an otherworlder.

There are plenty of black-hair-black-eyes men in this world, but certainly not many that can match a thousand warriors and possess the cunning to command the battlefield. Moreover, this man would later become the prime minister and pour his heart out toward improving the working conditions of the slaves.

For some reason there aren’t a lot of documents pertaining to this man, but the only thing clear is that this man’s parents were slaves.

One excerpt reads:

Based on other references that surveyed the conditions at the time, it is improbable that a child of a mere slave would be able to learn the martial arts and war tactics needed to accomplish such feats. Presently, it is believed that the man’s pedigree was spread around solely to increase the morale of the army. In truth, it is likely that a person of the privileged class cooperated with the rebel army…

But if this man is in fact an otherworlder, then it would make sense even if he were born to a slave family.

“You’ve really taken a liking to that book, haven’t you? Is it that interesting?” [Reinhart]

When I heard Reinhart-san’s voice, I noticed that the woman who brought us our drinks had come again.

“Would you like more tea?” [Woman]

“Ah, thank you very much. History is really interesting.” [Ryouma]

“Oh, come to think of it, didn’t a part of the slave laws become an heroic tale or something? Sorry to bother you.” [Reinhart]

“Not at all. Thank you for informing me.” [Ryouma]

Apparently, I was so caught up with the book that I didn’t hear the woman calling out to me at all.

As my cup of tea was refilled, I talked about the interesting part and then went back to reading the book.

 

…After the success of the revolution, the man poured his efforts into bettering the treatment of the slaves.

‘Don’t just improve the working conditions! Get rid of the slave system altogether!’ At the time, there were a lot of people who held that opinion, but it was hard for a country that was – just some time ago – wantonly producing slaves without regard for human rights to suddenly abolish the slave system. Going from a hundred to a zero was simply too difficult.

Doing so would have taken away work from all the people with jobs related to slavery.

Moreover, not everyone who abused slaves according to the old slave laws were criminals.

There were people who followed the law to protect their livelihood and families as well.

Besides, what was the country supposed to do with the slaves once they were set free?

The slaves didn’t have any properties of their own. If they were set free, then they will lose even the one job they had that kept them fed.

If they were to be so suddenly kicked out into society, a free man, how were they meant to live?

It was indeed possible to get rid of the slave system altogether, but doing so would only lead to more chaos and wars.

The black-hair-black-eyes man insisted that that was the same thing as irresponsibly throwing away the problems of slavery.

As such, he and his friends poured their lives into improving the treatment of the slaves.

…Unfortunately, after the man died, the country also passed, but the fruit of his life, the ‘new slave system’ that gave much importance to human rights, spread to the neighboring countries along with the problems of the old slave system and the inhumane history of their country. The basic principles that the man came up with remain today in the modern slave system.

“…” [Ryouma]

This book only contains the important points.

I’m sure I can get more specific information if I were to investigate the topic.

I might be able to get even more information if I ask Gayn and the others about it.

This black-hair-black-eyes man probably lived a grand life full of suffering.

…It’s a life someone like me living in leisure and happiness can’t understand.

I hid my face behind the book and offered a silent prayer.


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20 responses to “The Man Picked up by the Gods – Volume 3 Chapter 171: The History of the Slaves and the Traces of the Otherworlders (2/2)”

  1. jealyn lungsod Avatar
    jealyn lungsod

    Thanks for the update!! ☺️

  2. Belkar Avatar
    Belkar

    Thank you!

  3. DKLA Avatar
    DKLA

    To each their own. Ryouma wanted a life of leisure and the gods gave him the ability to choose whatever he wanted. Same could be said for his predecessors. I would like to think Ryouma’s life of leisure and hobbies lead to revolutions for using slimes as peacetime monsters of choice. Ryouma’s wish to train monsters that “form families, packs, prides, flights, etc.” relates to his strong desire to have a family again. I think it’s endearing.

    1. DCzech Avatar
      DCzech

      Probably everyone could choose what they wanted in life but certainly everyone thinks differently in a different era fantasy or normal . For example, someone in the edo era of military family want to have power and so on.

  4. kariageweb Avatar

    Thanks for the chapter! 🙂

  5. sfcipher Avatar

    Thx 4 da treat!

  6. Philip Avatar
    Philip

    “an heroic tale” -> {a heroic tale}

    Thanks for the translation! May God bless you!

  7. Ethereal Rainbow Canvas Avatar

    Thanks for the chapter!

  8. Zax Avatar
    Zax

    Wonder if there is an incident of an otherworlder being destructive. Thanks for the chapter

    1. caudyr Avatar

      Pretty sure there is, as they said there were some (at least one i think?) that were called Demon Lords and stuff like that, iirc.

      Didn’t go into details, but that definitely sounds like someone who’s gone mad with their power. Plus, if there weren’t some that did this, then the Goddess of War probably wouldn’t dislike otherworlders and the God of Magic likely wouldn’t be as wary of them as he is.

      All the signs are there that there have been those who have gone mad with their power and abused it (and those around them).

      1. spare Avatar
        spare

        There definitely was since there were asholes that could even tick off the gods like the alchemy king and guy with a shotgun(was he mentioned in this or the past) so just imagine how they would act to mortals

  9. CCaprice Avatar
    CCaprice

    Thanks for the chapter.

  10. caudyr Avatar

    Thanks for another chapter part, Jiggly~

  11. twinnnn100 Avatar

    thanks for the chapter

  12. darkLoki Avatar
    darkLoki

    Thanks for the chapter well the wishes of a better life for the slaves reaches Ryouma

  13. Sonny A Widayanto (@_RealSony) Avatar

    This otherworlder’s description seems familiar. It reminds me about the otherwolder’s from Elia’s mother side, except he was a king and a peerless magician not a prime minister and martial artist general.

    1. Mychael Dark Avatar
      Mychael Dark

      Not a King. He, according to the Gods, was akin to a Demon Lord in his power. Luckily for them he was an otaku who didn’t ahve much ambition. But still caused them worry till the day he died.

      1. Empathic Wan Avatar
        Empathic Wan

        I just want to pause and talk about how slavery is handled in a lot of these web novels and light novels. Of course I’m only going to use this story as an example, but it’s been bothering me for a veeeeery long time, and this story makes the best example of why for me.

        First, in an early chapter, Orsten said something along the lines of “Slaves are still Humans” with regards to their treatment, but then immediately followed that up with “they’re also the products we sell.” I’m paraphrasing, but… If a person becomes a product, no matter how “well” they’re treated, they are not treated as a human being. Do you think the slaves from Civil War in the US cared that their masters treated them well or poorly more than they cared about eventually being free? I’m sure the ones treated poorly wanted to be freed more than others, but they all wanted to be free first and foremost. You could argue that modern Jails are similar to slavery for criminals, but they aren’t really, as within the Jail the individual freedom is still upheld to some level (barring people still doing criminal crap inside). That’s ignoring the fact that jails are broken too, but I don’t want to go down that rabbit hole. The basics is “Slaves” are never, under any circumstances, treated as “people” They are products, and as such, it’s immoral.
        Now, lets get in to the can of worms THIS chapter opens up. With the topic of abolishing slavery we get this golden nugget: “Going from a hundred to a zero was simply too difficult.” Okay, so it’s hard. So what? Abolishing slavery is never easy, and there WILL be obstacles. But it’s the first step to a better, and more moral, country. So, address the challenges. But Ryouma just takes the “history” at face value and accepts it. Just like so many other Isekai protagonists. “Oh, it’s okay in this world because the values are different”. We don’t say canabalism is okay just because the people doing it have different values no matter where or when it occurs. So why slavery? Because it’s a convenient plot device for the MCs to get people who will obey them no matter what. Don’t want them to talk? Slavery with imposed secrecy punishments. Want a girl who does whatever you want? Slavery crests/collars. And all of them use “but it’s okay, our MC is kind to their slaves. So? The person still has absolutely zero choice in the matter, and someone who’s NOT kind could have just as easily been chosen. Doesn’t matter if they’re breaking a law, the owner still has that choice, while the slave does not. The next two lines really blew my mind though. “Doing so would have taken away work from all the people with jobs related to slavery.” Okay, but it’s slavery. They can find other work, but the people who are slaves are not treated as people. So, on the one hand, they could find other work while the slaves could be freed to find their own work. On the other hand you could protect slavers, and the people who are slaves would still be slaves….. So yeah. I guess that’s cool with Ryouma though. Then “Moreover, not everyone who abused slaves according to the old slave laws were criminals.” No… No. No. If you abused a criminal in Jail, you should now be a criminal. If the law is protecting you or “forcing” you to abuse criminals, then the law needs changed. So, free the slaves, imprison their abusers. Done. Do not pass go, do not collect $100. Finally it goes in to the bit about what to do after all the slaves are freed. “The slaves didn’t have any properties of their own. If they were set free, then they will lose even the one job they had that kept them fed.” It’s not a job though, it was forced labor without pay. Slaves are often beaten, r@p3d, breed for more slaves, prevented from forming relationships, not educated, and starved. These things didn’t happen to all of them, but it was something that could happen, and they had zero recourse for it happening. You could argue that the laws in this world did have recourse for it, but… The people who have the money to buy slaves are the kind of people to have the power to shrug off that recourse easily. Whether they change the laws, pay the fines easily, or just simply bribe officials and businesses. And you expect me to believe that some billionaire slave trader is going to be confronting his biggest buyers about mistreatment? Even if they did, would those in political power allow that slaver to do it without repercussions? Not happening. And this bit is what I’ll end my rant on: “It was indeed possible to get rid of the slave system altogether, but doing so would only lead to more chaos and wars.” It doesn’t have to mean more chaos and wars. It probably would, but the wars would be with slave owners, and that’s a price a society should be willing to pay. The slaves in the Civil War were willing to fight for it. At least the majority were if historical records are anything to go by. But, people with privilege and those with power are content with the status quo and will push the “but it’s too hard to do all at once. That’s why MLK wrote the famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to the “White Moderate”. They wanted to just let things slowly change, while the communities of the POC needed things to change now because of the conditions they were dealing with. The moderates couldn’t see, or didn’t want to see, the suffering of the minorities because it wasn’t their problem. So yeah, I hate this attitude toward slavery in Web Novels and Light Novels.

  14. treyon13 Avatar
    treyon13

    So. That country reminds me of venezuela. Somalia. Cuba. Haiti. China. And north korea. And i hope im wrong but soon arengtina and follow after its chile. Where i am. A country which will be filles with tragedy and suffering for who knows how many decades

    . And we dont have and will not have a hero…. the end will most linelt be a fall out within the corrupt factions and civil war.

  15. John Fritz Avatar
    John Fritz

    “Going from a hundred to a zero was simply too difficult” says the guy who always go from zero to a hundred when fighting. And that controlling your power is simply too difficult. You can’t say that!

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