Fangzhou Xier, starting with failing the art exam

The sunlight shone on him, but he felt a chill.

His prized insight and the professional judgment upon which he relied for survival were shattered on the streets of Essenwild.

The scene here was completely different from the defeat he had originally imagined.

Instead, it resembles... a nascent ideal state?

He felt a wave of panic.

If everything he saw is true, how should he report it to his superiors?

Is Lacey a wise leader deeply loved by the people?

Does he say that the Vase territory is thriving under his rule?

No, this is not possible.

He shook his head vigorously.

It must be a deception, a much larger deception!

He had to find the flaw, he had to find the shadow hidden beneath this light.

……

Holy Leitanian Empire: Chapter 58: Eisenwild's Unusual Encounters (Part 3)

Egbert decided to go to the place least likely to be embellished—the mining area.

The mining area was the foundation of Vaser territory, and also the darkest and dirtiest corner during Otto's time.

The remains and blood of countless miners are buried in those bottomless mines.

If the city of Essenwild is a carefully crafted showcase for Lacey, then the remote mining area will inevitably reveal the most authentic side that he has no time to attend to.

Egbert inquired at the station about the public carriages that went to Blackstone Mine, the largest mine in the West End.

To his surprise, this route had also been equipped with brand-new land vehicles, with spacious cabins and even shock-absorbing spring structures.

The bus was full of workers heading to work in the mine.

Unlike the silent, apathetic, coal-dust-covered miners Egbert had imagined, they were full of energy, chatting loudly in twos and threes, their voices brimming with enthusiasm.

"Have you heard? The new hydraulic ventilation system installed at Well No. 3 was designed by Lord Lacey himself, along with the people from the Technical Institute!"

"The air down in the mine is cleaner than my daughter's bedroom!" a burly man with a thick beard boasted proudly, drawing good-natured laughter.

"Keep bragging, Zote!" A tall, thin man next to him punched him.

"But that thing is really useful. Before, when I went down the mine, the phlegm I coughed up at the end of the day was all black."

"Now, after a day's work, you don't get much coal dust on your body except for sweat."

"That's not the case!"

"Those guys in the safety department are making sure we wear our helmets and safety harnesses every day. If we're not careful, they'll deduct our work points!"

"It's a bit annoying, but it makes me feel at ease."

"Work points are very precious!"

"I'm saving up to get my son a children's picture book edition of 'Mein Kampf,' I heard it has illustrations personally drawn by Arturo from the Ministry of Culture!"

"What's that compared to what I'm doing? I'm planning to apply for a transfer to the newly established railway laying team. It'll be more tiring, but the subsidies are high, and after three years I can get an apartment near the railway hub!"

Egbert sat in the corner, his hat brim pulled low, hiding himself in the shadows.

He strained his ears, trying to catch every word.

These conversations, though seemingly trivial, are genuine and filled with concrete plans and hopes for the future.

They talked about bonuses, skills, work points, new houses, and children's education, their tone full of self-righteousness about "living for themselves."

This stands in a bizarre contrast to the complaints he heard from the nobles in Trinityl.

Those people were talking about which theater's actresses were prettier, which vintage of red wine was better, and their indignation and anxiety about the rise of peasants.

……

The vehicle traveled for more than an hour on the flat gravel road before finally arriving at the Blackstone Mine.

Egbert got out of the car and was stunned again.

The mining area that I remember, stained black with coal ash, has disappeared.

Instead, a well-planned industrial town was built.

Rows of workshops were built along the foot of the mountain, and the entrance to the mine was no longer a simple wooden frame, but a sturdy brick and stone structure, with even an elevator installed on it.

Iron pipes extend down from somewhere in the mountains, connecting to a huge windmill-like device near the wellhead, which should be what the workers call the "hydraulic ventilation system".

Not far away, a brand-new building has a white sign with a red cross on it – Blackstone Mine Workers' Clinic.

Several medical staff in white coats are carrying a stretcher and conducting an emergency rescue drill.

Egbert saw an old miner with gray hair sitting on a bench, smoking a pipe and watching children playing in the playground not far away.

It was a primary school attached to a mining area, and the children's clear reading voices could be heard from a great distance.

This leisurely and peaceful scene gave Egbert a strong sense of disconnect.

He stepped forward, pretending to be a lost businessman from out of town, and started chatting with the old miner.

"Sir, is this... the Blackstone Mine?"

The old man raised his eyelids, his cloudy eyes scanning him up and down before nodding. "Yes, where else could you be from? Out of town?"

"Yes Yes."

“I’ve been here once before, and I remember… it wasn’t like this.” Egbert carefully chose his words.

"Ah."

The old man smiled, revealing his gums with several missing teeth.

"When you say 'before,' you mean when Otto was still sitting in that seat, right?"

Egbert did not answer, which was taken as tacit agreement.

"Back then..." The old man tapped his pipe, his gaze becoming distant.

"This place isn't called a mine, it's called an illegal kiln."

"The men went down into the mine, while the women and teenagers sifted coal outside."

"The foreman's whip was harder than the rocks in the mine. Collapses were commonplace. The brother who was drinking with you one day was buried underground the next day."

"Nobody cares, there's no compensation, and they don't even bother to dig up the body."

"If you get sick and cough up blood, you'll be kicked out and left to fend for yourself."

As the old man spoke, he stretched out his hands, which were covered in calluses.

"These hands of mine have been digging coal for forty years."

"Under Otto, I lost two sons, and my wife died from exhaustion."

"I thought I would die in this black kiln and keep company with those stones."

His voice was calm, without accusation or indignation, simply stating a fact that had persisted for half his life.

This calmness was more unsettling to Egbert than any desperate cry.

"And now?" Egbert couldn't help but ask.

"Now?"

The old man grinned, his wrinkles blooming like chrysanthemums.

"You've seen it all now."

"When Lord Lacey arrived, it was already dawn."

He pointed to the clinic not far away: "See? It's free."

"We have monthly physical examinations, and if there's even the slightest problem, we'll immediately give you leave for treatment, but you'll still get paid."

He then pointed to the primary school: "My grandson studies there."

"Textbooks and lunch were all paid for by the government."

"His teacher said he has a talent for drawing, and maybe he can go to university in Trinityl in the future!"

As he said this, a light shone in the old man's eyes that Egbert had never seen in the eyes of people from the lower classes.

"My old bones can't do heavy work anymore."

"The mine assigned me a light job guarding the tool shed, and I still got all the work points."

“I just sit here every day, smoke a cigarette, listen to the children reading, and wait for my grandson to come home from school… I never dared to dream of this kind of life before.”

The old man stood up and dusted off his pants.

"I'm not talking to you anymore, the cafeteria is open for lunch."

"Today's stewed meat will be gone if you go too late."

He walked steadily toward the workers' canteen.

Egbert stood alone, watching the old man's back, looking at the canteen with smoke rising from its chimney in the distance, watching the children running on the playground, and listening to the clear sound of reading aloud, his mind blank.

He found none of the shadows, decay, or oppression he was looking for.

All he saw was order, sustenance, and hope.

He suddenly realized a possibility even more terrifying than Lacey being a tyrant.

What if... what if none of this was a disguise?

What if Lacey really is creating a whole new world, a world for the common people?

This world will crush everything old in a way that he cannot understand or stop.

Egbert felt a strong wave of dizziness.

He needed a strong drink to dispel the chill that was creeping up his bones.

He stumbled around and headed toward the town's only tavern.

His long-prepared report on the "tragic situation in the Vase territory" had now become nothing more than a pile of meaningless scraps of paper in his mind.

……

Holy Leitanian Empire: Chapter 59: Eisenwild's Unusual Encounters (Part 4)

As night fell in Essenville, the beer hall was bustling with activity.

The interior was filled with the aroma of ale, the smoky scent of roasted meat, and the rough laughter of men.

Egbert found an inconspicuous corner to sit down and ordered the strongest gin.

The spicy liquid slid down his throat, burning his esophagus, but it could not dispel the chill and chaos in his heart.

He was like a drowning man, desperately trying to grasp at a straw amidst the surrounding noise—some discontent, some complaints, any evidence that could prove this was not paradise.

He heard it.

“…Those people from the Ministry of Economic Affairs are absolutely insane!”

"A bottle of red wine imported from Syracuse cost me 30% in luxury goods tax alone! How can anyone survive like this?"

A man wearing a vest, who looked like a wealthy businessman, was loudly complaining to his companion.

His companion curled his lip: "What's that? My shop, which makes hats for rich ladies, paid such a hefty profit adjustment fee last month."

"That woman, Lenia, is more cunning than anyone else!"

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" The wealthy businessman looked around nervously.

Do you want those guys to hear you?

Egbert's heart skipped a beat. Those guys?

It sounds like a secret intelligence organization.

He subtly moved his glass closer and continued listening.