Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse

Eugene flinched at the sight of Justin's furrowed brow, backing away in fear.

"It—it's not my opinion! This is all because of one of the artisans… just one person!" he stammered.

"Calm down. I know," Justin replied, waving his hand dismissively, then fell into thought. He had expected that there might be someone dissatisfied with the ambiguous middle-ranking title, but a strike? How could anyone's thought process lead to such a drastic conclusion?

"Are there any other artisans supporting this strike?"

"No, it's just him. One person," Eugene quickly answered.

"And no one tried to stop him?"

"Well…" Eugene hesitated, his voice dropping to a low murmur. "My friend and I tried to talk him out of it, but…"

"So, the other two didn't try to stop him," Justin said, completing the thought.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"They didn't support the strike, though," Eugene insisted.

"If they didn't try to stop it, they might as well have supported it. They're probably thinking that if this foolish strike succeeds, they'll benefit from it too," Justin remarked coldly.

Eugene desperately tried to defend the other artisans, but to Justin, the matter seemed clear. He couldn't help but sigh. At this point, curiosity about how far things would go began to creep in.

"What are his demands?" Justin asked.

"His… demands?"

"Yes, what does he want? If he's striking, there must be something he's asking for," Justin prompted, growing impatient with Eugene's nervousness.

Eugene blinked in surprise, as if he had expected Justin to explode in anger. Intensity shows on Justin's eyes, he quickly gathered himself and stammered out the details.

"H-he's demanding to be granted a full noble title instead of the honorary knight title… and…"

"And?"

"He also wants to be paid in mana stones, proportional to the work he's given."

When Eugene finally finished, he bowed deeply, as if bracing himself for an outburst from Justin. But there was no anger. In fact, Justin felt more pity than rage. The audacity of this one artisan, striking and making such demands, was almost laughable.

Everyone in the territory would soon be aware of this.

"I can't let this go unpunished," Justin thought, sighing as he motioned for Eugene to leave.

"Go tell the artisans I'll be meeting with that fool soon," he said.

"Wh-what?" Eugene stammered, looking dumbfounded.

"I said I'm going to meet the one on strike," Justin repeated, his voice calm but firm.

Eugene stood there for a moment, wide-eyed and frozen like a startled bird. Then, after realizing what he had just heard, he slowly shuffled out of the room, clearly still unsure about the situation.

Once Eugene left, Justin let out another deep sigh as he rose from the bath.

"These people clearly don't understand how the hierarchy works yet," he thought. If they had any real understanding of the social structure of the territory, they wouldn't have let this situation reach him. It was clear that it was time for a thorough explanation of the ranking system—both to the commoners and to the explorers.

"The newly appointed Honorary Knight is on strike!"

"They say the lord himself will hold a trial regarding the strike!"

Word of the artisan's strike spread like wildfire, and soon the entire territory knew that the lord himself, Justin, would be personally dealing with the matter. Curious, people poured out of their homes, eager to witness the event. Both explorers and commoners gathered near the fountain, forming a circle around the artisan at the center of the controversy.

The man at the heart of the storm, Darius, looked around at the growing crowd, barely managing to suppress a smug smile. Everything was falling into place.

The key to making demands of those in power was to first turn the issue into a public spectacle. Demands made in private were easily dismissed and could even lead to punishment. But with everyone's eyes on him, not even the most powerful leader could ignore the matter. Once the issue was in the public eye, it became a battle of logic rather than emotion.

"Of course, appealing to their emotions can also be a strategy," Darius thought, pleased with himself. "But once you've gathered this many people, the rest is easy."

Drawing people's attention was hard but in a small society like this, even that wasn't too difficult. Now, all he had to do was present his argument and make his demands clearly. Even if the lord didn't agree, it didn't matter. The important thing was that he couldn't be punished openly in front of so many witnesses.

It wasn't a question of whether the lord could punish him. He was fully aware that if Justin retaliated for this strike, it would make him look petty and tyrannical. If Justin cared about his reputation at all, he would have no choice but to handle the situation with a degree of leniency.

Feeling confident in his plan, Darius stood tall, awaiting the lord's arrival.

About ten minutes later, the crowd stirred as someone shouted, "The lord is here!"

The people parted, forming a path for Justin, who approached with calm, measured steps. He was easily recognizable as a top-tier leader, not just from the powerful aura he exuded, but also from the unique staff he carried and the small dragon perched on his shoulder.

Justin's gaze locked onto Darius as he walked past the crowd.

"...!"

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The moment their eyes met, Darius instinctively looked down, not out of respect, but because of the cold, murderous intent he saw in Justin's eyes.

"Is he planning to kill me right here?" Darius wondered in shock.

When he glanced back up, the murderous look had vanished, replaced by Justin's usual calm, lazy expression. Darius swallowed nervously, trying to steady his racing heart.

"It must've been my imagination," he reassured himself. "There's no way he'd kill me here, with so many people watching. Sure, I've angered him with the strike, but he wouldn't go that far…"

"So many people have gathered," Justin remarked, his voice casual.