The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 278

“Your assumptions are all based on the premise that ‘farmers continue to grow grain.'” During her time as a law student, Ciel had researched the impact of these famous historical acts. She could also offer insights on this world’s specious 《Corn Laws》, saying, “You haven’t considered that most of North Ansu are tenant farmers.”

“Landlords won’t care whether the farmers live or die. Even if imported grain is cheap, if the land rent doesn’t decrease, farmers still won’t be able to afford grain.”

“Locally grown grain will be undercut by cheap grain dumped from the colonies. Landlords will no longer choose to grow grain, but will instead choose cash crops like flax.”

“And Ansu’s industry cannot support so many disaster victims.”

Ciel paused slightly here, then continued:

The Society of Merriment holds this very concept.

They believe you are “stealing” their “targets.”

Charles slowly raised his hand, pressing and rubbing his brow with his index finger and thumb. Then, he stood up and took a deep breath.

Politics is the art of mediating between conflicts and interests, the art of transforming a gradually fractured society into dynamic equilibrium through negotiation and compromise.

If what Ciel said is true… the 《Corn Laws》 must also be repealed.

Compared to the continued deaths of marginalized people in North Ansu, Ansu’s foundation, its domestic workers, are the ones who need to be appeased more.

Uprisings in North Ansu would only tear North Ansu apart, but uprisings by domestic workers would be enough to split all of Ansu.

If turmoil, internal strife, and national decline led to colonial retaliation and sparked a larger war… whether more people died from famine or from war, Charles could still distinguish that.

If the 《Corn Laws》 continued to exist, it might result in an Ansu torn into pieces and scorched earth everywhere; whereas repealing the 《Corn Laws》 would result in a complete, even more comprehensively industrialized and stronger Ansu, and a North Ansu littered with bones.

A qualified schemer should know how to make trade-offs.

“Is it feasible to drive those Society of Merriment people out of North Ansu?” Charles looked down at Ciel, who was sitting before him, and asked.

“That is a Tier 4 preparing to advance to an Ascender, possessing ‘Uniqueness.'” Ciel shook her head. “It’s hard to say who is easier to deal with, her or Forte.”

“Do you have any thoughts?” Charles looked at Ciel and asked, “If it were you, what would you do?”

Hearing Charles’s question, Ciel paused for a moment.

She had actually thought of quite a few solutions. Now she just needed to present the most reasonable one.

She could tell that Charles did not want to give up repealing the 《Corn Laws》.

Repealing the 《Corn Laws》 would impact farmers, while Ansu’s main base was now workers. One of these two groups would have to be sacrificed, and only the less important one could be sacrificed.

A single word from her could indirectly decide the lives and deaths of hundreds, even millions of people in reality. These were real, living people, not a simulation.

Ciel’s chest felt heavy. At this moment, she was breathless under an invisible pressure. She licked her somewhat dry lips. Just then, Avena, as if sensing Ciel’s pressure, gently raised her hand and held Ciel’s hand.

“I can delay it for one to two weeks.”

Charles slowly said:

“In these one to two weeks, let’s look for new solutions.”

“Thank you for your reminder, Ciel. The Society of Merriment wreaking havoc in North Ansu is our business. We should not place the pressure of choice on you.”

Charles sensed the pressure Ciel was under at this moment. To be honest, Charles himself was under no small amount of pressure, especially after realizing that the repeal of the 《Corn Laws》 actually didn’t alleviate anything, but merely shifted the sacrifice to another group…

Absolute stability does not exist. Most of the time, one can only settle for less, seeking a relative stability.

Now that Forte had died suddenly, the heavy responsibility of maintaining stability fell on the Roswell family’s shoulders. To desire power, one must bear the responsibility that comes with that power.

This was Charles’s responsibility. He did not want his daughter and Ciel to be too involved in it.

After bidding farewell to Charles, Avena accompanied Ciel back to Ciel’s home.

Inside Ciel’s room, Avena looked at Ciel, who was silently looking down. She slowly raised her hand, placed it on Ciel’s head, and gently stroked it.

“Politics is truly cruel…” Avena spoke, comforting her softly, “It’s alright…”

Before Avena could finish speaking, the latter half of her comforting words were cut off by Ciel’s gaze.

At this moment, Ciel’s eyes held no worry or suppression. Instead, they were as calm as still water, as if she was deep in thought.

Avena had seen this kind of absorbed thinking many times…

It seemed Ciel didn’t need her concern… On the contrary, Avena herself hadn’t quite detached herself from the atmosphere of just now.

The comforting words she had wanted to say to Ciel just now were actually words Avena wanted to say to herself.

It was just a private conversation between three people, but this short conversation of barely ten minutes could potentially lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people who otherwise wouldn’t have died. For Avena, the impact was still a bit too great.

Before, she was merely playing a game of wealth accumulation, pursuing power according to her own understanding. But when she truly saw what power represented, she felt… as if simply making money was more suitable for her.

Avena stood beside Ciel, accompanying her, not even finding a place to sit. She simply wanted Ciel to feel her presence, to tell Ciel that she wasn’t alone.

Suddenly, Avena noticed something was slightly off.

Ciel, beside her, seemed to grow increasingly serene in her state of mind. The initial pressure from the Roswell family mansion was gone, as was the earlier wavering. The current Ciel’s heart was as calm as a lake.

But Avena could hear the terrifying things in the lake constantly churning.

At this moment, Ciel slowly turned her head and looked at the full-length mirror beside her, looking at herself in the mirror.

All along, Ciel had been pushed forward by various events like waves, and her heart had always adhered to the “delusion” within it, the desire for a peaceful life.

Even after killing Forte, Ciel was still thinking about how to continue concealing herself, hoping that trouble would no longer seek her out.

But Imogen’s appearance in the simulation, and the system’s warning afterward, had already caused Ciel’s heart to waver.

Not until just now, realizing that a single word from her could decide the lives and deaths of millions, did Ciel finally waver.

She didn’t waver because she couldn’t do anything.

Instead, she realized… she actually had so many ways to solve this problem.

Now, the connections and power she wielded… already far exceeded the imagination of ordinary people.

In this land of Ansu…

She was the ruler of the skies.

Ciel turned her head, looked at Avena, and smiled.

She said with a slight apology, “I’m sorry, Avena… Life in the future might not be so peaceful anymore.”

Avena looked at this smile, and the worry on her face gradually disappeared.

She knew.

It seemed someone was about to suffer terribly…

She held Ciel’s hand, subtly nodded, and asked back expressionlessly, “Do you think I’d be afraid?”