Chapter 274: Stir It Up

"Oh, greetings. I, Apostle Hwee-Kyung, am pleased to meet Redmars of the Pantheon."

As Hwee-Kyung quickly stood up and gave an old-fashioned greeting, Redmars hastily gestured for her to stop. For Redmars, who considered themself an ordinary citizen, it was a suffocating moment.

"No, please, be at ease."

"Alright."

Hwee-Kyung stood upright and stiff.

Redmars pointed to a chair. "Would you sit down?"

"As you wish."

Hwee-Kyung took a deep breath and sat down. Being an apostle didn’t often grant her the opportunity to meet with the gods of the Pantheon. The gods usually had their own apostles, and such relationships were considered quite intimate. However, in other cases, it was typical to maintain a proper distance. It had to be so.

'Hwee-Kyung has been a notable individual ever since the early days of the Pantheon. She's directly associated with Nebula, friendly with many other players, has been around since the Lakrak era, close with Lakrak, and is even married to Sairan, a subordinate of Lakrak.'

Redmars reassessed Hwee-Kyung's political standing, which they hadn't recognized before.

'...She seems to rank higher than me.'

Hwee-Kyung, on the other hand, was having her own thoughts while looking at Redmars.

'Did I do something wrong again?'

Hwee-Kyung had been doing well in the Pantheon. However, she had some doubts about the Pantheon being an entirely ideal afterlife, as it exerted pressure to deliver performance fitting one's status. The duties themselves didn’t demand a high level of performance, but only sticking to said level of work somehow led to gradual exclusion from related duties, with the tasks being handed over to more capable people.

The process wasn’t even harsh or cruel, but rather kind. They provided numerous opportunities for challenges, training, and even the chance to return to related duties after failure. Hwee-Kyung had seen cases where someone who had only shown their enthusiasm rather than results continued to hold their duties.

'...But it’s different for lazybones like me.'

Hwee-Kyung believed she had a habit of cutting corners and felt this more keenly after joining the Pantheon. The people of the Pantheon didn’t take things lightly. They meticulously planned and executed those plans. The way they lived was entirely different from Hwee-Kyung’s own.

Once, Hwee-Kyung had ridiculed herself for acting as if the past glories she achieved through god’s favor and becoming the Lord of Automation were all due to her own abilities.

'That's why I was punished.'

Whenever she mentioned this to Sairan, he would snort and say, "What are you talking about? Your achievements laid the foundation for the Empire."

"Thank you, even though you’re just trying to be nice."

"You take my words as empty words. Hwee-Kyung, you have sufficiently served the Pantheon and the Empire. Now is the time to be rewarded. Since the environment in the Pantheon doesn't seem favorable for you, I should speak to Night Sky and settle this matter."

"Oh! I’m sorry! Please don’t do that."

As a result of various events, Hwee-Kyung's motivation had gradually decreased, and she had become somewhat idle in the Pantheon. While it wasn't bad to be relaxed, and nobody in the Pantheon reprimanded her, Hwee-Kyung couldn't help feeling disheartened about her diminishing sense of efficacy.

Of course, being an apostle, she wasn't entirely idle and received positive evaluations from the gods and apostles close to her for fulfilling her duties, but it wasn't at a level that satisfied Hwee-Kyung herself.

While the god and apostle feeling equally uncomfortable faced each other, Bion suddenly clapped their hands.

"I should be the one to apologize for arranging this meeting."

"Oh, Bion, you're here too?"

"Pleased to meet you, Apostle Hwee-Kyung. Redmars here needs your help, so we came to look for you."

"...My help?"

Bion, anticipating Redmars' difficult explanations, briefly described the situation to Hwee-Kyung. While the concept could have been hard to grasp, Hwee-Kyung blinked and then slightly nodded.

"I was aware of that issue as well."

"Is that so?"

"But such a problem can't be easily resolved by someone's intervention. From above, it looks unnatural, but up close, it’s all a natural flow. Everyone has their reasons for saving or not investing their money..."

Redmars was impressed. "Incredible, someone who speaks my language. Oh, I don't agree with that opinion, though. Leaving a problem alone is unacceptable."

Hwee-Kyung's mind briefly revisited the past. Not the Hwee-Kyung of the Pantheon, nor the long-suffering Vampire, but the merchant Hwee-Kyung from her days as the Lord of Automation.

"No, we can't intervene. At least the Pantheon can't. Imagine if a god from the Pantheon directly intervened and used money. Initially, it might seem fine, but repeated interventions will lead to a belief that an invisible divine hand is manipulating the entire process of earning and investing money. When that happens, who knows how else we should intervene."

"So you're saying, 'Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's'...?"

"Pardon?"

"No, it’s fine. In principle, you're right."

Redmars slightly waggled their finger, then paced around the two with their hands behind their back.

"But the Pantheon has capabilities. There are intelligence agents all over the world, and it's not impossible to conceal exactly what the gods are doing."

"That's true. It's just that there's a risk involved."

"The damage from intervening might be greater than doing nothing, economically?"

"What? Oh, yes." Hwee-Kyung added, "Indeed, the current situation is critical and urgent, and I agree with that. But I believe we should overcome this crisis, even if it means enduring the current problem. Besides, if intervening doesn't solve the issue, perhaps leaving it alone is the best course of action."

"You understand the importance of inaction too. I’m starting to like you more and more."

"If it's a compliment, I'll take it graciously..."

Redmars stopped in front of Hwee-Kyung and said, "But you're wrong."

"Hmm."

Redmars continued, "Although I brought this up as part of the moon-facing plan, I see this as a more significant issue."

"Really?"

"It’s a bigger issue than the second moon, Loom."

Bion asked from the side, "Do you really think so?"

"Yes. It may depend on perspective, but at least from my view, it is."

"Why is that?"

Redmars explained, "The world is stable."

"Isn’t stability...a good thing?"

"No, it’s not. What’s good is flow. Flow sways and fluctuates, but stability is a dead state. It's nothing."

Confused by the sudden analogy, Bion seemed puzzled, but Hwee-Kyung nodded in agreement.

"I agree with that. But the current situation is temporary because of the second moon..."

"It’s not temporary." Redmars explained, "The charts and graphs are telling us. Ever since the Empire's victory over the Union Kingdom, the world has been gradually coming to a halt. After facing Loom, it might stop altogether. Interest rates, taxes, wages, and prices are all halting."

"Isn’t it good if prices don’t rise?"

"Then who would want to sell goods? Who would work if their labor isn’t properly valued?" Redmars clenched their hands in the air. "It's shrinking like this. Sure, one can't say it's entirely bad. When everything ends...after it ends, living a self-sufficient life in a small village might be good. But from my perspective, that's decline. That’s destruction."

Bion thought Redmars could be exaggerating, but seeing the shocked look on Hwee-Kyung's face beside them, Bion guessed that it wasn’t nonsense.

"Is it because we won?"

"Yes. There has never been such a world. No one would have imagined it. It's an unprecedented situation."

Hwee-Kyung brought her hand to her chin, thinking.

"Then what should we do..."

"We need to stir it up."

"Stir it up?"

"Stir up the clear waters of a stream into muddy waters. Then no intentions can be discerned. We need to create chaos in the world."

Hwee-Kyung, taken aback, asked, "Are you suggesting we create an enemy for the Empire?"

"An enemy for the Empire? That is a good idea, but just any enemy won’t do. It can't be half-hearted. We need a war."

"...War."

"But it might be difficult since there's no force left that could alarm the Empire."

Bion, listening to the conversation, thought they should probably intervene at this point, as it seemed like a joke gone too far.

However, Hwee-Kyung suddenly raised her head. "It's possible."

"Is it?"

"The Empire has the Fifth Waterwheel."

"I think I've heard of them."

"They're an old group of capitalists, managing even my namesake trust fund and involved in several giant foundations."

"I like the sound of that."

"But the split between the Empire and the Fifth Waterwheel seems insufficient."

"Right. What if we empower a few more and create divisions within the Fifth Waterwheel? Even secularists don’t seem to be poor."

Bion quickly interjected, "Is this alright?"

"Huh?"

"A war...you said. Although worrisome, the world is at peace right now. But if someone gets hurt or dies..."

Redmars belatedly understood Bion's concern. "Ah, I see the misunderstanding. I didn’t mean a war with guns and battles. There might be psychological damage due to a capital crisis, people scared and in despair, but fortunately, the Empire has excellent welfare. People can cope."

"...Is it really alright?"

Hwee-Kyung elaborated, "With the Pantheon's power, we can manipulate account balances, force the market to release worthless goods, and aggressively merge corporations. We can change distribution flows and even cause natural disasters. If handled delicately, no one will notice what’s happening."

"The system apparently didn’t imagine such a world as altering bank transaction figures hardly triggers any causality."

"The ones who will suffer the most in this war are the capitalists themselves."

"It's alright...right?"

Hwee-Kyung laughed. "Of course. The Fifth Waterwheel's existence is all thanks to the capital I accumulated. Even though it has grown over generations, without my power, they wouldn’t exist. It’s ultimately my money. They should have been self-made."

Bion noticed the cunning grin they had never seen on Hwee-Kyung’s face.

'Did I make a mistake?'

Redmars also seemed not quite normal.

"We can't miss this opportunity to be the invisible hand itself, not just adherents of modified capitalism."

Bion, though seemingly convinced on the spot, closely observed the unfolding events initiated by Redmars and Hwee-Kyung.