## Chapter 1408 – The Approaching Darkness

“No, how would you even imagine 6 billion people all fighting? The percentage of soldiers per country is only about 1 percent of the population. Actually, even that’s a bit high.”
“Ah. That’s true.”

Liztina nodded at those words.

“I momentarily thought that because it’s a different world. Hehe, well. It could happen. I was imagining some kind of world of eternal struggle.”

I wasn’t sure what she was talking about, but when you think about it, she was right… Imperialism!!! The warships of Western powers had been endlessly fighting to seize colonies! It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the history of humanity on Earth is a history of war!!!

But it’s the same in any world.

“Hehehe, it’s all people living there too. No. But there are some differences. You could even say it’s a little less violent there than here.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“What? Those guys fighting with those murderous weapons are less violent?”

They tilted their heads, not understanding what I meant.

But aren’t you fighting with murderous weapons here too? This is all prejudice coming from the concept of a different world.

“Something doesn’t make sense. No. I don’t understand, Sis. You said they have weapons that kill people really easily, right? Even kids can kill warriors with 10 years of training just by holding them, and you even said they’re mass-produced in factories.”

Karin stroked her chin as if she was trying to seriously contemplate it, and offered that opinion.

As expected, it’s a difference in common sense.

But I found it very refreshing and interesting to see this reaction, so I decided to listen for now. If someone who was born and raised here heard stories from another world, this is the kind of reaction they would have.

“That’s right. Everything you said is correct. I’ll explain everything. First, tell me your opinion.”

Karin nodded, and Liztina and Cloudi, who were behind Karin, rested their chins on Karin’s shoulders and looked at me with expectant eyes.

No.

Why are they so cute?

“Well, since there’s no mana in the first place, everyone’s physical endurance is the same, right? You can improve your individual skills through training and discipline, but… as you know, without mana, there’s a very clear limit, no matter how much you train.”
“That’s right. Karin is right. No matter how much you fly and soar, there’s a clear limit without mana. It’s the same even if everyone in the world doesn’t have mana.”

That’s right.

Humans without mana have a clear limit.

It’s nothing for a knight who uses sword energy to take down dozens or hundreds of low-level thugs with just a sword. They can take care of it with the feeling of doing a simple morning exercise after waking up.

But what about an ordinary person without mana? Even if they train for 20 years, it’s impossible to fight 10 people alone.

“There’s even a unique limit for ordinary people without mana, and you can easily kill warriors trained with those strange artifacts. The way I see it, it means the weapon level is too high compared to the endurance of humans. Am I right?”
“Oh. You hit the nail on the head.”

As expected of a sister who has lived her whole life killing people, she had a cold-blooded judgment in matters related to killing. This is killer swag.

Anyway, Karin’s perspective was quite interesting.

In Karin’s opinion, a world where guns exist could never be peaceful.

“The rulers who possess many of those weapons will form armies and explode their desire for domination. The endlessly advancing army will swallow the world, and those who resist will have no choice but to resist fiercely. There can be no absence of violence. It should be more severe than here.”
“Huh?”

Hey, Sis?

What era are you talking about?

If you’ve read about Hitler and Stalin, and Tojo Hideki and those guys, then you’ve done a great job, but it’s not those days anymore.

And the important thing is that I’ve only talked about guns so far. This sister doesn’t know about bombs, weapons of mass destruction.

“My husband is a former soldier, right? And you even said he was in a unit that endlessly monitored the enemies in the snowy mountains. If it’s that crowded, it would be more violent than here, not less.”
“Wow. It turned out like this.”

I laughed at that interesting interpretation.

“Did Katt’s fighting spirit come from there?”
“No. Cloudi. It’s not like that. It’s relatively peaceful there now.”

Let’s tell them properly.

“Sis. The reason why it’s relatively less violent is that the government monopolizes those weapons, and only soldiers can be armed.”
“Hmm… weapon monopoly. Is that possible? Then the government that monopolized the weapons must be using all the people living there like slaves?”

It’s not that there aren’t countries like that, but at least the country I lived in wasn’t like that.

“That kind of thing… it’s not that it doesn’t happen. Generally, that’s what happens in poor countries, but it’s more common for rich countries not to.”
“Ah. Shit. This is really difficult.”

Karin began to clench and unclench her hands while wiping her lips. She was restless, like a student who wasn’t good at studying trying desperately to solve a math problem.

This calls for a break.

“Hehehe, Sis. Does your head feel like it’s about to explode? Should we talk about it next time?”
“No! Wait! Don’t stop! I’m curious!”
“Yes! I’m curious too! Keep talking!”

This reaction is quite intense.

“The difference between poor countries and rich countries… No. I don’t understand that in the first place. The government monopolizes weapons? Everyone’s specs are the same, right? No one is particularly strong, so is that kind of control possible?”
“Yeah.”
“You said those weapons are mass-produced in factories, right? It’s probably not that difficult to make. Then can’t civilians imitate it?”
“It’s possible, but you can’t produce it properly without specialized equipment. Not just anyone can make a famous sword, right?”
“Ah. I understand that. Anyway.”

Karin looked into my eyes.

“The problem is that it’s possible in the first place. Can the country monitor and catch all of that? It’s not like there’s magic, right?”

I really don’t know where to start explaining. Weapon manufacturing and smuggling are all things that happen in this world too. And there are more threatening beings than guns in this world. Karin is just making more extreme inferences because of her prejudice about another world.

But right now, Karin’s eyes were burning with curiosity.

Then I have to solve it.

“The population is also a problem. You said 6 billion, right? Can all of that be managed? I can’t imagine it?”
“Th, that’s true? It feels a bit strange when I think about it like that.”

They instantly started having a discussion.

“Maybe there’s something like magic? To monitor people?”
“I don’t know if that’s possible without mana…”

Liztina answers Cloudi’s words with an uncertain tone.

These sisters have never seen the modern world, so they are thinking and judging from an extremely other-worldly perspective.

“Th… First of all, 6 billion is the world population. In this world, it’s the total number of people living in all the kingdoms combined. And above all, weapon replication itself is difficult. In fact, the government has many more powerful weapons than that. Civilians can’t imitate it. Anyway, if civilians are caught replicating weapons, they’ll be arrested immediately.”
“So how do they know and monitor that? Who would know if they made it and hid it?”
“The weapon’s name is, uh, a gun? When you shoot it, it makes a really loud noise. The moment it makes a noise, everyone hears it, so you’re bound to get caught.”
“Sound…”
“Anyway. The country is monopolizing those weapons. The country even controls violence in addition to weapons. That’s why people can’t help but be less violent.”

Now that I say it like this, explaining the national and social structure of Earth to someone who has no background knowledge of Earth is quite difficult. I’ll have to take some time to explain this.

“Huh? They control violence?”
“Yeah. You’ll get arrested no matter what if you just hit someone on the street.”
“Well, that’s the same here if you have a citizen ID. You’ll get arrested even if someone causes an accident. But that doesn’t mean it’s less violent…”
“No. Sis. You misunderstood. It’s unconditional. You’ll get arrested no matter what if you hit someone. It’s the same even if they hit you first.”

At those words.

“Huh?!”
“What?!”

The two women reacted in surprise, and Cloudi also tilted her head.

“Whether it’s for self-defense or whatever. The moment you use violence, you’ll be punished the same way. The country has decided that way, so people can’t resist it.”
“What the hell… Ah! Ah! Karin! Cloudi! This is that! That’s it! When we went abroad last time!”
“Ah!”

Yeah.

I just thought of that too.

“Back then, Katt!”
“Yeah. That’s right. It’s a bit similar to there.”

Only then did Karin shout as if she was relieved.

“Ah! That’s it! I thought this was nonsense, but that country was weird!”
“That’s right! It was a country that monopolized murderous weapons and controlled people! Then it’s not that hard to understand.”

Soon, the conclusion was that the reason why South Korea was less violent than this world was because the country was weird.

I had no confidence in cleaning this up.

Should I tell them that there’s compulsory education there, unlike here?

Anyway, Karin nodded as if she was satisfied, and Liztina was saying that there was such a strange world, and then.

“Ah, wait. That country we went to back then. They said everyone was equal under the law, right? When I think about it that way, it seems to fit well with a world without mana…”
“Hmm… maybe?”

Let’s move on from this story…

Of course, their belatedly ignited desire for exploration did not die down.

“That’s totally it. Because there’s no mana. The rulers know how easily humans die and get hurt. Once that thought is engraved in the rulers’ heads, they have no choice but to know how to treat humans very well. There’s no need to think about anything else, right? All humans are ordinary people without mana. There’s no problem even if they think according to their own standards. There’s no need to think about diversity based on individual force.”
“That’s why they monopolized weapons and controlled violence. Geez… scary. It’s a scary world.”
“Hmm… I wonder if rebellion is impossible since there are no superhumans? I guess you have no choice but to do as you’re told.”
“That’s pretty much right.”

They left me alone for a while and had a malicious discussion among themselves, then nodded as if they had completely understood.

The South Korea in their heads had become a society where a despotic monarch who monopolized powerful weapons oppressed citizens using the army and castrated violence.

Citizens whose violence had been castrated against an army armed with weapons that easily kill people could do nothing… What kind of dystopia is this?

Since there were no superhumans with mana, let alone knights or wizards, it was impossible to break down the entrenched social structure. Their story went on a rampage without knowing the end. When the political system of South Korea reached something like a classic SF novel, it was just surprising.

And at its peak, the citizens had all become slaves without egos. Now the citizens can no longer think. They just work for the rulers forever.

“Wow.”

Aren’t our sisters’ imaginations too rich?

If they wrote and published such a novel on this occasion, they could become pioneers in the other-world SF genre. Isaac Asimov would tear his balls off and wail. Next to him, Aldous Huxley would sit down and cry.

“Our husband… lived in a very difficult place. That’s why he had some unique parts. You’ve suffered a lot. From now on, relax and live while fondling your sisters’ breasts.”

The kinder Karin hugged me with a smile like the Virgin Mary.

“Katt… you’ve really suffered a lot. But it’s okay now. Katt has become king, right? You can rule directly so that it doesn’t become such a country.”
“Yes! Our Mr. Katt! Let’s work hard to rule with fusion Confucianism together!”

I even started getting encouragement, but I was just too amazing to say anything. I had become a soldier oppressed in a dystopian society.

“Ah! I have to tell everyone this fact!”
“Are we the only ones here now?”
“Yeah. Kadia probably went with Risha. Hilde went with Winnie. I wonder if Ari is there?”
“That’s right.”

Anyway, it will take some time for everyone to gather.

“Haa. Still. It’s really amazing because it’s a world in another dimension. It was quite fun. Listening to the story.”
“Kyahehe, I know. And it’s the first time we’ve heard our husband’s old stories, so it seems more fun.”

Well.

Wouldn’t it be okay if they were happy, whether South Korea became a dystopian world or not? When I thought about it that way, a warm breeze seemed to blow in my heart. In fact, I was very happy too.

Right then.

“Um? Ah? Ah, wait… Ah? Aah?! Ah! Wait! Wait wait! Waiiiiit!!!”
“Huh?”

Liztina screamed as if she had realized something while laughing.

What is it?

“Sis?”

Did she suddenly think of something so surprising?

“Then…! Katt, you!”

ㅡSlam.

Liztina suddenly pointed at me.
I looked at her.

She had a face that seemed to have received a huge shock, but what on earth was she trying to sayㅡ

“ㅡWhat about your parents?!”

Ah.

“What about my father-in-law and mother-in-law?!”
“Heok…!”
“Ka, Katt’s parents…!”

Wait a minute.

Why is the story like that.

ㅡClang.

The atmosphere instantly sank. The joy disappeared from their faces, and deep worry arose. And Liztina shouted with an anxious face.

“Are they…! Are they still living under the oppression of the rulers in that world?!?!?!”

ㅡKugung!

I thought lightning had struck the room, damn it.