Chapter 148: The Morbid Equilibrium of Wealth (1/2)
Ten minutes earlier.
'Thank god spatial storages are a thing or else I would have become a pack mule,' Allan thought to himself as he watched the bags being sucked inside Flavia's ring.
”We should buy a spatial ring for you later,” she said to Marie as they exited the shop. The lamia was now wearing a dress that covered most of her skin. It had a style similar to Arabic clothes on Earth and was entirely white. ”We'll also get you some more clothes from the First Plateau. There is far more variety to pick from there.”
”Well, you just can't compare the technology of Black Steel to this town,” Allan commented with his hands behind his head. ”They probably make stuff like clothes in the millions of pieces per day.”
”It sounds like an interesting place…” Marie remarked sadly.
”Ah…” The blond's expression sunk. ”Sorry about that.”
”No, it's okay. I can always see what it looks like through photos,” she said with a small smile. The group fell silent for a brief moment and it was Tyran who broke the silence by sniffing the air. The fledgling Asura tilted his head and jumped down from Evelyn's arms.
”Ah! Tyran!” The small T. Rex seemed to not hear her as he ran straight to an alley.
”Hey, dragon wannabe! Please don't tell me you're going to eat random folks!” Allan shouted and ran after him. The girls looked at each other and shrugged before following after them.
After a minute of running around, Allan finally caught up to Tyran. He spotted him stooped over a corner of the street. ”What're you doing, little punk?” He uttered whilst picking him up by his neck.
”Gah!” The T. Rex cried out and bobbed his head up and down to point at something.
”What? Is there somethi-!” The blond froze mid-sentence and tossed Tyran over his shoulder with widened eyes before dashing to the side of a figure lying on the ground. He crouched on one knee and grimaced.
It was an unconscious young boy wearing tattered clothes. He was visibly starved and dehydrated and he was a millimeter short of being described as just skin on bones. Allan put two fingers to his neck to feel his pulse and clicked his tongue.
”It's slowing down…” He muttered. ”Oi, AI, would a healing potion help him?”
[Negative. Healing medicine would worsen his state. There is too much deficiency in nutrients in his body for him to be able to recover. However, a stamina medicine might help him survive a bit longer.]
Allan pulled out a yellow potion and poured it into the boy's mouth while Tyran watched. When he used all of the medicine, he checked his pulse again and grunted. ”Not much…”
”What's wrong?” Evelyn's voice sounded from behind him and he turned around.
”Perfect timing! Do you think you can use Life Magic on this fellow?”
”Hm? Who are you talking…?” The succubus tensed and teleported from her position to the child's side instantaneously.
”Whoa!” Allan stepped back in surprise. ”Was that Blink? That's a cool skill, holy shit. Did you have to use it for this though?”
Evelyn ignored him and promptly placed her hand on the boy's chest and invoked her magic. Many strands of green energy emerged from her palm and wrapped themselves around his body to form a cocoon.
”What's wrong?” Flavia asked as she arrived with Marie and Nyx.
”Well… Tyran ran to this street and I found him next to a sickly kid,” Allan explained as he stepped back and let Evelyn do her work. ”He was about to die and now she's healing him.”
”A sickly kid?”
”Yeah, he was starved and dehydrated. At least, that's what it looked like to me.”
”How did Tyran know where he was?” Flavia asked in confusion.
”Death force,” Evelyn remarked. ”When someone is close to their death, the life in their body, also called life force, will begin to turn into what we call death force or death energy. As an undead, it's more than probable that Tyran sensed an increasing amount of it.”
Marie silently observed the cocoon for a moment. ”Why… would this child be lying here?”
Nyx glanced at her. ”You might not be used to it yet but… the world is just like that. Humans, among many other species, are never able to take care of each other. This boy is probably either orphaned or abandoned.”
The lamia's mouth quivered. ”But… things like starvation and dehydration shouldn't be a problem in the System, no? I'm sure there are plenty of water or plant mages that are capable of offering drinkable water and edible food at a high rate. Why would something like this…?”
”Locals rarely possess such abilities compared to Hosts,” Evelyn stated as she healed the boy. The spell she was using was called Rejuvenescence. It used her own body's energy nutrients and to heal her patient. ”Across every Plateau, there are too many people to take care of. Even a city like Black Steel is not spared from such treatment. A small town like this one is obviously not.”
Marie lowered her head and gently kneeled next to the succubus as the cocoon of her spell began to go away at a gradual pace.
”Marie,” Nyx spoke up. ”Tell me, if you were to give unlimited wealth to someone living in a large and bustling city, would they be able to erase poverty?”
”…why would they not?” The lamia retorted quietly
The former goddess closed her eyes. ”You're right. There is absolutely no reason why they would not be capable of doing it. But, does that mean they would actually do it? No. Most people would keep it for themselves. Others would use it to manipulate others. Some would flaunt it to the world and very few would decide to donate it.”
”But the thing is, wealth cannot be properly priced if one has an endless supply of it. Do you think precious stones would be precious if they were as common as a rock on the side of the road? It's quite obvious that they would not. And what if one man possessed all of them? Others would covet it and make sure that they are not spread so that they can profit from it at their own leisure. They would kill, abduct, rob, and then share the spoils amongst them.”
”Value always goes up and down. Possessions will always fall into your hands and eventually slip through your fingers. Wealth will forever be coveted and distributed by greed itself,” Nyx paused and sighed. ”There will always be people with everything… and people with nothing. Because for one to have it all, they need to take it from others. It's a balance that is morbidly never broken.”
”I see…” Marie muttered right when Evelyn's spell was completely dispelled. The young boy had now a healthier skin stone and his body mass was slightly fuller.
”Ugh…” He groaned and slowly opened his eyes. When the boy saw the row of heads all looking at him, he cried out in fear and hastily crawled backward.
”Chill, kid. We're not going to hurt you,” Allan uttered and Flavia smacked his head. ”Ow! Why do you always do this to me?!”