“A new House. Overthrow the old, and create a new one with enough speed that whatever intervention forces that arrive will acknowledge a change.” Gaius took a refined sip from his own glass. “Is that even a viable strategy? What makes a House a House? I don’t think it’ll be as simple as creating an organisation that has enough military and economic strength.”

“You’re right,” acknowledged Flynn. “We need a majority in the Southern Assembly at the least, as well as an oath to abide by their implicit rules.”

“Informal structures that bind the Houses together?” Gaius muttered subconsciously.

“Informal structures?”

“These words just came to my mind for some reason,” replied the boy. “Maybe a remnant of some memory, I guess. But will it be that simple? There has to be a reason why the lack of social welfare is so endemic throughout the Houses; it might even be one of those implicit rules that you mentioned earlier.”

Flynn looked at his glass thoughtfully. “You seem to be getting at something.”

“Yes.” Gaius placed down his own glass. “Why does your revolution stop at only one city? The existence of a ruling system where a group bound together by family ties hold dominion over an entire city without any accountability is attractive to many. So long as it exists, even your success would be continually threatened by factions who desire more power and wealth.”

“Which would eventually lead back to the withdrawal of social welfare policies for the neediest of society.” Flynn drank from his glass, before exhaling slowly. “I knew this all along, didn’t I? But I didn’t want to take up such a burden…couldn’t take up such a burden.”

“I can help you take care of the latter half,” said Gaius. He took out another bag, which was bigger than the one he’d given to Tetsu, and passed it over to Flynn. “Know you what this is?”

The man had started choking the moment Gaius took out the bag, so the little boy felt quite sure that Flynn could at least tell what was inside.

“Gems of extreme value!” Flynn began to hyperventilate, and only after a few drawn-out seconds of controlled breathing did his breathing pattern return to normal. “These things can go for tens of thousands of gold! A twelve-year-old boy has more gold than me…I’m speechless.”

“They’re that rare? Also, I’m eleven.” Gaius tilted his head. The little boy found it odd that these gems, which could be harvested in a rather safe fashion, were able to command such prices. After all, they could be found at the side of a cliff, or sitting happily on a field of snow…they were literally everywhere in Heritage.

“I was also transported here eleven years ago, so why am I not as rich as you?” Flynn shook his head. “Yes, they’re rare. Look, with these much gems, I could buy an army to take down the whole of Elinaris. That’s how rare they are!”

Gaius suddenly had a premonition that the bag of gems he’d given to Tetsu earlier might result in an insurgency far bigger than he had planned on. The boy rubbed his temples slightly — there was still one more bag of fifty-plus gems still on his person — and then wondered if he should turn these gems into gold instead.

Putting that thought aside, Gaius said, “But that’s a really small scope. You could arm an entire city with that much gold, and lead them onwards to besiege other cities.”

“The other cities?” Flynn echoed, his face contemplative. “Is that possible?”

“If you lay enough groundwork and enlighten as much people as you can,” said Gaius. “You told me earlier that your men don’t even know that you’re trying for a revolution, but maybe you aren’t doing it good enough.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let me guess how you tried to tell them about your revolution,” said Gaius. “You tried to remember how the Communist Manifesto was written, and then gave out whatever you could remember to your followers.”

“I didn’t do exactly that.”

“Which means you tried to.” Gaius rolled his eyes. “Your target audience isn’t the working-class, it’s the people of the slums right now. They don’t have much in the way of education, they’ve lived under the assumption that their life is that of the natural order. Unlike the proletariat, they don’t even eke out a living through harsh work — most of them scourge the streets for food.”

Gaius looked at the rapt eyes of Flynn. “You’ve been blinded by your own origins. You came from Earth, probably had a complete education there, and treated work as something natural. But I’m quite sure that most of the slum dwellers don’t do work…not the kind of work as you know it.”

“How do I stir them up, then?”

“Forgo your fancy words. Point out the reality of their lives; do comparisons and ask them why they’re so different from even the working class, before telling them that none of these reasons are natural at all.” said Gaius. “To start with, if you’re looking to supplant the rulers of the South, a popular uprising is less effective than an armed rebellion.”

“You mean…to gather the slumdwellers, feed and train them into my personal army? Is that possible?”

“Naturally,” replied Gaius. “With enough money, you can even order ghosts around, so you can definitely find some drillmasters from the Southern militaries. And besides, a rabble army won’t register on the radar of the Houses now, not with the political turmoil going on.”

“Hm?”

“Some of the Houses have been entirely exterminated by a being of immense strength,” said Gaius. “The Assembly is probably crippled. There’s a coup within the highest levels of the South, with many of the former rulers, who had escaped from the invading East-West alliance, being captured and executed.”

“Where did you hear that from?” Flynn asked, a tint of suspicion in his eyes.

“You should be hearing about these events soon,” replied Gaius. “My point is, now’s a good time to gather strength and followers within this city. Although I am curious about why Elinaris is largely unscathed now, now that I think about it.”

Flynn looked at the bag of gems, his eyes murky with deep thoughts. “What’s your game in all this? You were looking for a crime lord to sponsor, but with this much gold, you could have raised an army yourself.”

“Me?” Gaius looked at the ceiling of the warehouse. He drummed his fingers on the wooden table, before picking up the glass and taking a sip from it. “At the apex of the Southern Continent stands a being of immense might. I must draw him out for personal reasons.”

“Immense might?”

“Don’t worry. He won’t care about a small armed rebellion,” said Gaius.

Flynn shook his head. “You can’t be sure of that. None of us here are even Knights; a single misstep and blood will flow like rivers. If you’re going to throw us away for your own game—”

“No, I will just be funding you,” Gaius interrupted. “I will not interfere with your decision-making; just don’t misuse my funds. In fact, you might not see me for the next few months or so, but it’ll be nice if I get updates on your progress.”

He got up from his chair. “Before I leave, though, do you know where I can exchange some more of these gems for gold?”