What will the future of the South Ridge and the future of the White Folks be like?
In the Nauman City square, Brin of the White Folks stood beneath the stage, watching the Prophet, the young man he had known since childhood, who even played ’abacus’ with him.
——No wonder he could find me hiding back then, turns out he was a Prophet.
Once a herb picker, now a caravan leader, Brin’s mind was filled not only with these curious thoughts but mainly with pondering a very important matter. For origınal chapters go to 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅✦𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾✦𝗇𝖾𝗍
What kind of change can the Prophet bring to the South Ridge?
A thing that sounds simple but is extremely difficult in reality.
Even a Prophet can hardly change some things fundamentally.
He may be able to help herb pickers find better herbs, help caravans earn bigger profits, and make the name of the White Folks bigger, making it easier to find cooperation.
But this is actually not a change, but a mere enhancement.
These are only temporary solutions, not addressing the root causes... He can only change the future of a few people, not the entire White Folks’ future — the White Folks of Harrison Port are still just a small family, only Ian Silverpeak’s relatives and direct descendants are the true ’Silverpeak Nobility’.
Just a Prophet can only alter the status of those around him, unable to change the social class of the South Ridge.
Due to some relation with Ian and his own considerable effort, Brin achieved a minor class leap in recent years.
He transitioned from a lone herb picker to a caravan leader.
He successfully acquired the happiness that ordinary people dream of from the White Folks’ Chamber of Commerce — a high salary, a new house, a family, a child.
He is no longer a bachelor who only needs to feed himself.
Those disasters he once didn’t care about became even more unacceptable.
For example, the grain disaster of the South Ridge.
If it weren’t for Ian bringing grain from the Great Plains and finding collaborators in Canaan Moore, how many people would be driven to death by the soaring food prices in Harrison Port? How many Mountain People would be driven to death?
And the driven-mad Mountain People would block the trade routes, causing him, a caravan leader, to completely lose his source of income... What would happen to his wife and child?
He has the skills for picking herbs and venturing into the mountains, maybe he could survive with his family, but is merely surviving enough?
Without Ian, how many people would die in the South Ridge this time, and how many White Folks’ families would fall into despair, Brin dared not even think.
The White Folks, although holding some power in Harrison Port and Xiawei Territory, are still essentially at the bottom, and Brin is just a slightly better-off ant at the bottom.
Change is necessary. Must become a big shot. Must become someone who can handle such disasters.
However, there’s no opportunity.
Amidst this crisis, Brin noticed many things.
For instance, he realized that his upward momentum had actually reached its limit.
Caravan leader is his peak, to go further, to become a Steward of the Chamber of Commerce, he lacks the connections and achievements, it’s unattainable.
To rely on his child, he would need to prepare a large sum of money for education, for sending them to study with the children of Chamber of Commerce stewards and other high-ranking officials... He can hardly save that amount of money.
As for becoming a Sublimator... if he could save a few thousand Talle, would he be this troubled now? Even if he saved the money, becoming a Sublimator requires reporting, purchasing Magic Potion formulas, and obtaining related training methods, all of which require achievements rather than money in exchange.
In the South Ridge, where the Natives have been pacified and the Mountain People subdued, there is no achievement enabling one to climb higher.
He will remain in this position for a lifetime. This is not terrifying, the most terrifying thing is, he can foresee that his child will also stay in this position for a lifetime.
This is still the best outcome... If unlucky, his child might even die midway, fail to maintain even this little position, ending up worse off than he was years ago.
A future where the end is visible at a glance is the true despair.
Thus, at this moment.
Brin, with such thoughts, when he heard Ian express with sorrow, the four words ’suffering is coming’.
His heart thumped heavily.
A strong sense of expectation, a desire called ambition, began to sprout within him alongside fear and unease.
——Yes, that’s it, let the pain and war come quickly!
——Let the storm strike and shatter the old!
——Since we’re going to suffer anyway, and can’t see the future, it might as well be intense, let everyone suffer, so that...
Maybe, just maybe, I can rise up.
After all, being a worthless life, a small disaster would kill me anyway, and without sickness or disaster, life would still be poor, so why not have a Great Disaster for a chance to step further!
But also at that moment.
Brin heard the sobbing next to him.
"Mom... I’m scared..."
It was a little girl, hugging her mother tightly. Her mother, with a pale face, looked despairingly at the Prophet on the stage, stroking her daughter’s hair and back, whispering responses to her daughter’s fearful sobbing: "Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid... Mommy will protect you..."
"Even if Daddy’s gone, Mommy will still protect you..."
This was a widow of a city guard. This could be seen from the style of the woman’s clothes, made from an old city guard undershirt.
The Fiery Flame Land didn’t cause ’too much’ damage in the South Ridge, but it did result in some casualties, and families losing their men would undoubtedly fall into misery, unable to face greater threats, and once full-scale war begins, they can hardly resist.