Author note : Actually, the initial setting was gender swap, but I found that this label seems to have disappeared (sad)
There is no sign of this in the text because she have lived for too long and therefore fully accept the identity of a girl. In short, if you care about this setting, you can choose to ignore it. It is not a very important setting anyway
Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains.[1]
Many years later, a solitary witch sometimes recalls the distant past.
Recalling when she was not in this world of swords and magic, but in a more distant world, in a country with tall buildings reaching the sky.
"You have to study hard."
I can no longer remember my mother's face, but I can still remember her words.
"Otherwise, if you don't have the capability, in the future you will be like them."
On the way home, I would occasionally pass by sweaty workers, Every day they are busy to exhaustion, with unkempt hair and dirty faces, both men and women, and vests and dirty towels are their standard equipment.
But thinking back to what the teacher said at school today, she couldn't help but raise her head and look at her mother curiously.
"But mom, they are working hard with their own hands to earn money. The teacher said today that their work is glorious and worthy of praise. Shouldn't those uncles and aunts be proud of their work?"
They don't steal,They don't rob either. Everyone is using their own hands to reap what they sows.
But my mother said that they were incompetent people. Why did my mother say that?
"my child, you are still young. You will understand when you grow up." That's all her mother said.
Although she couldn't understand, the adults around her were the same as her mother.
None of my playmates thought it was a respectable job, and if I were to be honest, i also had aversion to it.
I don't want to be as tired as them, I want to live comfortably in a more relaxed way.
One day I happened to ask a few questions to the uncles at the barbecue stall.
"Don't be silly, kid, no one would willing to do this if they had choices."
"We work hard to make money for only one purpose, and that is to give our family a good life."
"I hope our kids can sit in high-rise buildings, enjoy the air conditioning and hold pens, instead of having to do manual labor like their dads." They drank beer and laughed.
...It's really strange.
The teacher said that these hard-working workers are glorious, But no one wants to be them. My mother didn't want me to be like them, I don't want to either. Even they themselves don't want their children to follow their path.
It was not until later that I vaguely understood,They are just trying to support their families, it's just a job.
No one has glory on their mind.
....
"Listen! Guys! Don't be fooled again!"
In a mine somewhere in the Kingdom of Yamauroti, a worker stood on a mine cart and raised his arms and shouted.
"Do you remember what the witch said to us when she arranged us here? We'll start from scratch together, fight together, and live a happy life in the future - all of that is bullshit!"
The worker slapped the wall. On the wall was a leaflet with a portrait printed on it, made using printing magic, and a line of words was written on it.
Best employee of the month.
The words on the back were torn off by angry workers. No one knows what was written, but they can be roughly understood that it was a reward for the hardest-working worker last month. The worker in the portrait is named Tom, and he is a worker in the mine.
"Look! Everyone, our poor Tom! He believed the witch's sweet words and worked overtime every month. There are many people like Tom who fight for this most glorious worker title! Has the salary increased? No! With the same salary, they use this title that is not worth a copper coin to deceive us into working harder!"
"Tom... He is a staunch supporter of the witch..."
"Wait, Tom isn't here. Where did he go?"
"Hey! This is what I want to say. His wife is seriously ill. Poor Tom rushed back overnight to see his wife, but was told by the doctor that he cannot cut in line! This country cannot set a precedent for privilege! This is the fucking equality that the witch promised us!"
"This is ridiculous...! We are all being exploited!"
"Strike! Strike!"
"Let's go march and protest!"
…
The man was thrown violently and fell onto a wooden box, smashing it to the ground.
As the man screamed, the horrified onlookers knew that he had broken at least a few bones.
However, the one who knocked the man away was not a human, but a race with fish features and dark blue skin.
Mermaids are a subhuman race that live in water. They can survive on land even if they leave the ocean.
"You…you…!"
"Get out."
"You can't do this... that's the house that the witch assigned to me!" The human male and the mermaid had an argument.
The mermaid sneered. "Yeah, your house... it's really interesting! I built it! But the witch confiscated it in the name of personal income, and then distributed it to a human like you who has nothing! I believed what the witch said that Yamauroti welcomes all races, but it turned out to be nonsense in the end!"
"Nonsense...ha..."
The man with blood all over his face smiled bitterly.
"The witch said... the serfs here will not be oppressed. When I got my house, I thought I had really come to heaven... Yamauroti has rules! One person can only have one house!"
"I built two buildings with my own hands, why should they be confiscated? Is the so-called equality to oppress capable races like us and make things convenient for you parasites who don't even use magic?"
"You...you should not go too far! Without the food we get from farming, you can't survive..."
"Without you humans, we mermaids can still live under the ocean! It's you who are sucking our blood!"
....
The tavern in Yamauroti.
"It's rare for elves to be drunk."
The Leopard Man bartender teased, but he more or less knew the reason.
"Most likely...it's for the sake of magicians' rights again."
"Hiccup… Is there any need to ask? The witch… the witch has failed us!"
The drunken elf with red eyes raised his head. He had dark skin and was a descendant of the dark elves from the elven island of Albion.
"What did she say… We started from scratch together and built a society without prejudice and discrimination… We magicians worked hard to build this country… What did she give us magicians in return? She asked us to be on equal footing with those rubbish that can't even use Sequence 9 magic!"
The dark elf drank the wine in the glass in one gulp.
"We magicians have contributed the most to the construction of the country, but the witches are unwilling to give us anything extra and ask us to share equally... What do you mean by no prejudice! What do you mean by no discrimination! I think Yamauroti is the place that discriminates against magicians the most and is the most prejudiced against magicians! This place is not as good as Albion where everyone can use magic! Did you hear that! "Black" witch! You are a liar!"
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[1] as far as I know, this phrase meant: while human is born free, they need to sacrifice [chain] freedom for common goods in society
Jean-Jacques Rousseau's, the one who wrote the work which this quote is on, argue that while human is born without constraints[free], as society grew they create law, government and norm that gave restrictions and limitations to individual