Beginning of the Red Tide

About ten years ago, when the ghost called communism was haunting the factories of the South.

The nobles who tried by any means to suppress the subversive ideology burned every book related to communism that they found.

But I did not.

'There is no bomb more frightening than communism.'

Communism was ultimately the tide of the times. It was an inevitable presence born from the shadows of capitalism.

And every nation undergoing industrialization in this world had such shadows.

That was because the raw capitalism they adopted was fundamentally a failed ideology.

Raw capitalism did not regard human beings as people. I thought even the madness of capitalist Great Britain, which forced five-year-old children into factories, could not be matched by the communist reds.

'And the choice made by those Northern bastards, who maximized only its flaws, is idiotic.'

The more militaristic a nation was, the better it needed to treat its workers. It was no coincidence that the first labor standards law emerged from militaristic Prussia.

The reason for protecting workers was not simply goodwill.

Dead workers could not make guns, and sick workers could not father soldiers. Children ground down in factories from the age of five could not grow into strong soldiers.

Above all, if they ground down their workers like that...

"They would inevitably become vulnerable to communism."

"Communism... You mean the ideology that began boiling over in the South more than ten years ago?"

"Yes. The very ideology I twisted myself into knots trying to stop."

Deep beneath the Grand Ducal Castle, we opened the thick iron door guarded by Royal Guards of the seventh tier or higher.

When the electric lights came on, rows of bookshelves arranged in straight lines came into view.

Black grimoires made from human skin, ancient documents inscribed with forbidden magical knowledge no one should know, incomprehensible research journals written by mad mages, and more all radiated an evil aura.

Having reached the realm of a ninth-tier mage, I was unaffected, but apparently Lucilla was not. She looked slightly awkward, hunching both arms as though she were cold.

"Are you very cold?"

"...Yes, a little."

I lightly snapped my fingers, and warm mana spread out in the form of golden particles. Only then did Lucilla's expression relax considerably.

"Ahem."

Perhaps embarrassed at having shown that side of herself, Lucilla gave a small cough and returned to her usual composure. She looked around and asked,

"It seems we've come quite deep into the Forbidden Library... Is this 'communism' really such a frightening ideology?"

"Of course. Perhaps even more so than all the forbidden books stored in this archive put together."

The grimoires we had just passed were capable of destroying cities.

But even such things could not come close to the ideology called communism.

Because communism was a dangerous ideology capable of splitting the world in half.

The short sentence, 'Workers of the world, unite!', contained a force more intense than any magic in this age.

"Ah, we've arrived."

At last, when we reached the end of the Forbidden Library, several books lay there beneath a thick layer of dust.

Books confiscated ten years ago that had not seen the light of day even once since then.

Books containing ideas similar to Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto.

I picked up the books without hesitation.

Other regions and foreign powers were another matter, but our South alone would not fall victim to this Das Kapital.

The wall of welfare I had built over ten years while guarding against the rise of communism was by no means low. Considering the people's overwhelming approval as well, it was an ideology that could never raise its head during my era.

Thanks to that, I could release these books without worrying that even my own house would be burned down.

"Lucilla, when you go upstairs, bring me the head of a reliable publisher as well. If you can't find one, a newspaper owner will do."

"Understood."

The timing also worked out perfectly for us. It would soon be a year since the East had submitted to us, and the Center was likely already fairly closely entangled with the North.

If we tossed the bomb called communism at the beginning of their cooperation, the Center might seek contact with the foreign powers.

If we tossed it near the end of their cooperation, the Center would already have all the production facilities it needed.

So right now was perfect. It had to be a time neither too late nor too early.

"And bring the head of the Intelligence Bureau, too. Let's discuss how to spread this bright-red disease throughout the North."

***

It was not particularly unusual for the Southern Grand Ducal Household to summon a newspaper owner personally.

From the outset, the Southern newspapers had been cultivated as companies that Kyle Leopold could use as his mouthpieces. The major newspapers took it for granted that they would receive directives from the Southern Grand Ducal Household and publish the assigned content.

But today was a little different.

Felix, the president of the Industrial Daily, kept glancing sideways while trying to conceal how nervous he was.

And for good reason: beside him was the person Southerners least wanted to meet.

William, head of the Intelligence Bureau.

A man in a suit with a cold, sharp appearance. To outward appearances, he looked like nothing more than a gentleman standing with a cane in hand, but few people were unaware of what he truly held.

All of the South's intelligence.

The Intelligence Bureau was the sword wielded by Kyle Leopold, and William was its hilt. Felix, standing beside that keenly honed sword, felt as though he were dying from tension.

'Could there be a spy among our newspaper staff?'

'Was one of our employees caught spying without my knowledge? Was I dragged here under collective responsibility?'

'Or was there something in our reporting so far that might have displeased Lord Kyle?'

While Felix trembled, the door opened.

Kyle Leopold took a brief glance at Felix and William, then set down the book he was holding and said in a serious voice,

"This book must never leak into the South. The printed material I am entrusting to you, Felix, from this moment onward, is the same."

"This is..."

Felix, who had been wondering what this was about, understood Kyle's words the moment he saw the title of the book.

The red disease that had spread through the factory districts ten years ago. Only businessmen who had lived through that period knew how terrifying a disease it was.

"The target audience this time is the Northern workers. Naturally, there is no way workers could read a book like this."

"That's right."

Felix, who had experienced the South's turmoil ten years ago firsthand as a capitalist, knew that all too well.

These were books that only relatively educated union chairmen would read. What was distributed to rank-and-file workers were pamphlets condensing their contents.

"Felix, copy this book and prepare pamphlets suited to the level of Northern workers."

Naturally, there was no way he would ask him to undertake such important work for nothing.

"Since this is important work, I will compensate you handsomely. However... if I see this circulating among our workers, Felix, your head may fly."

"Y-yes, sir! I'll keep that in mind!"

After Felix withdrew, Kyle turned his gaze to William.

"The Intelligence Bureau needs to distribute these pamphlets among the Northern workers."

In 1897, the literacy rate of the Russian Empire was only around 20 percent. How had Das Kapital spread among the Russian people, who could neither afford to buy books nor read?

The answer was simple.

Union officials who could at least be considered intellectuals taught them, while the rare workers who could read aloud read the contents to others.

If not, the key points were conveyed through pamphlets of several pages or booklets containing illustrations.

"Distribute this book to members of the working class who can read and write to some degree, and scatter the pamphlets in large quantities."

The geographical obstacle of the Center was not a major problem.

The West and the North were connected by the lofty Arbel Mountains. It was not particularly difficult to use our wyvern knights to cross the range, insert agents, and scatter pamphlets from the air.

"I will give you three months. I will provide all the support you need, so carry out the operation."

***

The year 1027 by Imperial reckoning was the most terrible year for Northern workers.

The moment the pretext of the monsters beyond the northern defensive line that they had used all this time disappeared, the Northern Grand Ducal Household began clamping down on the workers by force.

"Only industrial warriors with strong spirits can survive in the frigid North!"

"Possession of the Labor Standards Act and pamphlets related to it is prohibited!"

The General Directorate of Corrective Detention and Labor Camps of the Political Security Department was always packed with people. The more people were sucked into the black mine shafts, the more oppressive the atmosphere of society became.

Then even workers who had initially wanted only the minimum rights guaranteed through the Labor Standards Act began to change their minds.

"If I live under this system for much longer, I don't think I'll die a natural death."

Such fear weighed heavily on society.

And so, the first month of 1028 by Imperial reckoning.

The moment workers began searching for something beyond the Labor Standards Act, the gift sent by the South finally arrived in the North.

"Das Kapital? The Communist Manifesto?"

The first people the Intelligence Bureau contacted were the chairmen of the workers' unions at each factory. To those powerless chairmen of unions that existed in name only, communism seemed like an ideology the North desperately needed.

What spread next were the pamphlets.

Pamphlets of the kind that even workers who could barely read could agree with at a glance.

'He who does not work shall not eat.'

'If the steel we make becomes nobles' swords and the bread we bake becomes nobles' meals, why are our children starving?'

The workers suffering under exploitation quickly began to be indoctrinated by this ideology.

At first, the Northern Grand Ducal Household failed to properly crack down on such pamphlets.

The people producing publications related to the Labor Standards Act were Northern workers, while the South's Intelligence Bureau was distributing communist publications. Since the two groups were different, the response ended up being relatively slow.

The price came due in June.

In June, as red ideology spread secretly among the workers,

a major disaster occurred at the Krasnova Mine, the largest coal mine in the North.

A massive explosion occurred underground, burying hundreds of miners alive.

It was a massive man-made disaster.

The supervisors had reported that the methane concentration in the Krasnova Mine was above dangerous levels, but the company ignored the report because it feared a decline in production.

It was the beginning of the Krasnova Incident, which set off the communist tide in the North.