Rights or Bread

“Citizen Consciousness is the problem, Citizen Consciousness. The voting right is the absolute minimum right a Bottom-Tier Citizen can hold in this rotten city. No matter how maximized plutocracy has become, does it Make Sense to Throw their only deciding power onto the Ground, calling it a lottery… Tsk, tsk.”

“Hey now, by your logic, choosing the bread and money right in front of them over difficult, invisible candidates and pledges should also be considered a part of their deciding power. Furthermore, isn’t it Human Instinct to seek the easier path?”

“If so, then we should beat the crap out of the Voting Right Lottery that created that easy path, and the President of Braincraft Inc.!”

“Come on, even if it wasn’t Braincraft Inc., something similar would have been made eventually. Why are you acting like this when you know very well? It’s a global trend.”

“What is, the Cattle-ization of Citizens? Or the loss of various fundamental rights, including the right to vote?!”

These Bar Debaters, passionately spewing their heated arguments, were Regular customers of the bar in their own right.

They hadn’t shown their faces for a while when the entire district was noisy due to the Dead Cell Incident and the Bar was full of Ronin, but that was already a month ago.

The bar was quiet, and the alleyway was still, as if they were asking when it had Ever been so chaotic. It would have been much better if it had not been election season.

The Ronin and the Patrols had all disappeared.

Whether the Dead Cell Remnants soared into the sky or sank into the Ground - however they managed to escape, it seemed they had given up, judging that they were no longer in East Monica.

Or perhaps they were quietly maintaining a perimeter, only pretending not to search on the surface.

“Even though the result of the Secret Research those guys are desperately searching for is right inside my head…”

And in the form of some weird Artificial Intelligence, at that.

[Did you call, test subject?]

‘It’s nothing. More importantly, are you sure you aren’t connected to the Research Institute? You haven’t sent my Location Information or anything like that, right?’

[Of course. The related functions have been disabled. Naturally, if you Wish, I can attempt a Signal Connection with the Research Institute again. Shall I try?]

“No, absolutely do not. Not until I request it first.”

It did save my life, and it was true that it was a huge help in controlling the Microchip, but…

A chill ran down my spine at the thought that even now, there were likely plenty of hitmen out there, searching with their eyes peeled for the Assistant in my head.

If I had my way, I’d rip it right out and Throw it away, but I couldn’t do that either.

Anyway, I had seen these customers who loved Political Talk several times before; they had returned as soon as the bar regained its original atmosphere.

A foul-tempered, stooped Old Man who, with a flushed face after a few sips of a cocktail, excitedly cursed the Pig-Dog Citizens playing into the hands of the voting lottery and the Policy of Stupification,

and a young man with a neat business style and a handsome, kind face that seemed like it would be quite popular, who humored his every word.

I ran into them on my very First Day of Work.

I still remembered the young man apologizing and dragging away the Old Man, who was drunk and acting like a Troublemaker while cursing The Public Broadcast Channel.

Given the age gap that made them look exactly like a Grandparent-Grandchild Relationship, I couldn’t get used to the fact that those two were friends who spoke casually to each other at first.

I even had the thought, “No, how did such a polite and kind grandson come from a drunkard grandfather who spews anger at everything in the World the moment a little alcohol enters his system?”

But the way I saw it now… they were both just the same political fanatics.

[Mr. Hewitt, then as the Chief Anchor of DBC, what do you think about the two people currently predicted to be the leading candidates?]

[First, in the case of Candidate Elizabeth Valentine, who is currently being called the de facto “Mayor-elect Apparent,” as anyone would know - she has very deep ties to the Super Megacorp Valentine. She declared that she severed all ties with the Family or the Group upon running for the mayoral office, but it is questionable whether that is actually the truth.]

[In fact, couldn’t this be seen as a very rare occurrence? Dusk City is a place with such deep Collusion Between Politics and Business that there’s a saying that corporations do politics, not people. But even so, I believe this is the first time we’ve seen a member of a Megacorp’s Directly Affiliated Director-Level Step up as a Front-Line Politician.]

[Yes. It is quite unprecedented. As a result, it has also caused an Unexpected effect. The Eldest Daughter of the Valentine Family, who was considered an unapproachable existence above the clouds to most citizens, ran in the Mayoral Election and rode the coverage of the Media and broadcasters, gaining truly explosive fame and popularity. The Public says this is the Megacorp’s Mystique Strategy taking effect; the steadily accumulating curiosity about the secretive Super Megacorp and the Owner Family has ignited the fuse of The Public through this opportunity.]

[The Mystique Strategy is a big part of it, but we also can’t Leave out the mention of Candidate Valentine’s beauty. When she first made her appearance, wasn’t the impact truly immense? Of course, since she is a Direct descendant of a Megacorp, there were many reactions saying, “Every single aspect of her outward appearance must be the result of cutting, pasting, and designing at the Genetic Level,” but still, Human Instinct to prefer pretty and beautiful things can’t be helped!]

[Regarding that aspect, Candidate D.D McMillan’s defeat is certain. He may have a handsome face, but he isn’t a beautiful person capable of instantly captivating the eyes of The Opposite Sex like Candidate El Valentine! Hahaha.]

Ah, I want to change the channel.

My fingers itched at the endlessly pouring political broadcasts, but it was useless anyway.

No matter which channel I turned to, nine times out of ten, Political Talk would come on. Because that was the Hot Trend among the Older Demographic that made up the majority of the hologram Broadcast Viewing Population.

The customers in front of me also took the bait sharply, as expected.

“So, what do you think about El Valentine? They say she’s already as good as elected. Will she do a good job? As someone who was at the top of a Megacorp, she might have an eye for running and operating an Organization.”

“What - do a good job? El Valentine?!”

“That’s my Wish, anyway. I guess you think differently?”

Look at that. If you watched them, the Gentle Young Man was always the one to bring up the topic first.

He would casually bring up a topic that was obviously meant to provoke the other, making the Political Fanatic Old Man jump up and down in excitement.

“What nonsense! El Valentine? She’s a shortcut to ruining the city! a Highway! The moment that whore gets her hands on the mayoral office, she’ll suck the city dry of Valentine’s resources and then some! What does a Merchant who sold chocolates and candies know about politics!”

“Still, if she has the will and drive, there probably hasn’t been a Mayoral Candidate this Powerful in history, excluding the First Mayor, right? She’s a Politician backed by a Megacorp, no less. She could bulldoze through anything. There’d be no need to worry about conflicts with the Business Community, either. Maybe a massive Wind of Change will blow through the city.”

“A damn Wind of Change will blow all right. In a bad way! Not only will there be no need to worry about conflicts with the Business Community, but they’ll be so in sync that the entire city will be reduced to a Megacorp’s Farm Cash Cow! No, it was already like that, so, is there no need to worry anew?”

Sigh.

The way the younger one gently waved things around and the older one charged in foaming at the mouth was nothing short of a combination of a Mad Cow and a Bullfighter.

The most terrible part was that the Employee who right now had to handle those two was none other than I.

Originally, it was the Assistant Bartender’s job, but that Assistant Bartender dumped it on me, claiming it was his Break Time, and ran off in the middle.

‘With your level of skill, you’ll be able to handle it just Fine, Aaron!’

Handle it, my ass.

I guarantee it. Tony will definitely pay the price for this.

Grinding my teeth, I opened my mouth with a forced smile.

It didn’t feel right to just Leave them excitedly chattering away among themselves like this. A Bartender ought to know how to Lead the conversation with customers to some extent.

Let’s bring up a topic they might like.

“Then, what do you two think about Candidate McMillan?”

The one to react immediately was, as expected, the ugly Old Man.

“Doi Dexter McMillan? That Valentine bitch is terrible, but that guy is just as bad. If Valentine is a problem because she’s proactively trying to ruin the city, then conversely, that McMillan bastard doesn’t know how to do a single thing proactively! That’s why he’s a problem.”

“That’s too harsh an assessment. It’s just that his opponent happened to be a truck; McMillan is a Candidate whose enthusiasm, at least, is Extraordinary. Even though it’s obvious at a glance that he doesn’t stand a chance against Valentine, the mere fact that he’s holding out until the end proves his tenacity.”

Of course, he’ll lose the election this time, but you never know about the next election. The way I see it, just the fact that he stepped up as Valentine’s rival means he’s already stepping onto the stage of a Major Politician, don’t you think?”

“Even so, he’s just a loser. In the end, the only one who will remain in people’s minds is the Mayor-elect, El Valentine, so what kind of Magnate is he? Enthusiasm? Hah! If enthusiasm were all it took, there wouldn’t be a single difficult thing in the World. Instead of powerlessly giving up his seat like a bastard who lost a Hierarchy Struggle, that guy should have yelled something and Taken a stand. Whether it ended up as porridge or rice!”

“Hey, it’s not just one or two people who have been ruined doing that. What kind of World is that? From the perspective of politicians, going the distance is more important than a brief flash of brilliance.”

Goodness, so loud.

Seeing the two of them having a Political Debate once again, I watched for the right timing and cut in.

“So, which side do you two support?”

The eyes of the young man and the Old Man turned to me all at once.

More accurately, to the Virtual Pamphlet Device I was holding.