Chapter 231 Are there untouchables in Ionia?
Yes, there are untouchables in Ionia.
Jie, once the most proud disciple of Master Kushu of the Order of the Kinkou, is now the renowned Grand Master of the Order of the Shadow, Lord Zed. He is an extremely rare legend in Ionia, who was born as a lowly person but was able to become the leader of a sect.
It is actually not called "劫" (robbery) or "戒" (discipline).
His name when he was a child was "Gou Fu", a typical name for a low-born person.
As a child, Gou Fu was actually just an abandoned child of a poor peasant, a servant who swept the floor and emptied the toilet in the Sect of Balance.
If it weren't for Master Kushuo's son Shen, who secretly helped him and asked his father to make an exception and accept him as a disciple despite his lowly origin, and changed his name to "Jie" -
The current Shadow Lord, Zed, may still be a pariah who sweeps the floor and emptys the toilet for the Order of the Balance.
"Unfortunately, we don't have the same luck as Master Jie..." The sailors sighed and said, "Without the name given by the sect master and clan elders, untouchables cannot change their names at will. So we can only call ourselves this now."
This left Riven speechless.
The serfs of the empire at least had the freedom to choose their names, so that people would not know they were slaves at first glance.
Ionia, on the other hand, had the status of pariahs engraved directly into their names.
In Noxus, serfs can also join the army and turn their lives around through military merit like her.
If you are lucky enough to make a fortune, you can also buy your freedom through money.
Although both paths were extremely difficult for serfs, they were at least a way to break away from their origins and achieve class transition.
And in Ionia...
"The untouchables cannot farm or do business independently. They have to work as servants and do odd jobs for others," said the sailors.
If you can’t farm or do business, then your way to make money is almost cut off.
Ionia had no army before, so there was no possibility of turning the tide through military merit.
Unless you meet a noble person like the Shadow Lord Jie, and a great noble person at the level of a sect master, you can get a name as a human being and an identity as a human being.
This is simply trapping people in the class of untouchables, with no chance of escape for the rest of their lives.
"This is really too much..." Riven muttered.
No wonder Noxian military propaganda describes Ionia as an uncivilized barbarian people.
In terms of treating the untouchables, Ionia is not as good as Noxus.
She felt sorry for the sailors.
But these sailors didn't seem to be in so much pain: "It's actually okay..."
"As long as we meet a good host, we can still live a pretty easy life."
"Just like Miss Feiya , her family treats us very well. Not only do they provide us with food and shelter, they also buy us clothes to wear. When we are sick, we have doctors to see. When we are old, we still have food to eat. They never ask for anything from us."
"Uh..." Riven always felt like something was missing here.
"What about the salary ?" she asked, "How much does her family pay you?"
"Salary? What salary?" The sailors looked back at him in bewilderment: "Miss Feiya's parents took us in, so we are now members of the Feiya family."
“Do I need to get paid if I work for my family?”
Riven: “…”
Food, clothing, housing and transportation are all included, and medical care, education and retirement are free, but no salary is paid.
It sounds pretty good.
Wait, something doesn't feel right...
"Isn't this just a slave?" Riven couldn't help but curse.
"Nonsense!" The sailors were indignant and defended their master: "Without Miss Fia's parents, we would have starved to death outside! We are just servants of the family, not slaves that only exist in Noxus!"
Riven: “…”
No, the slaves of Noxus are not as stupid as you.
Riven felt more and more that something was wrong.
Over the years, she has traveled almost all over the Valoran continent with the imperial army and has seen many local customs and practices.
Slaves are not uncommon throughout Runeterra, even in the civilized and advanced Piltover.
But there are only a few slaves as obedient and resigned to their fate as the Ionian pariahs.
You have to know that even in the extremely high-pressure Noxian Empire, when the serfs were forced into a desperate situation, they would not starve to death and would instead fight like a mantis.
But these Ionians...
How can they be so "peaceful"?
"Don't you feel dissatisfied? Don't you think that Fia's family bullied you?" Riven asked.
"Why do you think so?" The sailors were puzzled: "We have said that we are alive only because of the deceased master and mistress."
The untouchables had no land to farm and were not qualified to do business, so they could only survive by working as servants.
But ordinary families could not afford to support so many servants, and wealthy families also had limited needs. Those untouchables who could not find a master to take them in could only curl up in a corner and fend for themselves.
So of course the sailors had to be grateful to Fia's parents for taking them in.
"But why is it so?" Riven was confused. "I heard that the rice in Ionia grows taller than people, and the ears of wheat are longer than tree branches. You can get a good harvest just by farming. It's not difficult to fill your stomach."
In such a paradise, how could there be untouchables who couldn't get enough food?
"This..." The sailors thought about it seriously.
It was not difficult for them to find out the reason: "Because the field is limited."
There are only so many fields, and people are still giving birth. Sons give birth to grandchildren, and grandchildren give birth to sons, and the descendants are endless.
No matter how fertile your land is or how high the yield per unit area is, you can't support more and more people. And the land is limited, there is simply not enough to share among so many people.
Therefore, in Ionia, there will always be a group of "redundant people".
They are the untouchables, the untouchables.
Most of these untouchables will never be eligible to marry and have children in their entire lives, and will simply disappear from this world naturally.
They will come alone and leave alone, returning their bodies to nature and reducing the pressure of humans on nature.
"If there isn't enough land, can't you go to the mountains and reclaim land and grow crops yourself?" Riven still couldn't understand.
She asked again: "I heard that there are still large tracts of forest in Ionia that can be developed! The land here is so fertile, why don't you cultivate the land yourself?"
"Huh?" The sailors were shocked: "Developing the forest? How can this be possible!"
The newborn soil is soaked in magic, and everything in it is alive.
“Plant life is life too.”
"Those flowers, plants and trees are also living things. How can we kill them at will? Unauthorized development of the forest is a serious crime and will be sentenced to death by the clan elders!"
"This..." Riven was speechless. She couldn't help but ask, "If you are not allowed to develop the forest and cut down trees, then how did you get the farmland you cultivate and the houses you live in?"
"Well..." The sailors explained, "We don't build houses ourselves. Instead, we ask the 'wood weavers' from our clans and sects to communicate with nature and 'persuade' the trees to grow into the shape of houses."
"If a tree wants us to live in it, it will grow into a house."
"As for the fields...the fields we can cultivate now are also the fields that the spirits of nature allow us to cultivate."
"If we want to open up new fields, we have to send elders to communicate with the spirits of nature and obtain permission from Ionia's nature."
"In short, in our Ionia, a 'balance' must be maintained between humans and nature. This is the rule, and no one can break it."
Humans and nature coexist in balance. This sounds wonderful.
What should we do with the excess part that disrupts the balance?
That's another story.
Riven was terrified when she thought about it, and even got goose bumps.
"You really have no resentment and don't want to resist?" She couldn't help but ask again.
They were born as untouchables, bound by clans and sects, deprived of their freedom, and became slaves all their lives.
How can they be so peaceful? On what basis?
"There's nothing we can do about it." The sailors sighed.
They did have some resentment, but it was just a small complaint.
And they are not complaining about any clan or sect, nor the traditional rules that bind them, but themselves:
"It's all our own bad luck."
"Ionia has its own way of balance, and our existence will only affect the balance of all things and destroy Ionia's natural environment."
"We are redundant and we are the inferior species that should not have been born."
"As a superfluous person, it's good enough to be alive now. Why do you want to cause trouble by wreaking havoc with resentment and causing trouble for the elders of the sect who are trying hard to maintain balance?"
"Yes." Another sailor agreed seriously: "All we have to do is accept our fate."
"If you suffer a little in this life for the sake of natural balance, you will be able to enjoy it in the spiritual realm after you die. In the next life, you will be reincarnated into a good family."
After hearing this, Riven was completely speechless.
She rediscovered Ionia.
What is natural balance?
This is clearly...
"Eating people!" Riven muttered to herself like a madman: "The flowers, plants and trees here have been 'eating people' all the time!"
