I have to say that being able to live by eating grass is indeed a huge advantage.
A few days later, when the technical school announced its enrollment list, Hopps, who came to the school again, except that his clothes were a little older, looked in good spirits, and his face was even rosy and shiny.
Because he felt the abundant life energy of the sacred tree, he simply lived under the tree these days, eating weeds on the ground and some leaves blown down by the wind. When he was full, he would either practice martial arts or sit and meditate.
Although neither martial arts nor magic is good, Hopps really knows how to do both. In the past, he kept his tail between his legs and didn't dare to practice even if he knew it. Now he is free and can practice however he wants.
I don’t know if the environment is suitable? Or a change of mood? In short, he found that the effect of his exercise was greatly improved, especially when meditating, he could clearly feel the existence of natural magic. Those feelings that had been vague and unclear in the past were now clear. The power of nature flowed around him, as if flowing into his body with every breath he took, making him energetic.
(If only this could be done a few years ago!)
Hopps thought this, but knew it was just a delusion.
Things in the past are in the past. What he has to do now is to become a good worker, make money to support himself, and never look at other people's faces again. He no longer has to look forward and backward, and be an upright man with his head held high. people!
The life he lived these past few days also gave him a great impression. The Northwest Republic was not without poor people. He had seen people wearing patched clothes passing by more than once. But even these poor people are in good spirits. They are neither emaciated due to hunger nor dejected due to poverty. Their eyes were bright and they all looked confident.
It's interesting to say that more than one poor man noticed Hopps sleeping under the sacred tree, and several people came to persuade him not to be so decadent, and at least find a temporary job to do - Void City has a large population, but because of its service industry Because of the main job, there is always a shortage of manpower. As long as you are diligent enough, you can easily find a job.
As for the problems that are common in other places, such as bosses oppressing workers and making it difficult to get paid on time after working, this is absolutely impossible here. The priests of the Church of the Mask of the Void wander around the city all day long, like a group of vigilant hunting dogs, looking for clues of various improper behaviors. They don't care about petty theft, but things like this kind of unpaid wages If this happens, they will take care of it.
The clergy's method of "control" was quite simple and effective. They usually dragged the person to the street, erected a pillar as a temporary altar in public, and then publicly interrogated him. In the face of the great divine power of His Majesty the Mask of the Void, neither profiteers nor liars can hope to get away with it, and resistance is even more impossible. Once someone is found guilty, various instruments of torture are often dragged out.
The most common torture device is the tickling machine, which will not cause substantial damage to people, but as long as they have seen people being tickled to the point of tears, runny nose, or even feces and urine, and still laughing, they will not Dare you think it's benign and harmless.
The more intense torture instrument is the famous "electrotherapy chair", which is a chair with a rubber base and a metal frame. The victim is firmly tied to it, and then as soon as the switch is pressed, a beeping sound is heard. After a while, blue-white electric light will flash from the metal frame, causing the victim to tremble to death.
It is said that this kind of torture instrument is a very powerful magic tool. It can be used to treat people while being tortured, which can effectively prevent the person being punished from serious injury and death. However, not dying is not necessarily a good thing. Generally speaking, people who have been electrocuted will be stupid for a few days, and in severe cases, they may even be stupid for a week. Legend has it that the worst person was stupid for half a month, regardless of the pain at the time. Just the fact that you will be a fool for a while afterwards makes your hair stand on end.
In the past few days, Hopps had actually witnessed a public trial of the Church of the Mask of the Void. The person on trial was a swindler who was constantly committing crimes. This guy always made up news about other people's children being injured or sick, and defrauded them of money.
In fact, it was nothing more than cheating for money. The most hateful thing was that his excuse was so unfair that more than one of them scared the elderly into falling ill!
The trial for this guy was quite simple. The witnesses and physical evidence were all conclusive, and he could not deny it under his divine power. In the end, he was sentenced to "labor of the dead". As the priest recited the incantation, a dark green light fell on the temporary altar. The guy screamed and gradually became stiff and turned into a zombie.
Of course, this situation is only temporary. After the money he earns through labor is enough to repay the fine, he can rehabilitate his body without leaving any sequelae.
Hmm... assuming that "working with a group of real undead" would not leave any psychological shadow on him.
Hopps was a little curious and tried to inquire about it, and then found that the death penalty was rare in the Northwest Republic. Except for serious crimes such as murder, even spies or inciting rebellion would not be executed.
But this definitely does not mean that the legal punishment here is insufficient - the so-called legal strength depends not only on the intensity of punishment, but also on the efficiency of discovering crimes and arresting criminals. In this regard, the Northwest Republic is simply ridiculously high.
Residents here are divided into groups of ten households. In addition to taking care of their children in public kindergartens, the elderly in each group patrol the residential area on a daily basis. Because of the mixture of various races, there are both diurnal and nocturnal species, almost constantly. Coupled with the conscientious patrols and the always elusive Church of the Void Mask priests, it is really difficult to commit crimes in the Northwest Republic without being discovered or caught!
Hopps liked this environment, it was reassuring. So even though he slept outdoors these days, he still slept very comfortably.
However, when he returned to school and saw that several cat people who were poorer than himself were obviously fatter than when he first saw them, he couldn't help but wonder.
Those cat people were brothers, and the leading brother was named Walter. They and Hopps came to the Northwest Republic with the same caravan. Because cat people are almost purely carnivorous, they live a very miserable life, and all of them are skinny. Hopps originally thought that they would become even thinner because they couldn't live on grass these days, but he didn't expect that these guys not only didn't lose weight, but actually gained a lot of weight.
He asked curiously and learned that these cat people had found odd jobs and were working as delivery boys in the underground amusement park these days.
Underground in Void City, there is a huge amusement park called "Dungeons and Dragons". This amusement park is full of traps and monsters. Although they won't cause real serious harm to people, they are indeed a bit scary. Tourists from all over the world who are interested in adventure but don't have the ability can go here to experience the feeling of adventure as long as they pay a small amount of money. If you're lucky, you can earn some rare goodies through loot.
There are various supplies scattered in the underground playground, and they need to be checked and replenished regularly. This work is fragmentary and troublesome, and it is usually done by looking for odd jobs. Those cat people relied on their physical agility and dark vision to be at home in the underground amusement park and did a great job.
This odd job adopts a payment method of more work, more gain, and they have actually made a lot of money these days. And because he was often invited to have dinner with adventurers, he had meat for almost every meal, and within a few days everyone had gained a lot of weight.
When they came back from this trip, they gave up signing up because they had found a job that really suited them.
"Congratulations!" After Hopps asked clearly, he smiled and said, "You are really amazing!"
"Actually, you can also find a part-time job to do." Walter said, "You are smart and dexterous, you can easily find a job."
"Who would want a mixed race..."
"That's true in the empire, but it's different here!" Walter's eyes lit up, "There's no discrimination against us here at all, and no one will think we are guilty just because we can't get a response from the gods. As for race , that’s not a problem, I even saw goblins working as ambulancemen. Even goblins can find jobs, are you inferior to goblins?"
Hopps was a little moved by what he said, but when he heard from Clerk Sekerite that he had been admitted to the mining major, he still maintained his original idea.
After all, doing odd jobs is not a long-term solution. It is only right to learn a skill first!