Chapter 103: The Mutant Uprising |
Glancing at Samuel, who had his thumb raised, Evina quickly understood what he had done.
Samuel had prepared a copy of The Lunatic's World Travel Guide for her as well, and had even updated it a little.
But she had no intention of studying the book for now; what interested her more was the story Grill had just been telling.
A few minutes earlier…
“That has to start with events from a few hundred years ago.” Grill looked at Falson, who seemed interested in this stretch of history.
“You should know about the massive plague that lasted three months over two hundred years ago, the one that nearly destroyed Liastan, right?”
Falson nodded; he had learned of it at the Grammar School.
It was said that over two hundred, nearly three hundred years ago, a great plague swept the world.
Large numbers of people were infected, becoming violent in temperament, their bodies sprouting pustules.
Wait—deformed people?
Falson had found a blind spot.
“So…” Falson asked cautiously.
“Yes, exactly what you’re imagining.” Grill nodded.
“This so-called ‘plague’ actually originated from the Mutants.”
He took a silver flask from his pocket and took a sip.
“Before I tell you the story, you need to understand three similar but distinct terms.”
“[Mutant], [Subhuman], and [Exceptional Creature].”
Grill took a cigar from a case, then turned the case toward the other two.
“Want one?” he asked.
Falson shook his head—he had never smoked and wouldn’t start. Evina, however, reached out, curious, and took one.
Seeing Falson uninterested, Grill didn’t press it. He set a matchbox on the table, took a match, lit it, and warmed his cigar.
He didn’t worry that smoking in front of a Law Seeker might be frowned upon; Law Seekers weren’t so delicate that they couldn’t tolerate the smell.
Besides, his Law Mark meant that even if he was a decent person, his decency was limited.
Evina imitated Grill and began warming her cigar as well.
Neither she nor Samuel had ever smoked cigars, but it didn’t look difficult.
“Exceptional Creatures are the easiest to understand: creatures born with extraordinary traits. They can be animals or plants; originally the definition even included humans, since humans are a type of animal,” Grill began, warming his cigar while briefing Falson before the story.
“But later, for ethical reasons, humans born with extraordinary traits were separated from Exceptional Creatures and classified as Subhumans and Mutants.”
“Exceptional Creatures are naturally endowed with extraordinary abilities, like animals or plants but belonging to distinct species. Many have intelligence comparable to young humans.”
“Hm, sometimes they are hard to distinguish from Subhumans and Mutants, since they may not look entirely nonhuman, while Subhumans and Mutants might not always retain a full human appearance,” Grill said with an odd tone. “The best way to distinguish them is… in most cases, Exceptional Creatures have reproductive isolation from humans, whereas Subhumans and Mutants do not.”
He set down the match, took a cigar cutter, snipped the cigar cap, and gave the cigar a gentle shake.
This time he wasn’t in a rush; he could smoke slowly, not take it all in one breath like last time.
Though he wouldn’t be harmed by doing so, he would lose a lot of the flavor.
Falson thought of himself.
He was someone born with extraordinary traits—he had shown specialness before becoming a Law Seeker.
But neither of his parents had such traits, so could it be atavism, a return of ancestral traits in his generation?
Judging by Grill’s attitude toward “Mutants,” Falson decided it better not to speak.
Grill continued his explanation.
“Then there are Subhumans and Mutants. Compared to animals and plants, they are closer to humans. Three hundred years ago they were both called ‘Subhumans’; at that time there was no term ‘Mutant’.”
At that point, Grill drew the first small puff.
“Three hundred years ago…”
Smoke drifted from his mouth as he spoke.
He leaned back in his chair without looking at Evina, but Evina felt his attention on her the whole time.
Seeing his slightly melancholic expression, Evina inhaled as well.
Whoosh…
Two white clouds of vapor blew out from the gill slits beneath her ears.
She found it quite amusing.
…………
About three hundred-something years ago, between five hundred and just over two hundred years ago.
It was an age of manifold manifestations, called the Age of Flourishing Spirits.
For ordinary people, it was an era when many deformed births occurred among both commoners and nobles. Regardless of whether parents were normal or deformed, newborns might be born with deformities.
Ordinary people might give birth to deformed children, and deformed parents might have normal offspring.
That initial period had sparked a brief unrest.
Deformed children resembled humans but were not identical.
Some looked grotesque, some had animal traits, some had plant-like features, and some were born lacking or with additional limbs and organs.
No one could clearly explain why.
To prevent discrimination and bullying, authorities labeled such children “Children of Many Forms,” claiming they were gifts from the spirits of all beings.
At least, that’s how the history books of ordinary people described it.
For Law Seekers in the exceptional world, history looked a bit different.
In that world, it was a prosperous age of interspecies cooperation and mutual aid.
Back then there was no concept of “Mutant,” only “Subhuman.”
They resembled humans but were born with certain extraordinary traits, and they could intermarry with humans. They were considered a branch of humanity, hence called “Subhuman.”
At first, human acceptance of Subhumans was not easy because their appearances could be frightening.
How the earliest Subhumans integrated into human society is now impossible to verify. What is known is that in the first few hundred years, Subhumans and humans enjoyed a “honeymoon period,” getting along quite harmoniously.
To make Subhumans more acceptable, humans called them “Children of Many Forms.”
Some Subhumans rode the tide of the era and established the Church of All Spirits, symbolizing harmonious coexistence of all life.
There was no actual deity of all spirits, but that name was useful.
Subhumans and humans were not reproductively isolated, so occasionally a human ancestor could be of Subhuman origin.
Although the human-Subhuman honeymoon had only lasted a few hundred years, even in older ages humans had interbred with Subhumans.
In those distant times, Subhumans likely looked even less human, so those who willingly joined with them were regarded as supermen.
In short, Subhuman blood was partially integrated into human society in small amounts.
As Subhumans blended into human society and intermarriage increased, some lineages experienced atavism, producing Subhumans from two humans.
Conversely, some lines were too diluted or never awakened, so two hybrid Subhumans might produce an ordinary child lacking obvious Subhuman traits.
Subhumans slowly integrated into human society, and belief in the spirits of all beings spread throughout the human world…
But the problem lay precisely there.
“Subhuman” means a species similar to humans but not human.
Yet clearly the potential Subhumans were born with far greater abilities than normal humans.
Some could breathe underwater, some could fly, some possessed features of multiple animals, and some could generate toxins or pollen…
With the Church’s glorification, many deified them.
So why should Subhumans be subordinate to humans?
They were stronger, more gifted, and many humans treated them as objects of worship; families blessed to have a “Child of Many Forms” would cherish them to the point of adoration.
Most importantly…
Humans were part of the diet for some Subhumans.
So why should Subhumans be subject to humans?
That was the opinion of many Subhumans at the time.
The Church of All Spirits split into two factions.
A pacifist wing and a militant wing; over time, neutral Subhumans were gradually divided between them.
More and more Subhumans grew arrogant and contemptuous of humans, and humans began to resist.
Human–Subhuman conflict started as minor frictions, then escalated in frequency and intensity.
About two hundred seventy years ago, the Subhuman rebellion began.
Plant-featured Subhumans spread infectious, toxic pollen, which, after persisting for a time, caused a massive plague.
The militant wing of the Church of All Spirits intervened, showing no mercy to humans, slaughtering on a great scale.
That rebellion lasted six months, historically known as…
The Mutant Uprising.
…………
“…”
“The Mutant Uprising, which lasted over three months, caused the fall of dozens of cities, nearly tearing the Kingdom of Liastan apart.”
“Some Mutants tailored their toxins to human biology; infections from those toxins were nearly incurable—contracting them for an ordinary person was tantamount to a death sentence.”
“They showed no compassion—many spared neither the elderly, children, nor women.”
“Humans were simply too weak for them; they didn’t even qualify as slaves.”
“And humans were within some Subhumans’ dietary range…”
“In short, the war had massive repercussions; aside from Liastan, many other countries were affected, and some small nations were wiped out.”
“It wasn’t until the intervention of King Theova III, the previous previous monarch, that the rebellion was finally quelled.”
By then Grill had smoked more than half the cigar.
He took a deep drag, not caring about letting the smoke reach his lungs, feeling the burning sensation.
“Just a three-month Mutant Uprising killed over a million humans in Liastan alone.”
“Over a million from Liastan alone.”
“At the time, Liastan’s human population was roughly thirty million, so nearly one in thirty people died. That doesn’t even count the disabled, the unregistered, or those who died from aftermaths…”
“Afterward, Subhumans who participated in the Mutant Uprising were labeled Mutants, while those who did not were called Subhumans.”
“That is the difference between Mutant and Subhuman.”
Grill glanced at Evina, took another puff, and said nothing further, but the implication was clear.
The Siren had been among the Subhumans who rebelled.
No—now she should be called a Mutant.
Falson was shocked; Evina seemed to be drifting somewhere else.
Seeing Evina look distant, Grill hesitated.
Perhaps his previous attitude had offended her, or maybe the details of the Mutant Uprising had left her at a loss for words.
That was understandable; anyone would be unsettled by such things.
If a normal person had been misidentified as a Mutant and accused of killing compatriots simply because they had inscribed a Law Rhyme, anyone would feel hurt.
With that in mind, Grill put the cigar down on the plate before him and apologized once more.
“Ms. Evina, I’m sorry about what happened earlier, I—”
Grill’s words were interrupted.
“It’s not your fault,” Evina still smiled, showing no anger at all.
She took another puff and let the smoke waft out through the gill slits on either side of her head, seemingly enjoying it.
She truly wasn’t angry.
She was thinking about something else.
Her mind was excellent—she could listen to the story while pondering other matters.
She could handle five or six things at once without issue.
Combined with her naturally dreamy eyes, she simply looked absentminded.
“I was just thinking,” she blinked, “I might need to accommodate the Law Mark called Prisoner. If that’s the case, would adding some restraints to my body be better?”
“After all, I’m a Siren; in your story, I’m a sinner who deserves death.”
“Not necessary…,” Grill murmured, unsure what to say.
But he did affirm her line of thought.
“In theory, wearing restraints would help contain the Prisoner Law Mark.”
“However, it would certainly make your body less agile, and in the current situation that could be dangerous.”
Evina didn’t mind at all and kept exploring the idea.
“If I prepare a blindfold and a pair of handcuffs and shackles, would that look more fitting?”
No—this surely wasn’t purely about accommodating a Law Mark…
“Then how about I hang you on a cross,” Samuel’s voice chimed in, “call it penance.”
He had unconsciously moved behind Evina, placing his hands lightly on her half-exposed, alabaster shoulders.
Evina actually considered the idea quite seriously.
“Hmm…”
“I’m not fit to be hung on a cross. If forced, an inverted cross would suit me better.”
She began to fantasize.
“To hang on a cross requires arms spread wide and straight; for an inverted cross, the hands should be bound together, legs split in a straddle, each bound to the sides…”
She brought her hands together, then opened the tips of her fingers outward, making a flat plane with her palms.
“Something like that.”
“I doubt that’s how an inverted cross is really tied, but… it could work.” Samuel approved her thinking.
Grill sighed inwardly watching Evina’s relaxed expression.
Whether this Siren lady was born a Siren or, as she herself claimed, had become one because of a Law Rhyme,
she was still not human after all…