Becoming a god by raising witches

Hannah said seriously.

The coachman sighed, "Alright, alright, after this trip, I'll go home and rest."

Hannah didn't ask how the coachman got injured; she had already guessed that things had indeed been rather unsettled in the West End lately.

Locke, Hannah, Eileen, and Rebecca sat in the carriage, listening to the clatter of hooves and watching the scenery gradually pass by outside the window.

At night, the streets of the East District are bustling with pedestrians, and many shops stay open until late at night because the area is very safe.

The sheriffs were not arrogant; they treated the citizens of the East District like true public servants.

"Hannah, you said you had good news and bad news to tell me. Can you tell me now?"

Locke suddenly asked.

"Didn't you tell me before to make more clothes to keep warm in winter? I thought Rebecca would need some too, so I bought some fabric and went to see Mrs. Amor, but I saw Mars instead. Do you remember Mars?"

"Hannah asked."

Locke nodded. "The Mars family, who lived on the top floor of Old John's apartment building, I certainly remember. He and his wife Laura raised five children together."

"Yes, the bad news is that what I saw was Mars's body. He committed suicide by jumping off the building."

Hannah said with a sigh.

"suicide?"

Locke paused, remembering that Mars was also a worker at an alchemy plant, and that his decent salary allowed him to support five children.

Could it be because of unemployment?

"Yes, Mars' factory went bankrupt, he lost his job, and his wife Lola was pregnant again. He couldn't bear the pressure of life, so he chose to commit suicide. Poor Lola doesn't know what to do. She can't even line up to go to the poorhouse now."

"Mars loved his wife very much, how could he choose to commit suicide? I remember he was a worker in the workers' association, even if he lost his job, he should have been able to find another job."

Locke asked, puzzled.

"Too many factories have closed down, and too many workers have lost their jobs. Even members of the workers' association cannot be guaranteed a job. Moreover, the Mars family's expenses are too high."

Hannah said.

Rebecca listened intently to their conversation, her eyes shining.

'Lola is a great target. She must be feeling desperate right now. I love tasting the souls of the desperate! The West End is a great place. I don't want to go back to the East End; I want to eat my fill here.'

Locke looked at the excited Rebecca, patted her head, and conveyed his message with his eyes.

Don't even think about it!

Rebecca pouted angrily and glared at Locke.

"Mind your own business!"

"Mars is not the kind of person who would abandon his wife and children and leave. Unless he dies and gets a lot of money, the family can only be saved while he is alive."

Locke analyzed.

Hannah was stunned. "You mean someone gave him money to jump off a building?"

“That’s right. The workers’ march in the West End had ended before, but now it’s started again, and it’s even more intense. It’s because of Mars’ death that someone is pushing this behind the scenes.”

Locke said in a low voice.

"Who would push for such a thing? Is it to incite social unrest? Or is it a rebel party?"

Hannah asked in a guessing tone.

"This possibility cannot be ruled out."

Locke said, though that wasn't what he really thought.

"Could it be the old nobles? Since Her Majesty the Queen ascended the throne, she has supported many new nobles and suppressed the power of the old nobles. The School of Life even has to make way for the Alchemy Cult. Could it be that a religious sect is involved in this?"

Hannah felt that the matter behind this was quite complicated upon closer examination. It must be that the old nobles did not want to see the situation stabilize under the Queen's rule and wanted to create chaos in order to find an opportunity to take back the rights of the old nobles.

The Church of Life also wanted to squeeze out the Church of Alchemy.

If too many people become unemployed, and unemployed families lose their income and become homeless, then the number of people in need of relief will increase. The kingdom's almshouses certainly cannot accommodate so many people, but if the wealthy nobles and the church take this opportunity to negotiate with Her Majesty the Queen, they may be able to regain some of their authority.

Furthermore, if a large-scale riot occurs in society, it can be used as an opportunity to impeach Her Majesty the Queen and limit her power.

"Yes, the workers started protesting again because of this. If this continues, it's not impossible for a riot to break out."

Hannah said in a low voice,

"Mrs. Amor told me to go to the West End less often lately. Many unemployed workers can't find jobs and have started committing crimes. There are three households in Old John's apartment building, and they have all been robbed. Mrs. Amor also wants to move, but hasn't thought of a suitable place yet."

“The estate is large enough that Mrs. Amour can stay there if she wishes.”

Locke suggested that although he sympathized with Lola and the children, he believed that Mars' death could not have been in vain, and that his family might have received the money in advance.

“But didn’t you say the manor is located in the Ur district? If Mrs. Amor lives there, she won’t be able to continue working. Most of her customers are people from the neighborhood of Old John’s apartment.”

Hannah said.

Locke nodded. "That's true. And I'm still struggling with the wages of the original staff at the manor, so I can't recruit any more people. I'll go to the West Side Sheriff's Court tomorrow and ask them to help look after the residents of Old John's apartment building."

"That's all it can do."

Hannah sighed again.

"What's the good news?"

Locke asked.

"The good news is that I wrote a report about this, and the editor-in-chief took it very seriously. She also knows a member of parliament who will propose how to properly accommodate these unemployed workers in the cabinet meeting."

Hannah clenched her fist, feeling that she had also done her part for the workers in the West End, even though she hadn't seen any results yet.

"If this matter is directed at the Queen, I believe Her Majesty is certainly capable of retaliating."

Hannah had great confidence in Queen Katerina.

"why?"

Locke asked.

"Are you aware that Parliament recently passed the Food Bill?"

Hannah looked at Locke with shining eyes.

Locke shook his head. "I haven't seen the news yet. I've spent the whole day with Princess Frida."

"Yes, it was just announced at noon today! This is the latest news: we will restrict Fort Aiden's food imports from our country."

Hannah said excitedly.

"Restricting imports is not a good thing, is it?"

Locke stroked his chin.

"No, perhaps it wasn't a good thing in the past, and it may not be a good thing in the future, but it's definitely a good thing to enact it now. The new food law stipulates restrictions on imports, so the people will no longer eat food imported from Ettenburgh, but will only buy locally produced food. Farmers' food will not be unsold, the food market will stabilize, and prices will decrease. By the way, the new food law also regulates food prices and restricts those high-consumption products. In this way, everyone will be able to afford food. The new food law was also proposed by Her Majesty the Queen. She is truly a remarkable woman. Can you believe that she is only in her twenties?"

Hannah's face was filled with adoration.

Locke narrowed his eyes, realizing that the Queen's move was truly ingenious.

First, she orchestrated a water pollution incident in the western district, causing a large number of Baker Grain Company shares to fall into the hands of her cronies. She then secretly manipulated the kingdom's grain prices, driving them up.

The Food Act was introduced under the guise of stabilizing domestic food prices and ensuring that people's food and clothing problems were solved. In reality, however, it used xenophobic methods, refusing food imports from Eytenburg, expelling Eytenburg merchants, and eliminating spies among them.

All of this was actually preparation for war.

The unsuspecting people, or those like Hannah who only have a superficial understanding, are still praising the Queen, while she is actually playing a much bigger game.

If that's the case, then the West End workers' march and the escalating riots, even if not orchestrated by the Queen herself, but rather pushed forward by the old aristocracy and the Church of Life, would still be exactly what the Queen wanted, the result she desired.

Locke guessed that it wouldn't be long before these extra laborers would be transferred to the North to become soldiers there.

Using external conflicts to resolve internal conflicts, seizing opportunities to wage war abroad and acquire more resources, coupled with a highly developed industry, Katerina Tumen aims to transform the kingdom into an empire; her ambitions are vast.

While the siblings were chatting, the carriage had already crossed the Trey Bridge and arrived in the West District from the East District.

The Trey Bridge area is relatively safe, and there are still some pedestrians even at night, but it is far less safe than the East Side.

Once you pass through the Trey Bridge area and enter the traditional West End, you'll find that besides homeless people, the streets are mostly filled with streetwalkers and furtive individuals.

Those suspicious-looking individuals lurking in the shadows were ready to attack the carriage and steal its valuables at any moment.

The coachman wiped the sweat from his brow, cracked his whip, and sped up.

He had already been robbed once this morning and really didn't want to experience it a second time.

"Guests, I need to speed things up, please bear with me."

The black horse galloped, making the carriage very bumpy.

If it weren't crowded enough, Hannah might have been jostled so much that she couldn't sit still and fell to the ground.

Locke's sense of balance is now extraordinary; he sits as steady as a mountain in the car.

Hannah held Rebecca in her arms. Although Rebecca was light, she was strong and wouldn't let her "cushion" fly away.

Black cat Eileen remained completely unaffected, still perched on Locke's shoulder.

The coachman himself felt nauseous from the jolting, but he still insisted on driving at high speed.

Even so, the carriage still encountered robbers.