Shades of the New World

Chapter 204: Social Supremacy

In the evening, after everyone dispersed after a huge dinner, Evin knocked on Elina's door, his ears perked up, listening for sounds inside. He could hear the rustling of paper for a bit, before it was replaced by soft footsteps.

"Master Evin?" Elina said, some surprise on her face.

"Sorry to intrude upon your evening," Evin said, eyeing Elina's expression.

"Oh, no. Please don't mind. But could you tell me why you came here?"

"Ah, just wanted to apologize for turning you into a 1st grade without asking you first. In hindsight, I just did what I thought was good and completely forgot that I was making decisions for you, without really considering what you want," Evin explained with an awkward smile.

"What do you mean? Why would you need to apologize for that? I'm very happy about it, please don't worry. I mean, how can I not be?" Elina denied vehemently.

"When you realized what the papers were for, I saw you look a bit scared. Uhh, do you mind if we talk inside?" Evin asked before Elina sent out another barrage of denials.

Elina's room was one of the simplest ones that Evin ever saw. It was barely better than most prison cells, since she wasn't allowed to possess most things. There was a bed, a table and a seat, with most of her clothes were stacked on a platform stuck on the wall. The clothes themselves were monotonous as well, most of them having a bland beige-white colors. 

"You really don't have to worry about me, master Evin. Ei- I, I was just a bit shocked to see it happen to me," Elina said with a stutter.

"You really don't have to call me 'master', you know?" Evin said.

"I'm sorry, uh, mage Evin," Elina replied, panicking.

"Ah, whatever," Evin chuckled and thought about what he should say to spark the conversation he wanted.

"Hmm, I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but do you feel pressured by the concept of being a 1st grade citizen?" he asked, thinking of what the girl murmured when she first received her documents.

Elina looked back with a face that seemed to be asking: 'Isn't that natural?'.

"I think you believe that just by being a first grade citizen, someone's stands above others. That they automatically become someone completely untouchable by common girls like you," Evin continued.

Elina looked back at Evin with eyes that showed agreement.

"Elina, do you know of a word called 'Propaganda'?" Evin asked.

"No, I don't I'm sorry," a small voice replied.

"Don't be. It's just a word. You don't have to know all of them. Hmm, anyway, spreading propaganda means spreading information that's meant to mislead a common person's point of view, mostly used for controlling, or political purposes," Evin noticed how Elina's expression turned blank, clearly lost in Evin's convoluted words.

"Let me explain it to you a bit better. Let's say I live in a town where everyone gets the same bed from its ruler. But I'm thinking that I should sell this bed to make some money. So, I start thinking of ways to better sell it," Evin started and looked at Elina, wondering if she was listening or not. Thankfully, the girl seemed to be following through just fine this time, even though the analogy was so-so at best. 

"I paint the furniture with some pretty colors, put some nice decorations on it and put it on sale. To every person I meet, I tell them about how bad their bed is, and why they should buy my bed, how they'll sleep better in my bed, even though in actuality, it's just the same bed that everyone else is using," Evin said, wondering what the hell was his mind droning off about.

"This is what propaganda is, it's just lies to make you believe that one thing is better than the others. Now, what do you think will happen to the person who buys the bed from me?" Evin asked.

"They'll realize that the bed is the same as what they already had," Elina said.

"Exactly. The Kingdom's rulers do the same thing with the grades of the citizens. They try to make you believe that from their birth, some citizens are fundamentally better than others. Obviously, since they're much more powerful than a simple bed seller like me, they can do a lot of things to make its citizens actually feel like being a 1st grade citizen is better than being a 2nd or 3rd grade citizen. They constantly remind its citizens to respect the ones who stand atop you, and they encourage the ones down below to climb the social ladder properly."

Evin was sure that the government actively tried to hinder a family who was living better than what their social levels suggested. If a 3rd grade family looked to be living better than a 2nd grade, they were probably either forced to rank up, or just forced to live in misery.

"But it is better than being a 4th grade citizen, no?" Elina asked.

"See, that's the problem. Fundamentally, even if you're a 4th grade or a 1st grade, you won't change by a lot. Think about my parents. They became 1st grade citizens today, and besides some new things that they could purchase now, they haven't really changed much, have they? Theor still makes his stupid jokes, Lora still loves to bake goods and make trinkets," Evin said.

"And yes, you were someone who could be considered a slave. But that's just something that was forced upon you. If you remembered your biological parents, you might've been able to know exactly what kind of people they were. If they were 2nd grade citizens, you would be a 2nd grade. If they were 3rd grade citizens, you would be a 3rd grade. At the end of it, it just depends on your luck, doesn't it?" Evin smiled.

Elina was the perfect example why propaganda worked. Since society as a whole, constantly labeled Elina as a slave from the day she was conscious, naturally she would accept that as the truth. Then she sees the people at the top, the 1st grade citizens in a false light of supremacy, something that was just not possible for her to become. 

But when she suddenly became one of them, her world view shattered. When she suddenly turned into one of those superior beings that were 1st grade citizens, she would start feeling like a fraud of some sorts.

"But I'm still unworthy of being a 1st grade citizen. I can't even read and do those complicated numeric problems and that's a requirement to just be a 2nd grade citizen, right?" Elina retorted.

Evin wanted to deny her, but he felt that there was some truth to her words. After all, Evin just gave her this title, without her doing anything to earn it. While on the other hand, Evin and Lora had to go through a lot to earn their right to become 2nd grade citizens. It was understandable if Elina felt this way.

"Actually, if you want, I can just turn you into a 3rd grade citizen. In my opinion, the difference between a 3rd grade and a 4th grade isn't much, and the difference between a 2nd grade and a 1st grade isn't that big either. So you can study on your reading and problem solving to become a 2nd grade citizen, and after that I can help you become a 1st grade citizen," Evin said.