Chapter 129: Chapter 129

After pouring out a series of stories, the old scholar quietly caught his breath.

His expression held a slight relief and an even greater lamentation.

Sophia asked him, “What do you research in this city? Is it all just calculating and verifying the formulas and theories that Elphaba demands?”

“Half right and half wrong, you could say. Back when this old man was in his prime, while solving Elphaba’s requests, we used to do other research in our spare time.”

The old scholar’s eyes became distant as if longing for the past.

“Things like turning useless mold into medicine, trying to make clothes from spider webs, or studying the sex life of fly couples to try to suppress their reproduction. Well, most of them were fanciful and not very useful. But it was fun.”

However, the old scholar sighed as he added, “But all those things are only possible with money and time. Today’s Laputa is busy researching ‘immediately useful’ technologies demanded by the ground, so we don’t have the capacity for such interesting but visibly unproductive research. What can we do when they threaten to drop the island if we don’t listen?”

To the old scholar’s lament, Sophia asked back, “Didn’t you say it was Elphaba who gave the ground dwellers the weapon to drop the island?”

“That’s right. It was a tower with the ability to shoot a huge magical spear into the sky.”

“Has that weapon ever actually been used on this sky island?”

“No. It was meant as a threat, they deliberately missed. But its power was enough to cause massive damage to this island.”

“And you’re saying every single city on the ground has such a weapon?”

“Then you can ignore the words from the ground. They can’t fire it anyway, and even if they did, it wouldn’t harm you enough.”

“Hmm, is that so… Huh?”

The old scholar felt doubt a beat late.

Sophia’s tone and expression were so nonchalant, and full of confidence as if stating something extremely obvious, he had unconsciously accepted the absurd content.

Before he fully recovered his thoughts, Sophia said to the old scholar, “I have something I’d like to tell the scholars of Laputa, could you gather some people? The more people that gather, the better.”

Watching people gathering one by one at the outdoor lecture hall, Sophia suddenly felt nostalgia.

The city-state. The social atmosphere that valued learning and reason as high virtues. Even the scene of many scholars engrossed in conversation with each other or immersed in research, each with their own theories in their hearts.

Laputa was very similar to her old hometown.

Even to the point of being distorted and oppressed by powerful external figures.

It made her think that perhaps the Witch of the West knew about Sophia’s hometown and used it as a motif to create this.

…Though the positions of sky and ground are reversed. Or is that also the Witch of the West’s own humor or mockery?

Sophia suddenly imagined some country in the sky above the continent fretting and groaning under threats from the ground people.

Certainly, that would be quite an amusing sight.

She felt great regret at the fact that time was pressing.

There were many things that seemed like they would be interesting, such as chatting about various academic fields with the city’s scholars, attempting to sow discord among the various cities on the ground, or exploring the Witch of the West’s intentions or life through the records in this city.

But it couldn’t be helped.

While she had eliminated the minus by cutting off the golden thread, to go beyond that and become a plus for her companions, she needed to act right now.

After all, if it was a card to be discarded anyway, if it was a bluff anyway, its duty was to waste the opponent’s resources and concentration as grandly as possible.

Besides, I want to give that witch who clumsily imitates the heavens a taste of her own medicine.

Thinking this, the scarecrow who loved God but not the heavens opened her mouth, “Everyone, thank you for gathering today. The warm kindness and consideration this city has shown to me, a mere stranger, is something I’ll never forget. Therefore, I wish to return the favor to you all, albeit in a small way. However, before getting to the main point, I’d like to have a light Q&A session with you all.”

The scholars’ reactions were largely twofold.

Half were pleased as she was saying nice things, while the other half were puzzled by the somewhat abrupt flow of conversation.

“A farmer is raising a goose that lays golden eggs. The goose lays an egg every day, but this process is very tiring for the goose.

“One day, when the exhausted goose complained to the farmer, instead of listening to the goose, the farmer let dogs loose around the goose’s pen.

“And he told the goose, ‘I’ve given those dogs the key to open the pen. If you don’t listen to me or the dogs, the dogs will open the door of the pen and eat you.’

“Frightened by the farmer’s threat, the goose continued to lay golden eggs without stopping.”

Here, Sophia paused for a moment.

After confirming that people were sufficiently focused, she asked, “Here’s the question. Can the dogs really eat the goose that lays golden eggs? Yes, the scholar with glasses there. Please answer.”

“I think it’s impossible.”

“If the dogs don’t have the intelligence and wisdom to understand and use the key, they obviously can’t open the door of the pen, and even if they had such ability, they wouldn’t harm the goose. A being with that level of cognitive ability would also understand how furious the farmer would be if they harmed the goose.”

“I see. Are there any other opinions? Yes, the scholar with red hair there. Please answer.”

“If I were that farmer, I wouldn’t have given the real key to mere dogs in the first place. I would have given them a convincing fake for the purpose of intimidating the goose.”

“What’s your reasoning for thinking that?”

“Because if by any chance the dogs really ate the goose, the loss would be unbearable. If a goose that lays golden eggs actually existed, its value would be incomparably greater than just a few dogs, so why would one risk it becoming mere dog food?”

After that, Sophia asked questions to several more scholars, but the answers were mostly similar.

“According to your opinions, the goose that lays golden eggs is an incomparably valuable being to the farmer, and even if the goose grumbles or becomes lazy, the farmer cannot harm the goose. Rather, if the dogs try to harm the goose, the conclusion is that the farmer should protect the goose.”

“That’s right. So now, I’d like to hear what you call the main point.”

Sophia smiled brightly.

“This Laputa is the goose that lays golden eggs. This is my main point and the gift I’m giving in return for your kindness. I’d be glad if it serves as a proper return gift!”

The majority were focused on understanding what they had just heard, thinking, “What did I just hear?” while those who had noticed something was off from the middle of the story but thought “Surely not” were shocked to realize their guesses were true.

And then, the wave of realization mercilessly swept over them.

The young man, who had demanded the main point from Sophia, opened his mouth with a trembling voice, “So, Miss Sophia, you’re saying… that those on the ground are the dogs? That the weapon they use to threaten us is the key?”

“Yes, and you’ve directly stated the reasons why that key is useless.”

Red-tinged eyes gazed at the faces of the scholars tinged with bewilderment.

“If the people on the ground are wise, they can never use the weapon beyond threats. Even if they’re foolish, it’s not a problem. Elphaba wouldn’t have given them a proper weapon in the first place.”

“But the weapon really existed! We even saw it being used!”

“Under a situation controlled by Elphaba, she could easily put on a convincing ‘show’. To instill fear in you, she must have shown you the real thing at first. After that, even if she set up fakes, you would cower on your own.”

“Your words are all just speculation. Do you have any physical evidence?”

“No. As you say, it’s all speculation, just wordplay. But isn’t it your job to find the truth within that wordplay?”

The scholars murmured.

“Does that make sense?”

“But logically, it’s not wrong. If something happens to us, in the end, it’s Elphaba who suffers the loss.”

“It seems like too risky a gamble.”

“I wish that story were true. It means we wouldn’t have to be swayed by the tyranny of those ground people anymore.”

“Come to think of it, it does seem plausible.”

“Damn, why didn’t we notice this simple thing until now? Knowing all the theories but not realizing it was about us, how are we any different from the blind with open eyes!”

“Isn’t Elphaba just a trading partner? Is there a need to think of her as a villain?”

“A trading partner. But, what have we received from her?”

The commotion grew rapidly.

If Sophia had led the conversation from the beginning, it might have been different, but all she did was present the problem, and it was the scholars themselves who answered it.

Like a puzzle that seemed impossible to solve suddenly unraveling smoothly with a hint from the person next to you. Like when the person involved wonders, “Why didn’t I know this?”

Once their blocked thoughts were cleared, they developed logic relentlessly, refuted it, and reinforced it.

“Wait, there’s only one goose, but there are many of us. Even if it’s impossible to harm all of us, there’s enough possibility to make an example of some.”

“We should unite among ourselves to prevent that. If we act selfishly thinking it’s fine as long as it’s not me, we’ll all just be exploited, but if we unite, even Elphaba can’t easily touch us.”

Watching this, the old scholar asked Sophia, “Miss, who on earth are you? The explanation I heard was—“

“Ah, you don’t need to worry about that. It was all lies from beginning to end, anyway.”

When Sophia admitted it freely, the old scholar was rather taken aback.

The woman he had thought was just granddaughter-aged now felt like an alien being whose identity he couldn’t grasp.

“Anyway, who I am isn’t such an important issue on this island. The spark has already spread, and the rest is for those remaining to handle. If I had more time, I would have done various things, but this is the limit for now.”

“…Miss, you should escape even now. Elphaba won’t forgive you.”

“It’s fine. Rather, sell me out cleanly. If you try to cover for me, things might get complicated instead.”

Thinking of the spy who might be hiding among the murmuring scholars, Sophia felt like a fisherman who had thrown out grand bait.

She must have caused quite a commotion in this place that was probably quite important to the Witch of the WEST, so her mood must have been in shambles.

Still, to make as many search parties as possible gather here in Laputa rather than elsewhere, Sophia opened her mouth again, “Ah, everyone, I had one more gift! It’s a story about the incident 30 years ago and your ancestors, please listen!”

Sophia’s speech, continuing with a smiling face, only ended when an enormous group of golden monkeys forcibly barged in.

It was truly according to plan.

https://ko-fi.com/genesisforsaken