For a moment, the whole yard remained silent. Then a woman in her thirties spoke.
"And how do we fight back?" she continued, coming to the front. "We've seen strikes happen before and suffered the consequences."
A man with thick arcs and a scarred face joined in, "Yeah, they were beaten by police—many died. We aren't soldiers, we ain't got weapons. We are workers. What can we do against the ones with money, guards, and power?"
Murmurs followed.
"Yeah, they'll crush us the moment we step outta line…"
"We've seen it before. Strikes broken, leaders jailed…"
"They'll starve us out..."
Moragon listened to every word calmly.
"I'm not asking you to pick up swords or stones," he said. "I'm asking you to think. Think about how much power we already have."
He raised his hand and pointed toward the crowd.
"All of you here—you run this city. You load the trains, hammer the steel, wash the linens, carry the bricks, stitch the clothes. We man the factories. We clean the streets," Moragon continued.
"You said they have money, they have power. You're wrong. They may have the money, but it's us who have the real power. Just think about it—if we stop working, we can bring this city to its knees. All the royals and officials will come here running, begging us to work."
"But only when we stay united—and that, my friends, is our current goal."
An old worker interrupted, "Can the thousands of workers unite under a single cause?"
"That's why we are here," Moragon looked at the old worker with a spark in his eyes.
"They will join us eventually," Morgan said with confidence.
"Why are you so sure they will join us?" a voice shouted from the crowd.
Morgan smiled.
"Because I would have. We are not the only ones who wish to change the current state of things—it's everyone. We are just paving a way for them to follow."
He looked around at the crowd.
"We don't need many, just enough to spread our word through the masses. We will start small—uniting people, helping each other, standing up for each other, providing food and support. The masses will follow on their own when they see it."
Morgan's eyes swept over each face.
"They want us to be scattered and divided. That's why we are founding this organization—a symbol people can unite under."
His voice dropped, but it carried more weight than before.
"It will take time for us to grow big enough to make changes—maybe years or even decades—but we will persist until we are big and strong enough to make those changes."
"Where do we start?" someone from the crowd shouted.
"We have already started, my friend. You being here is proof."
More questions came, one after another, and Morgan answered with clear vision.
Leon was standing in the shadows of the crowd, listening and observing quietly. His eyes weren't on the stage—but on the crowd.
He watched how their tired faces changed after listening to Morgan.
They were skeptical at first. Then morphed into disbelief, then to suspicion, and then… hopeful.
Hope had ignited the spark in their dead eyes.
This—this was what it looked like, he realized.
The beginning.
He had read about revolutions, watched them in films, seen images of men on podiums and streets filled with fire. But that was all after the fact—after blood had been spilled, after banners were raised, after names were remembered.
But this… this was before all that.
No banners.
No songs.
Just oil-stained hands, worn shoes, and heavy silence.
Leon felt blood rush through his body as his fists tightened. Something inside him moved.
'Maybe this is how it always starts.'
Leon went back to Dormitory 6 earlier than others. He hadn't told Mathew and the others about his early morning adventure, so they were likely worried right about now.
Leon also felt he had a lot to think about. He had hoped to start a revolution on his own, to make a name for himself in history—but after seeing the crowd's hopeful gazes, he realized it was something much greater than that.
He had treated revolution like an event in a game—something he could do just 'cause he felt like it—but now he understood how big of a thing it was. People's lives were at stake here.
He had heard how small strikes in the past had resulted in casualties from rough treatment by authorities.
As he climbed the stairs to his room, he saw Mathew coming down with a frown on his face. Upon spotting Leon, Mathew held his shoulder.
"Where were you?"
Mathew asked, his voice shaky.
"Uhhh… I woke up earlier and… couldn't sleep… so I was wandering through the streets," Leon made up an excuse from thin air.
"Sigh… you scared us, you know," Mathew said, calming the rage bubbling inside him.
Mathew led Leon upstairs without saying another word, his hand still resting on the boy's shoulder. The wooden stairs creaked beneath their feet as they climbed. When they reached their room, Mathew pushed the door open gently.
Lisa was pacing back and forth inside. The moment she saw Leon, her face twisted with fury.
"Where the hell were you!?" she shouted, storming toward him. "Do you have any idea how worried we were!?"
"I—" Leon started, but Lisa cut him off.
"You didn't leave a note! You didn't tell anyone! What if something had happened to you!?"
Leon backed away a step, trying to speak. "I just went out for a walk. I couldn't sleep—"
"A walk?!" Lisa barked. "Do you think this is some kind of playground? This is not your quiet little village from storybooks—this is the slums! People go missing here for real!"
The door creaked again, and Bear stepped in, followed by Mira.
"You really messed up this time, brat," Bear said, folding his arms, his face serious.
Mira looked even more upset. "Do you know how early we woke up to look for you? We thought something bad had happened! Mathew nearly lost his mind!"
Leon lowered his head. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to make you all worry."
"You did, Leon!" Lisa shouted again. Her hands were trembling now—not with rage, but with fear. "You can't just run off like that! You're still a kid, and this world isn't kind to kids who think they're invincible."
Leon finally looked up, his eyes steady. "I understand. I should've told someone, you're right. But I wasn't doing anything reckless—I just wanted to explore a little. I had something I needed to see for myself."
Bear frowned. "Alone? At that hour? Doesn't matter what it was. You scared the hell outta all of us."
Leon stayed silent for a moment, then gave a small nod. "I get it. I really do."
Lisa sighed heavily and turned her back, brushing her hair away from her face. "Just… don't do it again."
"I won't," Leon said quietly.
Mathew finally broke his silence with a small pat on Leon's back. "Good. Now get some rest."