Taida na Akujoku Kizoku ni Tensei Shita Ore, Scenario wo Bukkowa Shitara Kikaku-gai no Maryoku de Saikyou ni Natta - Ch. 17 - Necessary Evil and Abso…

[Flostirend]

I don't remember if it was a previous chapter, or one of the novel versions that goes into more detail - but MC is not "pro slavery", but very much understanding of why it exists in this world, and just how difficult it would be to abolish as a practice.
As in - looking at just IRL USA history, a literal war was fought over it. And the ramifications still echo through the country's history into the present.

He lays out some of it here - he's just annoyed at the empty idealism and vacuous platitudes that Allen expresses, because it's really easy to say "[Thing] is bad", when you're not also following that statement up with meaningful steps to actually walk that talk.
He is on the record somewhere as thinking slavery is abhorrent, but he's also considering just how immense tackling the removal of that system would be, given the uphill battle of facing off against all of the nobility that not only relies on, but economically thrives on it - the situation of all the people formerly in bondage, the actual economic impact that would have to be addressed - both in terms of the removal of that labor pool, but also the money to pay them to work, the housing, clothing, food, medical care, and more they would all require, and so on.
And he also acknowledges that, in some senses, children put into bondage who've lost their families to war, abandonment, famine/disease and so on, are given some modicum of stability and material guarantee, if not comfort. It's clearly not good, but for the present moment, it means they're not on the streets either dying or resorting to violence and theft, creating downstream issues for society at large.

TL;DR Weiss is super pragmatic about the realities of it while being personally against it; Allen is 100% emotion and idealistic rhetoric but offers zero actionable solutions.


But it would seem that, where Allen is concerned, the OG Weiss is more prone to coming to the surface than normal, and in ways MC can't always anticipate and control.

Slavery is a primitive way to procure cheap labour. It also reveals that the economy is based in letting it be without any kind of analysis or grand scale planification. The only way to maintain a system like that is having wars and let some percentage of the population famished son you can get a regular income of slaves. In a world of sorcery and Magic it's very unbalanced and risky, any nation that succeeds in using magic to sustain the economy can then have all its population invested in development, and war.

 

[Rumor]

Alot of people engaging in slacktivism-style moral grandstanding along with people trying to make them think otherwise.

Just remember that people who are set and stubborn in their ways won't change. That involves acknowledging that they were wrong in some level. People do not like being wrong. Even in the face of irrefutable facts and circumstances, they will still believe their own because doing otherwise will admit that they were wrong. Even putting a gun/sword to their face will just make a verbal change under duress and will not change their own belief.

That and people are putting too much thought into a setting of a manga/LN/WN. Why not just shrug and enjoy it if you do? If you don't, I'm sure there are other works that are more your taste? I'm sure something like the PreCure series would be more your speed in that case.

Thanks for the TL! Hope for the next chapter <3

 

[Moody0_0]

You say he's all talk and no action, and then follow-up with describing his action.

How is this chapter portraying him being hypocritical? he's very much walking his walk here - he, a child in school, can do nothing constructive about a systemically ingrained evil like slavery.
If we're being super generous, he could maybe find some like-minded classmates, who hopefully have parents in important & powerful positions, who could start the process - and hope that common human greed and the tendency toward the simplest solution don't get in the way of trying to overhaul a major part of the nation's economic apparatus, much less those parent nobles have vested interests in keeping it functioning. That could only take years, if he puts everything else coming after him and his life aside.

I'll say it here so there's no misunderstanding - slavery is bad. But when it's in effect, one child isn't going to fix it just like that. Give them years, with the necessary resources and backing, and sure.

But more immediately? MC has his in-universe specter hanging over his head, tons of death flags to deal with, he's got ongoing tensions with others in his class because of the zero-sum setup of the school's point system that pits students against one another, and all of that while Allen goes more and more berserk and poses a real threat to him.

Slavery sucks, but it's a leviathan on the horizon right now compared to what the MC actually has to deal with. I maintain that the sole reason it was brought up this chapter, was as a vehicle to further illustrate the tension in ideals and mindset between the MC & Allen while also illustrating how Story Weiss is coming to the surface more and more.
It honestly sucks that the author used the Racism Card to do that, because invariably everyone discussing the manga will get hung up on how the established villain of the setting doesn't immediately go out to solve it.

Which, do not forget, Weiss very much is, "protagonist" or no.

Except it is hypocritical. They both have the same standpoint, slavery is bad. Both do nothing to change anything. The difference is Allen isnt afraid to let the world know his thoughts. Weiss on the other hand is very much "If you can't beat em, join em" then paints this very specific frame of the positives of slavery to try and justify his decision. Idealist vs realist type stuff.

Should either of these characters have the power to suddenly end slavery while in high school? No. That is not what I am saying. Weiss is mad at Allen for something Weiss himself is also doing, albeit in a different way. That is why I am saying its hypocritical.

Its like someone saying they are a superior scholar because they write with a fountain pen over a ballpoint pen. At the end of the day words and being written on paper to convey a message. How they got there changes nothing about said message.

 

[Skydaz]

Allen doesnt understand the bigger picture and him being angry for the sake of goodness just proves it

slavery is evil, that's a truth but if it feeds mouths now then saddle slowly until the environment deems to change the system

But if the system still doesnt change then that's when you break it.

Anything regarding such systems are complex topics, you can't really have a simple answer such as fix or break

But we will all know when dues need to be paid

 

[Skydaz]

Alot of people engaging in slacktivism-style moral grandstanding along with people trying to make them think otherwise.

Just remember that people who are set and stubborn in their ways won't change. That involves acknowledging that they were wrong in some level. People do not like being wrong. Even in the face of irrefutable facts and circumstances, they will still believe their own because doing otherwise will admit that they were wrong. Even putting a gun/sword to their face will just make a verbal change under duress and will not change their own belief.

That and people are putting too much thought into a setting of a manga/LN/WN. Why not just shrug and enjoy it if you do? If you don't, I'm sure there are other works that are more your taste? I'm sure something like the PreCure series would be more your speed in that case.

Thanks for the TL! Hope for the next chapter <3

The discussion is nice but people sometimes need to control themselves when it gets too heated

 

[Miros]

Allen doesnt understand the bigger picture and him being angry for the sake of goodness just proves it

slavery is evil, that's a truth but if it feeds mouths now then saddle slowly until the environment deems to change the system

But if the system still doesnt change then that's when you break it.

Anything regarding such systems are complex topics, you can't really have a simple answer such as fix or break

But we will all know when dues need to be paid

There is also the fact if slavery was being done only to those who are perceive to only commit crimes people would be way less inclined to fight against

Imagine you are a noble or a common folk on a medieval fantasy setting instead of a modern day person with modern day sensibilities, would you give a shit if some filthy criminal lowborn gets slaved and worked to death to better society instead of robbing/murdering honest folk? pfff fuck no

 

[Miros]

I don’t get why people feel the need to morally grandstand in the comments with “slavery bad”... no shit, obviously it is.

However that’s a modern, real-world perspective.

Go back 300-400' years and the vast majority of people who weren’t personally enslaved either didn’t care or viewed slavery positively/neutrally because it was completely normalized in their society.

If you’re writing medieval-inspired fantasy, the world feels far more authentic when most characters aren’t 21st-century abolitionists in plate armor.

Having characters who accept, ignore, or even support slavery doesn’t automatically mean the author endorses it or is “pushing a pro-slavery agenda.” It can simply be an attempt at historical realism (or realism within the rules of that fictional world).

Specially in this case where the MC being taken over by Weiss influence