The Empire of Reimia (3)

/studying

As he familiarized himself with the special abilities of the circus performers, Bertrand understood better and better the essence of their craft.
Pickpocket (500)
A rogue may attempt to steal something from another character (agility check)
Lockpicking (500)
A rogue may attempt to pick a previously discovered lock (agility check)
Acrobat (1000)
+5% Accuracy, +5% Evasion, +5 Movement Points, +3 to agility checks.
Knife Throwing (650)
Accuracy: 50%
Damage: 250
Range: 8
Size: 1x1
Paralyzes the enemy for one phase if they fail a fortitude check against a value of "10".

Carefully gathering the fallen pages, Marey wrapped the volume in his jacket, smoothed his disheveled hair, and left the office.

Returning to his room, he first carefully unwrapped the valuable find and immediately began studying it.

Marey's acquaintance with the contents of the volume was not without frustration, as for a long time he could not understand the meaning of the words before his eyes. Perhaps Shogo had slipped him some nonsense and that was the whole reason? This could be a convenient explanation, but in time the mage would have to come to terms with the realization that he simply lacked the intellectual power to perceive the written text.

History test in DMs as well?
Seems like the courtyard is still there, I'm going.

Yes.

Finding himself in the backyard for some reason, Morinier comes across his classmate Imir and three guys from class III (they don't see him yet).
— Damn commoner, — Imir lay on the ground while Virion de Lyre beat him with his feet. — Worm!
Teddy watched the events with a simultaneous look of disgust and indifference in his eyes.
— Aren't you opposed to violence, Grell? Why don't you break them up?
— If he doesn't even try to defend himself, then what's the point of helping him? If not Virion, someone else will be found to subject him to a similar fate. — The aristocrat spread his arms to the sides and sighed with annoyance. — Moreover, it doesn't even have to be physical violence; it's not strictly necessary to beat someone in order to boss them around, especially in our age.

-It is true that the entrepreneur receives the income from his labor. But there are reasons for this. The entrepreneur takes on other responsibilities—he must provide the premises or land where the work process will take place, he must provide the tools with which the work will be done and the materials from which the final product will be created. He must find the people who will subsequently buy this product, and then ensure the means of delivery to them, if necessary. Similarly, he must negotiate with the landowner, the supplier of tools and materials. He does all this with his own money, without knowing in advance whether he will turn a profit or not. If he makes a mistake at one of these steps, he may be left with nothing, waste his money in vain, and find himself in a worse position than when he started. While the worker risks nothing—if tomorrow his owner goes bankrupt, the worker does not lose the money he has already earned. And unlike a slave, the worker has a choice. He can try to save money and open his own furniture workshop. Nothing stops him from opening it at home and taking on all those same risks that the entrepreneur takes—Parfinora smiled melancholically—that is how my older brother explained things to me. For the most part, I agreed with him, at least regarding such philistine matters. However, even putting these reflections aside, I would still highlight the main difference between a free Reimean and a slave. A free Reimean can go to Dreyeria to become a slave and be split into atoms, but a slave from Dreyeria cannot refuse to be split into atoms, move to Reime, and work 8 hours at a factory.

— Such economic relationships between members of one society differ little from the relationship between master and slave, since the former similarly needs to spend on maintaining production, including the slaves themselves. If a person's labor is valued by an employer, he sells his time, and he has money only to satisfy hunger and other basic needs—who is he, if not a slave? So far, both examples seem to me to be gradations of the same thing. A hired slave indeed possesses greater personal freedoms and even the possibility of advancement up the social ladder, but he cannot not work, can he? — The foreigner said all this without any contempt in her voice and seemed sincerely surprised by some peculiarities of Reimean orders. — Citizens of Dreyeria are equal to one another, free to do whatever their hearts desire and are privileged with housing, regular monetary payments from the state, medical care, education and much more. What remains a mystery to me: how can some Reimeans live in wealth while others live in poverty?