"How many people do you have?"
"Uh, thirty if you count the children..."
"Children?"
"The ones who sold you newspapers. Their families died of the Rat Plague, so we took them in, gave them food, and put them to work..."
Francois sounded amused. "Who knew you were good people?"
The Saltfish Gang's former boss sighed. "In times like these... you can't survive without doing bad things..."
"Excuses."
Francois dismissed his excuse coldly. As the thugs fell into an awkward silence, he continued, "But I don't blame you. You were once someone's children, someone's husbands, someone's employees. You had land and homes of your own. The Rikaner Kingdom took all that from you when it conspired with the Ratfolk."
Something stirred within them. One thug whose face still held a boyish softness asked in a daze, "New boss, what do you mean, conspired with the Ratfolk?"
They knew nothing. As far as the Kingdom's common people knew, the Ratfolk had come, the Kingdom couldn't hold them off, and it had led them west. Life was hard, but compared to those killed by the Ratfolk or who died along the way, at least they were still alive...
The former boss said, "Little Smo's father was a soldier. He died at the front..."
"It means the Rikaner Kingdom had long resented the Old Continental Order. It wanted more territory, so it conspired with the Ratfolk. It told them where neighboring countries' defenses were weak, hoping the Ratfolk would conquer those countries. Then the Kingdom would stage a battle at the border, giving itself an excuse to march in, reclaim the land, and grow strong again..."
"But its scheme got out of hand. The Ratfolk broke their word and invaded in force. Unable to stop them, the Royal Family fled west with its people