The Wind Rises

Not long ago.

Piltover University, Hextech Academy Laboratory Building.

Jayce and his close research partner, Viktor, had shared the same office for the past several years.

That morning, when he entered the building beneath the rising sun and returned to their office, he was surprised to find that the lights were still on and the door was open.

Pushing the door open, Jayce saw Viktor.

Viktor sat quietly at his desk, seemingly lost in thought.

His hair was a mess, his complexion dull, and the dark circles around his eyes severe.

Yet his eyes alone shone brightly. Though filled with fierce red veins, they still seemed to burn with fire.

"Viktor," Jayce said, sensing that his old friend was not in a good state of mind. "You didn't sleep last night?"

"Mm." Viktor nodded.

"This..." Jayce looked worried.

Pulling all-nighters was commonplace for scientists, and Viktor had often stayed up through the night conducting research before.

But after last night's unpleasantness, Jayce knew full well that Viktor was probably not researching Hextech this time.

"You're still thinking about that article?"

"Yes." Viktor gently stroked the notebook, his gaze focused and resolute. "This author is very clever."

"He told us what the world is like and why it is that way, but he did not tell us what we should do or how we should do it."

"This is the question he left for us to consider, and I..."

"Already have a vague answer."

Viktor raised his head and looked deeply into Jayce's eyes.

What Jayce saw in his eyes was passion, a passion unlike anything he had ever seen before.

For some reason, that passion frightened him. Yet Viktor had always been upright and open-hearted; there should have been nothing frightening about him.

"Viktor, aren't you getting too deeply involved?"

"It's just an article with rather extreme views." Jayce could not help trying to dissuade his old friend. "You haven't really gone to extremes and started treating all of us Piltover business owners as utterly evil villains, have you?"

"We're your friends!"

"No, quite the opposite." Viktor shook his head calmly.

He was passionate, but not fanatical. If anything, he was so rational that it was frightening. "Only after giving it thought did I realize that whether a problem exists does not actually depend on the moral quality of any individual among you. Whether you are good or bad, you cannot affect the larger picture."

"W-What do you mean?"

"Jayce, may I ask you a few questions?"

"Well... go ahead."

"A few years ago, when the Talise Family was still running a hammer-making workshop, did you employ apprentices?"

"Of course we did." Jayce did not understand why Viktor was asking this, but he answered patiently nonetheless.

"How much did you pay them then?"

"Um... around ten Silver Wheels a week?"

"Do you think that wage was enough to live on in Piltover?"

"Uh..." Jayce immediately felt somewhat embarrassed.

He had never lived on ten Silver Wheels a week in his life. How could he know whether it was enough?

Still, the lavish breakfast he had eaten that day was probably worth several Gold Sea Coins. By Piltover's currency conversion, one Gold Sea Coin was worth twenty Silver Wheels, while one Silver Wheel equaled twelve Copper Rings.

"If they ate more simply... it should, should probably have been enough."

Jayce hesitated for a long while before reluctantly admitting:

"All right, Viktor. I know you're criticizing my family for paying apprentices too little back then."

"But that was the market rate. There was nothing we could do."

"Couldn't you have paid more?"

"We could have paid a little more. But not too much more."

"Why not?"

"If we paid too much, we wouldn't be able to control costs, and the business couldn't continue!"

"Why wouldn't it be able to continue?"

"We weren't the only workshop that could make hammers. If our costs went up and our prices rose, naturally no one would buy our hammers anymore... We had no choice either."

The more Jayce spoke, the more wrong it felt.

Wasn't his family a wealthy and powerful business owner? Why did it sound as though he had somehow become the slave of something?

"No, that's not right."

Jayce could not accept such a bizarre thought.

Nor did he want to endure Viktor's pointed "mockery."

So he instinctively defended himself and his family:

"Viktor, what you're talking about happened years ago!"

"Now, even the lowest-ranking apprentices employed by my family receive a minimum high salary of five Gold Sea Coins a week!"

Jayce was proud when he said that.

Because in all of Piltover, or even all of Runeterra, it would have been impossible to find a more generous employer than him.

Five Gold Sea Coins a week. Not only would Zaunites not dare dream of such a wage, ordinary Piltover citizens would not dare dream of it either.

That was why everyone knew that Lord Talys was a great benefactor who cared for his employees, kind and generous. Anyone fortunate enough to work in his factory would be considered blessed beyond measure.

"But why is that?" Viktor merely asked in a calm tone. "Why was your family only willing to pay apprentices ten Silver Wheels a week a few years ago, yet now willing to pay the high wage of five Gold Sea Coins?"

"Is it because you have become kinder, Jayce?"

"I..." Jayce was speechless for a moment.

Of course it was not because he had become kinder.

It was because he had become richer.

A few years ago, the Talise Family only knew how to make hammers and had countless competitors.

A few years later, the Talise Family's business revolved around Hextech cores used to power transit gates and large machinery—Jayce's exclusive research achievement. There was no other like it, and no competitor.

A few years ago, even if an apprentice forged one hundred hammers a week for his family, he would bring in only a few dozen Silver Wheels in revenue. So Jayce could only offer a wage of ten Silver Wheels.

A few years later, even if an apprentice made only one Hextech core a week for his family, selling that single core could bring in the terrifyingly immense profit of dozens of Gold Sea Coins.

So of course Jayce dared pay his workers such high wages and display his generosity and benevolence.

It did have something to do with his kindness, but was the connection really that great?

He had merely shared a small portion of the profits with his employees. The money was trivial to him. In terms of the profit-sharing ratio, it was even lower than when his family had only made hammers.

"I... I..."

Without realizing it, Jayce had broken out in a cold sweat.

He had always believed himself to be a good person.

When workers praised his mercy and kindness, thanking him profusely for his great grace, he had quietly accepted it with pride.

But how had this conversation made him feel as though he were a hypocrite?

"Was I wrong?"

"No, you were not wrong."

Viktor stood and comfortingly patted his friend on the shoulder.

"You truly are a good person, Jayce."

"You have never been wrong."

"The one at fault is not you—"

Viktor turned his head and looked out at the vast sky beyond the window.

"It is this world."

"..." Jayce was too stunned to speak.

He did not know what Viktor meant. Yet instinctively, he sensed that his old friend was probably planning to do something dangerous.

"Viktor, what exactly..." Jayce nervously swallowed. "What do you want to do?"

"Don't worry." Viktor merely picked up the notebook. "For now, I only want to meet this author."

"The answer I have come up with is still far from complete. I think the one who posed this question can surely resolve my confusion."

As he spoke, Viktor paced over to the window.

The morning sun illuminated his face.

He extended a hand, feeling the streams of air passing through his fingers.

Zaunites had once prayed to Janna in this way, prayed to the wind.

Viktor was not praying for anything, of course.

He was only feeling the wind, following it, even guiding it.

The air current was weak.

But the wind had already begun to blow.