Miracle Card Shop: All My Cards Can Be Actualize

— POV Change —

I'm Vasco Fernandez, and now I'm staying in a refugee camp. The f*cking refugee camp! Why do I need to become a refugee!? If it weren't for those damn Astral Corp, I would still be at home!

They said our kind king and the royal family were experimenting with bioweapons, and then an accident happened, transforming our country into a hellish place! I don't believe it! I would never believe it! How on earth would our good king do that to us? The royal family said they love us!

It must be because of these capitalist pigs and their lies! A conspiracy! They must have secretly built their own bioweapon lab on our soil, under the royal palace, to smear the name of our great king! This is it! It must be this! I must tell everyone about their evil schemes!

"It's lunchtime, everyone! Please come and take your share of food." The food lady from Astral Corp called us to get their food! Hmph! They destroy our country, and now they're being charitable? Do they think I would fall for that!? I must teach this bitch a lesson.

I walked to the front, glaring at her. She looked back, tilting her head in confusion. Many fools who wagged their tails at our enemy shouted for me to get back in line, but I wasn't here to eat. I was here to teach this corporate dog a lesson.

"Get back in line, dude." The voice from an electronic speaker addressed me. It was none other than a soldier in power armor that stayed nearby to protect the bitch. Hmph! As if I was afraid! I glared at him.

But… I must preserve my life. I'm the only one who knows the truth and must not die before these Corpo dogs! I must live! It's not that I'm afraid!

After 15 minutes, I got my share of meat stew. Hmm... the meat stew is nice, better than a lot of restaurants I ate at back in Tessia Kingdom. But this is to be expected—they want to buy us off and make us their dogs! I must endure. I must be strong and not be swayed by their lies and this… this fake charity!

While I was eating, I saw the Corpo dogs installing something near the refugee camp. It looked like a very large screen, possibly for an open-air cinema. Hmph! As if this would buy my loyalty! Dream on!

But I wondered what kind of movie they would show us. I saw that the show was scheduled for the evening, so I wouldn't have to wait long.

In the evening, the show started. It was a blockbuster movie from Hollywood, and some of us who had accepted their charity had enough money to open grilling stands and roadside food stalls! These people are a disgrace. How can they accept charity from the Corpo dogs?

Hmph! If it weren't for some of our comrades getting arrested and not returning, these people would never dare to accept this cheap charity! Even those who returned seemed completely changed—they didn't even dare to curse! What had happened to them?

When I asked, they didn't dare to tell me what happened after they were arrested. Oh, please, may our kind king in heaven bless us with the strength to endure these dark times. I need to be strong.

While I'm mulling about it, the show ends and there is some advertisement in between the shoe, but instead of advertisement, there is a program, it should be a documentary, hmm… the Truth Behind Tessia Kingdom Poverty, this is interesting, I bet it must be those corporate and politicians!

— In the Program —

The scene starts with a video of the king visiting the poor countryside, a scene that would warm the hearts of all the citizens of Tessia Kingdom. King Pious Justius and Victor Justius are shown overseeing development and working to prevent drought and flood. There's also a timestamp on the video.

Then, there's a scene where the villagers express their gratitude to the king.

Villager 1: "We are all grateful for His Majesty looking after us."

Villager 2: "May our king live long, live ten thousand years!"

The scene ends with the heartwarming smiles of the villagers and the king waving goodbye while his servants work on improving the quality of life for the people.

Then... the scene changes to 201X, the current year. It's the same village, but nothing has changed except for an overly sturdy concrete bridge connecting to the village. The scene shifts to an interview with a villager.

Interviewer: "Hello, uncle. May I ask you something?"

Villager 1: "Ah, go ahead, I'm free right now."

Interviewer: "Thank you very much. May I know how long this village has been without electricity?"

Villager 1: "More than thirty years, I think."

Interviewer: "Why? Didn't the king visit here before?"

Villager 1: "…F*ck off, do you want me to die with you?"

The first villager immediately runs away as if fleeing from a plague.

The scene then changes to another villager who is working in the field and now resting in a shack beside his farm.

Interviewer: "Hello, may I interview you?"

Villager 2: "Yeah, but make it quick, I wanna sleep."

Interviewer: "I saw a sturdy concrete bridge just outside the village. Do you know who built it?"

Villager 2: "The king built it, who else? Don't you know the king comes here often to shoot his movie?"

Interviewer: "Huh? Is this the movie you're talking about?"

The interviewer then shows the propaganda footage to the villager.

Villager 2: "Yeah, yeah, this one! Huh? He said he came here to improve our lives? Ah, hahaha, that's bullsh*t. I've lived here for more than 30 years and still have to haul water from 20 kilometers away, from the nearest river."

"There! There! Over there, officer! The traitor!" The first villager shouts, and the camera captures his face along with several police officers who come to arrest the interviewer and the second villager. The footage ends as the camera is confiscated by the authorities.

The scene then changes to a man in his late forties sitting in a TV studio with a woman in formal attire.

"Hello, I'm Wendy Herb from Alpha Morning News. We are here with Mr. William Cortez, the creator of the documentary 'The Truth Behind Tessia Kingdom Poverty.'" The host then turned toward the man who seemed ravaged by time and hardship.

"I must correct you first, Wendy. It's an unfinished documentary, one that I don't think I will finish in this life," Cortez said with a sad face.

"Oh? Why not?" the host asked with a smile, then continued, "Right now, we are citizens of Sector Alpha City. I don't think any law would prevent you from finishing it." The people in the studio laughed.

Mr. Cortez only smiled, but his smile seemed tired—tired of the way of the world or tired of his life. There seemed to be a lot of regret behind that smile.

"You see, Wendy, the interviewer... is my son, and the cameraman is my daughter. Both of them... they died in prison," said Mr. Cortez, and the people in the studio immediately grew solemn.

"Oh... I'm sorry, Mr. Cortez. I wasn't aware of that, I'm..." The host wanted to continue her apologies but was stopped by a gesture from Mr. Cortez.

"It's okay, Wendy... I'm here with you, not because I want to finish it, but because I want to tell the truth—the truth that I spent more than ten years of my life gathering evidence and everything. This is for my deceased children too... you see, the one who allowed them to film that documentary was me..." Cortez paused, then continued.

"At first, that documentary was not meant to smear the king's name at all. We were all loyal citizens of Tessia Kingdom; we all believed in the king and his propaganda image. At first, we thought that all of this was the result of those greedy corpo pigs and large conglomerates, but..." Cortez paused, gathering himself as his voice seemed to give in to sorrow.

"But... it's actually not," Wendy finished for him.

"Yes, Wendy," Cortez nodded, trying to control his emotions. "You see, large conglomerates are part of the problem, but the source of the problem is not them. It's the royal family." Mr. Cortez paused, then the scene showed evidence—the knighthood and noble ascension ceremony that the king gave to the conglomerate heads.

"As you can see, Wendy, these conglomerate heads are all people of power within Tessia Kingdom. They receive these knight and noble titles from their donations to the country. And what is the country in this context? It's the royal family and the royal family alone, not its people.

The phrase 'As long as the royal family is living happily, we are all living happily' is not just a nice slogan; it's the literal meaning.

It means that as long as the royal family is living happily, the citizens must live happily, no matter the situation. You're starving? You need to be happy when someone asks. You don't have any money? You need to be happy. Are you having problems with your debt?

You still need to be happy. Even if you're half-dead, you need to be happier than anyone. That's the meaning of it."