There is a manga called *Bokyo Taro*. The protagonist, Taro, is a wealthy man working for a large corporation who enters cryogenic sleep with plans to wake up soon after. But when he wakes up, 500 years have passed, and the world's civilization has collapsed and become desolate. Taro wanders through a wasteland devoid of human life and is soon on the verge of starving to death. However, his life is saved by a nomadic hunter looking somewhat like a primitive tribesman who happens to miraculously pass by.
Eventually, Taro is invited as a guest to the hunter's hometown, "Village A." The people of Village A appear to be preparing for a mysterious event called the "Grand Festival," held jointly with the neighboring "Village B." Despite being called a festival, it was actually a malicious custom so terrible that hunters would abandon their hometowns to embark on wandering journeys. The Grand Festival is apparently an event where neighboring villages exchange gifts with one another. Hearing just this, Taro feels warmed, thinking, "For primitive people, that's surprisingly a heartwarming and nice custom!"
However, the hunter denies this. The true essence of the Grand Festival is a "competition" over "who can gift the better item to the other." In other words, it is a form of "conflict" meant to boast, saying, "We are prosperous enough to give such a great item to you guys, and we are stronger than you." In the worst-case scenario, they have to give "people" as "slaves" to the opposing village (the hunter lost his mother and younger sister to Village B this way). Moreover, lately, Village B has been acting strange, raising the possibility that they might pull something during the festival, keeping the villagers of Village A on edge. And finally, the Grand Festival begins.
Village A puts forward its gifts with all its might. But Village B, as expected, keeps presenting better items that surpass Village A's in every way. Normally, there is an arrangement to pull punches so that things end in a tie... Yes, Village B was actually plotting to take over Village A, using the festival as a pretext to destroy it. Thus, Village A is driven into a corner by the barrage of gifts, but thanks to the Village A chief resorting to the insane ultimate move of "burning down the village," the tables are turned.
Village A Chief: "Can Village B give a gift like burning down the village? No, they can't, right? Yes, Village A wins!" The Village B chief is stunned and tries to accept defeat. However, a young man from Village B desperately objects in discontent. Youth: "If we don't take Village A, our Village B will be taken by Village C!" Apparently, Village B was also being threatened by a larger and stronger neighboring village, Village C. And then, the Village B youth shouts, "To ensure Village B's survival, I offer my life!" and slashes his own throat to commit suicide.
Pandemonium breaks out. The Village B chief hugs the youth's corpse, crying, "Your death will not be in vain!" and demands further gifts from Village A to continue the battle. In response, the Village A chief says, "I'll offer Taro-kun's life~" Taro looks at the hunter for help, but the hunter just gives up with a shrug. Taro: 😭
Though faced with a desperate situation, Taro uses his wisdom as a civilized person in the nick of time to present " promissory notes (trading by pretending non-existent things exist)" to Village B, a gathering of primitives, narrowly escaping disaster. Believing the matter settled, Village A and Village B reconcile. (Isn't the suicide of that youth way too pointless and pitiable!?)
After that, talks start up like, "Isn't Village C the real bad guy?" and "If they're going to attack, shouldn't Village A and B team up to take down Village C?", leading to preparations for war. Taro hates war, so he runs away from Village A and ends up in Village C, but in Village C, he is stripped of his human rights and reduced to the status of a slave.
What becomes clear there is that Village C is also oppressed by a powerful civilized superpower called "Country D," and Village C has been invading neighboring villages for trade with Country D. Taro deepens his bonds with the other slaves within Village C and eventually leads them in an escape from the village.
As Taro and his merry band of slaves wander with no destination, they arrive at a mining site from 500 years ago. There, they discover a huge amount of rare metals. Rare metals are used as currency in Country D. With these rare metals, trade with Country D should become easy, and the three villages of A, B, and C shouldn't need to fight anymore. With that, Taro and his merry band rush to the battlefield between Villages A, B, and C carrying the rare metals, persuading both sides and realizing peace.
Once it's all over, Taro leaves the village. At the parting, the slaves boastfully talk about their future plans. "Once treated as slaves, we can't bring ourselves to live together in the villages anymore. From now on, we're going to live while mining rare metals at that mining site. The people who looked down on us, we'll be the ones looking down on them now."
Hearing that story, Taro felt disappointed. From Taro's perspective, he had wanted the slaves to continue living peaceful lives as primitive people. Once the weak gain power, they eventually end up oppressing those even weaker. Thinking, "Will they someday drown in power and become corrupt too...?" Taro continues his journey, leaving the village behind alongside the hunter.
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