Only after Levi appeared was the situation finally stabilized.
"Stop fighting—" he criticized sternly in his capacity as president. "If you want to fight, take it outside! This is a place for meetings!"
"Hmph!" Vi reluctantly released the arm locking Caitlyn's neck.
Caitlyn also finally let go of the hands gripping Vi's hair and ears.
The two girls stood up, their clothes disheveled and looking thoroughly battered. Their expressions were equally awful, and their tangled hair clung to their cheeks and foreheads like weeds soaked in sweat.
"What exactly happened?" Levi asked.
"You should ask her!" Caitlyn pointed angrily at Vi. "This barbaric, rude bastard!"
"Heh." Vi scoffed disdainfully. "No matter how 'barbaric' we Zaunites are, we're still cleaner than you Pilties who burn, kill, and pillage under the banner of civilization!"
"You?!" The two glared at each other, looking ready to fight another three hundred rounds.
Helpless, Levi used a wind wall to separate the two bitter rivals, finally forcing them to behave.
Then, through questioning them and gathering information from the sideline spectators, he finally grasped the full picture of the incident.
"Vi, apologize to Miss Caitlyn," Levi quickly made his judgment.
"W-Why?" Knowing she was indeed in the wrong, Vi felt a bit guilty. "Even if this Piltie chick is actually an official member of our Windguides..."
"She was acting so suspicious and refused to cooperate with the investigation. Couldn't I at least ask a few more questions?"
"Nonsense!" Caitlyn found this pink-haired girl truly obnoxious. "How was I acting suspicious?"
"Just because I wore nice clothes, because I'm a Piltovan, that makes me suspicious? You wanted me to cooperate with your investigation, but why should I? I didn't do anything wrong!"
"Hmph!" Vi still refused to admit her mistake. "A Piltie like you showing up here is suspicious in itself!"
"Enough!" Levi snorted heavily.
He looked around and saw that quite a few of the spectating Windguides were showing secret agreement with Vi's remarks.
"Is this what you all think? That a Piltovan simply being here is a mistake?" Levi asked in a stern tone.
No one answered. But the subtle atmosphere already said it all.
"It seems this issue needs to be properly discussed," Levi sighed.
Then, meeting Vi's defiant gaze, he spoke to her and the hundreds of Zaunites present:
"Listen to the words this girl just said—'Piltie,' 'acting suspicious,' 'refused to cooperate with the investigation'..."
"Don't you all think these words sound a bit familiar?"
Everyone frowned.
'Hey... these words really do sound familiar.'
'Why does it feel like we've heard them somewhere before?'
"Of course we've heard them."
"Because that's exactly what the Piltover Enforcers say when they're making things difficult for Zaunites."
"If you swap 'Zaunite' for 'Piltie,' you get exactly what Vi just said to Miss Caitlyn."
The crowd: "..."
The air instantly fell silent.
"How many innocent Zaunites have been subjected to unreasonable investigations, or even ruthlessly chased away by Piltover Enforcers, just because their clothes were a bit torn, or they were a little dirty... simply because they appeared in Piltover's wealthy districts?"
"Haven't you all suffered enough of this in your daily lives?" Levi questioned Vi, and everyone else.
"Then why are you now acting like the Piltover Enforcers you hate the most? Judging people by their appearance and background, simply deciding if someone is good or bad based on what they wear and where they come from?"
Hearing this, everyone felt a complex mix of emotions.
Vi's stubbornness vanished, replaced by a hint of shame in her eyes.
"Vi, apologize," Levi emphasized once more.
"I..." After a moment of hesitation, Vi finally extended her hand toward Caitlyn. "I'm sorry, Caitlyn. Please forgive my rudeness."
"Mhm... it's fine." Caitlyn shook Vi's hand, magnanimously reconciling with her.
Her anger and the sense of grievance in her heart had indeed dissipated.
Because after hearing Levi's words, she suddenly realized that the Zaunites' hostility and wariness toward her didn't just appear out of thin air.
Sure enough, after criticizing Vi, Levi used the opportunity to expand on the topic:
"We must realize that what our Windguides seek is the happiness of all humanity. As long as we share the same ideals, regardless of gender, age, culture, race, or region, anyone can be our comrade."
"Relying on appearance and background to simply distinguish friend from foe is actually falling into a trap."
"But—"
"Why is everyone so unwilling to trust their own comrades, habitually using background and origins to judge if someone is good or bad?"
"Actually, I can't blame you all for this." Levi sighed and said, "Because Zaunites—no, to be precise, the destitute—have been oppressed and deceived by the capitalist class for far too long."
"Your past experiences tell you, just as they tell me—the rich snobs of Piltover cannot be trusted."
"So we naturally only want to trust our own people, feeling wary of any Piltovan who appears before us."
Judging people by their background was wrong.
But this unreasonable, brutal phenomenon of discussing class components and backgrounds was exactly a naked, bloody reflection of class conflict.
Even Levi himself, when he first started leading the Windguides, instinctively trusted Zaunites more than Piltovans.
If this were a magic-less world, Levi would probably also conduct strict background checks on anyone joining the Windguides, secretly guarding against those from wealthy families.
The division and alienation brought about by different backgrounds would certainly be much deeper than the fight between Vi and Caitlyn.
But fortunately, this was Runeterra.
"We are followers of the Goddess Janna."
"We have a better way to distinguish friend from foe, to judge whether a person is good or bad."
As soon as Levi finished speaking, the bluebird Janna standing on his shoulder slowly spread her wings and took flight.
Janna flew above the crowd, silently channeling her divine power.
In an instant, glowing white threads representing the Power of Faith were drawn out from the bodies of the hundreds of Windguides present.
Vi had one, and so did Caitlyn.
Everyone had one.
They only differed in thickness and brightness.
Everyone was a follower of the ideal, a comrade sharing the same path.
"Do you see? We don't need to talk about origins or backgrounds."
"Janna has already told us that we are all Windguides, brothers and sisters who believe in Janna Thought!"
"Therefore," Levi looked at Vi and Caitlyn, emphasizing the new rule he was setting down. "From now on:"
"Whether it's a difference in background or a divergence in ideological routes—"
"No matter how great the differences between us are, or how severe the disagreements—"
"All problems must be resolved and agreed upon through rational discussion, internal democracy, and the principle of the minority submitting to the majority!"
"We absolutely cannot act like today, like Vi and Caitlyn, coming to blows with our own comrades!"
Wherever there are people, there is society; wherever there is society, there are factions.
Differences in family background were only a minor issue; divergences in ideological routes were the major problem. And these problems would always objectively exist.
Internal conflicts among the Windguides would almost inevitably continue to arise.
But Levi believed that with Janna as their cheat code:
"We Windguides can remain forever united!"
"And we must remain forever united!"