Chapter 281 Who Caused The Crisis In Roisen?
Watching the chaotic events unfold in front of him, Rihito couldn't help but grumble.
"Even 40 years ago, when I fell asleep, Roisen's agriculture was already in serious trouble. So why didn't Roisen do anything about it?"
"Well..."
"That's because Princess Blanche and Prince Charles couldn't abandon their people."
As Marquis Grandchester tilted his head, Noir suddenly appeared.
"Oh, only the fairy shows up here. Aren't you supposed to be with Blaze?"
"He's sleeping in the bedroom right now. I felt a strong surge of magic, so I just came to check things out."
"Of course, a fairy would notice."
"Naturally. Ah, Rihito, speaking of which, you know that after you left for Avalon, those 2 moved to Knightheart, right?"
"Of course. That place used to be the Duke old Nerlux territory, so Nox opposed it quite a bit, according to Charles's letter."
"Well, of course. The people of Roisen were searching for the runaway Princess Blanche and Charles. That place originally belonged to Charles, and Blanche grew up in the Duke Nerlux territory as a child. It's a place with connections."
Once known as Nox, Noir sat down next to Rihito, reminiscing about the past.
"Well, people can't just easily abandon their hometown. First of all, it was Nox who made them look like old people to hide them, right? Ah, now it's Noir."
"They lived as old men until no one remembered their true appearance. Thanks to that, the two of them became completely calm and never had a sweet atmosphere at all."
"Well, I'm the same way. The mind is affected by the age of the body, you know? If those troublesome 2 wither away, they'll just be like old friends sipping tea."
"Exactly. They spent their time as neighbors who loved to farm, like old farmers. They played with many fairies, which kept giving them magical power, so the area around them was always abundant."
"Sigh. They probably didn't do it on purpose, but doesn't that mean the current crisis in Roisen is their fault?"
"That could be said. After all, half of the wheat consumed in Roisen was provided by Knightheart."
Originally, Knightheart was part of the Duke Nerlux territory, a vast and fertile land. The area for farming was even larger than the entire Grandchester territory. The population in the capital around Bern Castle was also large, known as the second city after the capital of Roisen.
Currently, this land is ruled by the Duke of Bern, who is the biological father of Crown Prince Gerhart. Just before Crown Prince Gerhart was born, Gerhart's father, who was then a royal brother, stepped down and became the Duke of Bern. At that time, he was granted Knightheart, and Crown Prince Gerhart was born and raised in that land.
For Crown Prince Gerhart, who grew up in a special land where good harvests were always promised, it was normal for the land to be rich.
And then, a problem arose.
A 17-year-old boy, who had not even received proper education as a prince, was suddenly forced into the position of the next king due to a royal family conflict. Moreover, the king, who should have been leading the country's recovery, aged rapidly because of the chaos caused by his sons and irresponsibly handed over most of the government duties to Crown Prince Gerhart.
Before the family conflict, the noble faction, which was the largest group in Roisen, had been deeply involved in politics, using the king as a puppet. In fact, they were the true rulers. Prince Adolf, who was supposed to take the throne with their support, had better political skills than the other princes, even if his character and behavior were questionable.
After a storm of purges, most of the noble families from the noble faction were wiped out, and the newly appointed lords found themselves unable to take over properly. This greatly affected primary industries like agriculture, forestry, and fishing, as well as secondary industries like manufacturing, leading to a significant decline in Roisen's national power.
The family conflict also brought about requests for mercenaries to the Adventurers' Guild, contributing to the misfortune. As a result, Prince Charles lost his life while carrying out a guild request, and Princess Blanche, shocked by this, went into labor and died after giving birth to Blaze.
However, Gerhart, who arrogantly believed that he was born and raised in a rich country, had no idea that their wealth was supported by Princess Blanche and Prince Charles. He ended up lowering the priority of agricultural policies in Roisen.
This is not just Gerhart's fault. This is because various countries surrounding Roisen were likely to attack, taking advantage of the chaos. Especially Gerhart's real father, Duke Bern, has been a true warrior since he was the king's younger brother and has served as the leader of the Royal Knights. Now, he is the commander of the kingdom's army.
Inevitably, Gerhart often viewed the situation from a warrior's perspective, focusing on foreign policy and trying to get closer to the Coastal Union through political marriage. If he had been a bit more careful in checking the situation in territories other than Knightheart, he might not have neglected agricultural policies so much. However, some lords, who were new and had not even finished taking over their territories, thought, "If it seems like I can't manage my territory well, I might lose the land I just received." Because of this, some lords even chose not to report their territory's problems.
As a result, Roisen's harvests significantly decreased, leading to an increase in food imports. Naturally, agriculture in the country began to decline. After ten years, Gerhart and the leaders of Roisen finally realized how precarious their situation was and were looking to import wheat from Avalon as a way out.
For Roisen, which is in such a crisis, it looks like nothing more than a "feast on the table" to the cunning leaders of the Coastal Union. They managed to survive the past few years, arguing over how to divide it and who would eat which part, but now the faction centered around Lombart is holding knives to cut it up and is ready to stab Roisen.
'Exporting wheat to Roisen won't solve any problems at all. No matter how you look at it, it seems like a drop in the bucket. What was Sara planning to do? I can't believe she didn't think this through...'
Rihito stared at the lying Sara, strongly wanting to know what this little girl was thinking.
'You're really interesting. Please wake up soon.'
"Even so, Your Excellency the Marquis, even if His Majesty the King allows the export of wheat, won't we still be unable to provide all the wheat that Roisen needs? Even if it's just the leftover from replenishing our lost stock, it seems like the amounts just don't add up."
"Is Sara's magic really capable of producing that much wheat?"
"I can't really tell how much it will be. If it gets too complicated, wouldn't it be better to ask for a switch to another crop?"
At that moment, Pochi returned to drain Sara's magic.
"Hey, Pochi. How's it going?"
"It doesn't seem very efficient. The Sophia Merchant Guild has 9 empty warehouses, but it takes about 3 days to fill one."
"I'm sorry, Pochi, but it seems like Miss Sara's magic is leaking out faster. Can you increase the number of familiars like Sedrick?"
"I've never done it before, but I think I can."
"Then please increase the familiars and work on it at the same time. I don't think it would be a problem to drain about 3 times the current amount of magic."
"I'll use magic to increase the familiars first."
Pochi sucked magic power from Sara and created 5 puppies. Pochi's body is a deep green color, but the puppies are a light grass green.
"Creating 5 at once is impressive. Plus, they're super cute!"
"Thanks! These little ones have less magic power to draw from than I do, so I went for quantity."
"I see."
Pochi and the 5 puppies kept sucking magic power from Sara.
"Rihito, how are you? Are you okay?"
"It seems like you've drained a lot of magic. Nothing is leaking out anymore."
"That's good to hear."
At that moment, Marquis Grandchester interrupted and asked Pochi.
"Pochi, the Sophia Merchant Guild's warehouse is that large warehouse outside the capital, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
"If that's the case, it should be able to hold 20% of the wheat harvested in the Grandchester territory in a year. I'm sorry, but could you limit it to 5 warehouses full of wheat? If there are more, it will be hard to distribute it as Grandchester wheat."
"But what if we fill 5 and Sara's magic starts leaking?"
"I'd like to consider other crops."
Actually, since it could just be thrown into Sara's spatial storage, if there wasn't enough time to think it over, Pochi planned to convert it into wheat or Elma and toss it in.
"Got it. Think about what to do."
"Understood."
Marquis Grandchester stood up from a small writing desk that didn't fit Sara's body and stretched his body. It seemed he had a bit of back pain.
"Your Excellency Marquis Grandchester, I don't think Miss Sara will wake up soon. It might be better for you to leave for today. Sir Robert and Miss Orson, considering tomorrow, shouldn't you both get some rest as well?"
However, the 3 of them glanced at Sara and seemed unable to leave her side.
"I'm worried that I might never see my granddaughter again."
"I'm also concerned about Sara and can't seem to sleep."
"I'm staying here to take care of her."
Rihito looked at the 3 of them with a troubled expression.
"Your Excellency the Marquis, is Miss Sara the type to fall into negative thoughts and not come back?"
"That's a tough question. She seems to have a surprisingly positive personality, but when her mother died, it looked like she might choose to just give up. I can't imagine which way she will go."
"I see. Then, we can only hope that she finds peace in her heart."
Marquis Grandchester slumped deeply into the sofa. It seemed he still didn't want to leave.
"Sir Robert needs to get moving early tomorrow to handle the wheat that Pochi is working hard on. It would be better for Miss Sara if everything is arranged by the time she wakes up."
"Understood. I will believe that Sara will wake up and will take care of myself."
"If needed, I can prescribe a mild sleeping medicine that won't be a burden. Is that okay?"
"I'm sure it's fine. Thank you for your concern."
Robert forced himself to accept this and decided to make good use of the wheat created with Sara's magic.
"Lady Orson, instead of focusing on nursing her right now, we should prioritize preparing for the future. At this stage, we don't know when Miss Sara will wake up. It could take a long time, so we need to think about how to take over her work. Especially, what should we do about the merchant guild?"
Rihito's comment startled Rebecca.
"You're right, I don't have time to spend on nursing her. Mr. Rihito, thank you for pointing that out. We need to create a situation where we can act smoothly when Sara wakes up. First, we must safely see off the royals tomorrow. The princes might be disappointed that Sara isn't here, but if we say she has a fever, they won't push too hard. It's common for children to have fevers."
"That's true."
"However, the problem is Sophia's golem. It seems it won't move unless it gets magic power every day. It requires a lot of magic, and I think it's really bad if Sophia disappears at the same time Sara collapses. We need to at least make it look like we're going abroad for supplies."
"Hmm... It's heavy on my mind, but let's replenish the magic for that golem. But, Miss Sara must be an incredibly beautiful adult, right..."
'I've got to do this quickly when no one is around...'
Rihito thinks there are problems with the way to recharge the magic power of the living golem, but since Sara is sick, he decides there's nothing he can do about it.
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