Ch.277277. Famine (2)

Humanity and hunger have been inseparably linked since the birth of the human species in this world.

No, from the beginning, all living beings have been placed in a position where they cannot sever their connection with hunger.

The history of humanity, and indeed the foundation of everything in this world, ultimately stems from the question of “how to sustain oneself,” and this has never changed once from primitive times to our current highly sophisticated social structures.

And in the same sense, famine and hunger were not so distant from the people of this era.

Even in the rural domains of the Frankish Kingdom, which could be considered my homeland with its incredibly fertile and abundant soil, this was true.

No matter how desperately one farmed and harvested, after paying taxes, land rental fees, having that damned tax collector take his cut, paying for agricultural tool rentals….

In the process of fulfilling these tax obligations, most serfs and tenant farmers ended up surrendering most of their harvested wheat as taxes, and all that remained after this entire process was just a handful of wheat… and grains like beans, barley, and rye.

Still, if one could make porridge by grinding these grains into flour and boiling it thoroughly, they were considered lucky.

Furthermore, if one could eat even a single piece of black bread—hard and sour, but undeniably a solid food—that was truly a blessing to be grateful for.

If a terrible drought reduced the harvest, that damned tax collector would take even the barley and rye, and sometimes we truly had to survive for a year on just a few beans and vegetables, or even something boiled with clover and similar plants.

…Even now, perhaps because those memories are so negatively imprinted, I can’t help feeling nauseated at the mere sight of turnips or root vegetables.

Anyway, my old homeland, just before I was abandoned, was barely hanging on.

After years of continuous drought, not only had the forest fruits disappeared, but the streams that provided drinking water had dried up, and frogs and snakes had been eaten to extinction.

Even reptiles and amphibians, which were quite avoided in the Western continent, were hunted to near extinction, while rabbits and wild birds, which were traditionally eaten and had their own demand, had completely vanished.

At that time, even edible insects were gradually becoming scarce, and the only living creature found in the forests we could access was the wild boar—a predator known to kill humans.

Naturally, the atmosphere that emanated from such extreme circumstances was unbearably gloomy.

The first to disappear from the village were the few elderly.

Those who lamented that they didn’t have many days left chose to sacrifice themselves and vanished into the deep forest.

After the elderly came the children. More precisely, they were the ones who, being young and unable to eat properly, had weakened bodies that couldn’t withstand prolonged hunger during their crucial growth period.

Of course, after the young children collapsed, it was those who were originally weak or suffering from chronic illnesses, and thus, even after the population had decreased by more than half in just one year, the situation continued to worsen daily.

‘…This is.’

Right then, the very atmosphere I felt just before being abandoned from the village by my father’s hand… was being recreated exactly the same way in this village in the far Eastern continent.

The various infrastructures of the village, neglected due to prolonged famine, carried a desolate and cold atmosphere, or rather, an atmosphere of decline disguised as tranquility.

The desolation and silence felt because many people had died and few remained. A village where the coldness of corpses was felt instead of the vitality characteristic of places where people live.

[The atmosphere is not very pleasant, my lord.]

‘…Yes. Indeed it isn’t.’

My old past. A cold atmosphere that evoked unpleasant memories.

Around this time, Sofia, noticing that I had come out of the carriage and was not going back inside, came out wondering if something was wrong and approached me.

“Gregory, what’s… happening.”

Sofia, who at first didn’t properly recognize the situation, looked at me with an indescribable expression upon seeing this lifeless yet still inhabited scene.

Perhaps because I had quietly shared my past with her before, Sofia, who had come out of the carriage, seemed to sense that I was not at ease, and looked directly at my face as if trying to say something.

“Are… are you alright?”

“…Yeah. I’m fine. It just reminds me of the village I used to live in. …More importantly, I wonder if there’s anyone in charge of this village?”

The time was gradually turning to evening as the sun began to set.

Because of this, we would need to stay in this village for a while, so as we waited briefly at the entrance of the village.

“Oh my… My lord, what brings you to this impoverished village!”

An old man who was probably the village headman… or something equivalent. Having been directly hit by the passage of time due to years of farming work, this man, who looked at least twice as old as his actual age, knelt down and spoke to us as if pleading.

His age… he must be at least over 40.

He wore the white hanbok that people of this country so love and prefer, and overall, his body had become barren from severe malnutrition.

His body was so thin that it seemed to consist only of skin and bones, and as he knelt and earnestly begged in such a pitiful physical state, it naturally evoked compassion.

…I couldn’t help but see the people of my past village overlapping with him.

“Raise your head, headman. We are just passing through and stopped at this village because it got late. But… why is the atmosphere here like this?”

“Oh, that is….”

Although I didn’t really want to talk about this topic, seeing him trying to open up to me with difficulty, I felt compassion in one corner of my heart and spoke…

“Headman, you don’t have to tell me for now.”

“…Pardon?”

“For now, what I need to do immediately is to save you and the people of this village.”

With those words, I proudly declared while magically forming rice grains above my hand.

“Gather the people. Despite appearances, I am a magic user… a Taoist. I have enough ability to provide a meal for the hungry.”

And this was the decisive factor.

“Oh my! Of, of course I will! And, and thank you!”

The headman’s eyes went wild when he saw me forming rice grains out of thin air, holding them in my hand, and even giving him a handful of rice.

The thought that he should inform the villagers of this fact and the thought that he should express gratitude to me.

After these two thoughts mixed chaotically, he finally gave up thinking and surrendered himself to his actions.

“Everyone! Everyone! Come out now! Relief rice has arrived! Relief rice has arrived!”

As I wondered how such a skinny body could produce such a loud voice, the headman frantically gathered the villagers and announced this fact to the world.

Afterward, things proceeded swiftly.

I used simple magic to create mountains of already polished white rice and distributed it to the gathering villagers as much as they wanted, and the headman and his wife brought a large iron cauldron and began to boil white rice porridge.

In a situation where food needed to be distributed to people who were on the verge of dying from hunger, the best choice was indeed to distribute something that could be eaten immediately.

And so, an untimely festival was held at this place.

Watching them happily devouring porridge made with just rice and water without any additives, I wanted to feed them meat or fatty foods to their heart’s content…

I had heard several times before that if someone who hasn’t eaten anything for a long time suddenly consumes a large amount of fatty or burdensome food, something could go wrong… I don’t know exactly what happens, but in any case, it could be disastrous.

Therefore, not wanting to gamble with people’s lives, I was quietly observing this scene when…

“My, my lord…! Thank, thank you so much!”

Just then, the headman, who had been watching the villagers eat their fill of porridge with tears in his eyes, approached me and spoke with an emotion-choked voice.

And since this gratitude was quite burdensome for me, I tried to change the subject somehow… and voiced the question that came to mind.

“Headman. How… did this village end up like this?”

“…It’s a long story.”

Despite not finding any natural disasters or extreme famine in the surrounding villages, only this village was struck by famine and placed in such a predicament.

So to my somewhat curious question, the headman, with an expression that conveyed both a bitter smile and disillusionment… began to speak what he wanted to say with a sense of relief.