Chapter 845: 30% Natural Disasters, 70% Man-Made Disasters (Update 45)

Gretel seemed to have been punched in the face. Staggering, if the phantom pony could not automatically protect the summoner, it would almost fall off the horse's back.

At the banquet, the chef and the count’s second son proudly boasted once again:

"The pigs grow up in sparsely wooded oak pastures and grow up eating wild herbs and olives, and when the acorns mature, they feed almost exclusively on acorns..."

"The black pig grew up eating herbs, olives and acorns, and was carefully marinated and matured. The meat is light and soft, mixed with the unique aroma of acorns..."

"The carefully selected baby pigs eat the fruits of the oak tree with strange powers. They are Luo Si Kang's delicacies, the treasures among treasures, enough to serve as a feast for the queen and a sacrifice to the gods..."

Such delicacies, such delicacies, are enough to become a regional representative and a key product that boosts the entire regional economy - but at what cost? !

The price was that almost all the land suitable for oak woodlands in the entire county was occupied by the nobles to raise the black pigs unique to County Rothkom;

The price is that if the poor want to go into the woods and pick up acorns to satisfy their hunger, they will be hung up and whipped...

That acorn is bitter!

It’s bitter!

It must be cooked for a long time to remove its bitter taste, and it must be ground into powder before it can be swallowed!

Who would go to the woods to pick up acorns to eat if it wasn't absolutely necessary, if they weren't forced to starve to death!

2,500 square kilometers, 200,000 people, 80 people per square kilometer, a population density that can survive by catching birds, fishing, picking wild fruits and digging grass roots, but there will also be situations where people will starve to death——

People are worse than pigs!

People are worse than pigs! ! !

At this moment, Gretel subconsciously clenched his hands. The fingers clenched, opened, clenched again, and opened again, the magic waves in the palms were faintly boiling——

I really want to backhand a fireball and blow this place up!

Fireball is not enough! If anger can enhance spells, he highly doubts that he can create a big Ivan.

Sometimes, it really takes a spark of fire to turn into a prairie fire to clean up the dirt and filth...

However, at this time, stronger fluctuations rose from the right side. Gretel turned his head to look, and quickly urged the Phantom Horse to come closer. He tilted his body and pressed Cerela's hand:

"Cerela, no!"

Killing people doesn't solve the problem!

Pure violence cannot solve the fundamental problem!

Even if we kill all the whippers, all the guards in this village, or even all the nobles in this county——

Oh, killing all the nobles can indeed temporarily solve the problem, but it cannot cause fundamental changes. Think about establishing better order rather than relying on pure destruction...

"Gretel!"

Serila turned her back, stretched out her hand, and picked him up from the horse. But Grete was too lost in thought and moved too fiercely. When his body leaned forward, he almost slipped off the Phantom Horse...

"Well……"

Gretel struggled and fluttered for a long time, and was finally thrown back to his horse by Cerela. As for the knight training that I have received for several months, and the advancement from a level 1 warrior to a level 3 warrior, well, don't worry about it.

He coughed as authoritatively as possible and straightened his clothes to make himself look less embarrassed. Glancing ahead, he saw that the whipping villager and several other villagers standing with him had their heads lowered and tried not to look up.

Are you afraid of seeing his embarrassment and offending him? still……

No matter what, I just didn't see him, or restricted myself from looking at him. Gretel covered his ears and raised his face from the floor, urging his horse to take two steps forward, looking down at the whip holder:

"I understand the situation. - Since the fight has ended like this, then, let's call it a day, right? Don't want to fight?"

This is discussion, intercession, and order. Grete knew that that person would definitely agree, whether it was because he was intimidated by the majesty of a master like him, or because he was afraid that he would really throw a fireball.

Sure enough, the man threw away his whip and bowed back:

"Of course, my lord, of course. Since you pity him, my lord -"

As he spoke, he turned his head back at a 90-degree bend, suppressed his voice, and yelled at his subordinates:

"Why don't you put this person down yet! Didn't you see your orders?"

The two men hurriedly untied the farmer from the rack and dragged him to Gretel's horse. Gretel jumped off the horse, raised his hand, and healing spells fell bit by bit, wiping away the blood marks on his body:

"Do you feel better?"

The farmer managed to get up, his legs weakened, and he knelt down in front of Grete again. Grete sighed helplessly:

"Get up, get up. - Are you feeling better? Can you walk with me?"

As he spoke, he touched the space bag and threw a piece of bread over. The farmer didn't have time to get up, caught the bread, lowered his head and took a big bite, followed by another. He choked immediately and knelt there, his face red and ears red, and he rolled his eyes.

Gretel: "..."

He had no choice but to use the wizard's trick to make a crude water bottle, fill it with water and pass it over. While watching him drink, he secretly mobilized the spell model, ready to summon a force field hand to perform the Heimlich maneuver at any time.

Fortunately, after the farmer drank some water, he actually washed down the bread stuck in his throat. He took a few more bites, treasured the remaining half of the bread into his arms, and bowed deeply:

"No problem, sir. You can send me wherever you like!"

"Okay." Grete frowned and looked at the ground. Fortunately, there was just a lot of mud and no cow or pig manure. He looked around:

"Take me to your fields."

"I have no land, my lord."

"Then, take me to see where you farm!"

The farmer pulled on his tattered clothes to cover a little of his back, and led the way with a grimace. Gretel followed behind and listened to his constant pointing:

"This land belongs to the lord...it is planted with wheat...the harvest is not good this year, no, there is no harvest at all..."

"This land is also the land of the lord... It was planted by the Lothar family... It also grows wheat... Wheat? The lord transported all last year's wheat away, leaving nothing behind... It's like this every year... "

"This land? This land is fallow. Some alfalfa has been planted. I was hoping to raise a sheep. Sheep? The sheep will be given to the lord..."

"This plot is planted with potatoes...the yield of potatoes is high! Such a small piece of land can feed our family!"

Having said this, the farmer touched the bread on his chest and smiled with satisfaction:

"And the lord doesn't want potatoes. Yes, he doesn't want them. We can keep all the potatoes and eat them for a year! But there are no potatoes this year...it's too cold and the potatoes won't grow..."

Gretel walked slowly, pointing and asking questions here and there. From the farmer's answer, he roughly understood the cause of the famine:

All the land in Russell County, or almost all the land, belonged to lords large and small. The lords didn't care how many tenants there were, since they didn't need many people to look after and drive the pigs anyway——

Give them enough land, and the pigs can find grass blades and acorns to eat without starving to death.

Then, the small amount of land that remained, land that was more suitable for farming than for oak trees, was mostly planted to wheat. Some were provided for the lord's consumption, and most were transported away, possibly towed and sold.

Considering that Earl Russell Kang, the Earl's eldest son, and most of the local nobles are not here, but in the distant royal capital, the possibility of these harvests being dragged and sold in exchange for money for the nobles to spend is really too great. Too big.

As for the local sharecroppers?

Doesn't this give them some land? As long as the lord's land is cultivated, the harvest from the remaining land will all belong to them!

What a big pile of potatoes! Feeding them is no problem!

"No one told you that there would be a great famine this year. Did you ask you to stock up on food?" Grete asked slowly:

"Isn't there anyone who will lead you to grow grain, lead you to pray, and lead you to use holy power to produce grain?"

"...No, sir." The farmer bent down deeply. Under his rags, his dark spine was almost bare. Even if the weather is not hot, beads of sweat keep rolling down:

"One of my cousins ​​in the south of the city rented land from the mage masters, and actually helped the mage masters do a lot of work. He built warehouses and carried grain. It is said that you can borrow grain from them and pay it back next year."

At this point, the farmer's eyes filled with envy. Grete nodded secretly:

It seems that the local Mage Tower in Roscommon County still did a good job last year. Unlike the local lords, they really don't do anything. Also, the Council conducts inspections and assessments on the Mage Tower every year. Those who fail to pass will have the resources of the Mage Tower reduced, and the host will be transferred...

He has personally experienced how inconvenient the research work is for a magician who has lost his mage tower. Just for this reason, the local mage system will also work hard to do a good job.

"But we can't do it, sir, we can't do it. We are the lord's people, we can't work for the mages... Moreover, there is not so much food to borrow..."

Grete closed her eyes sadly. Behind him, Serila leaned down from the phantom horse and asked impatiently:

"What about the nature priests? What about the servants of the nature god? Didn't they look after you?"

"Sorry, beautiful lady." The farmer subconsciously took two steps back, fearing that he would touch this beautiful and exquisitely dressed lady - even if she had pointed ears:

"I don't understand... what you are talking about, I don't understand..."

"That's it."

Grete took over.

He took out the oak stick from his breast pocket, and with a slight movement of natural force, the short oak stick grew in the wind and turned into the shape of an eyebrow-level stick. The phantom on his body rotated slightly, and the exquisite mage robe turned into a rough linen gown:

"That's the kind of person who goes to the village, goes to the fields, treats you, and shows you what to plant - haven't you seen this kind of person?"

"No, no." The farmer kept shaking his head and kept retreating until he fell into the field with a "plop" and fell backwards. Gretel turned his head in disappointment, turned to the back and squeezed, carefully following the villagers:

"Have you seen it?"

"...I have heard of it, sir." After a long silence, an old farmer - or rather, a farmer who looked older came out of the crowd and bowed deeply:

"When I was young, I heard the elders in my family say that when they were young, there were people dressed like this who came to our village to treat patients, deliver babies, and teach us how to grow grains. But then they disappeared. I have never seen this in my life..."

no yet?

Are the priests of nature no longer walking in this county?

what happened? What made the worshipers of the God of Nature abandon this land?

The Mage Tower didn’t report it? Last year, the parliament ordered the parliament to cooperate with the Nature God Order to produce grains and store grains. The Mage Tower did not report this news?

Gretel was awe-inspiring. He slowly walked through the village, checked the storage situation (no one dared to open the door, but it couldn't block the mage's secret vision), and asked a few more villagers. Finally, he severely threatened the tenant manager:

"Don't hit people! Don't retaliate against them! I'm coming again! If I find you hitting people, I'll kill you!"

In order to increase the credibility of his speech, he also manifested a fireball, holding it in his hand and shaking it. The fireball crackled and exploded in his palm, making the village chief's hair curl. He scraped the ground with his heels and backed away, bowing repeatedly:

"I won't fight! I won't fight! Master Master, don't worry! I will never lay a finger on them!"

Gretel visited four villages in a row the next day. After running down five points, except for the real estate and tenants occupied by the Master Tower, which can indeed be passed, other areas are completely difficult to describe.

Especially the territories of local nobles and the territory of the Spring Water Temple. The Temple of the God of War is slightly better, but it only allows the warriors to be full and their families to be half hungry and half full...

Most importantly, why did the Order of the God of Nature disappear?

Gretel returned to the Mage Tower with doubts. When asked bluntly, the presiding mage hesitated:

"I was also transferred from another place, and I have been here less than 20 years. When I came here, the God of Nature Order had already left... I inquired several times, and it seems that they had some conflicts..."

No, who did you ask?

Local lord?

Local temple?

Have you actually asked the Order of the God of Nature in the next county?

Grete was extremely speechless about the host's ability to do things. He rubbed his brows and asked seriously:

"So now, where is the relocation work stuck? The local lord refuses to let people go? What methods have you used?"

"We made several visits to request, asking the local temple to put pressure. We also wrote to the royal capital and asked the royal mage group in the royal capital to help put pressure."

The eighth-level mage who presided over the mage tower couldn't stand up straight in front of Gretel, who was also at the eighth level. He frowned and sighed. He talked about his efforts one by one for half an hour:

"We have tried every method, but they just don't pay attention. We can't just lift the table and kill all the nobles here... We can't lift it anymore..."

Grete believes that the saying that it cannot be lifted is true. Yesterday's dinner, the people present at the God of War Temple and the Spring Goddess Temple were all level nine or above. Although the local noble family heads have all run away, according to Bernard, there are still two knights who can fight with him for a while...

If this kind of power is gathered together, the Mage Tower can more than protect itself. It is really a joke to want to kill all the nobles.

So how to apply pressure?

The local host looked at him longingly. Behind the host, a fifth-level mage and two second-level mage looked at him eagerly.

According to the general habits of the Mage Council, most of these low-level mages are the children of local nobles. The Mage Tower wants to overturn the table, and these people probably won’t be able to help. There is a high probability that they will tip off the information, or even delay it...

Gretel sighed.

If it were him, he would be able to flip the table if he used all his strength - if he really tried his best to fire the fireball, and push the power of the fireball to above level 9, or even to level 10, he should be able to do it.

If it’s not possible to bring out the council’s brand and the teacher’s brand again, why not take action together with Serira? To be honest, an adult silver dragon is more than enough to suppress the nobles of the entire county. I guarantee that they will not have any unnecessary words.

Grete believed that the host of the Mage Tower in Roscommon County must have thought so. However, that was definitely not what the Parliament had in mind when they sent him here.

If they die, the people will suffer. The people are prosperous and suffer. If you can break the local social order, try not to break it. Think about it, is there any other way to do this well within the rules...

He was filled with simmering anger and wanted to shout. At this moment, a bell rang loudly, and soon, an apprentice held a rectangular wooden box, walked quickly, and poked his head at the door.

"What's this?"

The presiding mage raised his voice and asked. The apprentice bowed and said:

"It's a gift from Count Rothkom to Master Nordmark - can you send it in now?"

The wooden box was delivered to the center of the living room and the lid was opened. A ham lay quietly in the middle, wrapped in dark red silk, with only a short section of pure black hoof exposed.

Gretel didn't even need to untie the silk to feel the pure and familiar power of nature.

"This is……"

"It's Rothko ham. The best kind." As the apprentice entered the mage tower, the knight who came specially to present the gift bowed deeply to Gretel:

"My Lord Count said, I hope the Master will like it."

Gretel lowered his eyes and laughed softly.

"Like it? I do like it - I like it very much."

The messenger breathed a sigh of relief and left with peace of mind. Gretel stared at the ham for a moment, then raised his head and looked directly at the presiding mage:

"Can you give me a map?"

"What?"

"Give me a map." Grete still had a smile on his lips, but there was a layer of ice in his eyes:

"A map of Luosikang County and several surrounding counties. I'm going to walk around and take a look - the surrounding counties, if not, the further counties, there will always be the Order of the God of Nature. Does it exist?"

"Of course there is!"

Mr. Mage shuddered, immediately let the students in, and copied a detailed map. Cities, mage towers, hills, bodies of water, lords' manors, and temples are all vividly displayed on the map.

Gretel lowered his head, his fingertips brushed across the surface of the map inch by inch, and stopped for a moment on the mark of a large oak tree:

"I'll go take a look. I'll be back tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow at most. By then, I hope you can let me visit the ancestral home of Earl Luo Si Kang's family, is that okay?"

He walked away. Take Cerela, take Bernard. Walking into the wilderness and out of the border of Roscommon County, he immediately changed into a cloth robe and rode on the back of the Silver Moon Deer——

In his hand, among the eight green leaves on the head of the oak staff, a small black and white snake was swimming up and down.

****

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