The Karet Plain is now also a scene of cold winter depression. The grassland has withered and turned yellow. Packs of foraging wolves are wandering around. You can still hear the roars of beasts not far away. However, compared with the glaciers that filled the sky not long ago, they are almost
Paradise.＋◆,
Not far behind is the Horit Snow Mountain. Looking back, you can also see the ice wall reaching into the sky, and the snow-capped mountains cannot be seen at a glance.
On the grassland, the elves formed a mighty convoy, moving slowly but resolutely towards the north.
Most of the elves had to walk, and the mighty caravan moved very slowly.
The small number of carriages and big bird carriages either contained seriously injured people, or they contained supplies such as medicines, medicines, and food.
Ordinary inanimate substances can also be placed in the City of Eternal Night. Once the food and supplies that need to be eaten are corroded by negative energy, the user may become undead.
From time to time, there were lightly wounded people and children who could no longer walk and were dragged away by others. There were faint sounds of crying in the team. Perhaps this was because the survivors had been paralyzed by fear and despair before, and when they finally died,
When we are in a safe area, the sorrow of losing our home and loved ones cannot help but come over us.
Even though the floating fleet is slowly moving forward in the sky, artillery fire is already driving away the beasts approaching the fleet. Those elven winged horses and hippogriff knights are still cruising among the clouds, even though these aerial knights and their mounts are all wounded.
, perhaps, they want to find some work to do, so as not to think too much in their free time and indulge in sorrow and despair.
Perhaps the current ending of the destruction of the elven gods is something that all the races on the main plane would like to see, and it is also the best choice for the elves who remain in the mortal world to face the future. But for ordinary elves, it is meaningless to see too far.
.They are just war refugees who have just lost their homes and people. They are just sad and crying because they have lost everything in the past.
The entire convoy was vaguely covered by a gray atmosphere of mourning, and we could hear the sounds of crying and sighing constantly, but we had no intention of interfering. If the sadness cannot be released, it will become more troubles.
Maybe the demon side's first goal has been completed, maybe the elves and gods have been the unexpected perfect sacrifices, maybe the demonic tide is more chaotic than expected, and the pursuit we encountered was lighter than expected.
Soon, the latest battle report given by the goblins told us that the real greedy demon tide is enjoying new prey.
"The Dukedom of Diwen was destroyed? In just one day?"
"To be precise, it took eighteen hours and forty minutes to cross the border from the demonic tide to reach the gate where Nattis conquered the royal capital. Although it was only a small country with three cities and a population of nearly one million, it was indeed destroyed.
Faster than expected.”
It seems that even after the elves are consumed, the demonic tide and Danatis are still not something that ordinary small countries can handle, and if I remember correctly, in order to avoid getting into trouble, that country should have rejected the passage application we submitted before,
The results are generally the same.
I lay on the bed and tried to focus on the scenery outside the window, but...
"Is there any latest information or government affairs that need to be dealt with? Is there any new news about the Demonic Abyss in the North?"
"There is no new news from the North, but probably due to the outbreak of the war, the average price of winter grain in the interior has increased by 30% in just two days..."
The noise in my ears and the intense gazes finally made me give up my plan of ignoring the other people in the room and focusing on hiding.
"Renee, can't you let the patient have a good rest?"
Still unable to move, I am lying in the infirmary of the Northern Lights. The room is full of the smell of medicinal herbs and alchemical elixirs. It replenishes the overdraft after the release of the forbidden curse. Compared with the holy light that overdrafts my life, I still prefer the slow effects.
However, it is a natural treatment without any side effects, and the bandage therapy soaked with magic power restoring agent is the secret technique for treating magic power overdraft.
The small medical room actually had desks set up, and Renee chose to work here without hesitation, and her princess, Ivy Marceau from the Solo Federation, also handled government affairs here.
Early in the morning, Renee came here with her government affairs team to work. Considering that she is more diligent than me but has a limited work style, she is probably looking for someone to blame.
"I know you are very busy. Go to your captain's cabin. What do you mean by disturbing the patient's rest here?"
"Just because you tied yourself into a mummy, it doesn't mean you are really injured. The doctor said you can handle government affairs. If you have time to read the mechanical repair manual, you might as well do something serious, such as giving us some advice. By the way
By the way, you read the Gnomish repair manual backwards."
I quickly turned over the manual, but the little girl's chuckle told me that I had accidentally been tricked.
Yes, what kind of engineering is there? Although I know some dwarf language, I can't understand the machine repair manual that is full of engineering terms. Now I pretend to concentrate on reading, but I just find a reason to refuse to work.
I reluctantly threw away the book. At this point, I was trying to hold on. It was indeed very ugly, but I still mumbled a few words.
"You have done a good job over the years. You have long been on your own. What do you want us old bones to do? We should have retired long ago."
The complaints were not suppressed, but were still heard, and Renee simply shook her head.
"At least, I should let you know about the recent changes in the North. Also, you are a real 'prophet'. If I don't squeeze you... I mean, it would be a waste to ask for advice."
Prophet? Oh, it turns out that the trick I used to deceive the League of Gentlemen was taken seriously. However, in a sense, I do have the ability to predict "history", but now "history" has changed so much that I can "predict" things.
Not much left.
"...Don't expect too much from me, especially things from the North. As long as prophecy involves the actions of the prophet himself, it cannot be true at all. The North and I are too deeply involved, and I can't explain anything."
This is not pure nonsense. The history of the Holy War in the North back then was much more miserable than it is now. Without Cavans and I, there would have been no revival of the Lan Kingdom and the establishment of the Lan Alliance. After the demise of the ancient Lan Kingdom, the most powerful people in the north were
The powerful northern orcs directly occupied that land.
More than three hundred years were enough for them to completely occupy the Northland. Cooperating with the underground world's counterattack, they defeated the Northland Moon Elf Kingdom. They even won historical praise for the revival of the orcs. It was not until the demons swept the entire plane that the Northland was ended.
The final glory of the orcs.
I'm not lying. I have been involved too much in the "historical" development of this area, and it has long been changed beyond recognition, so what else can I predict?
Maybe my rhetoric of "Believe it or not, it won't work, you can count others but not yourself" is too similar to the wandering fortune teller on the street. The little girl from the Solo Federation laughed out loud. That smiling and squinting expression,
I don't believe it at all.
As usual, Renee was too trusting in me. When she heard the rejection in my words, she was not very firm. She smiled playfully and followed the stick.
"Then you promised to give us guidance, Kati, let's continue the report."
So, the senior government official with a pockmarked face continued his report.
"...The price of winter grain has exceeded the 30% risk level in just a few days. There has been a rush to buy in the country. The opinion of the joint meeting of logistics ministers of the various countries in the Alliance is that our current grain reserves are still sufficient.
, all countries should open their treasury to balance prices and stabilize people's hearts."
Although today's Lan Alliance is an alliance composed of dozens of countries, the Lan tribe plays a large part in it. Renee's right to speak is extremely high. Even if the country has reached a unanimous opinion, the Wu Mian will eventually be allowed to
The emperor came to confirm.
"I have looked at the inventory data of grain reserves. Judging from the current consumption, there will be no problem in harvesting by next autumn."
Ivy Marceau's father is a member of the Solo Federation, and she has been trained as a politician's descendant since she was a child. Now as a princess, she is handling government affairs for Renee, and she is doing her best.
Seeing everyone nodding around, Renee was about to agree, but I finally couldn't stand it anymore.
"No, don't talk about grain now. We should open all the warehouses now and go all out to collect grain."
As soon as I spoke, I overturned the decree that was about to be made. All the government officials in the room looked at me. It goes without saying that they were dissatisfied and unhappy. They did not refute it on the spot. Maybe they saw the reason why they were in front of the emperor.
"...If I'm not wrong, the price of food will skyrocket for a long time from now. Haven't you read the latest news? San Antonio, the mainland's largest food exporter, has been involved in...
They have entered a holy war, and as long as their emperor’s head is OK, next year’s export volume will be significantly reduced, if not zero, and a sharp rise in food prices is foreseeable.”
The San Antonio Empire occupies the holy land where the orcs originally originated. It is said that if you just sow wheat, you will be able to harvest wheat fields next year. The annual food is not only enough for their domestic use, but the excess is naturally used for export.
Even if the jihad does not affect the production areas of San Antonio, agricultural exporting countries during the war, even if they have enough food, will reserve excess food crops as war reserves. A large-scale reduction in exports in the coming year is expected.
"We have already considered it, but our food import destinations are mainly Bayer and Oran. Even if food prices will be affected by fluctuations, it is expected and we can cope with it."
As Renee's chief assistant officer, Ivy, who has a special status, made no secret of her dissatisfaction with my judgment. Judging from the expressions of other administrative staff, they also recognized Ivy's judgment.
I'm a little speechless. It's not that I'm convinced, but I don't know how to explain that people's hearts are sinister, profiteers cannibalize people, and a large number of unscrupulous businessmen are waiting to speculate in goods, waiting to make money from war and national distress, and it's hard to explain that they don't care about them.
No matter how you estimate it, you underestimate the intensity and duration of the jihad. As long as the fight lasts for a long time, food prices will naturally rise again and again.
Although thanks to Amyra's help, there are several excellent cold-resistant crops in the Northland, considering the weather and barren land in the Northland, as well as the sharp increase in population after the formation of the Lanmen League, even though it has been promoted in the past few years
With the cultivation of cold-resistant crops, there is still a lot of food shortage every year.
Of course, this can be solved. Although the cold-resistant wheat finally selected looks a bit like a piranha and tastes a bit strange and has an earthy smell, it is indeed not a magic plant. It is non-toxic and harmless and will not kill anyone if eaten.
.
Although the yield per mu is relatively low due to poor planting conditions, there is a lot of wasteland and labor in the north. As long as the planting area increases and the grain output increases, a balance can be reached in the end. Those rich people who dislike single taste and unbalanced nutrition can
People can naturally go to other places to purchase food.
For Lan League officials, being picky about food tastes is too luxurious. Being able to ensure that people in the barren northern land do not starve to death is already a huge historical achievement.
Everyone knows that this is a big event. In the past eight years, the young people who apply to become land reclamation farmers every year are the most honored. The number of fields around the city has skyrocketed, and the food production in the North has indeed skyrocketed at a geometric rate.
It is precisely this crazy increase in food production year by year that makes these administrative officials miscalculate the future direction. They think that as long as it lasts for a period of time, food can reach self-sufficiency balance. But I know that the Jihad will not allow them to survive that easily.
One day, as long as the Lan Alliance still needs to import food, the countries in the North will need to store food on a large scale. Maybe when the jihad enters its peak period, there will be no food trading in the international market.
I was silent for a while, trying to formulate my words.
"How do you ensure that neither Bair nor Oran will be involved in jihad again in the coming year?"
"How is it possible..."
Ivy was stunned midway through her negative words. Ivy wanted to think how could it be such a coincidence according to common sense, but then she thought that no one could make such a guarantee, and no one could predict the course of the jihad.
"Moreover, you may not have experienced a world war-level war. Once a problem occurs in a grain-producing country, it will have a psychological impact on the entire international grain market. Other countries will begin to purchase grain instead of exporting it. The international grain market
The price increase is predictable. There may even be a situation where there is a price but no market."
The more I think about it, the more I think it is possible. There is no international organization to maintain balance in this world. If those transnational profiteers and state-backed agents really start to speculate on food prices, it is possible that food will eventually become more expensive than gold.
"Well, let's decide this. This year we will buy grain instead of selling it."
Renee made the decision very directly, but Ivy was anxious.
"But there is a shortage in the domestic grain market and the lack of winter grain will affect people's hearts and cause panic."
Renee looked at me and I shrugged. I'm pretty good at dealing with this kind of thing, but it's definitely not a peaceful and healthy routine.
"With a 30% increase in two days, do you believe that there are no profiteers speculating on goods? Just raid all the houses of those profiteers and take out all the goods to balance the prices. By the way, if you can't handle this matter, leave it to the dark elves, they are all good hands.
, guaranteed to catch one accurately, and even his eighteen generations of ancestors will explain it clearly if he catches one."
Obviously, this is not a conventional way to deal with it. Randomly ransacking the homes of wealthy businessmen will make businessmen panic, and may make those businessmen choose to relocate and transfer their property. In the long run, there will be endless consequences, but...
"It's already a war, and using peacetime methods will only make those profiteers look down on you. It's better to kill the chickens to scare the monkeys than to add more trouble later. Hehe, the feudal kingship era is convenient, and you don't need to find evidence to search for homes."
But my overly intense way of handling it made Renee nod her head in understanding.
She knows that I am not a murderous person, and it can even be said that I am tired of killing. But at this time, I took such an extreme approach. There is naturally a reason, and she has guessed some of it.
"...Northland will also face war?"
Since it is during the war, it is understandable to deal with it no matter how fierce it is. When I heard Renee ask this, I smiled. She was still too young and underestimated the holy war that was about to sweep the entire plane.
"No, it's not that the North is about to face war, it's that the entire world is already in war. Every race, every country, a region, every individual will face the test of war. If you die, maybe I die, or
The ultimate holy war where we all die together.”
The sensational words have been spoken, and I don’t care about their reaction. It doesn’t matter whether they believe it or treat it as nonsense. But now that it has been spoken, I am also a little interested.
"Boy, keep reporting. Let me see how you juniors are doing." (To be continued.)
