In a dilapidated house in the southern region of the Eilanhir Empire, a man looked at his son lying on the bed, his eyes full of despair.
The house was made of stone, and there were almost nothing of value in the room. To be more desperate and accurate, there weren't many worthless things.
There is a table in the house. One of the legs of the table is broken and can only be propped up by a stone.
The stools are even more pitiful. There are only two things in this room that can be used as stools. Yes, they are two cut tree stumps...
The whole family was really destitute and didn't even have a decent cupboard. The only thing that could be said to be usable was the bed where the child lay.
Frankly speaking, this bed, these tattered furniture, and this house do not actually belong to them. The original owner of this house has long been dead or alive, and has experienced the invasion of demons.
After the war of Elanthil going south, you can just find a deserted land to stay...
This place has been occupied by the Eilanhir Empire for more than half a year, and many new things have indeed changed people's lives.
For example, there is a telegraph in the city, and transport planes from the Airansil Empire can occasionally be seen in the sky, as well as some giant dragons who don't know where they are going.
In the past, these monsters were not visible at all, but now these huge, scaly reptiles can be seen occasionally.
The army of the Eilanhir Empire occupied this place and left some supplies when they passed by. Of course, these supplies were held by the acting consuls and have not been distributed to the poor until now.
But the wars experienced here are real, so the people here can be said to have nothing to live on, and basically only have one life.
For another example, people here have never seen cars at all before, but now, a simple earthen road has been built about 30 kilometers away from this small town, where you can often see transportation vehicles coming and going, loaded with various goods.
All kinds of things.
Robbery is absolutely unimaginable, because those Mercedes-Benz cars will be escorted by soldiers, and those Airan Hill soldiers with terrifying weapons in their hands can easily kill the refugees who are blocking the road with just a few people.
For these refugees living in misery in the south
"Dad... I feel so uncomfortable..." The child lying on the bed looked very ugly. Due to the high fever, his face was sickly flushed, and he looked like cooked seafood.
Because of the war, the population of this small town has dropped sharply to two-thirds of its original size. Now a plague has broken out, and the whole town is filled with the smell of death.
"You will get better soon! You will definitely get better." The man looked at his son and comforted him with choked sobs.
"Dad... tell me, what does meat... taste like?" The little boy spoke very hard, his breathing was weak, and he was already out of breath.
The man was already crying and comforted: "My child...Dad is sorry for you! I'm sorry for you two!"
After saying that, he buried his head on the edge of the bed and cried bitterly. His wife died yesterday. The plague took away the lives of half of the people in the town, and most of the remaining people began to get sick one after another.
There are no old people left in the town, and those who are still alive have now become volunteers, responsible for burning and disposing of the corpses in the town.
Although there is no snow here, the winter in the south is still very cold. The house is very damp and cold, and the poor people who have no clothes to keep warm can only take off the clothes from the corpses of the dead and wear them on themselves.
But in this way, the plague will spread faster, more people will die, and more people will be worse than dead.
The living seemed to be in hell, and the dead seemed to have gained relief. There was an inexplicable stench everywhere, like the smell of decay or the stench of burning corpses.
The acting consul who used to ride on people's heads and lord it over them had already taken his family to hide in the big city.
There are medical teams sent by the Eilanhir Empire, as well as special medicines specially prepared for the plague. Hiding in the city, the probability of survival is ten times higher than that of people waiting to die in rural villages!
"Dad is useless! Daddy is useless!" Hearing that his child said he didn't know the taste of meat, the man became even more sad.
He was originally a skilled farmer. Before the war, his family of three could still survive.
But last year, the demons invaded and he lost his land. Many people were slaughtered by the demons, and the remaining people managed to persevere, only to encounter the Elanthil Empire's army heading south again.
The war caused him to spend all his savings and some of the food he had hidden. Now he is impoverished and has nothing left.
His wife survived the invasion of demons and the turmoil of war, but she failed to survive the plague...
The child in front of him was his only sustenance now. He beat his head in pain, as if hoping that his own pain could replace the pain of some children.
Why...Why can't the rule of the Southern Kingdom, the invasion of demons, or the occupation of Elanthil change the bitter life?
As a farmer, he has never had any rebellious thoughts. He has never hurt anyone, and he has no courage to do anything harmful to nature. But fate seems to be so unfair, leaving no way for the kind-hearted family to survive.
"Ah..." He stretched out his hand and held his cold son's hand. He could feel the life draining from this young hand.
"Dad...cough...cough..." The little boy gasped in pain, as if his breathing would stop at any time due to a cough.
For a father, listening to such a voice was a torture every minute. He shed tears, and the tears soon wet his chest.
The tattered, not thick clothes were full of patches and looked dirtier than a rag.
In fact, people here rarely have the opportunity to take a shower, and their clothes are full of fleas. Compared to Serris, the poverty here is like hell.
Also bathing in the sacred sunshine of the Elanthir Empire, people in some places have become tired of eating big fish and meat, and have even begun to pay attention to mixed nutrition.
In some places, people still die of poverty and humiliation, and even after death, there is not even a decent cemetery.
