TGS - Chapter 78
Chapter 78: The Problem
The group arrived in Disimeng City before sunset. After a short rest, the sky had just begun to darken.
Someone stood outside the tent, inviting the Princess to discuss disaster relief matters. From the sound of their voice, they seemed a bit reluctant.
Lifting the tent flap, she saw it was one of the Crown Prince's men.
Alyuin had already calmed her mood. Hearing the invitation now, she raised a delicate eyebrow.
"Lotus, do you wish to go?" The soundproofing of these small tents wasn't very good, so the Princess instinctively lowered her voice. "Why don't you continue resting? I'll be back soon."
Lotus whispered, "You don't seem very willing for me to go with you."
"That's right. I don't want Romuer to notice you."
There was no other meaning to this statement, just simple vigilance.
Romuer's behavior showed no malice, but that didn't mean they could truly be at ease. Even if the Crown Prince himself had no ulterior motives, what about the people around him?
There might be some blind fools who would presumptuously see Lotus as the Princess's "weakness." If they were to take it for granted and plot against Lotus—the mere thought filled Alyuin with anger.
Lotus sighed. "Don't worry. In any case, I am a god... an incarnation of one."
If there truly were any plots or sneak attacks, they were welcome to try.
Try, and they would die.
"Of course, you wouldn't let mortals succeed. But the mere thought of those people coveting you and disrespecting you makes me unhappy." Alyuin's tone softened. "You were willing to let your incarnation descend to my side. It is my duty to worship and protect you."
Lotus gave her a thoughtful look.
"Then you should go."
Alyuin breathed a sigh of relief and followed the messenger away.
Everyone was living in a temporary camp. After dark, bonfires were lit everywhere. As one walked past, one could hear the low sounds of weeping, but it was mostly quiet.
The messenger walked straight to the most spacious and elaborate tent. This tent had originally belonged to the city lord, but as soon as the people from Akhet arrived, it was transferred to the Crown Prince as an appendage of the highest authority in the city.
There was an open space outside the tent where the great nobles of the city and the disaster relief personnel from the royal city sat in a circle around a blazing charcoal fire.
The two groups were clearly distinct and easy to identify. People from the same side huddled together, whispering quietly. The Princess's arrival instantly made the atmosphere delicate.
She belonged to neither side and seemed out of place.
Alyuin calmly and composedly sat down in an empty spot.
The gazes directed at her were all filled with scrutiny and assessment.
At a welcome banquet with light music and graceful dancing, these nobles and officials would never have been so blatant. But the special, oppressive environment tended to stir up people's anxiety, making it difficult to maintain so-called superficial etiquette.
—She absolutely did not want Lotus to be subjected to such gazes.
When Romuer saw the Princess appear, he nodded with pleasure.
"Everyone is here, so let's begin. Lord Fenlieni, please tell us about the recent situation."
The city lord cleared his throat.
"Ever since the Earth Goddess grew angry, I've been as busy as a spinning top, not stopping for a moment. Your Highness the Crown Prince, look at these disaster victims nearby. Just a few days ago, they were ordinary citizens of my Disimeng City..."
The city lord was likely a talented orator. He spoke with great emotion and vividness, even mentioning the names of several other nobles in the city and thanking them for their assistance.
The nobles nodded along, all looking very self-important.
After praising himself to the nines, the city lord finally got to the point and began to report on the various situations after the earthquake.
As they listened, the people from Akhet began to frown.
They were no strangers to natural disasters like earthquakes.
The kingdom's history contained many records of earthquakes, especially in the last hundred years, with clear accounts of casualties, as well as losses of homes and farmland.
In comparison, the losses in Disimeng City this time were not so appalling, but they were still surprising.
Moreover, only a few days had passed.
In the days to come, the additional casualties and losses would only increase.
The bright smile on Romuer's face vanished. He tensed his expression. "As soon as my father the King received the news, he immediately allocated funds and supplies to be sent over. They should have arrived a few days before us. Have they all been put to use?"
"They've all been distributed to the surviving citizens." The city lord slapped his thigh and sighed. "But Your Highness, the weather is severe now. The victims need more warm clothing and food to sustain their energy."
"Forgive my bluntness, but even after distributing those supplies, there is still a massive shortage. There is some food left, but it must be rationed. People lack the strength, so they can't save more people."
Romuer's expression was one of pity.
"They are all subjects of Solancia. I will send a message to my father the King and have more funds and goods allocated."
The city lord repeatedly declined before finally accepting the additional allocation, and on behalf of the victims of Disimeng, he thanked the King for his grace.
Alyuin listened the entire time without saying a word.
During this, she caught an exchange of glances between two of the officials accompanying the Crown Prince. It was very subtle, as if they had a tacit understanding.
One of Romuer's advisors spoke up with a hint of mockery, "Your Highness the Princess, do you have no opinion?"
Alyuin dusted off her fur cloak and said indifferently, "I presume Horst—my uncle—has given my cousin full responsibility for the disaster relief. I have just returned from the northwestern border, so it is not my place to say much."
It was unclear what part of her statement affected Romuer, but he once again showed a guilty expression and reprimanded his advisor.
Alyuin gave him a strange glance.
The discussion continued until the patrol guards had changed shifts. After taking their leave, the nobles departed one after another.
There were actually few nobles and wealthy merchants still remaining in the city.
Any who had been injured in the earthquake, along with their wives, children, and relatives, had probably been sent out of the city long ago to take temporary residence in other unaffected cities.
These people who remained—were they really here just to assist the city lord with disaster relief?
Alyuin watched them leave from the corner of her eye. Their gait was pampered and privileged, their portly flesh jiggling. Words of disgust for their current conditions drifted over on the wind. To be honest, they didn't seem like the kind of people who would do such a thing.
The Princess straightened the hem of her robe, preparing to return to her tent to discuss the day's findings with Lotus, but was stopped by Romuer.
"Alyuin, I want to talk to you."
The Princess paused.
She turned back, her expression distant.
"What do you want to talk about?"
Lotus's spirit form drifted through the temporary settlement.
Even though it was a temporary camp, the rules of status and class were still maintained, with areas divided for nobles and the rich, commoners, and the poor and slaves.
There were no obvious signs; it was as if it were by default.
Gliding past a few patrolling guards, Lotus floated to the commoners' area. Unlike the rich people's section, which could be described as quiet and peaceful, almost like an outdoor camping trip, here there were only some shacks that barely offered shelter from the wind and rain. Most people could only huddle together for warmth.
Most of them were not asleep. Their faces were filled with helplessness about the future.
After this ordeal, many people here had fallen from being "citizens of the kingdom" with decent lives to being paupers.
The reason they hadn't left with their families like the previous batches of refugees was probably because they still held onto some hope—the hope of receiving compensation after the matter was over and continuing to live here.
Lotus frowned.
The natural disaster was tragic, but the situation in the camp shouldn't have been this bad, unless all kinds of supplies had failed to arrive.
Could it be that Horst hadn't allocated funds and sent supplies in time?
But he had even sent the Crown Prince.
Just then, the sound of a low, crying plea reached Lotus's ears.
She turned her head, looking in the direction the sound came from.
"Please, give me a little something to eat..." It was the voice of a little girl, made even more tender by her sobs. "Just a little is fine. My mother is about to starve to death, please..."
The voice came from the area designated for the poor and slaves. "Designated" was a generous term; in reality, no one paid them any special attention. It was as if the current rescue efforts were still confined to the city proper—the areas with shops and houses with small courtyards—while the slums were ignored.
In fact, quite a few of the poor had survived.
Admittedly, the housing in the slums had almost completely collapsed, but those houses were mostly built from simple wooden planks, some with roofs covered in a thick layer of papyrus. When they collapsed, they still trapped residents, but the casualty rate was not as high as with stone and brick houses.
Many people had crawled out on their own.
The crying little girl was probably one of them. She looked sallow and emaciated, was very short, and trembled constantly with fear, yet she was still quietly begging the patrolling guards who happened to be passing by.
"Who isn't short on food right now? Go back and endure it. Can't you even wait until it's time to collect bread tomorrow?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but it's too little. It's really not enough to eat..."
"Alright, stop acting pitiful."
"Lowlifes shouldn't waste food. Dying early would be a release."
The little girl's desperate cries grew louder. One guard panicked. "Don't let her disturb the lords over there."
"We're so far away, she probably won't."
Despite saying that, the other guard kicked the little girl, sending her tumbling, and threatened viciously, "If you dare come near here again, we won't mind sending you to reunite with your mother ahead of time. Understand?"
After their harsh words, the two guards left together.
Lotus did not hesitate. She used the cover of night to return to her physical form and walked lightly to the girl.
"Take this." It was a piece of dry rations.
The girl looked up, sobbing, and carefully took it. She sniffed it, confirming the scent of food, and her tears flowed even more fiercely.
She bowed deeply, her voice filled with gratitude and fear. "Thank you, thank you."
After speaking, she quickly ran off, clearly heading back to her mother.
Lotus, however, looked down at her palm. Being unable to use divine power to save human lives was likely a firm rule, but she hadn't felt the pain of violating that restriction.
She didn't know if this indirect use of divine power didn't count, or if...
From a short distance away, the sound of crying seemed to drift over.
Lotus's steps faltered slightly. She turned back into her spirit form and returned to the Princess's tent.
Alyuin was already there.
A wooden board rested on her lap, used as a support for a sheet of papyrus. The tip of her reed pen was writing and drawing on the paper.
The River Goddess suddenly materialized before Alyuin, who was not the least bit surprised.
The Princess put down her pen.
"There's a big problem here, Lotus."
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