To Build An Empire

"Alright. We have two things we need to discuss." Jonas waited for them to each either nod or show their affirmation. "First and the most important part is the issue of food. We are facing a problem of massive proportions. My people, the citizens of the empire and emperor, bestowed upon me as a responsibility with the colony which I call my own, they are starving."

Destrian's and his group all had eyes as wide as saucers. He wasnt just any low noble to come across their city in the middle of nowhere. He wasnt even just a high noble, instead, he was the highest power to have stepped on any grounds beyond the motherlands. He was their king, and through a resonance they knew it to be the truth.

Destrian collapsed onto a kneeling position with his head lowered. He shook like a leaf. Like a shockwave, every starved knight that had shown up crashed onto their knees, all following their leaders example.

Jonas ignored them. He had enough of bootl.i.c.k.i.n.g for a decade in PennyHarbor. There was no way he would stowk that flame here. They were good enough as they were already. "Not because of the lack of food, or the inability to produce crops and raise domestic animals, no. They suffer because of fear and passivity. The council feared their enemy, so they hid behind their walls and leave the common person to suffer for their choices.

I will not let it stand any longer. And they will pay for the suffering they had caused, that I will make sure of. But, that is for another day soon to come. Today and for the foreseeable future, we must face this problem head on and eliminate it from its very roots. Without a way to produce food within every city and village, the main hubs of the colony will be the only areas that have enough.

Before I address the solution I have come up with, I'll need to ask you guys." He stared at the kneeling knights. They felt his gaze passing them.

"First and most important, From what I've seen, the winters are only cool and dry. While the summers are hot, but drenched in rain. So why aren't we farming every month of the year? There has to be areas where the orc raids do not reach. That also brings up another part to the whole problem. If there are constant raids how do you actually have enough food for the colony to exist? Do you have a system to produce food that I have not understood?"

Destrian raised his head just a bit, only enough for him to see Jonas's feet. "Y-Your Majesty."

The reverence in his voice shook Jonas in that moment. Even the way the high nobles extolled his virtues was universes apart from how awed and almost worshiping the man sounded. He was beyond uncomfortable with it.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day I meet someone of such station. The rumors do you no justice."

Jonas perked up a bit. Rumors? Did those crazy things the nobles of PennyHarbor already reach here? Does that mean everyone already knows he is here?

Damn PennyHarbor! Everyone and their mothers know everything he already did in great detail because they couldn't shut their mouths up for enough time for him to get anything done! He'd have to think up of some consequence for that.

Jonas zoned back in after a well timed cough from a certain Orc he had a bone to pick with. Thankfully, it was right after Destrian finished with all the awed parts of his speech.

"-but the most important reason why we farm and harvest in only one season of the four is because there are no raids for three months of the year. The Orcs never pull out a sword except in defence during that time, so they hole up in their own citadils and walled-cities--though nowhere near as large as the ones we have. For those few months, we get just enough food to keep us from dying but nowhere near the amount where we could ever have anything to save and store for important battles and sieges."

Jonas looked back towards Raneria for confirmation. She had a droopy smile on her face as she hugged Gregor's armored arms. He had to cough a few times just to get her attention. Guess he got her back already.

"Wh-what?" She said intelligibly.

"The three months of no fighting?" Jonas said to help out.

"Oh yea, We eat no meat in the middle month. All greens and thin elf stuff. Honestly, it's not as bad as it looks. There are some plants if you mix them just right--like Grega always did--they taste just like meat, just got to eat a whole lot more to feel full. It also gives us power, Altenm rewards his most devoted worshipers."

She raised a finger and closed her eyes. She held it in front of her face for a good three seconds. She looked nothing like the Raneria he knew all too well at that moment. Instead she looked m.a.t.u.r.e and that air of naivety that always surrounded her seemed to disappear.

Then it was gone as quickly as she opened her eyes. Her solemn eyes returned to their droopy expression as she returned to suffocating Gregor.

"Err...guess your right. What other sources of food do you have?" Jonas let Raneria return to whatever she was doing beforehand. He had to get back on topic.

"We do have many cattle and sheep. But those are the Lord's. Even I have no ownership in them. All the meat, milk, butter, and anything else we produce from them are preserved by our most experienced farmers--usually having been self taught a path to help them be more efficient--and saved for the biannual caravans that pass through here every six months-"

"Hold up one moment." Jonas felt an enormous migraine coming. "Did you just say you guys have milk products stored and enough cattle to produce a sizable amount?"

"Yes?" The knight sounded like he didn't even understand what the issue was with this situation.

"And you haven't once used them to sate the hunger of the villagers?"

"Err...no? It's the Lord's, we can't touch those. We'd be hanged without a shred of a thought-"

Jonas's hands shook. He had to speak in a low and deliberate voice not to scream. "Who is this Lord?"

Destrian gulped. "I-It's Hanc.o.c.k of House Williams, Your Majesty. He is a cousin of the Patriarch and is my father's financial support to build Jacoby to what it had become. I d-don't understand, your majesty. What's wrong with what I've said."

Jonas had to rub his forehead to ease the pain. "Let me paint this picture for you. A hypothetical if you will. If the milk products by themselves were with absolutely no owner and given equally to every citizen, would starvation be as big a problem as it is now?"

"Not as large a problem, but it wouldn't do much, Your Majesty. We don't produce enough to prevent people from dying every day from hunger, though it would do well to lower the number."

Jonas just shook his head. He couldn't believe what the nobles of the colony were constantly doing. Then again, if he thought about it, there really wasnt anyone to watch and punish them for anything they did. Before he had arrived, the only power representing the King were the tax collectors and the Father's priests--though they tended to stay hands off any form of government.

There were no consequences regardless of their actions.

But, now he was here. And he was determined to make sure they thought thrice before they acted like this again.