Chapter 22 (1/2)
Chapter 22 Declaration
The next day the rain finally stopped, and Border Town became lively once again. Many villagers gathered on the square, talking while awaiting the 4th prince’s speech.
The day before, Roland had posted a notice regarding this presentation on the bulletin board. Anyone who came to the square and listened to his speech would receive a bowl of wheat porridge and half a loaf of bread. For the townspeople, this was equivalent to a free lunch, thus there were much more people here to watch than the time when the witch was hanged.
When it was close to noon, Roland ascended onto a previously prepared stage.
Faced with the dense mass of people before him, he would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous. Most of the time in his former life he only dealt with computer monitors, even if he attended a meeting he was always sitting in the audience to applaud, so facing such a kind of battle was a first.
But he had to step on stage, if he wanted most of the people to stay in Border Town, they would need a greater defense, and without motivation they would all leave.
Roland waved with his arm, and everyone quieted down.
He had practiced this scene many times, but when he stepped on the stage, his mouth was still a little dry, “People of my territory, good afternoon. I’m the 4th Prince of Graycastle, Roland Wimbledon. At this moment we gather together, because there is an important message I have to tell you! ”
“Four days ago the ambassador of Longsong Stronghold arrived, his mission was to receive the mined ore. We all know that a month ago, we suffered from a disastrous accident, the collapse of the mine in the Northern Mountain Slope. Even today, the mining area isn’t fully restored so we can’t produce as much as we used to? The result of the accident was that we only output the equivalent of two months in the last quarter. ”
“I explained the situation to the messenger, since I hoped he would loan us three months’ worth of food, and we would pay the missing ore at the end of winter, but he refused! There was no room for negotiation, he refused to set aside any more food – just like they did two years ago. ”
The crowd burst in alarm, clearly everyone’s suffering from two years ago was still remembered.
“This time it will be even worse. The Longsong Stronghold astrologer told me that this time the Months of the Demons will be even longer, most likely lasting more than four months. That means, this time all of us will face two months of a food gap. Two years ago, we lost 20% of the population. Someone lost a brother, someone lost a child, but this time, how much will we lose? ”
“No! Your Highness, you have to save us!” Someone shouted from underneath, then more people shouted, “Your Highness, I beg you to help us!”
It seemed that planting some people in the crowd, who would speak in his interest was the right choice. Roland raised his hand again, suppressing the voices of the people, “Of course, I will not leave my entrusted people, I will never do that! You may not know, but Longsong Stronghold annually ships wheat and bread to us, and they carried away the ore we mine, but it isn’t equivalent to the normal market price. According to the market price, two months of ore should be enough for half a year of food! I have sold the ore to Willow Town, their cargo ship full of food will soon arrive at Border Town. In addition to bread, there will be cheese, honey and meat! For a whole winter, everyone can eat one’s fill! ”
The square burst into cheers.