Half-elf Notebook

Chapter 143 News

The two people in the room have become accustomed to this kind of leisure and doing nothing.

Rick's eyes fell on a report in the newly subscribed "Kingdom January Post".

"Horror! New bodies are being found in the Great Rift Valley hunting area and the number is still increasing. Thirty-seven! All of them are adventurers with professional ranks. Goddess, we can't imagine what happened in the hunting area!"

"Attention! The Kingdom's crops have experienced a significant decline in production this year. The production of some farmlands in the central part of the North has dropped by more than 30% compared to the past. The rare severe cold has even affected the south. The price of bread in some cities has increased to 14 groats per pound!"

"The villages near Broken Sword Fortress were attacked by the Orkent army. General Ailton is organizing the kingdom's army. I believe he will deal a heavy blow to those hateful invaders..."

"A small-scale riot occurred in the city of Eberron. Thanks to the soldiers' diligence and dedication, the relevant perpetrators have been arrested..."

"Did anything big happen?"

Ina closed the book without reading anymore, moved towards Rick's position, and asked curiously.

Learning is always like this, when you are fully engaged, time becomes blurred, and when you are not focused, even cleaning becomes an interesting thing.

The frown on Rick's face obviously caught her attention.

"Don't make it sound like you're expecting something big to happen, okay?"

Rick turned his head and responded with some headache.

Ina straightened her sitting posture, her eyes eager:

"So, there is some news?"

Although she may also be able to read on her own in a while.

But it’s true that news and gossip are best heard when others summarize them and brag about them.

"The hunting area in the south is in a state of chaos right now, with reports of many adventurers dying."

"I suspect that some adventurers are targeting their peers for the sake of gain."

Just as Mr. Ward expected...

Ina's tone suddenly became a little serious:

"Then we need to save money this winter..."

"?Why?"

Rick was confused. Ina's topic changed too much and he didn't understand at all.

"In this case, we can't go to the hunting area in the south." Ina said with a worried tone:

"We may not have any income until next spring..."

Rick was drunk. After all, he was just a commissioned man, and every minute he was paid dozens of gold coins.

How come when it comes to you, you seem so destitute that you're about to move to the slums at any time?

It's amazing, is this white bread made of gold? Or is that firewood made of gold?

Rick coughed twice.

"Don't worry about that. This year's income is quite good."

Decided not to go deeper on this topic.

"besides."

Rick raised the mail in his hand and added:

"There is also a rise in bread prices caused by a decrease in grain production, a tentative invasion by the Kingdom of Orkent, a riot in a medium-sized city, and so on."

"At least from the second half of this year until next year's harvest, things will get really bad in some places."

"An invasion from the Kingdom of Olkent?"

Ina had heard from Aixia about the reduction in grain production.

As a top practitioner in the industry, Aixia's prediction is much more severe than this.

So, Ina was not surprised.

As for food expenses, it seems that Rick didn't react much or take any action.

That probably won't be a big problem.

Although it's cruel to say this.

Ina did not think about how to solve the dilemma like Aixia and their chamber of commerce.

She had no way to increase the amount of food, nor did she have a lot of money to buy the food stored by other guilds...

Just like she could donate some gold coins to the church and get rid of a John Peake, but she was powerless to change the situation of the homeless.

She doesn't mind lending a helping hand wherever she sees, but she is powerless to change more.

Therefore, let’s put aside this tangled issue.

Ina was more curious about "the invasion of the Kingdom of Olkent."

To be more precise, I don't understand why the Kingdom of Olkent chose this time to invade.

It is not uncommon to know about the Kingdom of Olkent.

As a country that often has military conflicts with the kingdom and even invades each other's territories.

Even tenants on southern plantations far away from the North had heard of it.

Any citizen of the Kingdom who had some knowledge of geography could point out his location on a map of the Kingdom.

The Kingdom of Olkent borders almost the entire northern border of the Kingdom, has a population of over 5000 million, and was established much earlier than the Kingdom of Fulant.

Military conflicts arose from this very reason.

Most kingdoms were converted from duchies.

This transformation process allows a principality to acquire territory and citizens commensurate with the title of a kingdom.

The methods were nothing more than annexation and occupation - even the northern provinces and Earl's Ridge that were clearly recorded on the kingdom's maps and geography books might have belonged to the Kingdom of Orkent dozens or hundreds of years ago.

It has to be said that plunder and occupation are the most effective and common ways to accumulate wealth, even at the national level.

But according to common sense and normal circumstances, the armies of countries that conquer each other, especially the armies of northern countries.

Autumn, when the harsh winter is approaching, is seldom chosen to start a war.

It is true that autumn is the harvest season, but that also means a large number of farmers are needed.

The fruits and wheat are harvested, and the land is then cultivated and sown for the next year's farming.

All of this limited the number of laborers who could be temporarily conscripted as soldiers.

No sane king would start a war that he had no chance of winning.

Unless the kingdom is desperate.

On the other hand, autumn is too close to winter. It is not an exaggeration to say that many northern kingdoms are covered with snow before the severe winter.

This is a severe test for any country's military.

Soldiers need to fight the cold and frostbite caused by low temperatures, and the only thing they can rely on to rest at night is the thin tent.

You must also always be on guard against counterattacks from enemies who have more stamina and supplies than you.

Compared to people.

The logistical problems are even more serious.

The baggage also needs to move forward in the snow, and the condition of the transport horses needs to be kept in mind at all times, and the food and warm fuel needed to sustain the survival of an army of soldiers needs to be provided.

However, what they faced were cities with abundant food reserves accumulated in the autumn that could withstand the wind and snow.

This doesn't make sense. Is the Kingdom of Orkante coveting something from the Kingdom?

The first thing Ina considered was that the Kingdom of Olkent wanted to take advantage of the chaos in the kingdom.

But she quickly rejected the idea.