Throne of the North.

Chapter 62: Food Crisis in the Crucible

The food crisis in the Melting City came earlier than expected.

I originally thought it might take half a month, but after only ten days, it broke out.

"There are no fish in Crescent Lake anymore. We can't catch any food at all!"

"The potatoes outside the city were looted by the cult a long time ago, and even the farmland was destroyed."

"There's not a grain of wheat in the granary, and even the rats are starving to death there."

"We want food! We want food!"

Ryan, as a viscount and nobleman, was also invited to the Crucible City Council. As soon as he came in, he saw Lord Moriarty angrily throwing the exquisite silverware on the table to the ground.

"This bunch of damned unruly people, unruly people! They should all be hanged on poles! They actually dared to ask for food from the nobles."

The nobles around were also extremely angry. They didn't expect that group of peasants would be so bold.

But since they did not suppress it directly, it already shows the seriousness of the matter.

The Crucible City cannot be without nobles, but it cannot be without commoners either. Even the nobles in this city are not as extremely exploited as those in the North Wind Province, because generally speaking, they are just huddling together for warmth in this Crucible City.

In the harsh winter, the pressure of survival is the most critical.

The lack of food started with the slaves at the bottom, but eventually, the nobles would also lack food, and the granaries in their own manors could not sustain them for long.

They appeared here, saying that they were trying to suppress the Furnace City, but in fact, these far-sighted nobles began to panic. They were not worried about the civilians and slaves, but they were also afraid that they would have no food in the future.

Even a guy like Baron Hatton understood that only slaves could produce more wealth, and thus spent a lot of gold coins to buy food. The nobles here certainly knew this too.

It was okay in the past because the population was huge, but now there is only the Crucible City left. If we lose a group of these tens of thousands of people, the future will be very difficult.

"Who among you can go and suppress this group of unruly people?"

Moriarty finally calmed down and sat on the seat looking down. It was impossible for him to show up in person as a grand duke.

It is also said that this Grand Duke is also a magician, just one step away from being a grand magician. In fact, the only ones who can suppress him are those three great wizards.

A lean camel is bigger than a horse, perhaps this is the saying. Even in the harsh winter, the nobles are still nobles, and they can still hold more power and rights.

No one in the entire parliament spoke.

But at this time, Ryan stood up.

"I'm new here, so let me do this."

"Since Viscount Wittman is willing, you can go."

Moriarty looked at Ryan kindly. He didn't expect that the young man would take the initiative to stand up and face the responsibility of this matter.

"I will restore peace to the Crucible City, but...what about the food?"

Ryan looked at Grand Duke Moriarty.

"We can't rely on illusions to fill our stomachs. If the cultists come again, I'm afraid we won't have any soldiers left."

After hearing Ryan's words, Archduke Moriarty's expression turned ugly. The reason why he chose to suppress it forcefully was that he was unwilling to give out food.

Fortunately, Ryan continued to speak at this time. "Those mages should still have some food in their hands, but I don't know if it's enough."

"We have to give them some food, so that they can see that they have something to eat, and then let them hurry out of the city to farm. If that doesn't work, harvest early, so that even with the soil and snow, they can still fill their stomachs for a while. As long as they can survive this year, things will be better next year."

Hearing this, some nobles nodded frequently. As long as their food was not taken, they would be happy to do it.

"The Mage Academy still has a lot of food, but they need to use wild beasts for experiments, so the consumption is high."

Moriarty revealed the whole story, and Ryan understood it clearly.

Sure enough, most of the food in this city is in the hands of those mages.

To some extent, it is because these nobles are also mages that they are able to store a lot of food in their manors.

Ryan left the parliament and led the parliament's soldiers, about seventy or eighty people, towards the other side of the Crucible City.

The food crisis in the Crucible City was said to be a mud-legged riot, but in fact, they were just asking for food, because no civilian or slave would cross the street that ran across the north and south.

When Ryan came to this street called Furnace City, the crowds of people scattered as quickly as possible.

Any noble could have suppressed this unrest, but that was not what Ryan wanted.

Ryan leaped onto a house in three or two steps in front of everyone's shocked gazes, and said in a loud voice:
"As you can see, I am a noble."

"The evil demon minions have plundered our farmland and taken away our food for the winter. In the southern sea, the winter is getting colder and colder, freezing the Crescent Lake and leaving no fish."

"The Crucible City, which has a history of more than a hundred years, has finally faced its greatest crisis today, but this will definitely not be the last!"

"I came here not to kill you, but to give you food!"

Ryan's words, especially the word "food", finally made many starving people come out.

"But sir, we won't survive for more than a few months without food."

The winter on the continent of Exner comes several months earlier than in the frozen land. Around July and August, they will be greeted by the biting north wind that blows away all the warmth.

Even in the Crucible City, it is winter for nearly half of the year.

There are elderly people crying and complaining that the weather will get cold in a month at most, and there will be no way to go out to find food in that weather. If you leave the Furnace City, you might freeze to death.

"I will ask the Archmage to give you food for three days at most!"

Ryan held up three fingers, then told these people to go home, and turned and walked towards the wizard tower.

Looking at Ryan's departing back, the civilians of the Crucible City finally showed a glimmer of hope in their eyes.

Considering many aspects, Ryan certainly didn't want too many people to starve to death in the Furnace City. He also wanted to bring those people to his own frozen land territory and make them his own people.

But many things here don’t belong to him yet.

But soon, he will be able to reap his own wealth.

Looking at the tallest building in the Crucible City, the three standing wizard towers, Ryan was a little curious about what kind of people these three great wizards were.

(End of this chapter)