Book 4: Chapter 48
Book 4: Chapter 48
Tafel had a headache. The peasants were running low on food, so low that some of them had resorted to eating dirt, and she had no idea how to feed them all. Although she was raised to be a ruler, she had skipped out on a lot of her studies when she went off to become an adventurer at the age of six. All she had learned was etiquette and a few magical spells. It was also true that she became the demon lord, the ruler of all the demons back home, but she had never encountered any problems. After all, she basically handed her power of authority to Auntie Lindyss to go adventuring with Vur. Tafel sighed and slumped forward, resting her head on the table in front of her. Why was keeping people alive so hard!?
“Is there a problem, Herald?” Thomas asked. The priest was by her side at almost all times, and he took care of some of the administrative problems too, but it wasn’t enough!
“How am I supposed to feed all these people?” Tafel asked, speaking into the table. Prim would’ve lectured her about manners if she saw the sight, but luckily, the etiquette teacher was in a different world. There were over ten thousand followers Tafel had to take care of, and she obtained even more every time they passed through another city. They’d go to a city, eat everything there, and move on to eat at the next city. It was simply unsustainable.
“Ah.” Thomas nodded. “Why are you concerned about that?”
Tafel raised her head, glaring at the priest. “What do you mean why am I concerned? People are going to starve, and starvation leads to death.”
“It’s the end of the world, the apocalypse,” Thomas said and furrowed his brow. “More people are going to die than survive. Only the true believers are guaranteed to pass this trial, and only those that are blessed shall accompany them.”
“Oh, right,” Tafel said and nodded. “I forgot. You’re crazy.” She turned her head towards her favorite peasant, the one that didn’t treat her like a freak of nature. “And what about you? Do you have any ideas to deal with this food problem?”
The peasant blinked and nodded. “We can eat everyone who doesn’t want to follow us.”
“What the hell.” Tafel stared at the man as if he had three heads. “Cannibalism? Really? Get out.”
The peasant shrugged. “You asked.”
Before he could leave, Tafel stopped him. “Wait. Is cannibalism common here?”
The peasant scratched his head. “A bit?”
“What do you mean a bit?” Tafel asked and furrowed her brow.
“I believe I can answer that,” Thomas said. “You see, there’s this belief that’s been around for a while—and that’s growing in popularity, mind you—that the human body can be made into wonderful medications. Drinking the blood of another person is said to revitalize you. I’ve heard, in some places, the poor gather around executions and purchase blood from the executioners to drink for their health. One can soak bandages in human fat to improve the rate of recovery, and bones can be ground into powder for tinctures to cure illnesses. Consuming organs improves body health; however, brains are a big no-no, and eating muscles is generally looked down on.”
Tafel’s lips twitched. “I won’t allow anyone following me to eat another person.”
Thomas nodded. “I wholeheartedly agree. The aristocratic elite and higherups of the church are the main consumers of these medicines. They’re the ones who can afford to purchase corpses or conveniently have people murdered by accusing them of witchcraft. It’s a horrible practice, and no doubt it plays a big part in why you were sent here. You’ll kill them all, purging these wicked sinners.”
“I have another idea,” the peasant said.
Tafel narrowed her eyes at the peasant. “What is it?”
“We can split up,” the peasant said. “Instead of ten thousand of us following you into one city, we can split into six groups of four thousand and go to six cities instead. We can find more people to join us, and we won’t eat as much food. The word of the rebellion will spread even faster.”
Tafel blinked. “How do we split ten thousand people into six groups of four thousand?”
“You take four thousand people, put them in one group. Take another four thousand, put them in a second group. And you do this four more times.”
Tafel raised her hand up. “Wait. That’ll be two thousand people left after you do it twice.”
The peasant scratched his head. “Oh. I guess my idea wasn’t that great then.”
“No, no, it was a good idea,” Tafel said. “Your math was just a little off.”
“So we are splitting into six groups of four thousand?”
“No! We’re going to split into four groups of twenty-five hundred.” Tafel nodded. “There’ll be a lot less pressure to feed everyone. However, I’ll have to plot out routes for each of the groups so we don’t accidentally visit the same city and starve.”
“I’m not sure if twenty-five hundred people are enough,” Thomas said. “If the Swabian League rounds up some knights, the can easily cull the groups that you’re not a part of.”
Tafel raised an eyebrow. “They’re that strong?”
“It’s not a matter of strength,” Thomas said. “It’s a matter of wealth. The league has horses, armor, and weapons. We have sticks and farming tools, but those might as well be sticks when faced against armored foes.”
Tafel frowned. “Alright,” she said and stood up. “How about this? You guys go around telling the peasants that the aristocracy and church is going to be overthrown. And I’ll go around by myself doing the overthrowing? I can teleport and travel much faster than all of you, so I’ll capture everyone from the Swabian League and bring them before you.”
“Herald, no matter whether your plans are good or bad, I shall follow them,” Thomas said and bowed.
“Wait.” Tafel frowned. “Are you saying this is a bad plan?”
Thomas shook his head. “I’m not saying that. I dare not comment on the plans of the Herald of the Apocalypse. I shall only follow them.”
Tafel’s eye twitched. She turned towards the peasant. “What do you think?”
“Hang on,” the peasant said, raising a finger. “I’m trying to figure out how twenty-five hundred goes into ten thousand four times.”
Tafel stared at the thinking peasant. Then she stared at the bowing priest. She sighed.