Chapter 17: Food Crisis.
Rose decided to fully delegate the army matter to Murat. To be honest, his training was that of a warrior, not a soldier, so his help would be minimal. Because of this, he chose to lock himself in the office and try to organize the accounts, ignoring the groans of exhaustion that incessantly reached his ears.
[Could you remind me why the hell you installed the military camp right in the damn courtyard leading to the damn office?] Desmos asked, genuinely frustrated.
He liked to hear groans and cries, but not of that type. Those were from pure exhaustion and muscle pain; the ones he enjoyed were the "please, kill me, don't you see I'm suffering?" kind.
"We don't have anywhere else to put it until we build barracks," Rose lamented again. He didn't like the situation either. They had no other alternative, and the budget had to be dedicated to much more important matters than building barracks or a more professional military training camp.
Frankly, he wouldn't even have started recruiting if it weren't for the fact that relying on his father's army would be an unnecessary waste of resources, especially now that he knew this continent had such a damn scarce population that 200 men were considered a serious threat; he simply resigned himself to enduring the hateful sounds of continuous training coming from beneath his office.
Knock, knock, knock!
Fortunately for his sanity—which was already scarce for being an underworld demigod and, on top of that, possessing a talking spear that wouldn't stop complaining about every little thing—someone knocked on the door. After a "come in," Aurelie entered his office holding a tray.
They had reached an agreement: he would take a break from work for at least one or two hours, either to have lunch together or just chat about trivialities. Still being a teenager unaccustomed to the work he was doing, unlike his father, he accepted immediately.
"Dad seems to enjoy being a slave-driving foreman, doesn't he?" Aurelie asked quietly, knowing her father had cat ears and could hear her even from downstairs.
"I am not a slave driver, I am demanding!" The reply proved her point.
"Whatever you say, Dad," said the golden-haired young woman, placing the tray on the office's coffee table.
It wasn't a great meal, as Rose hadn't felt the need to go find more supplies yet. There were only a couple of jerky sandwiches, some coffee, and some butter cookies.
For the young woman, the coffee in the region tasted horrible, so she had brought some tea. But Rose had commented to her: "If you had grown up with my father, you could eat almost anything." She didn't understand what he meant, and when she asked her father, the normally serene and calm man couldn't help but cry. He mumbled that the things Qin forced them to eat during the war were worse than any torture conceived by humanity and the gods.
The point was, quite simply, that Rose could eat practically anything, no matter how greasy, oily, gummy, or even inedible it was. His father, in his paranoia, had taught him to survive in the worst of situations. However, he would have preferred not to have had to ingest a damn fertilized quail egg. He could still feel the memory of the tiny bones crunching in his mouth.
So, logically, he could easily eat a sandwich with meat and the worst coffee in the world. But that was understandable, considering that his father's favorite dish was, literally, a soup made with bird nests... sometimes without removing the damn feathers. That man had a stomach of stone!
"What are you thinking about?" Aurelie asked, looking at Rose with a slightly raised eyebrow.
"Childhood traumas," Rose admitted, shaking his head. He really didn't want to remember the damn soup, or the egg, or the other egg... Or... How many damn and horrible egg dishes were part of his father's gastronomy! Damn it, that wasn't even half normal.
"I thought your father was overprotective," Aurelie asked. Her best friend and her fiancé had told her; the great king was a real mother hen. Damn it! Her father had literally blackmailed the man with a marriage contract in exchange for coming to look after his pretty butt.
"That doesn't make him a good cook," Rose said, shuddering again. He remembered his family's coming-of-age ritual. Damn those poor mice! And why the hell did his people like to drink something that tasted like gasoline? Why couldn't they be normal and use berries?
"Sure... take it black like your soul and without sugar, just the way you like it," Aurélie said, completely confused, as she handed him his cup of coffee.
She still couldn't understand how the hell he could drink it that way, why he refused to put sugar in it, much less why he drank it so concentrated.
Desmos explained that his father had destroyed his taste buds, so he had to eat very intense-flavored foods to perceive any taste. However, the spear knew she couldn't hear him.
Shortly after, they both enjoyed the meal in silence, without addressing topics of special relevance, at least nothing that interested both of them.
"Hey," she called him, causing Rose to look at her.
"What's wrong?" the prince asked with a slightly serene tone.
"We are running out of supplies," she told him bluntly. Rose's silver eyes narrowed slightly, confused. How the hell had they depleted almost a ton of wheat in a single week? It was supposed to last the entire month. "Since the first day until today, almost 140 men have enlisted. The wheat you brought is running out quickly; at best, it will only last us a couple more days," the young woman explained. Then, without further ado, she pulled out the files her mother had given her to discuss with him after their lunch.
"It's nothing to worry about; I can always go back home to resupply." Rose said, dismissing the matter as if it were nothing important.
"Yes... but it's not a good idea. Your father is not exactly happy with your last adventure. In fact, he changed the military supply manager and the pantry manager for two marshals whom you won't be able to intimidate," she explained calmly; after all, her father had informed her.
The emperor might love Rose very much, but he did not like it at all that his son had gone into the pantries and the arsenal of Parnam's palace like a damned vulture to loot, leaving only a note, no matter how complete and super detailed that note was.
"Yes... in my defense, I was still completely convinced that the thieves' party was urgent," Rose said calmly, looking at his fiancée. "So, what options do we have?"
If his father was annoyed, Rose definitely wouldn't go home. Although, like any son, he loved his father, he wouldn't like to see him frustrated, much less if he was furious with him.
Aurelie, reviewing the documents, found one that she considered the most viable option: "Buy grain from the merchants. However, I investigated and they raised the prices by two copper coins; now it costs six coins an ounce," she explained
"They raised the prices again!" Mina shouted.
"Hadn't I put a bell on you?" Rose asked, startled by the surprise, spilling the hot coffee on his pants. The bell was supposed to prevent that kind of surprise.
"It was uncomfortable and I took it off," the young woman admitted, shrugging, before growling in pure rage. "Those damned food merchants have raised the price again this year. Before, wheat cost two copper coins."
Rose calmly replied: "Actually, it's seasonal inflation. Before Dad cultivated all year round, countries raised the price of wheat near harvest, since with abundance it would plummet. If you add the thieves' party to that, they have more reasons to raise prices." Rose didn't like it; he hated that the feudal economy lacked the regulations of the free economy, but this continent was very behind in that regard... and in almost everything.
"Yes, that's a drag, but it's something we have to deal with," Aurelie said with a shrug. After all, at the end of the day, without the "easy way out," they had to resort to the good old feudal economy.
"Place the order. Anyway, I have more than enough gold to maintain the supply for at least a few months," Rose said, downplaying it. For him, it wasn't a real concern. It was better to buy at market price and sell at local price, even if it generated losses. If people starved, when they could finally start producing and, therefore, paying taxes, he wouldn't have workers to pay those taxes.
"And what would happen if they found out you have gold and silver?" Aurelie asked, considering that merchants were not exactly trustworthy people.
Rose gave a laugh to himself. "I am the great-grandson of the goddess of the harvest, believe me, they have much more to lose than I do."
If they tried to swindle him, he could simply ignore his fear, return home, and buy tons and tons of wheat blessed by his great-grandmother, which would last much longer than any of the merchants' grain. He could even sell it to be a bit petty. But as long as they didn't try to deceive him, he would let them quietly play their game; after all, it wasn't as if he wanted to make completely unnecessary enemies.
End of chapter.