The Demon King's Hero Of Light 53 Chapter 53 Starvation Looming

"Yes, we've found several," said Destov, pointing to the corner where a figure was sitting at a small desk, furiously writing everything she heard down.

Jumping up from her seat, Aella marched over and took the stack of papers the demoness had already written on, and began flipping through them. There was something about the way she made her letters that had Aella wondering who she was. Glancing at the girl who was nervously waiting to write down whatever anyone said, Aella asked, "Are you from one of those n.o.ble houses I got rid of?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," whispered the girl. She couldn't have been much older than Aella.

Turning to her Advisors, Aella raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me that the ones keeping track of where my money is going, is one of those former n.o.bles?"

Her Advisors looked at each other without saying anything. It was obvious that was exactly what they had done.

"Idiots, has it occurred to you that I was trying to get the money out of those corrupted hands?" she cried, flinging the papers back onto the desk. The poor girl jumped, but kept writing.

"Your Majesty, we've taken precautions to ensure they don't steal the money!" said Destov, bowing as she approached him.

"What precautions?" she growled.

"We sent two of the former n.o.bles, one from each of the families, who hated each other," said Jirga.

Aella thought about that for a moment, then turned away from them with a nod. They would be watching each other like hawks, waiting for one to mess up so the other could jump on them, but it was still risky.

"I'll let it go for now, but I want new clerks trained up. How is the move going?"

Ernun replied, "There has been some fighting among the n.o.bles, and they even requested multiple warehouses, so that they didn't have to share, but the Regents informed them that their n.o.ble t.i.tles could be stripped away if they didn't proceed with your wishes, and that shut them up. There hasn't been any real fighting among the common people, and it looks like we should be able to get everyone moved by your one-week deadline. They seem to greatly enjoy having all of the businesses in one place, instead of spread out, and there's been some talk about reorganizing once you release them back into the city."

Aella nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. There isn't any reason to have people spread out over the entire city, with the small population we have. It would be best if we could keep them together. That way, if we can get people to start coming back from the west, we'll be able to house them without starting new fights. What is the food situation? Was that fire really started by the humans?"

"We believe so," said Jirga sadly. "The fires have decimated what little crops we had. There isn't a harvest in most of our fields worth talking about. I'm not sure where we'll find food to feed everyone, as my runners aren't finding anything to buy or collect from any of the surrounding villages."

"How long before our food is gone?" asked Aella.

"Two weeks at best. Realistically, only one week."

"What of the monster attacks? If we could find a way to transport that meat?"

"I'm afraid what meat our troops get from the monster attacks, is consumed by our troops themselves, and even then, they are starving themselves," said Varnin apologetically.

"No food means no real taxes collected," said Aella, folding her hands behind her back and beginning to pace. She imagined the state of the kingdom was deteriorating before it was given to her, and she was just watching it in its death throes, but she didn't want to just stand there while it died. It was obvious the human's tactics had led up to this scenario, and they were using the drought to their advantage. Why waste lives fighting, when you could let nature take its course?

"You said that the food we get here in the castle, is created magically, which means, however many people are inside, it will provide food for?" she asked, turning to the Advisors. They all nodded hesitantly at her question, as it was obvious where she was going with it.

"Why don't we have the people move into the palace, to ensure they don't starve, and let the magic deal with our problems?"

"Your Majesty," said Jirga carefully. "We already have the people moving into the warehouses. I know that most of the palace is empty, but I doubt we could hold all of the people in the city, and this lack of food extends over our entire kingdom, not just within the city."

"People will start flocking to the city when they have no food. As they do, house them in the palace. Set those new servants of mine to cleaning out the empty wings. I'll see what I can do about the food issue," said Aella, knowing this was just a temporary fix that might cause headaches in the future. She couldn't run a kingdom if everyone starved. "How's the cleanup coming?"

Xathtak bowed and said, "It's coming along right on schedule. We've had a few issues with cave-ins due to the age of the system. We may need to take advantage of the lack of use in certain areas to rebuild sections."

Aella nodded. "If you can find skilled workers, then go ahead. Is there anything else to report?"

Ernun nodded and said, "Yes, it has come to my attention that several of the city guards have been taking bribes to 'escort' people through the city and allowing them to steal from residences for their own cut. If we kill all of the guards that have been caught, we soon won't have a guard force."

"I refuse to allow guards that are breaking the law to continue in their current roles. Hire new guards from those living in the warehouse district. Make sure they know that all guards caught committing a crime will be imprisoned at the mercy of the people. Those who have already been caught, put in cages for all to see. Let the people decide if they get fed and drink."

"We have some single cell cages that have been used in the past, shall we use those?" he asked.

"That sounds fine. Make sure they can't reach each other to cut down on them attacking each other."

"Yes, Your Majesty."
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She glanced at Frederick and Seifer. They were standing there, still covered in sweat, waiting for her to finish with the Advisors.

"What about the two of you, anything to report?" she asked, giving them a slow once over. They had removed their s.h.i.+rts, while sparring, and she could see a few welts raising up from where one of them was faster than the other, but otherwise, the view was pretty amazing.

"Nothing they haven't already mentioned," said Frederick with a slow smile.

"We did get town criers sent off to inform the people that taxes would start being collected sometime next year. I know you said in the spring, but with the current state of affairs, we thought it might be better to leave the exact timing vague," said Seifer, scrunching his brow as he thought.

"That's fine. I'll fetch you some more coins to be able to pay more people, as the need arises," said Aella, stepping forward into the treasury room. She made sure to arrive far from where those stupid chickens were, and quickly jumped into the chest with the miscellaneous stuff. There was a small chest, that she had spied earlier, sitting on a pile of blankets. Picking it up, she could tell that its magic allowed it to hold more than it appeared to, which would be perfect for what they needed.

Going back and forth between the various chests, she filled it half-way with silver and copper, before returning to the throne room. Handing the chest to Frederick, she knew she needed to hurry back to Alfred and the others, but there was still one last place she needed to go to.

"Aella, I'm glad to see you," said Bob, as she stepped into his bar. The demons who were enjoying their meals, or a drink, glanced at her, but didn't freak out like they had with the heroes.

"Bob, I need to know how much you will charge to answer a question," she said, sliding into her seat as he placed a mug in front of her. She eyed it longingly, but turned to him first.

"It all depends on the question," he said with a small smile as he picked up a cloth to wipe down the counter.

"How can I get enough food to keep my people from starving?" she asked, running a finger over the drink in front of her unconsciously.

"Ah, that's the one you were going to ask. I thought you were going to ask about… nevermind. The answer to your question will require you to go somewhere for me."

"Where?" she asked hesitantly.

"I want to open a new bar in the Dwarven lands, but I need a spot for my new bar. I could easily do it in my own fas.h.i.+on, but it's far more fun to send you."