Warhammer Divine Throne

”Well, we come from the north. There was a disaster at home, so we couldn’t pay the taxes and had to run away. We heard things are better down south, so we came to find some work.” Remon squeezed out a smile, keeping some things to himself.

”Oh, really? Welcome to Red Fish Village. Is there a disaster in the north lately? Why are all the newcomers from that direction?” This peasant didn’t think much of it at first, looking at Thomas hiding behind Remon and tugging at his clothes, and then at his mother, who was too exhausted to stand. ”My name’s Bono. What a pity, it’s getting dark already. If you hurry to Gene Town now, the gates will be closed, and you won’t make it in time. If you don’t mind, you can rest in my woodshed for the night. Tomorrow morning, you can head to the town office; there are signs along the way.”

”That would be much appreciated!” Remon quickly expressed his gratitude.

Is the south really so much wealthier than the north? Remon noticed how the barns were filled with winter wheat, the sturdy stone houses everywhere, people had such pleasant demeanor, radiating harvest joy. Every household raised chickens and ducks, there were even oxen seen in the fields, some families had goats, smoked meat and fish hung outside houses, and when dinner time came, smoke rose from every home’s chimney.

A calm and peaceful village scene.

The woodshed was tidied up nicely, filled with piles of firewood along with a straw bed and blankets.

”Brother, brother, I’m so hungry!” Thomas said inopportunely, quietly.

Remon looked at his bag with difficulty; there was only half a loaf of black bread left.

It seems they’re running out of food.

”You must have traveled quite a distance from the north, right? Tough journey, have some food!” Bono came in holding five black loaves and a pot of stew. ”Praise the Count, praise the Countess, praise the Lady, escaping here is your lucky fate.”

”Oh! No! We can’t eat!” Remon was startled and waved his hands quickly. Five loaves of black bread and a pot of stew made from vegetables and flour would already last their family four or five days!

”Hey? Why not eat?” Bono clearly didn’t grasp the situation, puzzled, he set down the basket of bread and pot of stew, along with some wooden bowls and spoons in front of Remon’s family. ”You’ve run so far, you must not have much to eat, right? It’s alright, this is my gift to you, eat, tomorrow I’m heading into town too, let’s go together.”

”No, we all pay taxes to the Lord; how can we eat away your food for days? No, we can manage with what we have.” The old mother shook her head quickly, naturally kind-hearted, she knew how hard it was for peasants to keep some food.

Fleeing is already their fault; how can they implicate others?

”Huh?” Bono found it even more strange, he first looked at Remon and his mother, then at Thomas already swallowing his saliva, and scoffed, ”Wake up, what century are you living in?”

”Count Laine has been here for five years now! Whose family would miss a few loaves of black bread?”

”???”

”There are plenty of black loaves at home, leave them and they go moldy. Really, I’m planning to head to town with you tomorrow to sell some veggies; the kids at home keep clamoring for meat. I figure with Holy Grail Day approaching, I should buy some to eat.”

”??????”

”Alright then, eat up~ You northerners astonish easily.” Bono couldn’t hide his proud expression as he placed the items down. ”You dig in first, I need to go check on my five kids~”