NOVGO.NET Chapter 411: I will be wherever you are.
Chapter 411: I will be wherever you are.
“They steal from the old because they are easy targets.”
Morvain spoke as she stared into Kael’s eyes with an expressionless look on her face.
“…”
Kael narrowed his eyes at those words, and the Matriarch continued—
“These people have no one to talk to, neither do they have enough energy to complain about the rations they received anywhere. They simply take whatever is given to them silently.
On the other hand, if anyone else receives fewer rations than what they were expecting, the chances of them talking to the people they work with or usually talk to and figuring out that they have been cheated increase.”
“So the old are targeted because they do not raise their voices, making it easier for the Provisioners to steal from them without getting caught.”
Kael commented.
“It is the simple law of the world:
the easier the target, the more they will be targeted.”
The Matriarch nodded as she clenched her fists. Her face still remained expressionless, but it was clear she was having a hard time maintaining that.
Though Kael wasn’t willing to let this matter go—
“Then what about you?”
He began, looking into the Matriarch’s eyes.
“Aren’t you the Matriarch? The one who is supposed to protect your people? Your people are being forced to starve, and despite knowing everything, you are letting this happen. Not just that, you even go as far as calling your people ‘easy targets.’ Is this… truly what a Matriarch is supposed to do?”
Kael questioned directly, holding the Matriarch responsible for everything, and for the first time in a long while, the Matriarch’s poker face showed faults.
Her cold, expressionless face crumbled for more than a second. Soon, however, she clenched her fists even harder, holding back her strong emotions and—
“I do what is necessary, and I am prepared to face the consequences of my actions when it is time for it.
However, right now, this is the only way forward.
Starving the old is the only way our people can survive.”
She answered in a cold, hoarse voice. Her words instantly made the Elders lower their heads in frustration and helplessness.
Clearly, none of them liked it—starving their own people, people who had given their all for their land. As the leaders who did everything for the sake of their people and their survival, this was the worst, the most heartless decision they had to make but…
At the same time, they also knew its importance.
They knew they had no other choice.
Seeing their reactions, Kael clenched his fists in anger, finding it all disgusting.
Hypocrites.
That is what these people were.
It was repulsive. He didn’t even wish to breathe the same air as these people.
“Kill them, why don’t you? If they are such a burden to you—why torture them slowly, for months and years? Just end them.
They don’t work anyway, now do they? They are of no value to you, so instead of giving them whatever portion you give them, you can save it all for the Emergency Rations.
Won’t that be better?
At least that would be merciful!”
He spoke in spite; his hatred was clear from his words.
The entire room froze.
Morvain’s eyes, however, did not flinch.
“That is what we are hoping.”
She answered; her words felt like a blade.
Kael blinked in disbelief, his breath caught. Even Lavinia’s calm mask cracked, her lips parting in shock.
“…what?”
Kael whispered.
Morvain did not falter.
“We want them to starve. To perish. We cannot feed everyone. We do not have enough. If we allow all to live, all will die. By letting the old wither, we preserve the young and the strong.”
“You—”
Kael’s voice rose higher, his blue eyes burning with fury.
“You decided to starve your own people out!? That isn’t survival—it’s slaughter!
Why are you playing these torturous games!? At this point, just get rid of them directly! That would be much less painless!”
“Killing them openly would tear us apart,”
Morvain shook her head. The Elders could sense a tinge of her frustration that she was trying to hide behind her voice.
“The people cannot know. If we raised a blade to our elders, unity would collapse overnight.
But if they slip away quietly… the rest will endure.”
Morvain answered, and for an instant, the Elder’s Hall turned deathly silent. No one said anything.
The Elders all lowered their heads—some trembling, some biting their lips—none daring to meet Kael’s glare.
Their guilt, frustrations, embarrassments, and helplessness couldn’t be hidden. Lavinia too was shocked by this development. Morvain had a thick, expressionless poker face on, and Kael…
He was trembling in anger.
“Monsters…
That is what you people are…”
He spoke in a trembling voice.
“This is the only way our people can survive.”
Morvain answered without any change in her expression, but Kael had had enough,
“Then maybe you people shouldn’t have survived at all.”
He spoke; the fury in his voice couldn’t be hidden.
And Morvain…
“…Maybe that is true.”
The Matriarch nodded in a low voice.
“Maybe we, the people who survive by sacrificing our old, shouldn’t survive but…”
She then looked into Kael’s eyes with a determined look on her face and—
“We will survive for as long as we can.
Whether you stay with us—
…or not.”
She answered, and at those words, all Elders raised their heads as well, showing the same determination as their Matriarch.
They will not give up.
They will not surrender to the harsh conditions they have been facing.
They will fight back till it is their last moments—
And they would want their children to do the same.
This was the Velmourn spirit that burned within them.
Kael stared at the Velmourn Elders. The determined look on their faces made him feel even more repulsed,
“Disgusting.”
He spoke as he then turned around, not wanting to talk to these people any longer.
“Where are you going?”
Morvain questioned, and Kael paused,
“You said it yourself, didn’t you?
You will do what you have to whether I stay with you or not.
I won’t.”
He spoke as he slowly walked out of the hall.
“…”
Morvain stared at the doors without any change in her expression. Then, slowly, she glanced at Lavinia, who had stayed.
“…I will go talk to him.”
Lavinia spoke in a low voice.
“…if he doesn’t return for the public punishment, I will assume he will be leaving our land.”
Morvain seemed prepared as well.
Winter had begun.
There were already too many problems she had to deal with; Kael’s naivety couldn’t be one of them. She didn’t like what they did either. When she first learned about it from the previous Patriarch, she had felt the same disgust, but at the same time, she understood it as well.
Leaving everything behind definitely wasn’t in her mind.
“That won’t happen.”
Lavinia shook her head.
“I hope that is the case.”
Morvain spoke with an honest look on her face.
“I do not think we will be able to survive many winters without the two of you.”
The Matriarch nodded. Lavinia nodded back at those words, and a look of mutual understanding appeared on the two women’s faces before Lavinia finally turned around and left the hall as well.
…
It didn’t take a long time for Lavinia, who exited the Elder’s Hall, to find Kael. He seemed to be waiting for her a few meters away.
Lavinia walked towards him and created a sound barrier around them, wanting to hold a conversation.
“…you do not seem as repulsed by them as I am.”
Kael, who sensed the barrier she had cast, commented without turning around.
“I am not.”
The Mage answered honestly, and finally, Kael turned and looked into her eyes.
“Did you know about it as well?”
He questioned.
The Mage seemed a little too calm about all this, so Kael had his suspicions, but—
“I did not.”
Lavinia shook her head again.
“Then why—”
Kael tried to question, but—
“But I do understand that nothing in this world is perfect.”
Kael paused at those words, and the Mage continued—
“Drakthar, the strongest nation in the world—it has a strong army, a strong defense; most of the people living in the major cities are comparably happy and live a comparably comfortable life—but the King of the nation is rotten.
With a King like this, the nation’s future is in jeopardy. Twilight, too, is a variable that might plunge the Kingdom into despair.
And it isn’t just Drakthar. Every nation, no matter how strong or weak, has its own positives and negatives.”
“What are you trying to say?”
Kael questioned directly as he stared at Lavinia.
“I am saying that, just like everything else, Velmourn isn’t perfect.
It was us who were only seeing its positive side till now.”
“Positive side? Nothing about this place is positive, Lavinia.”
“Its people are, and you cannot deny it.”
Lavinia answered quickly, and Kael couldn’t say anything in retort.
“The Ants have been tailing these people for two days now, and they have found absolutely no fault in them. These people are honest and hardworking. Even those we thought were corrupt were secretly working with the leaders for everyone’s survival.
Sure, the place has its problems, but the people aren’t one, and with people as determined as them…
the rest of the problems are solvable.”
The Mage spoke with a meaningful look on her face.
Kael stared at her in silence, and after taking a deep breath…
“Do you not wish to leave?”
He questioned directly.
“It is not about me.”
Lavinia shook her head.
“I will be wherever you are,
But…
If you leave after seeing every single inconvenience,
We won’t have a place to live.”
Source: .com, updated by novlove.com