Chapter 232

"What are we going to do?!" Mei looked quite anxious.

"There's really nothing we can do about this," said Saber, shrugging his shoulders. "It all depends on what the local farmers do."

What to do? The Saber didn't think they had any better ideas. The best way was probably to quickly harvest this field before the disease affected all the farmland.

Although the destruction of this field will lead to a reduction in this year's grain production, it's still better than a complete crop failure!

That's what the Saber thinks.

Those who were actually discussing countermeasures over there had also reached a conclusion.

Basically, it's similar to Saber thought.

Cut!

Now the only option is to make a tough decision, even if it means losing a lot, it's better than losing everything.

As the villagers quickly got to work and began harvesting the rice, the Saber's brow furrowed even deeper. It seemed history was indeed not so easily changed.

This stinky fox has given her an even bigger problem.

"Artoria?" Theresa asked, Saber' furrowed brows as if he were deep in thought. "What are you thinking about?"

"Is there another way?"

"Of course not." Saber spread her hands and said, "I was just wondering if this was caused by the Honkai. The opponent we're facing this time is someone who's very good at causing trouble behind the scenes."

This certainly wasn't a coincidence, and although they took remedial measures, they were definitely useless.

Similar incidents will definitely happen one after another.

Because...

"It has a clear understanding of what human fear is, and how to instill fear, dread, and hatred."

"We probably shouldn't be focusing our attention here."

"Instead, focus on things outside of these."

"The storm is brewing."

"That wind!"

Chapter 265 Unstoppable

The crops withered on the first day.

Someone died the next day.

A writer who knew everything happening in the world without leaving his home and recorded it in his diary was right: A speck of dust from the times can become a mountain on an ordinary person.

Yes, at least that's what a certain writer named Fang, who is actually Qiu, said.

When the dust of the times falls on an ordinary person, it can be an unbearable mountain.

The village's decision may be correct, but it was also born of necessity. In the face of this infectious Rice Blast Disease, taking measures to render irreparable farmland harmless to prevent the spread of the disease is indeed a viable approach.

But this is not good news for the owners and farmers of that farmland.

This was a huge loss for the small landowner who owned the farmland, and an even more devastating blow for the tenant farmers who rented the land.

In feudal times, when the economy was mainly based on small-scale farming, the ability to withstand risks was very poor.

Perhaps that small landlord still has some ability to withstand risks.

But that tenant farmer definitely didn't have one.

He faced a choice: either his entire family would starve to death, or they would perish on the road while fleeing. The destruction of a field might have saved many crops, but for this tenant farmer, it destroyed his very hope for survival.

All the hard work resulted in a complete crop failure.

There was nothing left but despair.

Saber didn't know what kind of despair the tenant farmer's family had led to their suicide, but this was the reality she was facing.

The tenant farmer died without any descendants.

The family of five lay neatly together in the ground.

"Why did it have to be like this?" Mei, looking at the newly erected graves. "Why did they make this choice? Why did they..."

Mei couldn't understand it, and she couldn't figure it out.

Without experiencing it firsthand, and lacking a full understanding of this era.

She simply couldn't understand her family's choice.

Saber hadn't experienced it herself, but at least she had read some history books and watched related films and television shows. Although she couldn't have a comprehensive understanding of this era, she could at least glimpse some of it.

"There's no reason why," said the Saber, shaking his head. "It's just that I can't go on living."

"There are no laws or welfare benefits to protect farmers in this era."

"Do you think he'll be like the farmers of our time?" Saber sighed. "When faced with natural disasters or man-made calamities, will the government provide relief food, insurance companies pay out, there be a minimum living allowance, and even exemption from various taxes?"

"There might be some relief food, but after being skimmed off at each level, very little will be left in the hands of these people."

"A pound of bran and two pounds of Guanyin clay might make a delicious meal."

"If we impose further taxes, we'll have no way to survive."

"How is that possible?" Mei said somewhat naively, "Taxes should be levied after something like this happens?"

"Why not?" Saber said sarcastically, "The government in this era has no bottom line; they are capable of doing anything that defies all moral values."

"This is just the beginning; there's more to come."

"Are we just going to watch like this?" Mei asked, somewhat anxiously and even helplessly. "Aren't we going to do anything?"

"Then what can we do?" Saber asked in return.

The most crucial problem was that there was nothing that could be done; all that could be done was watch helplessly as it began to happen. When the Rice Blast Disease outbreak occurred, the Saber realized that this was the first domino to fall.

Once the first domino falls, the rest will follow in quick succession.

The Saber really wanted to stop this domino effect.

When the last domino falls, they will be the only ones trapped underneath.

But what can she do?

She really couldn't do anything.

It just so happened to hit a blind spot in her knowledge and where she lacked the skills. Having great martial arts skills was really difficult when faced with a problem that martial arts couldn't solve.

This is really a huge headache.

"Is there really no way at all?" Mei asked, skeptical.

"It's not that there's absolutely none," Saber said after a moment's thought. "We'll have to talk to the Chief Priest and that warrior about it."

"What should we talk about?" Mei suddenly felt a glimmer of hope.

She really didn't want to see this happen again.

"Let's talk about relief," said the Saber. "It's true that the ability to withstand risks is low in this era. From nobles to commoners, the ability to withstand risks is not very high."

"But it's impossible to say that there's absolutely no ability to withstand risks."

"If the samurai is willing to waive the annual tribute, then he can contribute a little bit of grain."

"As long as these disaster-stricken farmers can survive until next spring."

"Will things get better?" Mei immediately said, "If that's the case, then I think it's definitely worth talking to that samurai at Tenshu-kaku."

"Of course, there's also the Chief Priest." Saber said, "The warriors only pay their annual tribute and don't manage anything."

"The one who truly holds power is the Chief Priest; even if the samurai is opposed by the Chief Priest..."

"This matter also requires the consent of the Chief Priest."

"And this Chief Priest might actually be very important."

Perhaps the Chief Priest is the most important; the samurai are easier to deal with. This Chief Priest is definitely not as warm and easy to talk to as he seems on the surface Mei will most likely fail because of Chief Priest.

"I understand." Mei immediately took action once she had a goal, showing no intention of waiting any longer.

Saber did not go with Mei.

If words could persuade these feudal rulers, there would be no need for uprisings. She didn't believe Mei's actions could succeed; Mei were destined to fail.

She certainly didn't care much about the wishes of these feudal rulers.

Because she knew very well that she didn't need to endure a year, nor did she need to persuade these feudal rulers to have a change of heart.

Even Saber doesn't think it's a good idea to stop the Sacrifice Ritual from happening.

Judging from the current progress, the practice of human Sacrifice Ritual is unstoppable.

It will happen very soon, very soon someone will bring it up.

And something unexpected might happen to them soon.

This is the main thing she needs to pay attention to.

She also needs to keep an eye on one other person.

Saber quickly spotted a pink-haired figure in the distance.

"This Yae Sakura..."

"Is this really Yae Sakura from this historical period?"

"I guess she's waiting for something too, right?"

Chapter 267 Yae Sakura Duck

There is an old saying in China: "Misfortunes never come singly, but good fortune never comes in pairs."

Mei felt she could persuade the Chief Priest and the samurai.

Then she ran into a wall.

The two local supreme rulers, the Chief Priest and the warrior, exemplify a common human flaw and a disastrous consequence of the dispersion of power.

Pass the buck!

Both the Chief Priest and the samurai praised Mei's great love, humanism, and concern for ordinary villagers, and then said that this matter needed the Chief Priest /samurai to intervene to be resolved.

Neither side gave Mei a definite answer.

Or rather, the Chief Priest and the samurai at this time demonstrated a tradition of Area 11: everyone tried their best but just couldn't accomplish anything substantial.

The samurai worked hard to gather a group of advisors to discuss the seriousness of the matter.

The Chief Priest was quite diligent, often going to talk to the samurai whenever he had free time.

Then...

There is none left.

Mei could see the samurai thinking of solutions, the staff gave some results they could predict, and the Chief Priest went to the samurai to offer help.

And that's it...

The once quiet Tenshu-kaku suddenly became lively, and even the Chief Priest, who usually checked the money box at the appointed time every day, became unusually diligent in running to the Tenshu-kaku.

Then there were no actual results.

Every time Mei asked, the answers she received were still "You're great," "The consequences will be serious," "We're working on it," and "We're planning it."

And then... of course there's a "then" part~ if it's not a good thing.

The traditional skill of the Area 11 is to pretend nothing is wrong with small things, then the small things become big things, to pretend to work hard on big things but actually do nothing, and finally the big things become irreparable disasters, and then continue to play the ostrich.

Or they could just come out, bow, and apologize, and that would be the end of it.

What else do you want?

They've already bowed and apologized, are you expecting them to commit seppuku?

This isn't the Showa era anymore!