Ninth Era 2159·Spring (Gale Season·11th year)
Cold winds swept across the land, and the spring that was supposed to thaw everything did not arrive as promised. Instead, it was delayed again and again. In March, the average temperature was still hovering around zero. The frozen hard soil made it difficult to sow seeds and grass grew slowly. Herders on the grasslands had to slaughter some livestock to ensure that hay and feed could be maintained until the temperature warmed up.
During this period, grain prices began to rise in various regions of the Fourth Continent, with the highest price increases in the central and northern parts of the Mage Alliance. It has now reached 10 times what it was a few years ago, and continues to rise.
As mentioned before, when the food gap is 10%, the price does not increase by 10%, but the price increases to the point where more than 30% of people starve to death. People will instinctively seek to protect themselves when facing a crisis, and what most people do is try their best to reserve enough food to cope with a more severe environment in the future. Strong people can grab more With so many resources, they will not be satisfied with the stage when food has just filled their stomachs, but will fill the warehouse with food until the inner anxiety can be relieved and they feel comfortable. The result is that in the case of already reduced production, the strong 10% occupy nearly 40% of the food, while the remaining 90% of the people grab the remaining 50% of the food.
"So, judging from the current grain prices, if we reached a contract with "Golden Sheaf Horn" last year, it would only be purchased at 6 times the price, and this multiple will become more pleasant with the arrival of Season of Sinking Fog."
In Sky Tower's Courtyard, the two sages looked down and talked about the suspended cooperation last year.
"In the eyes of a few of us, this contract is actually not too bad, but most people can't accept this huge gap." "Yes."
"In addition, everyone has different opinions, otherwise no matter how low-level Mage and ordinary people discuss it, they will not be able to change the decision." "Dangler, Bliss, and Barey, etc., do not want to spend the money. They feel that instead of spending such a high price to purchase food, it is better to go and get it directly, and the reasons they gave are quite sufficient."
"Now is the most powerful moment for the Mage Alliance, but after suffering in Season of Sinking Fog for sixteen years, the situation is different."
"The climate of "Harp Flower Union" is already warmer, and we can obtain some food supplies through cross-sea trade. It will not be difficult to survive Season of Sinking Fog."
"Woodland Alliance" has great ambitions after integrating the five major covenant countries. In addition, they have a wide range of food sources in the region and have enough horticulturists to supplement them. It is said that they are also opening up fertile soil for farming in World of Shadows. I really don't know how they did it. These factors not only make Season of Sinking Fog have little impact on them, but also after integrating resources, its strength will gradually increase."
"And what about us? Hunger brings food shortages, which will inevitably lead to intensified social conflicts. In the end, if we can only keep one group of people and abandon another group, will the abandoned people really not resist? In addition, this kind of internal abandonment is also very terrible in the destruction of people's hearts. In the end, it will lead to changes in the atmosphere of the entire the Alliance, and even the danger of the Alliance splitting."
"Even if we finally spend these sixteen years, we will definitely be greatly damaged in strength, and will the other two major forces really sit back and watch us recover?" Gold Steam"Aspect Power Hour was not born for a day, many things are hanging in the air, and things may change at any time." The two people talked about this drastic change and what might happen in the future.
"I don't know what your Majesty is thinking. Logically speaking, for such a major matter, they would at least give suggestions, instead of allowing several factions to argue with each other, making it difficult to truly unify the strategy."
"Perhaps, your three highnesses are also waiting and watching, just as we are hesitating whether to endure these sixteen years of suffering or simply give it a try." In June and summer, the weather has warmed up a little.
A conflict occurred in the area bordering the southern part of the Mage Alliance and Woodland Alliance. A bandit group from the Aishius Kingdom in the north captured a city in Mide Duchy in the south and looted a large amount of food stored in the city.
After the incident happened, Grand Duke Mide asked Aishius Kingdom to hand over the evil bandit members and return the looted food reserves.
Aishius Kingdom agreed to the request and also sent out legions from the kingdom to encircle and suppress the bandit group and successfully annihilated it, but only returned a small amount of food reserves, indicating that only this amount had been collected.
Faced with such a situation, Grand Duke Mide was furious, but there was no good way. After all, Aesius Kingdom was stronger than Mide Duchy. However, things soon took a turn for the better. and changes. After the establishment of the Five Covenants, Mide Duchy is now one of the members of "Forest of Incantations". Witch is stationed in the palace all year round to provide advice and guidance to the royal family.
This time it was the palace Witch who led the team, sneaked into the Aesius Kingdom, killed the leader of the bandits who caused trouble, and learned a lot of secret information from his mouth before his death. With the help of this information, this Witch found the large amount of wheat intercepted by Esius, announced the matter, and once again demanded compensation and apology from the Aesius Kingdom.
When things got to this point, Aesius Kingdom was unable to get off, so they also asked the court Mage in the palace for help.
The courtier Mage is very knowledgeable. After comparing history and ancient relics, he issued a notice saying that the land occupied by Mide Duchy was originally part of the Aesius Kingdom more than three hundred years ago, but it was later replaced by the Aesius Kingdom. During the weak period of's power transition, a group of foreigners occupied Castle in the mountains, and expanded with this, dividing part of the Aesius Kingdom's territory, and this became Mide Duchy.
Therefore, Aesius Kingdom now has the necessity and obligation to take back the past territory, and Grand Duke Mide has no qualifications to rule this land at all. They are just a group of descendants of robbers.
Faced with such a statement, Grand Duke Mide became furious and could no longer bear it. He believed that this unwarranted insult must be washed away with sword and blood, so a month later, he led his army north to attack the territory of the Aesius Kingdom.
During the first battle, the Witchs in the Mide Archduke's Legion played a particularly prominent role. They easily deceived the guards guarding the city at night and cut off the sentries on duty. Let the city gates be opened directly, and the army directly enter the city and capture it. With this method, the legions led by Grand Duke Mide captured four major cities in succession and occupied one-third of the Aesius Kingdom's territory.
Faced with a precarious situation, King Aishius Kingdom asked for help from "Mist Spirit School" who protected the royal family. The school sent seven powerful fourth-level Mage, cast fog to cover the occupied city, allowing the Mide Duchy troops occupying the city to kill each other in the fog. Thousands of soldiers died, including 19 Knight.
Such behavior also provoked the newly established "Forest of Incantations". Among them, the Witch faction "Black Finger" also sent 6 fourth-level "Fallen Finger Witches". These Witch can control the dreams of the living and perform terrifying Nightmare, causing the opponent to die in their sleep.
In the subsequent fight, the three Mage of "Mist Spirit School" died in horrific dreams. It is said that before they died, they screamed like crazy demons, with blood and tears in their eyes, and tore their cheeks with their fingers, leaving their flesh and blood torn to death.
Facing the death of their companions, the remaining "Mist Spirit School" and "Mage" also launched a fierce revenge. When the two Witch were washing their faces in the early morning, they were choked by Mist Spirit in the mirror and suffocated to death.
At this point, the conflict began to expand. The war that was originally limited to two small countries also appeared in the upper-level sights of the two major forces the Alliance.