The empire was a monarchy with a severe gap between the rich and the poor, and the commoners were at the bottom of the pyramid of power, and they were required to pay heavy taxes, perform military service, and fulfill the terms of various local leaders and nobles without compensation.

The currency circulation of the common class may stay at the stage of copper coins for a lifetime, and the golden gold coins are almost no less than life for them, just like the old man on the farm who helped Jiang Zhe for free, the old man Roy, those twenty gold coins may be his life savings, but these gold coins are so small and worthless in the eyes of nobles or merchants.

But have you ever thought that somewhere in the empire, there are people whose standard of living is not even as good as that of civilians, no, the standard of living is far inferior to that of civilians!

The glory and pride of the ancestors, compared to the current fiasco, is undoubtedly a thorn in the hearts of the Thranders, but the glory of the ancestors is no longer as important as the severe scarcity of food and water...... Compared to the city where they lived was crushed by the iron horses of the royal knights, the yellow-faced and skinny children made the people of Thrand feel more angry and heartbroken.

"Thrand, once one of the most glorious countries in the world, how amazing she used to be, but now, she has lost her vitality...... This is a place with no future!" I remember that the famous bard Alec Lendl once said of the current Thrand, but the Thrand people are clearly unwilling to carry on their fate to the next generation, and they seek to change, and they do not hesitate to take risks to make enemies of the great empire.

Perhaps all they needed was a few slices of bread, a small glass of their own ale, or the innocent and happy smiles on the children's faces, which Thrand didn't have now...... Nothing!

When Viv's women came out with their so-called food, Alan was disappointed, and it could be seen that so were the girls, but Alan didn't regret it, because it was a deal, because he came from a merchant society, and for merchants, gold coins were indeed important, but far less important than reputation, and besides, he didn't think that his twenty gold coins were wasted, at least, he had a good chat with the bearded man Viv, didn't he?

The merchants of Oparios sought more than just wealth!

But even so, Alan couldn't help but sigh at the food on the only table.

"Wow......"

"Hehe," said Vief, looking at Alan with a faint smile, in a tone mixed with banter and mockery, "I can swear by the great Thrand that these are the food...... Don't you want to try it?"

"Well, this ......" Glancing at the girls who were not very good-looking, Alan shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, what about the food for two gold coins!" and as he said that, he stretched out his hand and lingered for a long time on the iron basin-like vessel containing the 'food', and finally took a small slice of meat.

Hesitantly putting the meat slices in his mouth and chewing them, Allen's originally frowning brows gradually relaxed, and he looked at Viv and smiled in surprise, "It tastes good...... What kind of meat is this?"

I saw Viv looking at Alan with a strange expression, and said with a smile, "Guess what, little ghost?"

Glancing deeply at Viv, Alan showed a strange look on his face and said, "No...... It can't be human flesh, right?"

"You!" said Viv, with a smile on his face, "Do you think we Thranders are savage cannibals?"

"It's not good," he smiled, and in Viv's playful eyes, Alan picked up another small piece of meat and put it in his mouth, chewing the aftertaste, and nodded, "It'......s really good! Is it chicken?"

"Chicken?" Lisa looked curiously at the food in the basin.

Perhaps because he was unhappy that Alan was enjoying the food alone, or for some other reason, the young man named Comi leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, looked at Alan and the girls and sneered, "It tastes good, these rats?"

"Eun, it's not bad...... just as he was saying, Allen's movements suddenly stopped, turned his head to look at the young man who spoke, and said with wide eyes in disbelief, "These...... Rat meat, rat meat?"

"Evil!" the girls who came back to their senses couldn't help but take two steps back, covering their mouths and retching with a disgusted expression, even Lavia, who was born in Artac, couldn't help it, obviously girls have a natural aversion to some furry creatures that live in the dark.

The atmosphere in the room froze suddenly.

"Rat meat?" Glancing at the Thrand children gathered around the table and looking at him expectantly, Alan looked at the three youths of Spot, Pa, and Cormi, and finally at Viv, and then, in the disbelief of all the girls, Alan once again reached out and picked up a small piece of meat, put it in his mouth and chewed it, and said with a smile, "I never thought that those terrible creatures would taste so good...... Well, it's kind of like chicken!"

"Hahaha!" After two or three seconds of silence, Viv smiled, patted his thigh and looked at Alan appreciatively, nodded and said, "Little ghost, you're a very funny little ghost...... I may not be qualified, but I believe that your father is proud of you, and that you can be a friend of our Thorlands!", he said, turning to his woman, and said in a tone that could not be refuted, "Ram, give him back the gold coins!"

"Vief......" The woman held her belt and stepped back, looking at Viv pleading and shaking her head.

"Give it back to him, Ram!" said Viff again.

"Big brother?"

"Brother Viv, what are you doing here?" said the three young men, surprised and confused.

"Hey," interrupting the argument of several people in the room, Alan looked at Vief and smiled, "I hate to admit it, but maybe I'll end up being a businessman...... Want to challenge the glory of the merchants, bastard?!"

Looking at Alan incredulously for a long time, Viv suddenly smiled, nodded and sighed slightly, "I used to think that only our Thrand children were the best...... You win, you can get the friendship of the Thranders, Alan!"

"Hey!" grinning, Alan glanced at the children gathered around the table, pointed to the iron basin and said, "The meat...... Hmm, what are these root-like things?"

"It's not like, this is the root, there is a tree called Vals here, its root can be used to fill the stomach, it's a little hard, but the taste is okay, you can try it!"

"Wow," he reached out and picked up a small piece of the root of the Vals tree, Alan took a bite, but he could see that the root was very hard and chewy, and it took him a lot of effort to swallow it, licking his lips, and he said with a bitter face, "Well, it's a little sweet, but at that point, I think I can gnaw on it for a long time!"

"The roots of the Vals tree are like this!" Smiling at Alan, Viv glanced at Jiang Zhe and the girls, and said jokingly, "Why don't you have some, little ghosts?"

"I don't want to!" Lisa shook her head repeatedly, and beside her, Lavia looked at the slices of meat in the iron basin in disgust, and muttered, "What are you kidding!"

"Really, that's a pity," without any surprise, Viv stood up and walked to the table, then turned his head to look at Jiang Zhe, who was standing against the wall, and said jokingly, "What about you? Won't you come some?"

Glancing at the iron basin without any emotion, Jiang Zhe said lightly, "No, I'm not hungry!"

Somewhat surprised by Jiang Zhe's eyes, Viv smiled slightly and said teasingly, "It can be seen that if a person is really hungry, then he doesn't care whether the food in front of him is chicken or rat, of course, I don't mean to play tricks on you, this is the best food here!"

Viv wasn't lying, for he gave priority to the children in the house, and watched the children happily munch on rat meat, and Viff and his woman, as well as the three youths, silently nibbled on the roots of the Vals tree, which was perhaps their most common food.

With the sound of footsteps, Lavia and a few other girls came back from outside the house—they had brought the last dry bread from the carriage.

"Soth!" Walking to Jiang Zhe's side, Lavia took out a piece of bread from the bag, handed it to Jiang Zhe, and then walked to Allen's side, handed him the bread, and said, "Allen, can you help us carry the bucket of water upstairs later?"

"Of course, Lavia!"

Although it was only a piece of dry bread, the bread made from the finest wheat flour still attracted the attention of the two children, after all, in this place where food was scarce, as children, they really did not receive much food, and the adults were even less pitiful.

After staring at the bread in Jiang Zhe's hand for a long time, a child who seemed to be three or four years old said timidly, "What is this?

Glancing at the child, in Viv's surprised eyes, Jiang Zhe handed him the bread in his hand and said in a low voice, "You can try!"

Looking at the piece of bread with an attractive fragrance hesitantly, the child licked his lips a little greedily, secretly glanced at Jiang Zhe, took it carefully, put it to his mouth and took a bite, and after chewing for a while, he suddenly grinned and said happily to Jiang Zhe, "What is this?"

"Bread!"

"Bread ......," muttered a repeat, and the boy suddenly picked up a small piece of the root of the Vals tree from his small bowl and said hesitantly, "Can I trade this for you?"

Leaning over to look at the child, Jiang Zhe nodded, only to see the child excitedly stuff the Vals root in his hand into Jiang Zhe's hand, and then ran to the group of children to share the food called bread with his brothers and sisters.

Glancing deeply at the expressionless Jiang Zhe, Viv stood up and walked to him, took out a homemade cigarette from his pocket, leaned against the wall, and whispered with some interest, "Can you borrow a fire?"

Glancing at Viv lightly, Jiang Zhe raised his right hand, and pointed his index finger at the cigarette that Viv was holding in his mouth, and immediately, a red light came out of the end of the cigarette.

"Thank you!" Taking a sharp sip, Viv glanced at Allen, who was laughing with a few girls, and then at the Vals root in Jiang Zhe's hand, and said in a low voice, "How is it?"

"I haven't tried it yet," Jiang Zhe said lightly, Jiang Zhe put the piece of Vals in his mouth and took a bite, and then said while chewing, "It's hard!"

"Hehe," Viv whispered, smiling and curling an eyebrow, taking two puffs of his cigarette, "I thought only that little imp Alan would get along well with us......"

"He can get along well with anyone!"

"Including civilians?"

"Do you think I'm a nobleman?"

Glancing at Jiang Zhe in surprise, Viv said in surprise, "Aren't you a nobleman?" God, in my personal opinion, among the few little ghosts, you are the most like a nobleman......

"What are you referring to?" Glancing at Viv, Jiang Zhe said lightly, "Do you mean that I didn't cater to you? I didn't choose to try those rat meats? Hmph, I never cater to anyone!"

"I can see that," nodded with a smirk, and Wiff glanced at the Vals root that Jiang Zhe was chewing, shrugged and said, "But you can also get the friendship of the Thrlanders!"

"Thank you!" Rolling his eyes, Jiang Zhe said angrily.

While the two were talking, suddenly the little boy ran back again, holding a piece of Vals root in his hand, looked at the timid and said, "Can I change it with you again?"

Frowning at his child, Viv whispered, "Smith!"

Glancing at the group of children not far away who were blinking and looking at him expectantly, Jiang Zhe spread his hands, pointed to Lavia, who was talking to Allen, and said, "I don't have it, go find her!"

The child looked timidly at the frowning Viv.

"Go!" Jiang Zhe said in a low voice.

"Yes!" Perhaps the temptation of bread was greater than his father's severity, and the boy named Smith hurriedly shoved the Vals root in his hand into Jiang Zhe's hand, and ran to Lavia's side.

"I'm sorry......" Viv smiled apologetically.

"It's nothing, it's just a few pieces of bread, with your gold coins, you can buy enough bread for these children!" Glancing at the roots of the two Vals trees in his hand, Jiang Zhe was a little distressed, to be honest, it didn't taste good.

"Hehe, I wish the Galiks would sell it to us...... In fact, when we go to other regions, we don't reveal our identities......" As he spoke, Viv glanced at Jiang Zhe and asked sincerely, "What's your name?"

"Soth!"

"Soth?"

"That's all!"

As soon as the words fell, a call came from the wooden ladder not far away.

"Soss?" I saw Lavia stunned surrounded by several children, looking at Jiang Zhe blankly, and then, seeing him shrug, as if he understood something, he glared at Jiang Zhe angrily, and then distributed the few breads in the bag to the dozen or so children, but looking at her expression, she was not very reluctant, if it wasn't for Jiang Zhe.

"Thank you......" Viv whispered, tossing the burned cigarette butt on the ground and stomping it out.

Glancing at Viv, Jiang Zhe threw all the small pieces of Vals tree roots into his mouth, chewed hard, and said without any fluctuation in his eyes, "There is no need!"

"Daddy," one of the children ran over and pulled Raviv's coat and whispered, "I'm so thirsty......

Sighing slightly, Viv glanced at his woman and said, "Ram, go get some water!"

"Okay," said the woman, who hurried into the depths of the house, and then ran out again, wiping the corners of her clothes with her hands, "water...... The water is gone, I'm going to Zack and asking for some?"

"That's going to be a long wait," the kid turned his head, pointed to the big bucket of steaming water, blinked and wondered, "Isn't there there?"

I saw Viv squatting down, gently pressing the child's shoulders with both hands, shaking his head and saying in a deep voice, "Erie, overly extravagant, that's not our Thurland tradition!"

As he was talking, he suddenly reached out a hand, holding a bowl of hot water, and whispered to Viv, "It's okay! If it's just drinking water, I think I can do it......

"Dia?"

Glancing up at the blue-haired girl in front of him, Viv nodded and said sincerely, "Thank you!" As he spoke, he patted the child on the shoulder, only to see the child grinning and drinking the bowl of hot water.

"Be careful!" Smiling and reminding, Dia walked up to Jiang Zhe and said with a little emotion, "I thought my family's situation was bad enough......"

"Oh, your father is also a lord......"

"Yes," said Dia, stroking the hair in front of her forehead casually, "Hungry?

"It's okay," smiling slightly, Jiang Zhe held the root of the Vals tree in his right hand, and said with a slight smile, "Try it?"

"Hmm...... Okay," smiled and took the root of the Navars tree from Jiang Zhe's hand, Diya covered her mouth and took a small bite, then frowned and said, "Wow, it's so hard......"

"Huh!"

On the other side, pouting helplessly giving the thirsty children the water she used to bathe, Lisa secretly patted Lavia's shoulder, and Nunu said, "It's so gentle......"

Glancing at Jiang Zhe and Dia, Lavia lowered her head and said inexplicably, "I don't want to hear this, Lisa!"

"Okay," said Lisa, with a slight sigh, touching her curly hair, and exhaling, "It's like taking a bath—forget it, let's wait for Galik!" she said, as if sensing something, tilting her head to look at a child in front of her who was holding up a Vals root to herself.

"This is for you, change the water ......"

Blinking, Lisa curiously took the root of the Navars tree, put it in her mouth and took a bite.

"Wow, it's so hard......"

A small episode improved Jiang Zhe's relationship with the Thrand people in the house for a long time, and late at night, everyone slept in their respective rooms, leaving Viv alone on a lame stool, as if pondering something.

Suddenly, a slight movement and a few muffled neighing sounds of horses caught his attention, and he stood up, walked through the gate that had not been closed in the night, frowned at the few Thrand people who were surrounding Jiang Zhe's carriage, and whispered, "What do you want to do, Rafs?"

"Brother Viv's?" looked at Viv awkwardly, and the young man led by him said in a sneer, "These two horses...... We want to ......"

"Absolutely not!" Interrupting the other man's words, Viv said in an irrefutable tone, "Those imps have won my friendship and are my friends, and I will not allow you to do that!"

"But Brother Viv...... Food ......"

"Well," sighed slightly, Viv shook his head, then nodded again, and said, "everything will be fine, and we will have plenty of food......

As if thinking of something, the young man named Rafs said happily, "Did Brother Viv agree? Promised to help Big Brother Tammy?"

"No," retorted subconsciously, and Captain Viv let out a long sigh and shook his head, "I'm still thinking about it—I'll need to spend the night thinking about it!"

"Oh, okay...... Then, let's listen to Brother Viff and go back first...... Brother Viv, Brother Tammy is right, we Thrand people need to change!"

"I know......" Viv nodded worriedly.

For the first time, Jiang Zhe and they stayed for one night in a backward city called Vantoris.

The situation is very bad, at least except for Jiang Zhe, no one among the few people, especially the girls, can sleep peacefully for a night in such a bad environment.

In fact, the girls are pretty good, after all, they still have a creaky bed in their room, although they are worried about when it will not be able to support the weight and collapse, but there is a place to lie down, and on the other hand, Jiang Zhe and Alan are more miserable, and they don't even have a decent bed.

Thankfully, there weren't any creatures that would make the girls scream, and perhaps they were extinct, but even so, the girls tossed and turned in bed, or gossip, and tossed and turned for an hour or two before falling asleep.

The night was very short, so short that as soon as Alan felt like he had closed his eyes, it was dawn.

Glancing at Jiang Zhe, who was sleeping with his head down against the wall, Alan pursed his lips angrily, stood up, and walked out of the room on the creaking floor.

Suddenly, the fierce debate downstairs caught his attention...... Like last night, Viv bit a homemade cigarette, sat down on a lame stool, and said in a deep voice, "Calm down, Tammy!"

"Calm down, what do you call me calm down?" Tammy Sampford, who had a relationship with Jiang Zhe before entering the city, came to the house in a frustrated manner, pacing back and forth in the house, pointing at Viv with an angry expression and yelling, "Those elders are too old, they don't have the courage to fight against the Empire...... Viv, I thought you'd help me!"

"......" With a long exhale, Viv frowned at the big man in front of him, shook his head and said, "I will help you, Tammy, but not such a help, I have been thinking about it all night: if we do that, it will inevitably anger the Empire again, and the Empire will once again send royal knights to kill our brothers and compatriots, and Vantoris will be in the midst of war again, old men, women, children...... Anti-Toris will be crushed by the iron hooves of the Empire again...... And that's what you and I don't want ......to see."

"Don't make any excuses!" pointed his finger at Viv, and Tammy scolded loudly, "You are a coward, Viv! Can you bear to watch our brothers fall in front of you one by one because of hunger? Hmm, the elders are too cowardly, but you ......" he said, slamming his fist into the wall.

"Tammy!"

"Big Brother Tammy?" the others in the room came to persuade him.

"Shut up the others!" Tammy roared viciously as he waved his hand at the people around him who came to persuade him, and then he stared at Viv again, with a little pleading, and whispered, "Viv, do you really bear it?"

"Calm down, Tammy, the strength of the Imperial Royal Knight Army, we have seen it many times in Thorland, and I don't want to bring immeasurable disasters to Vantoris because of this incident!"

"It's better to be killed by those damned royal knights than to starve to death in humiliation, at least that's what I think!I'll string those bastards on spears until I shed my last drop of blood before those bastards kill me! The only thing we Thralanders have is our own life - we're never afraid of death!" Tammy clenched his fist with an indelible anger in his eyes.

"But there are some problems that can't be solved by brute force alone! Do you know magic? Hmm? Have you ever seen the power of magic? I've seen those little ghosts yesterday, all of them are magician apprentices, a little girl can condense water from the air, and a little ghost can make flames out of thin air, you know, it's just some twelve or thirteen-year-old little ghosts, they have such great power, so what about those real magicians?"

"It's all an excuse, Viv! You coward, let me ask you again, will you help me, will you help me, and even if you don't help me, I'll go alone and grab all the food!" Tummy licked his lips and said with a bit of fanaticism after a few circles around the house, "I have made a preliminary investigation, this time Galik's military convoy is guarded by two thousand knights, not royal knights, just ordinary troops, as long as we plan in advance, there will be no problems - who knows Thrand better than us?" In addition to food, there were also a number of weapons - I inquired that a rebellion broke out in Jacobsemb, and in order not to affect Galik, the Empire sent a shipment of weapons to Galik, which is also what we need......"

"But did you ever think that by doing so, you would anger the Empire, not to mention the Empire, even Galik's army would be unable to resist us!"

"I can't do that much! I just know that without food, our old men, brothers, children, and women will all starve to death, and that we can't do it without weapons, so can we rely on those daggers in our hands? It's ridiculous, Viv, that kind of knife doesn't even bother thieves to use, can that kind of thing defeat the royal knights? We need food! we need weapons!" Tammy roared loudly, and his already insolid walls were smashed to the ground with potholes.

And the next second, he suddenly fell silent, as if he sensed something, and turned his head to look at one in amazement.

In the same way, Wiff and the dozen or so middle-aged and young people in the room all turned their heads in one direction—the direction where the wooden ladder was.

On the wooden ladder, a boy with pale yellow hair was staring at them with wide eyes, incredulous.

"Oh my God...... Are you—are you going to rob the convoy of pay that Sassen is carrying to Galik?"

(To be continued)