I've Got it So Rough

"What did you say? Did Lord Harriet really say that?"

The task of relocating seventy million citizens of the Kingdom of the Sun had been placed entirely on her shoulders because the food supplies could not keep up.

The grain had been sent out immediately.

However, the distance from Brilliant City to Twin-Wing City was far too great.

It spanned almost half of the Kingdom of the Moon, a journey of over two thousand five hundred kilometers.

Even after mobilizing the grain airships sent by the Holy See and every airship currently available in the Kingdom of the Moon, it would still take at least ten days to arrive at the earliest.

She had also instructed Yanagi Musashi to find a way to borrow some grain from the nearby major cities.

Even if it was just enough to last for five or six days, it would have been enough.

However, she never imagined that instead of borrowing grain, the other party would actually cut off all communication.

No wonder!

No wonder she hadn't received a single word for the past few days.

She had previously assumed that Yanagi Musashi and the others were simply too busy distributing food to the migrants.

Thinking of those seventy million migrants, such a massive number certainly couldn't be stabilized in just a day or two.

It was only natural that they would be busy, so she hadn't pressed for more information.

She never expected that after only three days, such disastrous news would arrive.

Harriet Anjou!

At the thought of that name, fury surged in Momoka's heart.

A massive family that had occupied the Kingdom of the Moon for hundreds of years, and he was the lord of a major city.

To claim he couldn't produce a few tens of millions of pounds of grain was simply laughable!

This was no longer a simple question of whether he would lend it or not.

Currently, those seventy million people formed a column that stretched for nearly six or seven hundred kilometers.

The frontmost million people should have already reached the outskirts of Twin-Wing City.

The people at the very back likely hadn't even left Gorge Island yet.

As the Saintess of the Sun, Momoka naturally understood the current situation of the Kingdom of the Sun.

Gorge Island was not exactly fertile land to begin with, and its own production was extremely limited.

In the past, the Kingdom of the Sun had focused most of its energy on the four main islands.

As a result, Gorge Island was not well known.

Aside from serving as a vital transport hub connecting to the continent, it served very little other purpose.

Hardly anyone had even cleared the nearby mountain forests for cultivation.

This meant that the small amount of land remaining could not possibly support the rations of seventy million people.

Before their departure, the Holy See had already provided a portion of the grain.

After all, this was a massive migration of seventy million people. The Holy See had provided enough tents, food, clothing, and other supplies to last until they reached the borders of the Kingdom of the Moon.

As the leader of the Eight Nations of the Holy Church, the Holy See acted out of a sense of responsibility.

Ideally, the Holy See should have provided enough grain to ensure that these seventy million people wouldn't have to worry about food or drink for a short period.

However, the problem lay in the fact that a portion of the grain intended to help the Kingdom of the Moon fight the dragon calamity and the demon army was currently sitting in Brilliant City.

Because the demon army had been counter-attacked and suppressed, this portion of the stored grain was now surplus.

The Holy See had naturally issued an order for this grain to be sent to Twin-Wing City.

It wasn't that the Holy See didn't want to help.

It was mainly because they had been supporting the Kingdom of the Moon against the dragon calamity and the demon army on one hand, while also supporting the refugees from the Kingdom of the Sun on the other.

This had caused the Holy See itself to fall into a minor grain crisis for a short time.

These seventy million people consumed seventy thousand tons of grain every single day—that was a staggering one hundred and forty million pounds!

Through the Holy See's logistics, the amount of grain provided to the Kingdom of the Moon had reached five million tons.

This was already the Holy See's full capacity in such a short timeframe.

But with the addition of the migrants from the Kingdom of the Sun, the Holy See's supply chain was suddenly overstretched.

The reason why the other nations of the Eight Nations of the Holy Church and the Holy See provided such a massive amount of grain to the Kingdom of the Moon was because during previous instances of the dragon calamity, the grain production in the southeastern coastal regions was almost entirely wiped out.

Once a dragon calamity occurred, the major provinces and cities of the Kingdom of the Moon near the southeastern coast would all fall into a famine.

These five million tons were just the initial supply.

In a few months, once the fourth harvest from the south came in, more would be transported to ensure the survival of the people in the southeastern coastal regions of the Kingdom of the Moon.

This had become a necessary preparation before every dragon calamity year.

Now, the Holy See's logistics were strained.

Yet the expected dragon calamity had not yet arrived.

The Holy See had also fallen into a grain crisis.

Therefore, the Holy See thought of the grain that had been sent to the Kingdom of the Moon.

That was why the airships were sent to help.

It sounded complicated, but it was actually quite simple.

The Holy See was like an older brother who had given money and food to his second brother to help him through a crisis. But then, the second brother didn't end up needing it, while the third brother was suddenly hit by a disaster and was on the verge of starving to death.

Since the older brother was short on cash himself and couldn't produce more in time, he told the second brother to give his grain to the third brother first.

The idea was to fill his stomach first so he wouldn't starve, and the older brother would pay the second brother back for whatever was missing later.

And now, the problem had arisen during the process of the second brother giving the grain to the third brother.

Previously, Momoka had planned to speak with Luo Li and have her issue an order.

She wanted Twin-Wing City to release some grain first as a loan, which would be repaid later.

But then she thought about how she was the one in overall charge of this migration issue.

Furthermore, the migrants of the Kingdom of the Sun were her own people.

If she had to ask Luo Li for everything, wouldn't she, as a Saintess, appear far too useless?

Moreover, she never expected things to develop to this point.

How could Harriet Anjou, the Lord of Twin-Wing City, dare to directly cut off communication?

Refusing to lend grain was one thing, but what was the meaning of cutting off the communication?

In an instant, a thought flashed through Momoka's mind.

Harriet Anjou wanted these migrants to die!

In ten days, some of the elderly and weak among the migrants might very well starve to death.

Furthermore, Twin-Wing City was located deep in the mountains, making travel extremely difficult.

The forests were vast, filled with poisonous insects, snakes, and rats, and plagued by toxic miasma.

Once starving people rashly ate things they shouldn't, massive casualties would occur.

There might even be an epidemic.

Who would be held responsible for such a disaster?

Who else was the face of the Kingdom of the Moon besides Luo Li?!

Adding to this, Momoka's understanding of the Kingdom of the Moon had gradually deepened over these past few days.

She understood this point even more clearly now.

Luo Li and the nobles would eventually have a direct confrontation.

But she never imagined that these nobles of the Kingdom of the Moon would have completely cast aside all pretense of decency.

To dare to play such petty tricks with the lives of her migrants from the Kingdom of the Sun!!

Now, three days had already passed.

During these three days, if everyone had rationed their food equally, they might have barely managed to hold on, but the fourth day was fast approaching.

Dividing one day's worth of food into three portions was already a stretch by any average standard.

No matter how she thought about it, it would be impossible to survive the fourth day.

Nearly the vast majority of the migrants from the Kingdom of the Sun were the elderly, the weak, women, and children.

With such a massive population, how could they possibly endure?

And there was one more critical point.

When a group of people reached the absolute limit of hunger, what would they do?

One only needed to look at history to know.

Exchanging children for food was not just a phrase; it meant literal cannibalism!

And where were they now?

They were within the borders of the Kingdom of the Moon!!

Once a famine broke out, desperate people would do whatever it took to survive.

Robbery, murder, and chaos—these were all things that could happen at any moment!

In the current situation, there were only two possible outcomes.

One was that people would certainly starve to death.

The other was that a riot would break out.

The nobles could then use these two points to pressure the Holy See and force the Saintess of the Moon to surrender her power.

By that point, even if the other Saintesses wanted to protect her, it would likely be difficult.

Truly, just as Bernie had said, something had happened!

And it was no small matter!

"Izumi!"

"Present."

At Momoka's call, a short-haired girl abruptly appeared beside her.

Her features were beautiful, but her gaze was cold.

She had heard the entire communication from beginning to end and naturally understood how urgent the situation was.

"Go and call Bishop Lola immediately. I am going to find Luo Li."

As she spoke, Momoka had already put on her clothes. Without even taking the time to properly adjust her waist belt, she hurried out of the room.

Her room was only two doors away from Luo Li's.

As soon as she opened the door, the little nun standing guard outside was startled.

Hearing the noise, the two little nuns quickly turned to look at Momoka, whose face was grim.

"Princess Momoka, do you have any instructions?"

"I need to see Luo Li, right now!"

The little nun standing at the door was stunned.

Why was she looking for her lady at this hour?

Her lady was already asleep.

But before they could react, Momoka had already reached Luo Li's door.

The two little nuns standing in front of Luo Li's door looked at Momoka in a daze.

"Step aside."

Momoka pushed the door open and walked straight in.

The two little nuns on guard finally snapped out of it and hurried after her.

"Princess Momoka, wait a moment."

"Princess Momoka, my lady is still sleeping!"

But at this moment, Momoka couldn't care about any of that.

She bypassed the display room and went straight to the door of Luo Li's bedroom, raising her hand to knock.

"Princess Momoka! Please wait a moment. Whatever urgent matter you have, please allow me to announce you first, alright?"

When entering Luo Li's suite from the outside, the first thing one saw was the display room, and only then was Luo Li's bedroom.

From the outer door of the display room to the door of Luo Li's bedroom, there were two little nuns standing guard at each.

The one who spoke was the little nun standing guard at the bedroom door.

Looking at the little nun blocking her path and seeing the determination in her eyes, Momoka finally remembered that she was a guest.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm her emotions.

She opened her eyes again and looked directly at the little nun blocking the door.

"I have an urgent matter to discuss with Luo Li. Please announce me immediately."

"Very well, please wait a moment!"

The little nun also knew that the Saintess of the Sun wouldn't suddenly come in the middle of the night unless there was something truly important.

But if she let her rush in without an announcement, no matter what happened to the others, she at least would certainly be punished.

So even if it was urgent, she had to stop her.

This was her responsibility!

Seeing that the Saintess of the Sun had gradually calmed down, the little nun quickly turned to open the door and then closed it behind her.

Only then did she turn to look toward the bed.

Inside the massive princess tent, the girl was sleeping with the white dragon.

The massive dragon tail replaced a normal pillow, cushioned behind the girl's head.

The white dragon's neck rested lightly on the girl's legs.

The entire dragon's body was curved into a crescent shape.

One of its massive wings was half-spread, covering the girl like a blanket.

It seemed to fear that the night wind might chill her.

However, the sleeping girl didn't seem to notice that anything was wrong with her pillow.

On the contrary, she was sleeping quite soundly.

The little nun's gaze immediately fell upon the white dragon's tail.

The dragon scales there were clearly in a fully retracted state.

The dragon race could regulate their external and internal body temperatures.

The state of retracted scales meant they had closed their pores to maintain internal temperature while allowing the external temperature to drop.

Conversely, where the girl's legs were pressed against the dragon's neck, the scales there were slightly flared open.

Although this holy white dragon could not speak human language, its instincts knew exactly how to maintain a person's long-term health.

Keeping the head cool and the feet warm was a method used to ensure the girl's sleep and physical well-being.

There was another important point.

The nuns responsible for cleaning the room and standing guard often had to take care of the white dragon as well.

Normally, they would wash its body and scratch its itches.

It was precisely because of this that she knew clearly that the dragon scales on the white dragon's neck were strictly forbidden for anyone to touch.

Last time, a nun thought it would be fun to touch them while the white dragon was rolling on its belly.

The result was a swipe of the dragon's tail that instantly broke the nun's leg.

And while bathing, although other parts could be scrubbed, the area under the neck was never allowed to be touched.

The white dragon cleaned that part itself.

But now, looking at the scene before her, the neck of this white dragon was pressed against the girl's feet.

Even when the girl occasionally kicked its neck in her sleep, it didn't seem to mind at all.

Comparing this to the nun with the broken leg, the difference in treatment was staggering.

However, the little nun didn't dare say anything about it.

She only thought about it for a moment before quickly stepping forward.

Before she could say anything, the white dragon turned its head, its massive crimson eyes staring straight at the little nun.

The threatening intent in that gaze was unmistakable.

"Astrid, listen... Princess Momoka has an emergency. I need to announce her."

She had no choice; if she didn't explain things to this 'master', there was no way she could wake her lady.

The white dragon looked the little nun up and down, hesitated for a moment, and then leaned in to sniff her.

Once it seemed certain that the little nun posed no danger, it slowly withdrew its tail and replaced it with a pillow behind the girl's neck.

It then turned and moved out of the way.

The little nun breathed a sigh of relief.

If it were a normal morning, the white dragon would have moved from this position voluntarily.

However, it was much harder at night.

But that didn't matter now.

The little nun hurried forward and softly woke the sleeping silver-haired girl.

"My lady, my lady, Princess Momoka is here with an urgent matter."

"Mm, more sleep..."

In her daze, the girl murmured and tried to roll over to keep sleeping.

But before she could fully turn, she suddenly jolted.

She snapped her bloodshot crimson eyes open.

She looked back at the little nun.

"Who did you say?"

"Answering the Saintess, Princess Momoka is looking for you. It seems to be something important."

Luo Li rolled over and sat up in bed, instinctively glancing out the window.

The sky was still dark.

It felt like she hadn't slept for very long.

"What time is it? Go and invite Momoka in."

For Momoka to come at this hour, it must be something critical that couldn't be delayed.

The girl sighed.

"I've got it so rough..."