Inside the soul space, Dion projected fragments of his memories onto the institute's large screen in the form of a video playback.
"Our convoy crossed the border and entered the territory of Saint Guard, only to find that the actual situation there was even worse than theirs." The images on the screen changed constantly with Dion's thoughts.
In the white snow, corpses could be seen everywhere.
Dion pointed to the screen and said to the officials of Muxi City present, "These people heard that Muxi City had an endless supply of food, so they took their whole families and fled westward. They escaped the pursuit of the sentries and avoided the attacks of wild beasts, but eventually froze or starved to death near the border."
Todd asked Cumberland, "How many St. Guardian refugees have our border posts taken in?"
After thinking it over, the latter gave an answer: "Less than a thousand people. According to the accounts of those who fled, probably 20,000 people fled to the western border, and less than 10% survived."
Todd was silent for a moment, then turned his gaze to Joe, who was in charge of agriculture: "Is there enough food in Muxi City?"
The monk scratched the "Mediterranean" on his head and said to the king, "The food reserves of Twilight City must simultaneously meet the needs of four places: Twilight City itself, the Silver Ring City under reconstruction, the Holy Guard City that agreed to provide assistance, and the barbarian camp in the north. Judging from the current reserves, they are barely enough..."
At this moment, Dion suddenly said, "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, the food aid provided by Muxi City is merely a drop in the ocean for Holy Guard City. Furthermore, after we entered Watchtower Town, control of all caravans was handed over to Holy Guard City, which led to the conflict in Watchtower Town."
Everyone turned their attention back to the big screen, where Dion's memories continued to play.
On the screen, Watchtower was already covered by a blanket of swirling snow. The hungry and cold people of Holy Guard huddled in their homes, slowly awaiting death by the light of a few embers.
When the convoy from Muxi City entered the town, the news that "the grain has arrived" spread like wildfire throughout every household.
Ragged men, women, and children, carrying the largest basins and jars from their homes, rushed towards the grain convoy driven by the soldiers of the Holy Guard City, stretching out their bony hands and loudly begging the drivers for even a single bite of food.
Upon seeing this, Todd recalled the joyful and prosperous Watchtower he had once visited, and frowned as he asked Dion, "If I remember correctly, Watchtower was located at a strategic pass in the Falling Star Mountains, and was famous throughout the continent for its tourism and cuisine. How could it have fallen to this state?"
Dion replied, “Your Majesty, Watchtower does indeed possess unique geographical advantages and tourism resources, but it also depends on whether the people managing the town have the ability to utilize them.”
Emerson added at this point, "The people of Holy City are indeed highly skilled in military affairs and weaponry, but when it comes to the management and economic development of the kingdom, they're like a bunch of reckless madmen. Take Watchtower, for example. They levy heavy taxes on all industries in the town and charge exorbitant tolls at every checkpoint. This approach did bring them a lot of wealth in the short term, but it completely destroyed Watchtower's economy. No tourists are willing to visit there anymore, and even merchants from the north would rather take a detour of dozens of kilometers to enter Moonbrook Plains through the North Stone Mine."
The phrase "killing the goose that lays the golden eggs" immediately came to Todd's mind.
Dion gritted his teeth: "Your Majesty, please continue reading."
The first-person perspective has changed.
The starving refugees, seeing that the convoy remained unmoved, mustered their courage and reached for the piles of grain on the carts.
A commander from the Holy Guard City, brandishing his longsword and severing a refugee's arm, roared, "This is all grain to be taken to the royal city! You bastards! Anyone who dares to touch it, I'll chop off their head!"
Seeing the public outrage, Dion, from a first-person perspective, rode his horse to Gordon, the head of the Holy Guard delegation, and said to him, "We should leave some food for these civilians."
Gordon stroked his full beard and said with difficulty, "The nobles in the royal city wrote a letter specifically demanding that we bring every last bit of grain to Holy Guard City. In the letter, they even used the phrase, 'Kill anyone who tries to get their hands on this grain.'"
Dion said anxiously, "We can't just watch these people starve to death..."
Before he could finish speaking, the situation began to spiral out of control.
When they learned that the grain was all aid from Muxi City but had been monopolized by the nobles of Shengwei City, the refugees, blinded by hunger and rage, unleashed boundless courage and strength in the face of gleaming swords and spears. They grabbed anything they could use as a weapon, rushed onto the wagons, attacked the Shengwei City soldiers, and dragged sack after sack of grain off the wagons.
The soldiers quickly launched a counterattack, their swords decapitating civilians and their axes cleaving open their chests. The agonizing screams echoed throughout the convoy, and crimson blood stained the pristine ground.
When she saw a sharp spear pierce a mother holding an infant, Mary, her face deathly pale, put down her coffee cup, stood up shakily, and said to Todd, "Excuse me, Your Majesty, I need to leave for a moment..."
Todd nodded slightly to her.
Mary stumbled open the conference room door and walked out without looking back.
The images on the screen continued to play.
"Stop!" From a first-person perspective, Dion spurred his horse, deflected a spear with his rapier, and shouted at the Holy Guard soldiers in the convoy, "Are you all insane?!"
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