My New Life As A Kid Goddess: Book 4 - War Goddess

Arc 1: War Goddess - Chapter 4

In the northern reaches of the continent was situated the kingdom of Pheoa. While it was comparable in size to its neighbor to the south, that being Celeduun, it had much less fertile farmland. This was because the kingdom was quite mountainous and had a large swath of ocean surrounding it. Thankfully these mountains gave opportunity to harvest vast amounts of precious metals and gemstones, commodities the people made great use of in trading by both land and sea. This allowed them to purchase food to make up for any lack they might suffer unable to grow it themselves. Because of their proficiency in trade the people of Pheoa enjoyed more exotic goods such as spices more often than those of its neighbors.

Of course the great wealth of Pheoa was not simply distributed equally among its peoples. No instead the vast majority of it was concentrated in the ruling class, which was a terrible fusion of both noble and merchant. Yes it was the rich who ruled in these lands, their copious fortunes allowing them greater control as they could stifle competition before threats could be made manifest. This cemented oligarchy is not completely unopposed as there was still a king, though the monarchy had precious little power to do anything of note. It was better than nothing though as the common folk would say. Such sayings coming more from a feeling of helplessness than support for either faction.

Due to the concentration of wealth alongside the relative lack of farming, times of famine were more common in Pheoa as well. These famines were often centered around specific areas and generally were the places quite far from the ocean ports. That was where the wealthiest people lived and thus were most insulated from food shortages. There were other causes sometimes as well, such as poor management by local lords or pestilence. However it was the mountainous terrain and wealth inequality that were the largest factors. It was not easy being poor and the poor suffered greatest in times of need.

One such collection of poor citizens were going through a rough patch indeed this winter. They lived in a small town named Centrus, its name derived from the fact it was once in the center of the kingdom. However that was far in the past and since then both the capital and southern boarder had moved northward due to conflicts. Now they were located quite close to the kingdom's southern boarder with Celeduun and were situated at the base of the Henjuk Mountains with a vast river directly to their north. There were also large forests all around them though not extremely close.

Their population was around six-hundred and while they had more access to fertile land than most they still found themselves in the midst of a famine this year. This was in part due to the early onset of winter, but also due to the fact their crops were often redistributed to other smaller settlements in times of need. With such a sudden and harsh winter it was no surprise that the state military itself would come to confiscate much of their supplies which exacerbated the already dire situation.

In addition to the famine they found themselves in the people of Centrus had another terrible disaster thrust upon them. For inexplicable reasons the military had also begun to conscript, or rather kidnap, citizens for hitherto unknown purposes. From what they had heard this was taking place all over the kingdom and not localized to their own province. It wasn't for military reasons as the people taken were both male and female, young and old. They were taken to parts unknown and never heard from again which one might assume meant they had been condemned to the mines as work slaves, though having full citizens subjected to such treatment was unheard of.

Regardless of where the people were going this left the already struggling population of Centrus with even less help to go around. Less mouths to feed seemed like a good thing but it also meant less hands to help with hunting and fishing. Those things being the last hope of any a town in times of great need. Without the needed manpower however the town was left starving and freezing in the midst of a time of great confusion, their desperation growing by the day.