Goddess Chapter 37 (Patreon)
Content
Chapter 37 – Consideration of where to move
Rione and her high priestesses, as well as the members of the kingdom council on the secular side, were trying to gather their wits to deal with the situation.
Hortensia was anxious, asking if we will be able to stay here and do nothing......Hortensia looked worried, but I'm going to have to trust the people of this country a little more.
Just because it's a difficult question doesn't mean that it should be left unanswered.
However, I was sorry for Eunosis, so I decided to follow up to some extent.
I showed her around some lands in the southern part of the kingdom.
But it's not for tourism. The purpose is to let them see the land in the south and see if it is a place where they can settle down and make a living.
This is not the case in the country I was in, but there have been cases where people have died in droves because they were not immune to local diseases when they moved to a distant island. On the other hand, there have been cases where local people have died in large numbers due to diseases brought in by migrants.
In other cases, the climate may be too different to survive, so it is better to check beforehand if you can.
「 First, this is the central city of the south. However, the population is only about 1,500. The southern part of the kingdom has a small population. 」
It was decided that Celude would do the local commentary. Perhaps it was because she was a god of commerce, but Celude was extremely knowledgeable about the town.
「 The bottleneck of this town is the poor water supply. Migrants should be sure to treat water with care. Also, bring some salt, it will be relatively appreciated! 」
「 I see……alright, I understand 」
Eunosis was also listening intently, though she looked a little dazed.
「 To tell you the truth, I would appreciate it if we could build one town and move to it in a big way, instead of moving to different places little by little. I cannot bear to disperse the people of Roquon…… Of course, that's only if it's accepted…… 」
「 For my part, I think that rather than dividing the city, it would indeed be better to build their own city. But before that, I want people to get to know the atmosphere of the southern cities. Even if we build another city, the climate will be similar to the places they could settle in temporarily. 」
「 Indeed…… I'm concerned about the strong dryness. If crops don't grow nearby, it will be difficult to build a large city here that can support a lot of people…… 」
That's the thing, isn't it ......? In the southern part of the kingdom, the land is particularly barren, and even if you want to cultivate a field, they would need to spend a certain amount of time cultivating it beforehand.
It's fine if the settlement is gradual, but if 10,000 or 20,000 people suddenly settle down, there will be too many things missing.
「 Let's look at more of the southern lands first. Then we can think about it. 」
「 yes…… Please…… 」
After that, we continued to look around some villages in the south, which were not really cities. The contents were rather similar.
-The land is not fertile.
-The land is not fertile and the water is not abundant.
-The land is not fertile, the water is not plentiful, and the population is small enough to support it.
-The land is not fertile.
I think this is more of a problem than I thought.
At the very least, there was no place where you could just move here and be safe.
「 If a lot of people come here, a lot of people will starve to death…… 」
That's what the pessimistic Eunosis said. and is likely to be a fair fact
「 Hmmm……Should we consider accepting refugees near the capital of New Kathra? 」
「 No, no. It will only cause conflict with the people of New Kathra, of course. Worst case scenario, we'll have a war with the refugees. 」
Intanyu said with a stern face. She is not wrong in her fears.
「 But from what I've seen in the South, no matter where they live, half of them are going to starve to death…… Well, it's better than refusing to accept them, but I don't think they'll appreciate it much…… 」
It would be hard for Eunosis to say that it's fine as long as half of them survives. We can't do it with such idea as if we were pruning plants.
We had no choice but to look around in the southern part of the country, where not even a village had been built yet.
I had already imagined it before we started, but it was worse than the places where villages had been built. The land is so bad that they don't want to build a village.
Hmmm…… This is pretty much a dead end, isn't it……
It might take some kind of divine miracle. But in the wilderness, where there are no people, there is no strong force of faith, so such a thing cannot happen.
「 Um, could you take me to a place that's so bad it's almost painful to live? 」
Eunosis said something strange.
「 You know, you shouldn't be so desperate. Desperation won't solve anything. 」
「 It's not that we don't have a chance. 」
So I told Celude to lead me to the worst land.
「 ――This is the bad part of the South. It's a small desert called Saatie Desert. It's rare to find a desert like this in the south. 」
It was a desolate place with nothing but sand spread out. Apparently, there was a desert about the size of the current New Kathra. Even so, the scale was extremely small compared to the deserts in the northern outskirts of the kingdom, in a region that was not part of any country.
Eunosis touched the sand and examined something.
I'm sorry, but you're probably just wasting your time looking at this land……
「 I'm sure it'll grow here. 」
Eunosis' eyes have a bit of life in them.
「 What......? What grows? 」
「 There is a variety of Roquon cucumbers that grow in the desert-like soil, the large Roquon cucumbers. It has a high water content, and some people use it as a drink. Of course, they are also edible. They can also be pickled and fermented to make preserved food. Other cucurbit plants are abundant in Roquon. 」
「 Are you going to make a bunch of them and see what you can do!? 」
Indeed, there are many vegetables that can grow even on poor land, and New Kathra managed to do the same. So there must be some vegetables that are perfectly suited to the desert. I don't think we'll be able to get anything too nutritious, though.
「 In my land, I will send an oracle to send some advance guard to plant cucumbers. Now all we need is a combination of effort...... and a miracle from God.…… 」
There are many problems.
Still, it's worth the challenge.
There is no such thing as a perfect answer that everyone overlooks anyway.
「 I understand. I'll cooperate fully! 」