"Why did you want to come to this ordinary little tavern first?"
After leading Ileina to the commercial street, facing Ileina's expectant expression, Elashia said somewhat strangely:
"You know the Holy Capital's current situation. It's hard to see the prosperous scenes of normal cities here."
Ileina smiled and shook her head.
"It's fine... just consider it going out for a walk."
"Anyway, Adeline and the others will tell us about anything that needs to be reported."
"Alright then..."
Elashia nodded.
She had nothing to complain about regarding Ileina on this point.
As a leader, Ileina managed far more specific affairs than she, an Elasian mascot.
Moreover, giving subordinates full trust was what a leader should do. After all, the more specific matters were, the more they should be handled by subordinates.
Looking at the sparse crowds around them, Elashia smiled and asked Ileina beside her:
"So, what should we do first?"
"Well..."
Ileina's azure eyes turned nimbly.
"I think... let's go to a tavern first..."
...
"Mm... this tavern is livelier than I imagined."
Looking at the tavern that was more than half full, Elashia nodded.
In the deep alleys of the Holy Capital's commercial street, to be able to operate a tavern like this when food problems were so severe showed real capability...
Under the food crisis, citizens' consumption capacity had definitely decreased greatly, and since alcohol was all made from grain, the cost of alcohol had also increased greatly under the food crisis.
"That's why I wanted to bring you here."
Ileina smiled as she took Elashia's small hand and walked toward a table.
"Two beautiful ladies, what would you like to order?"
Soon a young-looking waitress came over with a menu in hand.
"Eh... these ladies look... somewhat familiar? Have you been to our tavern before?"
Looking at the golden-haired, blue-eyed Ileina, the waitress was stunned for a moment, then asked a somewhat strange question.
"Hahaha... this is my first time here. You might be mistaking me for someone else."
Ileina just laughed it off and temporarily deflected the topic.
"Give me a serving of your restaurant's signature potato beef stew... uh... let me look at the menu."
Nearly slipping up, Ileina quickly took the menu from the shopkeeper's hands.
The waitress just showed a polite smile, bowed to Elashia and Ileina, and went to serve other customers.
"How can you be so careless..."
Looking at Ileina somewhat speechlessly, Elashia complained.
The blood moon had been hanging in the Holy Kingdom's sky for a full ten years—where could potatoes be found among the people?
In the current Holy Kingdom, there was only one type of grain available on the market—bug rice.
Except for this crop with ridiculously low yield, harder to eat than rocks, covered in hair like insects, and emitting a foul smell, the Holy Kingdom couldn't grow any other food without sunlight.
"Hehe... indeed."
Ileina scratched her golden little head somewhat embarrassedly.
For some reason, when in front of Elashia, her words always seemed to bypass her brain.
Maybe it was because she was used to always relying on her...
Ileina opened the menu, looked at it briefly, then called the waitress over.
"Just bring two servings of... bug rice, remember to cook it longer."
The waitress smiled and nodded.
"Please rest assured, the reason our restaurant has prospered for so long lies in our food preparation."
"Our bug rice not only eliminates the odor but also won't hurt your teeth."
After saying this, she took back the menu and walked toward the kitchen.
"By the way, why did you bring me here?"
Looking at the waitress entering the kitchen, Elashia looked at Ileina strangely.
"Well... of course it's because this place is good for listening to the people's voices."
Ileina smiled at Elashia:
"Actually... when I was little, Aunt Seraya often brought me to this tavern."
"This place is in the deepest part of the Holy Capital's commercial street, in a relatively secluded location, so it won't attract too much attention from the Holy Guards."
"And this tavern's owner's cooking skills are excellent, with very fair prices, so it attracts quite a few people to eat here."
"So... Seraya told me—this is the best place to listen to the people's voices."
"Oh..."
Elashia nodded.
"Alright."
"But... there's one thing I need to say first."
Elashia said seriously:
"I won't eat bug rice. I shouldn't need to explain the specific reasons, right?"
Looking at the serious-faced Elashia, Ileina covered her mouth and giggled.
"I know... worst case I'll just eat two servings."
...
"What do you think of Northern Fire's grain policy?"
Before long, the two girls sitting at the table could clearly hear the customers' conversations.
"I think... it's pretty good, but... it feels somewhat unrealistic..."
"I think it won't last long..."
"When the Holy Court implemented grain control last time, I thought good days were coming... but it turned out that after just one month the Holy Court couldn't continue."
"..."
"Geez, why isn't there a single person who has confidence in us?"
Elashia smiled as she looked at Ileina.
"This is very normal. After all, the Holy Court did genuinely want to solve the Holy Capital's food problems before, but it still ended up like that."
Ileina smiled and waved her hand helplessly.
"However, objectively speaking, our grain mobilization capability still far exceeds the Holy Court's."
Ileina explained:
"In the past old order, Northern Fire controlled nearly eighty percent of the Holy Kingdom's rural areas, meaning the grain-producing regions were basically in our hands."
"Plus we've always been cautious about food issues, so our grain reserves are actually quite substantial."
"Although it can't compare with your almost monstrous grain mobilization capability, the regions controlled by Northern Fire basically haven't experienced much famine."
Just as Ileina finished this sentence, knowledgeable people soon began arguing against the majority.
"I feel... objectively speaking, Northern Fire's grain mobilization capability should exceed the Holy Court's..."
"I'm a newspaper reporter. I previously risked going to Northern Fire's territory to investigate."
"Their territories basically haven't experienced any major famines, and they control more rural areas..."
"What are you talking about? You don't understand at all."
A woman claiming to have been a warehouse manager in the Holy Court's army loudly retorted:
"You don't understand... actually even the old Holy Court could control the Holy Capital's grain prices well..."
"But the price they'd have to pay was something they absolutely couldn't accept..."