Chapter 6 - Rosetta's Seeds

Kuro's House - Three Days Later

Simon and Kuro sat on the floor inside the Elder's small house. Despite his high position in the village, the interior of the house was free of even the most basic of luxuries. The furniture inside was the same shoddily constructed table and chairs found throughout the village, while his bed appeared to be in even worse shape than the majority of the villagers. It was clear that the Elder's priorities lie in the well-being of the village as a whole rather than the enrichment of himself. Perhaps that was why Simon had felt himself growing more attached to the elderly man as the days had gone by.

For the past three days, the two had been working on overcoming the obviously detrimental language barrier between them. At first, the prospect seemed hopeless, but after a rather heated session of object identification that may or may not have been accompanied by the throwing of said objects, the two men managed to achieve a breakthrough.

After the "enlightening" session on the first day, things began to proceed smoothly. By the end of the second day, the two of them were conversing normally, with Simon only occasionally having to pause to ask what a specific term the Elder used meant.

On the dawn on the third day, Kuro had begun teaching Simon how to write in this world's language, and much to his astonishment, by the time the midday sun had sat overhead, Simon was already writing with a level of precision that far surpassed Kuro himself.

Consequently, the literacy rate in this world was abysmally low. None of the other villagers aside from Kuro himself were even capable of reading and writing. The only reason he knew how was because Kuro, as the Village Elder, was required to fill out the various documents presented by the Kingdom's tax collectors whenever the yearly tax was collected.

Deciding that their effective yet brief crash course on language had come to its conclusion, the two began discussing various topics regarding the world and the village's history.

One day on this world is roughly the equivalent of 29 earth hours; however, as the only device capable of measuring precise time existed within the Capital of a faraway kingdom, time here was typically measured by the position of the sun and the moons overhead.

Incidentally, while the world did indeed have three moons, only the larger white object in the center was regarded as a moon, while the other two were thought of as divine bodies. The dark red moon was referred to as the Demonic Realm. In contrast, the bright blue moon was referred to as the Divine Realm respectively, collectively referred to as the Eyes of Heaven by the denizens of the kingdom.

Simon had commented on the fact that something that was considered to be "Demonic" was referred to as "Heavenly," but Kuro simply shrugged his shoulders without understanding the contradictory nature of the term.

According to Kuro, the world has been directly influenced by Divine and Demonic beings throughout its long history. As such, these beings are worshiped throughout the world as patron deities.

This fact came as quite a shock to Simon as in his old world, merely believing in a higher power was grounds for immediate detainment in a psychiatric ward or execution if the belief could not be pried from the inflicted individual. However, Simon decided to keep that fact, along with any other information about where he came from to himself for the time being.

Early on in their discussion, Kuro had tried to ask about where Simon had come from before his appearance in the village but soon realized from Simon's silence that he was unwilling to discuss the matter and quickly changed the topic back towards the discussion of the world's time.

Each year consisted of 14 months, each containing 39 days, making one year on this world roughly the equivalent of 1.8 years on earth. Simon briefly pondered where in the world the planet was located within the solar system to be capable of having such an orbit while still being able to sustain life. He quickly dismissed the notion when he remembered that divine beings actually existed in this world and stopped trying to understand the situation.

Oddly enough, the measurement system in this world closely resembled the metric system used back on earth. In fact, it was so close that Simon's analytical system was able to identify the unit of measurement and the margin of error present. The margin of error was so insignificant that it appeared to have been introduced after being recreated without using a standardized construct.

More surprisingly, even the names of the measurements were in SML, standardized military language, a language formed primarily of old English along with several other dialects mixed in, created after the fall of Saturn roughly 400 years ago.

At this point, it was clear to him that he wasn't the only one from Earth that had managed to reach this world. Simon asked Kuro when and where this measurement system was introduced and was informed that it had been in use since before even the oldest of the present kingdoms had been founded. In fact, it was actually rediscovered by the Altrac Kingdom roughly 3000 years ago after they had managed to uncover the ruins of an ancient kingdom deep within the mountains. However, something about that fact didn't sit well with Simon.

If the measurement system was rediscovered in writing, how were the names of the units still spoken in SML?

Simon asked Kuro about the names of the units. He was informed that as far as he knew, the terms were made up by the Altrac Kingdom after they had been unable to decipher the writing system used in its creation. A single word echoed in Simon's mind after hearing the explanation.

Bullshit.

The two continued on until the sun began to set, discussing the present state of the village, the food storage, and the plague that had been ravaging the harvests as of late. When Simon asked why the town didn't have any defensive structures, Kuro's eyes became clouded with a hint of frustration present on his face.

According to Kuro, roughly 70 years ago, the feudal lords on the outskirts of the Tarrok Kingdom rebelled against the Capital, citing high tax rates and unrealistic levies demanded by the Capital. In reality, the feudal lords had secretly allied with the neighboring Grandlarc Kingdom under the promise of receiving a large portion of the conquered Kingdom's land after Grandlarc had managed to conquer the larger country. Such a tactic was widely used in the early days of Earth, so it didn't surprise Simon much.

However, the Tarroc Kingdom's reaction did.

The war between the rebelling faction and the loyalist faction raged on for twelve long years. Both factions suffered significant losses on both military and financial fronts. Eventually, the feudal lords were defeated. However, the Tarroc King at the time decided that enough blood had been shed and proceeded to pardon the remaining feudal lords who had rebelled so long as they pledged loyalty to the Kingdom one again.

Rumors regarding this idiotic decision still persist to this day as to why the King decided to do this, with the most popular and probable one being that the feudal lords had promised to send a huge amount of gold for the King's personal coffers if they were spared.

Simon was unable to maintain his composure upon hearing the King's decree. He quietly buried his face in his hands while Kuro nodded in agreement.

Things proceeded quickly after the King's decree. Fearful of the loyalist noble's response to his decision, the King and his Prime mister promptly devised a plan to justify the decision along with help from the newly pardoned nobles.

The plan they came up with revolved around creating a scapegoat in the form of the beastmen, claiming that they had forced the feudal lords to rebel against the Capital under the threat of death. Unfortunately for the beastmen, the Prime minister proved to be quite the political manipulator.

The excuse was quickly accepted by the masses, reinforced by the fact that the beastmen armies raised by the feudal lords during the rebellion were by far their most effective forces, having significantly more victories than defeats.

The effect was immediate. New restrictions were placed on the remaining beastmen population. Tens of thousands of beastmen were marched from their ancestral homes and relocated to the outskirts of the Kingdom. Mainly forced to settle in locations previously either deemed uninhabitable, prone to bandit and monster attacks, or along the border of hostile kingdoms. These villages most likely were meant to serve as a sort of buffer that any invading forces would have to suppress before entering the Kingdom proper, thus buying the capital time to muster its armies and face the invaders without depleting their own forces. Two birds with one sone if you will.

In addition to these inhospitable conditions, the beastmen villages were forbidden from possessing arms or armor, building any sort of defensive or militaristic fortifications, and a special tax that was solely applied to their villages.

The special tax was set up as a two-part system, with 50% of the village's yearly harvest being collected by the Capital, while an additional 25% was taken by the local feudal lord. This left the village with only 25% of its harvest to survive off of for the remainder of the year.

Unsurprisingly these conditions did not sit well with the remaining beastmen. Several of the relocated villages revolted shortly after being established. Troops were dispatched from the Capital to deal with the widespread uprisings.

In a turn of events that surprised no one but Tarrok's King, the neighboring Grandlarc Kingdom invaded while the Capital's already depleted forces were busy dealing with the beastmen uprisings at the far-flung corners of the Kingdom.

The invasion proceeded swiftly, aided by the fact that the previously pardoned feudal lords eagerly accepted the Grandlarc Kingdom's forces, further bolstering the invading forces with fresh men and supplies. The Tarrok Kingdom's fall was quick. The foolish King was executed while the Prime minister was appointed as the Marquis of the newly conquered area.

The feudal lords who had supported the Grandlarc Kingdom convened in the Capital, most likely expecting to be rewarded for their loyalty towards the Grandlarc Kingdom during the invasion's planning and execution phase. However, with their purpose served, the Grandlarc King had every one of the feudal lord's houses put to the sword.

A fitting end for a band of traitors.

Grandlarc's forces set out to stabilize the region with the Kingdom conquered and swiftly beat the revolting beastmen back into compliance. No specific numbers were recorded during the incident. Still, early estimates put the population somewhere between a third and a fourth of the number it had been before the eve of the second revolt.

With the surviving beastmen population decimated, the Grandlarc Kingdom decided to wash its hands of the entire affair and handed the responsibility for dealing with the aftermath to the new Marquis. As such, the current restrictions were upheld. However, a new decree was issued. Any village unwilling or unable to pay the special tax was to be enslaved in its entirety and sold off to whoever would purchase them.

Surprisingly the practice of slavery was forbidden in the former Tarroc Kingdom and remained that way after Grandlarc occupation and the subsequent unionizationt. While technically legal within the Grandlarcian Kingdom, the Kingdom's high council decided that trying to legalize slavery in the already destabilized region was a bad idea. Of course, plans would be made but none as of yet have been implemented, despite the new Marquis’s frequent missives. Because of this fact, the beastmen slaves had to be transported out of the newly acquired territory before being sold to the highest bidder.

This logistical nightmare displeased the Marquis greatly. The vast majority of these would-be slaves turned debtors were sent to various mining villages throughout the territory to work until they died instead of being sold off. A clever workaround the Marquis had devised after reviewing the Kingdom's old legal code. While slavery had been technically illegal within the realm, imprisoning those who owed money to the crown until their debts were paid, was not.

"So, That brings us to the current state of things," Kuro said while letting out a tired sigh.

"I see. That explains the lack of walls surrounding the village, but what about the plague? When did it appear?"

Kuro strokes his chin thoughtfully before speaking.

"We received word of the plague one, no maybe, two years ago from one of the neighboring villages. A messenger arrived, asking us for any food we could spare. Unfortunately, we were forced to turn him away. The Kingdom had just recently collected our taxes, you see. We weren't even sure if we had enough food left for ourselves, much less for a neighboring village."

"So you sent them nothing?", Simon stated matter of factly.

Kuro's face briefly contorted in rage before seeing Simon's uncaring expression and quickly composed himself.

"The harvest that year had been poor. Due to the nature of the special tax, a set amount of barrels worth of harvest is expected to be collected. In fact, each of the barrels is actually numbered. These numbers are recorded on the ledger carried by the tax collector and checked off one by one as the barrels are loaded onto the carriages sent by the Capital. After all of the barrels are collected, a second wagon is dispatched containing empty barrels to be used for the next year's collection."

Simon shakes his head in disgust before speaking.

"So, the special tax is a percentage in name only. It's actually a set amount that must be met regardless of what percentage is left for the village."

"Aye."

"So, when did the plague hit this village?"

"Last year, shortly after we received the new shipment of barrels from the capital."

Simon’s hazel eyes closed for a moment as he pondered the situation. A set tax with a dwindling population. Yearly collections and a slow-spreading plague? Ah. That’s it.

His eyes opened slightly before speaking, "Does the capital usually send any seeds in the barrels?"

Kuro's ears shot up at Simon's question.

"N-No. That was the first year we received any seeds from the Capital since my grandfather settled this village. In fact, only one barrel contained any seeds at all. How did you know that?"

"Kuro, was that barrel numbered at all?"

"N-No."

Simon shakes his head dejectedly while collecting his thoughts.

"Kur-"

Simon's speech was suddenly interrupted by a villager frantically banging on the door.

"Kuro! Bandits!"

The two men quickly glanced at each other before swiftly bolting out the door.