“I don’t get it,” said Resitia when the infiltration group were having another of their meetings deep in the forest with the rest who waited there. “The Exalted One brought me and Tiara to sneak around the mayor’s place and the local temple a couple times, and we saw that they had an abundant stockpile of food. If they just shared that while it wouldn’t be enough for too long, it would still allow everyone to eat decently for a month or two at least, so why did they let everyone else starve like that?”

 

When Esperanza heard what the girl asked the others, it reminded her that despite the forced maturation back when they hit second tier, the [Progenies of Yore] were still, in their hearts, young children, after all. If she recalled correctly Resitia was still around ten or so. Her view of the world around her still had that hint of innocence the young possessed, yet to be stained by the murky waters of reality.

 

She also noticed how some of the other Progenies looked curiously at Resitia’s question, and how some of the older members of the group had rather conflicted looks on their faces when faced with such a query. Some of them clearly wanted to preserve that rare innocence from the vicissitudes of the cruel world, yet they also knew that sometimes, it was better to rip off the bandage in one go rather than do it slowly.

 

In the end, it was Ani that replied to the question.

 

“The answer to that question is often along the lines of greed and selfishness, but in this case, it also has to do with a more fundamental nature of society itself as a whole, I believe,” said Ani with a wistful sigh as she shook her head. Part of the woman was disappointed in what she had seen in the Kingdom so far, as the people in the refuges she had been to were far more united. “In the end, a lot of things are done or not done because of interests.”

 

“Interests?” asked Resitia curiously.

 

“Putting it simply… let’s say you and another both wanted the same item. The item doesn’t matter in this case, but the fact that you and someone else both wanted it represents interests from the two of you,” said Ani as she tried to use some analogy to explain it easier, probably having recalled Resitia’s true age as well. “Now, whoever actually has control over the item in question would naturally have interests of their own as well. As such, it only makes sense for them to give it to whichever of you advances that person’s own interests more, does it not? Or to withhold it entirely from both of you, if that is what serves their interests best.”

 

“That… makes sense, I guess. Rather selfish, but I can see it,” replied Resitia with a hesitant nod of her head. The girl had probably not thought of such things herself, but when put that way, it was easier for her to comprehend what Ani meant.

 

“The situation in Eastcliff is similar. At this moment, everyone wants food. The refugees, the poorer locals who didn’t have any stocked up, and of course, those who are at the top of the town’s hierarchy as well. Everyone needs food, and while there’s enough to go around, most of it is in the hands of those at the top, the mayor, the temple, and the richer merchants,” Ani explained. “Now, they are sharing some with the townspeople and the refugees, not much, just enough to keep them from rioting while keeping them weak, while hoarding the rest. Can you think why they did this?”

 

“Because… it’s not in their interest to feed everyone?” asked Resitia with some incredulity in her voice. “They’d rather just stock up the food than help everyone get enough?”

 

“Some people… they consider their own benefits the most. The mayor for example, would prioritize people who would help keep him in power, like the higher ups of the town guard or the temple. You have already seen how varied people from the temple can be, and the ones in Eastcliff are the sort that would just prioritize their own people over others,” elaborated Ani some more. “As for the merchants… for them they likely kept their stock simply because there was no profit in helping the people for free. You should have already noticed that the price of food in the town has increased drastically over the past week.”

 

“Most people do not have the courage or power to risk everything to deal with issues like these. They are often bound by the very people they care for, the presence of loved ones making them unable to commit to a course of action that might cause the situation to go worse for their family, so they did what they could to persevere and swallow the injustice that happened to them,” she added. “Similarly, a lot of the people in town had too much to lose to risk things. As long as those at the top kept the food trickling in, they wouldn’t be able to muster the will to attempt anything.”

 

“People who have something to lose are less daring to take risks, and they know this well enough to exploit it,” Esperanza chimed in to the discussion from the side. “If someone had nothing to lose, they would be more prone to drastic action, but someone with something to lose has shackles that bind them to the things they care for, in a sense.”

 

“If you want, it is easy enough for people like us, who have no true attachment to the town in general, to take action and change the situation, but you have to understand that it would just be us choosing to favor one side over the other, much like how those people in town did,” she continued. “After all, if we take action and help one side, it will pretty much condemn another.”

 

“Even so, I would still like to help those people if I can, Exalted One,” admitted Resitia with a weary nod. “Besides, can’t we drive a wedge between them and the temple if we target that place first?”

 

“Clever girl,” praised Esperanza. “You know how to frame things so it would work in our favor already, huh? Had always thought you were one of the more straightforward of the kids, but I guess looks can be deceiving.” she added. “Good argument, we’ll do as you suggested later when we return to the city, but we won’t interfere too much no matter what happens afterwards, understood?”

 

“Yes, Exalted One.”

 

Later that evening, the infiltrator group returned to Eastcliff with some “catch” once more. They shared some with the gate guards, technically as a bribe to let them go into the town without trouble, then shared most of the rest with a group of starving refugees who thanked them for their generosity. Even in such a situation, however, the worst of people also showed up.

 

Esperanza’s group had been attacked by some other refugees before, probably thinking they might have more meat on them, either out of desperation or out of greed. Either way, none of the group looked kindly upon such people, and all those who tried to mess with them were simply never seen again. None of the other refugees seemed to miss them either. 

 

That night, nowever, Esperanza brought the whole group – all hidden under her [Veil of Entropy], of course – to visit the local temple. The local clergy had been preaching to the townspeople and refugees to remain steadfast in the trial they faced, for it was all in the name of a greater purpose, but they themselves faced no such trial. In fact, the town’s temple had one of the larger stockpiles of food around the town.

 

Sure, some townspeople might have private stocks, but those were typically not much, and it made sense for them to save it up for their own families. The temple on the other hand had plenty, enough to allow the rationing to return to more normal levels for at least a week, more if they stretched it out further, but had no intention to use their stock to help the people, unlike what they themselves preached.

 

That sort of hypocrisy was something Esperanza particularly loathed, so she had no qualms about choosing the temple as her target and to incite some chaos in the town while she was at it. If it helped some to see the true nature of the people they put on a pedestal, then all the better, though she had no such high hopes.

 

What the group did that night was simple. They directly broke into the local temple’s storehouse and had Esperanza pack up the contents in her [Soul Storage]. She had previously emptied most of the less perishable contents of her [Soul Storage] and entrusted it to the rest of the group’s safekeeping for this purpose. 

 

The local temple did not have much in terms of actual military power, merely possessing a dozen or so temple guards who had very mediocre classes in the middle of the third tier or so. As such, Esperanza chose a method that was all but guaranteed to lead to a direct and open conflict between the people and the temple as a whole.

 

She distributed the supplies they pilfered in front of people’s houses or amongst groups of refugees while leaving behind traces of passage for the temple’s people to follow after.

 

Needless to say, the starving townspeople and refugees were ecstatic when they woke up and saw large amounts of food suddenly provided to them, even if they had no idea who gave it to them or why. They were beyond questioning such details by that point and simply counted their blessings as they started to make use of the food supplies to prepare something to eat.

 

By the same time, however, the temple’s clergy had discovered the ransacking of their storehouse, and in a fit of emotions, the head priest of the temple ordered some of the priests as well as the temple’s guard contingent to go out and find whoever was responsible for the theft. They quickly found traces of the stolen food, and discovered that it had been distributed to the starving people all over the town.

 

Under normal circumstances, the head priest might have reconsidered the course of action he chose, but the man was driven by his emotions at that time, and directly ordered the temple guards to confiscate the stolen food supplies. The results could well be imagined, as the starving people were naturally unwilling to hand over the food they finally received after so long.

 

When the temple guard resorted to violence to make a point, all that did was to provide the spark that lit the flames of resentment. The starving people in the town were already put off when they learned that the temple had plenty of food but had not taken any out to help them. Their feelings, which once respected said temple and its priests, further dropped to the bottom when the priests demanded they give the food back.

 

So when the temple guard shoved a protesting old man until he fell down, it proved to be the last straw that broke the camel’s back and the mass of people devolved into a riot on the spot. The temple guards further showed their inexperience – they were stationed in quiet, peaceful places and had no real experience with conflict – when they fought off the rioting people instead of attempting to deescalate the situation, and that just worsened their situation further.

 

By noon, the entire city of Eastcliff had descended into rioting, looting, and worse, as the starving people took matters into their own hands, having been disillusioned by those they had relied on in the past. All the while, Esperanza and the rest of the infiltration group watched the situation from atop the town’s bell tower, where they remained hidden from sight.