Dragon Genesis: I Can Create Dragons - Chapter 408: Take them away.

Chapter 408: Take them away.

“Is it too heavy for you, Grandma? Do you want me to carry it and help you take it home?”

Tarevian questioned as he watched Old Maela clutch her ration bag with both trembling hands. His voice was gentle, very different from the sharp one he used on Theryn.

After everything ended, the crowd had slowly broken apart, some returning to the line, others walking back to their homes through the falling snow. The Voice of the Commonfolk decided to stay behind for a moment in case something out of expectation happened again.

“No, not heavy… just… more than I expected.”

The old woman shook her head slowly.

“You deserved more than what you were given tonight,”

Tarevian said quietly.

“What happened here should never have reached your shoulders.”

Maela gave a faint smile, though her lips quivered from the cold.

“I’ve lived through eighty winters, boy. A lighter bag won’t be the end of me.”

Tarevian lightly chuckled at those words. Soon, however, he shook his head as he gently held Maela’s hands, just like Kael did.

“You shouldn’t have to live this way at all. You gave everything to the Heights, and still you walk home with scraps.”

“Scraps or not, I am still alive, aren’t I?”

The old lady chuckled.

“I am stronger than you think.”

She spoke in a soft voice.

“You indeed are…”

Tarevian nodded. He had no doubt about it. A survivor who endured more than eighty winters—she was stronger than most people in the world.

“I promise you this won’t happen again.”

Tarevian spoke in a low, heavy voice.

“I do not believe this will either…”

The old woman shook her head, her eyes staring at Kael, who was standing at a distance, discussing something with Lavinia with a solemn look on his face.

“After all, we are in the presence of a God…”

Hearing those words, Tarevian slowly turned towards Kael as well. He couldn’t hear what the Warden of Vigilance and the Seventh Vein were talking about, the Seventh Vein had cast a sound barrier around them.

“Yes, he won’t let it happen again…”

Tarevian nodded with a lost look on his face. Soon, however, he shook his head and turned back towards Old Maela,

“The snow’s getting heavier, Grandma. You should return to your house now.”

“I will.”

Maela nodded, and with slow, careful steps, she walked into the night, leaving Tarevian staring after her disappearing back with a complicated look on his face.

“This isn’t the first time this has happened.”

Suddenly, Tarevian heard a voice. He turned and saw Kael and Lavinia standing next to him with solemn looks on their faces.

“What do you mean?”

“We have reasons to believe that Theryn isn’t the only Provisioner who does this. According to Aelindra, there was no shortage of food production last month, yet I have noticed some people eating less than what they ideally should have.

At first, I simply thought they were trying to save for emergencies since that seems quite common here, but now I believe this is happening because of the corruption amongst the provisioners.”

Kael explained the problem.

Tarevian narrowed his eyes at those words. Kael too understood how big of an issue this was.

The Velmourns’ strongest point was their unity and lack of corruption amongst their ranks, but if this was indeed an issue, then it would mean that the Velmourns, with all the problems they already had, weren’t any different from other forces—that they had no advantage over the others and were doomed to fall unless strict actions were taken.

Strict actions that Kael had the means and the power to take.

With a cold look on his face, he stared at Tarevian and—

“Two days.”

He spoke.

“Give me two days, and I will capture all the corrupt provisioners.

And this time, do not end this with reassignment to harsher work or loss of their own shares.

We need to make an example out of them.

We need public punishments—harsher public punishments.”

Tarevian reacted at those words, staring at Kael, slightly taken aback. He couldn’t believe that someone as soft as Kael would say such words.

Or…

Were these not his words…?

Tarevian thought as he momentarily stared at Lavinia, who was looking at him silently. The Voice of the Commonfolk narrowed his eyes, but there was no change on the Seventh Vein’s face.

“We need to report this to the Matriarch before we take any further actions.”

Tarevian spoke up.

But then—

“We do not.”

Lavinia shook her head.

The Mage, who had been silent all this while, finally spoke up.

“Kael is the Warden of Vigilance. He was given the authority to observe all Velmourns—Provisioners are no exception to them. Once Kael reports their crimes, then after proof, you, as the Voice of the Commonfolk, hold the power for public punishments.”

The Seventh Vein explained.

“The two of you hold enough power to deal with this matter on your own without having to bother the Matriarch, who has other tasks of higher importance to deal with, especially now when the winter has just begun.”

Tarevian lowered his head, seemingly overwhelmed. He didn’t know how to continue—

“You do not need to think that hard. We say public punishments, but it doesn’t mean we are thinking of executions or something harsher.

We simply need to make an example out of these people, we need to make them realize that they can no longer fool the mouths they feed, and we need to reassure the people that their rations are being managed properly.”

Lavinia glanced at the Velmourns who were in line, waiting for their share. She didn’t fail to notice how these people, who just a few minutes ago did everything efficiently in order not to waste any time, were now checking the share they got twice or thrice. She even saw a group talking amongst themselves, discussing how much they received and whether any of them had been fooled like Old Maela was.

“More than a hundred people saw what happened here.”

The Seventh Vein began.

“This won’t end here even if we want to. The matter will spread, especially something as big as this. And the more people know about it, the more uncertainty will spread. At a moment like this, someone needs to step up and show that they are on the people’s side. Someone needs to become the symbol of justice and unity—unity that keeps the Velmourn Spirit alive.

And…”

Lavinia then looked at Kael and—

“We have exactly that someone who can take that role.”

Tarevian stayed silent, staring at Kael as Lavinia’s words started making sense in his mind.

If it was Kael…

Then he could definitely become that symbol.

He had more than enough power and authority amongst the people.

“You don’t even need to do anything.

You simply need to hold the public punishments.

Leave the rest to us.”

Lavinia spoke, and at those words, Tarevian nodded.

“I understand.”

Lavinia nodded back. She then excused herself, and both she and Kael left after the people expressed their gratitude towards them.

The long, snowy night continued.

When most Velmourns slept, Kael and Lavinia did not. Together with them, the few Men of the Watch, whom Kael had called using his authority as the Warden of Vigilance, stayed alert as well.

The Velmourn ration distribution system was fast and efficient.

It began in the evening and lasted till next day’s dawn. This way, people working at whatever shift, be it the day shift or the night, could get their rations.

Not only that, the Velmourns had made the entire system so efficient that there were a total of one hundred and twenty ration stalls all over the mainland, distributing the rations in a way where people could go collect ration from any of these stalls according to what suited them the best.

However, because of this ‘efficient’ system that avoided long lines, surveilling the ration distribution became difficult. After all, with so many stalls, if even five men were ordered to continue the surveillance at one stall, it would require six hundred men.

A manpower the Velmourns did not have.

This made it absolutely impossible for anyone to catch the corrupt provisioners.

But of course, Kael was different.

With his ‘eyes’ everywhere, the operation wasn’t difficult, and soon, the results were out.

In the long snowy night, more and more culprits were caught.

Yes, just as they thought, Theryn wasn’t alone. Rather, this was something far bigger than what they were initially expecting.

Most of these corrupt provisioners were actually similar to Theryn, so much that there was actually a pattern in the way they worked.

These people only targeted the old.

Wrinkled hands, bent backs, weak voices—those were the ones they marked.

An old woman with snow-white hair stepped forward, shivering. She received a bag so light that her face fell in silence. She said nothing. She bowed and walked away into the storm.

Another, a man with a cane, shuffled forward. Again, the same trick. The same missing scoops. The same silence.

“They know,”

Lavinia whispered.

This all began in the middle of the night, when the lines started thinning out and the number of ‘eyes’ lowered.

Within 30 minutes, they had already caught the fifth offender.

“They choose the ones who cannot speak for themselves.

No children,

No family.

No one to notice if something is missing.”

The Seventh Vein spoke in a solemn tone.

“Which means this has been happening for a long time.”

She concluded.

Kael nodded in silence, glaring at the man standing behind the counter, quickly sliding extra grain into his cloak, tucking it away with practiced ease.

“Stop.”

Kael moved, his words freezing the three men, their eyes widening as they turned.

“Lord Kael—”

One of them stammered, but before he could say more, the men beside Kael stepped forward from the shadows, their spears pointed forward.

“No more words,”

Kael spoke with a strict look on his face.

“You are coming with me.”

“But Lord Ka—”

Before the three could even resist, Lavinia waved her hand, making the three lose consciousness.

“Take them away.”

Kael ordered coldly.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com