A few days after the noble's visit, tension started to rise in the village. People having to give out more of their rations were starting to hide how much they gathered, and some even resorted to stealing. To bring things back under control, Haran called for a village assembly.
The village assembly was held in the village hall. One had to be at least 16 years old to attend the assembly. Usually, the attendance at these was not very high. People were satisfied with how things worked in the village most of the time. But this time, it was different. Everyone gathered, and so with all the benches filled, many people were standing. Hall was filled over the projected capacity.
Assembly was run by the village council consisting of five members, with the village chief leading the discussion and other members providing counseling. And yet, in front of people, only Haran stood alone. Other members caved, probably not wanting to take the blame for the dissatisfaction of the rest of the villagers.
"It has come to my attention that not enough rations are being delivered to Market hall. Also, I have received multiple reports of stealing. While I understand the reasoning behind hiding the rations, stealing won't be allowed. I've authorized local adventurers to conduct searches, and anyone found with stolen rations will be punished. Please, deliver the stolen rations to the market hall."
"To the market hall? Those are my rations that were stolen. I should decide how they are distributed." protested one of the villagers. And the crowd was providing support vocally.
"We need a third more of the rations. Please understand that this is not a time to conduct whose rations are found. Once we gather the required amount, the rest will be distributed back to those affected, " said Haran, trying to appease the crowd.
"Gods forbid I allow this. Haran, you've been a good chief these past few cycles, but you're acting out of fear and not reason." said another villager.
"If you don't stand for our people, you should step down and let someone else take the role." said another, with murmurs of agreements coming in the back.
Haran sighed and said, "I know this is hard for you people to understand. Most of you haven't stepped outside of this village, and those who did know we are not welcomed in the cities unless we are adventurers. Those people do not care about our fate. They want supplies required for them to live normally, and if tensions arise, their lord will respond by sending the town's guard and adventurers to take it all forcibly. We don't have the weapons or manpower to resist."
"But if we give in to these demands, they'll keep increasing demand once the drought passes. So we got to stand our ground. It has been 2139 cycles since our ancestors contributed to the great fall. Do you not think we paid off their sins?" asked the villager.
"You and I both know what the law of harmony states. Until the mage that can master seven spirit gems is discovered and brings down the barrier, we are to pay the penance or perish under the weight of the barrier."
"That harmony stuff seems like more and more of a fool talk to me. And it's not like nobility or royalty are doing anything in the search. They seem to be satisfied with how the things are and are making no attempts in search."
"Please do not speak such blasphemy," Haran said. "If clergy were to hear you, your life would end right where you are standing. And it's not that they made no attempts, but the majesty has not gotten over the death of his wife, and so all fundings for finding gems are suspended."
"Serves the woman for trying to do a man's job. She went so unstable they had to hunt her and put her down like a wild animal."
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"You're out of line, Sebastian!" said Haran harshly. "May I need to remind you that she managed to master four gems before the fifth pushed her into the madness—much more than any man ever did. So don't speak foul of the federation's queen. She was a caring soul who sacrificed herself trying to establish true harmony - equality."
"You think that there will be equality once the barrier goes away. Nobles won't give up their privileges that easily."
"I don't think of anything. I'm sure nothing will be done in my lifetime. But if it were to occur, mana limiter would be released, and we'd reach the magic potential we were promised a long time ago."
Haran pressed his hand along his cheek and continued. "But it is not the time to fantasize. Given the current situation, we have more pressing matters than thinking about old legends."
He stood up as he continued addressing people.
"Here is my suggestion, and please do understand before you raise your hand to give the vote that either we give in to demands or face whatever they send after us for disobeying their orders."
"All rations are to be distributed to the market hall with no exceptions." he started to talk, but the crowd was already murmuring.
"Silence!" Haran yelled, "Please hear me out. You will have a chance to vote on this."
"Once rations are there, we'll gather the required amount, and the rest will be divided among the people. Rations will be divided among households depending on how many family members there are. Also, the amount will be determined by how many children there are in the household. We need to protect our children first. The rations will be scarce, so please hold out for the time being. Hopefully, in the next thirty days, the season of rain will bless us, and the river will bring forth wast number of sea life. I'm sure this is just another trial by the gods. We have not angered them, and so the barrier is standing still. For harmony, we will obey the upper echelon, that is, the town's people. And they will come when our penance ends. So my brothers and sisters, I now call upon you to raise your hands to vote - open hand for yes and closed for no."
And so the vote was cast. The voting system is such that all must close their eyes and then choose to vote yes or no, so no one would be influenced by the vote. Then votes are counted. Anyone who tries to change their vote is disqualified. Votes are counted one by one after the villager lowers their hand.
The vote on the matter was tight. There were so many people in the room that Haran was sweating as he wrote down the number on the chalkboard. And with other members of the council absent, he feared people would change their votes as he counted.
And then, as he was counting the last row, the result was visible. By a slight margin, people voted in agreement with Haran's proposal. Haran was relieved.
But this victory was short-lived. Day after the assembly, Haran saw some villagers packing their mules. He saw the villager called Sebastian heading with his family towards the village gate.
"Sebastian! Hold up!" he yelled as he ran towards them.
"Where are you going? I thought we voted on the solution."
"I'm sorry, Haran, but I can't abide by it. Since I was born, I have lived in this village, and I never needed to choose between starvation and death.
And so, it was voted in favor of your proposal. So, I think we will take our chances on the road."
"It doesn't need to be this way. This will pass."
"And what if it doesn't? What if they demand more?"
"Still, you don't know what is out there. There are monsters living outside village limits, and they are far worse than the water creatures we were battling."
"We'll be keeping it close to the roads. If I'm wrong and we find death, gods have sided with you. I bear no ill will towards you, Haran, but I can't watch all my hard work be given out to those who do less."
And so Sebastian turned away, and he and his family were slowly fading out from Haran's sight.
In the following days, even more families fled the village. Haran was now faced with a problem. Does the demand for rations scale with the number of villagers, or does it consider the number of villagers when the noble visited? He decided to write the letter and send it via merchant once one visits the market hall.
After a few days, a soldier came to the village delivering the answer. The answer was what Haran feared. The amount was to be the same regardless of how many people were in the village. And so he asked for people to do longer shifts. He hoped that reducing numbers might be at least a good thing when it came to rationing distribution. Of course, the math does not work like that, but they were at least above starvation with extended shifts.
And so, after long hours spent fishing by the river, where water levels were low and the catch was getting smaller, Haran would return to see his son long asleep. He hasn't had time to spend with him since the whole situation, so Haran pulled up a chair, took leftovers of watered-down porridge, and sobbed as he ate it.