"Brad, 35 years old, married with 5 children, a farr, is that all correct?" Laura, who had recovered from her sea-sickness from 3 days ago, asked the middle-aged man standing in front of her.
"Um, uh, yes, t-that’s right, milady," the nervous farr nad Brad, whose face and clothes looked quite worn out, replied haltingly, his eyes darting around, clearly feeling intimidated standing inside the grand lobby of the Iron Rock branch of the Rising Sun rchant Guild.
Brad had fled his village along with his family in the early days of the crisis and had been lucky enough to run into one of the search parties sent out by the Carlson Family, eventually making it to Iron Rock.
Although he, his wife, and their children had all made it out alive and relatively unscathed, which was better than many others, the ager supplies they had taken with them had quickly been used up, along with all the coins they had managed to carry.
The Carlson Family was providing relief aid to refugees, but it was only 1 bowl of thin porridge per day per person, which was just barely enough to keep a person from starving.
Brad, his wife, and their 3 older children had no choice but to look for work if they wanted to fill their stomachs, and the stomachs of their 2 youngest family mbers.
Unfortunately, the only thing Brad and his wife had ever known was farming, aning the number of jobs available to them was extrely limited. To make matters worse, there were tens of thousands of other refugees in Iron Rock right now in the exact sa situation, so competition for unskilled labour position was at an all ti high.
Things were looking grimr by the day, with Brad even seriously beginning to consider looking for... less savoury work. It was sothing the simple, honest man would never have even dread of until now, but seeing his 2 youngest sons growing thinner and thinner, Brad felt like he had little choice left.
That is, until he heard a certain rumour on his way back from a grueling day in the mines.
Supposedly, people like Brad were being offered food and money if they were willing to leave Iron Rock.
The further away they went, the more supplies and silver they would get.
Brad wasn’t sure what to think when he first heard this. Even if it was true, that didn’t change the fact that he was just a farr who didn’t know much about the outside world.
Life was harsh here in Iron Rock, and getting harsher every day as more and more refugees seed to flood in from Heavens knows where, but at least it was close to his ho.
With any luck, everything would settle down soon and Brad could return to his small farm in peace.
If he accepted the money, however, and agreed to be shipped off to who knows where, he might never be able to co back. The prospect frightened Brad greatly, so he didn’t spend much ti considering this option.
When he returned to the temporary camp where he and his family had been staying, though, Brad was confronted by a far more terrible possibility.
That day, his wife and eldest daughter had apparently failed to find work. This wasn’t the first ti this had happened, so that didn’t co as much of a surprise to Brad. What was alarming was that while the two won were searching for employnt, a few n had approached them and offered to purchase ’services’ from them.
Brad’s wife and daughter were both hungry and exhausted, but they were still able bodied, so they decisively refused.
Instead of just backing down, however, the n turned aggressive and tried to drag the two of them away.
Luckily, the number of patrols had increased dramatically a couple days ago for so reason, and a nearby group of guards heard the screams and ca to investigate, ultimately sparing the mother and daughter pair from further indignity.
Seeing his wife and daughter, shivering in fear inside their tent, Brad could do nothing other than hold them tight and try his best to comfort them, promising he would work even harder so that they wouldn’t have to risk going out like this again.
To Brad’s utter dismay, his wife actually shook her head and refused to listen. She knew that if she and her daughter didn’t work, their family would soon starve.
Brad also knew this, but how could he let his precious family expose themselves to such danger?
Suddenly, the idea of taking so money and food and moving away from the crowded city, where cris like the one his wife and daughter experienced were rapidly becoming more common, beca much more appealing to Brad.
The final straw, however, was when he heard his daughter softly mutter, "Maybe... maybe we should have said yes... I heard so won in the camp are doing it..."
Needless to say, Brad absolutely forbade his 16-year-old daughter, who had only just beco an adult, from even thinking about selling herself.
That evening, despite the pouring rain and howling winds, Brad went around talking to everyone in the camp and soon found soone who knew a bit more about sothing apparently called the ’South-West Province Resettlent Project’.
After learning that one of these ’Evacuation Centre’ was located nearby, Brad decisively left the camp and went to apply.
Brad arrived at the Rising Sun rchant Guild building to find massive lineups of people, most of them like him, looking for more information about the resettlent offer.
It took nearly an hour, but Brad finally made it to the head of the line he was in, which was coincidentally being managed by Laura.
After answering the smartly dressed young woman’s questions, most of which were about his family and background, Brad had a few questions of his own to ask, "E-Excuse , ma’am, but h-how much food and... and money will we receive if we’re willing to leave the city?"
This was not the first ti Laura had been asked this question over the past 2 days. In fact, ever since the Evacuation Centre first opened the morning after her arrival in Iron Rock, she had probably answered it dozens of tis, and that was despite this information literally being written on giant boards all around town, including right behind her desk.
It was only now that Laura realized just why Director Leah from the orphanage had insisted all of them learn to read and write when they were kids. If not for those lessons back then, she too would be like these farrs and labourers, unable to even gather information for herself without asking others.
Although it was frustrating having to repeat these words so many tis, Laura rembered what Lucas had told her and remained patient, doing her best to keep a smile up as she replied, "Families willing to relocate to other settlents in the South-West Province will receive 1 Gold while those willing to pioneer new villages in this Province will receive 2 Gold. Everyone willing to move will also be given 15 days worth of rations."
Having interviewed several hundred people already, Laura could tell that this man nad Brad wasn’t willing to leave the province, so she didn’t ntion the 5 Gold being given to those who were willing, or the 10 Gold he could receive for being a pioneer in a distant province.
Certainly, 10 Gold and 30 days worth of food was a huge amount to most farrs and labourers, but very few of the refugees that had been gathered in Iron Rock were brave or adventurous enough to accept this offer.
Given her previous experiences, Laura suspected that the man before her would want to move to an established town or village, and she was right. Brad ultimately decided that it was better to have so stability, rather than take risks in the wilderness, so he eventually signed up for the 1 Gold option.
"Very good, Mr. Brad," Laura smiled before turning to a young man who was standing nearby, "Take this man to room 3."
"Yes, Lady Laura!" The youth saluted before walking up to Brad and saying, "Please co with , sir."
Brad was a little lost still, wondering why he was being taken sowhere else, but having seen many others before him being treated exactly like this, he didn’t raise any objections and just followed along.
What followed was rather straight-forward.
Brad was taken to ’room 3’ where 5 other people were also waiting. Half-an-hour later, once a total of 10 people had been gathered in the room, one of the Evacuation Centre’s staff ca over and explained where they would be sent and how they would get there.
This staff mber also told them when and where they needed to assemble so that they could join one of the outgoing convoys.
In Brad’s case, he and his family had to report to the dock 10 of the city’s main port tomorrow at noon, where they would board a ship that would take them to Southbridge. From there, carriages would transport them to one of the provincial capital’s surrounding towns before they needed to find their own way to the final stop, a certain unnad farming village.
As for the money and food they were promised, that would only be handed to them once they reached their second destination, the town outside Southbridge.
When they asked about how they would feed themselves until they reached their destination without money or food, the staff mber told them that at least 2 bowls of porridge would be provided to them along the way, with the possibility of at being added depending on whether it was available.
Naturally, the 10 individuals inside the room were a bit skeptical about all of these grand sounded promises, but since they had already agreed to the deal, there was no turning back for them now.
That night, when Brad returned to his family and told them about what he had done, Brad’s wife scolded him for being so reckless, but ultimately agreed to his decision. She too didn’t want to remain in Iron Rock any longer after what happened today.
With their parents having made up their minds, the children didn’t get any say, not that they had any objections. They were already in a totally unfamiliar place having left their countryside ho far behind, and this place was crowded, dirty, and dangerous, so moving once more didn’t seem like a bad idea to them.
Brad wasn’t the only refugee in Iron Rock who had gone through this process today, he was just one among several thousand actually, all of whom would soon be departing the city together with their families for a new life.
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