Chapter 176 - 122 : Year 31 to 36 Rain

Chapter 176: Chapter 122 : Year 31 to 36 Rain

With the attacks continuing, Lucian accepted the commander’s recommendation to concentrate patrols on the busiest routes while relying on the fortified stations to respond to trouble elsewhere. He instructed the commanders to share reports and pay closer attention to repeated attacks. If different robberies involved the same roads or merchants, he wanted his officers to compare what they knew and look for connections rather than treat every incident as an isolated problem.

Maintaining these patrols placed a steady demand on the soldiers. Men and horses needed provisions, equipment, and time to recover after long journeys, while a force sent to one district could not easily respond to trouble in another.

Lucian therefore had to choose where regular patrols were most necessary and where the fortified stations could provide enough support. He could make one route safer, but doing so often meant accepting less protection elsewhere.

Rebuilding the family’s military strength would take longer. The new recruits were improving, and the wounded veterans who could no longer serve in the field were helping where their experience remained useful. Even so, the younger soldiers still lacked the judgment that came from years of service, and training could not replace that experience overnight.

The martial retainers could reinforce them against threats beyond the ability of ordinary guards, but their own duties kept them occupied, and the surviving veteran Force Tempering martial artist could not be sent wherever trouble arose. For the time being, Lucian had to make the best use of the men available while gradually preparing others to shoulder more of the burden.

For a time, these arrangements kept the situation manageable and prevented the fief’s difficulties from growing worse.

Then the rains that should have marked the start of the growing season failed to arrive.

Year 31.

The first signs appeared in the fields beyond the city of Veymont. Spring arrived, but the rains that usually softened the soil came late, and the showers that followed were too brief to provide enough moisture. Farmers planted when they could, hoping the weather would improve before their young crops began to suffer. In some districts, the soil held enough moisture for the seeds to take root. In others, the ground remained stubbornly dry, and the first shoots grew thin and uneven.

At first, few believed the problem would last. The rains had come late in previous years, and experienced farmers knew that a poor start did not always lead to a bad harvest. Those who had returned to abandoned fields in recent years were especially determined to make their efforts succeed. They had spent time clearing land, repairing homes, acquiring seed, and replacing tools. Many had little to fall back on if the harvest failed, but they continued tending their fields, hoping to recover what they had invested.

As the weeks passed, the hoped-for rain still did not come. Small streams that supplied nearby farms dwindled, and people in some settlements had to walk farther to find water for their households and animals. The ground dried and hardened, making the fields harder to work, while seedlings that had managed to take root began to droop and wither in the heat.

The lack of rain also left less grass for livestock in the driest districts. Farmers who had no fodder stored faced a difficult choice: spend money they could scarcely spare on feed, or sell some of their animals before they weakened and fetched even less. Either choice took away something they needed to keep their farms running.

The damage varied across the fief. Fields near streams or on ground that held moisture still had a chance of producing a reasonable harvest, while crops elsewhere struggled to survive. Those who had only recently returned to farming faced the greatest uncertainty. Many had little left after years of war and disruption, and each new season depended on resources they could not easily replace.

They had worked to bring neglected land back into use, hoping that a few decent harvests would help them feed their families and rebuild what they had lost. Now, with the rain failing them, even their hard work might not be enough. A poor harvest would mean less food for their households, less produce to sell, and fewer resources to carry them into the next planting season.

By midsummer, reports from the fief’s officials and lesser nobles described falling yields and growing concern among the villages. Lucian had already prepared for the possibility of a poor harvest, but the situation looked increasingly serious as more reports arrived. Farm production was falling short of expectations, which meant less income for the estate and its vassals.

The people working the land faced an even more immediate problem. They would have less food to keep for their families, less grain to sell, and fewer resources to meet the payments they owed. For families who had only recently returned to farming, another poor season threatened to undo much of the progress they had made.

Master Corren brought the first consolidated estimate to the Count’s office. He had gathered the reports from estate clerks and compared them with figures from previous years, identifying where production had fallen and how much income the house might lose. He cautioned, however, that the figures could only provide an estimate. Until the harvest was gathered, no one could say how much of the crops would survive or how severe the losses would prove to be.

"The worst reports are coming from the northern and eastern districts," Master Corren explained. "Some farms may still produce enough to feed their households, but they are unlikely to have much left to sell. Others may lose a considerable part of what they planted. We should expect lower rents and fewer payments in grain, though it is still too early to calculate the full loss. Some families may also ask for further delays on payments already owed."

Lucian studied the reports. "Can the better districts make up for what we stand to lose?"

"Only to a limited extent, my lord. Their crops are holding up better, but those farmers still have their own households to feed and workers to pay. They will also need to keep enough grain for seed if they are to plant again next season. Until the harvest is gathered, we cannot say how much they will be able to spare."

Lucian leaned back, troubled by the figures. The house had spent the past several years trying to bring neglected farms back into production, offering land on manageable terms and helping struggling families obtain seed and tools. Those efforts had begun to bear fruit, but the return on that support depended on the land producing enough for families to feed themselves, sell their surplus, and gradually meet their obligations.

Now the drought threatened to weaken that progress just as the house needed its income to support the wider recovery. With the mines also bringing in less than expected, there was little room to absorb another serious setback.

"We cannot ask people to pay from crops they may never harvest," he said. "But we also cannot make plans based on income that may not arrive. We need a clearer picture of what each district is likely to produce before deciding what we can afford."

Lucy, who had joined them to review the household’s needs, looked over the reports. "Then we should be careful not to count the better districts’ grain as available income before we know what they can spare. Those families need to feed their households and keep enough seed for the next planting. If we press them too hard now, we may collect a little more in the short term and leave them less able to farm next season."

"Agreed," Lucian said. "Have the officials continue monitoring the fields and send updated estimates as the season progresses. I want to know which districts are holding up, which are struggling, and how much of the expected income we may have to do without. We should not delay every payment automatically, but neither should we demand what people cannot reasonably provide."

Corren made a note. "I will revise the estimates as the reports come in. Until the crops are gathered, I can give you a range of likely outcomes, but not a reliable figure for the final loss. We should also keep the payments still owed separate from the money and grain already received. The distinction will matter if some families need more time to pay."

Lucy then raised the question of their own stores. The castle needed provisions for the household, servants, and garrisons, and the house could not afford to commit those supplies without knowing what the coming months might require. They had maintained reserves to meet ordinary disruptions and emergencies, but those stores were not large enough to sustain the entire fief through a prolonged shortage.

"I don’t think we need to release grain yet," she said. "We do not know how much the harvest will suffer, and the villages are still tending their crops. But we should know exactly what we have, what we need for the castle and garrisons, and how much we must keep in reserve if conditions worsen."

Lucian agreed. There was no reason to distribute supplies before the extent of the shortage was known, but waiting without preparing would leave them with fewer choices if the situation deteriorated. He asked Corren to review the stores alongside the house’s expected expenses, while Lucy would consider which household costs could be postponed without affecting essential needs.

Any assistance to the wider population would have to be weighed against the supplies required to keep the castle and its garrisons functioning.

For now, they could only watch the season closely and prepare for several possible outcomes. The drought had not yet become a general food shortage, and no one knew how much of the harvest would survive.

But the house had invested money, resources, and considerable effort in restoring the fief’s farms. If the crops failed, the consequences would reach beyond the farmers themselves, delaying payments, reducing the estate’s income, and making the recovery they had worked so hard to build more difficult to sustain.