The Slums’ Worth [Part 1]
“I want the slums.”
What Emma pleaded from the King was the area that could even be said to be the dark side of the royal capital. While many people could get out of the slums and live decently as job opportunities increased following the infrastructure improvements needed after the coup d’etat, the young children who were too young to work were all left behind.
Those small children had survived somehow by relying on the weekly food distributions organized by high-ranking nobles in turn.
“S-Slums!? What are you saying?”
“Your Majesty, I have become friends with the slums’ children several weeks ago. Everyone is starving… I want to be able to help when my friends are suffering.” Emma answered the King while wondering why everyone was so shocked over her words.
Now that Harold had his salary from the Rothschild Company, and House Stuart gave simple jobs to the children, no one cried from hunger anymore.
But, y’know, if it was about a few weeks ago, then I’m not lying. Emma made excuses in her heart.
“Starving, you said! But in the slums, the nobles are distributing food once a week, right?”
Because of the overwhelming government affairs, added with security concerns, the King had never gone to the slums personally. By only looking over the food distribution monthly report, his understanding of the actual situation was far from the reality on the ground.
Emma sighed at the King’s words. It was extremely rude to sigh at the King, but nobody pointed her out as a tense air filled the evening party’s venue. In the middle of all that, only one person sitting on a luxurious sofa in the corner, Duchess Hilda Sullivan, made a satisfied smile.
Emma’s sigh was just like the Manner Demon Hilda’s and the strictly disciplined Melsa’s sighs.
Even the King would freeze in pure horror at the sound of that sigh, let alone the nobles.
(E/N: As a famous comedian once said the punchline: “Somebody gonna get hurt, reaaaaaaaal bad).
“Your Majesty. Humans need to eat every day. Why would you think that the slums’ people will be alright with just one food distribution a week? Everyone is no different than us, right? How many meals do you think we eat in a day?”
Emma felt indignant towards the lack of imagination of those who had never experienced or never needed to worry about starving. Hunger is more painful than anything else. This venue, too, was full of lavish dishes. And the nobles who were not even hungry could deliver those treats to their mouths like a matter of course.
“No, the report says the food distributions provide enough food to last for a week…”
“There are times when the amount of food distributed is not even enough to give everyone a single bowl of soup, depending on the noble who serves it.”
“Eh?”
“And that is a one-week portion…?”
“I-I received no… such… report…”
“Of course, I have also heard that some nobles arrange the food distribution so the people can have enough food for a week. However, on the day I first visited the slums, the children were hungry even though it was just right after the food distribution.”
Emma remembered Hue once said that the amount of food would be completely different depending on the nobles in charge of that week.
There were also nobles who would distribute warm food and rations for the rest of the week in separate bags for each day, along with an explanation so that even children could understand the bags’ purpose.
Even so, the children would still barely have days when they could eat their fill because the food rotted in the summer and was even stolen by adults in the winter.
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