CHAPTER 840: CHAPTER 840: PEOPLE EASILY FORGET

Thus, the magicians here were heavily overworked. And the suspicious look and unwelcoming gaze the people were giving them was not helping at all.

Those who had memories of the Great War were beginning to question why they needed to help humans who had caused their numbers to dwindle and force them to have no other option but to mate with another race if they did not want their population to die out.

No, even the younger ones who were here for experience’s sake were also clearly thinking the same.

If Ferdinand left them here in this frustrated and weakened state, they might give up on protecting these territories that had people treating them like they were the ones who made the disease and pests wreak havoc and go out of control.

When they first arrived, the morale was high since the people welcomed them happily and were elated to be visited by the Emperor and his men in person.

The locals were overjoyed because they thought the solution would be solved soon.

When their expectations were not met immediately and the situation got worse, they were now suspicious of them instead.

There were even rumors going around that Ferdinand and his knights and magicians came here to make their territory suffer as punishment for the ruling households’ failures.

Yet, there were also rumors that Ferdinand and his entourage were in collusion with the ruling households to make them suffer.

The knights and magicians were getting infuriated with it even when Ferdinand already told them to just ignore it.

Ferdinand never wanted to be a ruler. But he at least knew now that any sane ruler would not do this to his own territory.

Even for a punishment, doing this on purpose just for punishment was too much.

On the other hand, colluding with corrupt ruling households like Marquess Sibruh to do something like this was nonsense.

Only an idiot would do this intentionally to his own territory if it was not a necessity.

What kind of idiot would intentionally burn crops of his own territory?

Even a corrupt household would not do it since it was the source of the common population’s source of income and thus, taxes.

Ferdinand heaved another sigh and went to the dining hall.

He did not feel like eating and would survive even if he did not eat for a few days but he had to eat with the knights to keep them motivated.

Going to the battlefield was so much better than remaining stuck here. His men were not used to this kind of treatment from territories in Valeria itself.

It shows how people can easily become ungrateful when you fail them even just once.

They immediately forgot that these were the same knights who had fought for Valeria and its borders.

These knights had all fought bravely in various battles and won it all with him. They were honored by the people of Valeria and showered with praise wherever they went.

The people in these territories they had been visiting routinely in set schedules were the same as well at first.

But now, they easily changed their colors when the problem was not solved immediately.

Instead of being treated like heroes as they were at the start, they were treated like the villains who came to spread darkness.

The knights were heavily affected by this situation. They preferred getting injured in the battlefield than getting this treatment and receiving cruel words they did not deserve.

As for the magicians, Ferdinand also had to ensure their mana levels remained at a safe level.

The more the magicians get irritated, the higher their mana levels rise. The chances of them using it to shut up everyone who kept babbling nonsense also keep rising.

Thus, Ferdinand had to keep watch on them like children ready to jump out and something the instant he turned his back.

The magicians would do well without eating since they were all from the long-lived races. But they also needed some motivation due to the sour mood so Ferdinand also had to be in meetings with them every single day.

When working on documents from the palace, he even does his work in high places where he could watch how everyone was acting to ensure none of them erupts and lashes at the masses.

If not for Arabella’s sweet letters, he might also be on the verge of his patience ending. But thanks to her letters to him, he had remained calm all this time.

Ferdinand was amazed at this feat as well.

The researchers who were only going out to collect samples and focused on their research were doing better than the knights and magicians.

All the interviews were done when they just arrived and the people were still in high spirits at that time.

Since they usually stay indoors for their experiments, they remained motivated since they were not aware of the people’s current behavior and suspicion.

Ferdinand ensured they did not become aware of it so they would not be distracted. Thus, he had a magician focused on maintaining a barrier around them to prevent them from hearing outside rumors.

Arabella’s assistant came to him one day though when he realized they had been forbidden from speaking with the common folk.

"Your Majesty, why are we forbidden to speak with the commoners? I need to speak with them since I have more questions I need to ask for my research," Ivan said.

"Wasn’t all the interviews done? It’s not safe outside. Write your questions and I’ll have the knights and magicians ask around," Ferdinand replied.

Arabella’s assistant remained motivated this whole time. He had been working well with the others too and the older and more experienced researchers were amazed at his knowledge and memory.

Ivan had been getting a lot of praise from the researchers.

The head of the researchers already even ask Ferdinand to have Ivan join the researchers instead of being an assistant in the palace.

Ferdinand did not comment though since Ivan was Arabella’s assistant. She always spoke highly of him and clearly trusted in his abilities and promise right from the start.