I Created Scientific Magic-Chapter 486 - 458 Ivina: Creating Food from the Void, That’s Something Only a God Can Do

Susan's abrupt inquiry caught Ivina off guard.

Having spent two years in the northern border, the wildest region of the empire, she had witnessed famines and even participated in the church's food relief operations, but she had never personally experienced that feeling…

Susan did not wait for Ivina to respond before sighing and saying, "Just eleven years ago, due to continuous warfare, the western border of the empire saw a massive decrease in food production, and then, just like today, the noble lords and rich merchants began buying up large quantities of food. Although it wasn't as terrifying as this time, we couldn't afford it…"

At that time, she and her husband survived by doing odd jobs like moving goods in the slum, earning a meager income. After deductions by the gang, they couldn't even earn a single silver coin each month. With soaring food prices, even spending all their savings wouldn't buy them more than a few pieces of dark bread.

"Didn't the church and the empire intervene or provide relief?" Ivina furrowed her brows, questioning out of confusion, but quickly realized the inappropriateness in her words and hastily corrected herself.

"I mean, don't those bishops always preach about the Lord's mercy toward mankind?"

"How could those high and mighty bishops care about us…" A middle-aged man with dark skin shook his head in self-mockery.

Eleven years ago, Fire Oil, a precious resource, had not been discovered yet, and this city was not as important as it is now; it was just an ordinary small city in the western border, and they were the most inconspicuous poor folks in the city.

The empire did release some relief food, but it was mostly intercepted by local nobles and merchants along the way, leaving little to reach their hands.

Susan spoke with a choked voice, recounting how one of her children, who had just been born not long before, was starved to death because she was too hungry to produce enough milk and could only feed him a little soup made from crushed grass roots and tree bark…

As a result… her child did not survive even two days.

"Grass roots, tree bark… Can you actually eat those?" Ivina asked in astonishment.

"As for grass roots, most of them can be eaten, but as for tree bark, it depends on the type of tree…" The middle-aged man muttered.

Owing to Ivina's status as a Wizard, and coupled with Susan's complaints and cries, the over a hundred townspeople gathered in front of the granary also began sharing their experiences of surviving famine.

Some harshly criticized the cold-bloodedness and inaction of the noble lords, others desperately told Ivina how their siblings were snatched and eaten alive by a group of crazed townsfolk, and a young man, not over twenty, shared how he survived the hardest days by eating a type of yellow clay…

Unfortunately, his father did not make it through!

If you didn't want to eat bark or soil, your only other option was to risk your life by venturing deep into the forest to gather food, but you were more likely to end up as the prey of a ferocious magical beast!

Listening to the townspeople discussing which type of tree bark tasted best and which grass was non-toxic and filling, Ivina was greatly shocked.

Being a noble since childhood, she had never imagined that bark, leaves, or even mud could be consumed as food.

Although she had witnessed cannibalism during famines in the North, Gustav had told her that those people were corrupted by demonic forces, and their souls were about to fall into hell, which is why they committed such evil and terrifying acts.

"Only the Wizards bother to think about whether we can eat our fill…" An elderly leader said, holding some wheat grains and trembling slightly.

Ensuring three meals a day was a normal entitlement for laborers in Lynn's view, which also helped prevent disturbances in the kingdom, but for the poor, it was different.

They had never received such attention!

To Susan, the Wizards in charge of Fire Oil City were aware that they could not afford the high-priced wheat and had suddenly announced the provision of three meals, a kindness that left her and her husband deeply grateful.

Only those who had experienced famine could understand how terrifying it was; they were fortunate to have survived the last time, but what about this time?

Therefore, after discussing with her husband, Susan decided to sell part of their food supplies to the council.

Previously, during the surge in food prices, thanks to a warning at a bakery, they had taken all their savings to buy hundreds of kilograms of wheat, half of which they had already sold…

That half was hers and her husband's, while the other half was saved for their two children. Susan initially had no intention of selling it, but yesterday, she suddenly heard that the council kept lowering the purchase price because they were running out of reserve funds, so she took out part of it again.

Her capacity was limited, but she could contribute a little… Perhaps the bread they ate in the workshop contained her share of the wheat!

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The other townspeople also spoke out about their experiences, feeling valued for the first time like Susan; they realized that someone truly cared about them, the lowest of the poor.

The people praised the power of magic and the kindness of Wizards. Since Ivina also was a Wizard, she received many of the accolades.

Ivina fell silent, each praise piercing her heart like a sharp knife, because no one knew better than her that the so-called food war was instigated by Monroe, and the rumor spreading across the kingdom was also released by them.