Chapter 38
"The number of people in the traveling troupes?"
Roa's question to Zodia.
"Yes. An approximation is fine, but do you have any idea? I want to get a rough estimate of how much food we'll need."
"Well... I don't have a complete grasp of every traveling troupe, but... I've interacted with about thirty. I believe there are probably around fifty troupes altogether."
"Fifty... That's fewer than I expected."
"Is that so?"
Traveling troupes are unstable groups that form and fade away.
If their performances fail to captivate people, they struggle to find food for the next day. Even when their acts do attract people, various reasons can still force them to disband.
If a troupe manages to disband with its members still alive, it is one of the better outcomes. It is not uncommon for them to quietly lose their lives in an unfamiliar land.
"I see... And how many people are we talking about? Lu Pu Zea had around sixteen, didn't it?"
"Yes. One person has recently joined us, so there are seventeen now. We are on the larger side. Some troupes have as few as five members. As far as I know, the largest have a little over twenty. I've never heard of a traveling troupe with as many as thirty."
The more members a troupe had, the more mouths there were to feed. Even under exceptional circumstances, Zodia thought thirty was the limit for keeping a troupe together.
"Then let's estimate high and assume there are fifty troupes of thirty people each. That's 1,500 people. Well, I'm glad it's fewer than I expected. Even if we secure a year's worth of food for them, we should be able to manage without too much strain."
"You call 1,500 people few?"
Since Roa had said it so matter-of-factly, Zodia was a little surprised. Fifteen hundred people was far more than the population of a remote mountain hamlet. A year's worth of food for that many people was by no means a small amount.
"Yes. I was worried there might be as many as 5,000."
Zodia and Roa were speaking on entirely different scales. So this was Roa=Stein, who now stood in a position capable of changing the course of history.
"Well, that settles the question of quantity. Next, the distribution sites..."
As Roa continued as though nothing had happened, Zodia secretly wished to be allowed to read his stars once more someday, even if doing so left Zodia feeling unwell afterward.
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"A poor harvest will occur, food will disappear from the continent, and Roa=Stein is preparing to secure food for the entire continent? Good grief, surely not..."
Belluman looked incredulous at the story Zodia brought back. Zodia could understand. Without the premise that Roa knew the future, Zodia, too, would have dismissed it as an exaggeration.
But now was no time to debate that.
"Roa-sama knows how to read the weather. Given his overwhelming foresight and ability to understand the heavens, along with the ill-omened stars I've been seeing lately, I think it's entirely possible... No, it is possible."
Because they couldn't explain that Roa knew the future, they had agreed beforehand to say that he could read the weather.
"Can Roa=Stein control the heavens, too?"
Belluman's face twitched.
"Not control them—read them. I am certain there will be a poor harvest. In fact, in the town we were in recently, you heard them say, 'The summer vegetables aren't turning out well,' didn't you?"
"I did hear that, but..."
"This isn't the time to debate whether it will happen or not. If there isn't a poor harvest, we can laugh it off."
"But... gathering all the traveling troupes in one place is unprecedented."
"Perhaps, but if we don't, our fellow performers may starve to death."
As Zodia tried desperately to persuade him, Belluman narrowed his eyes.
"What's wrong?"
"No, Zodia, you've changed somehow. It's almost as if you're the leader of all the traveling troupes."
At those words, Zodia frowned.
"Ah, no, I didn't mean that as an insult. Sorry if you took it that way. Until now, you always seemed to keep a certain distance from people. It just caught me a little off guard."
Zodia didn't feel any different, but if Zodia's true nature had changed, it was undoubtedly due to the influence of that unassuming strategist-sama. Or perhaps Zodia's own star, too, had been influenced by Roa.
No, saying it might have been influenced was too weak. Zodia was one of the few people who knew Roa's secret. Zodia's star, too, had to be among the stars in the circle centered on Roa.
As Zodia gave an involuntary wry smile at the thought, Belluman peered at Zodia worriedly.
"I really didn't mean that as an insult..."
"Sorry, sorry. That's not it. No, perhaps I've grown a little, too. Forget about me. Belluman, please cooperate to help our fellow performers. I'm asking you."
"All right. If you feel that strongly. Besides, I don't want our fellow performers to starve, either. But what are you planning to do?"
"I'll use Loref's Scream. I'll send Loref's Scream to every troupe we can reach and have them gather."
"I suppose that's the surest way, but are you really sure it's okay? If nothing comes of this, we'll face tremendous backlash."
"I'd like to say I'm prepared for that, but if anyone objects, I intend to leave Lu Pu Zea and use Loref's Scream on my own."
Faced with Zodia's refusal to yield even a step, Belluman finally gave in.
"To Lu Pu Zea, you're an indispensable member. I can't make you bear the responsibility alone. I've made up my mind. I'll cooperate with you—or rather, with you and Roa=Stein."
Thus began the incident that would later be known among the wanderers as Loref's Cry.