My Friend and I Reincarnated Into a Tragedy Dating Game

104  Poverty Plague

While the situation was obviously urgent, both Nathan and I just ended up sitting and looking at each other. Though, it's not like we had anything else to do, because we had to think of a solution.

The ironic thing about the Poverty Plague was that if everyone was living fairly, then the fact that this disease even existed in the first place might be unknown. In fact, if it was taken to the modern world, there would probably be many people that would want to contract the disease so that they could lose weight.

Because really, that's all that it did. In the modern world, it was less of a threat than the common cold. Yet, here, many would end up starving to death.

The rather unfortunate thing about this was that regardless of the choice you made in the game, there would still be at least about one thousand or so deaths. And if you didn't make several different choices beforehand, half of the commoner population would end up dead.

There was also a decently high chance that Minori would die this way too, but I wasn't too worried about it since all I had to do was get her extra food.

...Though Nathan would probably have to arrange that considering her current attitude towards me.

After rubbing my forehead for a little while, I spoke up.

"To be frank, the plan that I was trying before didn't work for jack, so that definitely won't help at all. As for Bernie, even he wouldn't be able to mitigate everything, especially considering that it's a little too late now to grow stuff."

I clicked my tongue.

"But at the very least he came to me before to apologize, so maybe it won't take too long for him to develop that magic spell."

Nathan clasped his hands together and rested his forehead against them.

"That doesn't change the problem right in front of us though. How much food have you gotten so far?"

I blinked a few times. Now that he said that, I remembered telling James to get a bunch of food before. But now, it looked really awkward because of how little of it actually ended up being used for the sake of others.

I narrowed my eyes and got up from my seat.

"Hold on, I'll go check with the guy I told to buy a bunch."

I made my way to James' study. He was sitting down working on some documents and was clearly quite surprised by my appearance, but greeted me regardless.

"Hello, Lord Bryson. School is starting soon, so you should hurry on already. Although I'm sure you know this, Education isn't something to be neglected."

I waved my hand dismissively.

"Yes, I will go soon. But before that, may I ask about the food I told you to buy?"

A bitter smile formed on James' face.

"Ah, of course. We have an incredibly large amount of surplus as your method hasn't worked very well. I've already considerably slowed down the amount we are purchasing, so you don't have to worry about it."

I put a hand up to stop him.

"How much do we have right now?"

James tapped his finger on the table a few times as he looked at me.

"The entire warehouse reserved for provision is at max capacity."

I took in a deep breath.

"Can we dramatically increase the amount we are purchasing for food?"

James waved his hand with annoyance.

"I've already told you I lowered how much I've been purchasing."

I sighed and cleared my throat.

"No, I'm telling you to dramatically INCREASE the amount we are buying."

James was writing something before freezing in place. The ink gradually spread out as he looked at me as though I was a stranger.

"Why are you doing this? This is clearly foolish, is it not?"

Well, I guess it doesn't hurt to give an explanation.

"A friend has come to inform me that in due time, there will be many people who will be needing it."

James narrowed his eyes in disdain.

"Oh really? And you haven't questioned it even slightly."

I shook my head with a solemn expression.

"In reality, he himself is not certain. However, I am not willing to take chances on this. The reason that he was able to become acquainted with me so easily was that he is capable."

James pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration before standing up with a sigh.

"He was the one that barged in earlier, no? If he wants to make use of the Arden family, then I want to hear the words straight from his mouth."

To be honest, I was a bit slighted that he was suspicious of Nathan. Though at the same time, I understood it was perfectly reasonable for him to do this. In fact, I'd probably be rather shocked if he didn't do this.

"Alright, fine. He's in my room right now."

I led James over to my room. He had a strict expression on his face, while his hands were behind his back. His demeanor around me was usually fairly strict, but it was still mostly casual. But now, he had suddenly changed as though he wanted to look like the final boss or something.

Upon entering the room and spotting Nathan, he spoke slowly.

"I heard you claimed that there will be a need for a large amount of food. Under what grounds are you making such statements?"

Nathan was visibly confused for a moment but got a gist of the situation rather quickly.

"Yes. While I can't be certain, I believe I accidentally released a plague that will cause people to fall to famine far faster than normal."

James furrowed his brows greatly.

"Oh? So you've fallen to a hallucination and wish to use the Arden family to act upon it? Go home with your delusions, the world doesn't revolve around you."

Nathan took in a deep breath.

"I understand that it is difficult to believe, but please hear me out regardless. I don't have the connections nor the manpower to do such a thing. If it's in terms of funds, then I can compensate you."

Hearing this, James was taken aback for a moment. But later he clicked his tongue.

"And how much money do you have? Will you really be able to compensate?"

I cleared my throat a bit, cutting him off.

"He is the one in charge of the pale meat business in the first place."

James was a bit flabbergasted. He calmed down after a moment before letting out a sigh.

"Fine. But you must compensate for this upfront."

Nathan nodded then turned to me.

"Could you take out the funds I've given you?"

I went over and took out the gold coins I had stashed away behind the head of my bed. James looked at me strangely.

"Isn't that your own possessions? Why are you taking it out for him?"

I shook my head.

"He was the one that had entrusted the majority of his earnings to me. He will occasionally send them to me for safekeeping."

James looked back and forth between the two of us.

"...It seems you two have quite a lot of trust for each other."

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Sometimes things just happen that way."

After looking between us for quite a while, he sighed.

"Fine. I will use the funds from the Arden family. But how can you be so sure about the plague that is spreading?"

I decided that I should step in here instead so that it would be more believable.

own."

15:30

"I've heard before that there was an old disease that was fairly harmless in the past. It would make one feel abnormally fatigued, but give them lots of energy. But the defining trait is one's body starts to release an abnormal amount of heat."

James raised an eyebrow, not getting what I was trying to say. I pointed at Nathan.

"Try to touch his skin."

James walked over and tried his best to touch as little of him as possible. But still, he let out a small gasp.

"This... is not normal."

I cleared my throat.

"The actual disease itself isn't actually lethal, as it just makes one more hungry, needing more energy to maintain their normal functions. After maybe a week of experiencing it, one is supposed to be immune to it altogether. However, the problem is that most people won't have that extra food needed in order to survive."

James thought for a moment before giving a small nod.

"I suppose that is reasonable."

He took in a deep breath.

"Alright, just go to school now. If you wait any longer, you might be late. I'll handle the rest on my own."

Right after saying that, he let out a long sigh while holding a hand to the side of his head. It seemed that he was already overworked as it was.

...Well, that's not my problem I guess.

Nathan cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Also, do you mind if I have something to eat?"

James looked mildly offended at first but seemed to remember the reason why that was happening.

"Fine, go ahead."

Nathan got a pretty large piece of bread and got on the carriage with me and Jess. He voraciously ate the bread, making him really look like a beggar. Jess didn't seem to mind at all, despite the fact that most nobles probably would.

Once we got to school, I could already see that other people had similar symptoms to Nathan. They were holding onto their stomachs as though they were in pain. Seeing this, I sighed.

"It looks like it's already spreading."

Eh, you guys are overreacting man.

Disgrace