"Master Koraxa. Are we going to get better?" A small boy asked with a smile as if he didn’t want to worry him.

Koraxa clenched his fists. The boy in front of him was covered in bruises.

"Of course, things will get better from now on." Koraxa bent his knees and stroked the boy’s head.

When he turned his head around, he would see another child eating rotten bread. No, it would be more accurate to say that the child was devouring the bread so that no one could steal it.

But he would soon clutch his stomach while crying in pain, as though everything he had eaten these days was gnawing at him from the inside.

Yet he gritted his teeth as if he were determined to survive.

On another corner, there was a mother who hugged bread as if she had protected it with her life. Next to her was her child, who was crying as her mother breathed her last, just so that the child could eat.

Koraxa felt like he wanted to throw up, but he couldn’t show weakness. They needed to survive.

He tried to give them hope, but he wondered if this hope just made them suffer more than they were supposed to. If they had given up, they wouldn’t suffer all this.

He couldn’t provide any more food. The summoners had worked hard, but they could barely supply enough food. The animals had died, and the plantation had been devastated. There were no other sources of food.

Even as the leader, he only ate a single bread a day just to get enough energy to defend this fortress.

Koraxa kept thinking about giving up, but before all of them gave up, he felt he would have failed these people if he gave up now.

Nathan could see the pain in Koraxa’s eyes. When coming to this castle, Nathan had taken a brief look at the fortress’s situation. It was horrible. There were barely two thousand people still living here.

If he had to include the other fortress, Nathan doubted there were more than ten thousand people still living on this continent after the disaster.

Nathan asked, "How is the food supply here? Are they safe for consumption?"

"We don’t have any reserves anymore. People are fighting for food. Although some summoners are doing their best, it’s not enough to feed all these people." Koraxa shook his head helplessly.

Nathan thought for a moment before turning to Vivian.

"It should be fine. We can always resupply."

Because of its time element, the space ring had stopped food from spoiling. He had plenty of food, but it might not be enough.

"Do you have edible plant seeds?" Nathan asked.

Koraxa raised his head, wondering what Nathan wanted.

Nathan pointed at Vivian. "My fiancee has a divine rule like you, but her power is related to plants. She will accelerate the growth of the seed to supply food for one or two days.

"During that time, it’s best to go to the other fortress and gather the survivors before we go to the other continent.

"After that, they will take care of you until you’re able to stand on your feet again. It will be hard to speak with them, though. After all, there’s a language barrier unless you’re able to speak with them..."

"What are you going to do next? You’re not going to stay?" Koraxa asked.

"Sorry, but my original destination is actually Qion, not Myrall." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"I see." Koraxa sighed. It turned out Nathan came to them out of sympathy. He shouldn’t bother him any longer.

"How about this? You help the people to settle them down in Erendtall first? Once we’re done with the mission, we still have to go through Erendtall if we want to go back to Gratzel. If you still want to go with us to Gratzel, that will be fine too."

Koraxa took a deep breath. "I understand. What am I supposed to do?"

"For the time being, we need a spot for the plants. You will handle the cooking and tell them they can eat for the time being. Gather them in a single spot. My familiar happens to have the power to heal them, so this should clean them up before I send you to the other continent.

"You personally have to be there so that people won’t get anxious. We don’t want them to fight for the food for the next two days. Once you tell them to get ready, you lead us to the other fortress to see if they’re in need of our help as well. If they also intend to leave this continent, we will bring them together.

"But are you sure there are only two fortresses that remain standing?"

"I think so." Koraxa nodded firmly. "We have contacted them before, but they don’t know anyone who still survives."

"I see. In that case, we will go according to the plan. Once the link has been established, we will bring them to Erendtall."

Koraxa thought for a moment. This might be the hope that everyone had been waiting for. Their chance to survive had arrived.

This hope sounded too good to be true, but he wasn’t in the position to doubt this hope.

After all, they might not be able to survive much longer. He predicted that the fortress would fall in two to three months.

It would be better to settle on another continent than die here.

Koraxa took a deep breath before asking, "How about you let me guide you on this continent? I can even go to Qion with you. You need someone knowledgeable enough about this continent, right? I can help you. As a fighter, I may not be as strong as you, but I’m still pretty strong."

"That will be good, but how about those people?"

"Marcus... I mean, the other fortress leader is also a capable man. He should be able to help me to establish a new colony once we reach the other continent."

Nathan didn’t think it was a bad idea. Koraxa was indeed strong. He might be as strong as the Sword Saint. If he also remained in his city feeling in debt, he would protect his city together with the Dragon King.

Iris would be there to watch over the city for some time after he left for another world anyway, so it might actually be fine to arrange it this way.

So, Nathan said, "I don’t have an objection, but we should see where this is going first."

"Understood."