Famine

"Ah! This hammock is really uncomfortable to sleep in!" Roland, just waking up, twisted his tired waist.

"Damn, no way, I'm so young, I shouldn't be weak..." Seeing no one around, Roland studied the happiness of his latter half of life.

"My lord, it's time to eat!" Caslo suddenly pushed the door open, and the dilapidated wooden door let out a sound of being unable to bear the load.

"Put it on the table!" Roland said casually, looking at the table that still had fresh breakages.

"Yes, my lord, please enjoy." Caslo respectfully placed the breakfast on the table and then retreated.

"Hmm, not bad, quite exquisite!" Roland looked at the breakfast in front of him, a bowl of oatmeal, three slices of white bread, and two palm-sized grilled fish. Roland couldn't help but be surprised. Were these big lords' cooking skills so good? The food they made could only be called "won't kill you" or "won't let you starve to death"...

Thinking of this, Roland pushed the door open, and with a bang, the wooden door finally collapsed under the heavy load. Roland's mouth twitched, and he helplessly ordered the two knights on guard to clean it up.

"Caslo, who made today's breakfast?" Roland asked Caslo, who was wolfing down his food, curiously.

"Mmm... it was the mistress of that family of refugees who arrived yesterday. After all, none of us are very good at cooking, and Ivy is just someone who only knows how to eat! Not like a woman at all," Caslo muttered.

As he spoke, Roland noticed the black bread and water pouch in Caslo's hand and couldn't help but frown, "You're eating this stuff?"

Roland was greatly surprised. He didn't expect the noble Wyvern Knight to have a day where he ate black bread. Thinking of this, Roland became extremely angry. How could these commoners make black bread for the soldiers who protected them! Roland quickened his pace towards the home of the refugees who arrived yesterday.

At this time, the Bao Bi Family was busy making breakfast for the soldiers. They carefully mixed the ground flour with bran and baked it into black bread, distributing it to the already hungry soldiers. Beside them, a large pot was simmering with mushroom and wild vegetable soup. Their mistress carefully served a bowl to each soldier on guard. Several half-grown children beside her looked at the food in front of them with longing. Their bright eyes stared fixedly at the bread coming out of the oven and the steaming soup, but they just shrunk behind their parents, trying hard to inhale the aroma...

"It's time to eat!" The mother smiled and served breakfast to the children, a bowl of thin porridge mixed with bran, vegetable roots, and a small amount of wheat grains.

The children immediately crowded around, received their portions of food, and swallowed them enthusiastically. The unpalatable bran and vegetable roots tasted as sweet as delicacies in their mouths.

Roland, who had come over with a furious momentum, saw this heartbreaking scene as soon as he poked his head in. His anger instantly vanished. He looked at the bowls behind the couple, which contained the food they had saved for themselves—clear soup with a few floating leaves of vegetables.

Roland looked at it all helplessly, not understanding why it was like this. Caslo, who had reacted, quickly pulled Roland aside.

"My lord, we don't have much food, so we have to eat sparingly..." Caslo explained in a low voice.

"I just want to know why my people are eating chaff and vegetables! And my soldiers are eating black bread!" Roland's voice was low but extremely angry.

"It's winter now! We have no supplies..." Caslo lowered his head and said sadly. This was the sorrow of a force without a foundation... A harsh winter could bring it down. Besides the food rewarded by the system at the beginning, Roland had not replenished any supplies, and of course, he had nowhere to replenish them. This led to the biggest problem Flowing City was facing now—famine!

Roland rubbed his nose helplessly. All his ambitions had turned into bubbles. How could he, who couldn't even get through this winter, be qualified to restore the glory of Lagrange?

"Organize the Archers to go hunting!" Roland could only rely on hunting to solve the immediate crisis.

"Knight Captain Reno has already taken people to go! Consider this a wasteland... there won't be many large prey," Caslo said, pouring cold water on him, though he didn't want to.

"Haven't you organized people to go fishing? The Swift River is less than two kilometers in front of us! It has plenty of fish for us to eat!" Roland asked again.

"No fishing boats or nets... fishing with a rod is just luck, and the harvest is like a drop in the bucket," Caslo explained.

The air suddenly became quiet. Roland and Caslo stared at each other, at a loss.

"Wait! What did you say we were lacking?" Roland's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Fishing boats and nets!" Caslo repeated, confused.

"Hahaha! The problem is solved!" Roland suddenly burst out laughing.

Caslo was startled, thinking his king had gone mad.

"We have boats! Did you forget the Galleons we used to board Lake-town?" Roland felt incredibly wise about his decision to keep those ships.

"What about the nets!" Caslo quickly asked. With the boats solved, how would they catch fish without nets?

"Can't you look for them in the ruins of Lake-town? Many fishing boats were used by the Archers to escape back then! There must be complete fishing tools on them. Ride your dragon and fly around the lake to find them carefully!" Roland quickly proposed a solution.

"That's right! My lord, you are truly wise!" Caslo excitedly ran to an open space, summoned his dragon, and soared into the sky.

"Someone!" Roland called out.

"My lord!" Several patrolling knights nearby rushed over. After all, only knights were left in Flowing City; the skilled Archers had all gone hunting.

"Gather the idle knights, and we'll go fishing by the river!" Roland ordered.

After gathering the knights, Roland headed straight for Ladyl's house.

"Lord Ladyl, we are going to solve the problem of food shortage in the city. Please take care of things here," Roland instructed.

"Hahaha, Your Highness, please go with peace of mind. As long as this old bone of mine is still alive, Flowing City will be safe," Ladyl said with a smile, reassuring Roland.

"Boom!" The heavy dragon's body landed on the grass by the river with a dull thud.

Looking at Roland, who was carrying large and small bags on the dragon's back, he couldn't help but smile. It seemed Caslo's trip was fruitful. From a cloth bag, Roland could vaguely see dried fish peeking out.

"How was it, Caslo?" Roland asked about his harvest.

"A great harvest! I thought they had taken everything with them before we drove them away, but I didn't expect them to leave so much!" Caslo boasted about his harvest with a beaming face.

"How many fishing nets were there?" Roland asked about the matter he cared about most.

"Oh! Fishing nets! There are 17 here! And 8 damaged nets, which can be used to repair the good ones later," Caslo said, untying the fishing nets from the dragon's back. The young Wind Dragon whined impatiently, seeming dissatisfied at being used as a beast of burden.

"Hahaha! Brothers! Let's go fishing!" Roland released the Galleon from his system space happily.

In the evening, watching everyone gather around the campfire roasting plump white fish, Roland smiled happily. He had fulfilled his duty as a lord, ensuring the basic needs of his people. Looking at the smiling commoners, Roland suddenly felt sad. The arms holding the roasted fish were only covered with a layer of linen clothing, and they shivered in the cold evening wind...

"My lord, 11 more commoners arrived today. They are from 3 families..." Ivy, who had stayed in the city, introduced the new residents to Roland.

"It looks like I have to make a trip to Erebor..." Roland sighed helplessly, looking at the new residents who were also wearing single layers of clothing.

"Caslo, accompany me to Erebor tomorrow. Reno, you continue to lead people to fish!" After giving instructions to everyone, Roland turned and left. He didn't want to see that heartbreaking scene.

"System! You're really a scammer! You wouldn't even give the refugees a few more pieces of clothing!" Roland cursed the system silently in his heart.

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