Nathan finally went to a secluded area. Since he had some time, it would be better to explain things to Evelyn and probably interrogate the people from the Divine Hands. After all, he would be busy managing the town once the mayor arrived.
After ensuring that no one was near him, Nathan activated the magic circle Evelyn gave him, signaling her that he wanted to come there.
It was probably due to the previous teleportation that Evelyn was actually hesitating to teleport to him, thinking there would be people to intercept her.
Nevertheless, Evelyn still came, this time not immediately teleporting back to the base as she couldn't sense the four presences around him.
"Hmm?" Evelyn looked around.
"Why would you even teleport to me all of a sudden earlier?" Nathan crossed his arms, his eyes demanding explanations.
"Let's go to the base first."
"Fine." Nathan nodded.
Evelyn immediately snapped her fingers as they disappeared from the area.
Nathan and Evelyn landed back on the base. It turned out all the Sleeping Garden's members had been waiting for them, no, for Nathan.
They definitely wanted to know what was going on.
Instead of answering them, Nathan simply glanced at Evelyn. Her action was reckless earlier. She assumed that everything would be fine because he wouldn't be near Vivian, but that assumption had almost caused a lot of trouble.
Evelyn sighed. "I wanted to know what was going on. However, it was my mistake for coming all of a sudden without consulting you first. I'm sorry."
"…" The others were silent. They had mixed feelings, considering their captain was apologizing.
However, Nathan didn't care much about it because he was still a part of the Sleeping Garden. Their captain was also his captain. If they treated him badly because of it, it meant he wasn't a part of the Sleeping Garden.
It appeared everyone understood it. That was why no one spoke up.
Nathan asked, "I'm going to ask first. Have you got some food?"
Neyeid shook his head. "I have purchased some, but not that much."
Nathan nodded in understanding. If there was someone who didn't trust him the most, it would be Neyeid. He might have acknowledged Nathan's ability, but he wouldn't trust him that easily.
Neyeid added, "I have asked my assistant to purchase more. I still don't understand why we should stock up that much supply. Even though this is a volcanic eruption, it will disappear soon. So, 6 months should be enough."
Nathan shook his head. "The effect of this volcanic eruption won't end for at least several years. Not only famine and drought, but the temperature will drop for a few years or even longer than a decade. As a result, it will be a prolonged winter without the sunlight reaching the ground."
"!!!" Neyeid and Isabella widened their eyes in disbelief.
Evelyn thought for a moment, asking, "The volcano is not an ordinary volcano?"
"Yeah. It's a supervolcano. It's not even on this land." Nathan shook his head helplessly. "It should be the land across the sea, but I don't know how far it is. The temperature I'm talking about is the global temperature, meaning the entire world, including the land across the sea."
"…" Evelyn finally understood what happened. "So, those people earlier…"
"Yeah. They were working together with me to solve the food supply problem. As you can guess already, hunting is the only option in this kind of situation, but animals will also die due to the prolonged winter and ash.
"Hence, there's a need to find a solution to the food problem. But before that…" Nathan sighed.
"You want to get as much food as possible so that a lot of people can survive?" Evelyn finished his sentence, revealing the true reason for his order.
Nathan just shrugged. It didn't matter anymore.
"Well, I should have informed you about the reason, but when I sent that message, it was only a suspicion. Once I got the confirmation, there were simply so many things to do that it slipped my mind." Nathan sighed.
Evelyn turned to Neyeid, asking, "Do you think it's possible to get all that food?"
"If it were a few hours ago, I could spread all my agents and monitor the food price over several cities, which would allow me to buy everything. But right now, the situation will be chaotic, and the food will be hoarded. There's a high chance robbery will happen if people see a lot of food, thinking that something big has indeed happened." Neyeid shook his head helplessly.
Nathan just glanced at Neyeid for a second before turning back to Evelyn, as if he didn't care much about the lack of trust.
"Anyway, I have some time right now. I should be able to interrogate those three hands. They should be here, right?" Nathan asked. "Are they still under the illusion?"
Evelyn nodded. "Indeed. I will guide you to them."
"It's fine. They should be in the same room anyway, so I will just head there alone and tell you when we're ready." Nathan waved his hand and just walked by himself.
Evelyn opened her mouth, wanting to say something. However, the words stuck in her throat.
Previously, Nathan agreed to capture the three hands, even if it meant showing a bit of his secret to her.
However, the current situation has changed that trust. Due to Neyeid and her actions, Nathan stopped them from coming, showing that he didn't want to share that little secret. Bella could feel Nathan's disappointment.
He had done everything he could for the group, but in the end, they couldn't trust him.
Evelyn could feel that disappointment squeezing her heart. It was her mistake as a captain. Even if she knew Neyeid's lack of trust, she should have trusted Nathan and Neyeid equally.
Nathan, on the other hand, reached the room where the three intoxicated hands were imprisoned.
Of course, before they even began, Nathan formed two contracts in his hand. To Anubis' surprise, the contracts were nothing like he had seen before.