The sound of rain continued to pour down over Rhodes.
"124… 125… 126…"
Napoleta sat on the floor, carefully counting each food pack.
He stood up and raised his hand to his forehead.
"Sir, we have 126 food packs, each weighing 1kg."
Beside him, Perrie was still dividing water into smaller bags.
After finishing the last one, he immediately turned around.
"Sir, we have a total of 218 water packs, each containing 1 liter."
Umi did not respond immediately.
He stood still for a moment, his gaze lowering.
Then he turned toward the wall behind him.
He raised his index finger, and a sharp shard of ice instantly formed.
"What… is he doing?"
Murmurs spread below.
Raindor, sitting next to Ganso, tilted his head slightly.
"Ganso, guess what Umi is doing."
Ganso shook his head.
"It's all numbers and symbols… I'm terrible at that."
Umi placed his hand on the wall.
Lines of symbols and numbers were carved into it with ice, overlapping and spreading across the entire surface.
After a while, he stopped.
The wall was completely filled with calculations.
Umi turned around.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
He struck the wall hard.
The icy writings shattered and fell to the ground.
"Listen."
Umi's voice rang out clearly.
"We have 126 kilograms of food. Divided among 21 people, each person gets 6 kilograms."
He pointed at a line near the bottom.
"If each person consumes 0.6 kilograms per day, we can last for 10 days."
No one spoke.
Even though they did not fully understand, they all nodded.
Umi continued.
"With a distance like that, we will have to travel 80 kilometers per day. If we move at a speed of 5 kilometers per hour…"
He raised his finger and wrote the final line on the wall.
"16 hours each day."
He cleared his throat and placed his hands behind his back.
"As soon as the rain weakens, we move out."
Everyone responded in unison.
"Yes, sir!"
Raindor chuckled softly and turned to Ganso.
"Hey, how did you even make it here in just one day?"
Ganso looked down at his hand.
"I don't really know…"
He slowly clenched it.
"That day… I just kept heading southwest."
The rain of the present blended into his memory.
That day, Ganso's body was completely exhausted.
Blood and wounds covered him.
He collapsed to his knees in front of Rhodes.
"Food… water…"
His voice was hoarse, barely audible.
He lifted his head.
A massive city stood before him.
The moment he saw the lake surrounding it, his eyes lit up.
"Water…"
He forced himself forward.
But the water was too far away.
The lake was vast, deep, and lower than where he stood.
He reached out, but could not touch it.
"Water…"
With no other choice, he stood up and stepped onto the wooden bridge leading into the city.
"Locked…"
The gates were shut tight.
He tilted his head back, trying to shout…
But his throat was dry, no sound came out.
Back to the present.
Ganso watched the raindrops fall into his palm.
"After that… I just kept moving forward. I was lucky to meet Tetsutaro outside."
He lowered his hand.
"But after that… I don't remember anything."
On the platform above, Umi gave a signal.
Immediately, the soldiers pulled hard on a thick rope on the ground.
The city gates slowly opened.
Umi jumped down.
"Thanks. I'll go outside for a moment."
He raised his hand.
A blue ice umbrella instantly formed.
The rain continued to pour.
Umi stepped outside.
He stood on a wooden bridge in the middle of a vast lake.
He looked straight ahead.
The horizon was blurred, swallowed by thick fog.
Umi let out a quiet sigh.
"That thing… I hope it isn't real…"
He looked up at the umbrella as it slowly began to melt.
"It must be… just a misunderstanding…"
Umi turned back toward the city.
His steps were slow and heavy.
Then he suddenly stopped.
His gaze fixed in the distance.
A dense forest stood silently within the fog.
Everything was unclear, hidden from sight.
Umi stood there for a moment.
His brows slightly furrowed.
"Is it… a demon?"
He immediately raised his hand, pointing toward that direction.
Cold ice began to spread from the center of his palm.
A sharp ice spike formed.
"Frost Fang!"
The spike emitted a freezing aura.
His fingers tightened, ready to fire.
But his umbrella suddenly cracked and shattered.
He flinched slightly.
The ice spike in his palm withdrew.
Umi turned and quickly stepped back inside the city.
Far away.
Behind the trees.
A figure stood motionless.
Its orange shell was struck repeatedly by the rain, yet it did not move.
Waffle.
He watched silently.
"Browne, Blondie… get ready."
The rain poured down.
But the drops seemed to slide off his body, never clinging to it.
His full form was revealed in the darkness.
A massive beetle.
Thick armor plates protruded across his body.
A large horn curved backward from his head.
His four arms trembled slightly with each drop of rain.
He raised his head.
Sharp teeth were revealed.
Pitch-black eyes stared directly at Rhodes.
"Humans…"
His voice lowered.
"And Van Ouderwets… are there."