A Soul Transferred

Throughout the entire migration, there were naturally setbacks, conflicts, and casualties. But the end result was that, whether it was the villagers who left halfway or the three hundred elderly and weak who reached the destination, at least most people survived. In this era, achieving such a feat with the power of commoners was nothing short of a miracle.

Leo's predecessor was undoubtedly one of Uncle Urian's staunchest supporters. This wild and untamed young brute only took orders from Uncle Urian. When Leo stepped into the tent, Urian's bearded face showed a hint of a smile, but it quickly turned into a stern glare as he barked, "Are you healed yet? Wandering around all day, I've had enough of you!"

Instinctively, Leo shrank back, smoothly covering his chest and putting on a pained expression, but he couldn't help asking, "What are you discussing? We're already here, why so much fuss?"

"You know nothing," Urian snapped. "Three hundred people need food, water, shelter—everything is a big deal."

Urian had no desire to explain anything to a brainless war fanatic. He waved his hand as if swatting away a mosquito. "Get healed. Once you're fit, take some men to scout the surroundings. We need to know the lay of the land, what to clear out, and what to guard against. This is our home now. We can't be ambushed every other day."

Turning his gaze to the man standing next to Leo, Urian continued, "Valery, take some men and dismantle the useless wagons. Start putting up a fence—three sides, rough coverage, just for basic protection. We'll make proper houses later."

The burly man named Valery nodded and went out to do his task, clearly experienced in such matters.

"Lashka, take a few people and burn off the grassland to the north. Tomorrow, start clearing the fields."

"Got it."

"Rusev, go with the militia and sweep the area. See if there's anything of value. We're running low on supplies."

The middle-aged man named Rusev nodded silently. He was the village's general store owner, the one who had most frequently traveled between the village and the town, handling all exchanges of goods with the outside world. Compared to the villagers who lived off the land, he had far more knowledge and knew the value of things better. His two sons had died in the orc raids, leaving only a small grandson.

Like Valery and Lashka, he was one of those capable people who hadn't left the caravan midway.

Staring at the crude map on the table, Urian scratched his chin and confidently encouraged the others, "I've been in this area before. It has everything we need. If we work together and get through the next six months, things will get better. Once we have the resources, I'll hire a survey team to check for any mineral deposits. If we find anything, we'll strike it rich!"

However, his words didn't have the desired effect. The people in the tent were the core of the pioneering team and knew far more than the puppets outside just trying to survive. The caravan had reached this point—out of resources, ammunition, and food.

Compared to the hardships of migration, the struggles they faced now were the real challenge.

If Leo were his old self, he would have been infected by Urian's optimism, excited by the beautiful future he described, temporarily forgetting the current dire situation. But he was no longer his old self. He wasn't blindly happy; instead, he stared at the map, deep in thought.

Uncle Urian had chosen to migrate at the end of winter and the beginning of spring, not just to avoid the large-scale looting of orc scout squads but also to take advantage of the thaw. They needed to clear enough land for farming in time for the April rye planting season. With the fertile land of the river bend and the relatively warmer climate compared to the banks of the North Ice River, the pioneering team could achieve self-sufficiency in food by the first year if they had enough labor force.

The problem was that the caravan had less than three hundred people left, most of whom were the elderly, weak, women, and children. Many families were too weak to survive on their own and had chosen to stay under Urian's protection. Most of the families with savings and able-bodied members had been unable to endure the harsh winter migration and had settled in the fertile villages along the way.

Even in the best-case scenario, where all three hundred people worked together and achieved food self-sufficiency in the first year, they still faced the problem of food supply until the rye harvest.

Relying solely on fishing and hunting was impossible. Leo's village, although a naturally formed settlement, was one of the few farming villages along the North Ice River. A hundred years ago, the village was granted to a knight family by the Freiloff lord. In theory, apart from their houses and allotted fields, everything else belonged to the knight lord. Villagers relied entirely on farming. Even if the local lord didn't ban hunting and logging, most villagers were too poor to afford hunting tools.

The best hunters in the village were Urian and Leo, the self-taught wild child. The villagers' homemade bows and bone arrows could only hunt small animals like rabbits and foxes; they couldn't even kill a full-grown deer. If it weren't for this, they could have driven off the kobolds with a volley of arrows during the attack.

Moreover, the wilderness of this world was teeming with various alien tribes, wild beast dens, and even magical creatures. Sending a group of under-armed villagers to hunt in unfamiliar territory was practically a death sentence.

"Mines? What kind of mines are you talking about?" Leo asked, still pondering their next steps while staring at the map.

Urian waved his hand grandly. "Any kind—gold, silver, even copper would be fine."

Leo scoffed. "Copper? You're dreaming. How about iron?"

"Iron? What iron?" Urian and the others widened their eyes in disbelief, exchanging confused glances. Where did this iron come from?

Leo pulled out a spearhead from a box in the corner of the tent and tossed it onto the round table. "This."

The spearhead, except for the tip, was covered in thick rust. Even so, the surface was pockmarked with tiny holes, revealing its poor quality. This was one of the spears left behind by the kobolds, collected by Urian. The intact spears had been distributed to the villagers for self-defense, and the damaged ones were set aside to be reforged into farm tools once they settled down.

The empire's grand dukes were constantly at war, pouring not just lives but also a massive amount of weapons, armor, and other military supplies into the battlefield. The frigid North, already impoverished compared to the rest of the empire, had its scarce steel resources monopolized by the nobles, forged into weapons and armor, and sent to the front lines, causing iron prices to skyrocket. Many villagers couldn't even afford a hoe.

Seeing the others still confused, Leo patiently guided them. "Where do you think the kobolds got their iron? They can't have bought it, right?"

Urian slapped his thigh in excitement. "Are you saying the kobolds found an iron mine?"

Leo pointed at the spearhead on the table. The answer was obvious. Such things should be easy to figure out, especially for someone like him, steeped in the fantasy settings of novels and games. "Kobolds" and "mines" were intrinsically linked in his mind.

Leo had been considering the issues of mining and transporting the iron. The quality of the ore, its suitability for mining, labor force availability, and the means of transporting and selling the iron were the real concerns. But the others had a different focus.

Urian stared at Leo in disbelief and exclaimed, "By Mondor's beard! You've grown a brain?"

This question instantly ignited the room. The others started talking over each other.

"No way, my pigs are smarter than him!"

"I bet he's possessed by the spirit of the kobold he killed!"

"Or maybe a demon's soul has taken over his body."

"Yes, yes! A soul transfer! It's a soul transfer!"

Leo looked at them, speechless. How could they arrive at the truth in just a few words yet not come up with a way to fill their bellies?