“Lark Marcus,” he mumbled. Evander liked the sound of his new name. At the very least, his parents have good naming sense.

Currently, Lark was inside a carriage heading towards his mansion. Through the window, he was able to see the small town. The houses resembling mud clays were haphazardly built in all directions. The streets were covered with snow, creating a white background.

In the Magic Empire, this place would hardly be called a town. It would be more appropriate to call it a village. By sight alone, he estimated that there were probably only a hundred houses in this place.

Still peeking through the window, his eyes landed on the residents shivering on the streets. They were skin and bones, as though they have not eaten for several days.

“Why are you letting the residents starve to death in this weather?” asked Lark curiously.

Gaston, who was sitting beside him, was surprised by this question. He had known the young master since he was young, and the old man knew that he did not have the slightest care about the residents.

The old butler cleared his throat. “Young Master, you don’t remember the Black Famine?”

Under the watchful gaze of the butler, Lark replied, “Don’t really bother to remember the small stuff. What of it?”

Gaston sighed. “Three months ago, the Black Famine hit the entire Kingdom, just right before the harvest. As a result, all the crops withered. Only root crops remained. Right now, wheat is weighed in gold. The nobles themselves are hardly getting by. We can’t afford to feed those residents.”

Gaston further explained to him that the Black Famine was caused by numerous small insects that ate the crops. Although they did not linger for long, their bites cause crops to wither and die in a few days. The Kingdom had been infested by these insects for such a long time that the King had even tasked the Ministry of Research to find a way to annihilate the pests.

Judging by the description of the butler, those insects were probably Kelnup Flies. Lark had encountered them before in his previous life.

And based on his knowledge, it was actually really easy to take care of those pests.

If those are really Kelnup Flies. And the plants growing in this place... They’re the same.

The possibility that this was the very same world was high. But right now, he had not enough evidence to prove that. If possible, he wanted to go to a National Library and learn more about this world. But that have to wait for now. First, he needed to address the immediate problems.

Lark furrowed his brows. “But I don’t understand. There’s so much food growing on the ground. There’s no reason for the residents to die of hunger, right?”

Gaston also peeked through the window. “What do you mean, Young Master?”

Lark pointed at the weeds that grew on the snow-covered ground. If one were to look at the sides, there were actually a lot of them.

“Those things are edible,” said Lark.

Gaston looked at the young master with eyes filled with understanding. “Young Master, those things are poisonous—”

“—if eaten raw, yes,” said Lark. He shouted towards the coachman. “Stop the carriage!”

Immediately, the carriage halted to a stop. Lark opened the door and was immediately assaulted by the freezing snow.

Gaston quickly followed behind him. “Young Master! You’re going to catch a cold! Please go back inside the cart!” Lark simply ignored the old butler. He bent down and pulled numerous weeds off the ground.

“What do you call these here?” said Lark.

Although hesitant, the butler replied, “Poison Cloud, Young Master. It helps melt the snow during winter, that’s why the residents didn’t pull them out. But Young Master, as I’ve said before, those things are proven to be poisonous.”

Lark smiled. “Have you heard of commoner’s wheat before?”

There was a small pause before Gaston shook his head. He wanted to drag away the young master from this freezing street. He was worried that he would catch a cold from this weather.

“Tell the other servants to pull out as much Poison Cloud as they can and place it inside the carts,” said Lark. When he saw that Gaston was about to object, he added, “That’s an order.”

Unable to object, the old man simply sighed and bowed, “As you wish, Young Master.”