NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23: Have Mercy
This time, the Guard Battalion is the largest force leading the attack.
But Guard Captain Edmond encountered no resistance.
The guards at the watchtower were long gone.
He brought his soldiers to this impoverished village—there are many such villages at the border of the Lion Territory.
They were accustomed to the convenience brought by red-walled houses and stone-paved roads.
Whether it's Origin City or Fertile City, the environment people live in is clean and hygienic, everything orderly.
So, when faced with this poor and desolate border village, a sense of disarray suddenly pulled Edmond and his soldiers back many years.
Children grew up from mud pits, washed clean upon reaching the shore, only to return to filthy swamps.
An indescribable stench and filth overwhelmed their senses, making them feel uncomfortable.
They realized this was the real face of the land.
The reality of places outside Lord Roman's rule...
The recent days brought light rain, and their path was muddy, army boots covered in thick clay. After desperately scraping off mud with exposed tree roots, they walked a few steps and the soles of their shoes were once again filled with a thick layer.
The environment here was even harsher.
Shacks built from branches and thatch scattered around, making the village layout chaotic.
Desolate and decayed, a bleak scene devoid of vitality.
Beside the field, a hapless person struggled to push a wooden plow, his body draped in tattered coarse linen, covered in thick mud spots.
Edmond glanced from afar, ignoring the person.
The person didn't react to the arrival of the Guard Captain's team, exuding a numbness that comes from despair.
Edmond waved, two squad leaders led 12 soldiers each to check the village's specifics while the rest continued to follow him.
Edmond took a few steps forward, entering the village shortly thereafter.
He saw an elderly woman sitting alone at the entrance, hair gray, wearing an ill-fitting linen dress, her bare feet full of calluses and sores.
Edmond approached, crouching to ask, "Where are the guards here?"
He wore simple plate armor and a shining Guard helmet, only the joints uncovered, tall and imposing, the soldiers were not as robust as him but appeared burly.
Edmond crouched down, eyes level with the old woman.
"Gone, they said the devil came, all gone. They dare not fight the devil, only show off in front of us."
The old woman's brown eyes were empty, staring at him and the soldiers behind him, her tone certain and disdainful, implying who the devil was.
Edmond showed no anger.
He understood well that these people hadn't yet basked in Your Highness's grace, misunderstanding was normal.
He asked again, "Why didn't you leave?"
"There's no food, no seeds, you devils sent by the rats, take what you want."
She gestured to the moldy straw, broken furniture in the shack.
Her children had fled, she feared neither the people in front of her nor their sharp weapons.
"That's all there is," she said. "Mr. Knight, if you're displeased just kill me, my corpse might fill your stomach."
The old woman's vicious curse pegged Edmond as Conquest Knight.
But River Valley's system long abandoned Conquest Knight, their training imbued with a different military ideology.
Just then, footsteps echoed from behind Edmond, as a squad leader trudged through the mud to report.
"Report! Captain, checked, no ambush, only some widows."
Soon thereafter, another squad leader returned with troops, reaching the same conclusion.
"How many people are here now?"
The two squad leaders exchanged glances.
They responded, "About fifty... no young adults... a few kids."
Upon hearing this, Edmond stood up, surveying the village, stroking his chin.
Based on the number of houses, he estimated the village should hold three to five hundred people, leaving only fifty inhabitants, akin to a ghost town.
Tax payment, conscription, war, drought...
This village barely survived to its current desolation and misery.
Last year's drought further destroyed the already meager production potential.
Clearly, the local lord chose to abandon the border village.
Without seeds, this rural area had no path to survival.
Foraging for wild mushrooms, digging for wild vegetables might sustain them, but most wouldn't last this summer.
"Captain, what do we do now?" a squad leader asked softly.
"What are Jet's Commander and Kao's Team's orders to us?"
"Find a place to reside, then temporarily settle down."
Edmond said to the group, "Then gather everyone here."
Their mission was comprehensive invasion, but not all troops needed to press towards Felin Castle.
Each squad's order was to settle locally.
Soldiers followed orders, yet villagers gathered slowly, some widows had limited mobility, prolonged hunger leaving them weak and unwilling.
Some children were similar, soldiers had to carry them to the meeting.
Upon inquiry, they learned these children lost their parents, left orphans.
Edmond moved a two-hundred-pound stone into the corner to stand on.
Once the crowd gathered before him, he pulled out an announcement, beginning his speech.
"I'm Edmond Ford, loyal to the honorable Roman Riptide, this lord is the Riptide's son, River Valley King, Black Iron Lord, Seven Kingdoms Guardian, War Hand, The Invincible and my most noble master...
"Your master, Felin Earl, is a Black Iron Rebel, initiating this war in defiance of Conqueror Order, Lord Roman and White Steel Princess Tashina defeated the conspirator's plot together.
"White Steel Princess announces: As heir to Black Iron Throne, descendant of Conqueror, she declares the revocation of all Felin Earl's powers!
"Lord Roman likewise declares: this Lion Territory's land, from river to hillside, forest to farmland, all falls under Iota Hina's rule!"
Was this really factual? Edmond mused.
That cold, beautiful, red-haired princess surely had foreseen everything.
Villagers watched the power shift with impassive expressions, as if unconcerned.
All glory and land belonged to the nobles, now its owner merely bore a new name.
Even if this name belonged to the Black Iron Princess.
Even if she claimed all this land was hers.
But what was the worth, when their former master, Felin Lord, resolved army famine by sending mercenaries to plunder every grain, even seeds from them.
They were abandoned, left to barely survive here, enduring hunger's agony, many didn't survive the winter, starved to death.
Now, the village is utterly a mess.
Farmers are slaves to the land, generations attached to it.
With land wasted, their lives ended too.
To die by the devil's hand might be their relief...
Edmond loudly announced, "Now, this land belongs to Princess Tashina.
"And our River Valley King, Black Iron Lord, Seven Kingdoms Guardian, the greatest Lord Roman! Will finance Lion Territory's reconstruction plan.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Our great Lord Roman is about to show mercy! He will bestow mercy upon you!!
"He will employ you, as long as you work the land for a day, he will provide two pounds of dry bread and a pound of vegetables every day."
Edmond's speech, waved with his right hand, scattered in the open by the cold wind, vanished instantly as if it never existed.
Farmers' expressions blank, dazed and stiff, like they hadn't heard, or misunderstood.
Since last year's drought, seed theft, their hearts died.
Edmond stood silently, soldiers alike silent.
Until after a long time, a lively surge appeared from the depths of the villagers' arid eyes, breaking through the clouds above with a faint ray of light.
A newfound spring gushing from the parched earth, streaming through countless cracks, renewing the entire land.
It was new hope, new life, new future.