Reincarnated Into The Middle Ages

Before the sun had risen, while the morning star still twinkled brightly in the sky, in a small village on the border, the peaceful villagers had already taken advantage of the cool morning to begin their day's work.

The palm groves and orchards were dotted with hardworking villagers who greeted each other warmly, occasionally bursting into hearty laughter.

The creaking of wooden water wheels could be heard constantly as gurgling spring water was channeled into meticulously maintained irrigation ditches.

Eager goats, driven out of their pens by shepherds, were searching for the tender new grass brought by the rainy season. The houses here were old, but their windows were adorned with dates and dried fruits, showing a prosperous scene.

Adile, dressed in coarse cloth, ran out of her house excitedly, constantly waving the simple windmill her father had given her. Her silvery laughter danced in the wind.

"Adile, be careful you don't fall!" a passing farmer uncle kindly warned.

Adile didn't slow down, just made a face at the uncle and continued to let the windmill spin happily.

Passing by the domed mosque, the mischievous girl, under the watchful eye of the kind imam, plucked a plump grape and popped it into her mouth, her eyes narrowing into a tiny crescent.

She panted as she ran to the well, where three other children were already waiting for her.

The big boy, Hadi, waved excitedly, "Adile, you're late again."

"My mom was busy, and I had to help her with the chores," Adile said, waving her windmill discontentedly.

"Don't make excuses, let's get started! It's Hadi's turn to be 'it' this time," the small boy, Abbas, sniffed and said loudly.

Hadi leaned against a nearby palm tree and started counting loudly. The other children scattered like fledgling birds.

Adile waved her windmill around. She spotted a large wicker jar nearby, filled with plenty of raisins, but with just enough space for her small self.

Excitedly, she crawled through the wicker gaps, peering out at the world. But after a while, with no one in sight, Adile started to feel bored.

"Maybe I'm hiding too well," Adile thought happily, and dozed off.

She didn't know how long it had been when Adile was woken by a commotion. She groggily opened her eyes, still dazed.

Through the gaps, she vaguely saw the usually stern village chief leading a group of people, arguing with a bunch of men in black.

A shrill scream pierced Adile's eardrums, jolting her awake. Through the gaps, she saw the usually stern village chief lying in a pool of blood, with the black-clad men wielding curved swords, frantically hunting down the people she knew.

Just moments ago, Adile had seen a long sword cut down the uncle who had warned her that very morning. The uncle struggled to get up, only to have his head chopped off with another strike.

Adile was trembling all over, her hands tightly covering her mouth, but she couldn't stop the trembling sobs from escaping.

A dark figure approached step by step. Tears streamed down Adile's face, "Daddy, where are you? Adile is so scared."

The dark figure loomed like a giant cloud, blocking all the sunlight inside the wicker jar. Trapped in darkness, Adile leaned against the wall, as if it could give her courage.

A long sword fiercely plunged into the wall right in front of Adile, the pale blade reflecting her terrified face. She was about to scream.

But fortunately, the sword was slowly pulled out, and the dark figure, not noticing anything amiss, turned and left.

Adile waited until the dark figure was completely gone before she hurriedly crawled out of the wicker jar.

What met her eyes was only the blazing houses, mangled limbs, and the yellow sand dyed red with blood.

"Daddy, Mommy, where are you? Adile is so scared," Adile helplessly shouted, tears falling like broken beads.

The road was filled with flames and corpses. Adile stumbled as she ran, even seeing half of Abbas's body, dragging a long trail of blood.

She was so terrified by her friend's gruesome death that she fell to the ground, then wailed and turned to run.

"Home! Adile wants to go home!" The only thought in Adile's mind was to hide in her home.

She stumbled to her doorstep, where two familiar figures lay cold and lifeless.

Adile finally couldn't hold back and burst into tears.

The unlucky cry attracted more misfortune. A man in black, holding a dripping curved sword, appeared from the street corner.

The long shadow covered Adile, who was still crying loudly. She tried to get up and run, but fear made her fall again.

The sight of her parents' terrified heads, the inescapable stench of blood, kept assaulting Adile. She struggled to get up, but her weak body couldn't follow such a complex command.

The man in black slowly walked behind Adile, his gleaming curved sword slowly raised, the chilling blade light covering Adile's head.

"Who will save me?" Adile buried her head in the sand, her whole body trembling violently.

"Whoa!" A mighty horn sounded from the distance!

A knight in white with a red cross, along with a mighty warhorse, leaped out from the street corner, his long lance pointing straight at the back of the man in black.

The man in black no longer cared about Adile and hurriedly fled to the side, only to be impaled on the wall by the chest-piercing lance.

Dust and smoke rose in the distance as more knights in white with red crosses emerged from it, charging into the village. For a moment, the cries of battle in the village grew even louder.

Adile slowly lifted her head and looked at the knight slowly dismounting, squatting in front of her, and speaking in a language she couldn't understand.

Seeing that the other party didn't understand what he was saying, the knight took off his helmet, revealing a handsome face smiling at her in a friendly manner.

"God has heard my prayers!" Adile couldn't hold back any longer and threw herself into the knight's arms, crying uncontrollably.

Otto patted the back of the little girl, who was about the same age as Norn, and kept comforting her.

Perhaps having gone through too much that she shouldn't have, the little girl cried for a while and then slowly fell asleep.

Otto gently placed the little girl on his horse and slowly rode back to the Knight's camp. After finding a villager to take care of Adile, Otto turned around to report back.

In a large tent in the camp, the Grand Master was discussing military affairs with several other knights.

Everard, covered in blood, walked in, "Your Excellency, we were too late. The village's water source has been contaminated."

Grand Master Odod frowned in displeasure and asked the quartermaster, "How long will our supplies last?"

"We still have plenty of food, but the water will only last five days."

"It's at least another three days from here to the Hashashin stronghold, Rivaul, and all the water sources along the way might have been contaminated," Everard said worriedly.

"Does anyone have any ideas? If we continue forward, we must break the castle in two days to get supplies, or we'll have to retreat," Odod said.

After a long silence, it seemed that no one had a good solution.

At that moment, Otto requested an audience outside the door. After being granted permission, he strode in.

"Your Excellency, we rescued a group of refugees on the way," Otto said.

A knight beside him said, "Our supplies are already running low. There's no need to waste them on these infidels."

"Are we just going to stand by and do nothing for these innocent people?" Otto retorted sternly.

"They're just infidels!"

"They're just innocent people!"

"Enough!" Odod interrupted the argument and said to Otto, "The army's water supply is already insufficient. We can't take care of them now. Let them fend for themselves."

"Your Excellency, why don't we ask them where there might be water?" Otto said slowly. "They're locals; they might know of other water sources."

Odod raised an eyebrow, "Then go and try."

"Yes, sir!"

Otto went to the refugees and, through an interpreter, explained his intentions to everyone.

"Well, sir, it's not that we don't want to help, but our village really only has the two wells in the center," one of the villagers said.

"Are you sure there's nothing else?" Otto sighed, trying to keep his tone steady, "To be honest with you all, our Order's water supply is also running low. We might not be able to offer much more help. Please think again."

"There is a place that might have water!" Adile said loudly.

Everyone looked at the little girl in surprise. Otto, looking at the girl he had rescued, was reminded of Norn for some reason.

"What's your name, child? And how did you find out about the water?" Otto asked with a smile.

"My name is Adile. When I went on an adventure before, I found a secret hideout with a dry well. When I accidentally fell in, the bottom of the well was still damp!" Adile said confidently, lifting her head.

"Then take me there!"

Otto and the guide followed Adile on horseback for half a day until they reached a cave entrance.

Adile pointed to the entrance and said, "This is our secret hideout. Hadi, Abbas, and I found it together." She seemed to remember her friends who had died tragically, and her eyes turned red again.

Otto patted the girl's head, "It's okay, child. He's watching over you from above."

Once Adile's emotions had settled a bit, Otto lit a torch and went in with her. The cave was a different world inside. The dim torchlight could only illuminate a three-meter radius, and it was clear that this was a spacious hall.

Otto walked over to one side and saw the walls covered with faded murals, depicting what seemed to be people worshipping.

Before Otto could investigate further, he was interrupted by a scream.

"Ah!" Hearing the scream, Otto immediately looked for Adile.

"I'm here!" Otto found Adile, who had fallen into the dry well, next to a broken stone on the left side.

At that moment, Adile was excitedly waving her hands and kicking her feet in the clear spring water that had just covered her ankles.

"A lucky child!" Otto's lips slowly curled into a smile.