BXBX NOVEL Chapter 160 - Settlement
Chapter 160: Settlement
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The refugees’ settlement wasn’t far from the White River. After crossing the wilderness north of the White River, it would be the mountains and forests. The refugees had hidden themselves in the forest and were using the scarce food produced by the forest to survive.
The forest was the connector between the Tanzan Mine and the eastern hills. The undulating mountains reduced the wind’s force and allowed those seeds that rode the wind to have a chance to germinate in this place. It then formed the lush woodland that extended along the hills. This patch of woodlands had an owner a very long time ago.
The short-lived Carlo Clan had been the temporary feudal lord of these woodlands and also the wilderness at the northern bank of the White River. But a plague had ended the rule of the clan, and that was already a few centuries ago. Right now, Mother Nature had already erased most evidence of human civilization, while the Carlo Clan’s collapsed castle remained in a silent slumber behind some unknown hill. As the forest and the wilderness were close to the Dark Range, the castle was something that no one was willing to seek out.
Whenever a clan along the Dark Range was destroyed, everyone would unanimously determine that it was due to the curse and the chaotic magic from the Gondor Wasteland. Due to such cases, there were plenty of unclaimed lands in the extremes of the southern region. Even though the woodlands were only separated by the Tanzan Mine from the rest of Viscount Andrew Leslie’s territory, the viscount obviously didn’t have any intention to send his men across the massive Tanzan Mountain to develop this piece of land.
The Cecil Combatants were wearing light-weight magic armor that was convenient to move in. Armed with the new heat-ray gun and combat field pack, they used their combat training to traverse through the forest prudently but quickly. They had already departed from the territory for one day and one night. They had just rested and ate recently; therefore, they were at their prime. The refugees’ hideout was already close.
After entering the forest, it was difficult to ride on the warhorse; therefore, Gawain immediately dismounted and pulled the horse while walking together with Sir Philip. Amber was hooked up to the saddle of Gawain’s ‘Krieger Superior Warhorse’; she was swaying left and right while dozing off.
The reason ‘hooked’ was used as a descriptor was due to the inferior riding skills that this half-elf young lady had. In order to prevent herself from falling off, she used several straps and buckles to secure herself on the saddle. If they were to encounter any emergency situation, she could instantly roll into darkness and wasn’t afraid that getting strapped up would actually keep her from escaping.
A person with an elven bloodline actually couldn’t communicate with a horse; she was truly the disgrace of the elves.
“We are almost there,” Sir Philip spoke while looking at the front. “In fact, this zone has plenty of refugee settlements, but they are all concealed in places that are extremely hard to find. As long as we can find one of them, we will be able to contact the others.”
Gawain nodded and frowned lightly. “To be honest, I feel that this situation is rather strange.”
“Strange?” Sir Philip couldn’t understand and asked, “What is strange?”
“It was rare for people to conduct a large-scale slave capture after the Frost Month as the temperature would decline after the Frost Month, and farm work would be suspended; thus, they wouldn’t need so much labor force. Instead, most of the people would be in a food-consumption state. If they were to capture slaves at this timing, they wouldn’t be able to make them work, and they would need to feed them for nothing.” Gawain shook his head and said, “Unless, it is for the mines, which aren’t affected by the seasons, as slave workers are needed there for the entire year. However, the largest mine in this area is near Tanzan Town, and Viscount Andrew doesn’t have any intention to increase the number of slave workers… Furthermore, he doesn’t seem like the kind that would capture refugees to use as slaves.”
“Only heaven knows who hired those mercenaries,” Sir Philip said. “Perhaps they are going to be sold to the central region as there are plenty of mines and merchants there. Moreover, the price of slaves in the central region is expensive, and there are plenty of people there who are willing to take the risk of buying ‘private slaves’.”
Gawain didn’t express any opinion, but soon enough, a faint stench of blood drifted into his nose.
“Stop!” He immediately waved his hand while each of the squad leaders shouted for their troops to stop and stood on guard.
Even Amber who was tied up on the saddle had instantly felt the change in atmosphere (it was only this vigilance that made her barely worthy for her bloodline even though it seemed like it was due to cowardice). She opened her eyes and immediately turned into a shadow before scuttling to Gawain’s side and said, “Stench of blood ahead!”
“Oh Holy Light!” The accompanying Cleric Wright immediately drew a holy symbol on his chest and said, “Someone is bleeding and dying.”
Under the lead of Gawain, the army traversed the woods and shrubs swiftly. The situation of the refugee settlement was then revealed to them.
Those mercenaries had made their move.
The settlement was surrounded with worn-out wooden fences and thorns, but those weren’t able to resist the savages with blades. In between the scattered and shabby tents, there was a spacious land. Eighty to ninety refugees with ragged clothes and haggard expressions were driven to this large space. The over-twenty fully equipped mercenaries were split into two groups. Half of them were standing guard outside of the settlement, while the other half had their blades drawn toward the gathered refugees. There, an individual wearing black half-armor paced back and forth in front of these pitiful refugees, who would soon become slaves, while constantly yelling something.
In their vicinity, one could see seven or eight corpses that were struck dead, and each of them had died due to multiple blade wounds. It was obvious that when the mercenaries attacked in the beginning, the refugees conducted a short resistance but were quickly taken down. Those chopped up corpses had prevented the resistance from escalating into a situation that would go out of control.
“Their equipment is indeed exquisite.” Gawain analyzed as he watched. “Furthermore, half of them are mixed with the refugees. Once the battle starts, they might use those refugees as hostages…”
“Hostage? Aren’t you thinking too much?” Amber looked at Gawain and said, “Those are refugees that are treated as livestock by nobles and mercenaries. The nobles and their military forces would never bother about their lives. Those mercenaries will also be thinking the same thing of us. Therefore, they will not use those refugees as hostages. However, during crucial moments, they might use the refugees as meat shields… As long as we can make a huge commotion to catch them off guard, those refugees will immediately scatter and escape. The situation will then be outside of the mercenaries’ control. This is the best time, before those refugees are tied up.”
After hearing the logical analysis from the half-elf young lady, Gawain was instantly astonished and quickly realized that he was still affected by his experiences on Earth.
Hostages… It would only be useful when one treated the hostage as a human. In this place, there would never be a scenario where a villain would put the blade on a ‘lowly commoner’ and threaten the noble by shouting ‘Take one more step, and I will kill him!’.
Because a ‘normal’ noble wouldn’t hesitate to kill the ‘lowly commoners’ along with the bandits.
When thinking until this point, Gawain sighed before taking out two crystal grenades and said, “Then let’s make a huge commotion.”
…
When the mercenaries of unknown origins attacked the settlement, a few of the refugees subconsciously chose to resist, and they were instantly dismembered.
Cries and miserable screams had engulfed the entire settlement but had quickly regained peace in a short while. The refugees were herded like livestock by these blade-wielding bandits and driven out from their tents and habitats. The refugees were all gathered at the center of the spacious land.
As refugees, even the last bunch of rice straw in their hands could be snatched by others. As such, the refugees here weren’t unfamiliar with getting plundered. However, when they saw these people’s attire and imposing presence, those slightly more knowledgeable refugees realized that these people were even more horrific than bandits. These people were mercenaries, hired mercenaries.
The red-nosed Tom’s elder sister, the black-haired young lady with black eyes, ‘Joan’ was mixed among the refugees. She had carefully averted her gaze to prevent her eyes from making contact with these vicious people. She was using her left hand to hold onto her injured right arm while enduring the pain from her face and also the pain from dirt entering her wounds. The moment these vicious people barged into the settlement, she used charcoal and mixed it with mud to paint her face. However, as she was doing so, one of the leaders among the mercenaries quickly saw it and laughed while praising that she was a smart young lady. Immediately after, he used a whip to lash and nearly disfigured half her face.
When he was lashing, he laughed and said that doing this would allow her to have permanent ‘makeup’.
Blood that was mixed with mud was dripping onto the ground, but Joan was feeling joy in her heart as that mercenary leader was currently being berated by a source of rage.
“You bunch of lowly people! Lowly dirt! You are whores and bastards that are only good enough to sleep in the sewers! Where is that lame kid?! I know one of you has run off. I know! Damn it… Eight of you died earlier. Do you know how much money I lost?! Where have you hidden that lame kid!!”
Tom had already left in a new direction to search for edible mushrooms and moss. He was fortunate enough to avoid the mercenaries’ eyes during the way. When he returned, he would surely be able to notice the abnormal situation at the settlement and would escape.
While thinking this, Joan took a peek at the armored mercenary leader who was armed with a silver longsword at his waist. She knew that the refugees would soon break from the pressure; therefore, she wanted to say that she was Tom’s elder sister, and she was already prepared for the worst-case scenario of death, making these long-legged savages suffer more losses. She could see that this group of refugees including herself was going to bring a lot of money for these mercenaries, and each death would only make them even more enraged.
On many occasions, this was the greatest form of protest that these ‘lowly people’ could use against the nobles.
Just as Joan had such thoughts, a strange commotion suddenly echoed from the vicinity, and she heard it with her sensitive ears that had been tempered by many days of hunting.
Suddenly, there were, seemingly, two rocks that landed a few dozen meters apart.
Before she could figure out what those ‘rocks’ were, she heard two thunderous roars from the back of the mercenaries!
The thunderous sound was unfamiliar to everyone. Even though blades were pointed at them, the refugees who were herded to the spacious land had jumped with fright before running desperately toward the tents, which was also the opposite direction of the explosions. The mercenaries who had experienced combat were much more composed. They might also have been frightened, but the first reaction in their minds was: Enemy attack! Prepare for the attack!
This was the right reaction, be it for them or for Gawain.