hotmtlnovel Chapter 168 Entering the Village, Situation in the Village
Chapter 168 Entering the Village, Situation in the Village
"Your Excellency, although our village has no income, we do have a groom who has worked for nobles and is extremely experienced in tending warhorses."
"If you don't mind, I can let him see what's going on with your warhorse."
The old man spoke with force.
As the old man spoke, the gate surrounding the village was opened.
"Is there a coachman?"
"That's wonderful." Upon hearing this, Luo Ang turned around with delight.
"Please, sir, you must ask this groom to take a look at the condition of these two warhorses for me."
"Of course, it would be best if we could figure out what's wrong with this warhorse."
"It's okay if you can't tell."
"I promise I will not hold a grudge against anyone because of this," Luo Ang said in a deep voice.
"Honorable knight, this way please." After the door opened, a young man welcomed Lo Ang inside.
It was the same boy who had been standing next to the old man earlier.
The boy looked at Luo Ang, his expression still not good, but he was trying to restrain himself—he had put away his resentment, but when he looked at Luo Ang's two warhorses, as well as the armor, longswords, spears and other equipment they carried, the envy in his eyes was impossible to hide.
He was still just a boy, how could he resist the temptation of this weapon?
"Thank you for showing me the way, young sir." Luo Ang followed the boy forward.
"Sir Knight, you may call me Arian," the boy said.
The villagers were all hiding in their houses, secretly watching Luo Ang.
The savings of Red Sand Village were 'looted' and the villagers faced the risk of starvation—before Luo Ang arrived, many villagers were out collecting food to fill their stomachs.
When the people on the watchtower saw Loon, they sounded the alarm, and those who were collecting things fled back to the village.
As Luo Ang followed the boy forward, he didn't even need to use his spiritual power to hear all sorts of panting sounds from the houses next to him.
"Young Mr. Arian, I see that everyone in your village can build wooden houses and walls."
"The nobles who rule here do not appear to be tyrannical or oppressive."
"How come someone suddenly swept away all the savings in your village?" Luo Ang asked.
Judging from the situation in the village, what was stolen from them were things like grain, firewood, and livestock—while the leather armor and weapons from before were still worn by the village militia and were not stolen.
This situation seemed increasingly abnormal, which made Luo Ang even more curious.
A young man's thoughts are not so easy to hide, and Luo Ang asked casually, and he found out the reason.
—It was not the local nobles who were "extorting and levying taxes."
Instead, at the border, many nobles who had fled gathered together and were blocked by the people of the Kingdom of Tallinn, unable to move forward or backward.
As time went on, the blocked nobles became increasingly lacking in various resources.
In order to "support" the nobles who were trapped on the border, the villages near the border were almost completely looted.
The situation in their Red Sand Village was actually not too bad; their supplies were stolen, but no one was seriously injured. In contrast, another village called Cangya Village was completely burned down, and its inhabitants were taken away as slaves.
"A nobleman who fled the Kingdom of the Shield?" Upon hearing the boy's words, Loen couldn't help but show a surprised expression.
—When he left Giant Shield City, the 'game' within it was only nearing its end, not truly over.
Afterwards, although he spent some time trying to catch Anselo and wasted a day finding a doctor to adopt the baby, his speed was still quite fast.
But now?
According to Arian, the fleeing nobles, with their families in tow, reached the kingdom's border even faster than Loon, who was alone and unburdened.
Moreover, the nobles who fled were not just one or two, but a large group!
Their numbers were so vast that they couldn't support themselves and had to plunder surrounding villages to survive.
"So, not only have many nobles come—but they've also been staying in this border region for quite some time now?" Loen's eyes suddenly filled with gloom.
This is the influence wizards have on the world!
To him, the upheaval in Giant Shield City was merely a game played by a few wizards. He could easily make them back down, allowing them to control their "game scope," ensuring that the commoners and poor of Giant Shield City remained unaffected, and that the situation, in his view, only affected the nobles.
Previously, he was actually quite proud of this.
But now it seems...
The impact of that game extends far beyond Giant Shield City.
Outside of the Great Shield City, throughout the entire Kingdom of Shields, while the nobles were affected by this game, countless ordinary people were also influenced by these affected nobles.
"Mr. Arian, all the savings in your village have been stolen. How are you going to survive now?" Loen asked.
"There are fish in the river, birds in the trees, and rats and snakes in the soil."
"And weeds, tree roots."
"There's always a way to survive if you want to." Arian shrugged. The flames that had been burning in his eyes because of the weapons and armor on Loon's warhorse suddenly faded, and his whole demeanor turned ashen.
"Arian." Suddenly, the old man's reprimanding voice rang out, "I told you to lead the way, so concentrate on leading the way. What nonsense are you spouting?"
"Your Excellency Knight, please follow me. The stable boy's residence is just ahead." The old village chief shooed the young man away, a slightly ingratiating look on his face.
Ordinary people like them naturally have their own unique wisdom for survival.
After being rejected, Loon turned and left without letting his warhorse trample the fields.
Therefore, the old village chief dared to stop Luo Ang and invite him into the village.
When Loong entered the village, he was willing to personally lead his warhorse to see the groom, rather than having someone else call the groom over.
This further proves that he was an upright knight.
An upright knight is a 'rare find' in the knightly community—and such a knight is also likely to fight and die because of his integrity and the justice he upholds.
The old village chief knew very well that if they explained their plight to the knight and had the women and children in the village plead with him, they would surely gain the knight's mercy—and the knight would certainly be happy to seek justice for them.
However, the power of those nobles was too great!
If this upright knight were to seek justice, he would most likely die at the hands of those nobles.
The old man did not want to see that scene.
Moreover, the supplies have already been confiscated by those nobles, so even if this upright knight fights and wins against them, it's impossible for them to return the grain.
At most, it would just mean that the nobles would have to pay some money in compensation.
—But the surrounding resources have all been taken away by the nobles. Even if we have gold and silver coins, we can't eat them!
Thinking about it this way, there's even less need to provoke the knight's compassion.
"Rumir, Rumir, open the door quickly." Soon, they arrived at the stable boy's residence.