hotmtlnovel Page 33
Page 33
Gawain seemed to read Arthur's thoughts from his expression:
"Lord, you've come to Fengpu Territory, surely to do something?"
I am extremely sorry if this has delayed your schedule.
At this point, Gao Wen paused again, a look of unease on his face.
Then, he bowed deeply to Arthur before continuing:
"But please, Lord, continue to help me save the villagers of Qingfeng Village and stay in Qingfeng Village for a few more days."
"If you can drive away the Shadow Monster scourge from Qingfeng Village, I, Gawain, am willing to follow you, my lord."
When Arthur heard that Gawain had offered to pursue him, he was not pleased; instead, his expression became slightly serious.
Because at this moment, Arthur was not focused on Gawain's last sentence, which he had expected, but on his previous sentence, "to save the villagers of Qingfeng Village."
His thoughts were heavy, and he murmured to himself:
Gao Wen, you want to save the villagers of Qingfeng Village.
But do the villagers of Qingfeng Village really crave your salvation?
After personally participating in the fight against the Shadow Monster disaster.
Arthur has now almost realized the truth behind why the villagers of Qingfeng Village reject Gawain and the outside knight.
But he temporarily suppressed his speculations about the truth and instead chose to agree to Gawain's request:
"Well, okay.
I'm willing to fight alongside you again.
Upon hearing this, Gao Wen immediately straightened his back, his anxiety vanished, and a bright smile returned to his face.
Then, he began to recite with great enthusiasm:
"There's still some time before dawn. Since the last shadow monster escaped into this dry well, let's rest by this well for now."
To prevent this dry well from undergoing any further changes.
After saying that, Gao Wen walked away from the dry well and sat on the nearby grass.
He didn't notice at all that Arthur's sapphire-blue eyes, shining brightly behind him, revealed a hint of worry when he looked at him.
-----------------
The night passed.
The dawn finally broke, bathing every inch of Qingfeng Village in its light.
The ray of dawn also shone on two blond youths who looked and dressed very similarly.
It was Arthur and Gawain, sitting cross-legged on the grass near a dry well.
They spent a peaceful Christmas Eve.
After the well that was guarding the escaped last shadow rhinoceros, there were no further disturbances.
Then, the two looked at each other.
Then, Gao Wen spoke first:
"My lord, let's gather all the villagers of Qingfeng Village together and tell them the good news that the Shadow Monster disaster that has been troubling them for so long will soon be completely resolved."
And at this time.
A familiar middle-aged male voice rang out:
"Gao Wen, you don't need to gather the villagers, we've come to find you."
It was Sam, the villager from the tavern yesterday.
He led the group of strong villagers from the tavern the day before toward Arthur and Gawain.
Upon seeing Uncle Sam, Gawain's fatigue from the night watch vanished. He immediately stood up and approached him with a warm smile.
And look at Arthur.
He simply got up silently and followed Gawain.
Upon arriving before Uncle Sam and the other villagers of Qingfeng Village, Gao Wen began:
"Uncle Sam, let me tell you, yesterday I teamed up with this..."
"Gawain!"
Uncle Sam interrupted Gawain's narration in a forceful tone.
He stepped out from among the villagers of Qingfeng Village and stopped just one meter away from Gao Wen and Arthur.
next moment.
Uncle Sam actually knelt down before Gawain.
This made Gawain's eyes widen in disbelief.
The current Uncle Sam has lost the irritable temper he had yesterday under the influence of alcohol.
His face seemed to have aged considerably overnight, looking deeply frail.
"Uncle Sam, please... get up."
Gawain couldn't understand the scene. He reached out to help up Uncle Sam, who was kneeling before him for some unknown reason.
But Uncle Sam raised his hand and interrupted his attempt to help him up.
Then, after kneeling down, the middle-aged man from Qingfeng Village looked up at Gao Wen with almost begging eyes:
"Gao Wen, on behalf of all the villagers of Qingfeng Village, I would like to express my deepest apologies for the malicious insults we have hurled at you over the past few days."
At the same time, I beg you to leave Qingfeng Village. Qingfeng Village does not need your salvation!
Upon hearing this, Gawain's consciousness seemed to have been struck by a heavy hammer.
At this moment, the fatigue accumulated from keeping watch seemed to surge forth and break through his mental defenses.
His consciousness briefly wavered.
Gao Wen staggered back a few steps.
At this time.
Arthur, who was behind him, managed to steady him as he lost his balance.
Immediately afterwards, Arthur stepped forward and spoke with Uncle Sam, the representative of the Qingfeng villagers:
"As long as the Shadow Monster disaster is not eliminated, all the villagers of Qingfeng Village will not be able to travel at night."
Right now, it's the dead of winter in the North, and the long nights take up two-thirds of the day.
Are you really willing to spend two-thirds of your time hiding in your homes, living in fear?
Upon hearing this, Uncle Sam gritted his teeth, and veins bulged on his face.
Clearly, Arthur's sharp questioning struck a chord with the villagers of Qingfeng Village, led by him.
A short while later.
Uncle Sam seemed to have made some kind of compromise in his heart, and his face returned to the dejected look he had when they first met.
He first kowtowed to Arthur, then pressed his head to the ground, and then to Arthur's feet.
After displaying an extremely humble posture, Uncle Sam finally spoke:
“My esteemed knight, you are different from Gawain; you have a tall warhorse and a sharp sword by your side.”
We were blind yesterday and failed to recognize your esteemed position, thus offending you.
So please forgive the foul language we, the common folk, uttered yesterday after drinking heavily at the tavern.
Seeing this, Arthur sighed. He understood the villagers' prejudice against the aristocracy.
Uncle Sam continued:
"But please look at our village. Due to the Shadow Monster disaster, it has been riddled with holes in just two months."
After saying that, Uncle Sam raised his head and pointed to Qingfeng Village.
Arthur followed his gaze and saw that the street he had walked through when he entered the village was even more dilapidated than the day before.
Undoubtedly, all of this was caused by the destruction brought by the Shadow Monsters when he and Gawain fought against the Shadow Monster disaster.
Looking at the devastated village, Arthur was filled with mixed emotions.
Uncle Sam's answer perfectly matched his guess from last night about the villagers of Qingfeng rejecting the outside knight.
Arthur knew that the tragedy of Qingfeng Village did not begin with the appearance of the Shadow Monster disaster, but rather with the moment they reported the news to Lord Fengpu.
Because the lord of Fengpu Territory doesn't really care about the safety of Qingfeng Village.
This can be confirmed by what Gawain said earlier, and by the actions of the two Iron-rank knights he dispatched.
These knights viewed the villagers of Qingfeng Village as "lowly laborers," destined to be exploited and mere tools of the aristocracy.
At first, they may have followed the orders of Lord Windpull and tried to drive away the Shadow Monster scourge and protect their farming tools.
However, after discovering that the three shadow monsters were of the same level as them and extremely troublesome, they abandoned the idea of taking the risk for farming tools.
Therefore, their arrival not only failed to solve the original problem, but also brought even more severe oppression.
Originally, under this double oppression, the villagers were destined to face collapse and displacement.
However, the arrival of Gawain, the wandering knight, brought uncertainty to the future of Qingfeng Village.
He witnessed firsthand the oppression suffered by Qingfeng Village, awakened the "Passionate" Knight's Heart, and his Knight Breathing Technique was sublimated, gaining unknown Blazing White Waveguide power that surpassed the Excellent grade.
At the same time, it was precisely this "enthusiastic" chivalrous heart that drove him to want to help the villagers of Qingfeng Village get rid of the Shadow Monster's harm without asking for anything in return.
Arthur believed that the villagers of Qingfeng Village regarded Gawain as a savior when they saw him drive out the knights who oppressed them.
However, things backfired.
To date, Gao Wen has been in Qingfeng Village for a month, but he still hasn't solved the Shadow Monster disaster.
Arthur fought alongside Gawain and could see why, despite possessing extremely powerful Blazing White Waveguide, he was unable to resolve the Shadow Monster disaster for so long.
Because, after all, he was just a wandering knight with little experience, who had not received formal knightly training, and whose understanding of knightly breathing techniques remained at a rudimentary level.
but.
The villagers of Qingfeng Village, whose humble origins prevented them from accessing extraordinary things, could not see the difference between Gawain and a true knight.
in their perspective.
Gawain, their savior who helped them drive out the exploiters, was destroying their already fragile village every night, while bringing endless panic.
As a result, they began to harbor malice towards Gawain.
Gao Wen seemed oblivious to the villagers' malice, repeatedly "enduring" it and allowing their hostility towards him to fester.
Driven by escalating malice, the villagers of Qingfeng began to beat and verbally abuse their former "savior."
When they discovered that Gawain, this superior with extraordinary power, was not retaliating but instead avoiding them.
Thus, their malice outweighed their preconceived awe.
Furthermore, the villagers, with their narrow-mindedness, had no idea what a Kingdom Knight, a Wandering Knight, or a Church Knight were.
Therefore, it eventually evolved into the scene that Arthur witnessed when he entered the village yesterday—the villagers of Qingfeng Village rejected all knights.
My thoughts return to the present.
When Uncle Sam faced Arthur, he seemed to recall the awe he had felt towards the knight.
He remained kneeling on the ground, clutching one of Arthur's legs, and pleaded with Arthur again in a humble tone:
"Honorable knight, whether the Shadow Monster exists or not, we've already been struggling to breathe."
However, we don't want to lose the land where we grew up.
Qingfeng Village can no longer withstand any more destruction. Please do not take away our last piece of land for survival.
"Please, esteemed knight, please take Gawain away."
After hearing this, Arthur sighed helplessly.
He could see from the middle-aged man's weathered face that after the malice towards the knight dissipated, all that remained was compromise and numbness in the face of cruel reality.