Knight and Wand

Chapter 6 Military Disaster
After a difficult trek through the wilderness, the group moved much slower than expected. There was only one pair of boots taken off the mercenary, so no matter who wore them, the other two had to walk barefoot.

However, even though he was extremely careful, Azerien was still stabbed in the sole of his foot by a sharp object hidden in the grass shortly after he set out on the road, and the only boot had to be given to the injured man.

Relying on Leon's hunting experience, the group caught rabbits, poached birds, and forked fish on the road, eating whatever they could find. They even fed on the wild wolves that attacked them without knowing what was good for them. But when they were unlucky, they often had to rely on wild fruits and plant roots to fill their stomachs.

Since we didn't have a map, we could only roughly identify the direction. We often got more and more confused as we walked in the wild, resulting in losing our way. After many days, we finally found a country road, which made the journey relatively easier.

This was the first sign of human habitation they had encountered since escaping from the vicinity of the mercenary camp.

When Leon first learned that Azerien could speak Uriah, he wanted to find a village as soon as possible to exchange the silver coins on him for survival resources. It was really uncomfortable to walk barefoot in the wilderness for a long time, and the cold wind in the middle of the night was unbearable when they were not fully clothed.

Everyone quickened their pace, and when they finally saw the small village with scattered thatched huts at the end of their sight, they all felt a little excited.

However, the three did not go straight to the village, but went into the woods nearby.

According to the plan discussed before, Azerien, who can speak Uriah, will be equipped with chain mail, sword and shield, and will be sent alone with coins to go into the village to inquire about the situation. If all goes well, Leon and Lohak, who do not speak the language, will not have to go there and cause trouble.

The fair-looking Azerien should be able to disguise himself as a knight's squire easily. After all, he is the son of a noble in the Holy City, and his speech and behavior are more than enough to fool the peasants in the countryside.

Leon and Lohak climbed a hill on a nearby plateau and observed the situation from above.

As his companions gradually disappeared under the cover of the village houses, Leon discovered something strange. It was broad daylight, but he could not see any trace of villagers' activities from his high vantage point. This discovery made him puzzled.

Just as Leon was still trying to find the local villagers, Azerien, who had entered the village, ran out again not long after, and waved from the entrance of the village to where Leon and Lohak were, gesturing for the two to come over.

The two people hiding on the hill looked at each other. Although confused, they still got out of the woods and rushed to their companions.

"What's going on?" Leon asked as he ran to the village entrance.

"There are no survivors here. The village is in a mess and there are several corpses. The villagers have all run away." Azerien replied as he returned the sword to Lohak.

"Has this village been robbed?" Leon finally noticed that the entrance to the village was indeed full of horse hoof prints, and several low wooden fences were knocked over.

"I'm not sure, but we shouldn't stay here too long." Azerien said worriedly, "The bodies of the villagers look like they've been here for some time. If there are any surviving villagers who escape, they might ask the local lord to send troops back to suppress the bandits. While there's no one here, let's quickly look for anything useful and leave."

Leon sighed in his heart about the chaotic medieval times where bandits were rampant. Without further ado, the others immediately entered the village to collect supplies.

The wooden doors of the cottages were all wide open, and some had even been knocked down violently, which made it convenient for the three men to search. They kept their distance and moved separately from one cottage to another.

Although every cottage had been looted by bandits, it was obvious that the bandits would not take away all the garbage. Leon searched several rooms in succession and soon found the shoes he had been longing for beside the bed in one of them.

Even if they are just a pair of simple and worn-out shoes with hemp soles and rotten leather ties, it is better than continuing to torture the soles of your feet.

Wearing these ill-fitting fur shoes, Leon's looting efficiency increased greatly as his steps became lighter.

He deftly rummaged through the already ruined room, and although he didn't find anything valuable, he soon found some dusty rough linen coats and tattered trousers.

The fuzzy edges and rough, hard texture are very uncomfortable to wear, which is why even robbers look down on such garbage, but having clothes to wear is better than having nothing, and it can block the wind without any problem.

He made a sack with the rags he picked up and collected the scattered coarse bread and some grains that had fallen on the ground in a clay bowl. Leon couldn't help complaining in his heart that these robbers were really ruthless and left nothing useful except some remaining grain residues in some broken clay jars.

He walked into a wooden house, carrying the only harvest in his rag bag. He first smelled an unbearable stench. Following the smell, he looked into the inner room and was immediately frightened by the scene in front of him.

The first thing that caught his eyes was a female corpse that was already showing signs of decay. She was naked and looked miserable. Just by looking at the posture of the corpse, one could imagine what kind of inhuman abuse and atrocities she had suffered before her death. What made Leon even more furious was that the deceased did not look very old. To be frank.
What a bunch of fucking bastards.
Leon turned his eyes away in silence, and suddenly realized that there was more than one body.

Not far away, there was a headless male corpse that had also been stripped of its clothes. It was in a kneeling position with its hands tied behind its back, and its body was covered with scars from being inflicted by swords and knives.

Judging from the face of the head that rolled to the ground, the man was relatively old. He might be the father of the female corpse.

It is impossible to imagine the despair and pain he felt when he was forced to watch his daughter being subjected to bestiality before his death.

Leon couldn't bear to watch it anymore, he stepped back and closed the door.

The human tragedy that took place in this room constantly awakens the miserable memories of the original owner of this body.

There is nothing more infuriating and painful than having experienced a similar situation yourself.

After searching another room, Lohak came over and saw Leon open the door, took a look and then left the room. He couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Is there anything inside?"

Leon sighed and shook his head: ".There's no need to search this room. There shouldn't be anything valuable left in it."

Lohak walked forward puzzled, opened the door and looked inside, then he walked out with an even uglier expression than Leon. The upright young man took a deep breath to calm his wildly fluctuating emotions. Even though he had a deep hatred for the Kantardars, he still suffered a great psychological shock after witnessing the same tragedy of ordinary civilians in the enemy country.

"Let's go." Leon patted his shoulder.

It took the three of them quite a while to search the small village from house to house, and they finally gained a lot. First of all, they collected enough food to last them for a while. Secondly, Leon and Azerien, who had no clothes, also found worn-out straw sandals and linen clothes to cover their bodies, and finally got rid of their savage appearance.

They also found two rusty pitchforks in the corner of a farmhouse, and now Leon could finally throw away the rough wooden spear that had been sharpened repeatedly.

After packing their bags, the three of them did not delay. Before it got dark, they quickened their pace and set out on the road of escape again.

That night they cooked oatmeal porridge mixed with beans in large earthenware bowls and had a hearty meal with coarse bread. However, even though they were able to eat normal food after a long absence, the three of them did not feel happy at all.

Anyone with a conscience who witnessed the atrocities in the village would find it difficult to let go in a short period of time. Moreover, the shocking scenes in the village repeatedly reminded the three people of their own tragic experiences.

Nothing happened that night, and they continued on their journey after daybreak. With shoes and food supplies, Leon and the others were able to move much faster.

At noon, Leon suddenly felt some faint vibrations on the ground. He was a little dazed for a moment, but soon remembered the skills taught by the original owner's father, and quickly bent down and lay on the ground with his ears close to the ground.

It was not an illusion. The vibrations caused by the large number of horses' hooves trampling the ground indicated that a large group of riders was approaching.

"Hide quickly, there's a cavalry coming from behind!" Leon quickly called out to his companions.

Lohak and Azerien did not suspect anything and followed Leon to the nearby woods, running as far away from the road as possible.

No one dared to look back. They went into the woods to hide their bodies, then they rolled over and lay down on a slope and lay quiet, not daring to breathe.

Only when the rumbling sound of horse hooves gradually faded away did the three of them relax their tense nerves and stick their heads out.

"Who are those people? Are they a group of bandits?" The first thing that came to Lohak's mind was the small village that had been looted yesterday.

Leon remained noncommittal: "Who knows, maybe it's the local lord's army."

"Should we continue along that road?" Azerien frowned, worried that he would run into that group of people again.

Leon fell into deep thought and felt that he had miscalculated. He had thought that it would be safer to go north, but he did not expect to encounter the army in the end.

From the rhythmic and orderly sound of the horses' hooves, it could be known that they were undoubtedly a group of well-trained cavalry.

He was not sure whether this team of cavalry was the vanguard of an army, or whether there was a large force following behind. If the speculation was true, then they could not turn back at all.

After telling his companions about his speculation and after a brief discussion, they decided to continue moving forward in the woods in this direction. Knowing nothing about foreign roads, they actually had no other choice.

"Everyone, be careful and pay attention to the movement on the road at all times. If you find anything wrong, run deeper into the forest together."

In silence, several people quickened their pace along the woods beside the road.

Not long after they started walking, there was another rumbling sound of horse hooves passing by in an orderly manner on the road. Everyone hurriedly hid in the woods again, and Leon felt more stressed.

Before dark, they bypassed the front road and went deeper into the dense forest, finding a rocky pit far away from the road, and then they dared to make a fire and camp.

At night, Leon tossed and turned on the ground, unable to fall asleep. It was his original suggestion to go north, but now there were many risks ahead, which made him feel a little annoyed.

Will there be an army camped at the end of the road?
If they encounter the Kantadar army head-on, will they be able to escape?
Or, could he try to get away with it by pretending to be a local and speaking the few words of Uriah taught by Azerien?
As he was daydreaming, he frowned. Leon suddenly thought of the village yesterday and felt the contradiction of the situation.

If there was such a large-scale local army frequently mobilized around the village, how could there be bandits who were so bold as to plunder the local villages so arrogantly?

Aren’t those bandits afraid of running into the lord’s army and having their heads taken away by the general as military merit?
unless--

Recalling the horrific scene when the city of Rolandar fell, the Kantardar army and brutal mercenaries burned, killed and looted in the holy city.

Leon had the cruel answer in his mind.

An old saying that once seemed very distant to him came to his mind.

The passing of bandits is like a comb, and the passing of soldiers is like a grate.

It might be the Kantardar army that brought disaster to the village.

(End of this chapter)