Lord: My Shop Connects to Modern Times

Thirty steps.

Turn left.

Fifty steps.

Then he saw the little house.

The door and windows were closed. The flowers in the yard had long since withered, and the weeds had grown tall.

Gail's heart sank.

He slowed his pace, holding his gun, and approached little by little.

Suddenly, there was a noise from inside the door.

Gail immediately crouched down, pointing her gun at the doorway.

The door was pushed open a crack, a hand reached out, and then withdrew.

Gail held her breath.

The door opened again, this time wider, and a woman peeked out, looking around warily.

Gail's eyes instantly welled up with tears.

It's Emily.

She had lost weight, her face was pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes. Her once bright and beautiful eyes were now filled with a wary expression.

But she is alive, still alive.

"Emily!" Gale couldn't help but shout.

Emily was startled and turned to look at Gale.

Upon recognizing the person, the next moment, the expression on her face changed from fear to disbelief, and then from disbelief to ecstasy.

"Gale—!"

She rushed out of the yard and ran towards Gail.

Just then, several people suddenly rushed out from the other end of the alley.

They were defeated soldiers from Frostfire City.

There were five enemies, all dressed in tattered military uniforms and carrying swords.

The leader had a fleshy face and bloodshot eyes; at first glance, he looked like he was drunk.

They saw Emily, then Gale, and instinctively paused for a moment.

But the leader immediately realized what was happening.

"Gale...Knight Gale?"

He recognized Gail and staggered over.

"Count Karl's chief knight—Gail White, is it?" He chuckled, his fleshy face twitching. "So... you've betrayed us?"

Gail ignored him.

He held out his hand to Emily: "Come here."

Emily tried to run over, but the group had already blocked her way.

"Don't be in such a hurry to leave." The leader brandished his knife. "Sir Gale, you used to be Earl Karl's favorite. A peak mid-level warrior in your early twenties, everyone knew you! Now you're following that Lynn, living the high life, aren't you?"

Another person suddenly spoke up: "Boss, he seems to know this woman. She called his name just now."

The leader narrowed his eyes.

He turned to look at Emily, then at Gale, his smile growing increasingly sinister.

"You know each other?" he said. "That's great."

He suddenly reached out, grabbed Emily's arm, and pulled her to his side.

Emily screamed and struggled desperately.

"Let her go!" Gail raised his gun.

The men all took a step back at the same time, but the leader held a knife to Emily's neck.

"Come on!" he roared. "Go ahead and do it! Let's see who's faster!"

The other side had clearly witnessed the power of flintlock muskets; these fire-breathing iron pipes had claimed the lives of many of their brothers in Frostfire City.

He carefully moved behind Emily.

Gail's finger was on the trigger, but she didn't pull it.

He knew the reload speed of the flintlock musket. It would take at least ten breaths before a second shot could be fired after the first.

Even if she could hit the leader with one shot, the ten or so breaths it would take to reload would be enough time for the enemies behind her to kill Emily several times over.

Moreover, he knew he couldn't kill with a single shot, nor could he reload in just a dozen breaths...

"Gale!" Emily cried, tears streaming down her face, fighting back her fear. "Leave me alone... go..."

Gail didn't move.

He looked at Emily's face, at the gleaming knife at her neck, and at the fear welling up in her eyes.

He suddenly remembered seeing Emily with that same expression not long ago.

That evening, the Viscount, and Emily, equally disheveled.

That time, Emily didn't want to worry herself, and she didn't want to cause trouble for that viscount...

Emily cried that day.

And now, she's right in front of him, a knife to her throat, tears streaming down her face...

"Put down your weapon!" the fleeing soldier shouted. "Put down that fire-breathing weapon of yours, or I'll kill her!"

Gail slowly bent down and placed the gun on the ground.

The eyes of those men lit up.

"And another one!" the routed soldier continued shouting, "Lead the way! Lead us out of the city! I know you have a way!"

The voice was loud, with a slight tremor.

Gail straightened up and looked at them.

Suddenly, he smiled.

That smile stunned the group of people.

"Do you know who I am?" Gale asked.

The leader paused, seemingly finding the question absurd: "You? Aren't you Lord Karl's chief knight?"

"Yes," Gale said. "I am Earl Karl's chief knight, a peak intermediate warrior."

He paused.

"Do you know what the peak of an intermediate warrior means?"

The group of people looked at each other in bewilderment.

They had all heard of the reputation of professionals, whether they were mages or warriors, but they were just ordinary soldiers and didn't know much about professionals.

Gail didn't give them time to think.

He moved as soon as he finished speaking.

The speed of a peak intermediate-level warrior is beyond the reaction time of these ordinary defeated soldiers.

Three zhang (approximately 10 meters) is a distance that can be covered in an instant.

The leader only saw a dark figure rushing over, and before he could even draw his knife, a hand grabbed his neck.

Click.

A crisp sound of bone cracking.

His body went limp, and the knife fell to the ground.

The remaining four people stared wide-eyed, not yet reacting, when Gail had already rushed into their midst.

No weapons.

No weapons are needed.

His fists were more terrifying than any weapon at that moment.

One punch shattered the jaw of the man on the left, sending him flying and crashing into the wall. He was already dead when he slid down the slope.

Another kick, and the man on the right had his knee broken in the opposite direction, falling to the ground with a scream.

The remaining two turned and ran, but before they could take three steps, they were punched in the back, fell to the ground, and coughed up blood.

The whole process took less than five breaths.

All five enemies fell.

Gail stood amidst the corpses, staring disdainfully at the bodies at her feet.

His fists were dripping blood—not his blood, but the blood of those people.

He looked down at his hands and suddenly felt a little dazed.

How long?

How long has it been since I've actually taken action?

During his time in Gray Rock Town, he stood at attention, ran, and marched in formation every day, and he almost forgot who he was.

He is a knight.

Peak intermediate warrior level.

He doesn't need weapons to kill.

Because he himself is a weapon.

Unlike the young viscount's guards, they were also professional warriors, and these fleeing soldiers from Frostfire City were as easy to kill as killing a few chicks.

"Gale..."

A trembling voice came from behind me.

Gail turned around.

Emily stood three meters away, covering her mouth, tears streaming down her face. She looked at him as if he were a stranger, yet also as if he were a hero.

Gail went over and hugged her tightly.

"It's alright," he said. "It's alright."

Emily burst into tears in his arms.

All that fear, all that despair, all that torment day and night—all turned into tears at this moment and flowed out.

Gail held her tightly, unable to utter a single word.

He could only feel her trembling, feel her warmth, feel that she was still alive, still in his arms.

After a long time, Emily's crying gradually subsided.

She looked up at Gail.

"Darling...you...you've changed so much."

Gail paused for a moment.

"Yeah?"

Emily nodded.

"You...you weren't like this before," she said. "You used to..."

She couldn't continue.

Gail knew what she wanted to say.

Before, he was just an obedient knight. He fought for Karl, risked his life for Karl, never thought much, and never rebelled.

As for joining Lynn's formation, that's something I've never even dared to dream of.

But it's different now.

Gail had seen another way of living.

In that place called Gray Rock Town, he saw smiles on the faces of ordinary people, saw children reading, and saw something called "hope".

He wanted Emily to have that kind of life too.

"Let's go," he said. "Emily, I'll take you away."

"Where to?"

"To live somewhere new," Gale thought for a moment, then added, "a...good place."

He took Emily's hand and walked towards the square.

As Emily passed by the corpses, she couldn't help but glance at them before quickly looking away.

Gail squeezed her hand.

"Don't be afraid," he said. "I won't let you suffer like this again."

Emily didn't say anything, she just held his hand tightly.

……

In the square, the battle was nearing its end.

The soldiers of Grayrock Town had defeated all the fleeing troops and were now escorting prisoners and confiscating their weapons. Dozens of corpses lay on the ground, and the air was thick with the stench of blood and gunpowder.

Lynn also arrived; he was standing in the center of the square, talking to several captains.

He stopped when he saw Gail walking towards him with a woman.

"This is..." Lynn looked at Emily.

"Um...my wife," Gale said, "Emily."

Lynn nodded without asking any further questions.

"Find a place to settle her down," he said. "From now on, she'll be a resident of Grayrock Town."

Gail paused for a moment.

Is it... really that simple?

Before he could say anything, Lynn had already turned and left.

A young soldier walked over and smiled at Emily.

"Sister-in-law, come with me. Let's go to the temporary camp first, and we'll arrange accommodations after the battle is over."

Emily looked at Gale.

Gail nodded.

"Go ahead. I'll come find you as soon as I'm done here."

Emily followed the soldier.

After walking a few steps, she looked back.

Gail remained standing there, watching her.

He smiled.

Emily had never seen that smile before.

It wasn't the relief of "coming back alive," nor the exhaustion of "having fought another battle."

Rather, it is a kind of...certainty.

It was as if he believed things would definitely get better in the future.

Emily smiled too.

Then she turned around and followed the soldier into the crowd.

……

Gail stood there, watching her figure disappear from sight.

Then he turned around and walked up to the prisoners.

Someone recognized him.

"Knight Gael..."

Gail ignored them.

He simply stood there, watching his former comrades kneeling on the ground.

Some had their heads down, some were trembling, and some were secretly watching him.

He knew what they were thinking.

They were afraid. Afraid of being killed, afraid of being purged, afraid of dying like those soldiers, with no one to claim their bodies.

"Behave yourselves," Gale said. "As long as you don't resist, we won't kill you."

Someone looked up at him, staring in disbelief.

Gale did not explain.

He was simply thinking of the people in the prisoner-of-war camps in Grayrock Town.

Those prisoners who, like him, were initially fearful, then doubtful, and finally... wanted to stay.

Perhaps these people will be the same.

Maybe not.

But none of that matters anymore.

The important thing is that this city is finally about to change.

Lynn's voice came from afar.

"Take inventory of the spoils! Count the prisoners! Clean up the battlefield!"

Gail took a deep breath and walked over there.

The thought in my mind became clearer and clearer—

After this battle, he can take Emily to that place called Grayrock Town and start a new life.