Ch. 152 He saw some people in the crowd weeping softly

“I know this is a difficult decision. To leave behind your houses, land, and most of your wealth.”

He saw some people in the crowd weeping softly.

“It is not only you who are losing these things. There are my houses and my wealth on this land too. At the same time you leave all this behind, I am also leaving it all behind.”

“The only thing I have not abandoned is you, my people. I will always be with you.”

The knight controlled his horse, pacing back and forth.

“Now, we must survive.” Finally, he scanned his people once more, then put on that clumsy and heavy barrel helmet.

The long and silent procession set off. The officer led the people towards the city, while the knight still stood in the square. He would follow after everyone had left.

He only wished to linger on this land for a little while longer.

The streets were now in a mess, scattered with unwanted items, yet there were still people arguing.

“Behave, Old Man Rulin!” A young Soldier was pulling at an old widower with gray hair and beard.

The old man’s hands were wrapped around the pillar of the woodshed, and no matter how he was pulled, he refused to budge an inch.

“Let go of me! I won’t leave!”

“If you stay here, you will die when the Anglo-Saxons come!” The Soldier stomped his feet in exasperation and cursed loudly.

“Then let these old bones of mine die! It’s perfect; I vowed a long time ago to be buried with my old woman.”

“Don’t—make any more trouble!!!” The young and strong Soldier was completely unable to do anything about this old man over sixty for a moment.

“Koom!” Knight Egde shouted at the Soldier.

“My Lord, please persuade him.” The Soldier pleaded.

The knight looked at the old widower; the old man was like a child, stubbornly hugging his own pillar.

“Lulin, how many times have we told you?” Egde sat atop his horse, shouting at the old man from a distance.

“I’ve lived to this age; what haven’t I seen?” the old man replied stubbornly. “I said I’m not leaving, and I’m not leaving!”

The knight shouted back, “Then stay here! I hope you can be buried with your wife!”

“Fine, Kum, leave him be,” the knight said to a Soldier.

“Yes, My Lord…” the Soldier walked away, looking back every few steps.

The old man wobbled back into his house.

The knight only rode out once the last villager had left the village gates.

Two Soldiers worked together to lock the gates from the inside, then climbed over the wall using a ladder. Finally, they chopped the ladder into firewood and left it beneath the wall.

Most of the citizens carried shoulder poles, while a few led mules and oxen.

There were also carriages, all of which were piled high with luggage.

Even the knight’s carriage was being used to carry the blacksmith’s tools.

The shepherds continued to drive their flocks of sheep.

At least they still had their property. As long as they could settle down, they would eventually have a chance to rise again.

If the scouts were correct, the Anglo-Saxons were at most two days away.

It would take about two days to reach the city.

They would make it in time.

Although the villagers were driving livestock and carrying goods, the Anglo-Saxons were more numerous, so they would only travel even slower.

With over three hundred villagers guarded by about twenty Soldiers, their torches formed a river of light.

At midnight, the procession slowly headed north.

Egde dispatched two mounted scouts to the front and two to the rear. They were to ride fifteen minutes ahead of the group and return in turns to report on the road conditions.

This meant that every thirty minutes, a scout would arrive from either the front or the back.

The group of hundreds was very quiet in the night.

Only the insects, startled awake in the middle of the night, were chirping.

They traveled without a moment’s pause, passing through a sunrise that no one stopped to appreciate.

“My Lord!” a Soldier rushed up from the back of the line. “Let’s take a break. The people have already started complaining.”

Sir Egde nodded.

As soon as the order was given, the people couldn’t wait to collapse onto the ground.

The Guards kept a sparse watch around the villagers.

The livestock were let out to drink and graze, and the people also needed to fill their bellies.

“Let’s rest for two hours.” Considering most people hadn’t slept at all last night, Egde was fairly generous with the rest time.

Artoria sat on a carriage, hugging her knees, watching the villagers below resting in small groups, leaning against each other.

“What are you thinking about?”

Mia sat down beside her.

“I’m looking at my people,” Artoria replied somewhat gloomily.

Mia also looked at the villagers.

In the future, these would be Artoria’s people.

But what about Mia’s people?

She looked toward Wilden, then toward Melina.

It had been some time since they left The Lands Between.

She sighed and lay back in the uneven cart bed filled with luggage.

Speaking of which, there were two goals for coming to this world. One was to increase her strength.

That was likely accomplished.

As for the second one, it was a bit abstract.

Perhaps it was time to consider what would happen after returning to The Lands Between.

Staying in Britain indefinitely wasn’t an option either.

Though she really wanted to stay here.

But when she remembered that her mother was Marika…

A strange emotion welled up, making her unwilling to abandon The Lands Between.

Perhaps this was the legendary ‘idol’ burden.

A demigod cannot run away.

She was just planning to rest for a while in the uncomfortable cart bed.

“Ah—!”

Suddenly, a tragic scream came from nearby.

Mia sat up with a start.

She saw a Soldier with an arrow stuck in his abdomen, clutching his stomach and falling in pain.

And the source of that arrow…

Was the woods by the roadside!

A horn sounded, but it wasn’t the knight’s horn.

Sheets of arrows flew out from the woods, raining down upon the defenseless villagers!

“Enemy attack!!!”

A guard shrieked at the top of his lungs.

Anglo-Saxons wielding spears and axes charged out of the woods with howling cries.