3 bar menu

Chapter 258

The last settlement was, as expected, full of the elderly, women, children, the injured, and the sick. There were only a handful of folks still in decent health.

At first, these villagers were fearful of Gwandan, Lynette, Gundeus, and Kyrlinne due to the extraordinary combat abilities demonstrated in the fight against the battalion. Only with the persuasion of Amria, who had rushed to the scene hurriedly, was the party finally able to take shelter in this last settlement with the refugees.

Those who feared retaliation from the Grand Duke were reluctant to eat the rations offered by Adelaide and her companions, but they soon gave in and accepted the supplies once they were told that the battalion had tried to massacre the refugees without any hesitation. How heartwrenching it must have been for them to be reminded once again that there were individuals in the empire who only had murder on their minds.

Regardless of whatever had happened, it was fortuitous for this last settlement to have enough food to feed 500 people for a few days and medical supplies to meet the needs of that number. Gwandan and his companions had also generously provided the settlement with the supplies loaded on their wagon while volunteering to labor since they had the energy and health to do so. All these were probably a large part of the reason they were allowed to remain in the last settlement.

Gwandan, Lynette, Gundeus, and Kyrlinne worked tirelessly. The wooden fence made from wooden poles and planks for fending off beasts was transformed into a thick stone wall. The party even erected clean, sturdy tents and stone houses without much effort. A waterway was also built to draw water from a nearby river along with the digging up of several wells.

All this was the result of Gwandan’s personality. He knew that he should not interfere more than necessary, but he just could not help but act when faced with people in need.

On the other hand, the existence of this settlement of imperial soldiers and rebels was another reality of the Romal Empire that Amria wished to know about.

Yachiyo and Fuuko were sharing a bench with a young man—a former imperial soldier who had lost his left limbs—and a rebel woman whose brown wings had been loped off by half. The young man and woman were sorting apart medicinal herbs from poisonous ones and edible plants and flowers from inedible ones. Instead of swords, Yachiyo and Fuuko were wielding kitchen knives at tremendous speeds.

The two were chopping and dicing the ingredients brought over for easy digestion for these villagers who had been starving for a long time.

「Gwaaaaaaa! Sing, my right hand! Chop on, sword of divine speed!!」

「I bear no grudge, but I will turn you utterly unrecognizable just to nourish everyone!」

Young children and the wounded who could barely move about looked on happily at the two amusing girls who went on muttering silly comments with downright stern expressions on their faces.

Death hung over the settlement, with lives lost every single day. Yet, the arrival of these strange visitors, including the two in front of them, had brought cheer that spread throughout the village. There was no doubt that the vibrancy of life was infecting everyone present. The presence of Gwandan and his companions had not just helped with the practical necessities of daily life, but they had also greatly uplifted the spirits of the villagers.

Amria worked enthusiastically all around the settlement, but she focused on the tents where the bedridden with wounds and grave illnesses were gathered and did all she could.

The work of carefully wiping abscessed wounds with medical infusions, as well as meticulously applying medicine to wounds and wrapping them with clean bandages now proceeded with no delays.

Until now, bandages and scraps of cloth had to be washed and reused, while roots and herbs for medical infusions had been limited. Thanks to the abundant medical supplies that Gwandan had procured from the battalion, the settlement was finally able to provide adequate treatment to those in need.

The doctors keeping the settlement alive had been tortured by the agony of considering whether they were simply prolonging the suffering of their patients. That stress had probably been eased to a certain extent.

Even so, this did not mean that lives no longer slipped through their fingers. Some patients had already become too frail to be treated, and it was too late no matter what they did.

A girl who had passed away was lying on a cot made of tree branches in one of the tents. A cloth covered her even as her right hand gripped one of Amria’s hands. Amria rested her other hand on the girl’s hand and closed the girl’s eyelids, praying for the girl’s peace after death.

The scrawny girl’s hand gripped Amria with unexpected strength that it left a bruise.

Amria had shared moments of joy with this young girl as she told her about fairy tales she knew. She had even used a plat stem to suck out the phlegm from the throat of this young girl who could no longer speak.

The girl’s body was impossibly light as she was wrapped in the sheets on the bed on which she had been sleeping. With the help of a few others, she was then buried in the mass cemetery with a simple funeral.

The simple graves for the dead lined up in countless rows. An emptiness hung over them, reminding all visitors that this was a place befitting its name of the last settlement.

Even so, Amria had no time to rest. Before she could wipe her cheeks clean of the tears over the young girl’s death, she had to prepare new bandages and medicines for the next injured or sick person, boil water for cleansing the bodies of others, wash clothes, and facilitate the ventilation of air.

In this settlement, it had become the norm for the injured to nurse the injured and the sick to care for the sick. Someone as able-bodied as Amria was much needed everywhere.

She would have been worn out within a few days of working alone, but she received great assistance from Lynette and her sisters, who were always working as guards. Gwandan had also created golems half as tall as Amria to take care of simple tasks.

Even now, Amria thanked Lynette and Gundeus who were boiling porridge in the cauldron beside her with exhaustion painting her face.

「Lynette, Gundeus, thank you so much for everything. You’re real lifesavers, and I don’t know if words of thanks will ever be enough.」

「What are you saying, Amria? Lynette and the rest of us are just abiding by Master Gwandan’s wishes. Besides, Lynette would gladly work to help those in need.」

「Even though I don’t bear such great benevolence, it would certainly be unethical to do nothing in such a situation. Gundeus enjoys nothing more than kicking down those who abuse their power, but never would Gundeus commit such brutality to those weaker than me. That being said, someone has to help this settlement, and it’s fine that we’re the ones to fill that role.」

Lynette secretly rejoiced at Gundeus’s statement, realizing that Gundeus was not just acting out of her worrying proclivities. She felt a sudden desire to boast loudly to Dran, her master, Thank goodness, this is great, Lynette’s younger sister can express great care for others. 

「Anyway, I’m very proud of you today, My Lady. You did not utter a single complaint despite working so hard all this time. With all due respect, I was not expecting you to put in so much effort. Gundeus has foolishly underestimated your grit and tenacity. I shall take this opportunity to apologize.」

「Well, grit and tenacity? If I had such things, I would be over the moon. Even so, I am far lacking when compared to the fortitude and strength of will possessed by the people in this settlement. Here, everyone is helping each other because no one is blessed with any power. If everyone thought it natural to help others regardless of strength and authority, the empire would not be in this state. Such thoughts sadden me.」

If Amria’s words were true, she would have experienced a very different fate. More importantly, she was more concerned about how the settlement’s people would have never met with such misery.

Lynette’s heart went out to Amria, thinking about how Amria was also such a selfless individual always on the losing end. It was no wonder that Dran, Lynette’s master, cared so much about Amria. Worry also bubbled within Lynette about the tough times Amria would still have to face in the future.

「My Lady, Sister, Master Gwandan seems to have returned, and Kyrlinne is with him. They appear to have brought back an impressive catch. As expected of the two.」

Gundeus swept a glance around and caught sight of Gwandan and Kyrlinne entering the village. They were carrying a giant tortoise many times their size, and the hunters and warriors still capable of moving about were with them.

The two of them had brought back a Tortalian, a large tortoise-like creature that lived primarily in the eastern part of the Romal Empire. Tortalians were herbivorous creatures, but they were extremely hostile to invaders of their territories. As soon as they detected an intruder, they would pounce on the intruder at unfathomable speed for something that looked like a tortoise. These were ferocious creatures that could easily trample or bulldoze one to death.

Despite such fears, the robust carapace and skeleton of Tortalians were prized by adventurers as raw materials. Their tough flesh that supported such phenomenal weight was also known to be delicious despite the time and effort required to cook it. The blood of Tortalians was also said to be good for nourishment and worked as energy boosters when taken in small amounts. Even those unable to consume meat could drink the broth made from the bones of Tartalions, a soup that was filled with nutrients.

The other hunters were also beaming with glee as they returned with quite a number of prey. It was clear that they had a good hunt. If Lynette and Gundeus had not met the eyes of Gwandan, they, too, could have soaked in pure delight.

The prey had already been bled out before Lynette and Gundeus proceeded to dissect and gut the carcasses. They left Yachiyo and Fuuko to guard Amria as she finally took a break, and then they joined Gwandan and Kyrlinne in a secluded spot.

「I’ll be brief. A group of armed men are heading toward us. From the looks on their faces, they must be part of the rebels. They should be called the Seven Fangs or something like that. I reckon they’re here to offer protection to the people in the settlement.」

Thoughtful expressions surfaced on Lynette and Gungeus as Gwandan reported the sightings of the group he had spotted from a distance during the hunt. If these troops were from the empire’s military, they would not hesitate to engage in battle. The rebels were a different case since they could be considered allies of the last settlement.

Apparently, there were a number of rebels deeply worried about the well-being of the last settlement, and that would be a welcome development. However, there was no guarantee that the settlement would be protected, fed, and cared for.

「Protection sounds good, but I’m concerned about the practical execution of their goals. Besides, this area is one of the empire’s front lines. It’s hard to tell what kind of danger a place so close to the war might be exposed to if protection was accepted, and doing so might easily lead to a bad outcome.」

Gwandan nodded gravely in agreement with Lynette’s—Torne’s—statement. Gundeus and Kyrlinne shared the same concern, and solemn expressions clouded their faces.

「Right now, Amria won’t just believe what she’s told. She would want to judge whether these rebels are to be trusted or not with her own eyes. The actual circumstances of these people who have sparked a rebellion also need to be ascertained. I have to say that this is all very coincidental.」

「That being said, we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?」

With that, Gundeus drew a swift conclusion to the matter.