chsdbacks Chapter 97: Refugees
Chapter 97: Refugees
Rem's family consists of seven people: his wife, his elderly father, and four children, all of whom are boys.
If this were a situation with farmland, it would definitely be considered labor.
But without land, it would be a nightmare.
With so many mouths to feed every day, he's been really worried lately.
So when he heard in Gorubakburg that a territory was willing to provide wives for the refugees who came to the territory, he did not hesitate to take his family to the territory in the Blackthorn Wasteland.
He wasn't going after a wife; he knew that perfectly well.
Although women are also a workforce, they are far less capable than men at heavy physical labor.
If a territory can support so many women, there is only one possibility: the territory has a lot of food, so the lord has surplus food to support women.
No man would be interested in that kind of thing if he wasn't getting enough to eat.
thump!
Reynolds stumbled and fell to the ground, never to get up again.
"Little brother!"
Dylan, the eldest brother, quickly picked Reynolds up.
Rem rushed over, asking, "What happened to Reynolds?"
Dylan looked terrified and anxious: "I don't know, my little brother suddenly fainted, and I can't wake him up no matter what I do." He glanced at the sky subconsciously.
Under the blazing sun, the distant scenery was distorted by the intense heat.
He already thought Gorubak Castle was hotter than the central part of the kingdom, but he didn't expect it to be even hotter after arriving in the Blackthorn Wasteland.
Let alone a child like Reynolds, even a young man like him is almost unable to keep up.
Rem examined Reynolds and his expression immediately changed: "This is a fever!"
Rem, who works in the fields year-round, naturally saw many tenants and serfs suffering from heatstroke due to the high temperatures, and understood the situation at a glance.
The youngest son has heatstroke.
"This is a fever." Rem collapsed to the ground.
In his view, very few people who contracted a fever survived.
"Reynolds!"
Upon hearing about the fever, Rem's wife went limp and nearly collapsed to the ground.
Gavin came over, took out a water bag, and tried to pour water into Reynolds' mouth, but he couldn't get it in.
"It's hopeless. Leave it here for now and get on your way. If we delay any longer in this weather, even more people will get the fever."
Gavin made a quick decision: they had prepared plenty of water on the way there and would try to travel in the morning or evening.
However, by taking a detour, they wasted a lot of time, and on the last day, they had to travel under the scorching sun, trying to reach Ashwood Territory before running out of water and food.
Upon hearing that he was to abandon his youngest son, Rem's wife clung tightly to Reynolds, refusing to let go.
"If I don't leave, Reynolds can still be saved!"
Gavin's face immediately turned cold. Just as he was about to draw his sword to teach this family a lesson, the sound of horses' hooves rang out.
The team immediately experienced a brief period of chaos.
Only after confirming the cavalryman's identity did Gavin allow the mercenaries to lower their guard.
It was a squad of knights sent out by Ashwood Territory, led by Fanta. All nine of the territory's warhorses were ridden out, followed by two oxcarts loaded with water jugs.
This was Mrs. Moriel's guess that the refugee caravan had run out of water after learning that the caravan was traveling in the middle of the day, so she immediately had Fanta send over a batch.
Fanta, upon seeing the appearance of the refugees, secretly admired Mrs. Moriel's meticulousness.
Fanta, sitting on his horse, said to Gavin, "We've come to deliver water. Everyone, have a drink before you continue. If you're severely dehydrated, you're likely to get heatstroke—no, heat sickness."
Gavin looked at the water bag, which was now only empty, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thanks!"
"Knight Commander!" Shanlier suddenly squeezed next to Fenda: "There's a child over there who has heatstroke."
Gavin frowned when he heard "heatstroke".
He only knew about fever, not heatstroke, but he didn't care to ask. He took a couple of sips of water and continued to keep an eye on the line.
Upon hearing that someone had heatstroke, Fanta immediately went over.
When Rem's family saw a tall knight approaching, they became quite reserved. Only the old man in the family reacted and knelt down.
"My lord, please save my little grandson! He's still young, but he'll surely grow up to be a capable worker and fight for you. Please, please save him!"
Upon hearing his father's words, Rem realized what was happening and immediately knelt down. Before he could even speak, Fanta stepped over him.
He crouched down and checked the situation.
"This is quite serious. Sanlier, take this child and go to the hospital to find Ms. Lillie as fast as you can."
Upon hearing the order, Shanlier immediately led over the Ash Horse that had been brought to him, lifted Reynolds onto the warhorse, and with a push of his feet, sped off towards the hospital.
Seeing that Reynolds had already been sent away, Rem's family finally breathed a sigh of relief and went to get some water at Fanta's arrangement.
Rem took the water pouch, drank two mouthfuls, and kept his eyes fixed on the direction where Shanlier had disappeared.
He didn't dare ask whether the tall knight child would survive; his hand was still trembling as he handed the water bag to his old father.
Gavin watched this scene in silence.
A knight, in fact, galloped at full speed for a refugee who had contracted a fever.
Although the rider was just a knight apprentice, the tall knight, whose strength was unfathomable and who was at least an Earth Knight, also possessed such compassion.
Gavin hadn't seen a noble knight like that in years.
Because they had drunk water and the territory was so close, the refugee caravan sped up at an unprecedented speed and arrived at Ashwood territory.
As they approached the city gate, they saw Thun standing there with fifty heavily armored guards. Their heavy wooden scale armor gleamed darkly in the sunlight, and each of them had a Tang-style sword hanging at his waist. They stood in a row, motionless.
As the group of refugees saw the caravan from afar, their pace slowed involuntarily, not out of fear, but because they dared not act rashly.
Gavin also recognized that the wooden scale armor worn by these heavily armored guards was thicker and had a larger protective area than the one that Doron had brought.
The Heavy Guards' heavy wooden scale armor was made to the standard of Song Dynasty infantry armor. The entire set of infantry armor was made of 1825 armor plates, with a protection area of up to 95%, leaving only gaps on the face, instep, and armpits. Because the wooden armor plates were much thicker than the iron armor plates, the entire set of armor was also a size larger. Even a thin person would find it a size too big, let alone the strongest young men among the Grimm, the Heavy Guards.
These Grimm people, still wearing ferocious masks, stood in front of the city gate, looking like human iron towers.
Gavin swallowed hard, almost unconsciously.
He had seen Earth Knights charge in mercenary groups, but he had never seen a line of fifty heavily armored infantrymen standing in a wall.
He had a premonition that even if the Earth Knight fell into the middle of this group, he wouldn't last more than a few rounds.
After all, in addition to the Tang-style sword at their waist, the heavily armored guards also carried an iron mace in their hands. This weapon was made of long-handled hardwood, with a long oval hammerhead at one end and iron spikes. It could deal terrifying damage even to heavily armored knights.