When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#761 - Tomorrow, the final battle!

Looking at the desolate, ruined houses, Moirai, leading her horse, remained composed.

Soon after, Lannes approached: "Your Highness, no survivors were found. They must have moved out five days ago, or even a week before."

"A week ago..." Moirai crouched down, picking up a pinch of black ash. "We defeated the Gravel Plains army five days ago, didn't we? Could they foresee the future?"

"I wouldn't know about that," Lannes replied, equally puzzled. "These houses were burned at least five days ago, at the very least."

This was once a village in the Southbow River Valley, but now it resembled a resurrected inferno.

Some of the oat crops in the fields had been harvested early, leaving only stubble that pricked the feet.

The rest, having no time, was simply burned.

The sheepfolds were all knocked down, with the ground still showing the chaotic imprints of sheep hooves.

The mud and branch thatched houses now stood as chest-high broken walls.

A warm breeze blew, and the bronze bell at the village entrance tinkled.

It was the only intact item in the entire village, now hanging by a single strand of hemp rope, as if about to fall at any moment.

Without much thought, Moirai knew that this must have been the work of the Gravel Plains knights.

Since yesterday, no village or town on either side of the Southbow River Valley had been able to obtain supplies.

Most villages and towns had been reduced to this miserable state, with the inhabitants either relocated or even massacred.

The only ones spared were likely those villages and towns located along the Nauan River.

As Moirai pondered, she suddenly heard a scream.

"It's the Sheep God! The Sheep God is angry!" A terrified and frantic cry came from the village.

A gaunt shepherd, with dark circles around his eyes, pointed shakily at an inverted sheep skull: "The Sheep God rides the thrush!"

"Why this rumor again?" Moirai waved her hand impatiently. "Drag him away, drag him away."

Kalle never imagined that this strange rumor would spread to all the shepherds and laborers within just three days.

Although they were cautious, the rumor eventually reached Moirai's ears.

Moirai despised such folk proverbs, but she had to take them seriously.

Moirai knew them too well; even the Thousand River Valley people were quite superstitious.

Hone was able to gain military power with an extremely absurd Saint Father's Descent. It would be terrible if someone learned from him and caused trouble.

Moirai personally conducted a series of mind-reading investigations, almost suffering a mental breakdown, before identifying several sources of the rumor.

Unfortunately, either they were crazy old people whose minds she couldn't read, or children bribed with malt sugar.

But it was basically certain that the Gravel Plains people were up to some conspiracy.

Moirai didn't want to be bothered by these things anymore, so she simply suppressed it forcefully, whipping anyone who mentioned it.

This shepherd dared to mention it in front of Moirai, and was immediately struck six times with a whip by three officers standing nearby.

One of the officers even roared, "Are you trying to die, you brat!" and kicked him to the ground.

Several other officers swung their fists and punched the laborer's head, immediately raising a purplish lump.

"Enough," Moirai finally called out to stop them. "He just shouted something. Why did you whip him so many times? Give him two dinars and let him go."

"Consider yourself lucky that you met our kind-hearted Lord Moirai."

The shepherd staggered away, but Moirai wasn't so relaxed.

From these clues, she could basically deduce the movements of the Gravel Plains nobles.

The first trick was scorched earth, not only cutting down wheat fields and taking away sheep and people, but even burning houses.

This was mainly to prevent Moirai from using readily available wood to build siege weapons.

The second trick was spreading rumors, creating a plausible "Sheep God" rumor to shake the morale of the army.

The third trick was concealing their strength. So far, none of the titled knights from the Gravel Plains side had appeared.

The number of Edict Knights (Red Feather Knights) that appeared on the previous battlefield was much smaller than expected.

Many corpses bearing the title of Edict Knight were dissected by the wizards, and it was discovered that they simply did not have the strength of an Edict Knight.

It was probably for the final battle, to be used in the final showdown with her.

How childish. Did they think these tricks would work?

Shaking her head, Moirai said to Lannes with a hint of mockery, "These are all obvious tricks. They feel even worse than Barnifos."

"After all, the most knowledgeable Duke Red Cedar was captured by you," Lannes laughed along. "The rest of them don't have experience in large-scale battles, let alone the ability to command large armies. It's normal for them to be like this."

Moirai didn't reply, but looked around the village, sighed, and mounted her warhorse: "Let's go, we're going back to camp."

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Passing through one mound and creek after another, Moirai and her party finally emerged from the tributary of the river valley.

Because they couldn't obtain enough manpower and supplies, they had to rely on supply ships to advance north along the Nauan River.

Therefore, Moirai set up camp in a small riverside town only 30 miles from Saltflat Market.

The remaining distance could be reached in a day.

Today was the last day before the battle.

Walking out of the valley, they were met with the open river valley plain.

The golden light of the setting sun split the clouds, and the colorful clouds surrounded the sky like layers of ribbons.

Watermills and windmills turned, and passing shepherds and merchants looked timidly at the marching black army.

Some of the bolder ones even dared to sell honeylocust and potions to the soldiers.

On both sides of the road, the sunset dyed the original yellow-green oat fields golden, and the river wind blew, making a rustling sound.

Beneath the tall ash trees lay moss-covered rocks, and on the cobblestone stream, several barefoot soldiers were carrying fresh fish threaded with reeds, singing loudly.

"Lilacs bloom in my father's garden..."

"All the birds in the world nest here..."

"The blonde girl who was once by my side can sleep well..."

Listening to the song coming from the riverbank, Moirai turned to the adjutant and asked, "What song is this?"

"This is a folk song that only started spreading last year, called 'The Blonde Girl by My Side,' which sings about longing for home and first love," the adjutant carefully considered his words. "It is said to have been created by students of the Holy Machinery Court and is widely sung."

"Everyone is homesick," Moirai murmured.

This was different from fighting in Thousand River Valley before, where they were fighting at their doorstep or even at home.

For those soldiers who had never left their villages in their lives, Gravel Plains was a truly foreign land.

"Do you need me to stop them?" the adjutant asked in a low voice.

Taking a deep breath, Moirai shook her head: "No, let them sing. Anyway, tomorrow's attack on Saltflat Market will be the final battle!"