Although Avery II's international reputation is not very good, he often moves between the three major countries, making various promises to throw away money for free, but none of them has ever come true. He is a "liar" and a "viper".
The nicknames given to him by foreign media such as "Snake" and "Raccoon Rat" can reflect his status in the hearts of people in other countries. But in the Principality of Hastings, he is deeply loved by his own people.
This is not because of his moral character, but because of the great success of the business and trade reforms he led, and the re-establishment of relatively low tax rates for traditional agriculture and animal husbandry to reduce the burden on the people. He is also very clear politically.
Vigorously crack down on banditry and criminal activities in various places so that the people of the Principality can live a life without fear of scarcity.
But this peaceful scene was suddenly destroyed.
The farmers who were planting winter wheat in the fields noticed the wailing of the earth. When they looked at the source of the vibration in surprise, the dust and sand that covered the sky and the sun were already approaching their eyes.
The ominous light reflected from the metal weapon waving in the air burned the farmer's eyes, and the farmer's head flew into the sky with his mouth wide open as he wailed in Hasting dialect.
This was a greeting full of blood. With the heads flying into the sky, the outskirts of Hiawatha City also lost the peace that had been maintained for more than ten years since the reform of Avery II.
The bandits who had been exiled to the wilderness or the mountains gathered together and ravaged the homeland that the people of the Principality of Hastings had worked hard to build.
This is the scene described by farmers who escaped from the city.
It was already the early morning of the next day. After a night full of rumors and making it impossible to sleep peacefully, Carmelita took the church people to the closed north gate early in the morning.
, climbed up the city wall and observed the situation outside the city. With this opportunity to understand the specific situation up close, Geer and his party followed.
The sky was a bit gloomy, with thick clouds piling up in the sky like a thick shield that even sunlight could not penetrate, leaving the world shrouded in a gray haze.
Geer stood at the crenel and looked out into the distance. Flames and black smoke were rising into the sky. Even if he stayed in Hiawatha, he could clearly see this scene.
The number of bandits cannot be accurately detected, but it is estimated that there will be no less than 2,000, and all the soldiers in Hiawatha City are less than 800. Moreover, the elite mobile force has been defeated in yesterday's ambush. Now
The city of Hiawatha can barely maintain the situation inside the city, and has no ability to take into account the situation outside.
"Miss Carmelita, we must leave here before the gangsters spread to the south and cut off the passage to Bern." After the inquiry, Nite asked the soldiers to take the farmer away and asked Carmelita.
suggestion.
A total of five Dragon Flame Knights have returned, and the rest, including Bodil, have rested forever in the land they guarded. Nite is now the highest-ranking among the remaining Dragon Flame Knights.
Carmelita thought for a moment and finally nodded, agreeing to Nite's suggestion.
"According to the information obtained, the current situation in Hiawatha City is not optimistic. Even if we can finally defend it, we will most likely be forced to stay here for ten days and a half, and whether we can exterminate these horse bandits and restore trade is not
It can be done in a short period of time, so I think it would be better for us to follow Carmelita and the others and leave the city."
Geer expressed his opinion to his companions. Originally, he had decided to take everyone directly back to Saint-Lotaro and gave up the idea of continuing to Emrock. But now the development of the situation was completely beyond expectations. Going back
His business routes have been blocked, and his original plan has been in vain and cannot be realized.
Everyone discussed for a while and felt that it was a better choice to go to Bern, the capital of Hiawatha, than to stay in the city of Hiawatha where the situation was unclear, so they chose to continue traveling with the people from Ingrid's church.
The task of negotiating with Carmelita was handed over to Lucarin. Ingrid was very grateful to people like Geer who had helped them in times of crisis. The negotiations went smoothly, and the two parties merged into one convoy again.
, we will arrive in Bern together first and then make the next decision based on the development of the situation.
Now that the decision was made, the group of people stopped delaying and quickly got off the city wall, got on the carriage, and left here surrounded by a group of soldiers for protection, rushing towards the city gate at the other end of the city.
Because of the guards maintaining order and the sense of trust that Haisting officials have cultivated through practical actions over the years, although the people in the city are a little uneasy, it is generally stable. The shops everywhere are open as usual and there is no congestion on the road.
With the fleeing crowd and the soldiers led by Nite helping to clear the way, Ingrid Church's convoy moved smoothly and arrived at the South City Gate without encountering any trouble.
When we arrived at the South City Gate, the situation suddenly changed - the city gate was extremely crowded, and some well-informed caravans were squeezing there asking to leave the city, and the soldiers here had already closed the entrance and exit in accordance with the emergency order of the city council.
These caravans were completely blocked there and were not allowed to go out. There had been fierce quarrels between the two sides, and there were even a lot of curses, which seemed very harsh.
At this time, the value of rights was reflected. Under the escort of Nite, these obstructions were not a problem at all. The soldiers pulled aside the personnel carriage blocking the passage. Nite went up and chatted with the guards guarding the door.
, the city gate was opened, guiding the convoy to move outward.
Through the car window, what Geer saw was the bored and frightened crowd standing on the side. Their complicated eyes mixed with envy and jealousy kept looking at the convoy that could only pass through the city gate, until the last carriage left.
The city's solid and heavy gates closed again, blocking their sight back to the city.
The convoy quickly followed the road away from the city facing the war. The huge black smoke column on the other side of the city also gradually became smaller as the distance increased, and finally disappeared at the end of the sky.
Just when Geer stretched out his head and looked at the smoke column behind him, there was a person on the other side doing the same action, but that person was only about ten meters away from the burning point that produced the smoke column. In contrast to the huge smoke column,
, he seemed extraordinarily small.
It was a knight sitting on a black horse, wearing a set of bright silver full-body armor, a beautifully embroidered cloak, and a black mask with only three arcs on his face.
Like an evil ghost climbing up from the endless abyss, the smoke column he looked up at seemed like a road leading to heaven.
At this time, a fierce quarrel came over, interrupting the knight's thoughts.
This is a few bandits arguing over the distribution of loot. Originally, these greedy guys were not very organized, and they were put together by multiple different teams. It is normal for such disputes to occur. But this time
The quarrel was extremely fierce, and it had turned into a situation where they turned against each other and glared at each other. One of the strongest guys even drew a weapon to intimidate the others.
The knight glanced at the place where the dispute occurred, and then rode his horse into the plunderers, standing in front of the bandits who had drawn their weapons. The knight said nothing and did not allow the other party to reply. He immediately swept out his long sword horizontally, and the sword was drawn horizontally.
In the blink of an eye, the head of the bandit in front of him had already flown into the sky, flipping several times before landing on the ground. There was still a look of astonishment on his face that had not faded away.
There was silence.
After a while, the other bandits immediately restored discipline and order as if they had been whipped, and piled all the looted property and materials in one place, half of which were placed on the collected horse-drawn carriages, oxen and donkey carts, and the other half according to the order
The proportion agreed in advance was distributed to each robber, and no one raised any objection.
These work knights were all handed over to their subordinates. He did not interfere, but rode his horse to the front, looking at the city where the dark red walls could already be seen.