Chapter 403 — Taking In the Surrendered
Blade of Dawn · Page 4 of 4
The scene felt familiar. Viscount Carroll vaguely remembered that when the great army had fallen into chaos on the mountain road at Gravel Ridge, this viscountess had appeared before him just like this and gathered up those scattered, disorderly troops. And now the very same thing had happened all over again. He could not help marveling at the strangeness of fate: "You always seem to see me at my most wretched..."
"Come along, I have a few spare horses," Ropeni Glan said, extending a hand to these down-and-out nobles before her. "We must stick together."
The several nobles in distress, along with the last retainers they led, joined Ropeni's company. Viscount Mari Oran could not help but feel curious about this company's future: "Where are we going?"
"North," Ropeni Glan said, glancing back at Viscount Mari Oran. "We're going to Stonehold Fortress."
"Stonehold Fortress?" Viscount Carroll, hearing this familiar name, could not help hesitating at once. "Then we'll have to cross my domain... those Cecil men..."
"The Cecilians have already left that place. They surely never imagined that after we barely escaped their pursuit, we would turn back," said Ropeni Glan. "Their numbers are limited. They cannot occupy every noble's territory in so short a time."
"They've left..." Hearing Ropeni's words, Karol felt his heart stir despite himself. "Then I..."
"Don't even think about returning to your castle, Viscount," Ropeni Glan knew what Karol was thinking. She turned her head at once and warned him sternly. "Remember, those Cecilians blew down your first wall right in front of you. They can blow down your castle just the same."
As she spoke, she turned back, and in her eyes there seemed to be boundless resolve. "There is not a single safe place left in the Southern Region, gentlemen. Our only hope is to seek help from the Holy Spirit Plains, to seek help from Count Pompeii, to make for the Bedrock Fortress. That is an unbelievably solid fortress, its walls poured with magic-conducting metal, able to withstand the attacks of a Grand Mage. It is nothing like the walls of the Karol domain. The Cecilians will never break it."
Perhaps because he too was filled with confidence in the Bedrock Fortress, or perhaps because sheer exhaustion was clouding Viscount Karol's judgment, he was persuaded by Ropeni Glan with hardly any effort. He nodded. "Good. We make for the Bedrock Fortress..."
"Of course. But before that, we must gather up as many of our scattered companions as we can," Ropeni Glan said with a smile, a smile that was remarkably infectious. "There are several other groups that escaped the Cecil pursuit as well. We must bring together everyone who has been scattered. Only when our company is large enough, when enough nobles have gathered, will the Bedrock Fortress realize how grave the situation is, and only then will it receive us with greater seriousness..."
(Looks like I won't be able to manage double updates for the next few days = . =)