Chapter 453

Chapter Seventy-Six Caught Off Guard

Living people!

Hearing the knights’ shouts on the other side, my heart trembled. In the heavy rain and thin fog, the knights seemed to be heading toward a dilapidated thatched hut. Isaac had also dismounted from his beast and followed behind the others.

I was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted, urging my beast forward with the reins in hand.

The house the knights entered looked no different from the surrounding ones. The thatch on the roof had been torn off in many places, and one of the beams was broken. Heavy rain poured in, making it uninhabitable. However, as I approached and was still about ten meters away, I could already smell the food inside.

Sniff…

It really seems like there’s someone here.

Are they eating vegetable porridge?

Who…

Rumble…

Lightning flashed across the sky, and the silent clouds once again spewed out dazzling light. Thunder rumbled overhead as if beating drums, stunning me with its force. My newly raised guard was instantly shattered.

I urged my beast to a trot and stopped in front of the house. I dismounted, feeling the weight of the leather bag on my back, and quickly followed the knights inside. Inside, a fire was burning, and an iron pot was boiling something over it.

Around the pot were scattered seven or eight people—men, women, and elderly. There were also two children, about five or six years old.

These people looked wet and dirty, clearly not a family but survivors from the village. Some were injured, bandaged and lying on the straw mats in the corner where the roof did not leak. The ground was relatively dry, but the light was dim, so I could barely make out that it was a young man who was seriously injured.

However…

Having living people here is truly wonderful!

I pushed past the knights in front and stood beside Isaac. The bald man was rubbing his head, seemingly wanting to say something to these people, but they looked very flustered and even fearful when we entered.

The old woman cooking at the stove stood up, and the fat woman drying wood took two steps back. The farmer holding his sleeves protectively behind the children had a simple and honest face, but his eyes betrayed caution.

“Cough… Hey! Are you all from this village?”

Isaac struggled to speak after a long pause, only managing to say this.

His voice was loud and coarse, and though he looked frightening, similar to those movie extras or characters like Kratos, his shout, despite being harmless, still frightened them, leaving them standing still and silent. I even saw the farmer secretly grabbing a farm fork nearby.

Isaac, lacking any sense, continued to rub his head: “Hey! Listen—”

“Woah!”

Suddenly, one of the younger children among the two cried out in fear of Isaac. The fat woman hurriedly dropped the dry wood and ran to the boy, kneeling down to comfort him.

I kicked Isaac’s leg.

Clang—

“Get away!”

I put a bit more force into that kick.

Isaac staggered from the impact, and the metallic sound echoed in the dilapidated house, but the bald man didn’t feel pain; he just rubbed his head, looking confused and asking stupidly, “What?”

I turned my head away from him.

And secretly bared my teeth…

What kind of armor is that made of?

It’s so hard…

Even my calf bone hurts.

“Step back!”

With a slightly emotional tone, the soft words came from my mouth, sounding melodious to the knights’ ears, like birdsong.

They didn’t question and obediently stepped back outside. Then someone noticed that Isaac was still standing there and pulled him forward.

I slowly walked towards the villagers, raising both hands above my head.

“Don’t be afraid, don’t be scared. We… mean no harm…” After saying that, I showed them my white teeth, giving a faint smile.

Being cute, innocent, appearing harmless to lower their guard and generate goodwill… This is a skill I picked up effortlessly. If a smile isn’t enough, I’ll blink my eyes.

“We are just passing through, knights of the Church. We won’t take your food…”

Sure enough, seeing that I was just a little girl, their tense and guarded postures visibly relaxed. The farmer’s expression froze, the old woman in front softened her face, and the child’s crying gradually subsided into sniffles, stealing glances at me… Seeing this, I felt somewhat relieved.

Good, they’re not as scared anymore…

I stopped in front of them, tilting my head, then pointed to the pocket of my dress and slowly pulled out a piece of dried meat wrapped in paper. Unwrapping it, I tore the dry meat into two pieces and offered them to the child still wiping tears.

“Dried meat, eat it… It’s salty.”

The child swallowed saliva, eagerly looking at the meat, subconsciously taking two steps forward, extending a hand then pulling back, looking up at the old woman.

The old woman was looking at me.

Though she was hunched over, her body dry and thin, wearing ill-fitting and mud-stained clothes, and her face dirty, these few people seemed to respect her, waiting for her to speak.

I smiled even sweeter: “Grandma, we’re not bad people… I’m Sylvia, a knight of the Pope.”

Upon hearing this, the old woman paused, showing a thoughtful expression, then suddenly realized: “You… You said you are… Sylvia? You… You are that… Lady Sylvia, the Frost Wielder?”

Uh…

For a moment, my smile faltered.

What… scythe?

It feels so strange to admit.

“I am.”

But hesitation was only momentary, then I nodded.

“Oh! Above the heavens, you… you are even more beautiful than in the rumors… Oh my goodness…”

The old woman seemed excited, wanting to praise me, but lacking words, she couldn’t find anything good to say, only repeating “you” repeatedly, unable to continue. She then reached out to hold my hand, and I passed the dried meat to her: “Give it to the child.”

“This… how can I…”

“It’s fine…”

Although I said it was fine, this was my last piece of dried meat today. It was still morning, and giving it to them meant I would have nothing left to eat… I felt a bit sad, but I’d go for a walk in the forest later.

“Then… Little Bush, quickly thank the hero!”

The old woman gave the dried meat to the child, who happily accepted it and quickly said, “Thank you, hero!” He held the meat eagerly, ready to bite into it. The other child, seeing this, rushed forward to ask for some. I gave him the other half too.

They seem less tense now…

So I took the opportunity to ask: “Grandma, what happened outside?”

“There are so many corpses outside. Did you encounter bandits or refugees? What’s going on? Why are you still here!”

Suddenly, Isaac’s voice came from behind, his voice too loud, like a reprimand.

The old woman’s hand trembled in fright, her expression bewildered, looking at us helplessly. I quickly turned around and glared at him: “Isaac, don’t speak!”

“What did I do…”

Isaac scratched his head, looking innocent.

“From now on, you don’t speak.”

I pointed at him and sternly said one word, then ignored him, helping the old woman sit down.

“Come here,” she said gently, “Grandma, he looks fierce, but he’s actually a good person…”

The old woman trembled as she sat on the stone bench, sighing. She looked at me and said, “I know, I know, you are good people…” Then she lifted the lid off the pot; inside was a green vegetable soup steaming hot… Was that wild vegetables? Or grass… It didn’t smell very good.

“In the village, are you all that’s left…” I asked again.

“…Yes.”

She stared at the soup, lost in thought, as if reminiscing about something. The sight made my heart ache, reminding me of when Grandma Claire would sit alone at the table, lost in her thoughts.

Grandma…

She must have lost so much too…

“Last night… A group of bandits suddenly came to the village…” she said, bending down to pick up a wooden bowl from the ground, “They wanted to take our food… But everyone in the village was already starving… Where could we find any food… They didn’t believe us and started killing… Then… everything was gone…”

She dipped the ladle into the pot, filling the bowl with warm vegetable soup.

“Sir Sylviega, Sir Knight, we… apologize, we were just too scared, we thought… you would take our food too…”

Watching her pour the soup, her movements were slow and cautious, afraid of spilling even a drop. I didn’t know what I felt—whether it was sadness or helplessness. Thinking of the dire situation outside, I felt a heavy burden in my heart.

If only we had arrived a day earlier…

“Grandma, we should be the ones apologizing… We… we arrived too late…”

“It’s not your fault… It’s not—”

“It’s your fault!”

Before Grandma could finish her sentence, the plump woman interrupted her.

She looked furious, pointing at me, “What knight, what hero who protects the people! Your words are better than your actions! Where were you when we needed protection? Are we not people?!”

“Asha!”

Grandma scolded her.

But the woman ignored her, glaring at me angrily, “If you hadn’t shown up yesterday, what can you do now?”

The farmer rushed over to pull her away, his face showing concern, but she shook him off.

“Leave! I don’t want to see you! You’re not heroes! Leave! Go—”

The woman’s voice was hysterical. I looked at her angry face, feeling utterly lost.

Grandma hurriedly comforted me, “Don’t listen to her… Her son died, she’s a bit crazy, don’t listen to her…”

The old woman handed me the bowl of steaming soup.

“Hero, you’ve been caught in the rain, drink some warm soup to warm yourself up… And there, Sir Knight, I know you’re not bad people, come and have some too…”

“Grandma, we won’t drink, we… oh, I’ll shut up.”

Isaac, behind me, stopped mid-sentence, remembering my previous warning, quickly clamped his mouth shut.

“Drink, drink,” Grandma insisted, handing the soup to me, “Sir Sylviega, please drink this.”

My mind was in turmoil, not knowing what to say, so I just shook my head.

“Grandma, someone here… has been injured.”

I pointed at the knights behind me, “They have someone who can perform miracles to heal… Let the knight check it out?”

“Not a problem, not a problem.”

Grandma glanced carelessly at the injured person lying in the corner, smiling at me, “He’s not seriously hurt, it’s fine. Drink the soup first, drink—”

“What to drink, what to drink!”

The plump woman shouted again, “If they drink all the soup, what will we do! Starve to death?!”

Smack!

The silent farmer suddenly walked over and slapped the woman hard.

The farmer was shaking with anger, his simple and honest eyes turning vicious. He pointed at her trembling hand, “You, you! No one treats you like a mute if you don’t speak up!”

But the woman covered her face and screamed even louder, “Don’t let them drink! You can’t drink! Leave! Otherwise…”

Smack!

The farmer, enraged, gave her another slap, his arm swinging round, knocking her down. She cried out, “Ah!” and knocked over the pot stand, spilling the hot soup onto her chest, scalding her, making her roll on the ground screaming. However, the farmer continued relentlessly, pinning her down and slapping her repeatedly.

“Let you talk too much! Let you talk too much! Do you want to kill us?”

“Ah ah ah—”

“Shut up!”

“Pot, pot!”

“Stop fighting! I told you to stop!”

The scene instantly turned chaotic. Caught off guard, I stood stunned for a moment, then immediately helped Grandma up and moved her aside.

“Grandma, you’re okay…”

“They want to harm us! They want to harm us!”

The woman’s voice was hoarse, the farmer pressing her to the ground and punching her face.

“Shut up! Foolish woman, shut up!”

“Knight… Sir—”

“Stop!”

Clang!

The sound of swords rang out in the dilapidated house.

They want to harm us…

The woman’s words still echoed in my mind. Before I could think about their meaning, I was focused on saving her, preventing the farmer from killing her… As I loosened Grandma’s clothes and stepped forward, someone grabbed my dress from behind.

I turned back in surprise.

In the next moment, Grandma suddenly changed her tone, urgently shouting, “She doesn’t want to drink! They don’t want to drink! Sir Marcus, hurry and help!”

Grandma wouldn’t let go of my dress, her previously gentle face now twisted into a sinister expression. She shouted behind her and pulled something from her waist, throwing it at my face.

“Sylviega—”

“Back away!”

The knights rushed over, loudly warning us.

But I was still dazed.

My body reacted before my mind could process it. I tugged fiercely at my dress, quickly breaking free, and took two swift steps back. Immediately after, there was a loud “bang,” and gray smoke exploded in front of me.

That…

I looked bewildered, and then, in the corner of my vision, the injured person who had been lying on the ground, wrapped in bandages, seemed to have passed out, suddenly twisted his body and stood up like a snake.

He took his first step forward.

At this moment, the knight pulled the farmer off the woman, and the others scattered, fleeing towards the side room with only half the door. Two children cried loudly, and Grandma charged toward me through the gray mist. Someone shouted in my ear, and yet no one seemed to notice that a deep brown flame had erupted from the injured man’s right hand.

“Hehehehe…”

The bandaged man laughed strangely.

My pupils dilated instantly.

“Isaac, save them!”

“Be careful—”

As I shouted, Isaac’s loud and anxious voice echoed from behind, sweeping past me in an instant.

“Church… Knights—!”

Boom—!

Crimson light rose from the injured man, accompanied by his strange cries that sounded like wails. Scarlet flames burst open in front of us, carrying a wave of heat that engulfed Grandma’s body.

Isaac, blocking in front, roared, his body glowing with intense golden light. Before I could see what he did, my feet left the ground, and I was thrown away by the shockwave.