Free Web NovelChapter 232: Reinforcements Start Arriving
3 days passed by in the blink of an eye, and a great many things in Herald City had changed.
Obviously, the fires which had been started as a result of the rampage the Saberclaw Raptors went on had been put out, assisted by both an ample supply of water and a light rain the day after the attack.
During this 3-day period, roughly 10,000 people had also fled from Herald City, mostly to the north via boat or east via the kingdom’s road. These people were generally better off, having the financial means to hire carriages and escorts, or purchase passage on boats to take them away.
Of course, there were also plenty of poor peasants who figured they had nothing more to lose in this Heavens-forsaken city and just set off in hopes of making it to safety.
The leadership in Herald City, headed by Marquess Balfour, did nothing to stop this outflow of people.
In fact, they welcomed it.
The population inside the city walls right now was just over 75,000, which was far too many to support with any kind of certainty. As such, anyone who wanted out was seen off with a wave and a smile. frёewebnoѵēl.com
As for the battlefield around the north-western gates, the corpses of beasts which were still in relatively good condition were quickly harvested and processed by an army of butchers and hunters, but most of the bodies were simply burned to prevent the spread of disease.
It was a colossal waste of resources, but there was no other choice.
Broken walls were mended, temporary shelters were erected, food distribution was centralized, patrols were re-organized, and many new public toilets were dug.
It was a monumental effort which involved thousands of labourers, all organized by Sasha and Lucas and ’generously’ funded by the Baker Count Family.
Now, Richard and Arnold Baker weren’t exactly known for their charitability, but under the glare of Celestina and a half-dozen or so powerful Spirit Initiates, these two men didn’t dare raise any complaints when money and grain was ’borrowed’ from their treasury.
Technically, according to the Kingdom’s Law, one noble was not allowed to appropriate resources from another without paying fair compensation, but this was not Celestina’s first crisis, so she knew a few clever tricks to get the locals to cooperate.
By declaring a wartime emergency, General Balfour was empowered to seize assets she deemed necessary for military purposes from anyone in the Rockwell Kingdom with the exception of other Generals and the Royal Family itself.
By invoking such privileges, Celestina was able to acquire everything she needed from the nobles and merchants of Herald City, as least temporarily.
As for the money and resources which was abandoned by the wealthier citizens who had already fled, Celestina didn’t even need to make up an excuse, she just directly ordered her subordinates to appropriate anything they required.
If these rich individuals and families somehow came back and demanded compensation, the Marquess could just say that their property was ’destroyed in the chaos’, ’lost in battle’, or ’taken by bandits’. With no proof to the contrary, they might feel indignant, but they would still swallow the loss.
Despite all these efforts to stabilize the situation, however, things had only gotten worse in Herald City.
Public order was somewhat maintained in the bright light of day, but in the shadowy alleys and the dark of night, crime ran rampant. Simple things like harassment and theft had become commonplace, while more extreme problems like rape and murder were happening with alarming frequency.
The various militia and guards that were now under direct military control did their best to stamp out these criminal elements, but with so few of them, and so many desperate people, they were fighting a losing battle.
Squaller was another major issue, as Herald City’s infrastructure collapsed both metaphorically and physically under the weight of so many extra people.
The only thing that wasn’t currently a critical problem was food.
Although the city’s official granaries were in a pitiful state, holding only enough rations to support the currently population for about 15~20 days, the raids on the storehouses of the various merchants and nobles yielded another 20 to 30 days worth of grain, fruit, and vegetables.
In an ironic twist, due to the constant beast attacks over the past 12 days, protein had never been more abundant, so the normally rare meat now oddly made up a much larger portion of people’s diets.
However, even this one bright spot wouldn’t last forever, and everyone amongst the temporary leadership council which had been organized to oversee the city knew it.
And so, the morning of the 12th day of the crisis dawned.
.....
Opening his eyes to the still unfamiliar ceiling, Lucas groaned as he forced himself up and out of bed.
Glancing out the wooden-slat window, the young boy grumbled a bit as he noted that the sun hadn’t even risen yet. Still, he knew that there was no time to waste. He had a mountain of work to do, and if he wanted to make any kind of dent in it, he had to get moving.
Fumbling around for a moment, Lucas found his Spirit Lamp and turned it on, instantly brightening the room. It was a medium sized space, less than 3 metres by 4 metres in total, meant for officers in the City Garrison with just enough room for a bed, desk, and dresser.
This room was actually smaller than his bedroom back in his home in Redwood Town, but what it lacked in space, it made up for in privacy. Most other people were forced to share rooms in the current situation, so having a bedroom to himself was considered a luxury, no matter how cramped it might be.
Throwing on his clothes, the young boy made his way out to the yard where he began his morning exercises.
Even amidst all the chaos, Lucas always tried to make time for his training and cultivation. While there might have been more important things for him to be doing right now from an overall perspective, if the past few days had taught him anything, it was that personal strength was still a necessity.
This world was far less orderly and forgiving than the one in his inherited memories; here, the size of one’s fist determined who was right and who was dead, and Lucas was in no rush to die.
That wasn’t to say that in the other world strength didn’t matter, and that might didn’t make right, it was just that the ’strength’ of the government and its institutions was so overwhelming and all-encompassing that going against its rules was basically suicidal.
It was a very different story in the Rockwell Kingdom where even in the major cities, if one was strong enough, the law would bend to their will.
Soon after Lucas began jogging around the garrison’s training grounds, he was joined by another set of footsteps, then another. No one among the trio said anything as they ran, keeping up a brisk pace that quickly brought a faint sheen of sweat to their brows.
A little more than half-an-hour later, Lucas, Eris, and Christina had finished their 10 km run and were now breathing hard, but that wasn’t the end for the trio of children.
Taking a position facing towards the rising sun, Lucas calmed his mind, inhaled deeply, and began executing the Forms of the Unarmed Foundations Art. The girls quickly followed, ignoring the burn in their muscles as they mirrored Lucas’ movements.
Eris was no stranger to the Unarmed Foundations Art, so she had no difficulties matching Lucas’ pace. Christina, on the other hand, had only begun learning this strange Body Tempering Art a few days ago, so she wasn’t very proficient with it yet; however, that didn’t dampen her enthusiasm as she bent, stretched, punched, and kicked.
Lucas knew that one day soon, his Master would accept Christina as her formal Disciple as well, so he hadn’t been stingy in teaching the princess his precious cultivation method. He had even suggested to her that she stop cultivating normally and switch to his new style temporarily.
At first, Christina was confused and reluctant to go against her instructors and her family’s teachings, but after a few days of experimentation, she began whole-heartedly following all of Lucas’ guidance.
While this new kind of cultivation was undoubtedly slower than her regular method, Christina quickly realized that the slight flaws and problems she had begun to notice in her foundation were gently being corrected under Lucas’ careful direction.
It was not only shocking, but incredibly gratifying.
The simple fact that Lucas was willing to teach her this incredible method was enough to cause a stir in Tina’s heart. She understood the value of the Unarmed Foundations Art and what kind of risk Lucas was taking by showing it to her.
It was a sign of trust; a leap of faith on Lucas’ behalf, which was why Christina also didn’t hesitate to believe in him and trust him when he asked her to.
Whether this was just mutual respect or something more was unknown.
For now, however, Lucas carried out his role as teacher, while Eris and Christina played their parts as eager students.
Another hour later, as the sun now illuminated most of Herald City in an early morning glow, the trio of children scrubbed themselves down using a nearby well and bars of soap they had prepared beforehand. Lacking time and infrastructure, the girls simply faced one way while Lucas faced the other, all of them silently complaining that there was no shower and bathhouse here like in Redwood Town.
It was amazing how easy it was to go from not having a luxury to having it, and how difficult it was to go from having a luxury to not having it.
Even so, Lucas and the girls quickly finished up their cold wash and got changed. Just as they were about to head towards the main hall for the morning meeting, though, Lucas and Christina both turned east and narrowed their eyes, squinting hard as they tried to block out the sun’s rays.
Confused by their actions, Eris was about to ask what was going on when she heard a series of caws, ones she now recognized as the cries of Tartans.
It seemed reinforcements had finally arrived.
