Free Web NovelChapter 25: Ch 25: Southern Capital [1]
Things didn’t take longer after that.
A dozen men on horses soon came to their help, following the distress signal as the two men informed the men about their current situation. A few of them went back to inform about the clash that had occured here. And also more importantly, about the escape of the five important prisoners.
They didn’t even bat an eye though when they heard the barbarians had escaped as well. It was as if they no doubt they would be captured back again.
And they weren’t wrong as just a quarter of an hour later, the Windsor soldiers descended the forest with a dozen barbarians in front to them, their heads cast downwards.
Enzo’s eyes narrowed. Beside him, the girl whispered with widened eyes.
"N-no way..."
’Nineteen escaped...and only eleven returned huh.’
Seeing their bloody state, it was obvious what had happened to the missing eight.
The soldiers saw two barbarians standing below and few of them raised their eyebrows. They too didn’t expect them to have remained here.
A carriage led by a Legion himself and a few of his men arrived soon.
Unlike the young legion from before, this one was a middle aged man. Wiser and more experienced. His hatred towards the barbarians was however, no less.
"Why haven’t you killed them yet?" His voice rose by an octave as he leapt down from his warhorse and marched towards them.
The soldiers shuddered around him as they all bowed instinctively.
"Useless, each of you! Do you see why the Citadel would never take in pathetic souls like your lot? It’s because of this incompetence!"
He unsheathed his shortsword and pointed it at the one of the barbarians, who flinched seeing the pointed near his chest.
"You all couldn’t even escort a few prisoners who have already been bound by the Mana-Void enchantment. Is this how the second strongest military unit of our Empire supposed to be?"
The legion clenched his jaw further. Seeing no response and only timid nods, his anger flared further. He stomped his foot as he ordered, "Move aside! These mudcracks are going to die at my hands today."
But as he was about to step forward, one of the soldiers raised his head and called out in a hesitating voice.
"S-sir..."
The legion glared sideways. "What?"
"Umm...sir, Princess Valerie...uhh, Her Highness had ordered to not kill them..." He however, trailed off leaving the sentence incomplete as he took a quick glance at Enzo, which failed to notice the side eye.
At those words, the black armoured soldier paused.
"Do you even know what rubbish are you saying? Why would our princess order something like that?!" ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
"B-but sir, she--"
"Enough." The legion raised his hand and cut off the soldier. "Slander her further and your head shall be the first to roll."
The soldier, however didn’t stop at that. With trembling hands, he took out a small token and handed it to the legion.
"She gave it to me...asking me to show it to anyone who didn’t believe my words."
The legion ran his fingers over the token as if checking if it was real or not. A moment of silence followed, nobody daring to make any noise.
Finally, he handed it back to the soldier.
"...Fine. Follow the order given. I shall notify the Capital on my way. However..."
Hie eyes hardened yet again as he looked at the trembling form of the soldier.
"Don’t lie to me again. The token ordered to spare only those barbarians that were in the age gap of seventeen to twenty. The rest could be killed if they proved to be disobedient."
Surprisingly though, he didn’t bring any further trouble and let the company depart towards their destination.
Enzo now inside a new carriage, was in deep contemplation.
’Seventeen to twenty huh...’ He smiled lightly as he deduced Valerie’s plans.
’You plan to make us participate in the entrance test of the Isikolo. Technically, I shall be safe for some time if I am able to enter any one of the Isikolos.’
He sighed, feeling a headache approaching.
’...But why do you expect me to somehow make it through the entrance test?? I know archery and only a bit of fighting. Nothing else! I shall be buried under the commoner genuises there, ugh.’
Looking around him and seeing everyone already sleeping, he suppressed a yawn. Night time had already descended and he was quite tired after a chaotic day.
’They didn’t even give us any food.’ He thought bitterly as he closed his eyes and with an aching body and an empty stomach, he spiralled into sleep.
***
Enzo woke up to scrambling sounds and shouts coming from outside. He squinted his eyes, struggling to open them under the faint sunlight.
"Slept well?"
Enzo turned sideways as he saw the girl beside him yawning. Her face however, carried the wide, Innocent smile she generally carried around.
"Yeah definitely made my back even more sore." Enzo snickered before turning towards the small door, which was now open and a soldier was standing outside.
"I repeat - Enzo, Alysa, Shen and Smut...come out."
’...What?!’
Enzo felt his jaw go slack as he heard the soldier speak. He wasn’t even concerned about the way they had been singled out but rather...
"Hey..." He turned around and slipping in a mask of casual indifference as if he wasn’t trying to hold back his laughter, he asked. "Who gave you that name...Smut?"
Smut looked at him with curiousity as he asked back. "Is there something wrong with my name?"
"Ah, not really. I was just curious how you received such an...unique name."
"Ohh about that!" Smut’s eyes glistened as he recalled, "I had once slaughtered a group of traffickers who were trying to kidnap our women across the borders into the Jia Empire. Then one of the clan elders bestowed me with the name."
"He sure knew how to honour you." Enzo replied with a polite smile.
’Such a disgraceful name for such a noble work. Assuming smut is not known here, I wonder what had given the Elder such an inspiration?’
The four of them soon came down the carriage as the soldier nodded to them before pointing behind them.
"We have reached the Southern Capital."
The carriage was still blocking their view, so the four of them stepped out of it.
Each of them paused on their feet as the Capital came into their view.
A massive gate rose in front of them, around dozens of soldiers - each of them in gray armours - guarding the entrance. Long lines of people stood in front of the entrance as the soldiers checked them and their belongings before letting them in. freёwebnovel.com
Surrounding the entire city were huge fortified walls with watchtowers standing as beacons of security.
Across these walls, at the far distance, buildings bigger than the walls were spread out unevenly. But the wealth each of them showed off was immense. A testimony to the Empire’s growth.
Each of the four Hermanns had varying expressions on their faces: Shen and Smut had a wonderstruck expression as they gazed at the sprawling buildings in awe.
Alyssa looked at the people and their different dresses with twinkling eyes. She took in deep breaths as if quite liking the different ambience in the air.
And finally Enzo, who was neither attracted by the display of wealth nor by the colourful culture of the city. He had already seen enough of it from back on Earth.
What stood out to him however, were the obvious divisions in class - visible through both the city structure and the way the people moved.
