Free Web NovelChapter 22: Knight Order
Mud covered Vincent’s polished boots as he stood atop shards of glass.
Shouts and screams filled his ears from all directions.
Gunshots followed immediately after.
More shouts, more screams as people pushed each other, carts overturned, and children cried louder.
"Kneel or be shot!" A hoarse voice commanded.
A rifle fired in the air.
The screams turned distant as the commoners stepped away from the encirclement and kneeled, covering their dust-clad bodies in mud.
A minute before Vincent’s arrival, small children stared at the pile of rubble that became of the mine’s entrances.
Women tightly clutched helmets while lifelessly staring at the ruins.
Miners covered in soot and blood refused treatment, continuing to dig the rubble to save their brethren.
The moment the carriage escorted by the Railguard Division arrived, the situation erupted in chaos as the commoners recognized the D’Arc House’s crest.
Loud shouts erupted. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
The commoners picked up stones.
The Railguards immediately opened fire to suppress the violent crowd but a stone still flew past and broke a lantern hanging on the carriage.
Vincent stepped out of the carriage and stood on shards of glass in the mud.
Leona and Anastasia immediately followed and covered him, acting as his last line of defense.
Vincent stood still and expressionless but his heart was intensely palpitating.
The situation was far more dangerous than he could imagine.
’The commoners in this world don’t fear the nobles or their authority...’ Vincent broke out in cold sweat.
Hierarchies blurred in the face of death and hunger. Such was the harsh reality of the world that Vincent underestimated.
It now seemed that the officials were not wrong to stop him from rushing to the mines.
’But there was no choice...’
Vincent had to rush or the consequences would be unimaginable. This was what Leona had told him last night in her workshop when he gave her the news of the mines.
Her words didn’t seem wrong after what he witnessed.
Vincent came here for their relief but the way he was treated... what would’ve happened had they been left unattended?
Vincent shivered thinking about it.
The world was much scarier than it looked.
"My husband..."
"My father..."
Sobs erupted from the kneeling crowd as they stared in Vincent’s direction.
If not for the many rifles pointed in their directions, they wouldn’t simply be staring.
Vincent breathed heavily as he thought of his next few steps.
’How does one calm such a crowd that doesn’t want to be reasoned with?’
A few minutes passed without any movement from either side.
The clamoring of horses resounded in Vincent’s ears.
From the distance, multiple horse-driven carriages rushed in his direction.
As they neared, Leona and Anastasia slightly relaxed.
The commoners turned to the noise and upon noticing men in metal armor nearing them, they stopped sobbing. A look of hatred flushed their snot and tear-covered faces.
"Took them long enough..." A Railguard commented while lowering his rifle.
The carriages stopped and the men in metal armor rushed toward Vincent.
The Railguards parted and broke the encirclement.
The men kneeled before Vincent and loudly shouted, "The First Unit of the Knight Order’s Northern Division greets His Lordship!"
The Knight Order was here.
After the initial greeting, rifles and swords were pointed at the heads of the kneeling commoners, sparing no room for retribution.
Chairs were soon brought for Vincent, Leona, and Anastasia.
As he sat down, Vincent stared at the crowd expressionlessly.
Children showed despair and fear. The women and elderly? Sorrow and hatred despite death being a trigger away.
Vincent couldn’t understand the strange emotions. These people could die at any moment yet they expressed resistance.
’How exactly am I supposed to salvage the situation from here on out?’
Vincent had trouble coming to a solution.
At the end of the day, it was still his second day in this world and he was nothing but a high school graduate. His understanding was limited.
Vincent leaned toward Leona’s side. A scent of jasmine filled his nostrils. He battled the sensation and asked, "Is this situation really salvageable?"
Leona was staring in the Knight Order’s direction as she said, "It depends on your choices."
She then turned to him.
Vincent’s face was quite close to hers. He slightly pulled away.
"Do you wish to save them?"
Leona leaned forward, bringing her face close to Vincent’s again.
"Or do you wish to exact revenge for what they did to you upon arrival?"
Her expression was serious.
Vincent didn’t know the answer to it.
He turned to the crowd of commoners again.
The same expression. Children in despair and fear, the elderly and women in sorrow and hatred.
As he stared at them for a few seconds, Vincent’s gaze fell on a young girl covered in dust and mud, having her little hands wrapped around a toddler.
The toddler was crying in her embrace while the young girl sobbed but held herself from completely breaking down.
There were no adults beside her.
She and the toddler seemed to be each other’s only companions.
’Fuck...’
Vincent’s eyes stinged and reddened.
The despair and shock he felt from moments ago instantly vanished as he felt his chest tighten looking at the orphans.
He stopped staring in their direction and looked away. But a second later, as he looked back, the young girl was still sobbing while hugging the crying toddler.
’Looking away does not change the reality I am living in. Fuck, man... why orphans of all people...’
Vincent felt a lump in his throat.
Like the two, he too was an orphan just a day ago. He knew exactly well how it felt being alone in this world.
The only difference was, he had a roof over his head due to his dead parents’ inheritance.
Vincent leaned behind Leona’s shoulder and said in a low voice, "I don’t want revenge, Leona. Please help me fix this..."
His voice almost trembled at the end.
Leona turned her head to the side and saw the state Vincent was in.
His face was expressionless but his shoulders were slightly trembling as he unknowingly tried to hide behind her.
Leona didn’t understand why, but she gently placed his head on her shoulder and began caressing his hair.
This was an unknown emotion her body responded with as she noticed Vincent’s state.
Seated beside Vincent, the blonde maid was staring at the kneeling crowd.
Her eyes were fixed on a young woman with a scar running along her closed eye. With the open one, she was staring at the Knight Order expressionlessly.
The view in Anastasia’s vision instantly switched.
"Do not stagger. Grains are but a gate away."
A young woman with one eye held a burning torch, leading a sea of people with farming tools toward a fortress’s doors.
Above the fortress was a golden plaque with the words:
D’Arc
The scene shattered.
Anastasia returned to reality.
Her eyes were still in the young woman’s direction.
’How can such a force be stopped?’ She wondered. But right in the next instant, her gaze shifted to the side, staring at her young master.
Vincent had his head placed on Leona’s shoulder. The latter was caressing his hair.
The hair on Anastasia’s arms stood on their ends as her entire being unknowingly shivered.
’Leona Voss... with a man...?’
