223: Chapter 119 Aiken Village Refugees 223: Chapter 119 Aiken Village Refugees Having returned to Selva from Avalon Castle, the sky had already darkened.
Just upon entering his territory, Leon realized something was amiss.
There were significantly fewer patrolling militiamen in the village.
With growing concern, he hurried back home only to learn from Miss Elena that Longka had actually received reports from villagers of a large group of bandits.
Brian Sr., and Olivia took charge with a team of archers and guards.
They urgently assembled fifty conscripted infantrymen from the able-bodied workers at the construction camp to provide support.
Shocked, Leon couldn’t afford to rest; he changed to a spare warhorse in the stable and, along with Kovis, they took enough torches and set out for Longka immediately.
Traveling through the night without stopping, the pair arrived in Lokhak’s territory at midnight.
It wasn’t until he was stopped by his own soldiers who were camping and keeping watch outside the village that Leon felt at ease.
Whether or not Longka had encountered bandits, it seemed Azeryan and the others had the situation under control.
Once inside the village and inside the large hut guarded by guards, the four who had already gone to bed were woken up by the soldiers.
After lighting candles for illumination, Leon removed his armor and sat down with everyone at the table, inquiring about this sudden disturbance.
Azeryan explained the current situation methodically.
After understanding it wasn’t a bandit problem, but rather nearly a hundred refugees who had no place to turn after an undead attack, Leon immediately understood why his companions were so troubled.
The location of Longka was essentially on the western edge of the Baron Domain under Farolis’s rule.
Further west lay Aiken Village, part of Baron Grey Wolf Gunar’s territory.
Leon remembered that this was the village he had come across when he first left the forest, following the dissolution of the Cursed Land.
Now, strictly speaking, these refugees, having left Gunar’s territory without permission and seeking refuge in Farolis Family lands, were considered “fugitives” in violation of Lord Law in this era.
Of course, during life and death moments, villagers naturally couldn’t care less about those rules and regulations.
The tricky problem was how to properly handle these villagers seeking help now.
Leon certainly wouldn’t stand by and watch so many innocents starve to death before his eyes.
But to open the granaries to help these people, Longka definitely couldn’t bear the sudden increase in mouths to feed alone; they would need to transfer grain from Selva and Platon.
However, the grain they had was not simply brought by the wind.
If these nearly hundred people were unclaimed migrating immigrants, he would naturally be willing to pay the price, then happily settle these refugees to replenish manpower.
But they were “fugitives” with a lord, and their lord’s territory was right next to his own “neighborhood”.
To kindly play the benevolent fool by expending valuable grain to shelter them, only for the Gunnar Family to come back claiming their subjects, the question then would be whether to hand them over or not.
“We can convert the consumed grain into money.
If the Gunnar Family comes later to reclaim their people, however many people they want back, they will have to pay the costs we incurred.
If they can’t afford it, then the people will belong to us.
As the lord, if we can’t even protect our own subjects, should the issue truly escalate to the Great Nobles for a ‘Lord’s Arbitration,’ we would still have the right side of the argument, and I believe Lord Eriv would ,” Azeryan proposed as a middle-ground.
“Fine, remember to hike up the price when calculating the grain bill.
We can’t be exerting great effort to aid the Gunnar Family’s refugees for nothing.
However, I had initially warned that village to inform their lord as soon as possible and request protection from soldiers.
the scale of the undead attacking the vicinity of Aiken Village is too large?
Is it possible that not even the army can handle it?” Leon asked, puzzled.
“I asked their leaders the same question during the day.
Those villagers were talking over each other and couldn’t make it clear, nor did they know exactly how many Living Corpses attacked the village.
But Aiken Village had already been subjected to sporadic monster attacks for some time and had sent people to ask for help from the nearby villages and the Gunnar Family.”
Azeryan continued, “However, Wolfenhol City never responded to their requests.
It’s not just the military; even the young and strong from Aiken Village conscripted to fight on the front lines haven’t been sent back.
I don’t know if the current administrators in Wolfenhol simply don’t believe the small village’s call for help, or if they don’t care about their fate, or perhaps Baron Grey Wolf has called away Gunar Family’s troops to fight in a war, and now there’s a shortage of soldiers?
The villagers from Aiken say that it has been four days since the disaster struck, and they still haven’t waited for reinforcements from the Grey Wolf Family to clear the monsters wandering in and around the village.”
“It’s possible all your guesses have some truth to them,” Leon thought for a moment, “Let’s do this: we’ll temporarily shelter the refugees.
Also, I’ll immediately write a letter about the situation and submit it to the Sealing Lord to see Lord Eriv’s opinion as well.”
The Farolis Family’s army is already almost fully assembled in Forest City and will be heading south in the next few days to launch a surprise attack on poorly defended Greyde County.
Leon didn’t know if such a turn of events at this critical juncture would affect the Thorny Flower Family’s military strategy.
Brian Sr., stroking his dense beard, listened silently to the younger ones discuss and couldn’t help but let his thoughts wander further…
Contemplating his intuition and premonitions, he suggested, “Lord, letting the villagers from Aiken just eat without contributing is a waste of manpower.
Why not bring in some craftsmen from Selva’s construction camps?
They could lead them to cut timber nearby, construct a wooden wall and a moat around Longka, and build a few Arrow Towers, just in case Aiken Village suffers an organized attack like what happened in Longka.
We don’t need to disband the troops we’ve brought with us.
With so many hands, Longka’s residential area isn’t large; if everything goes smoothly, it could be finished in just over ten days.”