Chapter 129: Turbulent Times
On January 16, 1190, on the Day of the Divine Birth, the north wind blew a bit too fiercely, and the caravan in the valley received orders to rest. The hundred-odd members secured their carts and beasts, set up camp in a windbreak, and soon enough, a bonfire was lit, and porridge was being cooked.
This was the southern region of Pevensi Valley, about eighty kilometers from the middle section of the Holy Wall. The caravan had set off from a town outside the valley, under the supervision of the grain-transport team, escorting fifty large carts of supplies to deliver to the First Knights Order’s camp stationed outside the wall, bringing food and medicine to the knights guarding it.
The supplies had been gathered from various towns, forming several batches. This was the third batch, managed by a merchant association from Alectine City. Of course, the benefits were plentiful, but right now, the entire southern region of Silgaya was facing a food shortage, with towns too preoccupied with their own woes. The originally planned eight hundred carts, through a mix of rigorous persuasion and blandishments, ended up being less than four hundred.
This was already the result of the teamwork and unity of the grain-transport team, and only they truly knew the hardships involved.
The grain-transport team was initially established to ensure the clergy stationed year-round at the Holy Wall had their food and necessities met. After the First Knights Order took over the wall, the management of the grain-transport team underwent a drastic change, and now it was mostly made up of knights and clergy.
These folks had made tremendous contributions to safeguarding the Holy Wall over the past six months, especially during such challenging times when they not only had to tackle the food issue but also faced increasingly hungry and desperate bandits in the south. Sometimes, entire caravans lost their supplies, with carts destroyed and lives taken, and that was not uncommon.
“Looks like the Western Continent is gonna get a bit wild…” was a common musing from the head of the grain-transport team in recent months.
But at least so far, encounters with those truly formidable bandit forces were still few and far between. Most of them were just a handful of starving folks banding together—because being hungry made for poor company, they wouldn’t dare actually charge in for a robbery; they would rather steal what they could.
Even so, it had already caused significant trouble for the supply teams. In the past, towns were merely stopping points; now, they were places that required heightened vigilance. The weight of the grain-transport team’s responsibility increased, necessitating better armor and equipment, as well as more personnel to boost the team’s presence, preventing those desperate bandits from getting too ambitious.
Especially because recently, there had been troubling rumors.
“Those useless cowards from the Second Knights Order intercepted the grain-transport team from Alectine City, confiscating our supplies meant for the Holy Wall?”
Gathered near the bonfire, the resting knights, seated on stone piles, cradled their bowls of hot soup, some of whom hadn’t heard this development yet, naturally responded with disbelief: “How dare they! Where did you hear this?”
“A familiar merchant friend from Alectine City told me; I ran into him at Luan Town a few days ago.”
“They’ve transported grain to the Holy Wall a few times before. This batch of four hundred carts was also supported by their merchant association. They originally planned to set out around the same time as us, but before they could even pass through the city gate, they got stopped by the Second Knights Order. Both supplies and people were detained, and they even commandeered the merchant association’s territory; the grain storage in the city was shut down too. That lady lord tried to negotiate several times, but it seems it was all in vain.”
“What on earth?”
Some were outraged after hearing the news: “These bastards! Those pampered wimps daring to touch the First Knights Order’s food supplies must be itching for trouble!”
“Not just that! When I saw that merchant friend, he was running around trying to get a few associations and the lord involved, and guess what? The Second Knights Order not only confiscated their supplies but also privately seized much grain from various associations and farms, no reasons given. People even died over this incident…”
“Their actions are no different from those bandits! Such blatant defiance of our doctrines shows they have zero respect for the Temple Church and the Pope!”
“With the civil unrest intensifying in the Holy City these past two years, many issues have been sidelined. Those faithless rogue factions like the Rossius family, that coward from the Second Knights Order, Commander Coralon, and the Sixth Knights Order—this bunch of incompetents now has the audacity to act out; their confidence is growing!”
“What’s the captain say about this?”
“We all know, he’s probably already started planning a response.”
“Still, let’s all be careful. Food is scarce everywhere right now. Coralon has a whole gang of do-nothings under his command; if they get desperate, who knows what they might do? Remember last year’s rampage with the currency exchange? It threw the entire southern region into chaos. They’re not exactly harmless folks, so let’s not take them lightly.”
As they chatted, high above in the valley, a lookout from the supply team squinted into the distance, suddenly startled, his eyes widening.
He hurriedly pulled out a horn and blew it sharply.
Hooo—
The muffled horn echoed long through the valley. The members of the supply team put down their soup instantly, looking up, the knights alert, drawing their swords and standing ready.
“What’s happening?!”
“Who sounded the horn? Is there an enemy attack?!”
“Is it those desperate bandits—?”
Quickly, the horn blower slid down the rock and found the knights in the supply team, gasping, “There are—there are people coming! A lot of them! It’s knights—Knights Order!”
“What?!”
At that moment, they began to hear the thunderous sound of hooves hitting the ground. A few hastily donned their helmets and moved towards the noise, seeing a flurry of horned horses galloping through dust clouds, charging fiercely—at least forty to fifty. Some peered closely at the knights atop the beasts, unmistakably clad in the Church Knights Order’s armor.
“It’s the Second Knights Order…”
The supply team tried to maintain their composure and shouted loudly, attempting to calm the rear grain team’s nerves. When the horned horses halted before them, blocking the route through the valley, a figure on horseback shouted, “You have five minutes to leave your carts and get out!”
They were there to steal supplies.
“Have you lost your minds?!”
Realizing what was happening, the knights of the supply team were incredulous. This valley road had always been a major route for transporting grain to the Holy Wall; judging by the stance of the second knights, they’d been lying in wait for them—how dare these cowards?!
“This is the First Knights Order’s supply team! If you dare to rob us, Captain Seattle will flay Coralon alive! None of you will escape when the time comes!”
Some shouted in anger, while others tried to smooth things over: “Hold on, hold on! You’re from the Second Knights Order, right? We’re just responsible for delivering supplies to the Holy Wall; surely there’s been a misunderstanding?”
However, the opposing knights showed no interest in explaining further, calmly stating, “If possible, we’d prefer not to shed bl**d. You have four and a half minutes to drop your weapons and leave.”
“If you resist, don’t blame us for being ruthless.”
“d*mn it—”
Someone, driven by emotions, drew his sword, charging forward, but was quickly held back by a quick-thinking companion: “Calm down, they’re serious.”
The supply team had less than twenty members, while the opposing knights greatly outnumbered them. Those carrying the supplies may have been many, but when a fight broke out, they’d scatter like birds. The leading knight, with a dark expression, asked, “Do you really want to take it this far?”
“Think carefully; even if you k*ll us all here, the truth won’t stay hidden. Don’t be surprised if you end up as scapegoats.”
“Three minutes.”
The opposing knight remained unmoved.
After staring at them for a moment, the leading knight suppressed his anger, sheathed his sword, and growled, “Leave the supplies; we’ll withdraw.”
“But—”
Some grumbled stubbornly, their faces flushed with indignation.
“We can’t contend with them; dying here would be utterly pointless.”
The supply team quickly packed their belongings, abandoning the carts. They didn’t have much to gather anyway. An aggrieved merchant cursed his way as he left, lamenting everything he had risked was now lost, returning home with nothing, unsure how his family would survive the winter.
“Are we really just letting them go?”
As the members of the supply team walked away, someone from the Second Knights Order couldn’t help but ask.
“If those folks leave, they’ll definitely inform the following supply team, and they’ll come prepared.”
“Let them go.”
The captain was silent for a moment and offered no further explanation, simply saying, “While we still can, let them live. It’s a blessing for the children; soon, our hands will be stained with bl**d we can’t wash away.”
…………
Near Alectine City.
Flames licked at the collapsed farmhouses as iron hooves trampled across the fields. Knights in armor raised their swords, with their targets being the terrified fleeing women and tenant farmers.
Crying, screaming, children fallen to the ground were kicked aside by hooves, bl**d splattering and staining the massive horseflesh. One knight dashed out of a dwelling clutching half a sack of wheat, kicking down a middle-aged woman who was calling after him. Others were spitting out bl**d, grinning as they set fire to their own granaries, while knights yanked at the hair of young women, dragging them off to quieter places.
Truckloads of stolen grain were being transported away, leaving behind empty farmhouses, ruined mills, and those left without any hope of survival in the freezing winter.
God’s people.
In less than three days, similar atrocities had occurred dozens of times in the southern region of Silgaya—from villages to towns and even in larger cities with relatively more reserves. The Second Knights Order attacked the castle gates, capturing artisans within the city and pillaging everything of value, sending it towards the coastline.
Ten days later, cities including Alectine City reacted swiftly.
To avoid becoming the next target, factions that hadn’t united in decades—including those who saw themselves as heretics merely cleaning their own doorsteps—rarely joined forces and quickly assembled an army of nearly ten thousand, launching a fierce counterattack. In the valley north of Mosley, they faced off directly against the two thousand knights of the Second Knights Order. After two days of fighting, they were ambushed by the Sixth Knights Order from behind and were immediately routed, suffering losses exceeding fifty percent.
