Chapter 96 - The Hundred People Who Were Late
The aid that had the pioneering camp eagerly awaiting for more than a month was finally here.
Early that day, a clipper had sped down from the upstream and stopped by the logging shed in the West. Then, the envoys who disembarked from the boat communicated with the soldiers guarding the logging shed and informed them that the contingent from the capital was about to arrive. The soldiers took fast horses and sent this piece of news to camp at top speed. Gawain immediately halted his work on hand and headed to the camp’s pier to prepare to receive them.
The pier here had been reconstructed and built upon the foundations of the temporary pier. Although it had yet to achieve the standard for long-term use, it now had a broader jetty and sturdier structure. To the west of it was the timber mill whereas vast empty land had been set aside in the east in preparation for future expansion. Now, there were already a considerable number of people standing on that empty land. Everyone was curious as to what the contingent from the capital looked like. About half of the people in the entire camp had gathered here.
Gawain did not stop all this. On the contrary, it was something he had specially permitted. The support contingent from the city of St. Soniel would significantly reassure the people of the territory. And in this place that lacked all sorts of entertainment, monotonous labor itself would result in the accumulation of pressure. Having some novel happenings in the territory was one of the most effective ways to raise the masses’ spirit.
Amber stood on the walkway of the pier, propped on her tiptoes as she looked toward the upstream of the White River. Her body shook and swayed here and there without rest. After waiting for a short while, she could no longer hold it in. “Why aren’t they here yet.. I feel like I’m about to grow cobwebs soon.”
“How amazingly quick must that spider be.” Gawain gave this girl an eye-roll. “You just arrived, and you’ve been standing here for a total of less than fifteen minutes, alright?”
“Hey, hey, what do you think the people from the capital look like?”
“Don’t impose a bumpkin manner on yourself. You haven’t been to the capital or something?”
“Tch, it’s no fun talking to you.” Amber pursed her lips, but she began chattering again within a few seconds. “Hey, hey, have you heard? The figure leading the contingent seems to be very extraordinary..”
“Veronica, Francis the Second’s only daughter. The ‘Saint Princess’ who devoted herself to the Holy Light two years ago.” Gawain’s face was void of expression. “Mm, it was indeed slightly contrary to my expectations. I didn’t think that this princess — who allegedly stays in the Cathedral of the Holy Light all year round and never participates in any political agenda — would actually come out and personally lead this contingent.. Tsk, pity I don’t know her well. Neither can I infer anything from that.”
Amber sneered through her nose with great disdain. “Tch, you bunch of aristocrats just have so many unnecessary misgivings. You insist on analyzing and arriving at schemes and plots out of everything, wishing even a fart of hers has consequences and connections to the past.”
Heidi who stood behind Gawain immediately frowned. “Utterly coarse. No improvement at all.”
Amber’s eyes instantly widened; she was just about to argue with Heidi, but Gawain suddenly raised his hand. “Save it, they’re here.”
On the riverbank shaded by the woods, the shadow of a sail crossed the trees and appeared on the water surface of the upstream of the White River.
A big, graceful white ship and several small and medium-sized clippers that looked to be guards were floating down the river.
There was a very clear emblem of the Anzu royal family on it; its outer appearance also fit that reported by the envoy. Without doubt, this was it.
And at the same moment, the people on ‘White Oak’ also caught sight of the campsite by the riverbank in the distance.
The craftsmen and apprentices had been pent up in their cabins for many days. Their endurance in all aspects had long reached their limit. It hadn’t been a day or two since they looked forward to pulling in to shore. At present, hearing news that their destination was near, they were naturally especially excited. Many people streamed out from under and squeezed onto the deck to gaze into the distance. A vast, neat, brand-new campsite appeared in everyone’s sight.
The scale of that campsite was far bigger than they’d imagined, and the orderliness of it was astonishing.
The people on board could not help but begin buzzing in low voices. They were aware of what had happened in the Cecil territory. They also knew that the pioneering camp had only started building a few months ago, and the total number of people participating in its construction were merely 800 refugees. Given the construction speed that people were acquainted with, within such a short period of time and with so little manpower, being able to put up a messy tent and surround it with a fence was considered excellent progress. That campsite downstream..
..Didn’t look like it had been constructed in such a short time, no matter how they looked at it.
They’d even caught sight of a lovely wooden pier beside the campsite. There were even quite a few wooden houses in the campsite!
Veronica was also standing on the deck. Only she was on the deck at the head of the boat. The craftsmen, apprentices, and coarse sailors did not dare to come close to this area. The people standing beside her were a short-haired woman with mediocre looks, dressed in white priest robes, and a middle-aged man donning a silk jacket, with the emblem of the Order of Knights before his chest.
Unlike those who only knew to exclaim out loud in a mess, Veronica quietly surveyed the Cecil pioneering camp in the distance. Her eyes with a glow dancing in them could see more, farther, and clearer.
She distinctly noticed that north of the campsite, on the northern banks of the White River, were countless daunting things arranged in a row.
Veronica looked intently at them after using the Holy Light to strengthen her vision. Her heart instantly trembled; her calm mind, which was usually immersed in the Holy Light, stirred uncontrollably and even almost affected her expression.
Those were actually blood-red skeletons that seemed like the remains of numerous titans. They laid in a heap by the riverbank. These huge skeletons were lined up for at least a few hundred meters along the river. A hazy, dark-red mist drifted from those skeletons, and they seemed to be disintegrating every minute and every second. With just a sweeping glance, she’d spotted several propped up skeletons that were already severely deformed and weathered, as if they would dissolve in fine sand anytime.historical
Evidently, those skeletons had been intentionally displayed there, just like spoils of war to show off one’s brilliant achievements in battle.
Veronica controlled her emotions very well, but the middle-aged man beside her could not stifle his surprise. This guard who wore the emblem of the Order of Knights muttered several incantations softly after noticing the items beside the campsite. Following that, the glow of arcane energy emerged in his eyes. He looked in the direction of the camp using Eagle Vision and instantly could not help but exclaim, “In the name of the king! What monster’s bones are those?!”
“More than two months ago, Duke Gawain Cecil had warned my father of the aberrations from the Dark Wave reemerging in this world. However, the way I see it, this warning did not stir up enough attention.” Veronica spoke up indifferently; there was an ‘almost estranged from the mortal world’ and pure rhythm in her voice. “Without a doubt, those monsters truly exist, and that ancient hero had defeated them once more.”
The middle-aged man concluded in a solemn tone, “This matter needs to be reported to His Majesty!”
“Yes, Vice Commander Cohen,” Veronica said quietly. “But in doing so, the overall situation becomes even tougher.”
“You’re referring to the east..” The Vice Commander of the Order of Knights, Cohen, could only sigh. “It’s a natural calamity and a man-made disaster..”
White Oak finally docked.
Gawain watched as the winsome big white ship steadily reduced speed. Its sails had been completely retracted, and some unnatural waves with magical power surged by the two sides of the ship and precisely pushed the ship to the front of the pier. Many people stood on the deck, curiously looking in the direction of camp. Meanwhile, several sailors walked out from behind the crowd. They pushed the gangplank out and set it between the deck and the jetty.
The crowd on the ship parted to two sides. A squad of soldiers ran down the gangplank to form two rows by the jetty. Following that, three people appeared on the deck. The first two were an expressionless woman dressed in priest robes and a middle-aged man wearing the uniform of the Order of Knights who looked refined and not unlike a general. Between these two people was a young lady clothed in plain white robes, with pale blond hair, soft and sweet looks, and an impressive aura.
Gawain confirmed with one look that the person standing in the middle was the legendary Saint Princess Veronica — because he had seen portraits of her when he was in the capital.
“Damn, so beautiful.” Amber could not help but murmur. “She looks even more beautiful in person than in the portraits.. What did she eat growing up..?”
While mumbling softly, she glanced at Gawain but saw that Gawain’s gaze did not linger on that beautifully unreal Saint Princess at all. Instead, his eyes were fixed on the ordinary-looking woman beside the Princess. This had her puzzled. “Hey, hey, hey— what are you looking at? Could there.. be a problem with your aesthetic standards?”
Gawain was jolted from his daze all at once. He looked at Amber confusedly. “Aesthetic standards? What about aesthetic standards?”
“Why are you staring at the person beside her instead of looking at the beautifully unreal Princess there?”
Gawain casually gave a perfunctory reply. “Come on, she just looks like someone I knew during my old life, so I looked longer.”
While they conversed, the three people who disembarked the ship had walked to the ground. Gawain decisively ended the chat with Amber and strode over. “Welcome, welcome, your arrival has been the best news in recent days.”
“It is also my greatest honor to be able to meet the legendary hero from seven hundred years ago.” Veronica bowed slightly. Her unique ethereal and pure disposition and the inhuman-seeming rhythm mixed in her tone made Gawain falter slightly, but he promptly returned to normal.
Then Veronica smiled. “Should I converse with you in the manner of speaking to an elder?”
With this question, the unique aura which she had revealed by accident was quickly restrained; her entire person also became more ‘alive’.
“No need to be a stickler for formalities. Conversing with an old fellow like me who crawled out of his grave, if we were to be truly particular about formalities, both of us would become extremely tired very quickly.” Now, Gawain was already very used to his identity of the ‘old ancestor who arose from his coffin’. With some brief comments, he’d turned the atmosphere into one familiar to him. “Let’s converse as equals. Have everyone aboard the ship come ashore and rest. Though we don’t have anything too good here, standing on flat ground will always be more comfortable than standing on a ship. Afterward, I’ll give you all a tour around this camp..”
While he spoke, his eyes thoughtlessly swept past the ordinary-looking short-haired woman beside Veronica.
Everything he had told Amber about her being an ‘acquaintance’ was naturally fake.
Because he had no way of explaining the real situation to anyone.
In his eyes, the one standing beside Veronica wasn’t any woman wearing priest robes. —Instead, it was a ball of translucent light with the facial features of a human!