Humble, Benevolent

At first light, several villagers were clearing the rubble from the road and filling in the potholes outside Tewain Village's north gate. Old Hoyd and his son were among them.

Unlike the others, who were working hard, the two kept glancing toward the village.

"We shouldn't both have left home."

Old Hoyd muttered under his breath, utterly dejected. He had a premonition that tragedy was about to strike.

"If only we'd known, we wouldn't have resisted the private levy during the summer harvest. That sinister village headman will surely take those knightly lords to find Young Charles and the others!"

As a grandfather, was Old Hoyd not desperate? He was—but he dared not, and could not, resist.

As a husband, was Young Hoyd not furious? He was—but he could not, and dared not, show it.

They had witnessed what happened at their neighbor's house last night. But as long as it did not happen to them, they dared not raise their voices!

Even if it did happen to them...

His wife was his own, but if a noble lord took a fancy to her, he had to wash her clean and offer her up. As for his daughter...

She would marry eventually anyway. If that noble lord took a fancy to her and accepted her as a maidservant, she would be blessed with a good life.

The father and son, tears streaming down their faces, kept their heads lowered as they worked. Then thunderous rumbling exploded in the distance.

"It's a mounted troop! Clear the way!"

The overseer at the front bellowed and led the way in kneeling beside the road. Every villager moved swiftly and in perfect unison.

The Hoyd father and son did not even dare raise their heads!

Two years ago, when knights had passed through the village, an idle man had merely stood in his own courtyard and looked on. He had been mistaken for an assassin and shot through the neck with a crossbow.

Afterward, the village headman had been whipped and dismissed for failing to educate the villagers properly. No one had reprimanded the knight for his wanton slaughter.

It was said that when the Baron's chamberlain heard about it, he had even praised the knight for his vigilance, alertness, and prudent courage.

Ergons led the way on horseback and finally reached the assembled village. His mind relaxed considerably.

Just as he found the village's grand welcoming ceremony rather strange, the long-silent system took the initiative to speak.

"Tewain Village appears quite poor and bleak. Only some of the people are able to work the fields, leaving much of the land fallow. Most of the rest are sallow and emaciated, incapable of labor, or have already left their homes to beg. The livestock have not been fed in a long time, or have simply been eaten. Some of their remains have been thrown onto the ground outside, where beasts compete to gnaw their bones!

"You remember that this village and the surrounding land belong to the Tervain lord of the Styria Duchy. The villagers are looking at you sadly (?)"

That prompt was rather strange.

The system, however, sounded extremely excited. "This village is filled with an aura of despair. Nearly everyone has become completely numb to life's misfortunes. Their descent into grief makes them an excellent source for gathering faith!

"Although this village has fewer people than your Tervain Village, their faith will be several times greater. Some individuals' faith may even produce wondrous effects."

"Descended into despair?"

Ergons Tevalin slowed his horse while directing his attention to the people on both sides. He discovered a father and son much like "Yamila from the night before."

"Grieving Old Hoyd" and "Despairing Young Hoyd."

Ergons drew his horse to a halt. The warhorse snorted, blasting hot vapor onto Old Hoyd's head. The old man trembled uncontrollably and lowered his head even further.

"My people, what has caused you such grief?"

Pastor Ramses Bolton found "Sir Davis Tevalin's" behavior strange. However, Davis was one of Baron Tervain's powerful heirs and had the status to speak that way.

When Old Hoyd did not dare answer, Ergons glanced at the map. Several icons of armored knights surrounded a dilapidated house in the village. The label read: (Looting in progress).

Ergons frowned almost imperceptibly and called over the man who was clearly in charge of the army's administration. "I am Sir Davis Tevalin. Who is in charge of the village right now? Why are knights still looting civilians?"

With that, he had William Adena and Adamson haul up the father and son, who were trembling like sieves, and the mounted troop set off once more.

Pastor Ramses Bolton and his attendant hurriedly urged on their gentle mares and followed the knights.

The Hoyd residence was another two-story, dilapidated wooden house not far from the half-burned wreck beside it. Several court knights followed Sir Ramai, a knight with a hereditary fief, while watching the hunched village headman search the house for the entrance to a cellar.

"That mother and daughter are definitely hiding here. I'm the village headman, so I know best. He definitely didn't send that little wench away.

"That little wench can't compare with the women in the castle, but she's different from these thick-bodied peasant women. The Hoyd father and son would never bear to have her work in the fields!

"That's why her hands, feet, and face are still delicate, and her body is still soft and tender, not yet coarsened!"

As village headman, Servant Hausen could not be called entirely without humanity—but he truly had done every evil under the sun!

He was an old hereditary servant of Tevalinburg who had only been released to become an administrator after growing old. He was outrageously domineering in the village.

He had grown accustomed to life in the castle and was exceptionally skilled at currying favor with nobles. On top of that, Old Hoyd and his son had resisted his private levy during the summer harvest. Since the army had gathered here, how could he not use them to establish his authority?

He had nearly turned the entire decrepit wooden house upside down, yet still had not found the cellar entrance.

Servant's aged face was slick with sweat. It flowed down the wrinkles and furrows in his skin, mixed with the white powder on his face into muddy streaks.

He knew the knights he had summoned had limited patience. If he did not quickly find the mother and daughter, his attempt to curry favor might turn into an offense. His actions could be seen as toying with nobles, making all his efforts more trouble than they were worth.

"This old ruin must have a cellar. During the summer harvest, this peasant secretly hid grain here, so there must definitely be a cellar!"

They were making far too much noise, but no one in the village dared come and watch. Everyone cursed Servant Hausen silently, wishing him a miserable death, yet no one dared neglect the work the village headman had assigned.

As a village ravaged by pirates, Tewain Village had suffered less damage from the pirates than from the knights who had come to rescue them. The villagers were already used to it.

If they failed to report the looting, the castle's tax collectors would take their lives when the autumn-sown grain was harvested.

Thus, enduring pirate raids and the knights' exploitation had become instinctive.

Since death awaited them either way, more and more able-bodied laborers "died" in pirate raids. This had become Tewain Village's incurable disease.

Village headman Servant Hausen was still digging furiously, but the entire plank floor showed no sign of anything amiss. Just then, the sound of hooves approached.

William Adena stepped out from the crowd and shouted, "Old servant, what are you making such a fuss over? Open your dog eyes and see who has arrived!"

The court knights surrounding Sir Ramai instinctively turned around, only to witness a shocking sight.

A line of fully armored knights carrying banners and lances surrounded a handsome knight with his helmet tucked beneath his arm.

It was as shocking as seeing the forty-eight-year-old, filthy and destitute Liu Bang encounter twenty-four-year-old Xiang Yu in Xuecheng for the first time.

"Sir Davis Tevalin" had everything: the status of one of the baron's heirs, a handsome appearance, a strong and courageous body, and a mounted troop of knights far more powerful than theirs. He looked dazzling beyond compare.

Village headman Servant Hausen heard the familiar shout and turned around to see the "Sir Davis Tevalin" he had once primarily curried favor with.

He immediately ran over like a loyal household slave or dog and knelt before the horse, which had not yet stopped, as though he were so delighted that he did not fear being trampled beneath its hooves.

"Young master! I had those scoundrels start repairing the roads first thing this morning because I knew you were about to arrive. This old servant congratulates you on acquiring Tervain Village and the surrounding lands!"