"Allow me to tell you a brief truth--
Many years ago, when our lord was in his prime and often stayed at the Manor in Star Plum Town,
he would always select some able-bodied young men from the town to serve him temporarily.
Some carried his quiver, some tended his horses, while a dedicated butcher processed his game, and a hunter drove the prey into preset enclosures ahead of time...
After almost every Harvest Festival, he would organize a hunt like this.
Because that was when the subjects were most idle and could indulge him with flattering praise.
It all continued until an accident occurred--
Deep in the Twilight Forest, an injured werewolf broke into the hunting camp.
It could hardly be called a particularly dangerous crisis.
He had guards accompanying him, experienced hunters at his side, and the werewolf was gravely wounded. In truth, all they had to do was remain calm and work together to resolve the accident.
But when the beast charged at him, it scared him witless. Our lord failed to keep his composure and only thought of fleeing--
To become the one running at the very front, he slashed the tendons in several servants' feet, leaving them behind, then took advantage of the chaos to mount a fast horse and flee toward the town.
By the time the guards who had remained at the hunting grounds and that experienced hunter had hacked off the werewolf's head, our lord had already burrowed into the silk bedding in his own Manor.
The hunt ended in disaster.
Afterward, the moment our lord returned to the villages and towns, he ordered the guards executed on the charge of "failure to protect him." He also had the commoners who had witnessed his disgraceful conduct executed on the charge of "stealing the game."
Only that hunter survived--
Everyone thought he had died beneath the werewolf's claws, but in fact, after being injured, he had used his experience to hide.
After Lord Mel left the town, he secretly came to my church and told me everything that had happened."
Father Lynn did his best to explain the entire process clearly, stopping at suitable points,
"It really cannot be helped.
In the eyes of any noble, their subjects are no different in essence from their cattle and sheep, or even the game they hunt.
This is a sickness of society. I cannot condemn such behavior, but I can only try to make one fact clear--
When they learn that Beastfolk will plunder their territory, all they will consider is how to squeeze the last bit of value from their subjects."
Tang Qi understood what he meant.
Do not expect nobles to empathize with their own subjects.
If taking their goods for free did not result in no one tilling the land or laboring, they would not even leave the people under them a single copper coin.
Aside from failing to be reproductively isolated, the two groups were not even the same species.
But as long as they tried to leave Star Plum Town, they could not avoid the construct perched on Melard's shoulder.
And once Melard learned that this small town was destined to be trampled flat,
he could never lead the entire town—with its more than three hundred subjects—in a grand migration into the depths of the forest--
Not blocking the townspeople in place and fleeing alone into the forest first, to avoid being dragged down by such a large and conspicuous target, already counted as mercy.
"So I'll stay by their side as much as possible and give them a moment of hope when they are lost and helpless—even if I cannot change anything."
The priest waved a hand at Catherine and advised her,
"But that is my duty, not yours.
Child, beg him for mercy. Perhaps you can even leave this town with him.
You inherited your mother's wisdom. You should understand why you must not try to plead with nobles--
Under no circumstances should you make demands of a noble, and certainly do not mention something like 'taking the entire town and fleeing.'"
Seeing that the priest had made up his mind, Catherine ultimately had nothing more to say:
"I understand, Father Lynn."
Of course she knew that for a noble to permit a commoner to accompany him was already an enormous act of tolerance.
The consequence of asking for more was ending up with nothing.
Showing pointless kindness would only add to the burdens on her shoulders.
She was reasonably kind and did not mind performing good deeds in her daily life.
But she was not that kind.
If she encountered some difficult choice, the only thing she could do was avoid harming others.
"Compared with kindness, I care more about whether the people around me are safe.
I'll go wake Anbi and leave with her.
If Melard cannot accept her either, I'll choose to stay here with her.
When the time comes, we'll think of another way..."
"Shave off his goatee!
I'm damn sick of all this human red tape."
Gravel had actually been listening to their conversation the entire time--
After Star Plum was stolen and the incident came to light in the early hours of yesterday morning, Black Snake had chosen to take all the blame upon himself, allowing this Dwarf Warrior to escape by climbing through a Manor window.
After the merchant caravan hurriedly departed, he eventually hid in Catherine's tavern.
Only this way could he truly protect the girl.
However, after digging this grave for his friend and setting up that crude gravestone for him, he wanted even more to silently gaze at it.
As if by doing so, he could still share another drink with his soul.
Now, everyone's worries and plans tormented his ears, making him unable to stop himself from shouting:
"It's just damn Beastfolk, isn't it? I've hung Beastfolk heads I smashed to pieces from my belt! I could scare the hell out of them!"
Tang Qi added at just the right moment:
"Judging by their numbers, their tribe has more people than Star Plum Town has subjects.
But it's fine. With you drawing their aggro for us, we should be able to escape before their spit drowns you."
"That many?"
Gravel raised an eyebrow and slapped his thigh,
"Maybe applying to be that little white pig's guard and escaping with him would be a pretty good choice."
As a strong and sturdy mountain Dwarf, they were tenacious.
They could always adapt to all kinds of circumstances and situations.
So he patted Tang Qi on the butt and urged him:
"Then we'd better run while we can. I'll apply to be a guard, the Poet can apply to deliver messages, and Catherine can apply to be a bride. That'll make us all the little white pig's people!"
But when he shoved Tang Qi, he found the Poet looking deep in thought.
He could not help raising an eyebrow:
"What?"
"I'll try to take everyone with us."
"Damn it, remember your identity. You're a Poet! How can a Poet be kinder than the priests in the Holy City?"
Gravel blew out his beard and glared.
No matter how strong his limbs were, he knew that this was fundamentally impossible.
Was it really so rare for adventurers to be treated with disdain by nobles?
"Besides, not everyone in this town is a good person. Even if you show them great kindness, they may not appreciate it!"
"No one can persuade a noble, so--"
Catherine had never expected that this outsider, who had spent only three days in the town at most,
would actually want to lead everyone in Star Plum Town in an escape.
His kindness seemed a little...
naive.
Tang Qi merely shook his head.
It was hard to say how much of this decision came from a kind desire to "save the world."
The universal values of his past had indeed stirred some compassion in him.
But this was more a matter of practical consideration--
If he accomplished the feat of leading three hundred commoners to escape,
then, when everything was recorded in that [Log]...
what kind of reward would he receive?
Before you continue