No Time to Explain, Hurry Up

Amid everyone's eager anticipation, Walker, the territory's Junior Knight, returned.

When someone reported that he had entered the village, Landen could even sense Raul and Albert sighing in relief together.

If Walker could return, then it meant Hark Gallop and the other family members should be able to return as well.

The three hurried toward the village entrance, but the moment they stepped out of the castle gates, they sensed that something was wrong.

Walker looked far too bedraggled. His armor bore several gashes, and blood had seeped through the lining. As the Knight drew closer, Landen could already tell that Walker was about to fall from his horse.

Everyone rushed forward to support the Knight and help him down from his mount. Walker's face was pale, and cold sweat kept streaming from beneath his helmet.

Landen had Albert arrange for someone to care for Walker, while he told Raul to quickly organize the evacuation preparations for the entire territory.

Raul could also tell that Walker had definitely not merely run into some small band of Barbarians. Hark and the others had encountered serious trouble, so they needed to hurry the preparations of every household.

Gallop Territory had only twenty-two households in total, with two hundred and twenty people at most. One hundred and twenty family relatives lived near the castle in Gallop Territory, while the three Knight fief villages held another hundred people. Across the twenty-two households, the territory had more than twenty Mana-Wielders. Landen's family accounted for six of them, including Hark, Albert, and Landen's four brothers.

Hark's family had around seventy Mana-Less people in total, including servants, relatives, and other Mana-Less descendants. There were also three family Knights and three Knight Apprentices, each of whom had around five family members. In addition, two Mana-Wielders from Hark's family had formed independent households.

The remaining two Knight fiefs had two enfeoffed Knights, the descendant of one Junior Knight, two Knight Apprentices, and another six Mana-Wielders.

Therefore, before Hark set out, the entire territory had roughly two Intermediate Knights—Hark and Raul; seven Junior Knights—Albert, Landen's two older brothers, two family Knights, and three fief Knights; six Knight Apprentices—Landen himself, three family Knight Apprentices, and two Knight fief Apprentices; and eight unaffiliated Mana-Wielders, for a total of twenty-three Mana-Wielders.

When Hark departed not long ago, he took all the Knights of his own family, the family Knights, and five Knight Apprentices, including two from the enfeoffed Knight fiefs.

After the northern encounter with the Barbarians, only one Intermediate Knight, two Junior Knights, and three Apprentices had returned to the territory. More than half their strength had been lost. Now that one Junior Knight had returned, the territory had one Intermediate Knight, six Junior Knights, three Knight Apprentices—two had not returned, while Landen had advanced—and eight Mana-Wielders, eighteen combatants in total.

Walker soon woke up, and the information he brought was even worse than anyone had imagined.

After Hark, his two sons, and Walker separated from Landen and the others, they successfully broke contact with the Barbarian Cavalry. Over the past ten years, Hark had often conducted trade and reconnaissance in the southern Gallop Plains, so he was more familiar with the area north of Korniko Pass than the Barbarians who had come from the north.

After weaving through the terrain all night, Hark led the group in successfully shaking off the pursuing Barbarians. At dawn, they discovered an unprecedented Barbarian camp roughly thirty kilometers northeast of Korniko Pass.

Barbarians were huge in stature. According to Albert, they were descendants of a special branch of the Beast Race and the Human Race.

The proportion of Mana-Wielders among Barbarian tribes reached twenty to thirty percent. Barbarian Mana-Wielders were usually massive and immensely strong, with physical abilities comparable to Intermediate Knights.

However, ordinary Barbarians could not use Battle Qi or magic and could only fight with their powerful bodies.

Among the Barbarians were a small number of Priests. In a large tribe or a group formed from several tribes, the strongest Barbarian High Priest was as powerful as a High Priest of the Human Race.

In the heartlands of the Empire, a race like the Barbarians that could not use magic power held no advantage. But Landen was now south of the Gallop Plains, where magic elements in the air were chaotic beyond measure. These disorderly elements were known as Magic Turbulence.

Magic scholars believed that the widespread Magic Turbulence on the Gallop Plains made it difficult for low-level Human Race professions to use their abilities. In other words, given equal populations, less than ten percent of the Human Race could contend with over twenty percent of the Barbarian population.

This glaring disadvantage had allowed the Barbarians to run rampant across the Gallop Plains.

However, the Barbarians had their own weakness: their social organization was poor, and they could only maintain a tribal society on the Gallop Plains. A small tribe had around fifty members, ten of whom were Mana-Wielders and forty Mana-Less. A medium tribe had twice the population of a small tribe, while a large tribe had three times as many, with no more than one hundred and fifty people in total. Groups of more than one hundred and fifty were usually alliances between tribes formed under highly specific circumstances.

Just yesterday, Hark discovered a massive Barbarian camp north of Korniko Pass. Based on their count of the horses within the camp, the tribe currently had more than five hundred people, including over one hundred Mana-Wielders. Yet while Hark and the others observed it, at least two more units of Barbarian Cavalry were gathering toward the camp.

In the more than one hundred years since the Gallop Family moved to the present Dragon Northwest Count Territory, such situations had not occurred often, but every time, they brought tremendous disaster to the entire Northwest Count Territory.

Thus, Hark immediately decided that Ryan, Landen's eldest brother, would lead Walker back into Gallop Barony to notify Landen and the others in the territory to evacuate at once.

Hark, meanwhile, decided to take Obert, Landen's second brother, to Bristle-Wolf City, where the Northwest Count was located, to report the situation.

On the way back, Hark's group encountered another small unit of Barbarian Cavalry. This cavalry unit was only scouts. After discovering Hark, the scouts did not attack head-on. Instead, they stuck a few kilometers behind them while continuously calling in reinforcements.

Seeing more and more enemies gathering, Hark decided they should scatter and break through. Whoever escaped successfully was to return to Gallop Territory first and notify everyone to evacuate into the Great Forest.

After several fierce battles, only Walker successfully escaped after being captured, fleeing from the jaws of death. As he escaped, Walker saw that Hark, Ryan, and Obert had all been taken prisoner.

Hearing Walker's account, everyone was grief-stricken. Without question, Gallop Territory had been betrayed. The Barbarians had specifically laid an ambush along Hark's inevitable route and deliberately intended to capture every member of the group.

Such a betrayal undoubtedly meant that if they dared pass through Rothe Territory, the consequences would be catastrophic.

"Raul, go gather everyone in the territory. Now!" This was the first thing Albert said after the silence.

"Huh? Oh. All right." Raul came to his senses and hurried off to summon them.

Half an hour later, aside from the Mana-Less commoners from the two Knight fiefs, everyone else had arrived at the castle entrance, including the two Knights of the fiefs and the ordinary Mana-Wielders.

The castle of Gallop Barony was a three-story stone building. The first floor was a grand six-meter-high level containing a dining hall, reception hall, prayer room, warehouse, and more. The second floor was divided into two sections. One section likewise consisted of six-meter-high rooms, where Landen, Ryan, and the other four children lived.

The other section was divided vertically into two three-meter levels. It housed Hark's Mana-Less relatives as well as the rooms of higher-ranking servants such as personal valets and the Butler. The top floor was Hark's own residence and storage rooms for Magic Materials, Magic Potions, and books.

On either side outside the castle's main building stood two houses as tall as the castle's second floor. One was a two-story building, with each floor six meters high, serving as the dormitory for the territory's family Knights and Knight Apprentices.

The other was a four-story building, with each floor three meters high, serving as the dormitory for the castle's other servants. Beyond these three buildings stood a six-meter-high stone wall, with four watchtowers spaced around it.

Outside the castle was Gallop Territory Town. It had a Blacksmith Shop, a mill, a small general store, the homes of several family Knights and Knight Apprentices, and the households of two Mana-Less families in the territory.

If Landen remained in the territory in the future, perhaps he would establish a family of his own in this town and become a family Knight himself. Outside the castle's main gate stood a three-meter-high platform, where Baron Hark addressed the people of the territory.

"Knights and Territory Residents, I am Albert Gallop, scholar of the barony and younger brother of Baron Hark," Albert said loudly from the platform before everyone.

"Over the past few days, our territory has faced a tremendous crisis. Our Baron and his eldest and second sons are unable to return to the territory for various reasons. I have no time to explain the details. The Barbarian Cavalry will soon arrive, and we must immediately evacuate into the Great Forest.

"Since Lord Hark cannot return, according to the Empire's noble laws, Landen will serve as acting Baron of the territory."

Before the assembly, Albert had already explained the situation to the Knights. As long as the Mana-Wielders had no objections, the others naturally would not object either.

"Landen, would you like to say a few words?" Albert looked at him.

"Hello, everyone." Landen stepped onto the platform. Although he had spoken before hundreds of people and even given orders more than once in his previous life, he was still somewhat at a loss when his decisions could affect the safety of the people before him. "I... like all of you, believe that Baron Hark Gallop will return to the territory soon, bringing safety, prosperity, and hope as he always has.

"But before then, we need to avoid the Barbarian Cavalry. The Barbarians are only a day's journey away. We have no other choice. We must head west into the Great Forest.

"I now order everyone to leave the territory before sunset today. Bring every grain of food and every piece of meat. Move every head of livestock. Go to the Great Forest. Everyone must obey orders. Go back and prepare now. We leave at dusk!"

As soon as Landen gave the order, everyone sprang into action. Pack Beasts resembling yaks but as large as rhinoceroses were led out, and the tall Mana-Wielders loaded hundreds of pounds of grain and goods onto the baskets beside them.

These Pack Beasts all came from the Gallop Plains. The unique magical environment of that land had made its livestock large and sturdy, with excellent breeds. Whether horses, cattle, or sheep, they were stronger than those in other regions of the Empire.

Thus, for the past eight years, the greatest annual revenue of both Gallop Territory and Rothe Territory had come from trade with the Barbarians of the plains, exchanging grain, cloth, and alchemical items brought from the royal capital for horses, cattle, sheep, Magic Beast Meat, and other goods from the plains.

Through constant trade, Rothe Territory now had dozens of Pack Beasts and twenty Black Scale Horses, a specialty of the Gallop Plains. These horses stood two to two-point-three meters at the shoulder. They were already giant beasts to ordinary people, but for Mana-Wielders, who averaged over two meters tall, they were just right.

These horses were the lowest grade of Magic Beasts. Their hooves contained Wind School magic power, allowing them to move at high speed even while carrying Mana-Wielders. Yet they could not cast Wind School spells, making them relatively safe for ordinary people as well.

As Landen helped the castle servants carry sack after sack of barley and wheat into the baskets beside the wagons and Pack Beasts, he looked at the wealth his father had accumulated over the years and suddenly felt like a prodigal son selling off the family estate.

Before sunset, all the direct residents of the barony had packed their belongings. Landen did not want to wait any longer and ordered everyone to set out west immediately. One family Knight Apprentice led two Mana-Wielders ahead to scout, while Albert and Landen led the main group forward, with Raul bringing up the rear.

The night sky was incredibly bright. Three moons—large, medium, and small—hung high amid the stars. The largest moon was called Suren and was believed to be the god of tides and time. It was also known as the White Moon.

The medium moon glowed golden. Its name was Luna, and it was believed to be one of the sources of magic.

The smallest moon resembled a candy bean. Its name was Vili, often called the Jade Moon, and it was believed to be the source of the Magic Web.

All three moons were important deities, worshipped and prayed to in the churches' Temples.

With the combined illumination of three moons, the nights here were not especially dark, and people rarely suffered from night blindness. Of course, given the Barbarians' intellect, they were unlikely to think of a night raid. But Landen, having already experienced one a few days ago, did not dare take any chances and pressed the entire group onward into the forest.

The procession of more than one hundred and sixty people and over sixty animals marched onward in great force. They did not enter the nearest camp in the forest until deep into the night, where they successfully joined the groups from the two Knight fiefs.

Landen judged that moving through the night had bought them at least one day.

Even though they were temporarily safe, Landen did not dare let down his guard. He had Raul keep watch at the forest's edge.

As dawn began to break, Landen woke once more and began urging the Territory Residents to eat and set out.

Today's breakfast was food prepared in extra portions for dinner after they made camp the night before. Everyone had barely taken a few bites when Landen saw Raul returning.

Thanks to Niyinzhige yew14 for the recommendation vote.