Night of the Soulless Heathens – 336



#336. Heart of Destruction 2

Camilla laughed at such refugees. In fact she could pretend not to hear them insulting Azadin and things would go more smoothly but if she left those who took Azadin’s name in vain such people would continue to appear in the future.

Camilla couldn’t stand that. She couldn’t stand people making fun of her without even knowing what Azadin had sacrificed and what efforts he had put in.

“Countach.”

“Huh? Sister?”

“Those guys are cursing at my sister?”

“What? Really?”

Countach stepped forward holding a battle axe in one hand and a greatsword in the other.

At that moment the archers aimed their arrows at Countach. However other soldiers including Countach also aimed their bows crossbows and muskets at the archers.

“You dare to disrespect our leader’s name. Apologize immediately. Otherwise you look like thieves but you can clear the way for the merchants in advance.”

“….”

“So what about you? Are you thieves? Or are you commoners? Do you want to apologize or not? All you have to do is apologize.”

The direction of the soldiers’ crossbows moved without a single waver at Camilla’s words. It meant that everyone was angry at those who had insulted Azadin and it also meant that their training was no joke.

“Oh I see. We were wrong. Please accept our apology.”

“But if you are really merchants would you be able to buy food?”

“I am a bodyguard. The upper class will arrive soon so speak to the merchants.”

As Camilla spoke and blew her whistle a supercar appeared from behind.

The size of the caravan had grown enormously due to the refugees and the party led by Baron Jerrod as well as other refugees who joined them as they went along.

“What’s going on Camilla?”

The caravan’s leader Delia asked.

“They are demanding a deal.”

“ah….”

Delia smiled bitterly. The refugees who demanded a deal were armed with leather-thonged blackjacks and clubs. Perhaps if their weapons were not enough they would have considered looting.

“If I could buy some food…”

“It’s expensive. And the carriages are already full.”

Delia gave instructions to her adjutant with her chin.

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Her adjutant brought out a small chalkboard. It had written down the unit prices of food since the refugees were mostly asking for it.

Most people were blind but they could read numbers.

“The price of beans oats barley wheat fish jerky bread ale and sherry.”

“…omg?”

“This kind of profiteering… is shameless.”

“I’ll just wait and see whether it’s a profiteering or not so would you mind stepping aside?”

“If you’re going to Sasandokar can we come with you?”

“Of course. Follow me. But only from behind. Please follow Baron Jerrod’s instructions.”

Delia frowned as she absorbed another group of refugees.

The hordes of refugees were growing at an unending rate. They were more than a single upper branch could handle.

“This is a big deal.”

*********

While traveling from Sandokkar to Banling Delia set up an outpost in case of an emergency.

Food and weapons were loaded onto intermediate points and prepared for resupply at any time.

However food supplies were running low before the outpost could be resupplied.

There were too many refugees asking for food. In order to control the supply Delia deliberately set high prices but surprisingly the refugees bought food and even alcohol at those prices.

A group appeared that started gambling during meal times or sleeping hours.

When gambling takes place some people win and some people lose. For those who win the expensive food items do not seem that expensive.

As a result food supplies in the upper inventory began to quickly run out.

‘We should have opened a gambling house on our side. Those tough guys are making money. But public opinion is already bad so if we open a gambling house…’

-Kwarrrrung!

Perhaps to add to the anxiety of Delia’s worries lightning strikes the sky as snow and rain mix together. Snow falls in the midsummer sky. Since the ground is relatively warmer it turns to rain near the ground but if things continue this way it won’t be long before the world freezes over.

But then people started to come forward and say they saw strange shadows in the lightning.

“Eek!?”

“Have you seen it?!”

“From the northern Banrung Kingdom…”

People claimed to have seen a giant shadow in the north.

An evil huge yet indescribable shadow is stretching its hand out towards us from the Kingdom of Banling.

Many people were testifying to that.

As the people became frightened Delia turned to her adjutant.

“Send one more falcon to Sandokar. How many are left?”

The adjutant whose doppelganger had taken human form took out the birdcage and showed it to him.

“There are two hawks left. Send one to Aragasa and one to Sandokar and there are none left.”

“…Don’t send it to Aragasa.”

“Is that okay? We already sent a messenger once when we turned the top. Sending more would just be a waste of messengers.”

“What if the first messenger didn’t arrive? It wouldn’t hurt to send more.”

“Then in Aragasa….”

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“Aragasa won’t send reinforcements to help us anyway. Azadin would be better. Let’s save the messenger so we can send it to Azadin one more time.”

Delia said so and wrote down their current location the situation of the refugees joining the remaining amount of supplies future plans and the rumors she had received on a letter and handed it to her adjutant. He tied the letter to a messenger bag gave it directions with a simple spell and released the bird.

-Kwarrrrung!

A messenger bird flies through the darkness where thunder roars.

“I hope you arrive safely.”

“Even if we get there it will take quite some time for them to prepare and come to our rescue.”

“I know. There was a messenger sent the day before and this is the second time so if Azadin is quick-witted he should be able to get it right on time.”

Delia answered like that and declared camp for her men.

It was raining cold rain from the sky so I chose to camp rather than risk getting hurt while walking down the street at night.

“Circular shape!”

Caravans were parked along the road like a wall and the roofs were made by connecting them with ropes and cloth. This caravan circle could create a fairly large safety zone with a small number of wagons.

Delia who had arranged the circular formation like that gave orders to her staff.

“Is there a tent among your goods? Lend it to Baron Jerrod.”

“Huh? Each tent? We just camped out yesterday and there was no problem…”

“It didn’t rain yesterday. There are a lot of refugees so if we don’t give them our stuff they’ll turn into rioters in no time.”

When Delia called Baron Jerrod he declined her offer.

“Thank you but we already have a tent.”

“You are soldiers so you would have prepared tents but the refugees would not have. They are your people so you should distribute tents to the refugees.”

Is it going to end just because you have a tent? That’s how Delia criticized Baron Jarod.

“Thank you very much.”

“But you guys should take charge of the rear. The rear of the refugees will be the most dangerous so we need to have our best warriors guard it right?”

Delia offered Baron Jerrod a tent and asked him to camp at the back of the refugees’ camp with Baron Jerrod and his army guarding the back of the refugees.

Baron Jerrod seemed to think Delia had a point. He camped in the rear without much resistance and distributed tents to the refugees to provide shelter from the rain.

Mercenaries hired by Van Dyke’s company and soldiers belonging to Azadin’s warlords escort the caravan while the thief Camilla scouts out and investigates the road ahead.

But as the sun sets and a cold rain falls the crowd starts to scream. They all want to get into the caravan’s circular formation.

They tremble in fear as wolves howl and shadows dance across the dark mountains rivers and trees.

Rainwater that brought cold was also a problem.

Everyone was wearing summer clothes but the rainwater was bitterly cold.

“My child has a fever! Please put him in the carriage!”

There are also people who bring their children and ask to be put in the carriage because they have a fever.

“No I refuse.”

Delia of course refused.

I know full well that there are goods and food in the caravan but if I let an outsider in I don’t know what will happen.

If you accept them one by one there will be no end to it.

“These cold-hearted people! Are you saying it’s okay for our child to die?!”

“So you’re lending us tents for free?”

Delia looked at the refugees unsure of what to do.

But then Countach approached her.

“This is a big problem Delia. The monsters are coming from the north.”

“what…?”

Countach shivered as he looked down at the ground without even looking north.

“It’s scary. Something scary is coming.”

“…What are you talking about? That? Hmm?”

At that moment thunder and lightning flashed in the northern sky.

Something covering the ground in the distance was revealed by the lightning.

A significant number of shadows were approaching the refugees and Baron Jerrod’s campsite.

“Ouch! It’s the enemy! Everyone take up your weapons!”

The battle began with Baron Jerrod’s shout.

The sound of clashing weapons and the screams of monsters that made my stomach churn began to resonate.

“Eek?”

“Eww… They’re cultists!”

When the refugees heard the sound they covered their heads and trembled in fear.

The sight of those who had just made such ridiculous demands of Delia now trembling in fear gave her a strange sense of pleasure.

But it’s not something they like to be afraid of because the beings they fear won’t harm them alone.

“Countach! Where did your sister go?”

“Uh. Sister… I’ll be here soon.”

Sure enough a single figure leapt over carriages and through the crowd to reach Delia’s caravan.

“Nether cultists! Countach! We must fight!”

“Hey sister!”

Countach stood up holding a greatsword and a battleaxe in each hand.

The refugees were overwhelmed by the large body of a half-orc who stood up each holding a large weapon in each hand that a normal human would have to hold with both hands.

The problem however was that refugees were blocking the road.

“Save me!”

“Eww!”

Terrified refugees ran in any direction… or blocked the road trying to somehow fit into the circle formed by the caravan wagons.

Even if the Countach tries to advance it won’t be able to do so easily unless it tramples on the refugees.

The road is wide enough for two carriages to pass so if traffic was controlled it wouldn’t be this congested but there’s no one to control the road so traffic is congested.

Looking at their appearance Delia felt an unbearable annoyance.

‘These guys are getting in my way! If it were up to me I’d cut them all down…’

It was when Delia had such thoughts.

“Everyone calm down!”

A young man’s voice was heard from the sky.

Hippogriffs flew in through the rain.