Chapter 109: The Radiant Paladin

The temporary camp of the freemen was buzzing with noise. In just one month, over three thousand people had gathered here. The recent torrential rains had made their lives miserable. Taking advantage of a brief pause in the downpour, people crawled out of their cramped, makeshift shacks to stretch their stiff limbs and wring out their sodden clothes.

Green stood atop a boulder, looking down at the chaotic crowd below, his expression as dark as the storm clouds overhead. Over the past few days, more freemen had been pouring into the camp, sometimes two or three hundred at a time. It was obvious that someone was organizing this from the shadows. After making a few inquiries, Green discovered that these people had all come from the fief of Viscount Buryat. If the Viscount wasn't behind this mischief, Green would never believe it.

Thinking of the task Count York had entrusted to him, Green felt a headache coming on. Now, it wasn't just the mountain folk trying to take control of this place; even Viscount Buryat harbored ill intentions.

"I'll just have to take it one step at a time," Green thought gloomily. He had already sent one of his subordinates back to Blackfort Town to report the matter. If Viscount Buryat truly intended to plot against Baron Victor, Green's own men would be powerless to stop him.

Green hopped down from the rock and walked toward Claude. He had made up his mind: before reinforcements arrived, he could not let the Paladin leave. Since Viscount Buryat had already made his move, only the Church could make his men think twice. For now, he had to stall for time. Otherwise, these freemen would surely fall under the control of the Viscount's men.

*Thud.*

Claude drove a wooden stake deep into the ground. He was reinforcing a shack; the crude shelters could not withstand the heavy rains, and most had already collapsed.

Claude was working himself to the bone. He had originally planned to lead his team back, but the consecutive days of torrential rain had disrupted his itinerary. Claude and his squad had to stay behind to organize disaster relief and maintain order. Fortunately, the local lord kept sending supplies, giving the freemen a chance to catch their breath.

Baron Victor's actions deeply moved Claude. He now knew that the Baron was not a wealthy lord, and these supplies and food were no small burden for him. At the same time, Claude felt ashamed of his own rashness. The reason so many freemen had gathered here was largely because they trusted him, a Paladin. Just as Green had said, if he didn't leave, even more people would come. But before leaving, Claude wanted to do more for these people. He understood that even if he withdrew, the people in this camp would not disperse immediately.

Claude stood up and stretched his aching muscles. He hadn't slept well in days, and the continuous exertion was taking a toll even on a Paladin.

"Benson, take a break," Claude called out, seeing a middle-aged man still tirelessly repairing a shack. This man, Benson, was the leader of the mountain folk who had recently joined the camp, and he was also a devout believer. It was with his cooperation that Claude had managed to make up for the shortage of hands. During this storm, Benson and his men had worked tirelessly, earning the Paladin's respect.

"Yeah," Benson muttered, dropping his hammer and letting out a long sigh. Whenever he was under great stress, Benson would work without stopping. It was a habit of his, one shared by many simple farmers.

Benson was indeed under immense pressure. Nelson had suddenly led his patrol away, telling Benson that a massive horde of monsters had entered the territory. Upon hearing this, Benson had wanted nothing more than to run away immediately. If there was anything a farmer feared more than war, it was a swarm of monsters. Benson kept telling himself that he was no longer just a farmer; he was Lord Victor's trusted confidant, a high-ranking member of the fief, and he could not panic like an ordinary peasant. His cowardly nature clashed with his duties, leaving him paralyzed with indecision, able only to relieve his anxiety through grueling physical labor.

"Benson, you don't look well. Are you sick? Go drink a bowl of earthroot soup."

Benson's pale face worried Claude. Unfortunately, Paladins could not cast divine spells on others. In these conditions, even if a Paladin fell ill, they could only drink herbal soup.

"I'm fine," Benson forced a smile, his eyes darting around. He was torn on whether he should share the news with the Paladin.

Just as Claude was about to persuade Benson further, Green walked over.

"Hey, Claude, Benson," Green greeted them, racking his brain for a way to convince the Paladin to stay a little longer.

"Ah, Green!" Claude smiled. Over this past month, he and Green had developed a decent rapport. The naive young Paladin, of course, had no idea that Green was intentionally trying to curry favor with him.

Benson nodded absently in greeting, having no mind to chat with Green right now.

"Uh, nice weather we're having," Green muttered, frustrated to find he still couldn't think of a good excuse to keep the Paladin here, resorting to idle small talk.

Claude looked up at the dark, overcast sky, feeling a bit worried. It seemed the storm was making more than just Benson sick.

From a distance, White watched Green, Claude, and Benson, curling his lip in disdain.

"My lord, that Benson and Green seem to be on very good terms with the Paladin," Flynn whispered as he stepped up to White's side. "With the Paladin backing them, I worry..."

"Worry about what?" White rudely cut his subordinate off.

"More than half the freemen here are from our territory, and we have dozens of our own men. So what if the Paladins are leaving? Even if they stay, what can they do? With a little agitation, we can get at least half of these people to charge in with us. Do you think the Paladins would actually stop them?"

White was not only from Viscount Buryat's territory, but also an apprentice knight sworn to the Viscount's brother, Sir Austin. This time, White had humbled himself to infiltrate the freemen's settlement under Sir Austin's orders, intending to incite the freemen to storm Victor's territory.

As Austin's confidant, White knew the inside story. A powerful figure had promised that if Sir Austin could bring down Baron Victor, he would be granted a barony. If this succeeded, White's own power and status would skyrocket. White knew that storming Victor's territory would cause significant casualties among the freemen, most of whom were natives of the Buryat territory. But compared to the potential rewards, neither Austin nor White cared about sacrificing a few dreamers.

Green and Benson's efforts to win over the people had not escaped White's notice. In his eyes, Green was just an ambitious freeman, while Benson was clearly a contingency plan set up by Baron Victor—which was obvious from the dozens of men Benson commanded.

White sneered at their frantic efforts. To ensure success, Austin had secretly encouraged many freemen to try their luck in Victor's territory, while blending a large number of his own men among the refugees. In truth, White already controlled the camp. If not for his wariness of Claude's background, White would have acted long ago. He didn't want to spend another second in this filthy camp. However, remembering Sir Austin's instructions, he could only endure in silence.

While they all harbored their own schemes, over three hundred villagers from Brick Kiln Village finally arrived. The sudden influx of so many people immediately drew everyone's attention.

"Dean!"

Seeing Dean lead the villagers in with a panicked expression, Benson threw away all pretense. He rushed up to Dean and asked bluntly, "Is it true? Are there really monsters in the territory?"

"Benson? What are you doing here? Weren't you banished by the Lord?" Dean cried out in surprise.

"What do you know? Our departure from the hill camp was deliberately arranged by the Lord." Dean's shock filled Benson with pride, sweeping away the lingering resentment of being expelled. But the thought of the monster threat quickly dampened his triumph.

"Never mind me. Just tell me, is the monster thing true?"

"I don't know! We received a message from Lord Victor and rushed over." Although Dean wasn't sure if Benson was telling the truth, they were old acquaintances, so he explained everything to Benson.

"What is going on?" Claude walked over with a group of people, his face grim. "Benson, who exactly are you people?"

Benson smiled bitterly and explained, "Lord Claude, we heard you were returning to Blackfort Town. To prevent any trouble, Lord Victor sent me to secretly maintain order among the freemen. You know we couldn't do this openly, or it would have drawn even more freemen here."

"Now, I've received word that unknown monsters have appeared in the territory. Captain Nelson has already led his men back to help."

Claude was no longer the green youth he once was. He could understand Benson's need to hide his identity, but what concerned him most was the monster threat.

"Monsters? Besieging Baron Victor? Are they dire wolves?"

Dean said heavily, "We don't know what kind of monsters they are yet. I think we should prepare to retreat."

Claude hesitated. As a Paladin, it was his duty to slay monsters and protect the people. Now that monsters were besieging Baron Victor, he should lead his team to support him. But what about the thousands of civilians here? Should he go reinforce the Lord, or evacuate the people first? Claude was torn.

Seeing this, White realized things were going south. He believed this was clearly a show staged by Baron Victor to scare the freemen away. White gestured to his men and shouted, "You're all liars! You just don't want us to join the Lord's work-point system!"

White's sudden outburst took everyone by surprise. Before Benson could react, White shouted again, "Listen up, everyone! It was Lord Victor who gave us food! It was Lord Victor who sent us raincoats and wagons! Lord Victor is a merciful lord!"

"Now, Lord Victor wants to recruit people, but some people don't want us to join the work-point system! They want to keep this land all to themselves!"

At White's signal, the men Austin had planted began to clamor.

"They must be lying to us! If monsters were really attacking the Lord, why aren't they helping him defend the castle?"

"We want to join the work-point system!"

"They used to be freemen just like us! Why shouldn't we become vassals?"

Stirred up by these agitators, the emotions of the freemen flared. Cold, hungry, and battered by the endless rain, they had suffered immensely. The threat of the dire wolves had kept them in constant fear. Having traveled so far and endured so much, why shouldn't they be allowed to join the work-point system? Their frustration instantly turned to outrage. Their shouts and curses quickly infected the crowd, and the entire temporary camp spiraled out of control.

The chaotic scene caught Claude off guard. He roared at White, "Are you mad?"

White ignored the Paladin completely. He was going to lead the mob straight into Victor's territory! "There are so many of us, what are a few dire wolves to us? Let's charge in! We want to join the work-point system!"

"Charge in!"

"If we stick together, the dire wolves won't dare attack!"

"We want to be vassals!"

Dozens of White's men echoed his calls, constantly egging on the surrounding crowd.

The situation had completely degraded. Claude's face paled. Just then, a rapid clatter of hooves echoed in the distance. Moments later, a dozen riders arrived, led by Lilia.

Coldly scanning the rioting crowd, Lilia barked at Dean and Benson, "Take our people to Blackfort Town! Monsters have overrun the Hill Camp! Leave immediately!"

Lilia wheeled her horse around and galloped away, flanked by her riders. Benson and Dean dared not hesitate; they immediately rallied their people to form a column and head toward Blackfort Town.

Seeing the villagers of Victor's territory leave so decisively, Claude was now fully convinced that there were indeed monsters in the territory. He rushed to the front of the crowd and shouted, "Listen to me, everyone! There are definitely monsters in Victor's territory! Do not go any further!"

Claude held immense prestige among the refugees, and seeing Victor's villagers head north without hesitation made the freemen begin to doubt the agitators.

White, however, sneered. "What a convincing performance! We'd only believe it if Lord Victor himself led the retreat! Even if there are monsters, what do we have to fear with so many of us? Didn't we suffer all this way just to join Victor's territory? Come! Let's go see Lord Victor!"

White marched out of the camp with his chest puffed out, while Austin's agents continued to push and prod the crowd. Thus, thousands of freemen surged forward behind White, like brainless sheep following the flock even if it meant leaping off a cliff.

Claude stamped his foot in frustration, signaled the other Paladins, and followed the crowd. No matter what, a Paladin could not stand by and watch the people face danger.

"Why aren't you leaving?" Claude asked Green quietly as the latter caught up.

"I want to see what these monsters look like," Green said with a grin.

Claude said nothing, only nodding slightly. The Paladin was no fool; at this point, there was no need to question Green's identity.

The massive procession marched forward for some time. Suddenly, like a river hitting a dam, the crowd parted to the left and right. Those in the back had no idea what was happening, but those at the front felt as if they had been plunged into ice.

They had run straight into a small pack of half-human, half-ant monsters.

White stared at the bizarre ant-men, sucking in a cold breath. He hadn't expected there to really be monsters. Encountering so many living creatures, the scattered ant-men instinctively closed in on the crowd, letting out tentative, hissing screeches directly at White, who stood at the very front.

The ant-men's piercing shrieks and hideous appearance startled White. Without thinking, he drew a dagger from his vest and threw it. With a flash of light, one of the ant-men's heads was instantly pierced. The remaining ant-men let out excited screeches and lunged at White.

"Throw me a sword!"

White kicked one of the ant-men away and caught the longsword thrown by his subordinate. The silver blade swept out in an arc, cleaving two of the ant-men in half and splashing green blood all over him. Though the ant-men fought without fear of death, they were no match for an apprentice knight armed with a sharp sword. White quickly cut down the remaining attackers.

Claude and the Paladins caught up. Looking at the monster corpses and White, who was covered in green blood, their expressions turned grave.

"Sir Knight, is this the result you wanted?" Claude asked coldly.

White's eyes flickered, but he said nothing. After a long pause, his face paled dramatically, and he roared, "Retreat!"

An apprentice knight's senses were sharper than a Paladin's. By the time White turned to run, the Paladins only just heard the distant screeches. Soon, everyone saw it: thousands of ant-men were rushing toward them like a black tide.

The crowd fell into utter chaos. Thousands of freemen screamed and turned to flee, but the thirty Paladins stood in a firm line, completely still.

"Claude! What are you doing? Run!" Green screamed at the Paladin.

"Green, save yourself! We will hold these monsters back!" Claude said, tightening his grip on his war hammer.

"Are you insane? This is pointless suicide!" Green cursed. For some reason, after only a month together, Green had come to view this foolish Paladin as a comrade.

"Someone must hold them back. This is our duty as Paladins. Through sacrifice, we find redemption."

Claude's eyes were bright and resolute. The sheer, towering aura he exuded left Green speechless.

Green fled. When he heard the Paladins raise their voices in a synchronized battle prayer, he couldn't help but look back. He saw countless ant-men engulfing those foolish Paladins.

*The Radiant Paladins are all fools! Even their prayer is stupid! 'When all is dark, only the Light endures!' It's pitch black, where the hell is the light?* Green thought as he ran.

"Maybe there really is a light..."