NOVEL WEB Chapter 1500: Finally Heading Out
New Shrao Village
As soon as the next dawn approached, thousands of people prepared to depart, using the beast carts for the weaker ones.
Fos, who was among the walking party, looked at his old home with a complicated expression.
Elias walked next to them. "Well, it's still technically your territory, isn't it?" he said, his voice having that raspy old-man's voice that made him sound wiser.1
Fos smiled. "Someday we'll reoccupy this place again," he said. Being next to Alterra was great and had plenty of advantages, but their history was here in the end.
Hopefully, they'd revive this place, all while being an ally to Alterra. Mao and the others also hinted that it'd be a great "stopover" between the two regions.
Of course, at this time, they didn't really know what "stopover" actually meant. They only thought that Alterra was asking them to keep the weapons store, restaurants, and the like running.
Elias looked at him, having an inkling of this limitation. "I think that will be possible sooner than you think," he said, making the other man stare at him. "If Alterra decides to touch this area, then this territory…"
Fos blinked, gaping at him. "This territory would be an extremely important branch," he continued and nodded in understanding.
"I'll forward this to our lord."
…
On the other side of the crowd, Minko stared at a certain group, heaving a deep breath.
After venting, the former Calma villagers did indeed calm, though it was understandably awkward between them.
He had seen them getting recruited by other territories, though Minko thought they'd fit Alterra better.
"Would you like to come with us?" Minko asked the few people. "Among all the territories, the lifestyle in Alterra Town is definitely superior. I…can also help you find decent jobs."
Gale, the young leader of the group, looked at him. "To ease your guilt?"
"Yes."
"..."
Gale sighed. Well, at least he was honest.
Minko stared at all of them. His stance was both strong and humble. Although he felt guilty, logically he couldn't be blamed at all. He, Orz, and the others did their best to rescue as many as they could. They'd have lost more if they tried to rescue everyone.
Still, the brain and the heart were different organs, so he couldn't help but feel endlessly apologetic anyway.
That said, just offering this might not be sustainable. People need to have a mission or a goal to be able to live their best, especially in this dangerous world.
"I'm sure you could already sense this after a few days with us, but we are trying to rescue as many Terrans as we can within our ability," he said. "When you recover…I was thinking that you guys can join our cause.
This made them pause and look at each other. They were not expecting to be offered a 'mission' at all.
They had just begun absorbing the fact that they were free, and then…they felt lost.
It felt like they had been walking through a land of heated glass shards, and they got used to the pain. It slowly ebbed their life away, but that was how it was, and they had come to accept that their lives would never be normal anymore.
And then, out of nowhere, they were suddenly pulled out from such fiery terrain, and somehow they felt the aftermath of that pain even more.
Where to start the healing process? Where should they step next? They did not know.
That was, until Minko offered this new goal.
Gale sighed, turning to look at his companions. "Each one will decide for themselves. I… will think about it."
Minko nodded. "We still have a few days together," he said. "Please consider it seriously."
And so, thousands of people headed back to the Alterra region, about to start the next stage of their lives.
…
However, it didn't quite go as smoothly as they thought. For the first few days since they left Old Shrao Village, things were relatively normal and peaceful.
The several beast carts would always go first, which also served as their way to widen the pathwalk for the civilians.
Their guards surrounded the massive party, and the guards had coats doused with the beast-repelling potion. They walked parallel to the civilian party, prepared to fight whenever a threat came close.
The group was too massive to truly cover with repellent, but the guards were placed strategically to maximize what they had. This way, at least during the first quarter of the trip, their pace was very fast and they neared the Alterra region with minimal fights.
Even when the use of repellent had to be lowered, it didn't cause much trouble. Fortunately, past this point were all villages, so no one really worried too much.
Rather, the 'slaves' were asked to deal with the mobs themselves. They now had weapons, armors, their elements, and their fighting experience after all.
Not to mention, they would keep the earnings they get through monsters (most masters took slaves' earnings from monsters), so these mobs were actually seen as good things.
At first, the former slaves were shocked by this realization. They had never thought they'd be happy to see monsters at all! However, each slice meant a better life in the future, so how could they not be passionate?
The first day of travel was like this, and it was honestly a very hopeful start.
Things changed a bit when they passed a few Terran villages, just about half a day to Alterra, and it happened relatively quickly.
By this time, their beast repellent had almost run out, so the mobs were bigger than usual. They were dealing with one of the biggest mobs they had encountered so far when an unexpected sharp attack came from the side.
Bang!!
Slam!!
First, a sudden force appeared at the side and hit one of the carriages. Screams abound, and it did not help that the beasts went wild in the shock.
Then, before the beast could be handled, the guards felt the air being cut—because a rain of arrows was coming their way!!
Sammy cursed and summoned a large wall of condensed air, blocking the first wave of arrows.
"EVERYONE! GET READY TO FIGHT!"
Part of the Belluga group. The earth user who is also part of the military (one of the two who sent news of the parents' deaths back in Terran)