But on the second day, the entire group of refugees set off according to plan. In the wee hours of the morning, arrangements were made for the chefs to wake up and prepare meals. By sunrise, they had already set off with the entire group.
Seeing that the original leader of the group had returned safely, the refugees who had joined the group from Bolpe looked at him in disbelief. Then, a wave of excitement spread through the group. The refugees who had been walking listlessly suddenly became much more excited. After a full day of rest, they were now in high spirits as they embarked on a new journey.
There were less than a hundred mercenaries in leather armor in the group. They were the mercenaries who had been recruited from the Mercenary Guild with high salaries in the early morning.
These mercenaries were all of different heights, fat and thin. In Noda's words, the way they were dressed in leather armor was not "professional" at all!
This was something that could not be helped. How could they find so many elite soldiers in such a short time in the morning?
Fortunately, the Mercenary Guild of the Sith Court was not small. The entire hall was bustling with activity even in the morning. This allowed many to successfully complete the recruitment mission.
None of them were strong. In fact, in the eyes of many, those who had not reached level 7 were not considered strong. But to the mercenaries of the Sith Court, this standard was enough to make them want to cry but have no tears.
The Sith Court was much better than Sibor. At least it was surrounded by forests and magical beasts. Moreover, the transportation system was developed and there were abundant resources. Mercenaries were willing to gather here to accept missions. In terms of quantity and quality, it was passable. But compared to the average strength of Karo City, it was still a little lacking.
They did not hesitate to rush to sign up for the "refugee escort" mission that was suddenly issued early in the morning. They were so eager to get the job that they almost broke their heads fighting for it. This led to the mercenaries in the entire team who were responsible for the protection mission to look like a mix of good and bad strength, and their image was also relatively poor.
To put it bluntly, other than the nobles, the other classes in Klimt were at the edge of the poverty line.
However, mercenaries were also 'soldiers'. At least they knew how to obey orders. Many of these decisions were considered correct. Although these mercenaries didn't have the military qualities of the Royal Guards, they carried out their orders without any hesitation. The entire team had no accidents along the way.
Sith's palace was quite a distance away from Oditore. It would take the refugees at least five days to get there. Although they had bought enough supplies, they still decided to move as fast as possible to avoid any accidents.
Twenty mercenaries had already been sent to Oditore on horseback. They had to prepare as much as possible to settle down the refugees.
The team quickly became dull during the boring journey.
People began to collapse due to exhaustion. Horses gradually became the mounts of the refugees, and many of them chose to walk. Only Salia, who was relatively weak, rode on Athena. The two of them were like a pair of little clowns, bringing a lot of joy to the silent mercenary group along the way.
The team headed east, bypassing the mountain range where Sith Ting was located, and followed the flat terrain towards the area where Oditore was located.
* * *
"Are we going or not?"
Flora looked at the moon outside the window, then turned to look at her doll.
The doll sat quietly on the chair beside her, motionless.
"You said we have to escape today?
But I don't have a choice! "
Flora muttered to herself, as if she was talking to someone she couldn't see. Of course, it looked more like she was talking to the doll.
Her Royal Highness' days in Sith Ting could be described as' extravagant '. Her living conditions were no worse than in Sisyphean Palace. If the' Hanging Garden 'and Pajal Palace were included, Flora felt that this place was even more beautiful than Sisyphean Palace.
However, the superior living conditions did not make the princess feel reluctant to leave. After leaving Xiiliath City for so long, the princess inevitably felt homesick.
Although there were only maids and servants in her 'home', her father almost never came to accompany her, and her brother, who was always busy with something, also ignored her, she still wanted to leave this place that made her feel insecure.
The count seemed to be friendly, but Flora could feel the coldness behind his back. It was as if she was a commodity being traded, and it made her unable to eat or sleep in peace. Today, she finally couldn't help but want to escape from this prison-like place!
Flora gently lifted the corner of her dress, walked to the window, and looked down. This room was a luxurious bedroom at the top of Pajal Palace's tall tower. It was more than 80 meters from here to the ground. If she wanted to leave, there was only one way. This way was heavily guarded. They were all the guards protecting the princess. Of course, to the princess, they were her jailers.
"What should I do?"
Flora frowned. She placed her slender arm on the windowsill and looked down.
At the bottom of the tower, the panoramic view of Sith Court was in her eyes. The low houses in the distance shone with dim light. Sith Court was quiet and quiet in the middle of the night.
Flora did not notice that the dull and lifeless eyes of the doll behind her flashed a strange red light.
"You have a way?"
Flora suddenly turned around and looked at the doll that was sitting there quietly.
The doll was her eighteenth birthday present. From the day she received the doll, Flora had never let it leave her side.
Flora, who had no friends since she was young, finally had a friend that she could talk to. She found out that the doll could communicate with her in her mind!
However, it could only be done within three meters of the doll. This led to her habit of never leaving the doll's side.
In the process of talking to the doll, Flora truly felt the feeling of having a friend to talk to. She didn't have much experience, so she didn't think that there was anything strange about this at all.
Why would someone give a doll that could talk to people in their mind?
The princess' eighteenth birthday was a very grand day. It was a very important coming of age ceremony in the Empire of Saint Reims. Countless guests presented all kinds of congratulatory gifts to the princess.
The doll was exquisitely made, and the materials used were expensive. However, this was not the reason why the princess was interested in it. There were dozens, if not hundreds, of gifts that were more expensive than this doll. It was only when the princess touched this gift that she realized how special it was.
Flora tried to find out who had given her the gift, but the result of the gift registration was … no result!
In other words, no one knew the origin of this gift!
Originally, this gift should have been stamped with an "unknown origin" stamp and destroyed immediately. However, Flora quickly came up with an excuse and let the gift stay with her.
From then on, she gained a "friend", but she started to distance herself from the people around her. Until today, the doll that she talked to about everything with gave her a "tough" suggestion for the first time!
Escape!
Escape from this city that imprisoned me!
Where to?
Flora did not even think about it. She just wanted to escape from this place.
Just like countless lost and helpless youths, Flora also did not know where her dream lay. The princess only knew how to listen to her "friend". That's right.
Flora walked to the table with the doll and murmured, "You said you can help me escape?"
She pouted her lips and slowly raised her delicate little hand, reaching for the doll that was standing there motionlessly.
The moment Flora's fingers touched the expensive bear pelt doll, a strange dark red light suddenly flashed across it. Then, the princess' body suddenly froze on the spot as if she was electrocuted!
She maintained this posture for more than ten seconds. When she blinked again, there was an additional gray color in her pupils that she had never seen before!
The doll fell to the side as if it had completed its mission. One of its eyes flashed with a strange red light, as if it was staring at Flora.
Flora looked at her palms and shook her head a few times, as if she was getting used to her new body. Her face that was always slightly raised was now slightly lowered. Her eyes were not as wide as they used to be. Instead, they were slightly squinting. There was a lingering haze between her eyebrows.
After pausing for a while, Flora stopped talking and walked straight to the doll. She reached out her hand and tore off the eye that was still glowing. She took off the necklace around her neck and pierced the bead with a groove on the top of the necklace. Then, she put the necklace back on the necklace.
After that, she walked to the only luxuriously decorated iron door in the bedroom.
At this moment, she had lost the reserved demeanor of a member of the royal family. Instead, she swaggered as if she was a man. She pushed open the heavy iron door and walked out of the room without the slightest hesitation.
"Your Highness, you —"
Before the two guards at the door could finish, they felt a strong wave of drowsiness hit them. The spears in their hands tilted to the side of the wall. Their bodies swayed a little, and then they fell to the ground and fainted.
The entire tower of Pajal Palace was covered in a layer of gray mist. The guards fell one after another, but Flora did not even look at them. She continued walking down the tower.
The guards and servants along the way were all knocked out by the powerful hypnosis. When Flora walked out of the entrance of Pajal Palace, the guards were surprised to see the princess in a white dress with a gloomy expression.
"Your Highness —"
Boom!
Before he could finish his sentence, he was sent flying in the midst of the flames that soared to the sky!
Flora walked past the guard who had fallen to the ground. Amidst the dancing flames, her figure was like the focal point of the sea of fire. She slowly but firmly walked out of the grand Pajal Palace.
When Pajal Palace was in a state of war, the gate would not be broken through so easily. Because this was the inner city, the gate was not closed normally. It was just guarded by guards. However, this sudden attack had killed dozens of guards. It was obvious that the enemy was hostile to the city. There was no room for negotiation!
Two figures wearing black robes suddenly appeared in front of Pajal Palace. Three horses appeared beside them. The horses looked a lot taller than normal horses, but they were thinner than normal horses!
They were wearing full body plate armor. It was the kind of armor that heavy cavalry horses were equipped with. Their eyes were covered, but they did not snort or pant like normal horses.
Flora quietly walked to the front of the horses. The two figures in black seemed to have been waiting for her. They put the reins of one of the horses in her hands. The princess took the reins and did not say anything. She lightly jumped onto the back of the horse. With a shake of the reins, the horse neighed silently and galloped out of the Sith Palace!
The two black silhouettes also rode their horses and followed behind him without saying a word.
* * *
Four days passed by quickly. The group of refugees was already very long. At the same time, there were two people in the group who collapsed on the road of leaving their homes because their bodies could not take it anymore.
There were very few villages along the road from the Sith Palace to Oditore, and it was equally difficult. Fortunately, these villagers did not have to join the refugees. The range of activity of the undead seemed to be limited to the Khrim Forest. There were no signs of the undead from the east of the Khrim Forest.
Many people who could not take it anymore chose to stay in these villages, which reduced the burden on the entire group. But the capacity of these villages was limited. When the entire group left the last village, they still maintained a scale of about 1,300 people.
The road was mainly hilly, and the view was quite wide. There were no lush trees like the Khrim Forest blocking the view. So when they went over the last hill, the full view of Oditore appeared in front of them.
It was a zone bordered by hills and forests. The slightly rugged hilly area stretched to the end of their sight, and then there was another dense forest.
That was the territory of the trolls, the Azura Forest.
In terms of surface area, Oditore wasn't very big. But because of the perennial war, there were no other territories around it. In other words, Oditore's actual surface area might be one-third of the entire Klimt!
But although the area was big, the construction in the territory was very backward.
Many gazed into the distance and asked the messenger from Oditore as they walked, "Robbie, Oditore's food production is low due to the lack of farmers. What do the villagers here rely on to make a living?"
Robbie understood the strength of the messenger and his position in the group. At this moment, he was quite convinced of the baron's ability. He answered quickly, "There were originally five villages in Oditore. The villagers could not farm because of the Azura Forest nearby. Apart from the trolls and magical beasts that appeared from time to time, the villagers gradually gathered together. Now, there is only one large village in Oditore with a wall. Oditore Castle is a militarized fortress. It is not far from this village. If there is any danger, the village can light up the fire beacon and receive help at any time."
Many nodded and looked at Henry. The latter shrugged and said, "I don't know the situation. When I first came here, there were 27 villages. Now, there is only one left …"
"We can get there before dark. Everyone, let's work hard." Many turned around and shouted, "Rick! Tell everyone to keep up with the group.
Tell everyone to keep up with the team. We'll reach our destination before nightfall. Keep your spirits up! "
"Yes!"
A reply came from the distance. It was the mercenary leader who was hired by Many. They were considered to be in the same profession.
In the morning, the mercenaries who were discharged in advance had rushed back from the "allied village" called "Pang Bo Village." The news they brought made Many feel relieved. There were not many villagers in Pang Bo Village. There was a large piece of land where they could temporarily set up tents. However, it would take a long time for them to settle down.
That place was very "backward"!
This was the phrase that the mercenaries used the most to describe it.
Many looked back at the long line and smiled at Sylvia who was walking at the side of the group. They then turned around and continued to move forward.