Chapter 116: The Old, the Young, the Women, and the Children

The Easterlings, who had been ravaging Iron Wall Town for four or five days, finally began making various preparations before their departure; being habitually barbaric and infinitely greedy, they moved everything out of Iron Wall Town before they left.

If it were merely common grain, supplies, gold, silver, treasures, or weapons and equipment, that would be one thing, but they even demanded that the captured garrison dismantle the doors and windows of the houses and the gates of the city walls; aside from the heavy stones, they snatched away almost everything that could be moved.

These fellows did not even spare the wooden crates and baskets that the fully armed middle-aged man had placed around the cliff as cover.

Allen, who had returned to the cliff in hiding to observe all of this, felt a cold sweat for the young people hiding in the cave after seeing this scene; fortunately, until the Easterlings had completely left the town, no Easterling soldier was bored enough to push or lean against that cliff, so no one discovered that secret door.

Seeing the Easterling army begin to march in the direction of Long Lake Town, Allen immediately arranged for a few subordinates to ride at full speed to notify Balin there to prepare for defense, and at the same time arranged for them to notify Thranduil of the Woodland Realm, so that the Woodland Elves could prepare to support Long Lake Town.

Based on existing intelligence, Allen speculated that there was basically no one left in the area from Long Lake Town to the Redwater River who could resist the Easterlings; therefore, given the aggressive personality Ashur had displayed, he would certainly take his troops to Long Lake Town to show off his power, so it was very necessary to notify his allies to prepare in advance.

After watching the few messengers he had arranged depart, Allen took his men to the vicinity of the gate of Iron Wall Town, but he was not in a hurry to sneak into the ruins of Iron Wall Town immediately; instead, he dispatched quite a few small squads to scout the surroundings, and only after confirming there were no traces of enemies nearby did he enter the city with peace of mind.

In Allen's view, the design of this castle in Iron Wall Town was not particularly reasonable; the surrounding cliffs could provide a panoramic view of the layout inside the castle, the information of one's own side would be leaked quickly, and most importantly, there was only one exit; after being besieged by the enemy, besides burning the bridges and fighting the enemy to the death, there was only that cave that could hide people left as a retreat.

It was obvious that the battle that had previously taken place between the Northmen of Rhovanion and the Easterlings should not have been particularly tragic; otherwise, after experiencing the painful lessons brought by this battle, the castle garrison should have at least left themselves a way out.

This also made Allen consider that the fortresses he would build in the future should also be arranged with multiple hidden exits for retreat.

Before long, the group arrived in front of the extinguished bonfire in the center of the castle, and the dozen or so young people who had been hiding had already walked out of the cave at this moment.

Originally looking sorrowful, they immediately raised the weapons at their sides upon seeing Allen's group; although the attire of Allen's group was very different from that of the Easterlings, these young people, who had just suffered the most painful blow of their lives, still pointed their weapons at these strangers who had suddenly broken in with nervous expressions.

Facing strangers who outnumbered them several times over, the youth with the most magnificent equipment among them pointed his sword at Allen, who was walking at the very front of the group, and shouted loudly: "Who are you people? You are not welcome here, please leave here immediately."

Looking at these young people who had suffered a sudden disaster, Allen was not angry because of their rudeness; he could understand the actions of these young people, as some people would become more sensitive after suffering a huge change, so Allen maintained an amiable smile, preparing to introduce himself.

However, before he could speak, Holimion, who had been standing by Allen's side, stepped directly in front of Allen and sternly shouted at the young people who had raised their weapons:

"Standing before you is the ruler of the Kingdom of Rhovanion, friend of Elves and Dwarves, the Dragon Slayer, His Majesty Allen. Now, I order you to put down the weapons in your hands and apologize to my King for your rudeness just now!

"

As Allen's personal guard, how could Holimion allow others to point their swords at his lord? While speaking, he drew the Noldor Rune Longsword from his waist with a backhand motion; at the same time, a large sound of weapons being unsheathed rang out simultaneously, and the dozens of subordinates Allen had brought into the city quickly surrounded this group of young people who were still pointing their weapons at their King.

As the offspring of several leaders of the Northmen, these young people had never experienced such treatment; surrounded, they looked at the elite soldiers encircling them, their expressions becoming even more nervous, fear already showing in their eyes; they slowly lowered the longswords in their hands, but at the same time gripped the hilts even tighter, as if wanting to gain more sense of security from the weapons in their hands.

And in the end, they all looked at the young man who had demanded that Allen leave.

Facing the threat, Auston, who had also lowered his weapon, did not expect things to turn out like this; as the heir to the most powerful force in the eastern region of Rhovanion, and also as the master of Iron Wall Town, in his view, demanding that strangers leave his own territory was his due right.

Moreover, Allen's group did not look like those invaders from the East, so the Northmen still active in this area should have had a good relationship with his father; even if his performance just now was extremely impolite, it should not have led to this situation where swords were about to be drawn.

In fact, the education Auston had received in the past was quite good, and he would never have raised the weapon in his hand upon seeing strangers, because such an act represented provocation and the desire to attack in any place.

It was just that Auston had just found his father's body, which had not yet been completely burned, in the bonfire, and the immense grief had drowned his reason in that instant, leading him to make this impulsive move.

Now, Auston felt the fearful gazes cast by his little companions behind him, and then looked at the strangers who had surrounded them, not knowing what to do next for a moment.

In fact, the Northmen living in the Rhovanion region would indeed not do anything dangerous to Auston; due to the threat of the Easterlings, the relationships between the territories of the Northern Men were mostly quite good; if the person following Allen had been the former Town Mayor of Long Lake Town, Stephen, then there certainly would not be this current situation.

It was a pity that there were no original inhabitants following Allen today; they were all soldiers summoned by Allen from the Mount and Blade Simulator, and they would not care who these young people in front of them were; as long as Allen gave the order, they would kill the boys in front of them without blinking.

Who let these people dare to point their swords at the lord they were loyal to.

Allen looked at the somewhat awkward scene, then gently patted Holimion on the shoulder, signaling his Captain of the Personal Guard not to be too nervous, as he was not so easily harmed by a few young people.

Afterwards, he waved his hand, letting the surrounding subordinates put away their weapons, because there was no need to make things so tense; he was here to send these young people away from this dangerous area, not to end their lives.

"Young man, you don't have to be so nervous, we have no malice, and at the same time I understand how you feel right now, but I suggest you leave here as soon as possible; those Easterlings might return very soon."

Seeing the surrounding soldiers put down their weapons, Auston's emotions stabilized a lot, and at the same time, he found memories related to the Dragon Slayer Allen in a corner of his memory.

Auston then widened his eyes; he really could not imagine that the young man in front of him, who looked like he was not much older than himself, was actually the human lord who had become famous in the North some time ago.

He looked at the fierce soldiers around him, and then at the elites following closely behind Allen, and subsequently dismissed the idea that the person in front of him was an impostor; after all, most of the soldiers that could be assembled in the eastern region of Rhovanion were now in the ashes behind him, and the only human force that could produce such elite soldiers at this time, besides Bard who was rebuilding his ancestral heritage in Dale, might only be Lord Allen, who had killed the dragon Smaug.

After confirming that the identity of the person in front of him was someone even his father wanted to befriend, Auston first bowed to Allen and said: "Sir, I apologize to you for my actions just now, and I also hope you can understand the impulsive behavior made by a young man who has just lost his father."

Allen naturally could not be angry because of such a small matter, and he emphasized again his willingness to take these young people away.

"It's okay, I formally forgive your rudeness, but I need to emphasize again that you must leave here as soon as possible; as for these remains of those who sacrificed in the battle, we can return to bury them at any time once the surrounding environment is safe. If you are willing, I can take you to Dale or Long Lake Town; of course, if you have a place you want to go, as long as it is not too far, I don't mind giving you a ride."

For a large-scale march like Ashur's, even with a large number of carriages, the speed was destined not to be fast; Allen was currently leading all Cavalry, and each person had two horses, so he had sufficient confidence that he could return to Long Lake Town before Ashur.

Auston, who had learned a great deal of information about Allen from his father's mouth, knew that the person in front of him could be trusted, so he no longer had the idea of refusing Allen's kindness; they indeed had no way to survive in this already dilapidated Wilderness relying on their own legs; not to mention anything else, their food and clean drinking water had been consumed for the most part during this period; if they refused Allen's help, they would really have to stage a survival-in-the-wild act in the days to come.

"Please allow me to discuss it with my companions first."

Having made up his mind, Auston, after Allen nodded, gathered his little companions together and then discussed in a low voice.

Allen's hearing, which far exceeded that of ordinary people, still heard some content, such as "Is he trustworthy?" "It's too dangerous." And Auston's voice, "My father told me that this Lord Allen is an outstanding leader with noble character."

Their voices were sometimes high and sometimes low, and Allen could not know the full picture of their conversation, and soon Allen realized that without Auston's consent, this was also considered eavesdropping, so he left the vicinity of these young people.

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A moment later, those young people clearly negotiated a result, and in the end, it was still Auston, who had the highest status and prestige among them, who stood out to talk to Allen.

"Sir, for the time being, we do not want to go to Dale or Long Lake Town; we hope you can give us a ride to the southwest, where there is a place we want to go."

The place Auston asked Allen to take them to was the canyon where the families of those fallen soldiers were located; that hidden place was the last safe location Auston knew of.

Most of Auston's companions thought that taking strangers like Allen there was simply too dangerous, but Auston, who had been raised as an heir since childhood, thought further than his companions; now, all the soldiers they could gather were either dead or captured, and having no power to resist meant that this land had already been controlled by the Easterlings.

Even if that canyon was hidden, it could not be safe forever under the eyes of the enemy, and there was no land there sufficient for farming; it was fine to hide for a short time, but relying on the environment there to survive for a long time would inevitably lead to exposure.

By then, their situation would only be more dangerous, so Auston did not mind bringing Allen to that canyon; at this moment, this young man, who was a bit excessively young, had automatically substituted his identity into the leadership position of having to lead everyone to survive.

In this short period of time, he had grown a lot, and under this situation where the pressure had increased sharply, it also made Auston develop the intention to take a gamble; he hoped that this human lord, who was highly praised by his father, could help them all find a safe place to survive.

Only by surviving could they continue to grow, avenge their father in the days to come, and take back the lost territory.

At this time, Allen could only guess that these young people might take him to a place that was very important to them; as for what place it was, after a little speculation, he also knew that it was likely related to the old, young, women, and children who had not appeared.

As for Auston's mental journey, he could not guess it, and for Allen, this was not important; as long as these young people could leave here, it could be considered to make Allen's heart a little more peaceful.

Under Allen's order, Fatis cleared out a dozen fast horses from the cavalry troop for these young people; although they were not old, they were after all heirs to various human territories, so they still had the ability to ride horses.

Afterwards, the group quickly left Iron Wall Town and, under Auston's guidance, marched toward the southwest; along the way, except for the speed of the journey, in other aspects, Allen took good care of these young people, which also made these young people start to have a certain degree of favor for this King who looked very easygoing.

A few days later, the group arrived at that hidden canyon without obstruction; Auston did not let Allen's team leave because they had reached the destination, but instead invited Allen to enter the canyon with him.

During this process, Auston secretly observed Allen's expression while thinking about how to make a plea to Allen, while Allen used a compassionate gaze to look at the Northern Men living in hardship in the canyon; the expression on his face became heavier and heavier, and at the same time he was thinking about how he could provide some help to these people.

At this moment, Auston finally summoned his limited courage and earnestly said to Allen: "My Lord, I beg you to help us, help us find a piece of land where we can live."

Allen looked at the young man in front of him and fell into deep thought.