Chapter 81: Return to White Mountain City
Yam and Akar arrived in the outskirts of White Mountain City. As they looked at the intact city walls, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Having just experienced a war, they knew all too well what a besieged city would typically look like.
Later, Yam entered the city via a lift basket and soon met Lily, who had rushed over upon hearing the news.
Akar glanced somewhat enviously at Yam and Lily's gentle embrace, not that Yam didn’t want to give Lily a bear hug, but her belly was already quite round, and he didn’t dare to hug her too tightly.
“How is the situation now?” Yam asked as soon as he and Lily had lightly embraced.
“The movements in the Fertile Plains are very strange,” Lily said with a puzzled look.
She soon followed up with more detailed information.
“Andar Village appears to have been raided by the Western Wind Territory. All the villagers were taken away. We found around four hundred corpses. Although we didn’t find Knight Commander Ken’s body, there was a battlefield with signs of heavy fighting. He likely died in battle, and the Andar Family has been wiped out.”
“The villagers of Plain Village, Old Mountain Village, and Fisher Village have mostly taken refuge in White Mountain City. About two hundred people from Plain Village are missing. Their whereabouts are unclear, but I believe they didn’t manage to escape. According to other villagers, the missing ones carried large amounts of supplies during their escape, not following Ion’s instructions to leave immediately.”
“The villagers of Mountain Ridge Village are also missing. I’m not fully informed on that, but what intelligence we’ve gathered suggests that the village was burned to ruins, and the troops of the Fertile Plains Lord have taken control of the surrounding areas. I suspect your father and mine are still alive and have entered the Eastern Mountain Territory. Otherwise, those three lords of the Fertile Plains would not have sealed off the area but would have turned south to attack White Mountain City.”
Hearing Lily’s words, Yam’s anxious feelings eased slightly.
He naturally felt relieved that his father and Baron Ster were still safe.
But he was also worried.
Reinforcements from the Marquisate of Red Eagle clearly wouldn’t invade the Fertile Plains.
At most, they would assist White Mountain Territory in defending and minimizing further losses.
As for the damage already suffered, they wouldn’t help recover it; White Mountain Territory would have to bear that alone.
In other words, expecting them to help invade the Eastern Mountain Territory to rescue people was simply impossible.
Therefore, their only hope lay in Baron Ster and Ion escaping back to White Mountain Territory.
Aside from that, Yam also felt sympathy for the Andar Family.
The Andar Family had followed the Bole Family for three generations.
Yet Ken Andar’s eldest son was an ordinary person who had failed two bloodline awakenings and had thus been appointed as Village Chief of Andar Village.
His second son was not yet fifteen, so he hadn’t undergone a bloodline test and could not yet be determined capable of inheriting the family’s role.
Originally, Ken had placed his hopes in his second son becoming a Bloodline Knight, or if not him, perhaps a grandson.
But now, the Andar Family had been completely wiped out with the destruction of the village and Ken’s death.
A near century-long legacy of three generations had come to an end with a sudden war.
This unpredictable change filled Yam with a sorrow he could hardly contain.
But he quickly composed himself and said, “Lily, you need to prepare a large amount of supplies. The reinforcements are already on the way.”
“If nothing unexpected happens, Baron Hess of the Gem Territory should already be leading troops toward White Mountain Territory today. Giggs has also borrowed a force from the Red River Territory, and they should have arrived in White Mountain Territory by now.”
“Akar and I left the main force and rushed back ahead just to deliver this news.”
Both the Gem Territory and the unit borrowed by Giggs from the Red River Territory, as per custom, only brought food for the journey.
Once they entered the combat zone, food supplies would be managed by the parties involved in the campaign, when they obeyed the summons to fight in the Red Soil Territory, food during the war was provided by the Kasein Family. But now that these lords were fighting to honor their alliance with White Mountain Territory, it would be White Mountain Territory’s responsibility to provide food.
“Food... we don’t have enough!” Lily’s expression turned grim at Yam’s words. “I’ve already requisitioned and redistributed all the rations in White Mountain City. Right now, we’re only barely able to keep people from starving. That’s only because Old Mountain Village and Fisher Village brought a lot of food, and many residents fled. Otherwise, we’d already have starvation deaths here.”
Yam’s expression also darkened.
“Why did it come to this?”
“There hasn’t been a single merchant caravan in White Mountain City for three months,” Lily sighed.
“I sent Sherry’s father to Red River City with a message and to procure food, but they still haven’t returned. A few days ago, I sent Sherry herself to Red River City...”
“Sherry met with Giggs, but we heard nothing about food,” Yam said gravely.
In fact, they had only learned about Sherry meeting Giggs because she came looking for them while they were meeting Monica.
Otherwise, they would’ve only heard of her visit through Monica. As for Sherry’s father and her brothers, they hadn’t met them this time. Initially, they assumed it was due to the tight schedule and a lack of time to communicate.
But after hearing Lily, they couldn’t help but question Sherry’s father’s stance and loyalties.
Lily was a smart woman.
As soon as Yam said that, she immediately understood. Her expression turned grim as she turned to instruct an attendant, “Go at once to Miss Sherry’s firm and check what goods are still left there. Also, focus on checking whether any of Miss Sherry’s father’s relatives are still in the city.”
Several attendants quickly departed.
These people were veteran soldiers left behind by Baron Ster to assist Lily, so they naturally carried out her orders without question.
“Also, dispatch a few men to the Gem Territory and the Red River Territory. Have them meet with Baron Hess of the Gem Territory and Giggs as soon as possible. Inform them of White Mountain City’s current food shortage and request that Baron Hess requisition some grain to send over. Tell him that White Mountain Territory is willing to pay for it,” Lily continued, turning to several other guards.
“Tell the Baron of the Gem Territory we’re willing to pay a high price!”
“As for Giggs, tell him I need him to stamp and sign an order letter. Once you have his signature, go straight to Miss Monica in Red River City.”
“What do you plan to do?” Yam asked.
“I’ll ask Miss Monica to sell us a batch of food. Two months ago, Sherry’s father left with a considerable amount of money. We’ll use that money as procurement funds.”
Seeing Lily speak so coldly, Yam could only sigh inwardly in resignation.
He had a good impression of Sherry, and from her actions, it was clear that she genuinely liked Giggs.
She was also sincerely kind to the rest of the Bole Family and even to him. But this time, Sherry’s father’s actions clearly hinted at a betrayal of White Mountain Territory.
At another time, Lily might have given him one or two chances. But under current circumstances, she clearly wouldn’t allow him any room for explanation.
“You’re planning to head to Mountain Ridge Village next, aren’t you?”
Lily clearly understood her husband Yam well. She knew that someone who had rushed back so urgently would never just quietly stay in the city.
After all, the Soderbell brothers were not the type to hide safely in the rear.
“Yeah.” Yam nodded. “I have to rescue my father and Baron Ster. If they remain trapped in the Eastern Mountain Territory, they’ll be in grave danger.”
Lily also knew that even if other lords from the Marquisate of Red Eagle came to help, they would never cross the border to formally wage war against the Fertile Plains.
That would mean Marquis Visen and Count Shuvaric were officially going to war. And if those two heavyweights went to war, it could draw in the Southern Duke and the Royal Family. Things would become extremely complicated.
The final outcome would be unpredictable, but one thing was certain: the Bole Family would be utterly annihilated.
“You must have been traveling for a long time without proper rest. Why don’t you stay the night?” Lily gently caressed Yam’s cheek and softly said, “I’ll sort out all the intelligence I’ve collected over the past days as soon as I can.”
Yam initially wanted to decline, feeling that he could still hold on.
They had ridden back all day, but they weren’t entirely without rest.
They’d stopped for about two hours partway and had alternated in short resting states while on horseback.
But seeing the look on Akar’s face, he nodded. “We’ll rest until evening and then set off. Half a day’s recovery should be enough.”
Lily had originally wanted to persuade him further but ultimately said nothing and simply nodded in silence.
Soon, they returned to the manor.
Lily went to the study to sort through the intelligence she had gathered in recent days.
She couldn’t tell which parts were real or important, so she simply transcribed everything she had heard. For clues she had already investigated or analyzed, she included additional notes for Yam’s reference.
Yam and Akar had a hearty lunch, after which Akar went to rest in his room.
But Yam headed to his father’s room and took out a longsword wrapped in cloth strips from under the bed.
...
Robin, revealed a look of sudden realization at the very moment Yam grasped the sword’s hilt.
“So, all of this has already happened...”