Chapter 15: Daniels
Jumping to a high place and overlooking the entire village, one could see several points of blue scattered throughout the village, and in the eastern part of the village, a large area of blue was surging.
That should be where Rafama said the Daniels family was located.
Without hesitation, he rushed directly towards the scattered blue.
The Daniels family was not weak.
...
But also not particularly strong.
The Daniels family had lived in Lori for five generations, establishing a manor surrounded by wooden walls built from sturdy timber.
If it weren't for the lord's law stipulating that only knights could build fortresses, the Daniels family might have preferred to replace the wooden walls with stone ones.
The direct bloodline of the Daniels family, along with their servants, numbered more than ten people, and the family had also 'spent money' to hire two teams of guards totaling eighteen people.
After all, as the wealthiest family in Lori, the Daniels family naturally needed guards to catch some thieves.
Then there were several workers working in the mill.
Altogether, the Daniels family's manor had nearly forty people.
And Yara, as the 'temporary guard captain' directly under the lord, commanded the twenty-four-man garrison of Lori.
Of course, among these twenty-four people, the strongest group, jokingly referred to as Yara's personal guards, was not to be taken seriously.
However, this time, only twelve people followed Yara to guard the north gate, and when she saw hundreds of silent corpses charging over, she led the guards to run to the manor.
Along the way, they also gathered a group of civilians.
By the time they were blocked by these corpses at the manor, there were over a hundred people inside, making it somewhat crowded.
However, even if the weapons and equipment hidden by the Daniels family could be distributed to everyone, defending against these corpses, which felt no pain and could still move even with only half a body, was still very difficult.
Flames were burning.
Burning flames were the most effective method; these corpses would instinctively avoid the flames.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry, everyone who can still hold a spear, get on the wooden wall!"
Yara wore a set of exquisite leather armor, her hair tied up, holding an iron sword in her hand, shouting loudly and directing the defense.
"Yara, I told you, that guy Rafama is not trustworthy! He hasn't returned to assist in the defense even now!" A strong man wearing half-armor shouted angrily.
"Fool! Show the courage of a Daniels family man, Weilin Daniels, don't just stand here complaining like a coward. Besides, Rafama is now a village guard, not a private soldier of the Daniels family." Yara scolded.
The village guards were directly under the lord, and even knights could not command them directly.
Angered by Yara's scolding, Weilin's face turned red, and his hand holding the sword trembled.
"Yara, now that father is dead, I am the eldest son of the Daniels family and now the head of the Daniels family. You should show me some respect." Weilin roared.
"I've never seen a family head who hides behind the door complaining when enemies are at the gate." Yara sneered. "Ando! Take him to hide in the tunnel, leave the matters above to the adults."
Ando was the youngest son of the Daniels family, the youngest brother of Yara and Weilin, only eleven years old this year.
As for the middle brother and sister, they might be outside.
The village cemetery had already been awakened, and a large number of humanoid corpses were attacking and clawing at the wooden wall.
They were the most troublesome, as they could grab spears with their hands and drag people down.
"I won't go, I want to fight! I want to protect everyone!" Ando held a short spear in his hand, and the maid taking care of him couldn't hold him back.
"Very good, Ando, that's the spirit of a Daniels family man!" Yara praised. "But you're still young and need to grow. When you grow up, we will need your protection."
"And now, go hide first." Yara signaled the maid to quickly carry Ando away.
As for Weilin, she completely ignored him.
"…Waaah!" Weilin, enraged by being ignored, turned red in the face, finally let out a loud roar, and then swung his sword, charging towards the main gate where the attack was fiercest.
"Hmph, now he looks like a man." Watching Weilin's back, Yara smiled, then looked at the assembled people beside her.
"Calon, is the guard assembled?" she asked loudly.
"Yes, Miss, your guard is assembled!" Calon responded loudly, carrying a long spear with a blade on his back.
The spear, two meters and seventy centimeters long, was already suitable for use as an elite weapon in wartime.
Looking at the seven assembled men, all strong and holding two-handed swords.
"Only these few people left?!" Yara frowned.
"Yes, the other brothers have already been overwhelmed by those monsters." Calon said.
"Forget it, since only you few are left, that's enough."
"You go to the drainage outlet. When the flames rise, you must lower the baffle, charge from there, and chop those bastards into pieces! Remember to prioritize beheading, then the arms."
"Yes!"
The drainage outlet Yara mentioned was an elevated water platform. When the stream's water power couldn't drive the waterwheel, the drainage outlet would be opened, using the high-level water flow to keep the waterwheel operating, ensuring the mill had enough productivity.
However, once the Daniels family was besieged like now, the baffle of the drainage outlet would be lowered, forming a slope for cavalry to charge down, and the impact of the charge could clear the enemies besieging the main gate of the Daniels family.
If there were a knight leading the charge, it would be perfect. A knight leading squires down the charge would be a true first-level force in war.
Yara felt a bit regretful.
This was also the regret of the Daniels family.
Five generations of accumulation had brought the Daniels family's development in Lori to its limit, and now the Daniels family was just one knight short of completely bringing Lori under the family's rule.
However, the family's fully trained useless old father had only managed to become a knight's squire in his lifetime.
The elder brother Weilin had done well, but unfortunately, he was still far from a true knight, and his character flaws made him only a warrior.
Climbing up the high platform erected at the main gate, the scorching heat hit her.
The wooden wall had already been set on fire, and those controlled corpses continued to attack the wooden wall even as their bodies burned.
The defenders' faces were filled with fear, and they kept stabbing down with wooden spears, trying to drive away the controlled corpses.
Occasionally, a few unlucky ones were grabbed by the spears and pulled down, quickly joining the ranks of the controlled corpses, launching attacks on the wooden wall.
Her foolish brother Weilin was swinging the spear like a hammer.
With his strength, he could break the bones of these controlled corpses with full force.
Scanning the swarming corpses outside, she didn't see any sign of knights, and Yara breathed a sigh of relief.
This wooden wall couldn't withstand a knight's charge.
Moreover, if there were knights, the offensive of Calon and the others charging down from the drainage outlet would also be blocked.
"Fire oil! Gather it all here."
After assessing the situation, Yara shouted.
Soon, the Daniels family's servants collected fire oil from various places, eventually gathering a large barrel of fire oil.
This fire oil was very precious, and the Daniels family didn't have much in reserve.
Usually, it was used by soaking cloth in fire oil, wrapping it around a wooden stick, lighting it, and throwing it out, or tying it to arrows and shooting it.
But Yara needed to ignite a large fire at once to disperse these guys; otherwise, Calon and the others would become one-time consumables.