Chapter 168 Big Hand
A flourishing market was opened at the entrance of the city, welcoming the merchants and guests passing by.
The blacksmith was hammering his tools in the house, the jeweler was fiddling with the necklace on his hand, and batches of vegetables and fruits were brought in by farmers and workers to be sold.
There were also large quantities of timber piled up in nearby open spaces for the construction of new houses and defensive works.
Looks prosperous and safe.
However, a town with a large population can never make everyone rich and happy. Beneath the appearance of prosperity and wealth, there must be oppression and shadows.
Unless that town is Levi's territory.
Obviously, that's not the case here.
"Hurry up!"
Armored guards were shouting loudly, driving a group of laborers to pull up wooden stakes or dig a deep pit for construction somewhere.
This scene forms a sharp contrast with the prosperous scene not far away.
It's difficult to move here.
Alatar sat down in a corner of a house by the roadside and looked up at the scene on the street.
Teams of guards shuttled through the market, coming and going from time to time, and the nearby city walls were also filled with alert soldiers.
For such a heavily armed town, it would obviously be quite difficult to cause any impact from the outside.
“Here I come.”
After sitting in the corner for a long time, finally, several people walked out of the garden in the center of the town. One of them was wearing golden armor and was quite tall, and the other was wearing gorgeous clothes.
The two were walking together towards a carriage.
Alatar stood up and walked in the opposite direction - to a construction site.
"You are a bunch of lazy bastards. There is no time for you to rest. Get to work!"
The soldier scolded a group of laborers carrying heavy loads, as if if he shouted loud enough, the laborers would become stronger.
"You continue to watch, I'll go get someone to take over."
Another soldier said something to him and left temporarily.
Now there is only this soldier left at the construction site.
"Huh? Where did this homeless person come from? Get out of here..."
Boom! The soldier was knocked unconscious by the sudden blow of a stick.
"I hate it when people call me that."
Alatar moved the fallen soldier aside with his foot and walked towards the group of laborers.
He cleared his throat and shouted, "Are you willing to be enslaved for the rest of your life?"
"Those nobles and their guards enjoy the life of the upper class, but you, who live in the same town, are treated like slaves, and your time and health are bought with a few coins."
"It's just a few coins that they don't care about. Such low wages, working for a whole day, may not even be enough to have a full meal... Do you know how much a piece of dark and hard bread costs now?"
The wizard quietly used his magic power.
After a moment, cheers broke out in the area. The usually honest farmers and workers seemed to be controlled by something and picked up anything in their hands that could be used as weapons.
"Hey, what are you doing!?"
At this time, the guards arrived to take over.
"Do you want to rebel against those nobles?"
Alatar asked him.
“Why should I rebel?”
The soldier looked a little puzzled.
"You'll want to."
A hand suddenly grabbed the soldier's head. The soldier's body stiffened and he was immediately unable to move. His breathing became difficult.
A huge shadow loomed in his heart, and the shining eyes of the old man in front of him gradually turned cold. The color of his robe changed from sea blue to dark blue, and it became darker and darker - until it was stained with a hint of black.
"Obey me!"
The consciousness was in a state of confusion.
When the soldier came to his senses, he found that he had somehow picked up the weapon, surrounded by several comrades who were also somewhat dazed, and behind him were the laborers.
At this moment they were standing in a beautiful garden, surrounded by screams and shouts. A nobleman in gorgeous clothes was lying on the ground, crawling backwards uncontrollably, and next to him was a tall warrior in golden armor, who raised the sword in his hand high and slashed at the soldiers.
Wait, that's not our city lord...
"My Lord, I——"
Before he could finish his words, the soldier fell down.
The city was in chaos, with blood flowing into the garden pond.
The old shoes stepped on the blood and left marks on it.
However, the owner of the shoes turned a blind eye to the chaos around him and the person lying on the ground, as if it had nothing to do with him.
Alatar walked openly into the magnificent carriage that had been smashed by angry laborers, took away the letters on it, and stopped a noble who was trying to escape, knocked him unconscious with a stick, and searched his body.
"That's all."
All the information that needed to be delivered was now in hand, and those laborers and soldiers who were about to rebel as if possessed were quickly suppressed by the armed forces in the city.
There is no reason to stay here any longer.
Alataar suppressed the violence and darkness in his heart and walked quickly out of the city.
“This is all necessary.”
He murmured to himself: "Strength, in order to fight against the enemy, I need strength..."
"Only by possessing enough power can we make the enemy retreat, or even... make him surrender."
[Degree of Corruption+]
In this year, a historian of Dongyi recorded: a riot broke out in one of the many armed towns in the east. The laborers were dissatisfied with the low wages and slave-like treatment. They somehow persuaded the soldiers guarding them and launched an attack on the central garden. The city lord, who was walking in the garden with the royal envoy, reacted immediately and organized people to suppress this small riot.
"Nobody knows what's wrong with those guys."
The matter came to an end for the time being. When the messenger, who had collapsed to the ground in fear, hurriedly climbed onto the smashed carriage, he was only horrified to find that there was nothing left on it.
"What is it?"
The city lord asked anxiously.
"I don't know. Please forgive me. I don't have the right to read the letter. I will go back to the capital to apologize..."
Regardless of the process, Alatar achieved his goal and successfully delayed the enemy.
Even if the means are somewhat difficult to evaluate.
…
The other side.
A pass city in the southern part of Dongyi.
In the highest, most conspicuous and largest hall, someone huddled in a room on the upper floor used to entertain distinguished guests. He tremblingly picked up a pen and wrote the first sentence on the paper:
"When I wrote this, I was on the verge of a mental breakdown."
"I've had enough of this and I don't want to go on like this. Some thoughts keep lingering in my mind, making it impossible for me to fall asleep and even taste the sweetness of the cake."
“It all started with one thing…”
"A few days ago, I followed the king's orders and delivered a letter to the pass."
"On the way, a daring man stopped me and tried to snatch the letter from my hand. I took out the letter and challenged him: 'If you want it, you have to come and get it yourself', and then ordered the accompanying imperial guards to arrest him and torture him."
"Something I didn't expect happened. I obviously underestimated that man's strength. His black armor was invulnerable to swords and spears, and his weapon could spit fire. There was a terrifying golden light flashing on his body. After a while, all my guards were lying on the ground, burned to a charred corpse by the flames from his weapon."
"It's unclear whether the flames came from his weapon or his mouth. I'm more inclined to the latter. After all, is he really a human or a monster in human skin?"
"I didn't have time to investigate further. I was so frightened that I didn't care about anything else. I immediately jumped off the carriage, cut the ropes, and rode my horse as fast as I could to run away."
"Everything was getting further and further away from me, like a nightmare. I don't know how I got back here. I only remember that several guards helped me down from the horse. They were all frightened by my terrified look."
“Although I have moved away from that place and completed my mission brilliantly, everything that happened that day still torments me and I will never forget it.”
"I once prayed and asked the missionary sent by the Great Demon Eye. Although he comforted me, his words were full of sarcasm. He knew nothing at all."
"He knew nothing, yes, nothing, because he had never seen it, nor heard it, it was like a sound from hell."
"That black armor seems to blend into the night. It always appears in my dreams. It's like a nightmare, a nightmare that will never end. It keeps following me."
"Even now, there seems to be some kind of footsteps outside the door, and something seems to be knocking on the wall, causing cracks to appear on it."
"When I looked over, the knocking sounds and the cracks on the wall disappeared immediately. I guess I have been suffering from hallucinations for too long."
"Whether it's a human or a monster, I won't let him find me."
"Magic Eye! Window! There's someone there!!"
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
