Chapter 476 Who is Civilization, Who is the Monster?
Iris Province, Iris City
The city that once belonged to humans has now changed its flag.
The streets were filled with Aura warriors from the wilderness. They were tall and heavily armored, and their cold and fierce aura made every passerby tremble with fear. They could only lower their heads and hurry past.
This once prosperous city has now been officially taken over by the Kingdom of Aura.
The once bustling Violet Avenue has lost its former hustle and bustle and fragrance of flowers, replaced by a depressing silence.
The bluestone pavement gleamed from days of heavy footsteps and horseshoes, with lingering dust in the cracks. The air was thick with the faint, metallic smell of dust rubbing against metal, along with an indescribable atmosphere of desolation.
The bard Caleb, clutching his worn-out pearwood harp and wrapped tightly in his faded old cloak, walked slowly along the wall.
His gaze was lowered, yet he couldn't help but stealthily scan the city that had already changed hands.
The street scene is fragmented.
The familiar shop sign was still swaying slightly in the wind, and the bakery faintly smelled of wheat, but the faces of the Theo guards, whether serious or lazy, were no longer standing in the key positions.
An ogre warrior stood on the street corner like a weathered stone statue.
He was completely encased in heavy iron armor, holding a spiked mace in his arms; his enormous size and steel armor inspired awe.
The ogre's eyes were slightly closed, and a soft, even snore came from under its mask, as if it were taking a nap.
However, whenever someone gets within ten steps of him, his eyes will open a crack, his brownish pupils sweeping indifferently over them before closing again after confirming there is no threat.
Caleb was simply glanced at by the ogre.
He instantly felt a chill run through his body, his steps froze on the spot, and his heart pounded violently in his chest.
Countless terrifying thoughts flashed through his mind.
He was terrified that the cannibal would approach him, grab him with its large, fan-like hands, and then chew him up and swallow him like a chicken leg.
This is very likely.
As far as Caleb knew, the people of these ceded provinces were not much higher in status than servants.
Even if the enemy is a human nation, its soldiers often do not face severe punishment for killing civilians.
What's more, the opponent is a wild monster known for its savagery and ferocity, a legendary creature that supposedly eats raw meat and drinks blood.
Under the gaze of the cannibal, Caleb even hallucinated, as if he saw his long-deceased grandmother beckoning to him. Memories of his childhood flooded back uncontrollably, and cold sweat soaked the back of his thin shirt.
But he was just overthinking it.
The ogre guard merely glanced at him, confirming that the thin human had no weapons and did not seem to be about to do anything dangerous, before closing his eyes again as if taking a nap.
Eating raw meat and drinking blood?
If the ogre guards knew what the bard was thinking, they would surely sneer.
That country bumpkin who only makes assumptions... Not to mention him, even the cannibals of his father's generation, unless they were on a march with extremely scarce food, they rarely ate raw meat directly, and at the very least they would roast it before eating.
Eating raw meat and drinking blood was a habit of the older generation in the wilderness.
For the younger generation, they do not reject raw meat and will even eat the blood of the enemy on the battlefield, but this is more like a ritualistic tradition or a sense of honor than an everyday occurrence.
Their Ora ogres are completely different from the ogre tribes that used to roam the wilderness.
For example, while the ogres of the past were also big and strong, they were just fat and bloated. Aura's ogres, on the other hand, have bulging muscles all over their bodies and look like iron towers.
It's like the Wild Goblins versus the Goblins of the Kingdom of Matna who can read, write, and even master alchemy.
Due to differences in education, resources, and environment, although they share the same appearance and race, they are like two different species in thought and behavior.
Wilderness creatures are never lacking in intelligence; it's just that environmental conditions don't allow it.
When they gathered as kingdoms, and when a powerful emperor granted them order, their growth was astonishing.
On the other side, Caleb took three deep breaths after the ogre looked away before daring to move forward again.
He continued along the street and saw many more Aura guards along the way.
Several werewolf patrols marched past in orderly steps, their standard scimitars slung at their waists and their fur neatly combed; two trolls emerged from the alleyway carrying weapons, their heavy footsteps causing the ground to tremble slightly; and in the distance, the figures of centaur archers could be seen on the towers.
As time passed, the bard's tense heart gradually calmed down.
There was no burning, killing, looting, or rampant violence as expected.
Although the streets were deserted, a few shops were still open.
The warriors of Aura appeared unusually restrained, possessing a rough yet distinct discipline, unlike any of the stories Caleb had sung about monsters ravaging cities.
This made him reflect on his actions.
He also recalled the changes in the Kingdom's previous reports about the Red Emperor, and the daily newspaper headlines that he had personally seen and heard in the tavern swirled in his mind like a revolving lantern.
The tyranny of the Red Iron Dragon is crumbling; civilization will ultimately triumph over barbarism.
The ruthless Red Emperor seized the satellite, and the despicable Kingdom of Aura occupied the border region.
[Bad news! The Kingdom of Aura has breached the Norton Pass]
The esteemed Red Emperor reigns over Iris City.
The last headline is recent: notices plastered all over the streets were replaced overnight, as if yesterday's curses never existed.
"Is my bad impression of Aura based on my own true feelings, or on the propaganda from the Kingdom of Theo?" Caleb wondered to himself, a sense of confusion rising in his heart.
As a bard, he understood better than the average person how stories are woven and how words are shaped.
But he never imagined that one day he would become someone who was swayed by words.
A few minutes later, as dusk fell and the twilight cast long shadows on the buildings, the bard arrived at an open square.
This is also the destination he ventured out to today.
He heard that food was being distributed here.
On the north side of the square, rows of rough but sturdy long tables were set up, piled high with food.
A large amount of slightly rough but substantial buttered bread was piled up like a small mountain, several large wooden barrels of cloudy jam with fruit pulp floating on them emitted a sweet aroma, and there were even many large iron pots steaming with thick soup made of vegetables and some meat chunks.
The food is being distributed in an orderly manner.
The people standing behind the table distributing the food were not human.
For example, at the long table closest to Caleb.
On the left is a snake woman.
Her upper body was that of a human woman, with long hair tied up with a blue ribbon. Her face was delicate, but her pupils were vertical like those of a snake. Below her waist was a long and powerful snake tail, its dark blue scales shimmering in the twilight. At this moment, she was coiled on the ground.
She was using her long, fingernail-tipped fingers to hand bread and a bowl of thick soup to a shivering little girl.
The one in the middle is the most conspicuous; it is a human-horse.
Her tall, athletic upper body was dressed in a simple linen shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, revealing her strong forearms; her long brown hair was braided and hung down in front of her chest; her lower body was that of a glossy chestnut horse with simple horseshoes nailed to its hooves to prevent damage to the stone slabs.
She was using a huge wooden spoon to scoop jam from a bucket and spread it evenly on slices of bread.
A little further to the right, a wolf girl was watching over the soup pot.
She had grayish-blue fur, a fluffy tail that swayed slightly behind her, pointed ears that stood up alertly, and eyes that scanned the queue. Occasionally, she would call out in Common with a slight accent.
"Don't push! There's enough for everyone! Line up!"
Those receiving food were mostly emaciated commoners, children, and the elderly.
Most of them didn't dare to look up, silently accepted the food, and hurriedly left.
But there are exceptions.
A boy of about seven or eight years old stared blankly at the centaur girl's strong and beautiful body, which trembled slightly with her movements, almost forgetting to reach out and take the bread with jam that had been handed to him.
It wasn't until his mother grabbed him in a panic that he realized what was happening, grabbed the bread, and ran away with his head down.
Hunger eventually overcame fear.
The bard touched the empty purse at his waist and found that there were only a few pitifully thin copper coins left, not even enough to buy a few pieces of the hardest black bread.
After much hesitation, his shame was overwhelmed by his desire to survive, and he silently joined the end of the nearest queue.
The procession moved forward slowly.
When it was his turn, the man in front of him happened to be there.
She leaned down slightly, a movement that lowered her much taller upper body to eye level with Caleb, and then handed him a large piece of bread spread with jam and a large bowl of thick soup, the wooden bowl still steaming.
Caleb raised his hand to take it, his eyes inevitably meeting hers.
It had a pair of very large, dark brown eyes with very little white in them. They were warm and bright, and the pupils were horizontal ovals, like those of a real horse, yet they also had the look of an intelligent being.
"Give."
Her voice wasn't as crisp as a human woman's; it was slightly lower and had a certain depth. Although she had an accent, her pronunciation was clear.
"Th...thank you."
Caleb took the bread and soup bowl.
The warm touch and weight of the bread made his throat move, and the aroma of the soup wafted into his nose.
Iris Castle was once a prosperous city, but the war still had a severe impact on it.
In order to cope with the war on the front line, the Kingdom of Theo levied several special taxes. Coupled with the hoarding and speculation by nobles and merchants, the lives of ordinary people at the bottom of society were very difficult, even miserable.
Caleb had no special talents and did not embark on any extraordinary path.
Ordinary bards like him, who make a living by performing, have seen their performance opportunities drastically reduced, and the rewards they receive are pitifully small. They have been starving for some time now.
And there are many more people in worse situations than him.
Caleb took the food, turned to leave, but then stopped.
He turned around, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Excuse me... why are you doing this? I mean, distributing food for free." He added, "This doesn't seem like... like something conquerors would do."
The centaur girl was stunned for a moment.
Her large hooves gently stomped twice on the spot, making a soft "tap, tap" sound, as if she were thinking.
A few seconds later, she replied, "It's an order, an order from above."
She paused, recalling more specific wording, and then continued, "It is said that conquest is not just about planting flags, but most importantly, about making the conquered people accept the new ruler from the heart."
"We come from the wilderness and are not very familiar with your human preferences and habits."
The centaur girl spoke frankly, “However, before the great Emperor Ignas established his kingdom and unified the wilderness, our ancestors tasted the pain of hunger.”
"We all know how unpleasant it is to be hungry."
"Now, Iris City belongs to Aura, and you will become a part of us as well."
She looked at Caleb, her horizontal pupils reflecting the poet's gaunt face, "And we, the people of Aura, will never stand idly by while our compatriots starve."
"This is the most basic thing."
The bard was taken aback, not expecting such an answer.
Meanwhile, another snake woman overheard the conversation. She turned her head, stuck out her forked tongue, and gave a sly smile, adding, "After the higher-ups occupied Iris City, their first priority was to clean up the private treasuries of the major nobles here and levy security maintenance taxes and order reconstruction taxes on them."
"The food you are receiving now was purchased with that tax revenue."
The snake woman blinked her vertical pupils and taunted in a mocking tone, "Those stingy nobles have plenty of money to spare. Just scrape off a layer, and that's enough to feed all the commoners in your city. This is just the first batch; there's more to come."
In reality, the common people of Iris City had been starving for a long time, while the noble lords seemed to see nothing, continuing to raise taxes and hold banquets as usual.
Now, the Kingdom of Aura has taken over Iris City.
The first thing the legendary monsters did was not to carry out a bloody crackdown, but to plunder the wealth of the nobles to feed the common people.
Who is civilization, and who is the monster?
The bards, and others who heard these words, felt a complex mix of emotions.
Some people looked enlightened, some lowered their heads in thought, and others showed resentment towards the long-suppressed aristocracy.
Caleb's heart was also stirred.
He looked down at the warm bread and fragrant soup in his hands, then suddenly looked up at the three foreign women distributing the food.
“Beautiful ladies, your kindness is like a spring flowing through a dry riverbed.”
He released the harp he had been holding, letting it rest against his lap, freeing his hands to hold the food, and bowed slightly. "Please allow me to sing a few lines for you on the spot to express my gratitude."
Without waiting for a response, Caleb took a light breath and began to chant in a low but clear volume that could be heard by everyone nearby.
"As the cloak of dusk covers the edges of the city walls, unfamiliar guardians stand at the old sentry posts."
"In their hands are not torches and swords, but ears of wheat and wooden spoons, providing sustenance to trembling hands and injecting hope into hopeful eyes."
"Today's food comes from yesterday's granaries of greed, and today's order is built on the chaos of the past."
"Ah, stranger, benefactor, may these humble verses bring a moment of warmth back to your side."
"."
His impromptu lyrics were not complicated, but they captured the scene and the feelings of many people.
He hummed a light and grateful melody on the spot, and when paired with poetry, it had a comforting power.
Finally, Caleb bowed slightly once more.
"Your poetry... is quite good, and your voice is also nice."
The centaur girl smiled slightly, revealing her neat teeth. "We'll be distributing food here again tomorrow at the same time and place. Remember to come, don't be shy, we don't eat people."
She made a little joke, and the civilians around her who heard it relaxed a bit; some even chuckled softly.
Caleb nodded, carefully carrying the soup bowl and bread, and turned to leave.
He found a stone step at the edge of the square, sat down, and wolfed down his long-awaited hearty meal.
After drinking the hot soup, my whole body felt warm.
On the way back, at a certain corner, Caleb stopped in his tracks.
On a bulletin board covered with various notices, he saw a newly posted parchment.
The paper was of good quality and the ink was fresh, making it stand out among the many yellowed and damaged old notices.
[Recruiting eloquent individuals, bards preferred; excellent compensation and food provided]
It didn't specify what to do, only gave an address in the east of the city, and was stamped with a red seal representing the Kingdom of Aura.
"This is... a recruitment notice from the Kingdom of Aura?"
Caleb leaned closer and read carefully, "Why recruit bards instead of powerful warriors or spellcasters? Why?"
He was filled with doubt, yet also somewhat tempted.
The war had burdened Theo with taxes so heavy that he was already penniless, and he didn't want to keep accepting handouts.
If you can earn money and support yourself through your own skills, that's the best long-term solution.
(End of this chapter)
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