Heimarian Odyssey

Chapter 113: Tragedy of the Small

The battle was still ongoing in the city.

The tempestuous attacks from Faustian's three major corps took the wind out of the Shalorian garrisons' sails. After multiple failures of defending the gates, only a few soldiers chose to fight to the death, with the rest fleeing into the city and engaging the Faustian soldiers in the streets.

"Come on, hurry!" Mueller urged Aoun, who was behind him, hastily.

Although Aoun was tall and strong, he couldn't run fast. Mueller had already slowed his pace, but Aoun still couldn't keep up with him.

"Come on!" Mueller couldn't stand it anymore. He grabbed Aoun and dragged him as they ran into the city. At this moment, countless Shalorian soldiers were running into the city. The Faustian army behind them was approaching in an orderly manner.

If it wasn't for Aoun, who had pushed Mueller away and had saved him from being shot by an arrow when the Faustians attacked, Mueller wouldn't care about his life at all.

Mueller had lived in Audis for more than twenty years. He could remember all the alleys in the city clearly. Although they were running at a slower speed as he was dragging Aoun along with him, they managed to widen their distance from the Shalorian and Faustian soldiers after making a few turns.

Mueller didn't let his guard down and continued to run further before stopping for a break.

They were on a spacious street as they bent down and panted heavily. This street used to be crowded and was full of various shops. The sounds of street vendors hawking and customers bargaining used to fill the streets.

But at this moment, all the shops were closed down and the street was deserted.

"Where are we going?" asked Aoun blankly. He could never make up his own mind and always liked to get opinions from others.

Mueller rolled his eyes. "Of course we're going back to our own homes. Don't tell me you're going back to fight with the Faustians." When they were fleeing just now, Mueller looked behind and realised that the Faustian soldiers only aimed at the Shalorian garrison troops; they didn't harass any residents in the city.

Shalorian nobles had been spreading word on how inhumane and brutal the Faustian soldiers were. But based on what Mueller had seen just now, he felt that they weren't true and the nobles were just scaring them.

"But the nobles told us that the Faustians will kill every one of us," continued Aoun.

"Well, just let them kill us," said Mueller indifferently. "Shalor's army is defeated and we'll all die sooner or later anyway. I want to be with my family before I die." He thought of his two adorable children and his beautiful wife.

The food that he kept in his chest was still warm. He'd gotten the food this afternoon and planned to bring it home for his family.

This was the tragedy of being a small fry. Mueller felt powerless and could only leave everything to fate.

When he was done resting and was ready to get going again, he realised Aoun was still standing rooted to the spot.

"Let's go! Do you want to be buried with the dead?" asked Mueller puzzledly. The muffled screams and killing were getting louder and clearer as time passed. They had to leave this place as soon as possible.

"I... I don't have a home" said Aoun as he lowered his head. Surprisingly, this man who was 1.8 metres tall started to tear up.

"Where's your family?" Mueller wanted to slap himself the moment he had asked the question. From Aoun's heavy Northern accent and what he had said just now, it was obvious that he fled from the north.

"They're all dead." Aoun's frank reply made his heart sink. At least he still had a wife and his children, but Aoun was all alone.

Mueller changed his mind as he was about to leave when he saw Aoun still standing there. Strictly speaking, Aoun was Mueller's saviour. Although Mueller was just a worker in a pub, he was kind-hearted and valued his friends.

"Come with me for now!" Without saying anything more, Mueller stepped forward and took Aoun's arm.

......

"Where are we?" asked Kristin curiously. Although she was the little princess of the margrave's family, she hadn't spent much time in Audis and was very unfamiliar with the city.

"I think we're in the southwest of the city," replied Laffey. She had been trained as a maid ever since she was a child, and followed her mistress, nanny and many others around the city to make purchases since young. She was as familiar with the city as the old-timers who had lived in Audis for decades.

Locke brought them into the city through the west gate. He planned to take advantage of the chaos of battle to send Glace and the others out. It would be best if he brought them to Henry's caravan at the rear directly before rejoining his unit.

It was currently late at night, but Audis was brightly lit with smoke in the air. Fires were probably burning somewhere.

At this moment, the four of them donned Faustian uniforms and rode their horses in the city. There were torches and flints in the saddles, but Locke refused to light them.

It was better to not draw attention to themselves, otherwise, it would be troublesome if they ran into Shalor's remnants or Faustian's army.

"We're close to the west gate now," said Glace as they could already vaguely hear the fighting.

"Damn it!" Locke had already tried his best to avoid the main attack routes. He didn't expect that they would run into another battle zone.

"We can't use this route anymore. We would be in trouble if the other soldiers discover the three of you," said Locke. He was only a platoon jarl and only had some reputation in Falcon's 2nd Division. There were three corps and a dozen divisions outside. There were so many soldiers around, nobody would recognise Locke.

Anyone could tell that something was wrong if they saw the attire of Glace and the others, and they would start to ask about them. "Should we hide inside a civilian's house first?" suggested Glace.

After thinking about it for a while, Locke nodded in agreement. "Okay! You all should hide first. I'll find a way to bring you all out tomorrow when the battle is over."

Locke's eyes darted around the housing area nearby until it settled on one of the houses.

A low-rank Knecht like him could sense three faint presences coming from that house. There were probably a woman and children inside. He preferred putting Glace and the others in a low-risk place.

The door of the house was shut tight. People could tell that it was a civilian's house from the low roof and dilapidated walls.

Locke stood in front of the door and couldn't be bothered to call for someone to open it. He kicked the door open directly, breaking the wooden latch behind it in two.

Locke didn't intend to be rude, but he was really pressed for time. Plus, he wasn't sure whether the family was easy to talk to, so he just did it anyway.

"Come in quickly!" shouted Locke to the three women behind him.

As the four of them entered the house, Locke started reproaching himself when he saw what was in front of him. A skinny woman was standing in front of him, with two children who were equally as skinny behind her.

From the look of the holes and patches on their clothes, Locke and the others could tell that they hadn't been living a good life.

The woman looked at Locke and the others in horror. Obviously, she had recognised the military uniforms that they were wearing. On the other hand, the two children widened their eyes curiously and stared at the strangers who appeared unexpectedly.

Locke suddenly didn't know what to say to placate the family. He had just broken the door of their house.

"We didn't mean to intrude. We'll just stay here for a night and leave the next morning." Glace stood up at this critical moment and said kindly to the frightened mother and her children.

Glace's true noble tone of voice and eloquence made the woman let down her guard. Kristin saw the two skinny children licking their fingers and she couldn't restrain herself anymore. She took a piece of white bread out and gave it to them. "Come on, here's something for you to eat."

Upon seeing this, the children's eyes lit up and they quickly grabbed the bread from Kristin's hand.