Chapter 346 (1/2)
Hearing the breach of Leyton defense, Big Beardy’s utmost concern was about whether the sacred lake had been attacked, after all the rock monsters had already come near to the lakeside. Though no one really knew what the rock monsters were going to do to the lake, they must be stopped from marching forwards. When the knight leader heard Big Beardy’s questions, he reacted with a strange expression on his face. “Well, we really don’t know yet. It’s still a mystery of where the rock monsters want to go. For now it appears that their destination is the sacred lake, but when they reached and gathered there, they were just loitering in the Gnarled Grove and at the lakeside.”
“They didn’t try to contaminate the lakewater?” Big Beardy said, perplexed. He couldn’t think of any other reason for the rock monsters coming to the sacred lake other than spoiling the lake. “Is the sanctuary in the centre of the lake safe?”
“It’s safe.” the knight leader said, shrugging. “The Lake Sanctuary wasn’t affected a bit. But Bishop Gelton opined that it did not matter what the rock monsters wanted to do, they must be stopped from gathering. So we were ordered to clean them up in the area.”
Big Beardy nodded, as if saying he had no more question.
There were more pounding sounds of the hooves heard in the forest as the group of knights summoned to escort the Orb were arriving. Hao Ren looked ahead and saw a sea of torches everywhere, and was amazed by the sheer number of knights. It seemed Beinz diocese had committed a significant part of their forces and was determined to clean up the rock monsters which had breached their defenses.
The knight leader was frank to tell them that area surrounding the sacred lake wasn’t safe. Battles were going on in Beinz diocese. He suggested everyone retreated back to Leyton through the Gnarled Grove, and returned the Orb as soon as possible. Though there were other monsters in the Gnarled Grove, they looked less a problem than the rock monsters which were still loitering around. The four ascetics were desperate to return the Orb, so they agreed at once.
Everyone except Y’zaks hopped on to the horses which the escorts had brought. Hustling through the Gnarled Grove on the path to Leyton, the church’s and the kingdom’s knights were escorting them all the way. As a mercenary for all her life, Becky had never been so proud of this moment. She felt like she was coming home from saving the world like a hero under the escorts of so many knights. She hurled the horse in front of the group, working hard to make herself looking like a returning hero. But she realised no one was seeing it after almost two hours into the journey, she felt dejected. She slowed down her horse and strode side-by-side with the knight leader, asking loudly, “Would there be welcome party? Would there be a parade? What about the award ceremony back at the royal city?”
The knight leader looked at Becky as if she was missing an eye, stomped for a long while before turning his head away. “How do I know?” Then his mouth twitched and said, didn’t bother to lower his voice. “Tsk tsk, just like a typical mercenary that I know—all they care is about money. You should pray more, pray that the Goddess will cleanse you with her holy will.”
Becky didn’t get it. Instead, she shouted happily. “I want be rich!”
Hao Ren had been observing the escorting knights; they were going through a long path through the Gnarled Grove, passing by a couple of patrol posts, and different groups of knight had been escorting them, but almost eight out of ten of the knights were church’s knights in gown. There were just a small number of kingdom’s knights, which mostly patrolling on the side as if they were just ornaments. So he was particularly curiously. “Why most knights pursuing the rock monsters were from the church? Aren’t the kingdom’s knights the main forces?”
The knight leader answered, “The soldiers under the command of Marshal Opra are responsible for defenses outside of Leyton and in Dragonspine Ridge, getting rid of the rock monsters which came off the mountain to prevent them from coming inland, and at the same time giving instruction to the mercenaries on the outer denfense positions. Area within Leyton defense belongs to the church, naturally the church’s knights are the main forces. Don’t worry, the church’s knights are capable to defend the sacred grounds. Our unswerving faith is the guarantee.”
True to form, the knight of the Goddess would always sway the conversation to his faith. Hao Ren nodded, agreeing with what he said; two different kind of knights were responsible for two different layers of defense was totally understandable.