Chapter 4 - Part 2 (Book 1 - Fantasy World)

To help the villagers escape from the Empire forces, Valessandria guided her horse toward the entrance, away from the Empire's forces.

As they approached the village, Valessandria's eyes were drawn to something she had never heard about in the past. For a moment, the sight appeared to be a mountain, making her even more confused.

"What is that?" Willaim called out to her, pointing at the mysterious structure.

Though she was curious about the strange pyramid, Valessandria shook her head, "It is not our concern! We can deal with that after we escort the villagers away from this place!" She waved a hand to shut down such stray thoughts, especially as they approached an active conflict area.

Valessandria looked back at her men, "Forget about that thing. We need to focus on the villagers! The villagers are important, not that structure!"

Even though she was curious about how such a massive structure appeared overnight, at the moment, Valessandria had more concern about the horses.

Under her, the horse breathed heavily as it tried to maintain its current high speed. Valessandria rubbed the neck of the horse to encourage it. "Please. I know this is hard, but you have to keep going. The villagers are counting on us." Valessandia pleaded.

Even though the horses were bred with stamina in mind, their group had been racing through the day and the night to reach Leaf Village in time. Without assistance from the Student Council, they had been limited in the number of horses they could use.

Valessandria noticed a train of wagons and people flowing out of the village like a stream. Seeing that there were survivors, she sighed in relief. She imagined that people were still desperately trying to escape from the village. Still, the fact that so many fled was a blessing.

There were dozens of guards on both sides of the line, directing people and keeping the peace. A few were even assisting wagons that got stuck on the road. It was likely due to the drivers panicking as they navigated the road.

Next to her, William raised a hand to let the others know to slow down. With the inherent chaos of the situation, it wouldn't be strange for the guards to assume that they were from the Empire and attack them.

One of the guards looked towards their group, moving his spear to prepare himself for the attack. A few villagers began screaming and ready to flee from the safety of the others.

To prevent any conflicts, Valessandria quickly dismounted, raised both hands to show that she wasn't armed, and let the guards know that her force wasn't hostile.

Immediately, a look of relief passed through the villagers while the guards lowered their suspicion slightly. The spears were no longer directly pointing at their group. However, the nearby guards still had the weapons in their hands in such a way that they could immediately switch if combat was necessary.

Slowly approaching the nearest guard, Valessandria raised the visor on her helmet. “I am Valessandria, Lady Knight of Illumin Academic City. I have gathered my men to assist in the evacuation of the village. So that the most lives can be saved, if possible, I would like a report of the current situation."

Seeing her face, the expression on the guards changed from apprehension to joy at having people come and provide reinforcements. A few guards began raising their hands in the air as they cheered.

The nearest guard removed his helmet. His face was covered in dirt and soot, likely due to helping the villagers to get out safely.

Bowing his head slightly, the guard explained, "Ma’am, we've successfully evacuated about a quarter of the village population." Then he turned his head slightly as though checking his surroundings before lowering his voice, "There are many businesses located here, and the various owners are keen on bringing along as many of their wares as possible. This has made us reallocate precious resources, such as our men, to help them.”

The guard's brows were lowered, and as he took a deep breath, there was a sense of hopelessness and shame for allowing himself to get bullied by the business owners.

Valessandria understood the guard's position, considering villages, the larger they became, were heavily reliant on business owners. They were the machine that allowed goods to flow inwards -- providing the population with goods and jobs.

“What about that attack by the Empire forces? How many casualties were there?” Valessandria asked the guard, looking at the villagers to estimate how much damage was caused.

“I don’t know about such attacks. Aside from the unusual information, I'm constantly getting conflicting reports about the enemy forces. None of the people I’ve sent to confirm these reports have returned.” His cheeks reddened as he looked down at the ground.

Finding out how poor of a job they were doing, Valessandria felt her blood begin to boil. Clenching her fists, she yelled, "How could you not know about that?! We saw a sea of fire in front of the village as we were coming here!” Pointing in the direction of the other entrance into Leaf Village.

Turning to William, Valessandria ordered, “While I check on the status of that attack, I want you to begin assisting the villagers and getting them out of here." Looking at William directly into his eyes, she emphasized, "Do not, under no circumstance, support those foolish merchants! We are not here to help them save their inventory!”

William placed a fist on his chest, accepting his orders.

Knowing that the situation was in better hands, Valessandria slammed down her visor and quickly jumped back on her horse. She needed to head to where the attacks were seen. Hearing that the guard was getting strange information made her wonder what else could be happening.

Flashing in her mind was the eldritch pyramid. The size was beyond anything she could comprehend, defying conventional logic.

Valessandria urged her horse into a gallop and raced toward the entrance.

Flying past the stream of survivors, she noticed a few business owners yelling at guards. At the same time, their bodyguards ensured that no one stole from them. Seeing such greed only reminded her of the nobles in Illumin.

In front of her, the guards at the entrance moved out of the way while yelling at villagers to not block the path.

"They must have been alerted that I am here to help," Valessandria thought.

Racing through the entrance, Valessandria checked the village itself. With the number of people still in the streets and trying to flee, it was clear that the guard was right about how many were evacuated.

But it wasn't long until Valessandria sensed that something was wrong. She turned her head back and forth, seeing the screaming villagers and chaos, but the more she saw, the more the feeling that not everything added up grew inside her.

There was an unsettling feeling inside her chest that couldn't be pinned down.

Without slowing down, Valessandria looked at the villagers, then at the items each of the villagers carried. Finally, she looked at the buildings that flew by.

The buildings didn't seem out of place, being the typical style found inside villages. Compared to villagers on the fringe, the appearance was superior.

Valessandria's eyes opened wide in alarm, matching things together and figuring out what was bothering her.