Chapter 47: Why Is the Story Completely Different from What I Imagined?

Qiu Dao slammed his fist against the wall in anger.

“Grizza and Xilin are both Magisters. Dealing with a small-scale Monster Tide should have been more than enough for them!”

“Yet even so, the Kingdom only sent those two to request aid this year!”

“Now that both Magisters are dead, the only way to survive the Monster Tide is to find another method!”

“Not only did King’s City refuse to send more people, they also pressured the Town Mayor to pay the Aid Payment immediately. The funds for this payment ended up coming from ordinary people!”

They couldn’t even enjoy any benefits, yet they were forced to pay exorbitant aid fees.

Then they had to continue facing the looming threat of the Monster Tide!

The more Qiu Dao spoke, the angrier he became.

“Two dignified Magisters, and yet they died crossing the Gale Plains. Unbelievable…!”

The words that followed were too vulgar to repeat.

He didn’t say them in front of Edgar.

Edgar was silent for a moment.

Two Magister-level Bright Church members?

Gale Plains?

Such familiar names.

So, the crisis in Nari Town could also be considered something they set in motion.

Seeing that Qiu Dao was still cursing the Magisters for being unworthy of their title, Edgar suddenly felt:

Perhaps the other party’s information network wasn’t as extensive as he thought.

Edgar coughed dryly.

“The only solution for Nari Town is to prepare another Aid Payment and seek help from another power. That’s why the Town Mayor is raising harsh taxes?”

It was already midsummer. There was no hope from King’s City.

By the time reinforcements arrived, Nari Town would be nothing but a memory!

The best option was to seek protection from the nearby Ironstone City.

If Nari Town’s defenses fell, the towns facing the same predicament would be next.

So, if Nari Town offered enough payment for help, Ironstone City would definitely accept!

Qiu Dao looked at him in admiration.

“That’s right! Recently, the ties between Nari Town and Ironstone City have grown much stronger!”

“But even with Ironstone City’s help, it’s only a slim hope for survival.”

“This winter, for most residents of Nari Town, will be unbearably hard!”

Aid didn’t mean the other side would risk everything for Nari Town’s survival.

Ironstone City was also within the Monster Tide’s range; it was impossible for them to send all their forces to assist Nari Town.

As a border town of the Kingdom, Ironstone City didn’t have many Magicians.

Optimistically speaking.

After winter, of Nari Town’s nine hundred people, at most half would survive!

And now.

It was the process of the Town Mayor selecting those destined to die.

Driving them out early!

Some monsters in the Monster Tide carried contagious viruses.

Ordinary people without combat power were only a burden during the Monster Tide!

Qiu Dao let out a long sigh.

“There are still too few people with magic talent. Humanity is destined to be defeated under the Monster Tide!”

Magic was a power held by only a small, elite few.

Ordinary people were powerless against the Monster Tide.

They could only keep migrating across the ever-worsening Aeltia Continent, barely surviving.

Edgar was silent for a while, emotion flickering across his face.

“Try heading west. Cross the wasteland and the Wolinde River, and you’ll reach Dis City of the neighboring Ethereal Principality.”

His tone carried an unquestionable firmness.

“Although Dis City will also face the Monster Tide, as a mercenary city famed far and wide, their combat strength is not weak!”

“As long as you make it there, you’ll survive this winter!”

Qiu Dao gave a bitter smile and shook his head.

“The monsters wandering the wasteland, the dangers within the Wolinde River, how could ordinary people like us overcome them?”

“How would you know if you don’t try?” Edgar retorted.

He stepped around Qiu Dao and pushed open the creaking wooden door.

The sunset’s glow spilled across the ground.

“I’m only giving a suggestion. Whether you follow it or not is up to you!”

With that, he stepped outside.

“Wait! Sir!”

Qiu Dao called out urgently several times, but there was no response.

Edgar was already gone!

He slammed his fist angrily against the door.

“Dammit!”

The already fragile door groaned, on the verge of collapse.

Qiu Dao furrowed his brow, confusion and uncertainty clouding his heart.

“Why… Why did the plan fail?!”

“Why didn’t he take in the refugees?!”

No matter how hard he thought, Qiu Dao couldn’t figure out where things had gone wrong.

If the other party was truly Dawn Knight Edgar Renault, this shouldn’t have been his reaction!

The former glory of the Dawn Knight and the heavy shadow of the Fallen Sword were like two chasms that could never be crossed.

They made the name Edgar Renault a symbol of complexity in the world.

To ordinary people, he was a traitor.

To those who devoutly worshiped the Light God, he was an unforgivable betrayer!

But Qiu Dao was different.

In his childhood, he had the fortune to witness the final brilliance of the Dawn Knight before his fall.

It was during an ordinary church baptism.

He, as the baptism’s target, had brief contact with him.

At that time, the man embodied everything people imagined a knight to be!

Humility, honesty, compassion, courage, justice, strength…

Like a lighthouse guiding believers back to the Light God, to the Era of Gods!

He already showed signs of becoming the backbone of the Bright Church.

Although no one knew why he left the faith.

But seeing him again, his aura hadn’t changed at all, his gaze still resolute and clear.

He was still the Dawn Knight of those days.

Yet, how could a just knight turn a blind eye to the suffering of the people?!

“No, something must be wrong!”

Qiu Dao shook his head repeatedly, unwilling to believe his own suspicions.

The knight was utterly indifferent to everything happening in Nari Town, as if it had nothing to do with him.

Though, in truth, it really had nothing to do with him.

But it wasn’t something a knight who upheld the Eight Virtues would ever do!

And this was even when the list of items he provided was filled with things that required manpower!

“Is he truly, as the rumors say, a complete heretic?”

Qiu Dao muttered in disbelief, emotion swirling in his voice.

He had struggled for years among refugees.

He scoffed at the justice and kindness spoken by those in power.

The lives of the lower class meant nothing.

Yet the privileged, untouched by suffering, would accuse them of cunning and deceit?!

In Aeltia, kindness was the most useless thing!

But toward Edgar, who truly followed the path of the knight, there was a measure of respect in his heart.

He couldn’t do it himself, but he respected those who could.

Sadly, even the other couldn’t do it anymore…

***

To witness the fall of a former beacon of humanity was like watching a tragic story reach its end.

Afterward, a sense of emptiness lingered in the heart.

Qiu Dao pressed his hands together, closed his eyes, and prayed.

“Lord of Insight and Webs above, is there truly no path left for humanity?”

Even the Dawn Knight had turned and betrayed the faith.

Was humanity truly as the gods’ proclamation claimed—

A race doomed to conflict, unable to unite, and fated to destroy itself in endless strife?