Chapter 824: The Symbol of the Fall
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
As he approached the front, he could clearly see the group of refugees without the telescope.
Men, women, old men, and children. They were all ragged and staggering, looking weak and frail. They were even weaker than mon militia, not to mention the Judgement Army.
Nail was more sure about his judgment.
But he knew that the church had a pill which could enhance the taker's physical strength within a second. Considering that they might use the Berserk Pills, Nail told his squad members to hold up the heavy machine guns within the suppressing shooting range before he approached alone and shouted, "This is the border defense line of the Kingdom of Graycastle. You're forbidden to step forward. Freeze, or we'll fire!"
Apparently, those people also saw him. They did not stop moving; instead, they accelerated their pace in excitement.
Nail shot twice upward and repeated his warning, but they continued to run toward him.
"Mr. Nail, e back!" Cried the veteran behind him. "They don't even know what flintlocks are. They won't stop no matter how loud you shout!"
Hearing that, Nail hurriedly shouted that he would shoot arrows, and those people finally responded. Nevertheless, after a moment's hesitation, they continued to move forward and waved both hands toward the First Army, yelling while running.
He could only tell that they were crying for help.
"No, stop!" Nail was still trying to stop them until he was dragged back to the defensive line by his teammates. When those people crossed the first line of stakes, flames spurted from the two blockhouses at the same time. Whistling bullets flew overhead and fell near the stakes, splashing snow dust and submerging their cries.
There was immediately a mist of blood among the crowd.
This time they finally stopped moving forward.
Except for the refugees who had been shot and fell, the others fell on their knees one after another and then threw themselves down in the snow. Terrified as they were, they did not turn around. It seemed that they were more afraid of some even more dreadful things behind them.
"Stop! Stop! Don't fire!" Nail took off his jacket, got up and waved toward the blockhouses, risking being hit by a stray bullet. The machine gun squads finally released their triggers. Probably they noticed his strange move, two more squads left the blockhouses and approached the front line.
Walking through the still-smoky field, a five-man squad held the rifles, followed Nail and slowly approached the strangers. Those strangers were trembling but dared not to move again in spite of the chilling snow.
"Where are you from?"
No one answered.
"Haven't you heard the question of our squad leader?" cried the veteran. "If you don't answer it, you'll be treated as spies and hanged."
"My, my, my... my lord," someone finally spoke this time. "We... we all came from Hermes."
"So you're believers of the church?" Nail asked, frowning.
"Yes... No, no, we aren't," answered the man, banging his head on the ground again and again. "In the past, we were deceived by the church. But we regret now! The deities did not protect the church. We were wrong. Please give us some food."
His words stirred up the crowd. They begged, "My lord, please, please give us some oatmeal. My child is starving!"
"The army of the church was after us. We had to drop our luggage."
"My lord, I haven't eaten anything for three days."
"So they would rather be shot by machine guns than run away?" Nail thought. He could not bear to look at the withered faces and bleeding bodies. After they fled from the Holy City, Graycastle was their only hope to survive. He reached his dried food in his waist pocket and was about to throw it to them while a veteran grabbed him by his wrist.
"Hey, what're you doing?"
"Give them some food."
"Are you sure? These guys are believers of the church." The veteran lowered his voice and stressed, "They're our enemies."
"But now they aren't. Didn't you hear it? They admitted that they had been deceived."
"Hmm, deceived?" The veteran replied disdainfully, "When they can't survive, they'll even worship demons. pared with those Judgement Army soldiers fighting for the church, these people are just timid drifters."
"Head, Uncle Sang is right. Maybe they made the weapons and armors used by the church army."
"Who knows whether they've hurt the First Army?"
"They deserve it. That's what they'll end up with since they've fought against His Majesty. I'll definitely not give any food to them."
Nail took a deep breath and made a gesture to tell them to be quiet. He said, "Listen to me. We all know what Border Town was like before His Majesty came. At that time everyone was deceived by the church. But His Majesty didn't abandon us or treat us as betrayers. Then how could we despise them? Of course, I agree that we should spare none of those who mitted a crime. Give them some food, and then bring them for interrogation. That's what we should do."
"Eh, well..."
"And His Majesty once said in his book that the Kingdom of Graycastle is a whole. As long as someone isn't guilty and is willing to pay allegiance to Graycastle, he should be treated as a subject of the king, rather than being persecuted and excluded." Nail continued to say, "If there are innocent people among them and we watch them die in front us, aren't we against His Majesty's wish?"
The crowd fell into silence for a moment. Then the veteran grinned and said, "Head Nail, now I know why Sir Blair chose you as our squad leader. You've bee so different since you went to school. In the past, you always stumbled when speaking in front of a crowd. If Iron Head knows it, he'll be proud of you."
Apparently, he did not agree with Nail's remark that "anyone who pays allegiance to Graycastle is the subject of Graycastle
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