"Some soldiers came to our town to recruit the young men. They said that the Erea Kingdom that bordered our Kingdom had launched an attack on Emerald Fortress, a fortress that guarded the East border. They attacked with 50,000 soldiers and militias.
However, they reassured us that the youths would be trained and prepared to reinforce the army if the situation forced the kingdom to.
Of course, the elders had worries, as they never experienced war in dozens of years. However, the reception of the youths was surprisingly good. They said it was their chance to get combat jobs.
At that time, most of the townsmen only had production jobs. Only hundreds of men, young and old who had combat jobs or be trained to be prepared as the town guards.
Finally, they recruited 500 young men from our town. They left the town the next day.
Two months later, news came from the capital that they succeeded in repelling the Erea kingdom's army. However, the casualties were tremendously large. From the report, more than half of the young men that were recruited had been dead. It made the parents of them mourning.
The officer that brought the news also announced the king's decree. He ordered an increase in the number of recruits of the town guards as preparation if some emergencies occurred.
We, the leaders of the town guards were alarmed. We felt that the decree was not just a precaution, but it was a warning, that situation was not too good. Just as the decree said, we increased the recruits. The training was also intensified so the recruits could get combat jobs faster.
However, the emergency occurred faster than we expected," Adrian took a long breath.
Ace who had listened seriously got some information that he had wondered about before, like how Gon the dragon that he had met could store items. He then felt more details about this world began to be revealed, from Adrian's story. Although he had read some information that also said that the NPCs had inventory like players. There were many controversies about it. He then gave up to get the truth from the Internet.
Adrian then drank some gulps of water from a water bag.
"Ah… It is refreshing. Okay, I will continue…," Adrian wanted to continue his story. However, someone interrupted him.
"Wait! Do you know why your neighbor kingdom attacked yours?" Sampson asked.
Ace didn't find anything wrong with what Adrian had said. However, he chose to be silent, waiting for Adrian's response.
"Um… Actually, they didn't explain it to us. Most of us believe that the Erea Kingdom wanted to swallow our kingdom's territory. There were also some rumors, but they sounded too speculative," Adrian said.
"Can you tell us about the rumors?" Sampson asked.
Sampson's insistence made Adrian's family frown. Derek couldn't hold it anymore, shouted, "What do you want, Uncle? Why do you ask something unrelated?"
"Uncle? Who is your uncle?" Sampson asked with a red face. Derek's question seemed to deal some damage to Sampson's pride.
"Pfft… Hahaha… Damn it, you are too funny Derek. You seemed to find my brother's soft spot. Sorry, Brother… But it was your fault for cutting someone's talk without explanation. Come on! What is in your head?" Ace asked after laughing pretty hard.
"Damn you kid! I'm so unlucky to have a brother like you. But it seems you are right. I was in the wrong here. So, sorry Mr. Adrian…!" Sampson said in an apologized tone.
"It's okay Mr. Sampson. Actually, I don't mind explaining them to you. I am also curious about your view. And I'm sorry for my son's manner. I will educate him more strictly from now on," Adrian said politely.
Ace could see Derek's body shivered for a second. He couldn't help to smile.
"I just think it was weird. Just so you know. I am a guardian. Do you know what that means, right?" Sampson asked.
Adrian shook his head, "Honestly, I don't. When Ace told us that he is a guardian, I was pretty confused back then. I just thought you are special soldiers or something like that. But it seems not so," Adrian then looked at Geo and Cloud to convey his meaning.
Ace understood what he was thinking. He thought a child and an elderly were impossible to become soldiers. Just as he wanted to explain, Sofia said, "Let me explain. Guardians are existences that were called from different worlds to help the inhabitants of this world. As the human race faces a dire situation.
Some high-level scholars and wizards built many sanctuaries all around the world. They also held ceremonies to call us to help them defend and develop the sanctuary.
However, some guardians for some reason were summoned outside of their village, but in the wilderness like us."
"Yes, that is true. And I am an elite soldier in a different world. In the textbook of the military that was taught to me, it explained that every military action had a purpose for it. Although we soldiers were required to obey every higher-up's order, there is a norm for our leader to explain our target and the reason behind our mission.
I asked that because it was weird for a nation to attack another nation without an interest. And you said it was already dozens of years the two countries lived in peace, so it became weirder," Sampson said.
Adrian nodded, "There were actually some rumors about it. It should be told later, but who cares, right? I heard from a soldier in a tavern in Greendale City when we took refuge after our town was destroyed by an Orc army, some Erea Kingdom's merchants said something weird before the war.
They said that on the hot days, bad odor often was smelled around the palace. So the soldier theorized that the king of Erea Kingdom became an undead, so he order such crazy thing.
I also heard from a fellow refugee that had used to be a hunter. He said that he had seen many Erea soldiers and robed men climb a mountain in the East of Emerald fortress. He said the mountain appeared after the world changed.
So, in his opinion, the Erea Kingdom army came not to conquer our kingdom. They just came to take some treasures on the mountain. You know, the world had changed and the contour of the earth changed. So he thought maybe there were treasures on the new mountain. However, It sounds like nonsense in my opinion.
There were some other assumptions about what was going on in the war. However, they were insignificant if you think about the whole mess that has been happening around the world after that."
"Oh! And you have said that your hometown was destroyed by the orcs, right? What happened? Oh, by the way, is your curiosity answered with that?" Ace asked his brother.
"Yes, pretty much. Sorry for the interruption. Please, continue your story!" Sampson said to Adrian.
Adrian then narrated what had happened to his town and his kingdom. Several months after the war, many wolf-riding orcs terrorized the North borders, including his town. Several smaller villages had been burned to the ground. Their inhabitants, men, women, kids, and elders were slain indiscriminately.
The Blue Moon Town survived their attack with heavy casualties. Hundreds of town guards were slain in the night battle. After that, underage juveniles and some women were recruited to undergo military training, to reinforce the heavily damaged town guards.
After that, the town faced more attacks from beastmen, giant insects, and a monster horde. With continues attacks from many species, the population of townsmen depleted much. From more than 15 thousand people became no more than 8,000 people. The number had already included the refugees from the villages around the town.
During that time, farming was almost impossible. As many alien creatures ran rampage outside of the town wall. Some vacant land inside of town then must be converted to be farmland. Fortunately, they could hunt monsters around the town, so the townsmen were not starving.
The news that was brought by the merchants and kingdom officers also stopped after some time. They believed that the chaos had already been spreading around the kingdom if not around the world.
What made them felt relief was that the alien creatures seemed not to work together. Adrian and the others often saw them fight each other. The fact that they weren't the only target made them had some hope to survive in the chaotic world. However, their hope was crushed cruelly later on.
One day Mixed orc armies came from the North slaying all creatures that they met. After knowing their movement, the scouts brought the news urgently to town. They said that more than 20,000 mixed beastmen moved toward their town with rapid speed.
The leaders and the elders of the town didn't have any choice except to order the mass to prepare an evacuation.
The townsmen who had endured waves of crisis for years must feel despair for the first time.
***