Luoye Town
After a fierce struggle, the curtain finally fell with the collapse of the Rebel Army. However, despite the recapture of the large town, Knight Charles wasn't able to feel any joy at all.
It was too clean. Not only were there no treasures of gold and silver, even the grain storages were set ablaze by the rebels.
If it weren't for their swift response, snatching back some of the unburned grains from the fire, all their hard work would be in vain.
Obviously, the Rebel Army had been prepared. Knowing that they couldn't hold Luoye Town, they had relocated their supplies in advance.
Glancing at the kneeling townsfolk, Charles reluctantly suppressed his thoughts of looting. There was no way to do it, since the group before his eyes were all either too old or too young.
However, most importantly, these people were too poor, so poor there was nothing of value to squeeze out. Even if they were to be sold as slaves, there would be no buyers.
"Legion Commander, the Rebel Army was obviously prepared. What should we do now?"
Baron Metzger asked bitterly.
Taking such high risks to rob, and only gaining a pile of grains in return, made it seem as if they were starving.
They were not in the barbaric northwest, as nobles of the Southeastern Province, widely known as the "Granary of the Kingdom," which noble would not have several granaries filled with grains?
To put it bluntly, even if there were no harvests for two to three years, none of them would be hit by a food shortage.
It's one thing if it was some other time, but now they had risked sneaking out to loot. If they were to hit the road with these grains, they would utterly lose their mobility.
Charles frowned and said with a gloomy face, "This much grain, we certainly can't take with us. For the sake of the Lord of the Dawn, we might as well do a good deed and leave it for them.
Now it's only been five days since the battle at Ersel Fort. Even if the Rebel Army were prepared, it's impossible that they could have relocated all their supplies to their lair in such a short amount of time.
Let's move to the next stop. If it turns out to be fruitless, then we'll head towards Dardiel City. Even if there are no spoils, we can at least rendezvous with the supply convoy on time."
Without hesitation, everyone agreed unanimously. They had made the trip, so they couldn't leave empty-handed. If they couldn't loot something to take back, then they wouldn't have a clear conscience.
After a brief rest, the Fifth Army hit the road again. They arrived in a hurry and left in a rush. "Waving their sleeves and not taking away a slice of bread."
Seeing the noble lords leave, the restrained townspeople immediately regained their spirits and joined the crowd to loot the grain.
An old man, driven by hunger, immediately grabbed a handful of the roasted rye and stuffed it into his mouth, soon after he began to foam at the mouth.
This was just the start, the townsfolk who ate those foods also started to fall one after the other.
"The grain is poisoned!"
...
Perhaps their luck had run out. Just as Hudson commanded to set up the camp and prepare food, he saw Gryphon Cavalry circling at a low altitude above their camp.
His intuition told Hudson, the secret about the Fifth Army's robbery was out.
There was no choice, despite his full efforts to cover it up, they had finally exposed themselves.
Trying to buy enough time for his allies to loot and to ensure the safety of the supply convoy, Hudson deliberately slowed down the marching speed.
Marching only in the mornings, and setting up camp at noon. Devoting half of the afternoon to formation training, and the other half to ideological work. Ensuring the entire day was filled with necessities, leaving no time for idle thoughts.
At their current speed of twenty miles per day, it would take only six days to reach Dardiel City, which would exactly assure the grain supply of the main force.
It was a win-win situation for everyone. But who expected Earl Piers to suddenly send a knight to urge the Fifth Army to speed up.
With the Legion Commander not being present, Hudson had no choice but to personally meet him. Despite fabricating a supposedly flawless excuse, encountering a noble along the way was enough to raise suspicions.
Most probably, the Gryphon Cavalry appearing before their eyes was a result of yesterday's knight reporting back.
At a height of less than ten meters, even the worst archer could easily shoot him down. After some hesitation, Hudson finally extinguished the idea of silencing them.
They were too many witnesses, it was extremely hard to keep a secret. The Rebel Army doesn't have Gryphon Cavalry, if they claimed it was an accident, no one would believe it!
To the nobles, lying upwards and deceiving downwards was the basic tactic. Even if they had been exposed, the responsibility would be shared among the Fifth Army.
Many would not be held legally accountable if the incident wasn't deemed significant. Whether it's Earl Piers wishing to punish under military law, he wouldn't be able to carry it out.
Despite the several Legion Commanders disagreeing for vested interests before, they all would immediately turn their guns around if Piers was to get tough with the nobles of the Fifth Army.
The world of nobles is full of advantages and disadvantages, not right or wrong. The small and middle nobles rely on the major nobles, while at the same time they team up to confront the major nobles. This is both a political balance and a way of survival.
The same goes up the hierarchy. Major nobles rely on the kingdom, and at the same time, they team up to confront the king, also forming a balance in the kingdom's politics.
In Hudson's view, the kingdoms on the Continent of Aslante were like companies, and the nobles and kings inside were all shareholders.
The difference only lies in the number of shares, essentially, they were all owners of the company. They would argue and compete for benefits.
The major shareholders had more shares and their opinions weighed heavier. However, if the lesser shares of the small and medium shareholders were added together, they would easily surpass the major shareholders, enough to nullify their determinations.
Even though there were differences in their status, they still inherently possessed the right to equal dialogues.
Even the king couldn't execute a noble for no reason. Every execution must be ratified by the Noble Parliament after the committed crime by the accused noble is determined.
Of course, that is all on the surface. The happenings behind the scenes, no one could be certain.
Theoretically speaking, anyone defying military orders on the battlefield could be executed directly. However, practically it's a totally different story.
As long as they didn't make a principled mistake and weren't a complete failure as a human being, there would always be a large group of family and friends jumping out to plead for them.
Especially these collective defiances of military orders, as long as they did not trigger catastrophic consequences, they would all eventually be downsized or dismissed.
Compared to defying military orders, the consequences of killing Piers' Gryphon Cavalry were even more severe. The former was a matter of public concern, while the latter involved personal grudges.
Watching the Gryphon Cavalry leave, Hudson had already started to plan for the aftermath. Warning his allies to return was clearly too late, and besides, he didn't know the exact target of the looting army.
With a helpless sigh, Hudson finally decided to lay low. Do as they wish, there was nothing he could do anyway.
Even if Piers wanted to hold a person accountable, it had nothing much to do with him. At most it he would only be guilty of failing to report, which wasn't even worth mentioning compared to violating military orders.
As for the others, they could only pray for their fortune. They were all adults, and from the moment they decided to rob, they should have prepared for exposure.