Chapter 10: Disaster (II)

Jiang Zhe grew more convinced that his guess was correct—Old Charles must be a very important figure. It was easy to tell from the way the great mage treated him. But…
“Old Charles, you actually know magic, right?”
“Huh,” the old priest, who was praying, shook his head silently. “Child, as a believer in God, I won’t lie to you!”
“Then, as a believer in God, Old Charles, tell me—were you a magician before?”
“…” The old priest once again saw how clever this child was. Pretending not to hear, he continued praying fervently to the deity in the church.
Playing the deaf? Trying that trick again?
Jiang Zhe was speechless. Just as he was about to press further, Nina came over and gently scolded him, “Sos, don’t disturb Old Charles while he prays. God will be angry…”
Noticing the smile hidden in Old Charles’s eyes, Jiang Zhe rolled his eyes. Turning to Nina, who was carrying a small basket, he asked, “Going out?”
“Mm, I’m going to buy some milk…”
Milk?!
“Wait,” Jiang Zhe stepped forward and grabbed Nina’s arm, saying awkwardly, “Weren’t you cleaning the church just now? You seem tired. Let me go buy it for you…”
“You’ll go?” Nina tilted her head in confusion. “Do you know where to buy it?” In her opinion, her brother never cared about such things.
“Of course!” Jiang Zhe nodded seriously. “I don’t even need to know… I hate milk!”
Noticing Old Charles shaking his head with a smile, Nina thought for a moment. She did feel a bit tired.
“Then… okay. Make sure to pick something fresh, hehe…”
“Sure!” Taking a few copper coins from Nina, Jiang Zhe gave Old Charles, who was still smiling and shaking his head, a disdainful look before heading out, hands behind his head.
“Sos, you forgot the basket…”
“I don’t need it!”
Indeed, he didn’t. Jiang Zhe planned to find a place to take a nap and then claim the milk was out of stock—after all, he hated milk!
“That child…” Watching the little guy walk away, Old Charles smiled and shook his head, then turned to Nina, who hadn’t noticed anything.
“Child, would you like to pray with me?”
“Mm, okay!”
Jiang Zhe was gone for over two hours without returning, which made Nina a little worried.
“Old Charles, do you think Sos is lost?”

Lost? That child must have slept in somewhere, right? Old Charles found it a bit funny and said, trying to hold back his laughter, “Don’t worry, my child. Thors is very smart…”
“Mm!” Hearing Old Charles praise her brother as smart, Nina felt happy.
Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps came, and a knight rushed into the church, panting and shouting, “Run! Leave this place quickly!”
Wasn’t this… one of Veston’s retainers?
The old priest felt puzzled and asked, “What happened?”
“Orcs! Orcs!” The panting knight repeated the same words.
“What?” The old priest’s expression changed, and he quickly stepped beside the knight, asking, “What orcs?”
“The orcs are coming this way! My lord ordered me to tell you to leave right away!”
“What about him?”
“He’s buying time as much as he can!”
“How many orcs?”
“A lot, no less than three hundred!”
“Three hundred…” The old priest’s expression turned grave.
To be honest, three hundred wasn’t a huge number, but the problem was that the residents of Sett Town were kind-hearted and didn’t have any guards. Initially, Sett Town was just a supply station for passing mercenaries, and it gradually developed into a town over time.
“Old Charles, what are orcs?” Nina asked curiously.
The old priest shook his head and asked the knight, “How far is it?”
“I don’t know. My horse died of exhaustion halfway. I’ve been running the whole way. I’m sorry—I’m a knight, not a thief…” The knight, leaning on his long sword, panted and apologized.
Seeing that the knight’s armor had turned into ordinary clothes, what else could Old Charles say?
As a royal knight, he had discarded his armor, which symbolized his honor, just to deliver this message as quickly as possible, leaving behind only a weapon. What else could Old Charles say?
“You are a true royal knight with genuine chivalry. I thank you sincerely!”
“Thank you,” the knight said, wiping the sweat from his forehead and waving his hand. “You’d better leave quickly…”
Just then, a scream came from the town, causing the knight’s expression to change drastically. “So fast? Oh, damn it!”
It seemed to confirm the knight’s guess—as panicked voices of men and women came from the town, mixed with occasional tragic screams that made Nina’s eyes widen and her body tremble.

“Thos… Thos…” murmuring her brother’s name, Nina felt a surge of panic. She rushed to the church entrance and saw that the usually cheerful town was now filled with screams. Panicked men and women filled the streets, and in the distance, one could faintly see tall, monstrous figures.
“Don’t go, child!” The old priest grabbed Nina tightly.
“No! I have to find Thos! I have to find my brother!”
“Don’t go. Thos is smart; he knows…”
“No!”
Watching the crying Nina, the knight took a deep breath, determination flashing in his eyes.
“What do you intend to do?” Old Charles asked with a frown.
The knight forced a smile and said, “I am a royal knight!” With that, he grasped his sword and ran toward the town. At that moment, the screams grew louder, and several houses were already in flames…
Was history about to repeat itself?
The old priest was deeply troubled.
Suddenly, he felt his right hand go empty. Looking up, he saw Nina running outside, crying.
“Don’t go! Child!”
※※※
Meanwhile, Jiang Zhe was still lying on the grass by the small lake. As the old priest had said, he had overslept…
He had no idea the disaster unfolding in the town. He was struggling to think of a solution…
It should be okay to go back now, right?
If Nina asked, he could say the milk was out of stock. As for why it was so late… well, he could say he saw nothing unusual, so he found a place to sleep. She probably wouldn’t be angry. Wait…
Why do I care so much about whether she’s angry?
Ugh…
“Ah!”
At that moment, a loud scream shattered the silence by the lake.
“What’s going on?” Jiang Zhe sat up, looking around in alarm. He realized the scream came from the town…
Something felt wrong. Jiang Zhe quickly got up and ran toward the town. After passing through a large forest, he finally reached a high hill to the west of the town.
Looking toward the town, he was shocked…
The familiar town was now engulfed in flames. From afar, he could hear the screams and cries of the townspeople…
But what shocked Jiang Zhe even more was seeing an orc holding an axe and a shield…
Were orcs really here?
“Nina… Old Charles…”
Panicked, Jiang Zhe ran along a quiet path toward the church.

Along the way, Jiang Zhe kept coming across corpses—fat old men from taverns, middle-aged women from bakeries. Even the burly blacksmith, a man who had once served in the imperial army, lay in a corner, his neck cut, his own sword still in his hand, his eyes wide as he lay in a pool of blood…

“Nina…”

“Argh!” A sudden roar behind him sent chills down Jiang Zhe’s spine.

Turning around, he saw a grotesque orc slowly emerging from around a corner, its axe dripping drops of blood-red liquid…

“Nina…” Feeling his scalp burn, Jiang Zhe turned and ran toward the church.

Although Jiang Zhe didn’t scream, the sound of his running still alerted the orcs nearby.

Finally, he reached the familiar church and stopped.

Behind him, more than a dozen orcs armed with axes were closing in step by step…

Jiang Zhe didn’t move. He stared ahead, at the familiar church now engulfed in flames…

“Nina…”

“Old Charles…”

“No…”

Fear seized Jiang Zhe’s heart in an instant.

Not because of the grotesque orcs behind him, but because of the church surrounded by flames before him…

In this unknown world, Nina and Old Charles were probably the only people Jiang Zhe trusted—his family!

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing…

“Sos, call her ‘sister’, hehe!”

“God is everywhere, child…”

“No…”

“Argh!” The creatures behind him were getting closer. Perhaps they were also puzzled—why had this human child suddenly stopped running?

“Nina… Old Charles…”

“If only I knew magic, if only I had great power…” Glancing at the orcs now very close, seeing “him” raise his axe, Jiang Zhe murmured to himself.

“Great power…”

“Roar!”

A very familiar roar echoed in Jiang Zhe’s mind, like the anger of a sleeping beast awakened by noise…

Endless anger!