Warhammer Divine Throne

By the afternoon of the second day, while it was still light, Remon returned home and lied to the Master Knight’s steward, saying his mother was gravely ill, nearing the point of receiving the last rites.

The Master Knight’s steward reluctantly agreed to Remon’s leave request, as the laws of Brittania had detailed provisions for peasant relief from labor, which included sick leave.

The Knightly Spirit was still observed by the nobility... at least on the surface, and out of fear of the Lake Fairy, the knightly nobles still adhered to the law.

Taking advantage of the situation, Remon returned home early. He agreed with his mother to cook in the afternoon, and after the family had a full meal, they would wait for the uprising. Once it started, they would flee immediately.

The peasant opened his door, and a fragrant aroma greeted him. This was because his elderly mother painfully took out the seed grain to make porridge.

Seed grain is the life of a peasant. Smelling this fragrance, Remon felt his heart wrench instead of joy.

If there were other choices, who would be willing to do this? To become a fugitive, leaving the land their ancestors lived on, embarking on a journey full of danger and uncertainty.

”Remon, you’re back? Come eat! I’ll tidy up a bit more.” The elderly mother was gathering up the household’s belongings, which included many bottles and old clothes, almost all the family’s property.

”Ah, Mom, we’re fleeing for our lives! These things are heavy and hard to carry; we won’t get far like this!” Remon knew very well that the family had been hungry for months, and one full meal wouldn’t take them very far. The eldest son decisively tossed the things aside, indicating everyone should quickly have a meal.

The younger son Thomas couldn’t care less. His thin little face was filled with longing, and his small hands clutched the bowl, eating the porridge and bread in big mouthfuls. After finishing a whole bowl of porridge, he even stuck out his tongue to lick the bowl hard.

”Hurry and eat! Alan and the others are going to cause trouble!” Remon urged his mother and brother to eat quickly. The peasants planned to start the uprising at dusk, when they finished work. He too ate his fill, then placed the remaining bread in a coarse burlap sack, which was their food for the escape, and retrieved a handful of Copper Coins and a Silver Coin from the secret compartment under the family bed—this was the family’s last savings.

The uprising wasn’t on a sudden impulse; it was long planned. At dusk, when the peasants finished work, was when the guards were most lax.

As the sky gradually dimmed, twilight did not bring silence to the village. Instead, an argument erupted in the direction of the Master Knight’s house.

”We grow the grain, we starve! Who is this grain for anyway?”

”I don’t care! There’s grain here! We want to eat!”

”Vampire! Go die!”

Arguments and fights ensued, with thick smoke rising from the direction of the Master Knight’s house—indicative of a house set on fire. Inside, Remon was waiting for this moment.

The guards on the high walls of the village noticed the commotion at the Master Knight’s house and heard the calls for help. They hesitated for a while, then decided to rush to the manor to assist.

Now! Remon confirmed that the number of village sentinels had decreased. The family quietly sneaked out of the house, and their neighbor Rake also emerged with his family. Rake was also a young man; he had two sisters, and his parents had passed away.

”Hey, Rake, are you ready?” Remon quietly called to his neighbor.

”Ready!” The other young man, pulling his two sisters along, was also prepared to flee.

”Thomas...” Remon turned back and found his brother right behind him, but his mother was nowhere to be seen: ”Where’s Mom?”

”Here I am!” Their elderly mother appeared, carrying a large basket of bottles and jars—things they had previously discarded—panting: ”Which way do we go?”

”Ah! Mom, why are you bringing these things!” Remon angrily yelled, grabbing the large basket off his mother’s back and smashing it to the ground.

”Crash!” The basketful of bottles, jars, bowls, and spoons shattered into pieces.

”Oh! My God! Remon, do you know what you just did? This was all we had!” The elderly mother couldn’t believe her eldest son did such a thing, crying out in anger: ”You child! If your father knew you ruined things like this, he’d kill you!”

”If we don’t discard these, we’ll surely die on the run!” Remon gritted his teeth, pulling his mother and brother: ”Quickly! We’ll be too late otherwise!”

Taking advantage of the guards leaving to suppress the peasant uprising, Remon’s group fled in the opposite direction, running southwards.

They dared not take the main road, only sneaking along the small paths.

What they saw along the way was shocking for Remon and Rake, with bodies of peasants hanging everywhere around the village, executed in droves.

In the faint moonlight, Remon could see that some peasants had been executed after being caught as fugitives, some executed post-uprising, and some had starved to death.

No matter what, the end was death.

Chaos was everywhere; robbers skirted the night. Remon’s group had already evaded two bands of robbers, who were attacking villages, killing guards, and looting everywhere.

In the past, Knights would mobilize, organizing armies to eradicate these robbers and bandits. However, the Knightly War five years ago left many areas of the territory poorly defended. The Knights could only guard central areas and key roads, while many outlying villages and paths became havens for bandits, robbers, and the Beastman Tribe to wreak havoc. Although the Knights still bravely fought against evil, the insufficient number of armies clearly left the Knights incapable of protecting the whole territory.