MTLNOVEL Chapter 1476: Old Shrao Village (Part 1)
Soon, a few small platforms made of earth popped up among a few clear spaces.
Someone rather big jumped from one to another, passing over the heads of the large crowd. Soon, the person stopped in the middle of the mob of people.
"Goodness…" Mao said, whistling. "How many is this?"
Sammy jumped to one of the platforms, using it as his vantage point as he shot. "You're late. And about two thousand…" he said, belatedly answering the question."
"We encountered a few mobs from that side, fortunately, it's all village-level," he shrugged. "Also, that's a lot more than we thought."
Because the mission had so many variables, they naturally managed their expectations. They had already convinced themselves that no matter how many or how few they ended up rescuing, they had already done their best.
Sammy smiled. He was also impressed. By this time, though, he was already made aware of what exactly had happened. "Well, our people made an impressive plan and also an even better execution. Also, quite a bit of luck."
Mao wanted to gossip, but the monster mob was soon cleared out and people cheered. Interestingly, there were also yells of recognition as soon as it happened.
"Brother!?" one person from the rescue team—it was someone from Bright—gasped as he saw one of the 'ill' Terrans.
The aforementioned sick Terran didn't seem very sick at all, especially when he ran to his brother and hugged him like a koala.
"BROTHER!"
The one exclamation woke everybody up, and they started looking for their own friends and family. With the density of the people, it was bound to be chaotic. Luckily, the soldiers were prepared for it.
Mao took out a solar-powered sound amplifier from his space and, from the earth platform he was standing on, yelled for everyone to get in line.
"OKAY CALM DOWN! DO YOU REALLY WANT TO RELAX IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOREST WITH BLOOD OF MONSTERS POOLING ON THE GROUND?"
He smiled when there was silence. "Don't worry! There's somewhere we can look for friends and family.
"We have a nice rest stop not too far from here, you see."
…
A few hours later, after a bit of trekking, the massive group arrived at the site of the Old Shrao Village. 1
As they saw the walls, some people wondered if this was their new home, though most remembered that the rescuers referred to it as a 'rest stop'.
No one could really think too much at this juncture though. They were all exhausted, tired, and uncomfortable. They were expecting a cave as a rest stop, and they wouldn't mind it. They just want to sit down somewhere!
It was just that they felt a strong aura and shivered unconsciously.
They soon saw the source amongst the few people there to greet them at the entrance. It was Obi, and on his side was Leez, who was serving as his assistant.
They weren't doing anything in particular, but they had just been clearing some monsters around, so the bloodlust was still fresh. For a village, using them as mob clearers was a bit of an overkill, though.
Although the expectations were not too high in terms of the number of people they'd rescue, the Elders still opted to prepare as if they'd get thousands.
Obi and Leez, as well as the soldiers and mercenaries, were there to make sure things went smoothly. It was also in the event that the Lord of Voumi changed his mind and decided to attack them. The people he'd send wouldn't be weak, so they wanted to be ready—just in case.
Obi stared at the crowd, staring at Rowan, who happened to be in the front. "My brother?"
"He's formulating a way to get the others," the redhead explained. "There are still more than a thousand left in there."
He had wanted to stay in Voumi and help Otto, but Pasa sent him news that Hesso had checked up on the house, so he and his grandmother had to leave before that guy could detect them.
"It'll be a long report," Silvia said, as she emerged from the carriage. She smiled and wrapped her arms around Rowan's, reminding the men (who didn't know how to be tired) that everyone else was exhausted. "I'm sure everyone's in need of rest, food, and drinks."
The former slaves looked at Silvia's back as if she had wings.
And so, the huge party entered the territory without further ado. It was a proper satellite, however, so there was an entrance fee.
Fortunately, this wasn't a problem because many rescuers—particularly those from affiliated villages eager to recruit—were very happy to lend them some copper in exchange for goodwill (and maybe become the priority choice).
The people from New Shrao, led by Fos, the Lord's right-hand man, helped everyone get settled.
The former slaves were shocked by the fact that the rest stop was mostly empty, and they had the houses to themselves! They genuinely wondered if they could live here, but the rescuers just smiled at them as they shook their heads.
"This is literally just a rest stop," they told them. "The occupants are elsewhere and settled near us. There will be no guards here after we leave. Do you want to handle beast mobs on your own?"
The former slaves shook their heads quickly.
Anyway, the former slaves were assigned the houses in the entrance area until they occupied about a quarter of the territory's housing zones.
Because there were thousands of them, including the rescuers, quite a few people were assigned to share a house. However, it was still very good, and it was not nearly as dense as their living situation in Voumi.
A Level 3 Village was naturally not small, but there was a reason why most of the territory wasn't being occupied. This was because, before they came here, there were hundreds of monsters that seemed to have settled in the village.
Obi and the others had killed them already, though most of the corpses were literally gathered on the other side of the territory, like sweeping dust on a corner but not actually cleaning it up.
And so was the current situation. Of course, they would get most of the meat to eat for later, while the others would be cleaned up by the rescues after they recovered some energy.
Anyway, while the former slaves settled down, the Alterrans and the other rescuers set up a large barbecue.
Amusingly, this also became one of the methods of 'recruiters' to be better known to the potential recruits and get a good first impression.
Bright Village even put up a sign called "Bright Village Barbeque: The Land of the Comfortable."
Representatives from Belluga and New Shrao Village saw this and made impromptu signs of their own, coming up with their own taglines in hopes of getting more elementalists with them back home.
Anyway, the thousands of slaves settled in, amazed that they had a proper roof over their heads, even if the room was a bit dusty.
Many people fell down almost as soon as they entered the house's threshold, and they had to be dragged by teammates to rest on proper places.
Regardless of where they slept, though, for the first time in so long, they could finally close their eyes and feel at peace.
New Shrao Village = Former Vismont Village