"Open the gates and let us out!" ...... "Yes, open the gates, and if you don't open them, we'll do it ourselves!" "Inside Riptide Castle, at the closed city gate, a group of strong men wearing low-quality leather armor or chain mail gathered together and charged the Riptide Castle court guards who prevented them from opening the city gate.

"Stop, stop! What are you doing here? De Jong, the captain of the palace guard of the Stormgard Kingdom, with dozens of guards, ran all the way down from the city in a rage, and when he saw this group of strong men who were making noise, he was stunned for a moment, and then the anger on his face was even stronger, "Robin, what are you doing here?" ”

Seeing the two-handed swords and spears in the hands of the palace guards, the strong men all shrank back, only a middle-aged man with inconvenient legs and feet did not retreat, seeing De Rong, he instead dragged a lame leg forward two steps, straightened his strong chest, and said loudly: "De Rong, you came just in time, I want to ask you, what are you doing?" ”

"You ask me? Ask me what to do? Robin, your legs are crippled, and your brains are crippled! De Jong lowered his eyebrows in front of King Solas and rebuked the acquaintance named "Robin" unceremoniously.

"Alright, let me ask you, De Jong, is there an orc coming?" Robin held out a hand and pointed to the gate behind De Jong.

"Yes!" De Jong didn't hide it in the slightest—he couldn't hide it if he wanted to, so he might as well admit it neatly, "That's why I want to ask Robin what the hell are you going to do?" Are you afraid? Want to escape? Are you worthy of the Earl? ”

The man in front of him, named Robin, was De Jong's former comrade-in-arms. The two served together under Count Tas, and Robin was wounded in one of his legs during a battle to clear out the bandits. There was no way to continue to be a soldier, and after changing to a civilian position, he was ostracized by his colleagues because of his short temper and bad popularity, and finally resigned in anger.

A man with one leg can be described as "not easy to live" in Stormgard, a country where military merit and force are supreme. Fortunately, Count Tass remembered the old days and hired Robin to be his gardener. It can also be regarded as having an income and being able to support his family. A few years ago, Lord Earl died, and Lord Earl's eldest son inherited the title. There was no prejudice against the old man left behind by his father, and he continued to hire Robin as the gardener of their family, all of which De Jong knew.

Even De Jong himself was greatly favored by Count Tas. If it weren't for the recommendation of Lord Earl. De Jong will also struggle to get into his current position. De Jong has always respected the Earl, and even though his own status soon surpassed that of the Count of Tarth, he still saluted the Earl as a subordinate. Officially, De Jong felt a deep hatred for Robin's behavior at this time.

Since the news of the fall of Stormwind City reached the Northern Subcontinent, the Kingdom of Stormgard has been expanding its forces, and almost all adult combat-ready males have been absorbed into the army. So now. Most of the men that De Jong was able to mobilize in Riptide Castle were like Robin. Former veterans who were unable to perform military service because of disability or other reasons and turned to begging for food as servants of the nobility.

"Afraid? Phew! Although Lao Tzu's legs are useless, his hands are still there, saying that I am afraid of orcs? I old fellow, not rusty enough to cut the throats of those green-skinned cubs! As if insulted, Robin slapped the hilt of his sword on his waist and loudly refuted De Jong's words—in fact, it was even more uncomfortable for the man on the Arathi Heights to be called a "coward" than to kill him.

"So what are you doing here? I sent you here so that you could help defend the city, and you still caused me trouble? Do you know what you're doing? I sue you, Robin, that you are disobeying military orders and gathering a crowd to mutiny, do you want to be the internal response of the orcs? After a few years in the aristocratic circle, De Jong also became a little extravagant, and he gave Robin a big hat of "defecting to the enemy and betraying the country".

"Whew!" Robin spit unceremoniously on the ground, sneering and saying to De Jong, "Don't talk to me about this, I'll kill the orcs later, Lao Tzu is definitely no worse than you!" I know that you are too busy building fortifications to defend the city and have no time to listen to me, so I only ask you, De Jong, the people in the city are people, and the people outside the city are not people? ”

The strong men who had originally flinched under the pressure of the palace guards were all excited under the instigation of Robin's words, stopped their retreat, and used their flesh and blood chests to advance fearlessly to force the blades in the hands of the guards. At this time, the palace guards were a little flustered, and they all turned their eyes to their superiors - this orc has not yet attacked, is it going to attack their own people first?

However, the palace guards received no answer from De Jong, and their prefect fell silent at this point - yes, what about those outside the city? What do they do?

Although Fort Riptide was built on the foundation of Rapids, the capital of the Empire of Araso, it was impossible to encompass all of its inhabitants within the high walls. There are also many people who live near Fort Rapids, but they have not entered the city at the moment, and more importantly, they don't even know about the orc attack.

"People outside the city ......" De Jong was silent for a long time before he spat out a few words with difficulty, and it was difficult to continue—should he say it himself, and the people outside the city would be left to their own devices?

"Everyone here has an acquaintance living outside the city. Are you just going to leave us here to do nothing but pray to the Light that the orcs don't find them? Robin saw De Jong's reaction and slowed his tone slightly—he was a little too excited just now, but there was definitely something wrong with De Jong's approach, because he ...... "It's useless, Robin, it's too late." De Jong whispered.

"Late?" Robin was stunned for a moment, suddenly thought of something, limped a few steps angrily, grabbed the gorgeous collar of De Jong's guard's robe, and said loudly, "What's late?" You answer me! ”

The palace guards on one side, seeing that their commander was offended, stepped forward to pull Robin away, but De Jong waved his hand to stop him, and he let the tall Robin grab his collar, almost lifting himself in the air, and said regretfully: "It's too late, the door, it's already sealed." ”

"Sealed?" Robin only felt his hands soften instantly, loosening De Jong's collar, and he staggered back two steps to look at De Jong in front of him.

De Jong's collar was messed up, but instead of tidying it up, he whispered, "It's my fault, Robin, I admit it." After seeing the beacon fire at the outpost, I sent scouts to reconnoiter the situation, and when the scouts reported back to me that they had seen a large group of orcs from afar, I immediately ordered the gates to be sealed. At that time, I didn't think of people outside the city ......" (to be continued......