Two days earlier, in the morning, the Volunteers had set out from the town of Enla, and had finally reached the village of Enlahir, the last village on the north-western border of the region, near the wooded terrain, at noon the following day.

Walking through the dirt road between the fields, they saw a lifeless scene.

Nlahir is not a small village, with dozens of households and a total population of more than 100, of which seventy or eighty percent work in agriculture, that is, farming. In the long past, the grain here was exported to the main city of Rossphilia, the Iron City.

As a result, there are large fields on both sides of the main road, but as far as the eye can see, there are only a few teenagers and girls working hard to cultivate, and the adults who are supposed to be the main force are completely nowhere to be seen.

At this time, seeing the heavily armed cavalry walking on the road, the young people who were cultivating stopped what they were doing and stopped to watch. Seeing this, Antari first reined in the horses, and everyone stopped.

After the two sides looked at each other for a while, a young man approached the leader of the leader, Antali. Seeing the other party leaning over, Antali also rolled over and slid off the horse.

"Excuse me. Coming to Antali, the young man rubbed the farm tool in his hand and asked timidly, "Are you the garrison officer?"

"Ah!" Antari said aloud, "we're here to fight the thieves!"

Hearing this, the young man first froze for a moment, and then his eyes burst into a fine light, and his mouth involuntarily cracked.

"Great! You're finally here!" said the young man, who couldn't help but sob, "It's too late!"

"I'm sorry. Antari replied ashamedly, and everyone behind him felt the same guilt. Good times, cherished people, maybe the teenager in front of him has lost these important things because of their long inaction.

"No! I'm excited. The boy wiped away the tears that oozed from his eyes, "Excuse me, is there anything I can help with?"

"So, can you please take us to the village chief?" asked Antari.

"Yes, of course, you can just come with me!" said excitedly, and the boy had already taken a step.

Immediately, Antali loosened the reins of his horse and hurried to follow. Everyone behind him also dismounted and walked along.

And these horses of theirs will naturally disappear as long as they are left for a while. Although the capacity of NPC's personal storage and the player's storage is not comparable at all, there is still room for a mount.

Led by the young men of the village, Antari and his volunteers walked through the village, and after the fields, they saw the unpleasant and strange scenes in the village.

There were no men and women chatting, no children chasing and playing, no practitioners returning from their lunch break, and there was no one on the street in broad daylight.

The doors and windows of every house were closed and there was no movement, and there was no sign of cooking near noon. It's like it's a no-man's village.

And then there's something shocking - a few houses that are already in ruins.

As they looked around, they moved forward, and soon they came to a big brown house.

"This is the village chief's home!" the boy said as he paused.

Immediately, the queue of the Volunteers also stopped. Although the house in front of him is not small, it is really not rich for fifteen people to squeeze in. Therefore, according to the practice of the garrison officer, only two squad leaders came forward to visit.

So the others found a place to rest in the courtyard of the big house, while Antari and Windsalia followed the village boy to the main entrance of the house.

The boy raised his hand and knocked on the door, and after a while, as the door opened inward, a middle-aged man with heavy dark circles and a haggard look appeared.

The man couldn't help but look at Antali and Windsalia and the other heavily armed soldiers in his yard with a look of surprise. Immediately, he turned his head and saw the young man from the village, so he asked, "What's wrong? Who are they?"

"Village Chief!" replied the young man excitedly, "they are the garrisons, and they are here to fight the thieves!"

Hearing this, the village chief had the same reaction as the village boy just now, first stunned, and then couldn't help but laugh excitedly.

"Finally, is it finally here!" he cried, "I thought we had been abandoned!"

In a sense, this statement is a hit.

Thinking like this, Antali once again had to show a look of shame. This was even more true of Windsalia on the side, because it was her father, the chief of the Byrne garrison, who insisted on not sending troops.

"I'm sorry. Windsalia bowed directly and apologized, "Because of our dereliction of duty, you have suffered!"

Hearing this, the village chief was stunned again, and then showed a satisfied smile. But that didn't offset the haggard look on his face—the imprint of the village of worry.

The village chief and the village must have suffered a lot, and it is by no means a simple apology that can be reversed. However, the village chief was satisfied with just one word of apology. This shows how much he longs for powerful people to come and save them.

The village chief's desire pierced the hearts of Antari and Windsalia in an instant. They felt the sting, but also had a firmer realization: even if it cost them their lives, they must defeat the thieves.

"No need to apologize. You must have had your problems, and you're not here now. That's enough. As he spoke, the village chief leaned sideways and let go of the gap into the house, "Let's talk about something in the house." ”

"Then bother you. Saying this, Antari was the first to take a step. Windsalia nodded her head in thanks and walked in after him.

And the young man from the village, who had already completed his mission, left happily.

Inside, Antali and Windsalia sat around the small wooden table in the living room with the village chief.

"Village chief, have most of the villagers moved away?" After briefly introducing himself and his partner, Antari asked what he cared about.

"No, I don't. The village chief replied puzzledly, "This is the place where our ancestors pioneered, and it is also a settlement according to the rules, and occasionally one or two people are counted, so how can it be possible to move en masse? ”

"Staying at home during the day?" asked Windsalia.

"yes. The village chief said with a heavy face, "It's not all because of the thieves. ”

"Well, it might be a bit inappropriate to say that. "But judging from what we've seen, the village hasn't been destroyed enough to make it impossible to live normally." ”

"Things are not broken, but the human heart is dead. The village chief sighed, "The most terrifying part of that gang is here." It would have been nice if they had robbed everything they needed in one go and killed us all. But they didn't do that. Rob one at a time, and be sure to wait until the village is calm again. Countless times we have been disrupted in peace, countless times have scared us, but never really destroyed us. It's like taking chronic poison, and everyone gradually loses the interest in life, and all they do every day is to stay with their families and pray that today is safe, or that they are not unlucky. I'm sure those guys didn't really need anything at all, they were just toying us!"

As he spoke, the village chief couldn't help but hide his face and tremble.

"Please, please save us!"

"Don't worry. Windsalia put her hand on the village chief's shoulder and comforted, "That's what we're here for!"

"Hmm!" Antari nodded vigorously, "But, village chief, do you know the stronghold of that gang of thieves?"

"I don't know. The village chief shook his head, "Their range of activities is very large, the only thing that is certain is that they are likely to stay in the mountains and forests, but no one can say for sure where they are." ”

"Hmm...... Sure enough, that's the case. Thankfully, Master Williams helped us come up with an idea. As he spoke, Antari materialized a stack of leaflets in front of him, "Well, village chief, can you please mobilize the villagers to help us spread this? ”

"It's just that there's nothing wrong with that. The village chief looked at the thing in front of Antari and said, "But what is this?"

"A prop used to scare snakes. Antali laughed confidently.