Chapter 113: Dolaz City's help.
Chapter 113: Dolaz City's help.
Over time, the vague shadow of Dolez City got closer and closer. Now Dolez City was no longer as peaceful as before. Thousands of refugees were stopped outside the city gate. The torches on the city wall illuminated the night sky, and long lines of tired refugees stretched into the dark.
"Let us in. Why stop us? We are not sick."
"Please, let us in."
"At least, give us something to eat. My child hasn't eaten anything for two days."
The refugees who had traveled a long distance to reach Dolez were hungry and exhausted. However, they didn't receive sympathy and condolences from the people of Dolez; instead, they were greeted with rejection and indifference in the form of the closed city gate.
There were even expressionless soldiers guarding the city wall with bows and arrows, which made it obvious that they would be killed without hesitation if anyone dared to approach the city wall.
According to the order of lord Hutt, the minister of internal affairs of the City of Dolez, all City gates had been closed, and all outsiders were prohibited from entering the city.
"What's the matter? Why haven't you entered the city?"
At this time, the Knight commander Casser led the last group of refugees to the wall of Dolez city. So far, there were about 20,000 refugees, who have fled from their homes because of the plague, gathered at the Dolez city wall. When these people saw that their only hope, the knight commander Casser appeared, the intensity of their pleading increased a lot.
"Lord commender, Lord Hutt is not allowing us to enter the city."
"Yes, yes, and we have also run out of food. And now our families are starving."
"Have mercy on us. My little Lolaya is only five years old..."
Hearing the cries of the refugees, Casser knew what was going on. He went straight to the city gate in anger, and using the full strength of his battle qi, questioned Hutt loudly. His thunderous voice echoed throughout the entire city wall.
"Hutt, come out. I know you are on the wall. Why didn't you let the refugees into the city?"
The minister of internal affairs, Hutt, who at this moment was enjoying the performance of a few dancing young girls, clearly heard the booming voice. Several nobles who were also with Hutt turned their heads and looked at the Hurt with knowing smiles on their faces. Seeing such a situation, Hutt's expression became dark.
"Lord Hutt, It seems lord Knight has some argent business with you."
A middle-aged nobleman looked at Hutt and said with a smile.
"And don't forget to hide that batch of grains, although these poor untouchables had to escape, they still have a lot of oil and water with them."
Another big-bellied nobleman tore off a large piece of chicken, and while chewing, he vaguely reminded Hutt.
"Hmph, you don't have to remind me, as long as you keep an eye on that arrogant Minohorn Chamber of Commerce, I will naturally take care of other things."
Hutt glanced at the nobles who were eating from the mountains of delicacies, then forcefully pushed the young girl from his lap and walked out of the room with large steps.
At this moment, Hutt's heart was full of surging anger and resentment toward knight Casser, who didn't give him any face.
In the mind of the nobles in Dolez City, these refugees were absolutely not allowed to enter the city. Other than the fact that they might infect them with the plague, the reason for this was that the relief supplies they needed to settle in the city were an astronomical figure, and obviously, the nobles were unwilling to pay for it.
But if a nobleman openly didn't agree to pay, they would instantly be labeled as a cruel noble, and the adventurers from good camps and the heroes would come to harass them in the name of "fighting for the people." So these refugees were big trouble for the nobles, and they must be stopped outside the city at any cost.
But of course, these ideas were absolutely unacceptable to the righteous and just knight commander, so knight Casser did not hesitate to speak up for the refugees, even if that meant he would become the enemy of all the nobles of Dolez City.
"Hutt, you are not a loyal minister of the Hyde family. How can you disregard the 20,000 refugees? Have you forgotten the old adage of the Hyde family?"
It was already late in the night, and the weather was getting colder, but all the refugees were still waiting for the decision of the nobles of Dolez City while enduring the cold wind. Knight commander Casser became angry and a little anxious, knowing that the Dolez City was the only hope for all these people.
It wasn't until the three moons had risen into the sky that Hutt, followed by several guards, finally showed up on the city wall.
"Knight Commander Casser, although I am also worried about these people, I also have to think about the hundreds of thousands of people inside the city and the lord himself. Even if one sick person gets in, it will all be over, so I can't ignore the overall situation."
Although anyone who was familiar with Hutt knew how vicious and sinister he actually was, but at this moment, Hutt, who was standing on the edge of the city wall, pretended like a tragic hero who would not hesitate to bear infamy for the sake of the big picture.
But knight Casser who already knew the nature of Hutt, immediately retorted harshly:
"The city guards have strictly inspected these refugees. They are all healthy and uninfected villagers. I can guarantee in the name of a knight that they are not dangerous to the city. Isn't that enough?"
"Knight commender Casser, it's not that this old minister doesn't trust you. But it's really a matter of great importance, and the lord has ordered strict inspections. You will not ignore the lord's orders, right?"
"You…"
Hearing Hutt's shameless rhetoric, knight Casser couldn't help but be stumped for a moment; then he took a deep breath while resisting the urge to swear at him and said almost in a pleading tone:
"Well, at least we have to give these people some clothes to build camps, and they will also need some food to fill their stomachs."
Hearing Hutt bringing up the lord's name, knight Casser could not say anything more. The lord's order was absolute, and even if he cared for the people, he could not violate it.
Seeing this scene from the top of the city wall, Hutt couldn't help but sneer in his heart, knowing full well that even if the knight Casser wanted to meet with the lord, the young lord who was indulging with the two fox maids imported from the Western Wasteland, would never meet with this knight commander who constantly lectured him.
"Dolez City is mine, and this so-called knight commander is nothing."
Hutt thought in his mind secretly.
"But those two fox maids are really expensive."
Hutt gritted his teeth, turned around, and walked down the city wall. From beginning to the end, he didn't even glance at the refugees.
After this, with the generous "rescue" of the nobles of the city of Dolez, more than 20,000 homeless refugees received only two thousand pieces of dirty rags. The refugees themselves had to collect branches and other materials for the simple tents. And in one tent, more than ten people had to live together.
In terms of food, Dolez City nobles provided some dry bread mixed with sawdust. And even then, these slices of bread had to be purchased by the refugees themselves at a price that was even higher than white bread.
When knight Casser found out about this, he angrily confronted the official who was in charge of managing the grain, but the other party simply justified stating that there was no free lunch, and if they wanted to eat, they have to pay money.
As a result, except for a few priests from the Church of Good Gods and a few righteous professionals who were willing to help the poor refugees, the other people of the city of Dolez were completely indifferent to the suffering of the refugees.
Under such circumstances, the refugees reluctantly set up simple camps, soaked some sawdust bread in water, and swallowed them with bitter minds.
Although Bilan and Dickie were also staying with the refugees, but they were assigned to a tent made of thick felt, and they also had white bread sent by knight Casser for dinner.
Bilan nestled in Dickie's arms, as the bones in her body began to become fragile, but with Dickie's company, Bilan was surprisingly neither afraid nor sad.
"It seems by tomorrow, the people of Dolez City can mobilize enough food to start the rescue work, and Lord Casser will definitely be able to persuade the lord to let the refugees into the city. The refugees in other territories of the Dylan Kingdom should also be able to find a new home soon, and things will definitely get better."
Dickie looked at the refugees who collapsed on the ground like corpses with hope and said with a self-comforting manner.
"Yes, it should be possible!"
Bilan, who had seen the cruelty of nobles, knew that Dickie's expectations were destined to be shattered, and the other territories would also not allow any refugees to enter. The only thing Dolez City would do tomorrow was to find a way to get rid of these refugees. However, she didn't say much in the end and closed her trembling lips.