A vast, unbroken plain stretched out beneath the sky, devoid of hills or ridges, as calm as the sea on a windless day. The wheat fields were so neatly arranged that it seemed as though God's gardener had measured the height of every tender stalk, making the surface as smooth as a mirror.
"Sean..."
A loud call echoed from the distance, shattering the tranquil space like a sharp blade.
A small child emerged from the wheat field. He was not very tall, and his appearance was ordinary and unremarkable. The only thing that left a deep impression on others was his pair of still-lively eyes.
He glanced at the sun slowly setting on the horizon, sighed softly, and ran toward the source of the voice.
A middle-aged man in his forties or fifties frowned and shouted, "Sean, where have you been again?"
"Dad, I've finished my work, so I went to play in the field for a while." Little Sean replied obediently.
"Alright, go back now."
Old Bond dragged his precious son back home.
Sean was Bond's only son, and he had been exceptionally well-behaved since birth, rarely causing his father, a man of broad shoulders, any worry. However, every time he saw his son's eyes, which bore a striking resemblance to his wife's, Old Bond felt a deep sense of nostalgia.
Their family lived on the outskirts of Sir Scott's estate. Although the knight's fiefdom consisted of only this estate, for the people living within the estate and the surrounding area, Sir Scott was the highest-ranking noble they could interact with.
Thirty years ago, this land was barren and desolate. It was Knight Scott's father who led a group of landless vagrants here. After decades of cultivation, they finally established their own homeland.
After Knight Scott's father died, Scott inherited this territory.
Here, apart from Knight Scott and his vassals, most of the people were freemen like Old Bond.
However, these freemen also had to pay taxes to Sir Scott in exchange for his protection.
Fortunately, the knight was not greedy, so although life here was a bit difficult, at least people could still live a life of subsistence.
Old Bond was one of the settlers who came here thirty years ago to cultivate the land. He started a family here, had children, and had long since put down deep roots here.
The only thing that saddened him was that his wife passed away the year after giving birth to Sean.
In this extremely remote place, there was a severe lack of qualified doctors and medicine.
Sean was sensible and obedient, and from a young age, he knew how to help his father with work, which brought Old Bond great comfort. However, he had one very bad habit: he was unsociable and couldn't get along with the other children around him. Moreover, he had an extremely peculiar hobby: he liked to go to the wheat fields to stare into space during his free time.
If Old Bond didn't call out to him, Sean could even sit there until the next day.
Old Bond often thought that if Sean were more lively and cheerful, then he would have nothing to worry about.
Holding his son's hand, they walked toward home. Suddenly, Old Bond and Sean seemed to hear something. They instinctively looked up and saw a huge elliptical black sphere streaking across the sky, emitting a thunderous roar as it crashed into the distant mountains.
Old Bond's legs trembled uncontrollably. His eyes were filled with fear of the unknown, and his mind went blank, unable to process anything.
"Get down!"
A nearlycrazy-like shout suddenly rang in his ears. He instinctively obeyed, pressing himself tightly to the ground and burying his head in his arms.
A thunderous explosion echoed as the massive elliptical sphere finally collided with the ground, producing a deafening roar that reverberated for miles.
The ground trembled violently, evoking a sense of apocalyptic chaos.
The village erupted in a cacophony of terrified screams as everyone descended into madness.
Sean crouched beside his father, not making any meaningless loud cries, nor burying his head in his arms like his father. He simply stared intently at the direction from which the sound had come. A bright light shone in his eyes, one that seemed utterly inappropriate for his age.
The earth did not shake for long; perhaps it was merely a illusion caused by the panic. The extremely frightened people finally calmed down.
Everyone was discussing what had just fallen from the sky, but no one dared to go and take a look.
Soon, the villagers from Knight Scott's estate came out and announced the lady knight's orders to everyone.
No one was allowed to approach that place until the knight returned to the estate in three days, and a gag order was also issued.
For the freemen here, this order perfectly aligned with their wishes. No one dared to discuss that terrifying large sphere anymore, and everyone went back to their mundane lives, like ostriches burying their heads in sandbags.