Arthur stood on the walls of Willow Wood City, watching the soldiers assemble and prepare.
Now, blood was truly going to flow.
Arthur turned around, his gaze falling on Olivier:
"Olivier, organize the convoy immediately."
"Transport everything that can be taken from here to the Lions Den."
"Grain! Weapons! Horses! Cloth! Even movable bricks!"
Olivier paused, then spoke with difficulty: "Lord Arthur… is that not too much?"
Arthur did not speak, merely repeating: "There will be a dignified end."
On the Legge Family's vast territory, the flames of blood had been ignited. Hake and his two hundred men, dressed in the Legge Family's standard Willow Wood City equipment, charged into defenseless villages like a pack of hungry wolves.
"By order of Lord Roger Legge! Conscripting military supplies!"
Hake kicked open a villager's wooden door, dragging out the trembling family inside. His subordinates rushed into the room, taking all valuable items that could be packed, then setting fire to the thatched roof.
Flames shot into the sky, and thick smoke billowed.
Similar scenes played out across the Legge Family's territory, and panic spread like a plague.
Hake's men split up, feigning as retreating soldiers, burning and plundering villages, spreading rumors that the Legge Family had been defeated, and all the Legge Family's male members had been captured, sowing seeds of chaos in every corner.
Countless commoners abandoned their ancestral homes, taking their wives and children, herding their scrawny livestock, and joining the stream of refugees. The roads leading to neighboring territories were crowded with desperate people.
The Legge Family's vassals, those lords and knights who had sworn allegiance in peacetime, now bared their fangs.
Not only did they fail to organize forces to stabilize the situation, and did not support their lord, but they also took advantage of the chaos.
Some, under the guise of clearing out Legge Family soldiers who had turned into bandits, dispatched their own armed forces to wantonly plunder wealthy villages and towns.
Some even simply pretended to be retreating Legge Family soldiers and plundered villages and towns.
Others directly blockaded roads, forcibly seizing fleeing commoners and turning them into their own serf property. Some, seeing no way out, were forced to become bandits.
Even the Daedings Family, lords angered by Arthur's initiation of war, smelled blood. They sent troops across the border, effortlessly reclaiming lands that the Legge Family had seized and refused to return under various pretexts.
The entire direct territory of the Legge Family had completely spiraled out of control, descending into a frenzy of war and disorder.
The refugees wanting to cross the Green Fork River to Halloway Town despaired, because an army of nobles appeared, and there were too many people at the crossing; they simply couldn't leave.
And their experience told them that the appearance of a noble army brought no good news; they were more savage than bandits.
The refugees stopped in terror, thinking another group of "noble bandits" had arrived.
However, this army simply lined up quietly, with no intention of disturbance.
Someone among the refugees spoke: "It's the Black Lion's army."
Just then, several of Arthur's soldiers escorted another group of bound soldiers.
Those men wore the Legge Family's standard equipment, and still carried stolen valuables.
They were indeed Legge Family soldiers and soldiers of Legge Family vassals who had looted amidst the chaos, perfect for winning over the people.
Arthur, on horseback, looked down at the bound group kneeling on the ground.
He pointed at them, and spoke to the terrified refugees: "These people!"
"They took advantage of the war! They plundered your property! They burned your homes!"
The refugees cowered, not daring to speak.
Arthur raised his voice: "My war! Is only against the Legge Family who started it!"
"But for the jackals who took advantage of the Riverlands people! No matter whose banner he flies! My punishment is only one!"
He drew his sword and pointed it at the captives.
"In my name, Arthur! I sentence them to death! Immediate execution!"
At his command, the longswords of the soldiers behind them fell, and several heads rolled to the ground, blood staining the earth and shocking everyone's hearts.
The refugees watched this scene, their eyes slowly changing from fear to surprise, then a glimmer of unbelievable hope.
This lord was different from everyone they had seen; he did not take advantage to plunder them, and even executed these evildoers.
Arthur sheathed his sword, as if he had merely done a trivial thing.
The soldiers behind him began to act.
They brought out large pots, lit fires to cook porridge, distributed black bread and water to the starving refugees, and cleaned and bandaged the wounds of the injured.
A temporary camp was quickly set up, providing shelter for these refugees.
As night fell, bonfires lit up the entire camp.
Arthur stood on a simple platform built by the soldiers, below him were thousands of eyes watching him.
His opening remarks were direct and cruel, and a low sob rose from the crowd: "Your homes are gone."
"Those who set fires, those who robbed, there were Legge Family soldiers, and also soldiers from other nobles."
"But ultimately, it was Roger Lygg's incompetence and greed that caused you all this suffering."
"He is finished! Willow Wood City has been occupied by me! All members of the Legge Family have been captured!"
Arthur's voice echoed in the night sky.
"My war! Is against the Legge Family! Not against you! The war is over! But your lives must continue!"
He paused, his gaze sweeping over every face illuminated by the firelight.
"You are homeless! You have no land to cultivate! But now! I give you a choice!"
"Come to my land!"
A stir went through the crowd.
"You may have heard, I am a benevolent and unestablished lord, but precisely because of this, I need you more than anyone."
"Everyone willing to follow me, every family, will be allotted a piece of public land to cultivate!"
"Your harvest!! Besides paying reasonable taxes!! All the rest belongs to you!!"
"And considering that your homes and property have been lost, I will not collect your rent and taxes this year!"
Someone in the crowd trembled and knelt: "Lord, is what you say true?"
"Will this year's taxes truly be waived?"
Arthur's voice was exceptionally clear: "I swear by my name!"
"Not only will I waive your taxes this year! I will also give you grain, seeds, and livestock!!"
The next morning, Arthur's next order was delivered to the entire refugee camp, and everyone was shocked; this lord's promise to give,
was actually given in such a way.
"Everyone, pick up your tools!"
"All the ripe crops on the Legge Family's territory belong to you now! Go harvest them!"
The refugees were greatly moved.
Under the organization, supervision, and protection of Arthur's soldiers, thousands of refugees poured into the still-intact fields of the Legge Family's land.
They used sickles, their hands, and every tool they could, frantically harvesting the grain that would be distributed to them in the future.
Cows, sheep, chickens—all abandoned livestock were gathered and managed centrally.
A massive transport team began to assemble.
Lucien rode his horse, shouting commands from the field path:
"All harvested grain!! All collected livestock!! Pack them all!"
"We are going to transport them all to Lord Arthur's land!! That will be your new home!!"
"At that time!! Lord Arthur will distribute them all to you!!"
Hearing this, the refugees worked even harder at harvesting.
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