Chapter 266: Stirring

Chapter 266: Stirring

The revelry—or perhaps more aptly, the chaos—continued until evening. Only after everyone was exhausted did the area around Faber Village finally quiet down.

Though physically tired, everyone’s spirits remained high, as each person had found many valuable items.

They gathered in the large house of the Baden family, showing off their finds of the day. Plans were made to rest for a while before returning to their respective villages.

In the crowd, only Kevin had taken nothing, his mind clouded with worry. He gathered a few of the villagers with higher standing to discuss their situation.

He shared his concerns: their looting spree in Faber Village would surely not go unpunished by the lord.

The mood amongst them cooled as if doused with cold water, their previous fervor instantly fading.

When resentment builds beyond a certain threshold, impulsiveness can overpower reason, leading to actions they wouldn’t normally dare. However, they had forgotten that a higher power, maintaining the order of Alda, though oppressive, still existed.eone whispered hesitantly, “But... wasn’t it Baden who erred first? He even killed one of ours. Several hit by the stone slings never woke up again.”

Kevin shook his head, “But clearly, our ‘crimes’ are more severe. The lord will surely punish us first.”

He harbored resentment, wondering why the villagers had been so impulsive, why they couldn’t have been more rational.

During the chaos, Kevin had considered fleeing to Port Fran to report to the town hall and request the mayor to send help to restore order. But after much thought, he stayed, waiting for everyone to calm down before finding a solution together.

“Ha ha, Kevin, my boy, what ‘crimes’? You’re making it sound too serious,” interrupted a voice.

From the side, a shifty-eyed man approached. Kevin’s frown deepened upon recognizing him: Biso, a good-for-nothing idler from the village.

“It was the landlord Baden who first imposed heavy taxes behind the lord’s back, driving us to desperation. That’s why we acted irrationally. Besides, so many of us were involved. Haven’t you heard the saying, ‘The law does not punish the many’?”

“Have you forgotten how the pirates in the Northwest Bay were annihilated?”

“Do you still remember the old pirate chief, Edward? He was a terror to all lords in the Northwest.”

Ignoring Kevin, Biso continued, now addressing the crowd that had gathered around them. “How did Edward’s pirates instill fear in the lords? The secret was ‘unity.’ They bound themselves into one force, gaining power far beyond any individual. After Edward disappeared, the pirates fell apart, which led to their defeat.”

“My fellow villagers! We’ve gathered people from several villages. If we unite, the lord can’t touch us. He will have to accept our demands and allow us to keep this wealth that rightfully belongs to us.”

“Look, the fall of Baden has already proven our strength. Even such a powerful landlord could not withstand our united force!”

Biso’s words reignited the fire in everyone’s hearts. Indeed, the once-mighty Baden, who seemed invincible, turned into a fleeing dog under their combined force.

The lord? Isn’t he just a bigger landlord?

These villagers, who had only roamed around their villages and at most visited Port Fran, had no real understanding of the size of a count’s domain, its population, or the size of the lord’s army.

They could only speculate based on the most powerful force they had seen—the Baden family.

Having easily driven away landlord Baden, they thought that if the lord refused their demands and sent his troops, it might be more challenging to drive them away, as the lord was presumably more formidable than Baden.

Thus, the villagers began to chant: “Unite! Negotiate with the lord!”

In Alda, due to the absence of knights with villages as their fiefs, the rural farmers lacked a direct experience of the lord’s power. Their obedience to the lord’s decrees stemmed more from generational habit.

In other domains, such an incident as in Faber Village would be unlikely, as any gathering of villagers would be suppressed by the knights residing in their village, preventing any collaboration among multiple villages.