You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 205 I'll take you to that land full of hope
Nathan rode his horse at breakneck speed to the grove where he was hiding.

"Aina! Will!" He quickly dismounted and scrambled over to her.

The commotion quickly alerted the people in the forest.

"You...are Nathan?"

Everyone who saw him was incredulous.

"Where are Aina and Will?!" the Berserker shouted.

"Nathan... Nathan, is that you? You're back?" came the reply from the forest.

That haunting voice, the one I could only hear in my dreams, rang in my ears.

Nathan burst into tears of joy and ran over. He soon saw the figure standing in the woods. The face was not particularly beautiful, but in Nathan's eyes it was exceptionally pleasing to the eye, and he could never get enough of looking at it.

"Aina! My Aina! I'm so glad you're alright."

She was happily picked up, but the heavy armor was hard and heavy, and it felt uncomfortable against her body.

She immediately frowned and looked at her somewhat unfamiliar husband.

His stubble was thick, but you could tell it had been trimmed. There was blood on his face and body, especially on his expensive armor. He had thick eyebrows and big, bright eyes, and his spirit was completely different from before. Everything about him felt unfamiliar to her.

He was burly, now strong, like an old ox, but his eyes remained unchanged, gentle and kind, though there were tear stains on his face and his eyes were unnaturally red.

She immediately understood Nathan's panic and fear when he couldn't find them.

She had a similar experience, living in fear day and night.

"Am I dreaming!"

“No, Aina, I’m back. Look, it really is me.” He wrapped one arm around his wife’s waist and took her hand with the other, pressing it against his face.

The couple, reunited after a long separation, embraced and wept bitterly.

Nathan suddenly noticed a child standing behind Aina, looking at him.

After Aina was put down, the child immediately clung to her leg and looked at him with frightened eyes.

Aina nudged Will forward. "It's Daddy," she said to Nathan. "You know, he's only four."

“Will, it’s me, Dad’s home,” Nathan said in a soft, gentle voice.

He stretched out his hands, but Will dodged them in fear.

Nathan remained silent. He had been gone for a year, and now his son didn't even remember him.

Little Will's face was dirty, and he looked at him with unfamiliar eyes. Then he ran behind Aina, hugged her leg, and whispered, "Mommy, I'm hungry."

“I have food here, I have food,” Nathan said quickly.

He took a bag of rations from his horse, which was full of meat strips and bread. He rummaged through it and grabbed a handful of candy.

"This is delicious, have some." It's a soft candy made from maltose.

Little Will timidly reached out his hands and held the food. He lowered his head and ate one, then his eyes lit up and he took a big bite, looking extremely hungry.

"Captain, we should leave!" Two soldiers arrived, and Es reminded them.

Nathan suddenly realized, "Aina, I'm here to pick you up. Come with me quickly, it's too dangerous here!"

Aina was taken aback. "Where are you going!"

“Go to a safe place,” Nathan said anxiously, spreading his arms. Ace and Lott quickly removed his armor.

"Stop packing your things, come with me now."

Aina's expression turned even more astonished. "Now?"

"Yes, we don't have time to waste. The pirates could arrive at any moment."

“But…” Aina turned her head and looked at the villagers who had gathered around them. They were watching them quietly.

“But what…” Nathan followed the gaze and saw his former fellow villagers, now homeless vagrants.

They escaped the pirates' massacre, but their homes were destroyed, and they dared not even harvest their crops. Even if they could harvest, they had no basis for farming.

Everyone was completely lost about the future.

Nathan silently grabbed Aina's wrist, then picked up Will, who was eating candy with his head down, and led them away from there.

"Nathan!" She pulled her hand away from his. It all happened so suddenly that she didn't react at first, but now she understood.

“Freeman, Connor, McGonagall…” She looked at Nathan, naming one name after another, each name representing a family.
"They helped me! They helped Will! Otherwise, we would have been dead long ago."

Nathan knew these names; he had helped them before.

Because he could pull a plow all by himself, after finishing his work, he would go and help other families who didn't have oxen.

So, how did a woman, with a three- or four-year-old child, survive this year? How did she survive this year of war and chaos?

Of course, there were people who helped her.

People at the bottom of society would fight tooth and nail over a handful of wheat.

But they also help each other.

If the poor are unwilling to help the poor, then who will help them?

“You have to come with me, believe me, Aina. I heard on the way here that the nobles’ armies are coming soon, and the pirates will also gather their forces here. They will have a head-on confrontation, and this place will be turned into scorched earth…” He whispered to Aina, telling her the news he had learned on the way.

The battle lines are constantly changing, and so are the battlefields.

The noble lords began building low bridges across the river to intercept pirate longships and force them into a direct confrontation.

The pirates, however, hoped to find a breakthrough that would allow them to launch a major attack on the land.

The lord of Thales County died a month ago, and this place will most likely become one of the breakthrough points.

No one will care whether they live or die then.

Pirates are filthy.

But the noble alliance was no saint either.

“Then I can’t just leave like this! Nathan! Freeman went hungry but still gave food to Will and me, and Connor would share a rabbit leg with us from the rabbits he caught in his traps, and McGonagall… he drowned while fishing at night, and he still has two children alive… they are so helpless!” Aina said sadly, bowing her head.

“I’m just here to pick you and Will up, Aina. There are too many of them,” Nathan whispered in her ear.

They were all watching him, and there was nothing more he could do.

He knew that if he brought the person over, Roman wouldn't be angry; on the contrary, he would be happy.

But for him, that was too difficult.

There are at least a hundred people in this forest. Large-scale marches and cavalry journeys are different; they take much longer and involve more unforeseen circumstances.

“I have to consider my brothers.” He was an only child with a younger brother and sister, but they did not live to adulthood.

The brothers he speaks of now are the soldiers behind him.

Mr. Roman taught them to live and die together, to never abandon each other, and this was not just his own responsibility.

"Captain! Give the order! I'm Es from the First Squad, Third Company, Third Battalion, I'll obey you!"

"I'm Lotte from the Fifth Squad, First Company, Third Battalion! Captain, I'll listen to you too!"

The two soldiers were standing very close, and upon hearing Nathan's words, they immediately expressed their opinions one after the other.

They became soldiers last year and can be considered veterans for a year. They have laid a solid foundation in physical training and ideological education.

If they lacked fighting ability and awareness, Roman would never have allowed them to travel far with Nathan.

Along the way, not only was Nathan depressed and heavy-hearted, but they were also in great pain.

In the face of disaster, if the poor don't help each other, who will?

Nathan's philosophy is very simple: repay kindness with kindness and revenge with revenge. If he sees someone in trouble, he will help if he can, and if he can't, he will let it go.

Now that they support him, perhaps it really will work.

He roared at everyone in his loud voice:

“I am Nathan, you all know me. I was captured by pirates last year, but a kind lord rescued me. His land is free of pirates, very safe and prosperous. Everyone who works can eat and drink their fill, and there are free houses and clothes. Anyone who goes there will receive such treatment, I guarantee it’s true! That lord even made me the captain of the guard. I’ve come to take Aina and Will there. If you also want to go, then follow me, and I’ll take you to that land full of hope!”

A super good new book, top of the new book charts, highly recommended!

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(End of this chapter)