Chapter 725: Painting a picture is nice, but we have to do the impending chore first
The afternoon after the announcement, the royal family--minus the young princess--the officials, the soldiers, and the civilians who didn’t want to stay, all left the city.
Of course, among the soldiers, there were those with families in the city, but...honestly, I couldn’t trust those soldiers. I knew--I knew they were just following orders, but it was their choice to serve a country that thrived on trampling over another race, so...
No. I couldn’t trust them.
Strangely enough, the knight captain did not give much fight, unlike the Empire’s spy. Well, he did initially, but when he saw the attackers were druids, he seemed to freeze. Even until he was dragged to the ship, he didn’t say anything. Whether he was scared or felt guilty, the one who should be fighting the hardest was easily subdued.
Halurean said it was underwhelming. I was sure they were disappointed, but finding out the Great Tree had been revived made them forget about it. Rather than burdening Heraz again, the druids would take over as guards.
Might as well. Druids had better stamina, and they would protect the Tree even if they had to sacrifice themselves for it. Certainly, no druid--even a half-blood like me--would ever want the Great Tree to fall again.
As promised, the ship sent by Midas arrived on time in the afternoon. The rusty glow of the setting sun turned the lake and the soil red, made the long line of people entering the ship with their belongings look like a journey to hell.
Well, although there was no hell in this world.
The departure was done as the night finally came. Those who chose to stay watched the ship sail away with torches in their hands. It was pretty melancholic, I should say. Between the two groups, there would be friends and colleagues, might even be families and in-laws. The relationship between them would probably be strained for a long time, but once the city was fully established and the border was normalized, there was no law preventing them from visiting one another.
Once the ship disappeared from sight, the staying group returned to their house, while the agents tirelessly proceeded with sealing the property left behind to prevent anyone staying from occupying the house or robbing the goods left behind. I let the princess and her new lady-in-waiting stay at the palace, as well as the servants who decided to stay.
The princess, being quick-witted, moved out of her old room in the royal quarters. She told Heraz that she had no heart taking advantage of my generosity, and would just stay with the servant.