Sam’s achievements have spread throughout the resistance, and everyone is very envious of Sam, especially when they see the medal on his chest.
“Sam, can my mom go to Graywhite Territory too?”
Many soldiers gathered around Sam with questions while hurrying up the mountain.
“Of course, I heard that those closer in the west have already fled to Graywhite Territory, but we are too far away to reach it, right?”
After saying that, Sam seemed to remember something and took out the letter from Lord Governor that he had received.
“What does it say?”
Most of the resistance fighters are from the lower class, so many of them cannot read.
“If you can get this medal like I did, the Lord Governor will find a way to bring your whole family to Graywhite Territory as much as possible.”
Sam carefully looked at the last paragraph he hadn’t clearly seen before due to tears blurring his vision.
“Even if you don’t have the medal, it’s okay. The Lord Governor will try to bring back some people each time, and if you have achievements in battle, your mom might even get some resettlement funds.”
“I heard that they eat meat every day in Graywhite Territory. Is that true?”
Sam smiled and said, “I haven’t seen it, so I don’t know.”
Sam is no longer the student who relied on imagination to write “On Liberty.” Now, he firmly believes that without investigation, one has no right to speak.
But this does not stop the soldiers’ fantasies. In the description by Saintess Isha, Graywhite Territory can be described as resembling the Divine Kingdom, where everyone has a living, everyone can wear shoes, and everyone can eat meat.
The resistance fighters choose to believe in the Lady Saintess.
At this point, the resistance has arrived at a village in the mountains. According to information from an insider, Fang Ge would soon organize a crackdown on the resistance, so the resistance needed to move earlier after replenishing supplies.
Although direct confrontation with the resistance is no longer a challenge for them, they still cannot withstand the opposite side’s numerical advantage in their pursuit and encirclement.
This village in the mountains is as desolate, barren, and lifeless as many villages in the Northern Border. Many eyes peeked out from behind stone windows, watching the resistance.
“Fellow villagers, is there any spare food? If you have some, can you sell a little to us? We are willing to pay twenty percent more than the market price.”
Isha stepped forward and shouted in the open center of the village.
Although there are weapons, the resistance does not have much food, especially under the current circumstances where they are being chased.
For such a village, Isha has more of a “give it a try” mentality. The ordinary folk who have been exploited repeatedly definitely have no spare food, but perhaps the village chief’s family still has some. If there is no food, the resistance will leave some supplies behind.
The significance of doing this is more about sharing food between villages along the way, helping those in need—buying at prices higher than the market also serves as indirect aid. Although the market price is in chaos due to Fang Ge’s influence, some hard currency can still be used.
In winter, not only is food important; Isha also has things she can barter with.
However, as expected, no one paid attention to Isha and the resistance.
A small stone even flew out from one of the stone windows, hitting Isha on the head.
Seeing this, a woman behind the stone window immediately ran out, panicking with her child in her arms, and knelt before Isha, bowing her head.
Looking at the scars on the woman’s body, Isha already understood that this village could not possibly have food; Fang Ge’s troops had probably exploited this village already.
If the pursuit of the resistance by Fang Ge’s troops had been half as proactive as their exploitation of the common folk, Isha might be in a much worse situation now, even missing the chance to distribute food and aid to the villagers.
Isha rummaged in the bag she carried and took out a vial of potion, handing it to the woman.
“Drink it.”
The woman looked terrified for an instant, but glancing at her child, she bit her lip and drank the potion in one go. Soon, heat began to radiate from her body, and her wounds started to heal visibly.
Isha is different now; after all, she really has Holy Water now. Although Lind prohibits trading this holy water, they publicly claim it is just a special medicine.
Watching precious medicine being given to a passerby, the soldiers felt no resentment. There are many such people in the Northern Border, and perhaps some of them are relatives of the soldiers.
Isn’t the resistance fighting for people like this?
Of course, the main reason is that this Lady Saintess and the Lord Governor behind her are willing and allow such actions. They do not shortchange the soldiers of the resistance.
“I am the Holy Lady, Isa Nebet. I have come here under the order of Governor Lind and the guidance of the Goddess to fight against Fang Ge Lars. Can you tell us when Fang Ge Lars’s army came by?”
As she spoke, Isha handed a piece of candy to the child in the woman’s arms.
“About two weeks ago.”
The woman trembled as she spoke.
“Two weeks ago, other armies came to our place, entered our houses, and took all our food and money.”
The woman could not distinguish between Isha’s resistance and Doug’s army, only referring to them as other armies.
“Let me handle this.”
At that moment, a small old man emerged from a house, bowing to Isha—he was likely the village chief.
“Lady Saintess, Doug Lars’s army came two weeks ago and, after descending the mountain, headed southeast. They are probably continuing to plunder the next village.”
Then, this village chief told Isha more detailed information, such as how often Doug’s army comes, their recent activities, which nearby villages there are, and where they might run into Doug’s army.
Listening to this, Layton behind Isha was dumbfounded. Although this wasn’t his first time, he was always deeply shocked by the power of the people.
The initial foundation of the resistance was based on the tactics of Lars’s army, fighting chaotically and being beaten to the point of retreat. But since Isha’s arrival, things have been different. Isha is always able to gain key information from the common folk.
With these pieces of information, they constantly maneuver around Doug’s army.
Some common folk even actively help the resistance by providing cover.
After hearing this, Isha nodded and looked at Layton.
Layton nodded in understanding and immediately said, “Everyone! Unload food!”
The resistance fighters behind Layton immediately stood at attention and then took out a bag of food from their backpacks.
“Thank you for your information; may the Goddess bless you.”
Isha bowed her head in prayer for this village, then led the resistance away, leaving the villagers stunned.
“Food, chief, it’s really food!”
A villager picked up the bag left by the resistance soldier, opened it, and shouted excitedly at the village chief.
The village chief looked at the orderly backs of the resistance as they left, suddenly feeling a bit emotional. These people had initially come seeking to buy food, and he had even prepared himself to be exploited again, but unexpectedly, they left food behind.
“Are they the resistance fighting against Doug Lars?”
“How cool! I want to join them when they come next time.”
“Yeah, let’s kill that bastard Doug.”
The desolate village unexpectedly felt a surge of excitement.
Although they lost a portion of food, for the resistance, enough food to eat is sufficient. They sought food throughout their journey just to aid the impoverished common folk.
If food runs out, they can raid the noble families. The resistance shows no mercy towards those aristocrats who exploit the common folk.
Of course, losing food will still cause some problems; it’s not without impact, but with Isha’s extraordinary personal charm and her good fortune in always turning dangers into opportunities, this little impact will not cause any waves.
“Wait, wait, wait!”
Just after descending the mountain, the resistance was blocked by a group of people.
“Is this the resistance loyal to Duke Lars?”
Many soldiers reflexively gripped their weapons.
If it weren’t for the fact that the other side was dressed like merchants, Layton would have already ordered them to fire.
“We are currently loyal to Governor Lind.”
Isha stepped forward and began negotiating with these merchants.
“Ah, same, same! I finally found you; please, help us.”
With that, the merchant knelt down, leading others dressed as merchants to kneel in unison.
“We can’t go on living; that bastard noble in our town has taxed us three times—not three additional taxes, but they want to collect all taxes three times!”
“Three times, oh three times!”
The other merchants began to cry.
Since the lower-class commoners have nothing left to exploit, many nobles have shifted their exploitation targets onto small and medium-sized merchants.
Forcing small and medium merchants to his side is quite unprecedented.
These merchants had no choice but to turn to the resistance or to make deals with them, as the resistance had better credibility than most of the nobles in Doug’s territory.
Isn’t the food Isha needs right here?
