Chapter 3 River Valley
Five knights and seven servants or attendants, including Garris and Isabella, only fourteen people survived. Even Isabella's old lady who taught etiquette personally died. One night.
But rather than remembering the victims of last night, the most pressing priority is to find a way for the living to continue living.
Food and drinking water are vital matters, and those injured also need a place to rest and recuperate.
Even though Garris had cleaned and bandaged the friendly soldiers' wounds as close as he could, if he traveled a long distance, it would be inevitable for those friendly soldiers' wounds to open again.
Relying on Garris's understanding of the surrounding environment, he knew that as long as he turned a corner on this Roman road, he could find many almost isolated villages.
After all, this is the east coast of the Dead Sea, and there are quite a few rivers that inject fresh water into the Dead Sea. Especially when spring and winter come, the rainfall increases, and the sweet and clear source of life flows through the wilderness, bringing life to both sides of the river.
It is logical that many villages were born on both sides of these rivers.
In these villages, the injured in their own team can rest for a period of time to prepare for the aftermath.
Garris first led the team off the Roman road and after traveling a long distance on a certain path, he saw the river flowing in the dry valley through a valley mouth, as well as farmland, villages and misty smoke.
But no one showed any joy.
From this valley entrance, you could barely see the village. A motionless pale body hung on a dead old tree. The breeze blew the body and turned it to face the convoy.
The lifeless eyes seemed to be silently accusing something, making people feel the chill on their skin even under the direct sunlight.
But unfortunately, he can no longer tell his tragic experience.
It can be seen that the village that was supposed to be a paradise may be in misfortune now.
Garris made a gesture and ordered the team not to move forward. He turned over and dismounted, and called an attendant who was only slightly injured to come to him.
"Simon, come with me."
Garris didn't say much, but everyone else around him knew what he meant. Compared with their counterparts in Europe, the knights of Jerusalem were more military-literate, and at least they would not make jokes that questioned the necessity of reconnaissance.
At present, there are only a few candidates who are healthy enough to take on the reconnaissance mission, so it is natural for Garris to decide to play in person.
He moved his muscles a little and did some simple stretching exercises. He could feel that the aches and pains in his body were still there.
But compared to the severe pain an hour ago, these aches and pains now no longer prevent him from exerting strength like an ordinary person.
Garris nodded with satisfaction. His body's recovery ability was much better than he thought. At least he didn't have to worry about lying in bed for ten days and a half if he moved a little.
After hailing Simon, he instructed others to remain vigilant nearby. Garris lowered his body and walked towards the mouth of the valley.
The corpse hanging on the tree watched Garris.
After walking into the valley, what appeared in front of Garris and Simon was the appearance of a human Shura field.
Human corpses were spread from the mouth of the valley to the village. Women were torn from their clothes, humiliated, gang-raped and then decapitated. Babies were thrown to the rocks and died.
The sun was like fire in the sky, and the hairs on the ground stood on end. Garris is indeed a knight, but whether in his previous life or in this life, he has never cut off his humanity. In the past ten years of his knight career, Garris has witnessed countless deaths.
But killing an unarmed person still crossed his bottom line and was something he couldn't do.
Simon on the side was also quite shocked, with a look of confusion on his face. For a moment, he couldn't think of the reason why these villagers were massacred.
But before collecting the bodies of the villagers, Garris noticed that there were still signs of human activity in the village not far away. A wisp of smoke was floating into the sky from the largest house in the village.
The cross on the house shows the village's religious affiliation.
After lowering his body, Garris took Simon and sneaked towards the village through the bushes and woods to avoid possible sentries.
As they approached the village, in addition to smelling a stronger smell of corpses, they also noticed some people in familiar costumes wandering around the village.
"They seem to be dressed the same as the Arabs who attacked us last night." Simon whispered.
Garris frowned. These people looked like they were patrolling, but their pace was frivolous and their spirits were listless. They really didn't look like soldiers at all.
"It should be the Bedouins. They may have massacred this village." Garris replied.
Bedouin in Arabic means people living in the desert. They are a branch of the Arabs and have a strong nomadic tradition.
It is not a surprise that such a nation launched a massacre against the Christian villages under the rule of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
"But how did they get here? Didn't the border patrol guards find any trace of this group of people?" Simon was confused.
The territory they are currently in is the easternmost territory of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Although it is somewhat deep into the Arabian Peninsula, it is not a bus that allows people to enter and exit.
Not to mention those fixed patrol teams, just the outpost castle on the border is enough to detect the movements of most enemy troops.
"Maybe it would be more appropriate to ask Leonard about this." Garris answered casually, and then did not go further on this issue, but took Simon to carefully observe the situation in the village.
After some investigation, Garris and Simon determined that there were roughly seven starting Bedouins in this village.
After retreating from a relatively close reconnaissance point to a safer place, Simon said to Gareth with a solemn expression: "Sir, I think it is best for us to avoid this village at the moment and go to fight with those Arabs based on our current actual situation. It’s not appropriate for people to fight.”
Garris nodded in agreement, and then said: "But no matter what, I will still go to that village."
Simon looked at Garris in confusion.
And Garris said: "There are still survivors in the small church in this village. If I give up on them, those church members will definitely die, and even if they are better, they will be sold into slavery."
The sunlight in the sky penetrated the canopy of the trees and shot out streaks of light that fell on Garris, making him inexplicably feel a little more sacred.
Seeing Garris' resolute expression, Simon subconsciously used his right hand to draw a "ten" shape from his forehead to his chest, and then from one shoulder to the other.
(End of chapter)