conflict

Where did she get the white bread?" Locke asked Laffey curiously.

Laffey blushed and explained, "Henry, the merchant, gave it to her, of course."

Locke didn't believe it. White bread was only available to the platoon jarls. Henry was barely his rank, so how could he have extra white bread for others? Laffey and Kristin must have gotten it from somewhere.

Laffey was much stronger than Henry's guards because he practiced impetus. If he kept his hands clean and stole something, Henry wouldn't know.

Locke wanted to laugh at the thought of Henry suddenly finding a loaf of white bread missing from his lunch.

He couldn't blame Laffey for being a bad influence on Kristin. In the past, the three of them had been able to eat all sorts of delicacies in Marquis Mansion. Suddenly, they could only eat wheat cakes and the like. Who could stand it? Only white bread and other similar foods were able to satisfy their appetite.

Since there were only women and children in this family, Locke was relieved that the three girls were safe. After giving them some instructions, Locke left through the door.

There was a shack next to the house. There should be people living in the shack, but there was no one there at the moment. The messy pots and pans showed that the owner left in a hurry.

Locke left the horses here. Locke went to fetch the three girls' horses. These horses were taken from the cavalry platoon. The lives of horses were more precious than the lives of soldiers. If these horses were lost, Locke would have to pay the baron a lot of compensation as the one who took them away.

After tying the ropes to the horses, Locke turned to leave.

"Who are you?! Why are you here? " Miller looked at the man in the Faustian uniform in front of him in horror. From the man's full armour and the shining longsword at his waist, Miller could tell that he was at least an officer.

Weren't the Faustians still in the west? Why was he at his door? Miller suddenly turned around and looked at his house. The broken door seemed to be telling him that something had happened not long ago.

"You!" As if he had thought of something bad, Miller let out a roar and pounced on Locke.

Locke looked at the guy who suddenly appeared, puzzled. Although Miller had participated in the defense for a week, he was still just a civilian. Locke had no interest in wasting time with him.

Just like how he smashed the wooden door, Locke turned 180 degrees and kicked straight at Miller's waist. Boom! Miller was sent flying horizontally. After he landed, he clutched his waist tightly and didn't move for a long time.

Although he didn't use impetus, Locke's kick wasn't something an ordinary person could withstand. In fact, Locke had only used a third of his strength.

"Ha!" Suddenly, a figure rushed over and hugged Locke. This person was taller than Locke, at least 1.8 meters tall. The funny thing was that after hugging Locke, the big man wanted to lift Locke and throw him away. However, Locke did not move even a single step for a long time. Instead, the big man froze there.

"Hmph, a fool who only knows how to use brute force." Locke smiled contemptuously. He lifted his right foot and kicked the man's left leg. The man staggered, and Locke followed up with a beautiful back throw. The man followed Miller and was thrown to the side.

This time, Locke used all his strength. After the man landed on his back, he spat out a mouthful of blood, mixed with some broken internal organs.

"Aoun!" Miller shouted at the man on the ground.

Locke pulled out his longsword, ready to end the two uninvited guests who had suddenly appeared.

Locke had seen many of the clothes that Miller and Aoun were wearing over the years, and he had killed many of them. Two Shalorian barbarians, Locke thought.

Locke, who had the strength of a low-rank Knecht, was not someone that could be resisted by two mere ordinary soldiers. Moreover, they were not soldiers, and could only be regarded as two ordinary adult men.

The moment he raised his longsword and was about to swing it down, the Shalorian woman he met in the wooden house ran out. "No!"

After running out, she knelt in front of Locke and kept kowtowing while crying, "Please, don't kill him!" The woman wearing rags and patches looked so weak and helpless at this moment.

Not only this woman, but even her two children also ran out crying and shouted to one of the fallen Shalorian soldiers, "Dad!"

At this moment, Locke understood everything.

"Spare their lives." At some point in time, Grace had also stepped forward.

"I need a reason," said Locke.

Grace was speechless.

Locke didn't have much hostility towards the Shalorians like other Faustian soldiers, but this was different. However, it depended on the person. Only women and children could get his pity.

Locke had never been soft-hearted towards the Shalorian soldiers. A soft-hearted Faustian soldier wouldn't have survived until now.

"Please!" The Shalorian woman was still kowtowing and begging, and her forehead was already bleeding.

"Betty!" Miller, who was on the ground, saw his wife suddenly appear. At this moment, he didn't feel any pain, only a sense of relief. "Betty, it's great that you're okay!" His waist and abdomen were still hurting badly, but he still struggled to crawl to her side and hugged his wife and two children.

Seeing this scene, Locke actually couldn't bear to do it. The longsword that he raised was still hanging in the air.

"Dad brought you delicious food." Ignoring the pain in his body, Miller took out two small pieces of jerky and a piece of wheat cake from his chest.

The jerky and wheat cake had been smashed into several pieces when they landed, but Miller still insisted on feeding them to the two children. He knew that his children and his wife probably hadn't eaten for more than a day.

"You owe me your lives!" Locke said and turned to leave. The Shalorian civilians living in the surrounding houses were obviously attracted by what happened here. One by one, they opened their windows and peeped. Locke didn't want to expose Glace and the other two.

Glace obviously understood what Locke meant. "Go back quickly, he won't make things difficult for you anymore," said Glace to Betty.

Betty nodded hurriedly and got up to help Miller back home.

"Him too." Miller pointed at Aoun who had fallen to the ground.

Betty nodded and helped Miller back. Then, she came out and pulled the unconscious Aoun into the house.

Seeing everything that happened, Glace shook her head. This was the sorrow of the insignificant and the price that the defeated had to bear.

Miller knew why the Faustian officer said that they owed him their lives. He thought that he and Aoun would definitely die. It wasn't just because they collided with Locke, but also because of the layer of skin that they were wearing.

Since they were Shalorian soldiers, they were on the opposite side of Locke. Although Miller spent most of the time waving his spear and randomly stabbing down, or carrying boulders and rolling logs to throw down, he had also injured many Faustian soldiers.

Miller himself wasn't sure if he had already killed a few Faustian soldiers.

At this time, even if Locke killed him, he would feel normal.

"It seems that the Faustians aren't as barbaric and terrifying as I thought," Miller murmured. His child was still kicking around in his arms and had just touched the wound caused by Locke's kick. "Bob, do you want to kill Daddy?" Miller pinched his son's cheek.

Bob grinned and a trace of bread crumbs could be seen between his teeth. When Miller noticed it, he turned around and secretly looked at Glace and the other two who were standing on the other side of his house.

As if noticing Miller's gaze, Glace smiled and explained, "We're only staying for one night."

The house was small to begin with. Now that there were eight people in it, there was really no other space except for a place to stand. Betty carefully looked at her husband's wound. The two children were playing at the side, and Aoun was lying on the side. It was unknown if he was dead or alive. Glace and the other two stood on the other side of the family, closest to the door.

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