Liberation of The Slaves

Chapter 55 – Going To Aster Village

— Celestia’s POV —

The victorious cries of the warriors still echoed in the air, the weight of battle slowly lifting as exhaustion gave way to relief. But just as our hearts began to accept the reality of our survival—

“Help! Help! I have an urgent report!”

The desperate voice cut through the cheers like a dagger.

The celebration halted instantly.

All eyes turned toward the rider charging into the square, his horse frothing at the mouth from exertion.

The people stepped aside, clearing a path for him as whispers spread like wildfire.

He rode straight to the wall where the Earl stood, his face pale, his breath ragged.

As he dismounted—

I recognized him.

An uncle from our village—a coachman who often accompanied us between Aster Village and Lavender Town.

The same man who had taught us how to ride a horse.

My stomach twisted.

Why was he here?

“Pardon me! I bring urgent news!” he shouted up at the Earl.

The weight of his words pressed down on my chest.

My fingers curled into my sleeves, my breath caught in my throat.

The Earl’s expression darkened. “What happened?”

The messenger swallowed hard, his voice shaking.

“Aster Village was attacked and burned by bandits!”

For a moment—

I thought my heart had stopped.

““What!?””

The shock in Daisy’s and the Earl’s voices mirrored my own.

The messenger pressed on, his words tumbling out, each one heavier than the last.

“I fled on horseback the moment I saw them approaching. There were too many—at least a hundred, maybe more. When I looked back, I saw smoke rising from the village. I… I think they set it on fire.”

“I rode as quickly as possible, so…” He clenched his fists, his voice breaking with guilt. “Maybe it happened about an hour ago.”

I couldn’t breathe.

My heart pounded, the sound of it drowning out everything else.

My vision blurred, the world around me becoming distant, unreal.

Our village. Our home.

Mom. Dad. Freed.

A burning village. A hundred bandits.

Were they still alive?

Were they trapped in the flames?

Were they—

No.

No, no, no, no!

A cold shiver ran down my spine.

My hands trembled at my sides.

Since this morning, an uneasy feeling had gnawed at me, whispering fears I couldn’t put into words.

I had even asked Freed to check on the village.

And now—

“Freed…” I barely breathed his name, my voice lost in the chaos of my mind.

A hand gripped mine. “Why are you just standing there, sis!?” Daisy’s hand tightened around mine. “Let’s go!”

She turned to me, her eyes blazing with urgency, her whole body trembling with unspoken fear.

“We have to save Freed, Mom, and Dad!”

Her words broke through the fog in my head.

Daisy didn’t wait for a response.

She yanked me forward, dragging me down the stairs, her grip so firm it hurt.

My legs barely moved fast enough to keep up.

We reached the horses.

Daisy wasted no time.

She swung herself up onto her steed, and I followed, barely securing myself behind her before she spurred it into motion.

“W-Wait! Daisy! Celes!”

Somewhere behind us, the Earl and Karin shouted after us, but I couldn’t hear them.

I didn’t care.

The world blurred past us.

The only thing I could see was the distant horizon.

The only thing I could hear was my own heartbeat.

The only thing I could feel was the terror clawing at my chest.

<“Please… let them be alive.”>

— Karin’s POV —

“All adventurers! This is an urgent request! Head to Aster Village immediately! For every bandit you capture or kill, you will be rewarded with one gold coin!”

My voice rang out across the battlefield, still thick with the scent of blood and sweat.

There was no time to waste.

Daisy and Celestia had already vanished into the distance, their desperation fueling their reckless charge southward.

The moment my command echoed, the adventurers stirred, exchanging glances before their expressions hardened with resolve.

Their exhaustion, their lingering wounds—

All forgotten in an instant.

“My knights! Hasten to Aster Village!”

The Earl’s voice carried the weight of both duty and urgency, his authority unshaken despite the long battle he had just endured.

“I shall dispatch my own knights to aid in the endeavor,” Count Ronan declared. His tone was calm, but the intensity in his golden eyes betrayed his concern.

The Earl nodded. “I appreciate it, Ronan.”

With that, the forces mobilized. Adventurers, knights, and even the Count himself set off toward Aster Village.

Those who could use aura-enhanced movement or wind magic pushed ahead, their bodies flickering like phantoms against the fading light.

The rest followed on horseback or on foot, moving as swiftly as they could.

Meanwhile, the Earl and I remained behind.

He had to prepare for an urgent journey to the royal capital to report the stampede to the king, while I would stay in Lavender Town, ensuring its defenses remained secure.

As the last of the reinforcements departed, I turned to the Earl. “I have to ask—why did the adventurers agree to help so quickly?”

The Earl exhaled, a faint smile playing on his lips. “Because Daisy and Celestia saved them.”

I frowned. “I really did miss something interesting, didn’t I?”

What exactly happened?

I couldn’t imagine what they did to save them.

A few months ago, their youngest brother also saved Esta and Hazel.

And now, Daisy and Celes saved those adventurers?

What interesting siblings.

He chuckled. “You can ask them yourself when they return. But right now, I’m more worried about them. Especially Daisy—she’s reckless. And their parents…” His voice trailed off for a moment before he continued. “Glacius and Sheryl once saved my sister and me. I owe them my life.”

His words struck me harder than I expected.

I had known the girls were from a family of former adventurers, but I never realized how deep their ties ran.

“They were B-Rank and C-Rank adventurers, right?” I said, more to reassure myself than anything. “They should be able to hold on.”

The Earl’s expression darkened. “I hope so.”

A chill ran down my spine. Something about this attack—its timing, its scale—felt off.

“The arrival of so many bandits at once seems too convenient,” I murmured. “This isn’t a random raid. It’s coordinated.”

I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

The Earl’s gaze sharpened. “Yes. I suspect they’re not mere bandits, but soldiers in disguise. Those clowns mentioned being hired. It’s highly likely the same individual is behind both attacks.”

“Or two separate factions working together,” I added, my voice grim.

“That is also a possibility.”

The implications were troubling.

Whoever was orchestrating this chaos had resources, strategy, and impeccable timing. The stampede had nearly wiped us out, and now, just as we regained our footing, an entire village was under siege.

This wasn’t over.

— Freed’s POV —

Three hours on horseback had left me weary, but the village was close. Ten minutes more, maybe twenty at most.

【Master! Look above! There is a smoke there!】

<”Huh?”>

My gaze snapped upward, my breath hitching.

A faint column of smoke curled into the sky, then another, and another.

My pulse quickened.

<“That’s... Isn't that the village!? Why is there smoke!? And another one just appeared!”>

【I don’t know what happened. But there is a high chance that the village is burning.】

"No!"

I kicked my heels into my horse’s flanks, urging it into a full gallop. The pounding of hooves swallowed the world around me, but it couldn’t drown the rising dread clawing its way up my throat.

I recognized him instantly—the man who taught me how to ride.

But the man I remembered had warmth in his eyes. Now, they were wild, frantic.

"H-Huh!? F-Freed!?" he stammered.

His horse reared, nostrils flaring.

"Go back to town! Quickly!" he gasped, struggling to catch his breath. "The village—it’s under attack! Bandits! Hundreds of them! I’m going to get help!”

“What!?”

I pulled on the reins, my heart slamming against my ribs.

He didn’t wait for my response. He dug his heels in and galloped past me, vanishing like a fleeting shadow.

Master, you should follow him back to town. It’s safer—there are adventurers there.】

<”But the village is nearby! My parents—!”>

I couldn't finish my words.

A memory, unbidden, clawed its way out of the graveyard of my past.

The past where my mother and father once lived—drenched in blood.

Their hands had been reaching for each other, even in death.

And I screamed.

A scream that ripped from my throat.

A scream that no one heard.

<“I… I don't want to lose my parents again!”>

Aza’s words blurred into the background.

I knew she was right. The town was safer.

But my feet, my hands, my very soul rejected the idea of running away.

Not again.

I refused to let history repeat itself.

I leaned forward, urging my horse faster. The wind whipped at my face, but the sting was nothing compared to the fire burning in my chest.

The village loomed ahead.

Smoke suffocated the sky.

“Mom, Dad, please be okay…!”

Minutes later, the village entrance loomed ahead.

But, it was too quiet.

An unnatural, suffocating silence.

The laughter of children, the chatter of neighbors—it was gone.

Then I saw them.

Two guards. Their corpses lay sprawled near the village gate, twisted and ruined beyond recognition.

One man had been gutted, his entrails spilling from the jagged wound in his stomach, pooling beneath him like thick mud.

The other’s face was caved in, his skull cracked open, the soft pink matter of his brain smeared across the dirt like a grotesque painting.

The stench hit me.

Rot. Blood. Burning flesh.

I gritted my teeth.

*BOOM*

An explosion tore through the village center, rattling my bones.

I nearly lost control of the reins.

The scent of burning wood and flesh filled the air, choking me.

I pressed on.

The deeper I rode into the village, the more horrors unfolded.

Bodies littered the ground, not merely slain but desecrated.

Some were missing limbs, their severed hands and feet trampled into the blood-soaked earth.

Others had been impaled—on spears, on jagged wooden stakes, on their own broken farming tools.

The corpses of women and children, their clothes in tatters, lay in twisted heaps like discarded dolls.

The severed heads of the men lay scattered on the ground, their wide, unseeing eyes frozen in disbelief.

Near the wreckage of a burning home, a man twitched.

I dismounted quickly, running toward him—until I saw his face.

Or what was left of it.

His lower jaw was gone, ripped away, exposing a row of shattered teeth and the pulsing ruin of his throat. His eyes, clouded with pain, flickered toward me. His fingers twitched, trying to reach out.

He was trying to beg.

I stumbled back, clamping a hand over my mouth. I couldn't afford to stop.

Screams still echoed from deeper in the village.

I forced my trembling hands to steady.

I uttered a silent apology before I left him.

I mounted back and moved slowly.

Until I saw them.

A group of bandits corralled villagers like cattle, tying their hands, shoving them toward carriages. Women and children, some barely older than my sister, Celes.

They’re taking them.

I wanted to scream, but my body moved on instinct.

I kept low, weaving through the shadows, unnoticed—for now.

They dispersed in search of more villagers, allowing me to quietly maneuver my horse.

The village buzzed with cries and bandits' laughter, drowning out the subtle sounds of my approach.

*BOOM!*

Another explosion thundered from the direction of my house.

Near my house.

I had to get there.

I had to—

Then I saw them.

Mom and Dad.

They stood in front of our burning home, surrounded by twenty bandits.

Mom's chest heaved, sweat and soot streaking her face. Dad’s blade trembled in his grip, blood dripping from its edge.

They were still standing.

But they wouldn’t last much longer.

Was I too late again…?