Chapter 296: Ch-296: Refugees

Everyone’s eyes moved toward Edward, who had come to Victor to inform him about the situation.

"Refugees?" Amber looked at Edward and muttered with a raised eyebrow, but Edward did not reply immediately, as his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he looked at the large metallic dragon.

Edward said in a trembling voice, "Lord Victor, what on heavens is that? Did you build that?"

"Do you like it? These are mechanical lifeforms, a new addition to the Army," Victor replied with a smug smile.

"So cool." Edward’s eyes had literal stars glowing in them as he admired the large metallic dragon. No man could dislike dragons and robots, as they were the childhood fantasies of men, and this creature was two in one, both a dragon and a robot-like creature.

"Lord Victor, do you think I can have one?" Edward said with excitement.

The girls’ lips twitched when they saw the interaction between the men.

"Edward, explain what you were saying," Amber said, her nose scrunched up as she interrupted them. Edward snapped out of his reverie and regained his professional, butler-like behavior.

"Yes, it seems like they are some members of a tribe which escaped from the clutches of a noble who wanted to use them for something. I found them being pursued and killed the pursuers," Edward replied, looking at the group and speaking in a serious tone.

"Noble? Which noble?" Amanda asked with a raised eyebrow. She knew many despicable nobles, and kidnapping ordinary people and special tribes was hardly a surprise to her.

"You should go and hear from them, Lord Victor. They are waiting for you and will only inform you," Edward said, looking at Victor.

Victor frowned and then nodded. "Fine, I will go meet them after some time."

---

An hour ago

Near the border of the Silvernum Territory, a military vehicle was heading straight toward the Silvernum Territory.

There were four people inside the vehicle. Two small children, probably eight and nine years old, were looking at the middle-aged man who was bleeding. He was their father, while their mother was driving the car.

"Mother, will he be fine after you reach the territory, while they help Father?" the little girl said, trying to keep a strong outward appearance.

It seemed the little girl had grown mentally due to the circumstances, and the boy seemed no different as he reassured his sister.

"Don’t worry, sis. I have heard good things about this place," the boy said despite his nervousness.

"Yes, I have heard the rumors. The Lord of this land is very kind, and people live here with dignity and comfort compared to the hell we were in," the mother said with a forced smile and added, "And I have heard that he is a very powerful Warlock with a very large and strong army, and even married the heir of the Hall Duchy. That means they also have the backing of the Hall Duchy."

The children nodded in understanding. Children of this world were far smarter due to being born in a mana-rich world compared to children of similar ages on Earth.

Suddenly, the sounds of gunfire rang out.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Vroom!

"Oh no, they caught us!" The little girl looked back, and her eyes widened in terror when she saw the multiple vehicles pursuing them, at the least there 20 vehicles which could fit a bare minimum of 8 people.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The gunshots coming from the pursuing vehicles made the anxiety felt by the beautiful woman behind the steering wheel increase even more as she pressed down on the accelerator.

"Damn you bastards!" The woman gritted her teeth viciously and reached her hand back in a hurry as she activated the defense of the car.

The surrounding mana trembled lightly, and a multicolored barrier appeared at the back of the car.

Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink!

Bullets continuously struck the barrier, causing small metallic sounds to echo everywhere. But no matter how many bullets their enemies fired, they failed to break through the defensive barrier. In fact, they weren’t even close.

"No, the barrier won’t last if this keeps going on!" The beautiful woman exclaimed with a trace of panic. She had already used more than half of the stored mana of the barrier while escaping.

"I have no choice but to gamble this time and use the boost to reach the border, but the barrier won’t be able to hold," the woman gritted her teeth and decided to bet it all on a single roll of the dice.

"Huff... do it, honey. We don’t have any choice. We need to reach the border guards," the injured man said painfully.

The woman did not hesitate and pressed the button. All the mana was exhausted as the vehicle burst forward with speed and accelerated.

"Damn, fuck!" The captain of the troops pursuing them cursed upon seeing this.

---

"Captain, I heard you married a second wife. Is that true?" one of the soldiers of the Silvernum Army said.

"What nonsense? Do you want my wife to kick me out? Where the fuck did you even hear this?" The captain looked at the soldier with a glare.

"It’s not me, but everyone in the camp knows. Looks like someone is spreading the rumor," the soldier said nervously.

"Fuck, fuck! I will beat whoever the bastard is black and blue!" The captain’s face turned pale with fright at the thought of his wife learning about this. He swore that after his shift, he would investigate who the fuck was spreading this rumor.

As the group chatted, the roar of an approaching engine broke the conversation, followed by the sound of gunshots. In the distance, a pickup vehicle was barely visible as it whipped up a cloud of dust.

The faces of the soldiers in charge of protecting this place changed drastically, and the captain ordered with a deep shout, "Everyone, take your positions! Now!"

Then the captain brought out a voice amplification device and said, "STOP IMMEDIATELY! STEP OUT OF THE VEHICLE WITH YOUR HANDS RAISED!"

He would not have reacted so strongly if he had not heard the sound of gunshots.

Seeing that the car in front did not obey his words, the captain’s expression turned cold, and just as he was about to give the order to open full fire, the pickup being pursued slammed on the brakes noisily, stopping abruptly.

Then his eyes narrowed when he saw a few more vehicles approaching.

"Let me go and see what’s going on first," the captain mumbled.

"No, we are not going to make it." The woman’s face paled when the vehicle stopped before reaching the border. She looked at the children and said, "Run, quickly!"

The children looked at her with tears in their eyes, and before they could obey, the vehicles caught up to them.

Step! Step!

"Finally, we have caught up to you bastards!" A man who was the captain of the troops, with a scar over his eyes, said with a malicious look.

The children shuddered and started crying upon seeing the terrifying smile.

But before they could react, the soldiers from the Silvernum Territory arrived.

Seeing the soldiers from the Silvernum Territory arrive, the woman’s eyes lit up with hope, and she said, "Please, seniors, save us! They are trying to kill us!"

Hearing her words, the captain’s eyes widened, and his eyes fell on the children who were injured. He looked at the opposing soldiers and said, "Drop your weapons. This is the Silvernum Territory. They are now under the protection of Lord Victor."

When the opposing captain heard this, he sneered. "Lord Victor? Heh, I would drag him with me and make him kneel in front of my Lord. Fire!"

The captain of the Silvernum soldiers had his expression darken when he heard the insult toward Victor, and his expression turned cold and mocking when he saw them launching all kinds of ranged attacks at them along with bullets.

Instantly, he jumped in front of the family who had asked for refuge and summoned the mech.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"What?" The captain of the opposing troops had his eyes widen when he saw the steel behemoth for the first time, and he was shocked when he saw not a single scratch on it.

"What’s going on?" Suddenly, an angry and confused voice came, and everyone saw Edward arrive.

"Sir Edward, you are here?" The captain of the border guards sighed in relief when he saw Edward, who had something to do near the border, arrive. His brows furrowed when he saw the foreign troops and the family of four looking at the troops with fear.

"Who the fuck are you?" The captain of the opposing troops said.

Edward was even more displeased by his behavior and looked at the border captain for some answers, who immediately began explaining, and Edward’s face darkened with each word.

Edward looked at the captain and said in a cold voice, "So you want me to hand them over and even want Lord Victor to go with you and kneel in front of your Lord, and you even attacked our soldiers?"

The captain of the opposing troops was about to act arrogant again, but his words got caught in his throat when he saw Edward.