Chapter 212: People’s Thoughts Change (Part 2)

Shall Caldecott turned around excitedly and gave a big hug to the person behind him, who had been his guide when he first started adventuring. Although their former teammates knew clearly that Shall Caldecott first followed Cortez, only the two of them knew that Cortez was the one who gave him a new life.

Shall Caldecott once drank dirty water from roadside ditches, once fought with wild dogs for a piece of raw meat, and even ate maggots from dead bodies. As a slave of Pamir, Shall might have experienced the darkest side of the Western Continent, but the young Shall never gave in.

Apart from the famous Southern Spice Islands, Pamir, which practiced slavery, was a nation similar to a tribal system located in the easternmost part of the Western Continent—the United Emirates. The people there had dark skin and curly short hair; they were physically fit and roamed the Sand Sea.

The Pearl of the Sand Sea, lush vegetation, abundant water and grass, and scattered settlements. These were their main settlements. It seemed that on both sides of that vast Sand Sea, there were grasslands that had not been eroded. Together they constituted the unique nation of Pamir.

The southwest was part of the Pasta Plateau, with the eastern plains sloping; the northeast had the Kukdak Mountains, and the central-west was a desert area. Between the plateau and the mountains was the Kristabel Plain, which occupied most of the territory, with the vast majority of it being less than a hundred meters above sea level.

The Bamforn River and the Ishbel River ran through the entire territory from northwest to southeast. The two rivers merged at Kurnash to become the Crispin River, which flowed into the Benfield Bay.

The southern part of the plain was low-lying, with quite a few lakes and swamps—this was the watershed between the grasslands and the desert.

To the east of the plain was the western edge of the Izerel Mountain Range. The southwest was part of the Puntage Plateau, where the Susbia Desert was distributed.

Apart from the northeastern mountainous area which had a Mediterranean climate, the rest had a tropical desert climate. Except for the Zakukdak Mountains which had more precipitation, the vast majority of the country had an arid climate.

This environment made the agricultural economy there based mainly on animal husbandry. A type of date tree named Amali was the main crop there. On the contrary, the cultivation of grains was limited to a very small range and was not developed.

As the saying goes, poor mountains and evil waters produce unruly people—the Pamir people who survived in such a natural environment. Just like the Barbarians in the north, they had the habit of plundering outwards.

When Shall Caldecott’s father was beheaded by the Pamir tribal cavalry who came whistling on camels, he was still holding the spear that defended their home.

After the settlement they lived in was breached, his mother took him and fled in tears. He did not look back; he knew he had to live the life of his father. When his mother was hanged for stealing a piece of bread, he did not cry; he knew he had to live happily, including his mother’s share. However, he still became a slave. One rainy night, a sack, and he completed the transition from a Freeman to a slave.

In the country where he lived, there were also merchant groups that traded with those Devils. Those merchants whose souls were spurned even by the Demons in the Abyss used their own compatriots to exchange for dazzling gold from the invaders. It was because of those guys who deserved to be burned at the stake that Shall Caldecott fell into the hands of his enemies.

Beatings, ridicule, and even bullying among slaves, Caldecott endured silently; he wanted to live. It was not the time yet; he had to live, he could not die, because his life was not only his own, he carried three beliefs—he must live.

Finally, the opportunity came. The slave owner’s son foolishly let him out and used wild dogs to tear him apart, not knowing that he was a wolf of the desert. When he ran away, even the round, well-fed wild dogs were no match for him.

Regrettably, the slave owner and the wild dogs did not kill him, but he almost died from the majesty of nature. On the grassland at night, countless eerie blue lights lit up; those were the thirsty wolf packs.

Just when Caldecott was in despair, a figure brought hope. His vigorous posture looked exceptionally burly on the night of the full moon. He waved his strong arms, creating air waves that snapped branches, and let out a ferocious roar that drove away the wolf packs.

In Caldecott’s blurred consciousness at the time, this warrior who descended from the sky carried him on his broad shoulders. He brought Shall to the nearest town and cured him. Shall learned the name of his savior—Cortez Campbell, a wandering free Adventurer, and also Shall’s mentor and leader for the next six years.

Until the sudden Goblin attack in Greywood Town recently, the two were completely separated. After experiencing the initial hesitation and confusion, Shall Caldecott embarked on his own new adventure journey. Because in his opinion, as long as he could repay the debt of 300 Gold Coins owed for saving him, then he could return to the days of adventuring under Cortez Campbell’s leadership.

Shall Caldecott’s feelings for Cortez Campbell were quite complex. Mentor, brother, or father, in his heart, Cortez Campbell played all three roles simultaneously.

Later, during a mission to hunt a brown bear, he encountered this adventure team led by the Dwarf Hodeheke. After having a relatively pleasant first cooperation, he formally joined it and worked hard for the high goal he had set for himself.

After busily experiencing one adventure after another, Shall Caldecott understood the sentence Cortez Campbell said to him before parting: “Go walk the path you should walk yourself! There you might meet like-minded companions, or you might suffer the pitfalls of treacherous people. But only after experiencing those storms will you understand what your heart truly desires. Only then can your life be considered to have truly started.”

Since then, Shall Caldecott, who gradually gained a sense of security, although no longer strongly demanding to follow Cortez Campbell, still hoped to bear this huge sum of money himself. For him, who was once a slave, the pain of losing freedom left an indelible mark deep in his Soul. He felt that it was precisely because of himself that the person he respected encountered such an experience. The thought of repaying the debt weighed on his heart from beginning to end.

Facing the bear hug from his little brother, Cortez Campbell had to show a helpless smile. After patting the other’s shoulder, making the half-old, half-new Scale Armor on his body rustle, Cortez Campbell asked: “Did you accept missions here recently?”

Shall Caldecott scratched his head a little embarrassedly and said: “After completing a mission recently, I heard people say that there are particularly many Caravans departing from Poitou City, so I hoped to come here to try my luck. You also know that the beast tide after the beginning of spring has passed now, and there are far fewer missions to hunt beasts. It seems that there is no one in the team who can really hold the fort, and with fewer members, clients don’t really trust us with more difficult missions. So if we could join a Caravan escort mission, that would be great. Otherwise, we won’t even be able to afford to repair Hodeheke’s armor!”

“You said whose armor we can’t afford to repair! As long as there are suitable materials, I repair it myself every time.” The Dwarf Hodeheke immediately retorted. In the view of his clan, handing over one’s own weapons and armor to others to handle was a quite shameful thing.

Hearing Shall Caldecott’s story, Cortez Campbell was not influenced by the Dwarf Hodeheke. Instead, he looked at Xifonia with suspicion. He could tell that that person’s strength was definitely above the Red Iron Rank. Perhaps he had even touched the threshold of the Black Lead Rank!

Xifonia returned a kind smile to Cortez Campbell. By instinct, Cortez Campbell felt that the other party should have no malice. Mainly judging from the strength of the few people mentioned earlier, there should be nothing for the other party to plot against. Plus, after meeting, the first impression the other party gave, Cortez Campbell felt that the other party should be a Young Master from a Noble family traveling outside.

After all, having stayed in this city for quite a while, Cortez Campbell gave some pointers to his former apprentice: “If you want to join a Caravan, it is best to go to the freight yard in the south of the city. The stewards of the Caravans are basically there every morning. If you want to find work, you can go over and try your luck directly. Since the Lord here made the plan, and there is a dedicated mission bulletin board, very few people come to the Tavern to post missions anymore. Didn’t you notice that the Tavern here is far less chaotic than other places? Drinking easily makes people lose their reason, plus the competition for missions easily causes conflicts.” A strange light shone in Xifonia’s eyes: “So even the Adventurers are included in the overall planning? This Territory is really quite interesting.”

Although most Lords in this world do not view Adventurers as flood beasts, they also regard them as tasteless things—tasteless to eat but a pity to discard. They call them when needed and wave them away when not, giving a little money to deal with them when needed, and wishing they would roll far away when not. They were just afraid that they would cause trouble in their Territory. Except for some truly famous adventure groups, they rarely actively contacted and guided ordinary Adventurers.

“Yes! If you stay here for a few more days, you will understand how different this place is from those Territories you have been to before. It is hard to describe in words alone. I have never seen such a vibrant city. The cities of the Commercial Republics in the South might be more dynamic, but they often carry a smell of copper. Perhaps settling here wouldn’t be bad.” Cortez Campbell could not help but sigh with such emotion. Being able to struggle, start a business, start a family, and grow old. This was the condition for a “livable city” in this world.

“Then will you join the army here?” Shall Caldecott asked first. He still hoped in his heart that he would have the chance to adventure with Cortez Campbell in the future.

Cortez Campbell pulled the few people towards the Tavern while stroking his chin and saying: “I don’t know yet, I might have the opportunity to become a Squire!”

“Squire? The kind that serves people?” The Dwarf Hodeheke’s voice was clearly a bit strange.

Xifonia suddenly thought of something, then rolled his eyes at the Dwarf Hodeheke in annoyance and said: “I think he meant a Knight’s Squire! Otherwise, the other party would absolutely not spend such a high price to recruit. But even for a Knight’s Squire, one has to be promoted from a Knight Apprentice. The inheritance in between is also quite rigorous. The training methods are also quite different from different professions. Whether it is the cost of money or connections, it is not something ordinary Commoners can afford. Mr. Campbell, have you received Knight training before?”

“Yes! That was a long time ago. I never thought I would actually have a day to pick up this identity again.” Cortez Campbell’s emotion carried a trace of bitterness.

Before meeting Shall Caldecott, Cortez Campbell was a traveler. He was a loner, homeless, and had no relatives. He just walked and watched ceaselessly; from the deep mystery of the Underground caves to the solemnity of the Black Iron Fortress of the Dwarf Kingdom. From the prosperity and peace of the Hill of the Sun to the misty surroundings of Lake Karins, from the Wind and Fire Kristabel Desert to the Place of War soaked in the blood of warriors; he just walked to a place, stopped, and then quietly watched with those eyes, watched, and then continued walking. Hiding all the scenery deeply under his calm expression.

He was “Vanguard” Cortez Campbell, once a famous warrior in the Chudif Mercenary Company. Until now, perhaps some officers and veterans in Defia still bore the “souvenirs” he left behind, and the fearful memories of that patch of ice-blue burning with anger. No, no, this was not him, he hated this self, he cursed this self: “She died because of someone like you.”

The former Lord was Baron Campbell V of Nord—”Greedy Wolf” Simon Campbell. If the Baron’s defeat and execution had not torn this family apart, perhaps he would still be that favored son of heaven wearing heavy armor and wielding a sharp sword, with no bloodline inheritance, yet relying solely on his extraordinary talent to win the group battle championship in the Squire group of that year’s Knight Tournament, “Wolf Tooth” Cortez Campbell, right? Fate had always been a very ironic thing.

Originally, he could only be considered a distant relative of the Baron, but after displaying his extraordinary talent, his identity immediately became extraordinary. His mentor once told him that in this life he was hopeful of stepping into the Bronze Rank. After that, it was very likely he would establish his own Knight family.

He actually could not quite remember how many names he had used before, Cedric? Or Sapphires? But it didn’t matter, from that day on, from the moment the first ray of light in the morning shone on her favorite little teddy bear “Sadie”, from the moment her beautiful blue eyes finally dimmed, he was Celeste Campbell. Born for the name Sara, died for the name Sara. That nominal sister of his, who didn’t have much blood relation to him, gave him emotions more like a daughter due to the age gap!

In his memory, she loved to laugh. Every morning when she opened her eyes and saw Sadie’s silly smile, she would giggle; when she opened the window and smelled the scent of ripe wheat, she would burst out with a charming surprised smile; sitting by the fireplace sewing her favorite fabric art, occasionally the crackling of the fireplace would make her laugh for a good while—she just longed for such plain happiness.

Sara wanted to see the hot deserts of the north, wanted to see the high mountains of Moss in the west, and if not for the Baron’s severe scolding, she would even have wanted to secretly go see the White Dragon Mountains at the northeast end—her lungs were bad since childhood, and the cold air would freeze her whole.

She wanted to see all the beautiful places in this world, wanted to know all the appearances of happiness in this world. So when those ice-blue eyes stared at eyes exactly like his own for the last time, in the end, he kissed her eyes and simply decided.

He wanted Sara’s name, Sara’s heart, and Sara’s eyes to continue, until they had seen enough of this beautiful and bustling world.

Then the war broke out so unexpectedly. Burning flames destroyed all his beauty. The parents’ small shop turned to ashes in the flames of war, and the respected monarch also died on the battlefield. As the direct Lord, Baron Simon Campbell was inhumanely executed by hanging, and the entire family was buried in that struggle for the throne.

At that time, he carried his Knight mentor on his back, evading enemies from all directions. The Kingdom had never had a precedent of executing surrendered Nobles; the worst case would be nothing more than going abroad as Exiled Nobles! Cortez Campbell believed that even if they went abroad, as long as they worked hard, he believed the situation would gradually get better. But everything that followed shattered that childish fantasy. The weirdness revealed in that war, he had always suspected there was participation from enemy forces, but had always lacked evidence.

His mentor, while seriously injured, passed on to him the knowledge up to the rank advancement and then left. Taking his performance on the battlefield to show loyalty to the Lord, according to the tradition of that Kingdom, he could have defected to a new Lord. But he did not; he took his family and left this country that he considered already different.

And Cortez Campbell embarked on his own path of revenge. A Knight Squire turned Assassin was terrifying; although the means violated his original creed, the act of avenging the Lord and punishing the traitors was in line with the Knight’s path. Of course, this blocked all his paths of survival in the Kingdom.

Lost, he began to travel, and Mercenaries were his main source of income at that time. He could have just sunk into depravity from a Knight Squire to an ordinary warrior. Until he saw another pair of ice-blue eyes in the grasslands of Pamir—that was his redemption. At this point, he finally restored his original real name.

And now he actually returned to his former rank. Although nearly ten years of wasted time made the hope of advancing slim, seeing new hope in this city with great difficulty, he decided to give it his all and take a gamble—for a life without regrets.