May Your Soul Rest in Magdala Volume 4 Prologue

"Gentlemen, you have no home to return to."

The deep voice resonated through the bonfire clearing packed with knights and civilians, mercenaries, merchants seeking to reap the profits of war, and craftsmen who had left their homelands for a new land.

All were extremely on edge, but not one of them said a word. In this tense, suffocating atmosphere, they were holding their breath for what he would say next.

"Gentlemen, you have no home to return to. Therefore, we can only continue on. But there is nothing to fear. We, the Claudius Knights, have always been guided by the light, for we are the agents of Heaven! Gentlemen, you are not incompetent subjects aimlessly receiving a stipend. With the power of G.o.d and our faith, we will cut through the darkness of this world. Gentlemen, advance and reach out in front of you, and your new home will be within your grasp!"

When Archduke Kratal finished, the crowd did not cheer for him, but gulped in apprehension. Most of the people there had left their homes, risking everything on this uncertain journey.

They had no choice but to continue forward. To find a peaceful land, they had to continue onward. They told themselves that with nowhere to return to, any obstacles in their path would be nothing they couldn't overcome.

The country of Latria was known as the last of the pagan lands, and her queen had just converted to the Church’s Orthodoxy just days ago. With her conversion, Latria was, in theory, no longer a pagan country. For the Order of Claudius, which had expanded its influence as a result of the war with the pagans, this meant they had no more enemies. For those people who had planned to live in Latria, there were no new lands to conquer. It was precisely because there had been pagan cities, that the Church had taken advantage of them to plunder and settle under the banner of a just cause.

Be that as it may, they couldn't stop.

Just as the water in a river flows onward, never returning to the same place twice,

They told themselves they had no choice but to continue on,

And that there was definitely a light ahead.