Chapter 59.1: Civilized
The tricycle convoy came to a sudden halt, causing the Holy Legion cavalry riding behind to look up in surprise. Usually, the undead would stop periodically to clear out monsters, but this time, the Holy Legion troops hadn't sensed any monster auras.
The undead's reactions were also different from before. Some of them remained stationary, while others chattered and rushed to the back of the convoy, where they spread out and laid a tent canvas on the ground before gently lifting a civilian who was sitting in the cargo cart of one of the tricycles.
"Did something happen?" Andres muttered, and he instinctively urged his horse forward a few steps.
The Holy Legion cavalry were slightly separated by a distance of about thirty meters or so. From this distance, Andres, on horseback, could clearly see that the civilian that was lifted down by the undead seemed to be in a bad state. Her eyes were tightly shut, her limbs limp, and even after being laid flat on the tent cloth, she remained motionless.
Andres vaguely understood what was happening and couldn't help but sigh silently.
As a holy knight who had lived for over a hundred years, he wasn't that foolish to think that the undead were spreading a disease. He knew very well that common folk had fragile bodies, and leaving the familiar settlement environment to enter the wilderness, even just traveling, could be dangerous for them, let alone encounters with wild beasts or monsters.
Temperature changes between day and night, a seemingly insignificant mosquito bite, or even a light rain and a gust of wind could cost a commoner their life.
That's why common folk feared words like "migration" or "relocation." Unless they couldn't survive and had no choice, few were willing to leave their homeland.
This was the reason Andres had sighed. He was well aware that these civilians had left Camore and been in the Taranthan wilderness for over a week already, yet they were only encountering casualties now. This was because the black mage had been generous enough to provide ample food and resources for these elderly and weak civilians.
Even during the cotton-picking season at the plantations, the overseers were only willing to provide fat-laden food for the cotton pickers… Andres knew this fact as well.
He also knew that many cotton pickers would try to bring their family members to the plantations to enjoy the sumptuous meals during the cotton-picking season…
From any perspective, he had no grounds to criticize Lord Yang's harsh treatment of these commoners.
While filled with mixed sentiments and unsure of what he truly felt, Andres saw two undead kneeling beside the unconscious civilian as if attentively examining the civilian's condition.
As Andres was wondering what the undead were up to, he noticed that… one of the undead was loosening the civilian's tightly bound belt and clothes. Then, they used stones and other objects to elevate the civilian's feet before one put both palms on the civilian's chest and pressed down continuously.
Andres: "??"
Another undead creature opened its jaw as if drawing a deep breath(??), then leaned down and spread its bony claws under the civilian's chin and blew into the civilian's mouth.
Andres: "??"
Lowell also witnessed this scene and turned to look at Yang Qiu in astonishment.
"It's just heatstroke," said Yang Qiu calmly.
Lowell: "??"
Andres, who was ahead, also turned around with a completely perplexed look on his face.
"Don't worry, the undead can handle it." Yang Qiu remained as unperturbed as ever. "As I mentioned before, the Taranthan undead are different. They understand the value of life more than the living themselves. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, they won't give up on these civilians."
Lowell, Andres, and their troops didn't know how to react at all…
"Everyone, take a break here." Lowell gave a stern command, paying no heed to Yang Qiu, and led his unit further back to create even more distance.
Then, he had everyone dismount and engage in conversation to ensure his subordinates' mental state remained stable.
Yang Qiu acted as if didn't notice Lowell's nervousness.
He had said that intentionally just so that this bunch would question their beliefs.
These troops of the Holy Legion would never particularly care about the life of a civilian woman, especially an old, ugly, and seemingly worthless blind woman.
He deliberately distorted their worldview, making them realize the fact that "the undead care more about whether a blind woman lives or dies than these warriors of faith from the Duchy of Shiga."
"Civilization" wasn't merely superficially displayed through who dressed more decently, who had better manners, or who spoke more politely.
The true basis of being civilized for any intelligent life or intelligent race was the respect they had for other lives of the same kind.
In this regard, even the Chinese players who approached the game casually were beyond the level of the indigenous "civilized people" of this world.
Of course, Yang Qiu himself hadn't been as composed as he made himself to be. While he had been explaining the situation to the Holy Legion unit, he had silently placed the emergency alchemy potion he had taken out back into his spatial ring.
A player who came online to play during a break before class was a medical student and, along with Ji Tang, who knew some emergency treatment, confirmed that the unconscious civilian was suffering from heatstroke. First aid had been skillfully given, so there was no need for him to step in.
A few minutes later, the civilian, who had been incapacitated due to dizziness, coughed twice after the cardiac resuscitation and began to breathe on her own. The recently logged-in medical student player immediately asked a female player to help remove the thick and heavily wrapped clothes from the civilian, leaving only a light undershirt for warmth.
Ji Tang instructed players to clear a couple of tricycle carts, then built a canopy on the spot using branches, ropes, and tent canvas. He instructed other players to place the civilian on the tricycle with the canopy, elevate her legs, and lie her to the side while covering her abdomen with a blanket.
Yang Qiu also released an impromptu quest of [Lunch Preparation] to give this civilian more time to rest.
"Is she okay?"
"This NPC is fine already, right?"
The small team whom this civilian was assigned to gathered around, nervously watching the entire emergency process.
"Her breathing is more stable now, so she should be fine," said the medical student player who had assisted. "I suspect she overheated due to wearing too many layers and being exposed to direct sunlight for quite some time, leading to heatstroke. During this break, you all get a female player to get some cold water and use a cloth to help this civilian cool down."
"I'll do it." A female player in the team volunteered.
"Darn, NPCs can actually get heatstroke? Those NPCs in Exile Town wear thick clothes and stand under the sun every day; why hasn't this happened before?" a player wondered out loud.
"Those are advanced NPCs, while these are ordinary NPCs, so it's different," another player explained matter-of-factly.
Ji Tang, who tensed up, stealthily heaved a sigh of relief…
"Wait a moment. Doesn't this mean that all the civilian NPCs are wearing too much?" one of the players in the team that had been given a scare by their NPC suffering heatstroke exclaimed anxiously. "Can we get them all to wear fewer clothes and take off their outer layers?"
"We can't communicate. These NPCs don't understand what we're saying and won't initiate conversations with us."
"How about this, let's make canopies for the tricycle carts carrying the NPCs. We have tent canvases anyway. And let the female players, who are confident in communicating, try to persuade these NPCs not to wear too many layers," suggested Ji Tang. "I noticed that these female NPCs are more guarded when male players try speaking to them, so let's not get too close."
"Damn, NPCs even have gender consciousness?!" Some male players found it amusing.
Female players immediately expressed their anger. "When male NPCs attack, they never go easy on us. That idiot, Hal, has killed me several times!"
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