Chapter 336 - Taken away
One by one, the carriages and people in front would be moved up as the checks were done by the guild members. Somewhere allowed to pass through while others were denied to go past. However, what they did manage to witness was one of them being taken away by a guild member.
"You can't do this!" The man shouted. "I have my rights, I'm free to go to whatever kingdom I wish. I rightfully paid for my taxes."
A lot of the people in the queue looked away from the man hoping that they wouldn't be involved n the whole situation.
"See this, this is why we need to leave the kingdom fast. You may think you have your freedom, but truthfully all the kingdoms are controlled by the empire!" Those were the last man's words as he was taken away somewhere deep into the forest to the side.
After seeing the first man in the line to be taken away, it seemed like those who were wishing to go against the guild and fight back, quickly decided against the idea. Some even turned away without even trying to go past the checkpoint.
"Slyvia said at first there were quite a few people willing to move to Avrion," Martha said. "That the Redwings had earned a lot of peoples trust in the surrounding towns. We had done more for them then any of the guards or guilds had done. So when we became independent, they wished to move,
"Now she said they were hardly seeing any people migrating to the city and growth had completely stopped. On top of the trade being bad, the city is really struggling."
Ray thought about Martha's words, he needed the city to prosper to achieve his goals. Without trade, there was no money and without money meant there was no food, and when the people went hungry, they would blame those in charge or go somewhere else.
"How could the empire do this, and the Alure kingdom, are they really not going to fight back," Van said.
"You have to understand your mother's position," Lenny interrupted. "War is not good for any nation. If you think these people are being mistreated now and aren't well off. Then wait until you see a country at war. Nearly all resources are sent to the soldiers, while the people left behind are worked to the bone to support them. Taxes are raised, and even more problems are shifted onto the ones below."
Van went silent after Lenny's lecture. He realised that he was still just a kid and had a lot to learn when it came to running a kingdom. There was always a reason why things were the way they were.
Finally, after waiting in the Que for a while, it was their turn.
"Where are you going to sir?" A guard asked.
Standing at the post, there were a couple of tents pitched up by the side. There was then a man sat down wearing a barre at a desk. In front of him a sheet of paper and a bag which looked like it was filled with coins.
Forming a line on the path where four guards and it looked like even more were stationed along the way going into the forest. Perhaps to stop those who were trying to find another way round.
The guild had to be a fairly large one to be able to have this much manpower to stop people from all area form entering the new Kingdom.
The man on the horse looked nervous. He wasn't expecting anything like this. When Ray and his group had come and asked for a ride, he had asked for such a large sum he never thought they would accept, yet they did.
"Don't worry," Ray said as he got out of the back. "I will deal with this. You can go back home."
"Sir, are you sure?" the rider asked.
"Positive, you have brought us along as far as you can."
Everyone else had now gotten off the carriage and were standing by Ray's side. Just looking at them, it was hard to even tell what they were. Usually, guild members would at least try to match their colours to show where they were from.
The only thing the guards could assume was that they were a bunch of Adventures who had formed a party together.
"So what are we going to do now?" Van whispered to Martha.
"Well knowing Ray as long as I've known him, he's probably going to cause trouble."
Ray stood in front of the guards and said…
"We are planning to go and join the Redwings."
"I hate it when I'm right," Martha said, shaking her head.
After hearing Ray's words, the people who were waiting in the queue behind them took a step back. After seeing what happened to the last person, no one dared to say that.
The man who stood behind the guards stood up from his seat and came over. "Oh really, I'm afraid that no one is allowed to enter the Redwings kingdom today. Oh, and on orders of the empire, we shall be taking every deserter to be punished.
"Take them away!" He shouted.
Just then, the group was getting ready for a fight. Jack was ready to transform, Bliss had pulled out her wand, and Martha readied her bow. While Van and Lenny stood calmly behind the others.
The man started to laugh.
"Haha, do you not know, we are one of the top guilds in all of Alure kingdom. The only ranked A guild that exists in Alure. Did you really think a band of adventures can fight against us?"
But just then Ray raised his hands.
"We shall not fight, please spare our lives." He said in a slight monotone voice.
"Was Ray meant to, sound scared?" Martha said.
But the rest were just equally confused was Ray really deciding to let them capture him without putting up a fight.
The men started to cuff up Ray and the others. They also had taken most of their equipment away, and while this was all happening, they continued to wait for Ray to act, but he never did. In the end, all of them were placed into a large metal cage and were then taken away to an unknown destination.
All of them looked at Ray, sat down in the corner of the cage, but he still hadn't said a word.
"Boss, what are you planning?" Jack asked.
"We need to send a message," Ray said. "If we are going to allow the empire and other kingdoms to bully us, they will carry on doing so. We're going to crush this guild!"