The villagers, who had been extremely tense just moments ago, now relaxed a little. The children who had been hiding timidly behind the adults were no longer afraid, and excitedly gathered around Unknown, shouting with joy.

Knight Gregory watched from a distance as the villagers called out to Unknown, and realized that the powerful, intimidating arrow from earlier had indeed come from this man, who was armed with all sorts of weapons and looked like a walking arsenal.

Wearing so much heavy equipment would be a burden even for a strong warhorse. Unknown's ease of movement astonished the knights once again.

“Young warrior! You possess the power to prevent a bloody conflict.” Knight Gregory slowly drew the hilt at his waist, and a blade of light shot out over three feet long. He chose his words carefully: “Do you intend to lead the villagers in defiance of the entire nation? How many knights do you think you alone could kill? Can you withstand the attack of a Gold Knight? Can you withstand the charge of a Silver Knight? And could you resist the attacks of mages, archmages, or even sword saints?”

The lightsaber—a special weapon known as prehistoric magitech, said to rival the weapons forged by dwarves—was powerful enough to easily cut through iron armor. In the eyes of commoners, a lightsaber itself represented immense power. However, since prehistoric magitech was extremely difficult to study, the mass-produced lightsabers available now were not much stronger than ordinary swords, though their lightness made them popular among many knights.

At this moment, Old Village Chief's face had turned quite grim. Having traveled outside many times in his youth, Old Village Chief naturally knew that magitech users and sword saints were terrifying beings, not something their small village could possibly resist.

Seeing the lightsaber, a sense of déjà vu flashed through Unknown's mind, and he inexplicably felt disdain for it, even thinking: How dare they show off such a shoddy product?

Unknown didn't know the relative strength of the various titles Gregory mentioned, but seeing Old Village Chief's troubled expression, he understood that Gregory was not talking about mere weaklings.

As Gregory finished speaking, most of the villagers furrowed their brows and fell silent.

“Honorable knight, you have come here to conscript soldiers who can kill more enemies for the country. If I agree to leave with you, would you be willing to spare these villagers? Even when you report back to your superiors, you must not mention that there are other villagers here. Can you accept these terms?”

“Unknown! What are you saying! We won't allow you to do this!”

“Yes! There are other ways to solve this! We won't let you do this!”

“Unknown! Do you know what war is? It's death at any moment! We accept dying for our loved ones! But to die for a country that abandoned us long ago—that is unacceptable!”

Hearing the villagers' words, Gregory felt somewhat ashamed. The country had never cared about this village; if not for the urgent war situation and the discovery of this village in old records, the country would likely have continued to forget about it.

Compared to dying at the hands of villagers, dying on the battlefield for the country was the obvious choice for the knights. Now that Unknown had given them a way out, they wouldn't have to bear the shame of fleeing. After a private discussion, the knights shouted in unison, “We swear on our honor as knights! We accept your proposal!”

As for how to report back to the army, the knights had already worked out a plan.

In the end, resisting the national army would only lead to death. Old Village Chief had only hoped to negotiate terms that would minimize the villagers' losses.

With Unknown stepping forward alone and preventing many families from being torn apart, it was the best possible outcome.

Old Village Chief let out a long sigh, spread his arms to quiet the villagers' protests, and, with a pained expression, patted Unknown on the shoulder and said in a low voice, “Child, we owe you too much.”

“If it weren't for all of you, I might still be sleeping in that iron coffin, or perhaps I would have died in my sleep.” Unknown said softly, “Maybe if I leave the village, I can find my lost memories. Besides, joining the army pays, and I can use the money to help support the village.”

At the mention of war, that inexplicable sense of nausea rose in Unknown's heart again, and his blood inexplicably began to race.

Old Village Chief shook his head and, in a voice only he could hear, said painfully, “You don't understand. You don't understand the cruelty and horror of war. It is a living hell on earth.”

Knight Gregory tossed a bag of gold coins into the village and tugged at the reins of his restless horse. “The war is urgent! Young warrior, choose the weapon that suits you best from your home—we must hurry back!”

After removing the heavy full-body armor forged by a dwarf, Unknown immediately felt much lighter.