Because of the soldiers' coordinated actions last night, none of the villagers were hurt, and no houses were destroyed like the last time the goblins raided the village, which was a significant development in its defense.
When the soldiers sounded their instruments and alerted the whole village to summon the other soldiers, the villagers naturally heard it and understood that a great danger was approaching the village that required the power of all the soldiers dwelling in it.
Naturally, they panicked and would have run out of their houses as usual. But this time, they stayed calm inside and prayed for victory. Riela was among them, and she didn't worry too much because she believed her husband was capable of bringing peace to the village once again.
Most of the villagers were unable to sleep due to worry.
As daylight finally approached, they emerged from their houses one after another to look outside and were glad to see the area was peaceful. However, they became worried that the soldiers hadn't returned yet.
Some neighbors stood inside their houses and communicated with one another, sharing their worries. They didn't step out because Rowan had asked them not to unless the soldiers were back.
Some of them even sat outside their homes because they grew tired of waiting inside.
A few minutes later, the sound of numerous footsteps could be heard coming from the south.
Everyone standing outside immediately turned their heads in that direction, and their solemn faces lit up at once.
They rushed towards the approaching soldiers.
"Yes, Lord Rowan and our men have done it again!"
"Peace has returned to the village!"
"This is good, my son is alive!"
They cried out as they ran to welcome the soldiers, who felt proud and happy seeing the reaction of their people.
They hugged their loved ones with proud smiles on their faces. It was a great achievement to protect the smiles and happiness of their loved ones from impending doom!
As the villagers hugged the soldiers, they began to ask about what happened. The soldiers started narrating everything that took place, causing the villagers to listen with their hands over their mouths in awe of the news they just heard.
"Hobgoblins, the strongest of all goblins! And not just one of them but hundreds?"
"Thousands of powerful goblins, and you all were able to defeat them! This is great, our soldiers are becoming stronger."
"What? Samuel, you killed twenty yourself? That's great! I'll finally become your girlfriend, let's get married and make babies."
The villagers reacted to the news in different ways.
The old and mature people who knew about the hobgoblins understood just how difficult they were to defeat. In the tales of their ancestors, a hobgoblin had once attacked the village and took the lives of hundreds of strong men. Only the power of the Lord at that time could stop it, and he did so by sacrificing his hands and almost burning himself to death.
They couldn't believe that their Lord Rowan and his divine pet were able to take care of hundreds of them alone. It was too good to be true.
While some soldiers told the truth, there were a few who twisted the tales to their advantage in order to woo their crushes and garner attention from the beautiful maidens.
Riela came out only after a few minutes had passed, as she was previously sleeping. She was among the few who were calm and collected while the soldiers were away.
When she got out, she saw the villagers and soldiers rejoicing and immediately knew they had won, which made her smile.
She looked around for Rowan, but he was nowhere to be found, causing her expression to sadden a little as she began approaching the crowd.
Captain Roland, currently holding his baby and celebrating, noticed Riela and her somewhat worried expression. He immediately approached her and told her Rowan would arrive soon. Riela nodded, and her heart became calm again.
The villagers continued celebrating for the rest of the time before Rowan, Dragun, and Vishirk finally arrived, drawing the attention of the celebrating villagers.
The villagers quickly swarmed them and danced in circles while celebrating happily. Dragun and Vishirk had to find their way out of the circle since they weren't recognized by the people.
Dragun stood at a corner, watching his son with a smile, while Vishirk was more than amazed.
"Your son is really incredible, senior. Can't believe we are the same age," Vishirk said to Dragun with a smile.
"Yeah, yeah, he took that right from his father. The awesomeness runs in the bloodline of the Winterseed family," Dragun responded without even looking at Vishirk.
Vishirk observed the young ladies and his smile widened even more. They were all beautiful and had more positivity in them compared to the girls at his school, who are so negative they might even stab a guy for looking them in the eyes.
"This village is heaven!" he thought to himself.
On the other hand, Rowan basked in the praises and celebration with a smile.
As usual, Rowan didn't miss out on the chance to harvest evolution points from his people.
He spoke to them and distributed the daily supply of food since the ones he stored with the cooks had already been exhausted.
"Congratulations on your victory, darling," Riela said as she came to hug him after he was done speaking.
Both of them exchanged a quick, intimate kiss that sparked a lot of reactions from the crowd; some cheered while others became envious.
On the other hand, Vishirk's eyes widened when he saw Rowan kissing the very beautiful white-haired woman.
He had seen the other women in the village, and even the middle-aged ones were more beautiful than some self-proclaimed school belles at his school. However, when he saw Riela, he immediately confirmed inwardly that she was the most beautiful. Then he was greeted with the biggest shock of his life when Rowan kissed her.
"I am still a virgin and he is married to the most beautiful woman in his village!" Vishirk felt like crying.
He turned to look at Dragun, who was still smiling, and said, "Please adopt me and make me part of your cool family!"