Chapter 176 How did the empire become like this?
When Riven was born, her mother died in childbirth. A few years later, her father died in the war. She has been without a home and family since she was a child.
These acquaintances and friends in the countryside of Triwell were already the closest people to her in the past.
So for this trip back home, Riven always had some subtle emotions that she couldn't explain. Nervous? Anticipation? Nostalgia? It seemed like a little bit of everything.
But when she returned to the small village in her memory, wearing the armor of an imperial officer and riding a tall dragon lizard, all she saw were... panicked women, fleeing men, and wailing children.
This was exactly the same scene as when Riven led the Noxian army to raid the villages in Demacia.
"Ah..." Riven sighed dejectedly.
"Stop right there!" Marit shouted.
She drew her bow and arrow, and with one arrow she pierced the calf of a fleeing farmer, causing him to fall to the ground with a scream, pinned to the ground by the long arrow.
The wailing sounds echoed everywhere, and suddenly no villager dared to escape.
"What are you doing?" Riven frowned, "We are not in Demacia now, Marit."
"But they upset you," Marit replied calmly.
"That's not necessary." Riven felt a little uncomfortable: "They are from the same hometown as me after all."
“Then they should welcome the hometown hero instead of running away,” said Marit.
As she spoke, she looked with satisfaction at the villagers who were already trembling with fear and dared not run away, then she rode the magic bird to catch up and walked to the side of the farmer who was injured by the arrow:
"This is a reward from Master Riven. Take it."
Marit threw a bag of gold coins and a bottle of expensive magical healing potion into the soil soaked with the farmer's blood.
"Thank... Thank you, sir! Thank you, Master Riven." The farmer didn't even care about his injuries. He hugged the bag of gold coins like crazy and thanked them with tears of gratitude.
He kept shouting, trying to express his gratitude. But Marit ignored him. Riven looked at her twice more, then stopped looking.
Marit just turned around and looked at the villagers who had calmed down, and said loudly:
"Villagers, you should feel honored—"
"Because the hero of Triwell, the warrior commended by His Majesty, the master of the Blackstone Rune Greatsword, the commander of the Rune Swordsman Corps, Lord Riven, has returned to his hometown to visit you today!"
"Riven? Is it Riven?" The villagers looked at each other and talked a lot.
Some of them recognized the poor girl from the past, while others had no impression of her. But this did not prevent them from making the right response.
They came over from all directions and stood in front of Riven's tall dragon lizard vehicle, then knelt on the ground and said, "Welcome, welcome Master Riven..."
"Hmm..." Looking at these villagers kneeling together, both familiar and unfamiliar, Riven felt inexplicably irritated.
Boring, totally boring.
It turned out that Trevally wasn't her home at all. She didn't belong here anymore.
"Everyone, get up." Riven was no longer in the mood to play the game of returning home rich.
She just wanted to finish the business as soon as possible, send the soldier Ona's ashes home, and then go back to the city and the barracks with Marit.
In the barracks, there are her fellow soldiers and sisters. Perhaps that is her real home.
"Who are Ona's parents?"
Riven asked condescendingly while riding on the back of the dragon lizard.
"I. I am Ona's mother." An old woman stood up.
"Where's her father?" Riven asked.
"He died in battle several years ago," the old woman replied.
"Oh." It wasn't an unexpected answer, and Riven wasn't surprised.
"Oona died too." Riven said directly. Noxians don't talk about beating around the bush, and they don't shy away from bad news.
"I know." The old woman's answer was also unusually calm.
"A few days ago, the herald sent back the news of Ona's sacrifice."
The death notice had already been conveyed to the family, but Ona's remains had not yet been sent back.
"So this time I helped you and brought her back." Riven said this and took the small package off the dragon lizard's back.
She subconsciously wanted to throw it down, but suddenly froze for a moment, then she carefully held the package, turned over and jumped off the back of the tall dragon lizard, and stood on the flat ground at the same height as the old woman:
"Madam, these are Ona's remains."
Riven solemnly handed the package to the old woman.
"..." The old woman held the package tightly and remained silent for a while. Her body was shaking slightly, but not much.
It's like I've gotten used to it.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but the old woman still said calmly: "Thank you, Master Riven."
Then she held her daughter's urn, hesitated for a moment, and then asked eagerly: "Master... is it only Ona?"
"What?" Riven was puzzled.
The old woman said, “Oona’s two brothers died in battle two years ago. The herald said they were buried in Shurima and will never come back.”
"Oh..." Riven understood.
Noxus has not had a policy of sending the remains of fallen soldiers back home in the past two years. Oona was only sent back because she died close to home.
As for Ona's two brothers who died in Shurima, of course it is impossible for them to come back.
"Please accept my condolences." That was all Riven could say.
When Marit heard this, she couldn't help but ask the old woman, "Your husband, two sons, and one daughter are all soldiers fighting for the empire?"
"Yeah." The old woman nodded.
“You have a heroic family,” Marit said.
Then she turned over and jumped off the back of the magic bird, standing respectfully in front of the old woman to show her respect.
"Oona sacrificed her life for the honor of the Empire. She died a hero."
"Ma'am, everyone in Triwell should be proud of you and your daughter."
Marit said this, and the villagers immediately agreed.
Everyone surrounded the old woman and worshipped her and her sacrificed daughter as the greatest heroes.
"Uh..." Riven's expression was a little subtle.
Because according to the cause of death she saw on the casualty list:
In fact, Ona was robbed in a Demacia village. She was careless for a moment and was stabbed to death by the barbaric Demacia farmers with a pitchfork.
This kind of death is a great shame for a Noxian.
So later the Noxian army simply massacred the village, killing all the men taller than the wheels, and taking the women and children as slaves and selling them in packages to the colonial farms on the north coast of Shurima.
"Yes, your daughter is a hero."
"She died heroically on the battlefield for the Empire's great conquest of the Demacia barbarians."
Although she felt a little weird, Riven finally revealed an impassioned look and said this to the old woman.
The old woman was moved as she accepted the loud praises from the crowd.
But after a moment of hesitation and stammering, she still carefully asked Riven, who seemed to be quite easy to talk to:
"Um, Master Riven...Oona..."
"Have you brought back her death pension?"
"Huh?" Riven was slightly stunned.
"You haven't received the pension yet?" she said in disbelief.
Shouldn't the pension be sent back to the family as soon as the death notice is given to them?
"Not yet." The old woman said, "The herald only told me that Ona was dead, but he didn't give us any pension. He said the army is short of money now, so I have to wait a little longer."
"How is this possible!" Marit was also shocked.
You have to know that Noxus may mistreat its workers and farmers, but it will never mistreat its soldiers.
As long as Noxians join the army, they can receive a large amount of resettlement money, their family members who are killed in the battle can also receive generous pensions, and they can also receive enviable salaries and allowances during their service.
Even the spoils they seized during combat would be distributed among the soldiers in proportion by the officers after the war.
In other words, being a soldier not only earns you a high salary, but you can also rob legally. If you are lucky, you may even become rich in a battle.
So even though Noxus has been fighting since its birth, and has been fighting almost non-stop for more than 900 years, the Noxian army still has a strong morale and high fighting spirit.
Because the empire had been expanding smoothly, the soldiers had always been paid well and had things to rob.
As a result, everyone enjoyed fighting, was warlike, and was brave enough to join the war. They also respected, envied and admired the soldiers of the empire.
But now...
"The army doesn't even pay pensions?" Even Marit was angry.
"But, maybe it's just a little late..." The old woman said with some fear: "When my son died two years ago, the pension was also issued several months late."
"I'll wait a little longer. It should be fine after a while..."
It turns out that it wasn’t that it wasn’t sent, it was just delayed.
But...is this really okay?
"In our Noxian Empire, since when have we had to delay even the pensions of our soldiers..." Marit was upset.
Riven had even more complicated feelings.
She still remembered the beautiful scene less than ten years ago when the imperial recruiting officers came to the village, the villagers signed up enthusiastically, followed enthusiastically, and all things were full of vitality and competed.
It was amidst the envy of everyone that she was selected for her extraordinary talent and physical fitness, and became a member of the glorious Noxian Imperial Army.
How come it’s only been less than ten years...
The imperial army began to rob the peasants, and the peasants began to regard the army as a plague.
Even the pensions for the Empire's fallen soldiers would take several months to be paid out?
"Fuck." Riven couldn't understand: "Why did the Empire become like this?"