Mercenaries and Adventurers

The next morning, Zhao Ji continued to find Bodell blacksmith to make a shield.

This time, Blacksmith Bodell got up early, and made breakfast for him and Kiel in his room while living alone.

To be honest, the level is really not good, it's too salty.

The Bodell blacksmith explained that this is a necessary food for ironing and sweating. Because you have to exercise vigorously when forging iron, and you are in contact with high-temperature metals, the body will definitely sweat a lot.

And when people sweat, they will lack salt. Without salt, people will have no energy to forge iron. So he made this meal very salty in the morning, so that the Kiel warriors will know when they get busy later.

Keel nodded perfunctorily.

As yesterday, Keir stomped on the bellows to pump up the fire, and at the same time added scarce coal from Kendall to the stove. Blacksmith Bodell suggested that when adding coal, Keel could mix some charcoal with the coal, so as to reduce the amount of coal used while maintaining the temperature as much as possible.

Because Kendal County does not produce coal, a large amount of coal used by craftsmen is transported from neighboring counties by chambers of commerce.

Zhao Ji kept this news in his heart. When he was working for the apprentices in the artisan area, no one told him about it. It was the first time he knew about it.

It seems that although the iron products in Kendall City are high value-added products, no matter whether it is raw iron or high-temperature coal, they are all provided from outside. It seems that this is also a long-standing problem in the county.

First light the stove, then burn the wood to cause high temperature, and then put in the coal.

After the coal temperature rose, Bodell blacksmith put yesterday's semi-finished metal shield into the center of the furnace, allowing half of the metal shield to be heated by high-temperature roasting.

Kiel kept stomping on the bellows, while Blacksmith Bodell poked the hottest part of the shield with an iron rod from time to time, until he felt that the iron rod could be slightly inserted into the softened metal shield.

Bodell blacksmith clamped the metal shield out with iron tongs, fixed it on his small iron felt, and seized the time to swing the iron hammer to strike.

"Don't you think about taking an apprentice in the village? It's not very tiring to do it all by yourself." Kiel watched boredly as Bodell swung the hammer and vigorously hit the original shield embryo.

The Bodell blacksmith smiled and explained the reason: "The people in the village are not good, they are too dull. The first generation of immigrants from the empire or other places are okay, but the descendants who have lived here for two or three generations are not good."

"Why? I think the villagers are okay. When we went to deal with the goblins together, they all obeyed orders and were very brave." Keel said while stepping on the pedal of the bellows.

Shaking his head, Bodell blacksmith banged on his shield and explained: "It's okay to let them farm the land or do other things, but it's not good to forge iron. On the one hand, no one wants to do it. Who would do it? The village is surrounded by There is a large piece of uncultivated land, and every household is constantly giving birth to children. As long as they are raised, they can go out to reclaim new farmland. Once the unowned land is owned by the developer, it cannot be passed on from generation to generation. Is it the main property?"

"On the other hand, how much money can I earn by blacksmithing? I am from Kendall City, and it is not my own wish to come here to open a blacksmith shop. You may not know it, Kiel Warrior, but the blacksmith shop is actually owned by the knights in the village. Yes, I came here from the city only because the village house gave me enough subsidies. After all, a village dominated by agriculture cannot live without a blacksmith who can repair iron farm tools. This is a necessary tool to increase production. When I first came here, there were The farmer wanted his youngest son to learn blacksmithing, but after knowing that there was no subsidized salary here, he no longer wanted to let his son come to learn.”

"I see." Kiel nodded in understanding.

Blacksmith Bodell seemed to have a lot of words in his heart for a long time. It was rare for someone to talk to him about this today, so he opened up the conversation: "Actually, I came here on rotation with another blacksmith.

The two of us rotate every six months, which is actually okay. "

"I'll meet you in Kendall after that?"

"Of course! You are welcome to come to the blacksmith workshop in the future. If I am here, I will recommend you the best things in the workshop. Only the hands have the power. If you buy things in large quantities, go to them, and they will give you a discount."

Keir shrugged: "I'm not familiar with them, but I have something to do with the Saturnalia Church."

Blacksmith Bodell said: "I heard that you were rewarded by the Saturnalia Church for killing a large number of slime monsters that harassed the farmers in Kendall City. It was said at the village assembly."

"The priests of the church are well-informed." Keir didn't expect that the pastor stationed in the church in a remote village would also know what happened two months ago.

Blacksmith Bodell smiled: "Those who serve the gods actually know everything. It's just that they rarely express their opinions. I heard that what they really express is the will of the gods. By the way, I live It’s been so long, I haven’t seen what a slime monster looks like, can you describe it? Goblins have been seen a lot these days, and everyone in the village is not afraid of goblins now, even children dare to take them branches to strike the dead goblin bones in the square."

Sighing, Kiel whispered, "People should be wary of monsters. What if the goblin settlement returns in the future?"

Afterwards, Bodell blacksmith banged on the shield, and Kiel briefly talked about his previous cleanup of slime monsters in the swamp.

"It's amazing! You can deal with so many goblins by yourself. I fully believe that you can deal with hundreds of slime monsters by yourself." Bodell blacksmith put the metal shield that was repeatedly beaten into the furnace, and once again heating.

Scratching his head, Keir was very happy. After all, being praised by others is always a happy thing.

They were busy until the afternoon, and the two of them didn't have time to eat at noon, so they finished building the shield as a whole.

The shield as a whole is a standard shield-shaped metal shield with a length of 50 centimeters. There are two metal handles on the back, one is open and the other is not.

The closed one is for the forearm to pass through, while the open one is for the left palm to grasp, and the metal handle is cut out to allow the shield to be discarded if necessary.

The weight of the entire metal shield is unimaginably light, and Zhao Ji can barely hook such a large shield with a little finger. The overall weight is even a little over a catty.

Bodell blacksmiths are very fond of this metal. In the end, besides enough silver coins as a reward, Kiel also provided two small pieces of this metal separately as a symbol of friendly help.

According to Bodell blacksmith, he intends to use these two pieces of metal to create a thin and light dagger, which will be used as a family inheritance.

Although I am very curious about what such a thin and tough dagger will look like in the end, Bodell blacksmith said that he will carefully study the appropriate dagger shape and will not start making it in the near future. And in order to build this shield of Kiel, they have used up all the coal in the blacksmith shop. This metal is difficult to forge at the temperature generated by charcoal.

The two then ate and drank again in the village tavern, and this time, in the tavern, Keir told everyone about his investigation of the bloody dead cow in the cowshed outside Kendal.

Because cattle are an important agricultural labor force, the drinkers, mainly farmers, were terrified when they heard this story. For them, the death of an adult male cattle is more terrifying than the death of their own children.

Keir cryptically stated in the story that the dangerous monster came from the Imperial Knights in the upper reaches of the Kendall River, but only a few of the drunken drinkers heard it, and their faces were full of worry.

The people in Kendall County are basically landless farmers and bankrupt small handicraftsmen who migrated from the empire. They are basically unable to survive in the empire with serious social problems. , to this savage, unexplored new kingdom.

Unexpectedly, they would not be able to get rid of the power radiation of the empire here, and occasionally know that they themselves are still shrouded in the lust of the imperial army.

Kiel himself didn't have much opinion of the imperial army. He even had a good impression of the border knights of the empire because of the knights of Crowe, and felt that the quality of those knights was not bad.

As for the farm monster incident, although the source came from the negligence of a certain important figure in the knight order, no one was killed or injured in the end.

He thinks that kind of thing is a good thing for him.

At least let him show his face in front of the Crow Knight, laying a little foundation for the subsequent transaction.

Although Zhao Ji's shield is said to be forged, it can only be said to be in a half-finished state.

It is impossible for the shield surface to be the original metal. Zhao Ji asked Bodell blacksmith to leave a shallow groove on the front of the shield where the wood surface can be installed. This is to defend against possible arrows. If the outer layer is not covered by wood, the metal The reflection is too conspicuous, and secondly, when the arrow hits the shield, the surface of the shield will definitely be scratched and knocked off a small amount of metal by the tip of the arrow while defending against the arrow.

At the same time, there is enough space on the back of the shield to install cork that can cushion and absorb impact.

In addition, the handle of the shield needs to be wrapped in leather with a metal surface. This is a measure to keep your hands from losing temperature in the cold winter. Otherwise, in winter, he would not dare to hold the metal handle with his bare hands, otherwise his hands would freeze to death.

Especially after the battle, if the palms were sweaty and frozen, then the hands would be frozen on the shield.

Of course, wearing a full set of armor temporarily can use the semi-finished metal shield, as long as you are careful not to frostbite yourself with the cold shield.

Because this metal shield is still an unfinished product, Zhao Ji did not give it a name.

After bidding farewell to Blacksmith Bodell, Zhao Ji replenished some supplies at the grocery store in the village, and left Doral Forest Village at dusk.

As far as he is concerned, as long as the moons in the sky are not crescents and the road cannot be seen at all, he can travel at night. For the past two days, he simply stepped on the bellows with his legs and feet. He was not as tired as Bodell blacksmith said, but he had a good rest for two days.

So he was driving all night, planning to walk along the dirt road until he felt tired.

High above Zhao Ji's head, the little goblin, who had been playing around the village for two days, followed Zhao Ji silently with some reluctance. It has been playing like crazy for the past two days, playing everywhere in the village where no one is around, bullying poultry and domestic dogs, climbing up and down and running around, even the annoying human can't care about making pranks.

It has climbed to the tallest windmill near the village, and "fighted" the voles stealing food in the barn of the village, and occasionally ran to the houses of various households to steal human food, and frightened the timid human babies at night. cub. Only when he sneaked into the Saturnalia Church in the village, he was almost discovered by the Nia shepherd who seemed to have a feeling, and ran away in a hurry.

It found many goblin heads in the village, and every time it saw those heads, it felt as if it had seen the faces of those goblins in a long dream before.

Definitely the look of those goblins' undried faces.

It hates those goblins, always asking it for this and that, making it restless in its sleep, but occasionally it is also some funny jokes to pass the time when it is bored in the dream.

But, now that it has found a new interesting target, the human who stole and destroyed the elf's workplace, it seems more interesting to follow this human.

Thinking of this, the goblin sat on the snail shell, flew high in the sky, and used the goblin's magic to track down the human who left the village overnight.

By the way, what is the name of that human being?

It seems to be, chew-chirp.

Yes, chewing.

Hey, chewing.

------

South Kendal, on the main road leading out of the county.

At the place where there is a river between the left and right mountains, a checkpoint was artificially built here, called Bingxun Pass.

It is said to be a checkpoint, but in fact, on the land in the middle of the wooden wall of the checkpoint, along with the busy trade of Kendall City, a village composed of many small businessmen has sprung up in the past ten years.

Compared with other agricultural-based villages in Kendall, this place will not change a little bit of busy and chaotic business transactions with some vitality because of the various farming activities every year.

Some people dared to rely on a few people and a few swords to organize the transportation of various specialties in Kendall City, and sell them to other places nearby.

The greater the distance, the greater the benefits!

After all, the various tools produced in many surrounding cities are not as good as those produced in Kendall City, and they produce more. Even the various workshops in the provincial capital, after all, all the master craftsmen in the provincial capital serve the nobles and lords, so how can they spend their time and energy on making excellent tools for the people who plan their food in the fields.

At the same time, various small caravans also brought in various raw materials and products not produced in Kendall County from other places.

This checkpoint is not only a protective pass in Kendall County, but also a centralized distribution center for caravans. As long as the foreign caravans can sell the goods in the team here, it saves time and energy, and also reduces a lot of customs fees and head taxes.

The Kendall Act states that within the checkpoint, neither counts in Kendall County nor counts outside Kendall County. Therefore, various taxes and fees from outsiders are not collected here, nor are various taxes and fees from the Great Chamber of Commerce in Kendall City.

Then you say, isn't this free money?

In fact, when the artisans of Kendall produced various things, they had already paid a tax to the lord of Kendall. At the same time, the big chambers of commerce in the city also paid taxes to the government office when they purchased a large number of goods. .

Therefore, the goods exported by Kendall have been paid for.

In addition, providing a trading place for caravans traveling from south to north has also driven various other incomes in this checkpoint village and town. Spend more money. Pubs, red rooms, safe hotels of various grades, and casinos are quite a few, and they are packed into every inch of land in the checkpoint.

What's more, there is a business house established by a big noble with its profound strength and financial resources. It not only provides a variety of safe business services, but also is a high-end place where various caravan leaders often meet.

In this place where the luxuriance is not reduced by wind and snow, Zhao Ji, wearing a wolf fur cloak, came here pushing a half-full cart.

Taking a deep breath of the air that seems to be mixed with various smells and smells, Zhao Ji praised with satisfaction: "Hey, it smells like the urban-rural fringe area of ​​the previous life."