Mercenaries and Adventurers

Keir didn't sleep well all night.

The hunters in the surrounding camps did not make a sound when sleeping, and they breathed softly. This is a sleeping habit developed by resting in the wild for many years. And in the tent in the middle of their tents, the women were also very quiet.

It was too noisy just for the militiamen sleeping around. Not only was there the sound of militia teams patrolling back and forth in the camp, but there was also the sound of some militiamen singing in the camp in the middle of the night.

In the second half of the night, teeth grinding, waking up, and talking in sleep all followed one after another. The most unbearable thing for Kiel was the snoring. The rude militia boys snored one after another, as if they were not satisfied with the songs they sang in the first half of the night and had to rely on snoring in the second half of the night to compete for a ranking.

After getting up in the morning, Kil was listless, and the hunters who had not slept well were also in low spirits. After some tidying up, the young hunter, together with the guards arranged by Knight Crow and several scribes who returned to Bingxun Pass, led six female people out of the militia camp and walked towards Bingxun Pass due east. go.

In order to ensure safety, Knight Crow also asked a small group of melee militia to escort them for a distance so that these people would not be suddenly attacked by bandits near the bandits' lair.

Knight Crow also gave a sealed waterproof envelope of a letter to the old hunter who returned to Knight Lanisa, asking them to bring the letter to Knight Lanisa.

Keir stayed.

Coincidentally, there was an empty seat in the camp of Crow Knight's guard, so he first arranged for Keir to camp with his guards every time.

At dawn, the militiamen who had slept all night got up early to clean up the camp. After dismantling various materials, the heavy items were sorted and stacked on several empty trucks. Other lighter materials were transported by various militiamen. Carry it yourself.

At the same time, the militiamen who had had a quick meal early accepted the task assigned by Knight Crow. The first batch did not need to clean up the camp, and set out to block the bandit's lair and compress the bandit's activity space.

Gill followed the guards to collect their tents and the Crow Knights' tents, and then loaded them into a truck specially used by the Crow Knights.

The trucks transporting materials in the camp are all materials confiscated from the Bingshuguan caravan. They are borrowed by the militia every year when the goods are collected and returned afterwards. The drivers were the assistants of the clerks. These assistants who did everything looked hard, but they were actually very relaxed. Just catch the train, do the cooking, and wait on the secretaries who manage the logistics.

The militiamen set out in the morning and worked for a while. By the time they finally walked out of the open space where they rested last night, the sun had already crossed the nearby mountains and emerged from the top of the mountains.

Kil followed the Crow Knight who was riding a monster-like tall war horse, and listened to the Crow Knight talking about the distance between them and the bandits' lair at this time.

On the way, Kiel also met friends who were guides. There were not many people who were rescued by Kiel from the lair of the bandits in Luo Peng Cave. After a period of time, even fewer people dared to take the risk to truly serve as guides for the militiamen. .

According to what they said, some of the rescuers who also had relatives and friends basically said goodbye to them one by one after thinking about it for a few days after Kiel left. There are also some people who are fragile and unwilling to leave the town. After this incident, they were basically recruited by Mr. Simmons to join the Simmons Chamber of Commerce. Among the people who were originally rescued, there were two other caravans who wanted to absorb these helpless people, but they were obviously a little slow and not as fast as Mr. Simmons.

Since the two caravan members who were rescuing people still had jobs, it was of course impossible for them to join the militia as guides. However, they and Mr. Simmons did not do anything. They provided new warm clothing to those who wanted to leave to join relatives and friends, and paid for caravan rides to various parts of the county.

For the people who were determined to take revenge, they also provided sufficient supplies and support, and asked the people who served as guides to give the bandits a good look on their behalf.

Kiel talked with them while walking. After everyone briefly talked about their recent situation, Kiel separated from them. As a guide to rescue the people, he had to lead the militiamen in front.

After they were captured by bandits before, they had followed this mountain road and been taken by the bandits to their lair in a hidden area in the mountains.

"Kiel, I didn't expect you to have such a wonderful experience. Tell me carefully how you discovered the bandit's lair, and how you managed to get rid of the bandit's pursuers and get rid of the dozens of people they said were chasing you. In the Ice Flood Pass. I have nothing to do on my way, so tell me to relieve my boredom." Knight Crow's voice came out from his knight helmet, and the voice was a little muffled. That was because he did not open his visor.

Kil closed the helmet visor, then took off the helmet and hung it on his waist. He only wore a wolf fur hood on his head to keep warm.

He walked beside the tall war horse and raised his head to tell Knight Crow a detailed story about how he rescued the vice president of the Simmons Chamber of Commerce and saved many people.

While telling stories, occasionally the militia team leader would come over and give various information. At the same time, the scribes in the team will also write down their statistics on the team's supplies in the notebooks they carry with them for Knight Crow's review.

"I know that the hunters took away some supplies in the morning. I have sent someone back. On his way back to Kendall City, he will notify the officials there when passing through the Ice Flood Pass to prepare a second batch of more supplies. All kinds of supplies. Don't worry." Knight Crow comforted the scribes accompanying the team, and informed them that after conquering the bandits' lair, they would go to the mountains and forests further west, where a new bandit place was discovered. The hiding militiamen were cleared and a forest specially prepared for the winter.

Having said this, Knight Crow asked again about the topography of the forest in Kiel.

Keir then told what he had detected.

The Bandit Winter Forest is a closed area surrounded by mountains. Generally speaking, there is only one entrance to the east that connects to the wider mountain forest. The north side of the forest is a high mountain area with heavy wind and snow, which is generally inaccessible, but Kiel and the others are not ordinary people. This is a different story.

Most of the west, south and east sides are high and steep mountains. It is difficult for normal people to climb over the mountains, especially in this winter when it has snowed.

The terrain in the forest is relatively flat, and there are not tall but thick trees everywhere. The camps where each bandit spent the winter were open spaces, suitable for fighting.

After saying this, Kiel saw that nothing happened, so he continued to tell the story of rescuing the people. Finally, the story ends with Kil whispering about how he raided the bandit stronghold in the city at night and killed all the bandits and one of their leaders.

Knight Crow's voice was somewhat intriguing: "Bingshuguan has become a good place for some people to make money. Haha."

Kil didn't quite understand. He had only heard that Bingshuguan was the territory of Knight Crow, but it seemed that Knight Crow was not managing it.

He knew that there was probably some secret involved, but it was not his business. If Knight Crow was willing to talk, of course he was willing to listen. But if Knight Crowe doesn't say anything, Kiel won't inquire more.

One day later, their militia force finally approached the mountain where the bandits' lair was located. From where they camped, they could directly see the cave location of the bandits' lair.

The bandits did not sit still and wait for death. They initially sent people to attack a group of militiamen who came out, but they encountered stubborn resistance from the militiamen. The attacked militia team called to surrounding teams, turning the bandits' attack into an offensive and defensive battle in the forest.

The bandits, who lacked long-range weapons, launched several attacks, but were forced back by the crossbows of the militiamen.

After that, the bandits no longer tried to attack the militia teams on a large scale, but relied on the more elite bandits to engage in close combat with the militia teams who went out to investigate.

Still the militiamen had the upper hand.

Afterwards, as far as Kiel knew, it seemed that after losing some men, the bandits sent people to bypass the detection range of the militia team and invited some very small bandit groups nearby into their group.

I don’t know what the bandits of Luo Pocket Cave promised.

But no matter what they promised, they had nothing in the end as long as they could not defeat the approaching militia forces.

Kil asked Knight Crow on the road why the bandits stayed in their lair instead of escaping with the valuables.

Knight Crow asked him to take on the identity of a bandit leader and think about it. What would Keir do if he were a bandit leader?

After thinking for a while, Keir felt that he still had to run. However, Knight Crow slapped him on the head and reprimanded him: "Idiot! What kind of temper are the thieves? Huh? If you really want to run away, you can make sure that those guys under you who are blind to money don't kill them first. Kill him yourself, and then take advantage of the chaos to grab everything and run away?"

"Only by sticking to their guns can they maintain their original way of governance and management, so that the bandits who only know how to rob will still obey their arrangements as usual."

"What do you mean?" Kil asked.

"It means that bandit gangs are guys who are organized together just for robbery. Once the leader of the gang cannot prove that the gang under his management can no longer carry out robbery, their dominance will decline rapidly. They will disappear. He won’t run away unless it satisfies the interests of all the bandits.”

"Is it important if interests are life-threatening?" Kil felt that Knight Crow's conclusion was extremely outrageous. The militiamen had already reached the door, so why didn't the bandits run away? Don't want your life?

Unexpectedly, Kiel's question made Knight Crow and a guard next to him laugh. Knight Crow laughed so much that he even slapped the strong war horse under his crotch, making this unusually majestic and monster-like war horse unhappy. .

"The robbers are just exchanging their lives for money. When have they ever cared about their own lives?"

-

After arriving at an open space at the foot of the bandit's lair, Knight Crow asked the militia to set up camp here, and also asked the most elite militia team to establish a patrol circle around the bandit's lair.

This patrol circle includes the entire hilltop of the bandit's lair, day and night, in order to cut off all contact between the bandits and the outside world. At the same time, it also prevents possible bandit gangs from outside from having other thoughts.

Knight Crow also asked some militiamen to use weapons and axes to cut down some surrounding trees, preparing to make human-powered rams for impact and large wooden shields for hiding against bandits' throws.

It is said to be a large wooden shield, but it is actually a simple mobile position made of tree trunks as thick as an arm spliced ​​together to resist defense. Militiamen can hide behind them and load their crossbows, then stand out and shoot the bandits. The bandits' throwing objects cannot break the thick offensive defense that is read as a "wooden shield" but is actually a wooden wall.

The other man-made rams are to prevent bandits from blocking the entry and exit channels with debris, or they have built some wooden fences or watchtowers.

These things that have been built in a hurry can be collapsed by the more numerous militia, relying on the manpower ramming hammer of all the militia forces.

Of course, these were all prepared by Knight Crow. They would not be needed to attack a mere bandit lair. But if you don’t use it now, it doesn’t mean you won’t use it next year.

Next year he and Baron Kendall will lead troops to the southern part of the kingdom to assist the border nobles there in their struggle for control of the newly discovered large iron mines. At that time, it will be certain to fight the army of the nobles of another country in the south and compete for the city. In order for the army to not know what to do when the time comes, it is necessary to familiarize them with it now.

-

On the top of the mountain, the bandits gathered in the open space at the entrance of the cave, standing on the edge and watching the large number of militiamen camping down the mountain.

A piece of land was vacated among the bandits. At this time, the four bandit leaders stood together and looked down. Although their expressions were not very good, their specific emotions were still very different.

"They are here, what should we do?" a bandit leader asked worriedly.

"Nonsense, let's resist first as we agreed before. If we can't stop them, we will hide in a cave and stay there all winter. I don't believe there are so many of them that they can rely on eating soil to maintain their food and water supply. "The beheaded Delang said viciously.

"That's right, it's so far away from the Ice Flood Pass and it's difficult for them to supply supplies. And have the manpower for that matter been dispatched?" A calmer bandit leader took over what Delang said, and then asked another one Bandit leader.

"Don't worry, they are all the most elite. Although there are not many, it is no problem for one to fight three. Let them do the job, I guarantee it will be no problem." The bandit leader, nicknamed Iron Hook Arm, waved his severed hand hook confidently. said.

"No problem, no problem? You always say no problem, but didn't the old cripple always think he was very smart? How could he be so unlucky to be surrounded and suppressed by the soldiers of Bingxun Pass? Bah. If he hadn't failed to do so, Those damn long-legged guys who ran away, can these militiamen know the location of our lair?" Delang started to quarrel, and the surrounding bandits dispersed in a large circle, and they did not dare to touch the angry Duan. "The leader", because they all know that except for the fellow bandit leader who dare not chop the angry guy, everyone else will chop him off if they want.

"Huh, the location of the lair? How long do you really think this place can be hidden? With the team doing this, it's impossible to hide it. I still think we should break the ice this year before the militia is cleared. Flood Pass, loot the place, and then run away. Then with so many of us, so much property, and the reputation of being the boss, where can we do it?" He said before waving his severed iron arm. He muttered slightly angrily about the plan he had been proposing.

"Why are you talking about this after all? Didn't your plan come into use this time? Look, as long as we block the militia's attack, the final result will not be bad." The calm bandit leader had to comfort him With companions.

"I think those militiamen are timid and cowardly guys. Once the crossbows are gone, I only need to bring a group of people with me to defeat the people they beat in close combat. Bah, crossbows are only for cowards. Something." The bandit leader Delang said disdainfully.

That's what he said, but even he himself didn't dare to face the militiamen's crossbows and insisted on rushing forward to fight at close range. He had personally led a battle with a militia team that was investigating and compressing the bandit's activity space. Although he initially killed one militiaman through a sneak attack, he was immediately forced back to the other bandits by continuous crossbows.

A small part of the wooden shield he was carrying was blown apart by the crossbow, giving him a new understanding of the crossbows made by craftsmen.

and disgust.

After speaking, they immediately arranged for their men to defend on the main road up the mountain, trying to keep the militiamen out of their lair and avoid the worst possible outcome of being trapped in the cave and forcing the militiamen to retreat.

-

After Kil and the guards set up their tent, they didn't know what to do. He found Knight Crow who was about to go out at the gate of the camp and asked if there was any work he could do.

"That's it." He looked at the equipment on Kil's body, pointed to the spear blade attached to his backpack, and said, "There is an army craftsman in the camp. Ask him to get a new barrel for your spear. .”

Kil shrugged: "This has to take some time, and what about the time in between? Sir Knight, I am happy to deal with those rogue bandits."

"Haha, good job. Then you can follow me out to see the surrounding terrain later."

"Okay, I'll be right back." After saying that, Kil came to the camp where the scribes lived and found an army craftsman who was repairing a broken crossbow.

At this time, there were not many close-range battles with the bandits, so the wooden armor and close combat weapons of the militiamen had no wear and tear. He only needed to repair some crossbows that had been damaged due to improper handling.

"Hello, I'm Joe Keel, what do you call me?" Keel introduced himself first.

After looking at Kil, the craftsman smiled and said, "I know you. I saw you participating in the forging competition during the Harvest Festival before. Your performance is pretty good for your age."

"Thank you for the compliment, thank you." I didn't expect it to be someone who knew him, so that would be easy.

"I am Conquinas, a craftsman who follows the army. Technically speaking, I probably know a lot about everything. Well, if you have anything to do, if it is something that the Lord Knight has told you, please tell me as soon as possible without delaying the matter." As Kil spoke, he kept moving his hands and removed the broken parts in a few clicks. He took out a dirty, greased part from the pocket of his dirty leather skirt and stuffed it in.

Click, click. He reassembled the crossbow casually, and then pulled the trigger without any movement. The damaged crossbow seemed to be repaired?

Kil embarrassedly took out the blade of his spear and placed it on the table of the Conquinars craftsman: "The shaft of my spear was broken before, and there will definitely be a fierce battle afterwards. Knight Crow Said that I can find you to match the gun blade with a new gun shaft."

The craftsman glanced at the gun blade: "It is the workmanship of the Bodley craftsman, if I am not mistaken."

"What?" Kil didn't know what the other person was talking about.

"I said you put the thing here. I will fix it tomorrow at the latest." Picking up the gun blade, the craftsman thrust it under the table.

Seeing that the other party had accepted the weapons that needed repair, Kil quickly took out the prepared copper coins and prepared to hand them over to the craftsman.

Unexpectedly, the Conquinales craftsman refused Kiel's coin: "Do a good job young man, just kill two more bandits."

"No, I'm actually not a member of the militia. It was Knight Crow who asked me to come over to deal with the bandits. This money?" The copper coin in Kil's hand was either given or not.

The craftsman closed Kil's hand and pushed it back: "What difference does it make if he is a member of the militia or not? Go ahead and follow the Lord Knight to kill a few more bandits. If you insist on giving me something, then take a bandit's hand. How about a head replacement?"

He breathed a sigh of relief and felt that this was too easy. Since the other party didn't want money, that was great: "Then it's settled. I will get the robber's head as soon as possible. Please repair it quickly. I said Don't be afraid to come back with the robber's head before it gets dark."

Kil's words made the craftsman laugh: "If dealing with bandits is as easy as you said, then I can indirectly eliminate an entire bandit gang just by repairing the spear."

Keir scratched his head, it's hard, isn't it? As long as you give me enough money, he can even spend a whole winter to wipe out all the bandits in the entire mountain forest, not to mention an entire gang of bandits.