Mercenaries and Adventurers

The team approached the north gate of Hekou Town and was immediately surrounded by people who came out to welcome them.

The hunters in the team had seen similar situations before, so they were prepared to talk to the people approaching, dealing with all kinds of questions.

There is nothing that cannot be said, so the hunters answered excitedly while walking.

Most of them were middle-aged men who dared to follow the fierce aura of the hunters who had hunted a large number of northern wolves and escaped unscathed. They were pushed forward by their families and asked, while the hunters also gave brief descriptions. During the battle, he told the middle-aged farmers accurately that the northern wolves would never disturb their work again.

The people who got the accurate reply were elated. The middle-aged farmer turned around and took the gift of thanks from his mother-in-law behind him, holding it in both hands and handing it to the hunters.

"Thank you for your hard work, please accept our gift of thanks!"

Most of the gifts are air-dried chicken and duck smoked by some farmers, or a wooden jar of finely sifted white wheat flour.

The hunters also accepted it unceremoniously, laughed and handed the gifts to the old hunter who was driving the car, letting him store them temporarily in the carriage.

The children in the celebration team bravely plucked up the courage to squeeze out from their families just to touch the huge northern wolf skins held by the hunters.

They just touched it with their hands, as if they had done something great, they quickly retracted with grins, and excitedly described to their friends how prickly the dry wolf hair was.

Some people with higher status among the crowd of onlookers, such as nearby shop owners or owners of some small workshops, gathered around Knight Lanisa's horse, loudly talking about their names and the business their family was engaged in. While saying some compliments.

In previous years, they would say similar words to Lanisha Knight who led the team back to Kendall City at the end of winter, but this time they completely lost the teasing in the past, and their faces were full of sincere expressions, and they couldn't even open their mouths. Why do you think so highly of Lanissa Knight, knowing that she will be able to perfectly deal with these annoying beasts?

Knight Lanisha, who put on her helmet and put down her visor, nodded perfunctorily along with their words, but underneath her visor she was dismissive. There was no question in these false celebrations about whether her broken arm was in pain. This made her feel nothing but boredom towards these people.

-

The team walked into the town as the crowd gathered. Fortunately, the main road of the town was quite spacious and could accommodate so many people walking together.

The second-story windows of the wooden houses along the street were opened one after another, and some young women were lying on the windows, waving their arms excitedly at the young hunters passing by.

This made the young hunters in the team howl happily, just like a few unsupervised Northern wolves.

This cute move made the onlookers laugh, making people even happier.

However, compared to the tall young hunter in the team, the onlookers were more curious about Keir who was also riding on horseback.

This warrior, who was wearing a suit of armor that covered him tightly, looked tall and strong. He was equipped with various weapons and was fully armed, which made him look majestic.

Someone was talking to Keir. He was so nervous that he didn't know what to say, so he could only nod at the person.

'I really should have had a big beer. ’

When they were on the road before, the hunters who followed Knight Lanisa to Wumihu Village told them about the lively situation in the village at that time. Kil didn't believe it at first, but now he had to believe it.

"People are really free in winter." He couldn't help but muttered.

After saying that, he lifted up the visor of his helmet, and with a smile on his face, he received a large glass of cold drink from the person next to him.

"Thank you, thank you." Kirle's eyes narrowed. He was so sleepy that he met a pillow, a desert met an oasis, whatever he thought of came to him.

When people saw a very young face under the helmet, they all made a sound of admiration. But Keir didn't care, he quickly picked up the wine glass and swallowed the whole glass of cold beer.

"Go on!" As soon as he finished drinking, Kil shouted at the middle-aged man who just handed him the drink, and threw the wooden cup back to him.

The man opened his hand high, and the wooden wine glass thrown by Keir fell firmly into the palm of the other man's hand. This hand made the people nearby celebrate in unison.

Seeing Keir on horseback, he directly drank the wine they gave him. Immediately, someone took out various home-brewed wines from a passing house and gave them to the slowly advancing team of hunters.

The hunters were not polite either. They had already been in the forest and had been craving for the drinks in the tavern. When they saw the people bringing drinks to them, they were not polite and just took it and drank it.

Someone else tried to pass the drink to Knight Lanisa, but the female knight waved her hand and politely refused the drink: "My arm is still injured, so I can't drink for the time being."

-

The team walked slowly towards the central area of ​​Hekou Town, where the town's main management building and the residence of the local knight lord were located.

Someone had already reported the news of the arrival of Knight Lanisa's team in advance. At this time, in the small square in the center of the town, the local knight lord had put on a dark blue cloak with water ripples, and brought the people in the town with him. Several church clergymen and the main managers of the town welcomed Knight Lanisa together.

There were already low-ranking priests standing in a line on the edge of the square to block the crowds of people who came to watch the excitement. They stretched out their hands to press down, and the people who respected the church priests quickly fell silent.

Knight Lanisa led the team forward and stopped in the center of the square.

She patted her horse, then held the saddle with one hand and jumped off the horse.

Kil also carefully climbed off the horse. He didn't want to embarrass the knight and everyone here and now in front of so many people, almost half of the town.

The hunters behind them put the dried wolf skins in their hands into the carriage, and then immediately gathered behind Knight Lanisa. The old hunter who was driving the carriage also got off the carriage and handed the reins of the carriage to the attendant of the local knight lord who came to the side.

The tall Knight Eliza opened his arms and laughed, walked over and hugged Knight Lanissa, and the sound of armor clashing sounded: "Jenny, congratulations, after so many years of hard work, you finally succeeded this winter. "

He stretched out his hand to check the broken arm of Knight Lanisa: "Hey, you have to suffer a little. If you are not so persistent and call the big guys, there is no point in doing this."

Knight Eliza complained, then turned around and waved to a senior priest from the local church named ‘Warrior Hall’ who was the closest to him to come forward.

"Let old Cook show you. He is very good at dealing with common injuries like this on the battlefield. It will be almost healed the next day."

Knight Lanisha nodded to the trainee priest Cook, smiled softly, and then raised her helmet visor: "Then I wonder if he is also very capable in this?"

Under the raised visor, half of his face was burned by the high temperature, which was both terrifying and evil.

Lanissa Knight's face startled many people standing in front of her. Priest Cook, who walked in, frowned and took a careful look: "With all due respect, Knight Lanisa. Your injuries are not that minor and need to be treated as soon as possible. Otherwise, these wounds will only continue to consume your vitality. .”

Knight Eliza patted Knight Lanisa's armor and said, "Then don't delay, take care of the injury first." After saying this, he turned around and said loudly to the hunter team and the people not far away: "Everyone. Don't be stunned, everyone, celebrate! Is there any battle in the world that can be won without suffering pain? I believe that this cold weather cannot stop us people in Hekou Town from celebrating this."

"Raise the fire and warm up the square!" he shouted loudly to the owner of a shop in the town responsible for processing and selling firewood.

Then he yelled at several tavern owners: "Take out all the tables, chairs and benches in each of your taverns! Roll out the barrels and let everyone drink freely!"

He then shouted to several fishing boat owners among the people who gathered from the ferry: "Bring out the freshest big fish. We have the largest iron pot in Kendall County. Let us stew in a pot that can feed the whole family." Hot soup that satisfies the whole town!”

In addition, there was also a choir organized by the local God of Wealth Church, which he also asked to come out and have fun. There were also a few smooth-tongued bards in the town who had nothing to do in the winter. They also showed their true skills and organized the story of Knight Lanisa's trip and made up a simple song for everyone to sing.

Finally, he stood in the center of the square, surrounded by people who were gradually getting excited and impetuous, and shouted loudly: "Haha, don't be stingy, everyone. I will be responsible for all the expenses. Let's all get excited! This is worth celebrating. Let’s give some color to this boring winter day!”

"Oooo!"

"Oh oh oh!"

The people are so excited, they have been waiting for this! Because everyone knows that their knight lord is a very lively guy, who usually drinks three glasses of wine when nothing happens. How can he not make everyone lively when something like this happens?

The people instructed by the lord knight smiled and got busy. The attendants ran in and out of the knight's mansion, carrying various things that would be used: the rope bunting used as a celebration during the annual harvest festival, which the owner paid a high price for. Magic lanterns bought from the provincial capital, as well as various foods and high-end drinks.

The chef of the knight's mansion immediately received the warrant from the butler and took his assistant's servant to the slaughterhouse in a corner of the town to purchase a whole beef cow.

The tavern owners personally led the waiters and bartenders to move the tables, chairs and benches in the tavern, and rolled out the largest beer barrel in the tavern. The drunkards who were drinking in the shop were pulled out of the pub and let them go directly to the square to drink in the open air.

The owners of the fishing boats, along with idle sailors and fishermen, used snowmobiles to bring in the fresh fish that had just been dug out of the holes in the river, and then set up stalls on the spot to process the plump river fish that were half as tall as a man.

The priests of the Church of the God of Wealth ran quickly and called the choir members who lived in various parts of the town. Everyone wore thick cold-proof coats outside their solemn and luxurious robes, and directly braved the cold wind with clear and gorgeous clothes. The chorus sings the most appropriate hymn of joy among the church’s psalms.

"The gods in the sky parted the clouds to visit us today."

“Just because there is joy in my heart that needs to be shared with believers.”

"Looking at the bustling land in the distance."

"He is more cheerful."

"Everyone gets new clothes, and there are many carriages and horses on the road."

“The houses are lined up one after another, and the hymns are resounding throughout the sky and the earth.”

Other churches are not far behind. The Saturnalia Church organizes the most skilled young men and women among its believers to dance together in squares and roads. He also called on every household to take out some of the food prepared during the spring festival, and here, this winter, hold a lively celebration dedicated to Lady Winter, the god of the Saturn system. After all, it is said that Lady Winter is the one who dominates the cold ice and snow. God, but he seems to like the excitement in private.

Even if only one priest from the Church of the Sun God came, he secretly hid from the other church priests and kept using magic to send luminous white light balls more than ten meters into the sky, making this dark winter clouds The sky also has bright light like summer.

Of course, it was only near the square in the center of the town, and this middle-aged priest was not yet capable of lighting up the entire Hekou Town as bright as day.

The originally cold winter seems not so difficult anymore. People's enthusiasm and happiness show the most kind and beautiful side of their hearts. This makes Knight Elisa happily wave and pat his shoulders, and dance together when he catches someone. In a circle, he didn't care if the other party saw that he was at a loss.

Ha ha.

-

Knight Lanisa shook her head with a smile, ignoring the increasingly noisy square behind her, and chatting with Priest Cook who was walking beside her to discuss the matter of treatment.

Under the guidance of some attendants from the knight's mansion, Kil and the other hunters followed Knight Lanisa into the main entrance of the mansion, which occupies a large area. According to the wishes of the attendants, they had to clean themselves first. After many days of fighting and traveling, everyone's body smelled very bad at this time.

The bad breath and body odor that haven't been washed for many days are just there. The main reason is that everyone has been splashed with northern wolf blood more than once. The blood sticks to the body, smells fishy and is dark in color. Although people can tell by looking at them that they are the same. Helping the elite hunters, but participating in the celebration would not be appropriate.

After the old butler of Knight Eliza's family counted the number of hunters, he immediately arranged for someone to get the same amount of clean clothes for the freshly washed hunters to put on.

The male and female attendants in the mansion were busy, including those who carried firewood for the fire, those who carried the bathing barrels, and those who knew how to cut hair and shave. After obtaining everyone's consent, the blacksmith of the mansion took everyone's weapons and directly found a stone table in the yard to clean and wipe their weapons.

The bows of the hunters, the armor-piercing rapiers of Knight Lanessa, and the long swords of Kiel for hunting.

These portable weapons need a quick cleaning.

As for other things, there is no need to clean them up, let them take them with them and put them in the guest room prepared for them.

Kil took off his armor. He didn't need to wear the armor to go out to celebrate later, so after taking off the armor, he put it with other things, picked up the new clothes that the butler sent to him, and rushed there with the clothes in his arms. Take a bath in the steaming hot area of ​​the side yard.

Several large wooden tubs have been prepared in the house, and the maids are pouring buckets of hot water into the larger bathing tubs.

The fast-moving hunter had already jumped in and started scrubbing naked.

Not to be outdone, Keir immediately took off his smelly clothes and put them into the wooden box next to the bathtub where the clothes were placed. He jumped into the tub, first plunged into the warm water to soak his hair, then grabbed a handful of hair-cleaning powder from a clay pot on the ground next to him, sprinkled it on his hair and rubbed it.

This kind of cleaning powder is obtained by local people by boiling and evaporating the flowing juice from the stems of a water-loving plant by the river. The original viscous juice is steamed into dry powder and then pounded and ground into powder to become a toiletry that can clean hair and body.

This kind of thing has been used by Kiel. It has a strong ability to remove oil from human skin. It is most suitable for cleaning hair and scalp that are full of oil. Basically, local people use this kind of thing.

However, this thing only has raw material plants growing along the river, so some villages and settlements that are not close to the river can only spend money to buy these things from merchants.

The locals are not primitive mountain and forest dwellers. They basically migrated from empires with highly developed civilizations, so they cannot give up all kinds of conveniences in life.

After Gil finished washing, he quickly and neatly put on the clothes prepared by the butler of Knight Elisa for their hunters amidst the laughter of the maids and ladies nearby.

These clothes clearly reveal similar dressing preferences to Knight Eliza. The overall color is mainly gray, with dark blue stripes as a supplement.

It's warm and comfortable after wearing, and it's obviously not cheap.

After asking the maids, they found out that these were originally sets of exquisite clothes that Knight Eliza had left for his battle knight attendants, specially ordered by famous tailors.

However, the knight attendants of Knight Elisa are still young, and the adult-sized clothes that have been prepared have not yet been worn by them.

Keir didn't care so much, and instead of being as careful as other hunters for fear of getting his clothes wrinkled and torn, he directly picked out some important items from his original clothes and took them with him, including the money bag of course. The rest of the clothes were left in the hands of the maids waiting at the door.

"Please, sisters." As he said this, Kil blinked and slipped a few copper coins into the maid who took his clothes.

The maids burst into laughter, especially the one who took Kiel's clothes.

Keir walked out of the house and rubbed his face, then wiped his still wet hair with a dry cloth.

His hair isn't long, but it's not short either. But fortunately, he was really young, and the beards on other hunters' faces had nothing to do with him.

Seeing that everyone was getting their hair cut and shaved after washing, Kil went to the front yard to watch the blacksmith cleaning their weapons.