Mercenaries and Adventurers

The crows did not dare to get close to Kiel this time. They flew in batches and circled above Kiel's head, and continued to make annoying cackling sounds.

Seeing that those guys were not too close to him, Keir just followed them.

After getting up, he first checked the large pieces of wild boar carcasses that had been cut up next to the pit, and found that there were no bold beasts running over last night.

Then he came to the place where the wild boar's entrails were all over the place. After a quick look, he found two small gray foxes with bulging bellies, which might have been strangled to death next to the entrails.

"It's true that the brave ones are starved to death, but the timid ones are not starved to death." He shook his head.

Keir checked again and found a line of broken frozen internal organs scattered all the way to the glacier. After checking, Kil discovered that the huge liver of the wild boar was missing.

The half-meter-tall pig lung is also missing half of its lung.

I don’t know how some strange beast took away such a big and heavy internal organ last night.

When they arrived at the frozen river, what puzzled Kil was that the sparse traces of dragging internal organs extended to a cracked frozen river surface, and there were no other traces at all.

Under the frozen river surface, there were no other traces at all. There are no footprints on the ice that wild animals would leave when walking.

strangeness?

-

After wandering around the river for a while, Kil couldn't find any other traces. The beast took away such a large liver and pig lungs last night and disappeared on the ice.

It's really strange. I wonder if I can fly?

But he didn't hear the flapping of wings last night.

Unable to think of anything else, Kiel had no other solution, so he put this strange thing down and continued digging to the pit. By noon, he had already continued to have the power of the God of Agriculture in his body, and worked continuously to dig the pit very deep.

Then Kiel came to the glacier, broke some small pieces of ice with a digging shovel, and spread the ice-cold stuff on the bottom of the pit.

Then he threw down the three legs of the wild boar and covered them with a layer of crushed ice, followed by the wild boar's trunk, and then another layer of crushed ice.

Only then did he begin to bury the excavated soil in the pit.

The excavated soil was piled on top of the pit to form a small soil bag. Only then did Keir feel that if he had done it to this extent, it would not be dug open by the beasts that came and went.

He was very careful not to let the frozen blood stain the surrounding ground, and he buried anything with the smell of blood into the pit.

As for the pile of offal of the wild boar spread out on the hillside, he had nothing to do with it. Any wild beast could eat it if he wanted.

After everything was cleaned up, Keir led the horses to the top of the hillside to judge the direction, and then walked slowly towards Lake Umi in the northwest.

It wasn't until Kil walked a little further that the various animals and beasts not far away that had been restrained for a long time came out in a rush, rushing toward the cold but nutritious piles of internal organs.

The crows argued for a while, and some of the crows whose relatives and friends had not died in Kil's hands flew towards the internal organs, while other crows who had blood debts flapped their wings and chased after Kil.

They won't give up unless they deal with the human being Kil.

-

When he returned, Kil stopped wandering around in the wilderness and directly found his direction and walked towards the village.

Even though he was wearing armor, he was still very heavy, so he had to walk for a while and rest for a while. When it got late, he would find a place to escape the cold winter wind.

Interestingly, the crows who followed him all the way would always fight and curse with other birds in the woods near the camp at night, and the noise would stop after midnight.

When Kiel set out the next morning, he could see that some of the crows gave up following him and turned back to where they had roosted before.

This made Keir feel that even among animals, there were not many strong-willed ones.

Because he walked all the way, it took two days for Kiel to return to the east gate of Wumihu Village.

When passing by the mill, he went up and knocked on the door. After confirming that no one was in the mill, he walked towards the east gate of the village with satisfaction.

However, the east gate of the village was open, and there were two militiamen holding spears outside. When the militiamen patrolling the village wall saw Kiir approaching with his horse from a high position, they immediately sent a message to the militiamen guarding the gate below.

The militiamen who were reminded became nervous, but when Kiel walked to the door, they still called the other two militiamen inside the door and approached Kiel with their spears raised diagonally.

"Are you Joe Kiel?"

One of the leading militiamen shouted loudly towards Kiel.

Seeing that there was something wrong with the atmosphere and their actions, Kil first put down his mask, and then said, "It's me, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong? You were arrested because you were suspected of killing villagers! Put down your weapons and follow us to the village!" Kil's equipment is still very bluffing. He said so, but in fact These four militiamen were very cautious, and they kept their distance from Kiir.

"What? Who died? Besides, I have been hunting outside the village for the past two days. What does this have to do with me?" Although the news surprised him, Kil immediately retorted. After all, the logic of these villagers was outrageous.

If someone in the village dies, does it matter to him, a person outside the village?

It seemed that he was suddenly stopped by the question. The leading militiaman could not explain the reason, but he insisted on letting Kiir comply with their request.

But how could Kil pay attention to such an outrageous request? He was not stupid. He had never thought about putting down his weapons and disarming him.

"Impossible! I did just come back from the wilderness. Look at the big pig leg tied to my horse. It's so big. These are the legs and feet of a huge wild boar that I spent a lot of time hunting. You guys? Think about it, it will take a long time to defeat such a huge beast. And after all, who died in the village? You have to explain it clearly, otherwise don't ask me to put down my arms and follow you back to the village. I am Lanessa The knight is the one sent by the lord of your village to deal with the sunken fish."

At this point, Kil shouted: "If you dare to treat me like this, you are not afraid that I will return to Kendall City to find Knight Lanisa and ask her to come over and find out who is messing with me. Don't you want to live? You want to be hanged." ?”

Upon hearing the name of the village lord knight Lanisha, the militiamen finally shrank in strength. They no longer dared to raise their spears at Kilian. After they stood on the ground, they honestly wanted to get closer to Kilian. You speak.

But Kil lifted up his cloak and showed the long sword at his waist: "Put down the spear and come here to talk."

Several militiamen looked at each other and put down their spears honestly. Then they came over and quietly explained to Keir what happened.

-

Kil frowned under his visor. He never imagined that just two days after they were separated, the middle-aged man who was guarding the mill would suddenly die at the house of a relative who was staying temporarily the day after he listened to his words and returned to the village. .

Although it is just a small cellar for storing firewood and food, it is still a separate residence.

After someone was found dead and died in a cruel manner, all the village stewards gathered around him.

Not everyone in Wumi Lake Village has died innocently over the years, but it was all because of wild beasts or monsters in the lake, and no one died at the hands of humans.

It was the first murder in years.

The village stewards asked the middle-aged man's relatives in detail and got a piece of news.

The middle-aged man was originally a caretaker entrusted by the village to guard the mill, but the day before his death, he secretly returned to the village with his luggage. He told his relatives that the Kiel warriors asked him to return to the village and stay quietly, probably for half a day. moon.

Relatives are also welcome. After all, all the close relatives of the middle-aged man’s family died in the wolf attack. He is already very pitiful. Now he has met the Kiel warrior who is responsible for handling sunken fish, and he has returned to the village to stay for a while at his request. , relatives will naturally not stop it.

So he lent the other party a new cellar that had only been dug for a few years.

Unexpectedly, everything went well that day, but when the relatives invited the middle-aged man to dinner the next night, they suddenly found that the middle-aged man had been brutally killed in the cellar.

Hearing this, Kil immediately screamed inwardly that it was terrible. He did not expect that the werewolf Wolf was so cruel and dared to kill people in the village and framed him.

The militiamen continued talking when they saw that the Kiel warriors, whose faces could not be seen clearly due to their visors, showed no movement at all.

When a villager was killed, the village chief Corydon immediately summoned the village militia and analyzed with other stewards who had killed the person.

After a series of judgments, they found out that Keer, who had just arrived in the village and was unknown to anyone before, became the most suspicious person to them.

Keir is an outsider in the village, and it is easy for him to have conflicts with the people in the village due to some interests;

Kil is a young warrior with great fighting ability. He can definitely deal with a drunken middle-aged man without letting him call for help and be killed;

Keir only went out the morning before he was killed. At noon, the middle-aged man returned to the village with his luggage and quietly hid with his relatives instead of going to the village house to report to the village stewards. This is suspicious no matter how you look at it. ;

Keir claimed that he left the village to hunt animals to use as bait for capsizing fish, but after leaving the village, there was no news for three or four days, which was also very suspicious.

When he heard this, Keir was extremely angry: "It's all fart! Nonsense!"

The militiamen looked ugly.

Then Kil yelled at them: "First of all, didn't I just come back? If I killed the person, then why would I come back? Where are you going to catch me if you run out of Kendall County early?"

The militiamen kept their mouths shut.

"Secondly, open your eyes and take a look. This pig leg is as big as a person. Isn't this the result of my hunting? Even if I ride a horse, the wilderness around the village is so big. I want to hunt for something suitable. Prey, three or four days is already very fast! Use your brains, it takes three or four days to go back and forth, then I have only been out for almost two days, which is already the time to clean up the prey carcass! What else? Maybe faster? Oh, I leave the village and come back, kill someone the next day, then sneak out, find a giant wild boar to deal with, and then come back. Think about it, can this be done? In such a short time? "

The militiamen were at a loss. Although they didn't know much, they were not stupid. When the Kiel warrior said this, it was indeed unlikely that it was him.

Kil angrily pointed at the village: "So, send someone back now and call the village stewards, and I will tell them!"

"Yes, yes, yes." The militiamen pushed and pushed for a while, and finally selected an unlucky guy and ran back to the village.

The others just stood outside the east gate of the village, staring at each other. But Kil was wearing a visor, so he could see other people, but others couldn't see his face.

While the remaining three militiamen were awkwardly twisting back and forth, many people walked out from the east gate of the village.

-

Here came Coryden, the village chief, and many village stewards.

They did not bring other militiamen with them. Apparently, they heard some of Kiir's words repeated by the returning militiamen, and then they realized that there was something wrong with hastily identifying Kiel as the murderer.

But even so, the problem is still there, the person is dead, then who killed him?

The most suspected Kiel warrior is now unlikely, and the murderer is obviously someone else from the village. But there were hundreds of people in the village, and no one was wandering on the roads in the village in winter. The middle-aged man was alone when he was killed, and it could be anyone in the village.

While walking from the village house to the east gate, the various stewards were talking about these things.

This made the village chief Coryden extremely irritated. He threw away his son who was trying to help him and limped ahead of everyone.

-

Looking at these people, Kil resisted not letting his eyes fall on Ruf Wolf who was mixed in the crowd.

He stared at the old village chief Coryden and complained loudly: "Old man with a beard! Look at this!"

Untying the rope that bound the wild boar's left front leg on his horse, Kil lifted up a huge pig leg weighing dozens of kilograms and threw it directly towards the ground in front of them.

With a bang, the heavy boar leg fell to the ground, slamming up the snow on the ground where it landed before falling again.

Such a huge pig leg obviously attracted the attention of people who were originally full of doubts.

People looked at the huge wild boar leg in surprise. The bold ones went over and slapped the pig leg hard with their hands, making a banging sound.

Reminiscent of what the militiamen had said before, it was clear that the other party actually left the village to hunt wild beasts.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to get such a big wild boar leg. After all, the legs and feet are so big. How much does the whole wild boar weigh? A beast of this level can be called a monster, and it cannot be easily dealt with. It takes a lot of time and effort.

Thinking of this, many stewards felt that the Kiel Warrior was unlikely to be the one who killed the villagers.

Village chief Coryden rubbed his beard irritably, obviously not liking Keel calling him that. But there was no way. The tangible thing in front of them proved that the other party was not lying. They obviously got the wrong murderer.

Kil was angry and walked over to talk to the village stewards.

He repeated what he had just said to the militiamen. Faced with Kiel's various questions, he apparently convinced the village stewards at once.

"Then, who killed the person?"

"Yes, this kind of thing hasn't happened in the village for many years."

Coryden heard the complaints from others and looked at Kil in embarrassment. He looked at Kil, who was dusty and full of beast blood, and whispered: "Then do you know who did it? And, what happened that made you get in touch with the drunkard who guarded the mill?"

Kil lifted up his visor, revealing a frowning face underneath.

He looked at Coryden and said, "Your information is not good."

"What?" Kil's words made Coryden, the village chief, a little confused.

"I had only been in the village two days when I heard that the man who guarded the mill was haunted by fear."

The bearded man looked a little surprised: "Is it a northern wolf? The mill is very dangerous, but a wolf's claws can't open the door, right? And the village also provided him with a lot of rewards."

Keir rolled his eyes, "It would be nice if it was just this, but it's much more than that."

He tried not to let himself look at the 'werewolf' standing behind everyone. Knowing that now there is a real fight, it is estimated that not many of the troublemakers in these villages will survive.

The village was going through all the hardships, and it was the time when stability and manpower were needed, and they couldn't afford to have any problems.

"How do you say that?" Everyone else around them was attracted by what Keir said.

Kil raised his head slightly and pointed to the four militiamen guarding the east gate: "Why don't you ask them? That guard complained to them more than once. Damn it, I still don't know that person's name. !”

"Martin Puth. His name is Martin Puth."

Corydon, the bearded village chief, said.

Kil nodded, silently recited the name, and then wrote it down. I hope that the dead Martin can meet his family in the afterlife.

After being reminded by Keir, Coryden turned and asked the four militiamen who mainly guarded the east gate.

When he asked, the militiamen poured beans out of bamboo tubes and told them the general story of the complaints that the caretaker Martin had made to them in the past.

For several years since the wolf plague appeared in the North, there have been strange 'wolves' running to the top of the mill and howling at the moon, especially every full moon.

When the village stewards heard this news, they were so frightened that they remembered the difficult time when the village was attacked by the Northland wolves, and some of the timid people looked ugly. Fortunately, everyone is at least a smart person in the village. They know that the Northern Wolf has been completely defeated by the village lord, and those dangerous and terrifying beasts can no longer cause much trouble.

"It can't be that the Northern Wolf came to the village and murdered people, right?" Someone said sarcastically because he was not afraid of the Northern Wolf.

Kil struggled not to raise the corners of his mouth. He glanced at Wolf mixed in the crowd with the corner of his eye, and seemed to see the other person's face, which was no more ugly than the face of the steward who was afraid of the Northern Wolf.

Also, his little 'secret base' was about to be exposed, so no one would look much better.

But we can't let things continue in front of so many people now, otherwise we will have to fight soon, and we have to temporarily divert everyone's attention.

Thinking of this, Kil coughed slightly to attract everyone's attention.

"Ahem, I have a suggestion. Why don't you let me go see how the mill guard Martin died. Maybe I can find out something."

Keir's words made the village stewards look at him with suspicious eyes.

"That's right, that's right. You don't need to look at me like this." He kicked the huge wild boar leg next to his feet: "This thing at least shows that I cannot be the murderer, so the murderer is naturally someone from within Wumihu Village. By the way, Mayor Corydon.”

"You won't be called the bearded old man now?"

The bearded old man teased Kil.

"Ahem, Chief Corydon, after the accident, the village didn't let the outsiders who were still in the village leave, right?"

"Yes, the caravan has stayed in the hotel for the past two days. I have told them that they don't mind staying a few more days."

"Very good. Although I am very tired, poor Martin needs someone to avenge him and find the 'person' who killed him." Kiel spat out the last word softly. He did not dare to use the accent to imply anything, for fear of Wolf Something sounded wrong.

And vaguely, from what everyone said, he seemed to know why Martin was killed.

Damn it, it's all my fault.

And, Martin, Martin, didn’t you make a guarantee?