Mercenaries and Adventurers

Knight Crow put away his sword, then clapped his hands and said, "Well, that's enough."

He turned around and saw the others looking at him, waving their hands impatiently, and then the others continued to move.

Kil used a dagger to quickly scrape the mud off the horses' hooves, and then did the same for his own horses. He led the two horses to the place where others had placed the cleared weeds and flowers, took off the bits from their mouths and let the two guys pick and eat by themselves.

Knight Crow's horse immediately occupied a large area of ​​wild grass to enjoy, while Kiel's horse only dared to stand aside and moved its mouth in a way that the horse did not like.

Seeing that Kil had nothing to do, Knight Crow called Kil over. He broke off two branches from the trees on the roadside and threw one to Kil, asking Kil to use this thing to try to attack him.

Keir was eager to try, holding the branch in his hand and spinning around Knight Crow.

However, Knight Crow calmly moved his feet on the spot. No matter where Kiel turned, he would deal with it head-on.

Seeing that he couldn't find a flaw in the calm knight's body movement, Kil quickly moved, ducked to the left side of Knight Crow's body, and then stabbed with his sword.

Unexpectedly, Knight Crow just moved his left leg half a step back, and at the same time, he threw the branch in his right hand to his left hand. Just when Kiel's branch hit Knight Crow's left arm, Knight Crow held the branch's left wrist gently. With a flick, the sword thrust by Kil was opened.

"Faster." Knight Crow said easily.

Kil immediately took two steps back, and then quickly walked around behind Knight Crow. When Knight Crow still turned around following Kil's circle, Kil directly lowered his body and rushed to the knight's right side. This time, the branch in his hand was quickly lifted forward and upward from the side of his leg.

This time Kil moved faster and attacked more suddenly.

But Knight Crow seemed to have expected it. As soon as Kil's body moved, he stepped on the spot with his left foot, and his whole body turned clockwise with his left foot and leg as the axis.

This time, Kil once again had to face the left side of Knight Crow's body and the branch on his left hand.

Facing Kil's sword raised from the ground, the knight directly hit the branch in his hand at Kil's branch.

But the scene of the branch breaking that Kil expected did not appear. As soon as the two branches came into contact, Kil found that there was no force on the branch in his hand.

Knight Crow placed the branch in his hand on Kiel's branch, and brought it to Kiel's sword, which struck it empty. At this time, Knight Crow turned his left wrist vigorously. The force was so strong that the branch in Kil's hand also started to spin.

But at this time, Knight Crow took half a step forward, and the branch in his hand seemed to be integrated with his entire body, and he also used his strength to push towards Kiel.

Kil retreated and wanted to draw his sword, but he took a step back, and Knight Crow also took a step forward. As the two branches turned faster and faster, Kil quickly lost control of the branches.

The end of the branch used as the hilt of the sword spun in his glove, and he could no longer hold the branch used as the weapon tightly. When Kil tried to hold the branch in his hand, the rapidly rotating branch deformed and bent. This made Kil not know what to do for a moment. Should he regain control of the weapon?

If you hold it tightly, the branch in your hand is likely to be twisted from the middle. After all, it is just an ordinary branch.

If he let go and let the branches continue to spin with Knight Crow and lose control, Kil knew that he would soon be defeated.

But just when Kil hesitated for a moment, Knight Crow suddenly stopped and gently lifted the branch he held in his left hand upwards. Then, the branch that Kil held as a weapon came out of Kil's hand. Flying upward.

"ah?"

Just when Kil was stunned by this situation, Knight Crow took a step further, stretched his left arm forward, stretched the branch, and placed it gently next to Kil's neck.

Snap.

Keel's branch now fell aside.

"Kiel, think about it. Think about the battle just now." Knight Crow flipped the branch with his backhand and walked away.

Kil, on the other hand, stood there, picking up the branch that Knight Crow had thrown on the spot, gesturing and thinking about the battle just now.

-

The guards and militiamen quickly lined up to clean the area marked by the knights, picking up the weeds, wildflowers and shrubs and piling them in one place. After Knight Crow came over and took a look, and felt that there was nothing wrong, these people rushed to the edge of the Kendall River on the other side of the road.

The water in the Kendall River was still a little turbid at this time, but it was much better.

At this time, the river flow here is already more rapid than before in the upstream area, and the river channel has gradually narrowed a lot. The guards and militiamen stepped across the pebbled river beach covered with mud and came to a place where the water was not so strong. They took off their boots one after another and washed their boots that were stained with a lot of mud with their hands.

The guards wear these all day, so they know how to clean them quickly and well. They took out wooden brushes wrapped with pig hair from their carry-on luggage and cleaned the shoes in a few strokes without getting the inside of the boots wet.

After cleaning, they put it on their feet directly and walked back talking and laughing.

Most of the militiamen were wearing such good boots for the first time. Naturally, they did not prepare the corresponding cleaning tools, and they were too embarrassed to ask the guards with higher status than them to borrow things, so they had to simply scrub the boots with their hands.

However, this was not too slow. Soon they finished it and returned to the clearing that they had just cleared. They sat together in the same place as the team, talking and resting.

Seeing that his men were all back, Knight Crow asked each team to report their numbers. After confirming that there were no shortage of people, he ignored them and turned around to continue training Kiel.

He didn't do anything very complicated, so he just asked Kil to run at full speed around the cleared space while wearing armor and carrying weapons.

"How many laps?" Keir confirmed.

Knight Crow took off his thick helmet and raised the corners of his mouth: "Run until the follow-up troops arrive."

"ah?"

"Move!"

"yes!"

Kil had no choice but to obey the order and start running with all his strength.

The ground in the wild is still relatively soft. If you just walk around normally, there will be no problem. However, under the weight of Kil's body, running at full strength at this time, each foot is heavy and the places where the soles of the feet are in contact will be pressed tightly. stand up.

The sparse buds on the ground were pressed directly into the soil. The beetle that had just poked its head out of the soil due to the vibration was also stepped in by Kiel. After the sole of his foot passed, only the angry beetle that was embedded in the ground was left. His limbs were waving to the sky, swinging helplessly and ineffectively.

In some places where water accumulates on the surface of the ground, when Kiel runs over heavily, a large amount of juice will splash out where the soles of his feet step. It is obviously soil, but it is like a small puddle.

Kil was running with a huff and a puff, his whole body making jingling noises.

Every time the long sword moved with the left leg, it would slap on the left thigh. And sometimes it would be rolled up with the thin cloak on the body because of the long raised scabbard.

The helmet hanging on the right side of the body is shot with the sheath of the dagger. Every time I run, there will be a sound of it.

The guards and militiamen resting in the wide open space were all attracted by Kiel's actions. Some people wondered what he was doing, whether Kiel had taken the wrong medicine or was just dizzy.

But seeing the leader of the team, Knight Crow, standing there with his arms folded and staring at Kiel, they no longer said that Kiel was stupid, but instead discussed how many laps Kiel could make around this nearly circular open space by running at full strength. ?

The militiamen were just talking, while the wealthier town guards each took out some copper and iron coins to bet, each betting on the number of laps they thought they could run.

They still gave Kiel face. No one thought that Kiel couldn't finish one lap. Most of them had heard of the Kiel Warriors, which were quite famous recently, so there were some who did four laps, some who did five laps, and some who did. Eight laps.

The rules are not complicated either. The person who wins in the end will directly take away all the coins from others. If multiple people win, after collecting other people's coins, they will distribute it among several people.

There are no odds, so if you have any extra coins on hand, just buy one or two low-denomination coins.

Knight Crowe has sharp ears and eyes, so he can naturally see and hear clearly what his men are doing. But he didn't stop him, he just raised the corners of his mouth to show those guys a good look.

He had a rough idea of ​​how much ability Kiel had. But to what extent he could do it, he would try it now.

Soon, Kil swung his arms and ran over in an arc, dragging his tangled cloak.

After Knight Crow waited for Kil to walk in, he shouted at Kil who looked at him: "Hmph! Look at your appearance, take off your cloak! Don't stop at the same time!"

Kil slapped his head and then remembered that the hood he was wearing was in the way. The backpack he carried was naturally hung on the horse's back when he was marching, but his thin cloak, which was barely waterproof, windproof and sun-blocking, was always draped over him.

When he was running, he felt that this thing was too much in the way.

At this time, after receiving the prompt from Knight Crow, Kil directly unbuttoned the cloak on his chest and balled up the cloak while running.

Seeing that Knight Crow was just on the side of the route he was passing, Kil threw his cloak to the knight.

And Knight Crow chuckled lightly and took the cloak.

Second lap.

Kil's movements were a bit slow this time, which caused a lot of ridicule from the people resting next to him. This made Kil's face turn red. In fact, the slowdown was Kil's intention. Just to conserve energy and run a few more laps.

And since the cloak behind him was no longer in the way, he actually felt more relaxed.

However, Knight Crow was not satisfied. When Kiel came in a circle from a distance, he yelled at Kiel: "Control your sword, there is no need to swing your arms, it has no effect!"

Only then did Kil remember that the hilt of his long sword had a special function.

He held the hilt of the sword with his left hand and pressed down. Sure enough, the hilt of the sword he held tightly began to provide him with weak but steady energy support. Wisps of cyan light radiated from the sword hilt and were absorbed by the palm of the hand.

Kil's right hand also came down, holding down the helmet hanging on his waist to prevent it from colliding with the dagger sheath and making an annoying clang sound.

On the third lap, Kiel took a deep breath and deliberately controlled his steps to land on the place he had stepped on in the previous two laps, so as to reduce the softness and discomfort when the soles of his feet landed.

Everyone discovered that Kiel's speed was actually faster than the previous lap.

"Oh oh oh!"

Someone shouted, because soon, the person who beat Kiel for the smallest number of laps covered his face with his hands, laughed awkwardly, and lost.

Fortunately, this bet was just a joke, and no one took it seriously.

It was just the heckling from the people next to him that made the guard very embarrassed.

He no longer had to be embarrassed alone, because soon, Kiel maintained an even speed and reached the fifth lap with long strides.

Amidst the noise of the guards, the guard who could only run five laps after Kiel grabbed a handful of grass and threw it at Kiel casually. The blades of grass flew half a meter and fell down. The other guards whose number of laps were close also tightened their faces and stared closely at Keir's figure.

Someone started to cheer Kil up. Knight Crow glanced at it and found that it was the guy who had lost the bet. This made him shake his head in amusement.

"Hoo, ho, ho, ho." The mud and water droplets on Kil's feet had all been shaken off by his swinging legs and feet as he gradually ran.

Kil didn't realize it and just took a big breath. A large amount of sweat was secreted on the scalp, and it was flowing down from the forehead as he ran. Kil shook his head to get rid of the obstructive sweat, and opened his eyes wide to identify the road under his feet.

Round and round.

Gradually, the number of laps Kil ran exceeded the one with the highest pressure in the gambling game. Soon, the guards looked at each other, and then unnaturally took back the coins they pressed out, treating it as a gambling game. does not exist.

They all made a mistake.

The militiamen thought that Kiel's performance was pretty good at this time, but the guards all knew how heavy the armor would be, and it was a full-coverage armor that was more complicated and had more parts than their armor. Their armor is heavier.

At this time, the large militia army led by Knight Rumi had appeared at one end of the road, and the sounds of footsteps and voices walking around could be heard.

Someone noticed it and immediately stood up and loudly reminded Keir, and it was successful immediately.

The guards and militiamen started making noises and cheering for Keir. Everyone stood up, bang bang, bang bang.

He flapped his palm twice, and then dropped his left foot heavily, making a rhythmic sound.

Keir couldn't hear their encouragement at all.

At this time, Kil's ears were buzzing, and the sound of blood flowing could be clearly heard in his ears. His face turned red and white, but his running path was exactly the same as before.

The speed dropped slightly, but overall it was still running at high speed.

Knight Crow touched his chin, quite satisfied with Kil's will and physical execution.

Of course, the formal training hasn't started yet, so where is this? It's just a small test of Kiel's level.

Looking at the approaching large army, he waved to the Rumi Knight in the distance, made a few gestures, and then grabbed the weapon hanging on the back of Kil's armor as he ran past him.

It was quite solid here. When he mentioned it, Kiel's feet completely left the ground. However, the young Kiel's consciousness was slightly blurred. He only focused on swinging back and forth in the air with long strides and did not even realize that his feet had left the ground. On the ground.

"Wake up! Kil, wake up!"

Jumping up with his feet, the cloak placed next to him, Knight Crow grabbed the cloak with his other hand, and then wiped it on Kil's head. After wiping away a lot of sweat, Kil seemed to come back to his senses. , was angrily caught in the air by Knight Crow with one hand.

He gasped for air, and after being stunned for a while, he noticed that the militia army was gradually approaching the open space.

"How many laps?" Knight Crow turned to his men and asked.

Someone immediately reported the data to him: "Sir, twenty-three laps."

"It's amazing. It's almost the same distance as running back to Kendall City from here."

"Who says it isn't?"

Patting Kil's hot face, Knight Crow said, "Did you hear that? Twenty-three laps. How is it? How does it feel?"

Breathing heavily, Kil wanted to smile, but he was so tired that he couldn't even pull the muscles on his face: "So tired. I feel like I'm going to die. I'm going to die."

Carrying Kil in this way, Knight Crowe brought Kil to the horse and directly put Kil on the horse to sit on it. Then the knight waved to his men: "What are you doing standing still? The big army is here. They will rest here. It's time for us vanguards to go! Try to find a place for the team to repair in the evening. Tonight we will go directly to the ice Camp under the north gate of Xunguan. Arrive early and rest early!"

The guards immediately packed up and prepared to leave, while the militiamen lingered and did not want to leave.

But this is not up to them. When a team of dozens of people sets off, they have to keep up, otherwise they will be punished.

-

Riding on his horse, Knight Rumi waved to his militia team, and the group gradually moved from the muddy road to the open space cleared for them by the roadside.

The queue was neither long nor short, after all, the number of people was not very large.

He looked at the hundreds of militiamen forming a team in the open space and issued an order: "Everyone rest in place and are not allowed to move."

Faced with all the militiamen asking for their boots to be covered with mud, he asked the militiamen on the far left of the team to clean their boots by the Kendall River to save energy for the subsequent march.

One group at a time went over to clean, while the rest rested where they were.

At this time, the logistics following the militia team also moved from the road to the open space beside the road.

Baron Kendall greeted Knight Rumi and dismounted to eat and rest. The servants who followed him brought an exquisite folded wooden chair for Baron Kendall to sit and rest. Someone also moved a foldable and unfoldable sunshade painted cloth shed from the logistics donkey cart to protect the Baron from the hot midday sun in spring.

The weather is pretty good today, a change from the continuous rain of the past few days.

"I read in the book that sunny days are the most suitable weather for marching?" Baron Kendall took the ice-cold drink in the jar handed by the attendant and asked Knight Rumi who was still riding his horse.

"Of course, sir, although the soldiers will feel a little hotter, this weather is already the best situation."

"Oh, tell me, what's wrong with the other weather? There are some clouds in the sky, I think it will be better than a sunny day."

Next to them, half of the guards guarding the logistics and the baron were still on their horses, while the other half were dismounted and resting. The donkeys, carts and horse-drawn carriages in the logistics area were all next to each other. The town militiamen recruited to drive the carts untied the donkeys and horses pulling the carts, led them to the haystacks aside, and allowed the animals to eat as they pleased.

Logistics is not as strictly managed as that of the militiamen. They can move around at their own car as long as they don't stay far away.

The carriage carrying the priests also stopped, and some of the priests got out and walked around. No one paid attention to their movements, and these priests walked around the team casually, chatting with everyone who was busy or resting.

Knight Rumi looked around, thought for a while, and answered his lord: "Sir, there are no clouds in the sky, which means that at least the weather will not change that day, and there is a high probability that it will not change. And once there are clouds in the sky that can provide shade, , mostly means that things may become bad in the future, including the rest of the day.

You know, although it won't rain on a cloudy day, that's normal. After a real war, all common sense becomes unreliable. Cloudy weather may turn into violent storms at any time because the opponent's priests perform rituals. A skilled mage can use magic to change the weather conditions in a large area within a certain range. Even used to launch attacks. "

"Only sunny days are safe."

Baron Kendall took a sip of the iced drink and asked curiously: "Are magicians so powerful?" As he spoke, he unconsciously touched the short gemstone staff at his waist.

"I just heard that maybe Crowe had been in contact with him. After all, he had participated in the war with neighboring countries a few years ago. At that time, there were rumors that in the designated war zone, it rained continuously for a month. .”

"Huo, the heavy rain has been so severe for a month. Let me think about what will happen to the foundation of the building in this case." Muttering to himself, Baron Kendall became distracted.

Knight Rumi didn't care. He knew the lord's situation, and he was usually fine. As soon as he mentioned the knowledge passed down from their family, the other party would act like this.

He rode to the river and asked the militiamen who were washing their boots to try not to drink the still turbid water of the Kendall River.

The spring floods have just passed, and the water sources, except well water, are not clean. Drinking them casually may cause illness.

Of course, there were priests accompanying the troops and they were not afraid of the soldiers getting sick. But if he could avoid getting sick as much as possible, it was better not to get sick. After all, rather than using the priests' divine power to treat illnesses, he still preferred to use the priests' divine power to save seriously injured soldiers in battles.