Mercenaries and Adventurers

The servants walked to the dining room first, carefully took out the valuable beeswax candles from the cabinets on the wall of the dining room, inserted candlesticks in the corner of the dining room, and lit them to welcome everyone to talk.

After everyone walked into the restaurant, Mr. Plant waved the servants away, then closed the door himself and introduced himself, his brother and brother-in-law to Knight Crow and Kiel.

"I am Plant Gulov, the youngest son of the family. I am responsible for dealing with foreign caravans. This is my third brother. He is responsible for coordinating the manpower of various families in the town to maintain the security of the town. This is my second brother. My sister’s husband, he runs a chamber of commerce, and he has been in charge of managing the village previously occupied by the Ska Chamber of Commerce.”

Knight Crow nodded: "I am Knight Crow, Dodel. This is my trainee knight squire, Joe Kil. I already know what the three requests."

"I asked the Baron and Knight Gurov about the matter just now. Knight Gulov gave me a token, and the Baron gave me permission to send troops."

The three members of the Gulov family looked at each other, with excited expressions on their faces.

They had to be excited. After all, their own strength was insufficient. There were many thugs and obedient farmers, but they were only at the level of fighting. It was impossible to compare with the professional militiamen they saw passing through the camp at dusk.

Regardless of numbers, spirit, weapons, equipment, or training, nothing works.

So when they heard that Knight Crow had obtained control soldiers to support them, the three of them couldn't help but be unhappy.

"Then I'll leave it to you, sir."

"It would be great to drive those Ska Chamber of Commerce people out of Pine Needles!"

But unexpectedly, Knight Crow waved his hand: "You guys wait a moment. Wait."

The three of them were stunned.

"What's wrong? Is there any problem? Do you need a departure fee for the soldiers? No problem! Money will definitely be indispensable for you Kendall people. Every soldier dispatched will be rewarded with at least five silver coins."

Mr. Plant said immediately.

He is the one who is most anxious about this matter. After all, compared with other members of the family who enjoy themselves all day long, because of his position, he has to greet the business travelers who come and go. After the actions of the Ska Chamber of Commerce in the past two years, he clearly felt the eagerness of other businessmen to try.

The outsiders who dare to challenge the Gulov family's power in Pine Needle Town must be eliminated!

And it must be driven away before the second foreign chamber of commerce takes action, otherwise it will be like hunting, and other 'hounds' will swarm in smelling the smell of 'profit'.

But Knight Crow just sat on the delicate creaking and overwhelmed chair and waved his hands casually.

"You are mistaken. Knight Gulov and Lord Baron have special orders. This time, tonight, everyone in the Ska Chamber of Commerce must be eradicated."

He paused: "Leave no one behind."

"Do you understand?"

Kil swallowed, but he didn't expect these two people to mean this. It seems that the old Knight Gulov is not ignorant of what is happening outside after he is old, and he is probably suffering from the situation.

He is old and it will be difficult for him to make another move without a solid chance. After all, if he doesn't take action, it will be difficult for outsiders to see his true nature. Those external forces that are most afraid of him will not actually take action even one day before his death.

And Baron Kendall, Keel guessed, was really just a guess. Maybe it was to make friends with the local knight lord. After all, Pine Needle Town was not far from Kendall County and was on the main road connecting Kendall County's business roads. Its location was very important.

It would probably be good for him and the Kendall County he represents to make good friends here.

"Tonight?"

"Kill them all?"

"Does eradication mean killing them all?"

Knight Crow nodded: "Yes. After the banquet is over, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, who is familiar with the terrain and location of the occupied village, and you, Plant, will also set off together."

"Let's take people to Pine Needle Town first. After blocking the entrance and exit of the town, we will directly knock down the Ska Chamber of Commerce's stronghold in the town. Then we will set off one step ahead to the village occupied by them. Set out that night and wipe out them that night. Early tomorrow morning , just in time to catch up with the army and set off."

Knight Crow used the candlesticks and blue dinner plates on the table next to him as various places, and spoke out this simple plan with gestures.

"Are there any problems with the whole process? If there are any, raise them now and we will find a way to deal with them."

The three middle-aged men from the Gurov family across the street swallowed their saliva. They didn't expect that what seemed to them to be extremely troublesome could be ended in just a few words for Knight Crow.

And it has such a brutal ending.

"Would killing them all cause panic?"

Plant's third brother cautiously put forward his opinion.

But Knight Crow just shook his head: "First of all, this is what your father meant, do you understand? Secondly, people will not panic because of killings, they will only look curiously, and then stand still before the killings fall on their heads. Judgment from a little further away.”

"This is a warning and a declaration."

"Of course, if your family later takes the initiative to tell you where the manpower will come from, it will be a declaration that we Kendal people stand with the ruling family of Pine Needles. Any move that offends the Gurov family is offensive to us. But If you don’t take the initiative to say that it was our soldiers who wiped out the Ska Chamber of Commerce, then this is a warning to all the guys hiding in the dark.”

Knight Crow stretched out his finger and pointed at the three people in front of him who listened to him obediently: "Tell them to put away their greed. Otherwise, I don't know if one day they themselves will be suddenly destroyed like the Ska Chamber of Commerce."

Knight Crow's words made the three Gurov family members blush. They didn't know whether they were nervous or excited.

Kil stood aside and felt that Knight Crowe was right. Sure enough, people would only be excited about it when killing did not happen to them. This may be a primitive memory buried deep in human instinct.

Ms. Apolifina once saw humans from thousands of years ago. What did humans look like at that time?

And how did it gradually develop into the current situation with the existence of a civilization with a first-mover advantage like the elves?

-

An hour later, Kiel was leading three small groups of elite militiamen on their way to Pine Needle Town with torches.

This team is a relatively elite group of people selected by the Crow Knights. Not only have they performed well in militia military training, but the team captains who lead the team are all young people with good skills.

And a very important point is that everyone in their team has the experience of killing bandits with their own hands. When these teams were being formed, Knight Rumi and Knight Crow had used their brains to make them into vanguards who could participate in the war and be put to immediate use.

Calling these people at this moment can be regarded as a small training on the march.

Knight Crow and two men from the Gurov family rode in front of them, while Kiel followed behind on horseback. According to the knight's instructions, he gave a general explanation of the incident to the militiamen.

This prevents some people from being unable to attack those from the Ska Chamber of Commerce later, or from becoming war-weary.

But the knights were overly worried. These talents didn't care where they went to kill whom. The boring mood caused by many days of marching had already made them impatient for the battle that awaited them. Not to mention there is still money to get after the fight, that would be even better.

It's a pity that we can't keep the Ska Chamber of Commerce's things to ourselves in this battle. The knights Kiel and Crow on horseback are watching. It is estimated that we can only hide some of the enemy's money, and we can't take away the excess. .

Led by the familiar Mr. Plant and others, they quickly arrived outside the town of Pine Needles.

Although Pine Needle Town does not have a large-scale local militia group as a protector, there are still some combat-effective personnel responsible for security and opening and closing the town's gates.

The small number of people who were like security forces and sheriffs at the gate were frightened when they saw so many people coming outside the town gate.

"Who are you? This is Pine Needle Town, the territory of Knight Gulov! Any attack here is a provocation to Lord Gulov! Get back!"

With that said, those people closed the town gate tightly, rang a small copper bell, and gathered people from the nearby chamber of commerce.

However, Mr. Plant at the front of the team walked into the light and shadow of the fire, revealing his figure and face: "See clearly, it's me! Plant-Gulov himself!"

The security captain above took a closer look and found that it was indeed him.

But he was still a little cautious and refused to open the door.

Knight Crow rolled his eyes and crossed his arms to watch the two men talking. He was not worried. After all, leading troops tonight to annihilate the Ska Chamber of Commerce, which the Gulov family had long feared, was something that no one could have expected. The other party would not even know what was going on.

On one side outside the town gate are some houses of people living outside the town, and on the other side is an open space specially reserved for business travelers to camp and repair.

At this time, the ringing of bells and noises had woken up the people outside the town gate.

The residents first turned on the lights in their houses, but soon saw dozens of soldiers armed to the teeth lining up outside with torches. They immediately blew out their own oil lamps and only dared to open the windows slightly. Hiding behind the dark wooden window, he secretly looked at the militiamen.

It was an unknown soldier.

Fear.

The camped caravans were surprised, but not worried. They immediately recognized that this was the Kendall County militia team they had been following, and the leader was the Crow they saw every day. knight.

The bold businessman actually came closer and asked if someone in Pine Needle Town had angered the knight himself, so he led his troops to deal with that person in anger.

Knight Crow was too lazy to talk nonsense to these people, and simply told them not to interfere. He would stay quietly in the camp outside the town tonight, and he would set off as normal tomorrow, so as not to fall behind.

The merchants were confused, but at least they knew that this matter had nothing to do with them, so they calmed down externally, while internally they asked all the caravan guys to get ready, stop sleeping, and at least be prepared to escape from here at any time.

Mr. Plant finally opened the town gate with the token given by the old knight Gurov.

That token is his own noble knight's badge.

There is a majestic image of a war dog printed on it, which is the knight's heraldic emblem of the Gulov knight.

Not only that, his life energy is retained in the badge, and it glows slightly at night.

Although he felt uneasy, the security captain of Pine Needle Town still asked his men to stop ringing the bell and then opened the town gate.

The knight waved his hand, and Keir shouted for the militiamen to file in.

"Brother-in-law, you can quietly explain our affairs to the security captain here and ask him to watch the gate. No one can leave the town except these soldiers!"

Mr. Plant gave instructions to his brother-in-law, and then immediately followed the team and took the lead to lead the way for these soldiers.

At the gate of the town, some chamber of commerce guys and thugs who were nearby were urgently called. At this moment, they were hesitantly blocking the road. They didn't know whether to block this group of soldiers they had never seen before, or to step back and make way for these people.

After all, they all woke up from their beds urgently, and some of them were disheveled, not to mention holding weapons capable of fighting. Most of the thugs who were quite dedicated were bringing their meal-wrapped iron short sticks with them.

But this thing is too far behind the several-meter-long spears and sword-and-shield crossbow machines in the hands of the soldiers in front of them.

Being scrutinized by these strong young men with unkind eyes, most of these thugs retreated timidly and got out of the way.

It's okay to let these thugs beat and intimidate some dirty thieves, or to intimidate weak prostitutes, but they really don't have the ability to risk their lives, and they will definitely die to stop the militia.

Mr. Plant scolded the caravan stewards led by these thugs and told them to go back and stay well and not to wander around tonight. The chamber of commerce stewards who felt something was wrong immediately became alert and quickly disappeared with their people.

But some sneaky figures still appeared in the darkness beside the road, closely watching the actions of Kiel and his group.

The originally peaceful night in Pine Needle Town became tense now.

The well-informed people have long since lost sleep, while the people who have not slept at all are still fast asleep. They probably didn't know what happened last night until they got up the next day.

-

Pine Needle Town has a large area, but the buildings are not dense. After all, it is a prosperous town on the plains. There is no strong manager. The architectural planning here is very loose. Each large chamber of commerce basically controls the door of the chamber of commerce. that street.

Mr. Plant pointed to a lighted street near the river in the distance and explained to Knight Crow and Kiel: "That street is the place managed by the Ska Chamber of Commerce. Since they occupied it, they have successively moved the entire street. All the adjacent houses on the street have been occupied, and many places have been opened for fun at night. Be careful. Although it is not as good as the village they control, there are at least the same thugs and chamber of commerce guys on that street as we brought this time. There."

Knight Crow didn't pay attention to this. He just asked Plant curiously: "You know so much about that place, do you often go there too?"

Plant was a little embarrassed: "They are all men, they are all men. And it's not that I want to go, but some chamber of commerce managers or presidents with whom I have good relations insist on taking me there. Otherwise, we, the Gulov family, will not give me the opportunity." The people from the Ska Chamber of Commerce are so cool!”

Kil grinned silently and almost laughed.

What a weak family. Although the other party is not bullying them, they are gradually eating away at the power in the town.

I don’t know how the old Knight Gurov, a ruthless man with such a mighty experience, managed to raise these children.

Fortunately, I heard that his eldest son is already a knight, and has territory and property in a more prosperous place in the east of the kingdom. It is estimated that even if Pine Needle Town is really lost, these people will have a place to seek refuge after the old knight dies.

The neat footsteps of the militiamen resounded through the stone roads of Pine Needle Town. No one in the team spoke. Only Kil was loudly conveying some of Knight Crow's orders.

"The knight has an order! Everyone stop."

"One team loaded and cocked the crossbows and got ready to fire."

"The second team loaded the bows and crossbows, handed the spears to one person, and the others prepared daggers and shields."

"The third team is loading the bows and crossbows, preparing the spears, and the formation is dense!"

After Kil shouted out the command of Knight Crow who was riding on the side, the team behind him immediately began to change.

And without him saying anything else, the three teams immediately knew where they should be in the battle formation and what they should do.

One team immediately retreated to the rear of the entire team. They took out the crossbow bolts from the crossbow quivers at their waists and placed them in the crossbow chute, ready to fight at any time.

The second team immediately stepped forward and formed groups of three or two, ready for close combat. They were all young people who had been wielding swords and guns at home for more than ten years. They were full of excitement for the close combat that was waiting for them, but they were not timid.

The third team stood in the middle of the team. The ten people were divided into fighting groups of five people on each side. The several-meter-long spears were raised diagonally, ready to rush forward at any time and impale the enemies on the road on the spear points.

Knight Crow nodded and waved.

Then Keir shouted: "Forward!"

Mr. Plant stood on horseback with Knights Kiel and Crow, watching the thirty people quickly form a battle formation under simple orders. He opened his mouth wide in excitement, but no sound came out of his mouth. .

The militiamen seemed to be relaxed, but in fact they were nervous about the battle. They walked forward, turned an intersection, and walked directly into the street occupied by the Ska Chamber of Commerce.

At this time, it was already around 11 o'clock in the evening, and the second moon was hanging high in the sky. His eldest sister had already fallen towards the horizon early, while his little sister only quietly showed half of her head on the other side of the horizon. , shy and don’t want to get up to go to work.

On the not-so-spacious street at this time, only a few carriages belonging to the president of the Chamber of Commerce were still parked on the road. The drivers driving the carriages were either drinking cheap drinks or angrily cleaning up the feces emitted by the horses or mules that pulled the carriages.

The gravel pavement on the ground was laid on this road by the Ska Chamber of Commerce at a great expense. According to the rules of Pine Needle Town, each family is responsible for the streets they manage. Not just the cost of paving the road, but also the maintenance and cleaning.

The drivers were cursing, because if they didn't clean up the excrement discharged by the livestock, they would definitely be blackmailed by those very fierce guys from the Ska Chamber of Commerce.

This money will definitely not be asked from poor coachmen like them, but will only be asked from their respective leaders.

Due to face and strength, no one would refuse to pay this small fee, but the lazy driver would have to be severely whipped afterwards.

But just when these drivers thought it was another ordinary night, there were several loud shouts from the other side of the street corner, and then, neat and intimidating footsteps sounded, and they walked towards here quickly.

They looked up curiously and saw dozens of armed soldiers striding towards them with fierce eyes.

"Ah!!!" Someone was startled. Although he didn't understand what was going on, his intuition told him that staying where he was would end badly.

The driver didn't even want to use his car anymore, and he just rolled and crawled down the street to the other end.

His scream also caused the people inside the shops with lights on both sides of the street to look curiously.

"Haha, any signboard on this street with an image of a bull's head with golden horns is the direct property of the Ska Chamber of Commerce."

Mr. Plant explained directly pointing to the signs hanging on the shops on both sides of the street.

Knight Crow said directly to Kil: "Go down and lead the melee team into the store to clean up the opponent's people. Don't kill innocent people indiscriminately, but whoever attacks you, kill them. Drag all the corpses and living people to the street. I Lead people to watch the streets, and you should go out now, Keir."

"It's my lord."

Keel jumped off his horse, asked Mr. Plant to look at his horse, and then shouted loudly: "Second team, follow me, enter the house and fight."

He put down the visor on his armored helmet, then took out a shield from his back and equipped it on his left arm, and in his right hand he directly pulled out a long sword to hunt.

A clanging sound signaled the beginning of the killing.