Mercenaries and Adventurers

The attendant handed the wooden box in his hand towards Kiel and motioned for Kiel to take out the ring inside.

Unable to wait, Kil rubbed his hands on the horse's back, then pinched the center of the box with two fingers, and gently twisted out the magic ring.

Contrary to Kiel's expectation, the ring, which looked simple, solemn and elegant in style, except for the heavy weight of the magic gemstone on the surface of the ring, the overall ring itself, which seemed to take up a lot of the volume, was actually very light.

Carefully bring this valuable ring to your eyes for inspection.

The ring part of this ring is made of a silver-white metal and is extremely light in weight. But when you twist it with your index finger and thumb, you will find that the seemingly lightweight ring is very strong.

There were words engraved on the inside and outside of the ring. When he looked at it carefully, Kiel didn't recognize the words on it.

"There are words on it, what is it written on?"

If you don't understand, just ask. Kil asked the baron's attendant who kept the treasure.

The other party closed the lid of the box, smiled and whispered: "The words above are in high-class aristocratic language. As for the content, it roughly tells who the owner of the ring is and who the maker of the ring is."

The metal of the ring is opened, and a bright yellow oval gemstone is contained and fixed in the metal frame. Unlike the elven-charged gems that Kil had seen before, this magical gem was not as bright and transparent as he imagined.

Although the gemstone was cut into a regular oval shape, the surface of the gemstone was not transparent, as if there was a layer of fog or rain covering the interior.

As Keir looked at the gem, he noticed a tiny flash of light inside the gem.

"Oh, it just lit up inside the gem!" Kil was a little surprised.

The attendant shrugged: "It contains mysterious magic power and is naturally different from ordinary gems. Come closer and I will tell you how to use the ring."

After hearing what the other party said, Keir moved the horse slightly closer to the window on the side of the carriage, got down and leaned his head over it.

The attendant in the carriage also leaned out half of his body, covered his mouth with his hand, and whispered to Keir.

"Well, well, that's it. I remember it and I won't forget it. Isn't it very troublesome? I thought it would be more troublesome." Kil muttered in a low voice, which was heard by the attendant next to him.

The other party smiled slightly: "After all, the function of this magic ring is only to provide lighting, and the method of use is relatively uniform. Even if there is a unique method, it is difficult to put it to any use. Similar to this ring, the owner has a The whole set is considered an expensive collection that he is proud of."

After thinking about it, Keir put the ring on the little finger of his left hand. The gloved little finger was just right for putting the ring on.

"Be careful, don't lose it. Otherwise there will be no good consequences for us two." The attendant warned, telling Kil not to be careless.

Although the consequences of losing such a magic ring are not unbearable for the two of them, the high price of the ring when the Baron purchased it will still make the two of them lose a lot of money.

Kil nodded, he would be careful. After all, this thing is not cheap. Even the most basic accessories that use magic power to provide lighting will probably cost a lot of money. And as far as he knew, similar things generally couldn't be purchased directly with money.

If you think about it, you will know that the mysterious magician who made this kind of thing is probably not a character who is short of money. It is difficult for money to impress people of that level.

Waving his hand, Kil bid farewell to the baron's attendants, first slowed down the horse, and joined up with Bloodfangster who fell behind. Then the two of them accelerated around the baron's carriage, and galloped past the soft grass next to it. Come to the front of the line.

When passing by Knight Rumi who was leading the team, Kil shook his left hand while the knight looked over.

The knight's eyesight was far beyond that of ordinary people, so he naturally saw the conspicuous gemstone ring on Kil's left hand, so Knight Rumi pointed forward and asked Kil to move faster.

"Understood! Let's go now!"

Kiel nudged the horse's belly, causing the horse to speed up and pass the militia army.

The guide Bloodyost who was following him curiously looked at the rows of relatively orderly Kendall soldiers, and kept nodding: "Soldier Kiel, your soldiers look really good. Even among the troops I met, It’s one of the more advanced ones.”

Kil became curious. In his opinion, the Kendal army was already very good, but they could only get a relatively high-ranking title. He wondered what this middle-aged caravan guard knew: "Tell me, who do you think is the most powerful?" Those armies? Which well-known armies are they?"

The two of them talked as they passed the rows of soldiers.

Bloody Fangster thought for a while, and then said: "As for the army, it depends on whether they are powerful or not. The main thing is whether they can defeat the opponent. I was lucky enough to encounter the most powerful army only once."

"Oh, which one?"

Bloody Fangster scratched the beard on his chin: "That was on the western border of the province a few years ago. At that time, I followed a large caravan to deliver supplies to the western border front. At that time, it was the aliens who invaded our human kingdom on a large scale. At that time, the front line fought very hard."

"At that time, the large caravan I was with was blocked in a castle. There were insidious and cunning aliens outside the city at night. We human warriors were not in a good position to fight at night, and the situation was very dangerous."

"As a result, a whole team of gryphon knights flew from the sky. Oh - the scene at that time was really indescribable. I helped fight at the top of the city and saw with my own eyes several extremely dazzling missiles dropped from the sky. The ball of light illuminated the dark night brighter than the day. Then, a lightning ball wrapped in thunder dropped from the gryphon, crackling and roaring like a thunderstorm, and fell into the alien army formation on the ground. It was really amazing. , when a thunder ball falls, it will blow up a large area of ​​aliens."

Kil listened carefully and did not interrupt.

"In addition, there was also a rain of arrows falling like rain. Really, I am not bragging. The number of arrows falling from the sky at that time was denser than the rain in front of us. And they were all thick arrows. , about the same height as you and me, an arrow can fall from the sky and pierce the dwarfs attacking the city into the ground. It was so powerful, even us who were defending the city were dumbfounded at that time, let alone the aliens who were attacking the city. , it collapsed immediately.”

Bloody Fangster danced and danced, obviously the scene made him very excited when he described it many years later: "The head of the gryphon team flying in the sky kept dropping fireballs, lightning and some Throwing objects. The power is terrifying. The fireball fell on the ground, and those dwarfs wrapped in metal were blown into the sky. If they fell, they could kill their own companions. The lightning even fell down a large area of ​​aliens at once, like The whole piece fell down like wheat. As for the throwing object, some people still had sharp eyes, and then they saw the thing from a distance. After the small throwing object fell, the aliens in a large area went crazy and attacked each other. That’s why we retreated.”

After speaking, he pointed to Kendall's militia: "You think, compared with that kind of army, what are we guys walking on the ground like?"

Kil nodded and had to admit that compared with the troops flying in the air, ground troops without effective air defense methods were really not enough. However, the army Bloodfangster was talking about was obviously the Border Knights of the Empire stationed in the Kingdom of Saint Holes. After all, he had never heard of such a powerful army existing elsewhere.

Speaking of which, Knight Crow had joined the Empire's Border Knights before, so you could ask him about it.

"Besides that, the second most powerful ones are the aliens that were defeated just now, those dwarfs who were digging in the ground."

"dwarf?"

"That's what they are called, but we all call them dwarves here. After all, they killed many of us, don't you think? Even though they were defeated a few years ago, if it weren't for the help of the griffins flying in the sky, I guess the castle I was in at that time could not be saved."

"They are so powerful. The elites are all covered in metal armor. They are so short that they are like metal boxes. Those dwarves have blades on the outside of their armor. They are not afraid of hurting each other, but whoever fights with them will be rushed by them. If you hug him, his stomach can be cut open. An elite dwarf like that needs at least a whole team of soldiers to block it with spears. Use spears to hold them back from a distance to prevent them from getting close."

"Even ordinary dwarves require two or three people to defeat them. Although they are small, they are very powerful, and they also like to throw out a bunch of hammers on their waists. If they are hit, their hands will be broken. Either the foot is broken or the head is damaged. Fortunately, they were the ones attacking the city, and we were defending on the city wall, so we could hold on."

Keir asked him to describe the situation in detail.

"The dwarfs are so abominable. I don't know what happened. At the beginning, many elite dwarfs were thrown over by their own catapults with golden light all over their bodies. When they fell on the city wall, it was as if they were solid. Not only did they knock down Everything was smashed and everyone was smashed to death. After they waited for the golden light to stop emitting, they started fighting like no one else. And although they were particularly strong when the golden light emitted, they could not move. We were all risking it at that time. Just rush up and tie them up with chains."

"And those dwarfs also had construction trucks that were as high as the city wall. They kept spitting fire in front of the city wall. Many people were burned to death. It was so dark that when the bodies were collected later, no one could tell them apart. Who is who?"

After saying this, Bloody Fangster began to cry, and the tears mixed with the rain on his face and slid onto his beard.

Kil didn't expect this, so he hurriedly said a few words of comfort. He guessed that someone important to Ste died under such flames, and was unrecognizable in the end.

"In short, those dwarves are really powerful. In comparison, you Kendal people are far behind." Bloody Fangster finally commented.

Kil shrugged. He felt that the two were incomparable. Obviously the army the dwarves attacked at that time was an elite army and could not be compared with the Kendal army formed voluntarily by the local people.

After all, Baron Kendall's army only relied on the development of his small territory.

If nothing else, Kendall County's population is smaller than other places because of its remoteness.

The population of the Western Province far exceeds that of the Northwest Province, and it's not much better without seeing their army.

Bloodfangster then talked about two more armies he had seen. One was the earl's direct cavalry that he met and trained in the provincial capital, and the other was a local lord in the swamp area of ​​the southern province near the central province. army.

Needless to say, the former one is a provincial noble leader. The elite army under his command is obviously far superior to the average local army in terms of equipment alone, not to mention that the cavalry are all professional soldiers who have been trained all year round. Just in terms of training level, Kendall The militiamen couldn't keep up.

The latter one is a bit interesting.

As far as Bloodfangster said, the reason why he felt that the army was strong was because that army was a local mixed force responsible for resisting the invasion of swamp monsters.

Not only are everyone rich in combat experience, but they also have a tough style and have killed many smugglers and guards who smuggled swamp products. Although the number is not large, they are still capable enough to fight.

Although the Kendall soldiers had fought against bandits and killed people, the enemy's level was average, which resulted in the militia's level being also very limited.

In this regard, Keir had to praise the middle-aged caravan guard for being knowledgeable. Although he didn't know what his combat level was, at least he was knowledgeable.

-

While the two were talking, they had already passed the front line of the army and were at the forefront of everyone.

In fact, there should be someone to conduct reconnaissance in advance, but the continuous rain has blocked the view, and the Kendall people are not familiar with this place. There is not enough landforms on the grassland to identify the direction, so it is easy to get lost.

Therefore, Knight Crow did not let anyone leave early. After the three people discussed it, they decided to let Kil bring a guide and a magic ring to guide everyone.

"Look, we passed a guiding stone pillar just now, and the next one should be along the trade road. Let me take a look, um, here. Let's go in this direction."

Bloody Fangster jumped off his horse and inspected the grass on the ground. He connected his current position with the previous guiding stone pillar that he passed, and then extended it out.

After he got on the horse, the two men drove the horse to gallop in that direction.

Soon, through the layers of rain, Keir saw the next guiding stone pillar. The fluorescent stone on the top of the stone pillar emits dim fluorescence in this gloomy rainy day, feebly showing its existence.

"You saw it, come over quickly." Kil yelled, and rushed over with Bloody Fangster.

After getting closer, I confirmed that it was indeed a guide stone pillar.

However, Bloodfangster was very experienced. He even got closer to identify the characters in Common Chinese written on the stone pillars. After confirming that they had not taken the wrong route, he said to Keir: "Yes, this is no problem. It's necessary." Way to go.”

He continued: "It should be noted that sometimes because of the forks on the road, two or three guiding stone pillars will be arranged continuously at a very close distance to guide the traveling caravan to different directions. If they go wrong, they will often It would be a waste of time,"

Keir nodded to express his understanding, then turned around to face the direction he came from, his left hand raised high, pointing directly at the rain clouds in the sky.

At the same time, he gently touched the surface of the ring with his left thumb, and silently said in his mind: "Magic Fire Illumination - Turn on."

As soon as Kil finished reciting in his mind, a few magic sparks popped out from the surface of the gem on his left little finger, and then a small flame shadow composed of the magic gem exuding magic appeared in the air.

Looking at the flaming shadow that was only as big as a fist, Kil felt a little too small, so he placed the ring inside the phantom and silently said in his mind: "Magic Fire Illumination - Enhancement."

Several more magic sparks popped out from the gem, and the entire flame shadow changed from the size of a fist to the size of an open palm.

A big circle.

"How is it? Is it noticeable from a distance?" Kil asked Bloodfangster.

Bloody Fangster was extremely surprised and speechless, so he had no choice but to nod.

Turning his head, Kil turned his back to Bloody Fangster and grinned silently.

Hehe, I asked you to show off for me.

Look, compared to being knowledgeable and bragging, this is called showing off!

-

Putting away his left hand, the flame shadow in the sky was still floating in place. The baron's attendant told him that after the ring is used, the shadow of the illuminating flame left behind is completely maintained by the magic power left inside.

When the magic power inside the flame phantom is consumed, it will naturally disappear.

The duration of each flame shadow depends on the releaser himself to adjust the duration. However, the attendant never taught Kil how to adjust it, so the flame shadow left by the natural ring only lasted for a basic period of time.

However, the other party taught him how to increase the brightness, but he was also afraid that the shadow of the flame after release would be too small and would not be visible to the army forwards in the distance.

Then, a sharp whistle sounded from the vanguard of Kendall's army that Kiel and his two men looked over. When Kiel and the others heard it, it meant that Knight Crow's forward had seen the bright signal from the flame shadow.

The speed of the army, which was previously relatively slow, suddenly increased because of clear guidance.

"Okay, that's enough, let's go to the next guiding stone pillar!"

Kil said cheerfully.

Bloody Fangster shrugged: "You lead the team, you have the final say."

So he jumped off the horse and judged the direction of the next road from the state of the grass beside the guiding stone pillar.

-

That night, outside a small village called Sleeping Wolf Village, the Kendall army was stationed outside the village.

Most of the Kendal people's caravans and the local caravans that followed gathered outside the village. They left only a small number of people to guard the carriages and goods in the caravan. Others poured into the village one by one, sweeping the village away. The tavern specially provided for merchants to rest and communicate was full.

Bloodfangster also went to the village for a walk, and made an agreement with Kil to come back early tomorrow morning to continue leading the way.

As for Kiel, he was having dinner with Knight Crow in the knight's tent. Needless to say, it started with some water ghost meat, and then he had to have some nutritious warm soup. abdomen.

Kir watched with envy as Knight Crow ate the plump steak, his mouth watering with greed.

The steak that Knight Crow ate was an old stray wild horse he found in the deep grass beside the trade road when the knight was marching in the afternoon. The knight borrowed a spear from the militia and threw it out, piercing the old horse and killing him.

At night, it immediately became food in the mouths of the two knights and soldiers.

Kil, who had finished eating early, subconsciously twirled the gemstone ring on his left little finger. After thinking about it, he decided to ask Knight Crow about what he heard from Bloodfangster during the day before starting the knight training.

"What? The invasion of dwarves on the border of the Western Province a few years ago?"

Knight Crow put down the meat-cutting dagger and wiped the corners of his mouth with a dry cloth.

"Then you asked the right person. I happened to be involved in the border conflict against the dwarf invasion at that time."

Kil became excited: "Then tell me about it! The story told by that guy from Bloodfangster is very exciting. I believe that your side will definitely exceed what he told."

"Haha, of course. However, after all, there are some things that cannot be said, so I will pick out the ones that can be said and tell them to you."

Knight Crow pushed the wooden cup forward. Seeing this, Kil immediately picked up the kettle and filled the knight with a full cup of fresh rainwater.

"Well, where to start? Ah, let's start with why that 'conflict' broke out."