Mercenaries and Adventurers

Kil and Bloodfang continued to guide the army and caravan on the road until evening.

There was drizzle in the dark sky, and the two men and horses were soaked to the skin.

But that's not the reason why Kil's face looks ugly at this time, because calculating the time at this time, it should be almost the time when the sun behind the clouds sets. But the two people walking in front of the army had not yet encountered the overnight village they were supposed to meet today.

“It’s all these rains!”

Kil looked up and muttered, then cursed.

But this scolding caused Bloodyster to stop him: "Don't do this, Kil. Rain is the intention of the Lord of the Sky, and under His power, we choose to brave the rain. The consequences of this choice should be our own. question."

Seeing that the topic involved gods, Kil didn't say anything, but he knew that due to the continued rain, the march of the army and caravans had further slowed down today.

He had heard complaints from the soldiers during the lunch break. The feeling of dampness had been spreading up from the soldiers' legs. Even with rain gear, everyone walking on the ground was soaked to the skin.

After soaking the body and clothes, it accelerates the body's heat loss and further slows down people's movements.

This is why they move slower and slower.

At this time, standing next to the guiding stone pillar on the trade road, illuminated by the faint and bright flame phantom, Kil made a decision. He had to ask the knights and barons to issue the order to camp as soon as possible.

Otherwise it will get dark very quickly. If the weather is normal, the camp can be quickly set up in the dark with the help of torches. But at this time, it was raining in the sky, and lighting methods such as torches and braziers were restricted, which was very unfavorable for camping.

Tell Bloody Fangster, and the middle-aged caravan guard also agrees with this matter.

After all, according to his judgment and based on the number of guiding stone pillars they passed today, there were nearly twenty guiding stone pillars in the village they should see at this time. It would take two or three hours to get there.

There is absolutely no way we can accomplish this goal today. It is better to set up camp as soon as possible so that the soldiers who have been tired for a day can rest and repair as soon as possible.

After all, if the rain continues, it is certain that by tomorrow, the army will not even be able to advance at the same distance and speed as today.

-

The horses were already soaked, panting and unable to walk.

Keir had to jump off his horse and walk over.

The mount of Bloodfangster next to him was actually strong and could carry people around at this time.

"I'm not saying that, Kiel. You should replace your horse with one of our good horses as soon as possible. It will be a good thing for you and your animal companions."

"Thanks for reminding me." Kil rolled his eyes and rubbed his horse's head with his hand.

The horse rubbed its nose and forehead against his palm, pushed Keir's hand, and motioned for Keel to try to dry it.

"Good friend, wait a minute, I'll help you with the tidying up in a little while."

As he said that, even after falling down in the rain, Kil was still able to walk on the grass that was as high as his calves.

The blades of grass fell down when soaked with water. Although it was easier to walk, the weight of the blades of grass also became heavier due to the water in them. When moving the legs, it had to expend more effort to open the legs in order to move.

"Sure enough, there's a reason why everyone can't walk."

After all, they are all strong adult men from Kendall County. They usually work in the fields all day long without complaining of fatigue. Moreover, they have gone through the test of marching for a period of time. How can it be possible to walk and march in just one day? Walk this way.

It's all for a reason. The road is difficult to walk and the body feels uncomfortable, which makes everyone's progress limited today.

Kiel walked towards the army, while the vanguard of the army walked slowly towards the place where the guiding light was emitting in the distance.

The militiamen in the vanguard all knew that the shiny thing in front of them was left behind after Kiel used the treasure given by the Baron, just to prevent everyone from leaving in this environment surrounded by rain curtains. Lost move.

The militiamen walking at the front quickly saw Kiir and the caravan guide riding horses coming towards them.

The slight chill brought by the humidity made them a little numb. They didn't know what Kiel was doing when he came back? Shouldn't you wait for them where you are? After waiting for them, run further to the next guide stone pillar.

But Kil's steps were in a hurry, and he led the horse quickly past the soldiers. It seemed that he was looking for Lord Knight Crow who was leading the vanguard.

The soldiers no longer cared about this matter and continued to look at the light ahead, whispering curses about the rain, the weather, and the Western Province with the people around them.

The Crow knights were riding strong war horses, and both men and horses were wearing strict steel armor. They didn't care about the little rain around them.

He first saw Kiel coming towards him against the team. The knight was a little confused, so he rode up to meet him.

"Kiel, what's going on? If you're not leading the way, why are you back?"

Knight Crow lifted his visor and frowned as he asked his apprentice.

I hope the young man has a legitimate reason, otherwise he will use some control techniques that are not so easy to tolerate during tonight's knight training.

Give some punishment.

"Sir, time! Time!" There were militiamen who were looking curiously around. It was difficult for Kil to explain clearly, so he vaguely reminded Knight Crow like this when he was a little far away.

"Time? What nonsense are you talking about?"

The knight frowned, not knowing what Keir was talking about. But when he looked at the surroundings following Kil's waving arms, he thought of something from the gloomy but dim drizzle and mist around him.

What is it?

The knight stopped his horse and looked around.

"Sir, the sky is bright!"

After Kil walked in, he shouted softly.

correct! The sky is bright!

"Damn it!" In an instant, Knight Crow came back to his senses and figured it out.

"Why so slow?" Cursing, Knight Crow ignored the curiosity of the town guards following him and immediately issued a new order: "Tell all the forward soldiers to stop on the spot when they reach the guiding stone pillar in front and wait for the new order! "

"Yes, sir." Several guards agreed and walked quickly to the front and back of the vanguard. As they walked, they shouted orders to the militiamen.

They often have to shout a few times before the soldiers who are numb during the march can regain their consciousness and hear clearly what they are saying.

On Knight Crow's side, he faced Kiel who finally leaned over and whispered his worries. Knight Crow patted his helmet in annoyance and made a banging sound: "It's all my fault. I didn't pay attention to the surrounding sky. I was... The dark sky all day confused me. We had obviously been walking all day, but we didn't expect that the army would not be able to reach the next village before it got too dark."

"Sir, you can't feel the discomfort of walking on the ground while riding a horse. You can't blame everyone for this. If the rain continues, the road will only be harder to walk, and everyone's physical strength will also be consumed too much. Many people's faces will change color. ”

Kil told what he had just seen, and Knight Crow nodded.

Next to him, Bloodfangster was almost scared to death. He didn't dare to talk to an armed knight like this. And what Kiel meant in his words was that the Cavaliers must be blamed for the current unfavorable situation?

He swallowed the saliva that was not too hot, and quietly let the horse he was riding slowly step back.

"Kiel, you are right. I will stop the army and set up camp right now. If it is getting dark, we must act as soon as possible." After saying that, Knight Crow turned around and ran towards the team behind him.

When the knight walked away, Kil turned around and found that Bloodfangster was not next to him, but a few horses back.

"What's wrong with you? It's so far away."

Bloody Fangster forced a smile: "It's nothing. You have such a good relationship with this knight. I thought you would get scolded or something."

"You are overthinking. Knight Crow is the powerful knight who taught me how to enter the knight's path. Oh, you don't think what will happen if you talk like this? That's because you don't understand these powerful adults. They only care about facts. I don’t care about the minutiae or anything like that.”

Bloody Fangster thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "That's what you think, so be it."

-

Not long after Knight Crow left, after the troops rushed to the nearest guiding stone pillar, new orders were conveyed.

Find a higher place to camp.

The soldiers breathed a sigh of relief. Many of them beat their legs and sat down on the soft grass on the ground without getting up.

But it was impossible not to get up. Under the urging of the captain and deputy captain of the leading team, the militiamen helped each other up and walked towards a short hill next to them in unison.

As the soldiers passed by one after another, the soldiers in the vanguard drew out their daggers and uniformly cut the grass on the ground in the camp. The soldiers who were accustomed to farm work moved quickly and soon stacked bundles of bright, green and soft grass aside.

These will be what the army's livestock will eat later.

The soldiers from the brigade also arrived at this time, and with their help, the logistics carriages were pulled to a suitable place to stop.

The cooks who had been sitting in the car all day immediately ordered the hungry militiamen to clear the ground and clear out the cooking area. After all, people can sleep on a slope, but it is impossible to build an iron pot for cooking on a slope.

Unlike the militiamen who work slowly in other places, every militiaman who works for the cooks moves quickly. After all, the sooner dinner is ready, the more they can eat first.

Nothing wrong.

In the middle of the camp, Baron Kendall stepped out of the carriage wearing high leather boots. He had been reading books in the carriage all day and now he had to come down for a walk.

Next to the Baron, Knight Crowe and Knight Rumi followed, both whispering that they had not paid attention to today's march and were sorry for that.

"It doesn't matter. It won't be a big deal if we delay for a day or two."

The baron looked up at the sky, and the attendant next to him immediately moved away the leather umbrella he was holding so that his master could easily look up at the sky.

"I don't know when this rain will continue. I have asked local businessmen whether this rain happens by chance or is it caused by the local climate?"

The two knights looked at each other, unable to answer this point at all.

It's not that the two people who have been in the Kingdom's army don't care about the weather. After all, weather has always been the top priority for military operations. For this reason, magicians have even developed various weather magics that can be artificially created. Temporary weather that is good for oneself but bad for the enemy.

The priests of the church can predict the weather and use magic and rituals to reduce the impact of weather on soldiers.

Although there were several priests accompanying Kendall's army, they were too few in number and too low in rank. It is okay to treat the diseases and physical injuries of soldiers in the army, but they cannot do more.

After all, the two knights had already prepared for possible rain before, and they had prepared enough rain gear for everyone to use in Kendall City. Because of this, there were no militiamen in the army who fell sick due to rain at this time.

But because of their past marches, they ignored the adverse impact of the difficult environment on the soldiers' marching speed during rainy weather.

Knight Crow felt helpless and murmured in a low voice: "If it were flying in the sky before, it wouldn't be so troublesome."

The baron smiled helplessly: "Don't think about things that are impossible. I have limited financial resources. Maybe in a hundred years of development, the descendants of the family will be able to form a group of flying teams to fight. But now, at least I am doing it. Can’t reach it.”

Several people smiled, and then the baron led the two knights to inspect the place where they would camp tonight.

-

Snort.

Keir's two horses snorted, and then rubbed their heads against Keir's helmet and cheeks affectionately.

"Okay, okay, it feels a lot better now!"

Kil twisted the linen in his hand and squeezed out the water in the linen. Then he also wiped his armor, just doing it briefly. Regarding the daily maintenance of the armor, he spent time in his dreams. .

At this time, Kiel's horses and several horses belonging to Knight Crow were gathered in a large tent dedicated to horses.

This tent was built behind the Crow Knight's tent, specifically for the knight's horses to be groomed for the night.

Knight Rumi, like Baron Kendall, has large tents for war horses or healthy horses. As for other ordinary horses, the driver can only let the driver put a dry horse poncho on him.

Kiel's two horses were a bit convenient for Knight Crow.

In the horse tent, Knight Crow's war horse was the first to enjoy the fresh green grass sent by the knight's guards. The other horses stayed far away and did not dare to go over and offend the majesty of the war horse.

The same goes for Kiel. In addition to helping the horse remove its armor and giving him grass, he also didn't dare to get too close to this majestic and strong horse.

He was sure that if he fought with this horse, if he didn't have to cross the water, he would probably not be the opponent of this war horse.

After all, with his weight and speed, the opponent could easily kill Kiel as long as he hit him once.

Bidding farewell to his horse, Kiel asked the two knight guards to feed his horse as well. Then he walked out of the knight's tent and walked around the camp.

Not far away, the chefs were stirring the large wooden spoons in their hands proudly under the burning eyes of a circle of militiamen. Bloody Fangster was also surrounding them, swallowing saliva and waiting for the food to be served.

This guy was dressed incompatibly with the other militiamen around him. Although he was aware of this, he didn't care about anything else just to get a bite of hot food.

But the militiamen just looked at it, and then heard from the people next to them that this guy had been following Kiel as a guide for the past two days, so the militiamen didn't want to cause trouble, and treated this outsider who wanted to take a bite of them as a stranger. Didn't see it.

Kil shook his head and started walking around the camp. He helped the logistics clerks carry supplies, and asked the militiamen to take off their leather boots. He was barefoot in the camp and put his boots on the ground. Grill yourself by the barely built fire to drive away the moisture in your boots.

It would be best to put your feet next to the fire to roast them before going to bed.

When passing by the blacksmith accompanying the army, the blacksmith was helping to trim the hoofs of a horse that couldn't walk. He and the two apprentices who were helping him couldn't restrain the horse from moving because of pain.

Just in time, Kil went up and patted his chest and said to leave him alone, letting the blacksmith and two apprentices concentrate on handling the horse's hooves.

Blacksmith Kil has to be kind to me, and he has to rely on him to make parts to repair and maintain some minor damage to the armor.

Moreover, Kil had also brought out some pieces of armor from the thief Yisi's lair before, and the two of them figured out the complicated connection method of this piece of armor.

In this regard, Kil also specially took out some steel and gave it to the blacksmith, asking him to take the time to make him some small iron rings connected with armor pieces when he had nothing to do.

Kil can hold these iron rings and slowly assemble the armor pieces together in his dream.

This is something that takes time. Because the connection of this kind of nail pieces is very clever and complicated, although it makes the nail pieces that have been connected in series flexible and flexible, it is also very time-consuming.

“It’s like knitting a sweater with a complicated pattern.”

Keir touched the leather bag on his waist with his hand, and his whole body felt excited. Then he was stunned for a moment, regained his composure and became energetic, and even made a strong man's move proudly.

"Little Kil, can you do it? Don't brag, otherwise the horse will feel pain later and kick you and it will be unbearable. Then you will have to ask the priest. Isn't it ugly?"

The blacksmith lowered the corners of his mouth and frowned at the pretentious young warrior in front of him.

Unexpectedly, Kiel patted his chest proudly: "No problem, I'll tell you. I'm not bragging. I learned a little while studying next to Knight Crow during this period."

"How much have you learned? Is it as much as one fingernail of Knight Crow? Haha." The blacksmith told a joke, and both he and his two apprentices laughed.

A puff of air came out of his nose, and Kil almost twisted his nose in anger: "Don't look down on people, watch carefully, if this horse shakes its hoof later, I will lose to you, uh, I will lose to you a gold coin!"

The blacksmith and the apprentices looked at it and said, "Oh, there is such a good thing. You don't know. Usually in the village, the horses' hooves are tied to deep wooden stakes to prevent the horses from moving around."

Kiel said nothing more and came to the horse. In the fearful look on the poor guy's face, he grabbed one of its front legs and pulled up the injured horse's hoof.

"Come on, work! If it moves its hooves, I lose!"

Kiel rested his shoulders on the horse's neck, firmly grasped the horse's front hooves with both hands, and raised his chin slightly as he spoke.

Naturally, the blacksmith was worthy of the gold coins he brought to the door. With a wave of his hand, the two apprentices took the lead and walked forward with their tools.

"Aren't you coming?" Kil asked curiously when the blacksmith didn't move.

"Huh, it's just a shoe shoe. I can't do it. But I'm keeping an eye on you. If the shoe shakes, you'll lose. Don't renege on your debt. One gold coin."

Kil stopped talking and tightened his grip on the horse's hoof.

At the same time, unbeknownst to the blacksmith and apprentices, Kil had already activated all his life energy, and power was being continuously generated from his body.

At this moment, let alone immobilizing a horse from moving. Kiel even felt that he could cut an entire horse in two with one swing of his sword!

The whole body is full of energy!