Mercenaries and Adventurers

Therefore, for Baron Kendall, sending his men to steal the magic ballista was a risky but worthwhile thing.

After Knight Crow explained the matter clearly to Kil, he waited for Kil to digest the food briefly and confirmed that nothing really went wrong. Then he took Kil out of the baron's tent.

Listening to the two people walking away, Knight Rumi looked at Baron Kendall who was sitting on the chair and didn't know what to think. After hesitating for a moment, he still said: "Claude, he seems to be very excited? Is it about the magic ballista or this?" The thing itself?”

Baron Kendall came back to his senses and chuckled: "Can't you see? Crowe is not a stickler for rules. Ever since I learned that he won the competitive competition of the Empire Frontier Knights, I can see that he actually Shang is a person who loves adventure and wants to do something that breaks the tradition.”

He shook his head: "But this is the way this society is. Wherever you are, you have to adopt the posture and image of that position. I'm afraid he chose Kiel, a boy who made a career out of conquering monsters. I'm afraid he also put some thoughts into it. .”

Knight Rumi took over the rest of the words and said: "What you can't do yourself, let your apprentices do it for you. Is that right?"

The baron said nothing more, not just Knight Crow, but who else?

Not only did he dislike government affairs and military matters, but he also had to spend his precious time on these things instead of tinkering with more interesting and effective family engineering technologies.

There is also Lanisha Knight’s father, his good friend, who looks like a warrior, but in fact has the sentimentality from his hometown. Not only does he have a good voice like the people of Wumihu Village, but he can also sing moving and heroic war songs. , and can impress every woman who yearns for love with poems containing emotions.

But as a knight, you still have to spend more energy on martial arts, which ultimately led to that tragedy.

The Baron thought of the news that Crowe had whispered to him and heard from Kiel, and fell into silence for a long time.

What you want in life and what you use are often inconsistent. Although this brings regrets and distress, this is life.

It’s not that you can’t resist and break free, but the final result will probably not be very good.

He, Crow, and the old Knight Lanissa all understood this.

-

Knight Crow held the detailed map that the Baron had just drawn and took Keir to the door of his camp.

"Kiel, go change your clothes first. You can't do reconnaissance wearing armor. Move quickly and come to me after you've changed."

Knight Crow whispered to Kil, and Kil responded in a low voice, and then walked towards his carriage.

His own clothes were items for daily use and were not of high value, so they were not transported to the stronghold in the dreamland for storage, but were packed in the cargo box in his carriage.

Bloody Fangster hadn't rested yet. Although he was healed by divine magic, he had lost a lot of blood and was feeling a little weak. At this moment, he was carefully brushing the hair of Keir's two horses with a brush.

The two horses swayed their long ears happily, obviously very comfortable.

"Kiel, I still recommend you to buy some prairie horses in Cavernland. They are stronger and can assist you in fighting." Seeing Kiel come back, Bloodfangster patted Kiel's horses and recommended them to Kiel. of local horse breeds.

Fortunately, Kil's two horses couldn't understand human language, otherwise they would not look comfortable at this moment, but would be furious.

"Although they are very young and have strength and energy, they are not particularly outstanding horses after all. They can pull carts and ride well, but they are not powerful enough to fight."

Kil nodded, he also felt that what Bloodfangster said made sense.

They will soon enter the southern provinces, and they will have to fight hard when the time comes. The protection of the horses is very important. The three horses he got from the bandits were already struggling with their carrying capacity.

Wearing metal armor and holding heavy weapons, it was already difficult for his horses to run fast, not to mention the leather horse armor. With the weight added, his two horses would probably not be able to run fast.

He could only take small steps, and even if he started running, he would probably run for a while and rest for a while.

It cannot be used well in combat.

"When I pass through the Strange Wind Grassland and reach the Cavern Territory, I will buy an additional grassland horse from the Western Province you mentioned. Well, it will be my main combat horse. Then you, a local, will be the old caravan guard. , I have to choose a good horse from the horse farms for sale!"

Bloody Fangster smiled on his weak face: "Of course, I will pick the best one for you."

Kil, who originally planned to go to the carriage to change clothes, stopped for a moment: "By the way, have you ever heard of methods of strengthening horses to make them stronger?"

I didn’t expect that Bloody Fangster had actually heard of it.

"Are you talking about the powerful war horses that knights ride? Of course I have heard that in the Western Province, a good horse is far better than other weapons."

But he changed his tone: "But these war horses are all in the hands of the nobles and have not spread among the people at all. I have heard people say that this seems to be the result of two methods combined."

"Talk about it."

"I just heard it, don't take it seriously. First of all, the knights' war horses are all horse breeds with excellent bloodlines. They are not horse breeds that can be bought on the market. They are only circulated in aristocratic circles, and outsiders have no idea. No, only knights loyal to the nobility can obtain horses of this powerful breed. Secondly, the horses must be made powerful. Not many people know about this. Everyone only says that there is a mysterious technology, which may be related to magic. It is related to the division and can make ordinary horses strong, whether it is height, endurance, aggressiveness, or obedience, they are all extraordinary."

After saying that, Bloodfangster shrugged, indicating that this was all the reliable news he had heard.

Kil thought for a while and figured out what the reward Knight Lanissa had given him was. It was obviously the latter enhancement technology that Bloodfang had guessed and heard about.

Find that person with the token, and the person will strengthen the horse.

Obviously, he now lacks a horse with strong bloodline.

-

When he came to the carriage, Keir opened a neatly placed wooden box, which was full of his clothes for more than a year.

Even the body he wore when he first woke up was in it.

It's just that he washed the tattered clothes and never wore them again.

It's a souvenir.

Other clothes include the clothes given to him by the Foxtail Chamber of Commerce for the merchants' guild clerks, the short clothes he begged for heavy physical work when he worked part-time in the crafts area, and the ordinary ready-made clothes he bought with a little money later.

Most of them are high-end clothes and decorative accessories bought as their pockets become richer.

Fur hats and animal skin hats, including the white rabbit skin hat that he particularly loved last year. Gloves, leggings and linen muffs on the feet. These are similar to socks, but the material is cheaper linen. The muffs on the feet are a bit rough, so rich people rarely wear them. They are mostly used by civilians who need to wear boots. .

Wealthy people tend to use animal skins to make foot coverings sewn, while the powerful use soft cloth foot coverings made of cotton circulated from other parts of the kingdom.

But he had seen it himself. Baron Kendall even wore silk footwear, which was soft and shiny.

The male aristocrats of this era spent far more on clothing than their women.

Keir didn't know yet that this was a fashion in the northern human areas, while in the warm southern areas, women's clothing was complicated and gorgeous, which was another extreme.

It’s interesting that men in the northern empire kingdom of mankind dress gorgeously, while women’s clothing is more simple and simple.

However, men in the southern kingdom prefer simple clothes with single colors, while women wear more gorgeous clothes.

Kil took off his armor and weapons and equipment and picked them out. Considering that he wanted to conduct reconnaissance carefully, although he didn't know how to wear them, ordinary ones would be fine.

So he chose a set of clothes commonly worn by civilians, and put on a sheepskin vest to protect against the wind and cold on spring nights. His hair no longer needed to be tied up in a helmet, but let down directly.

On the head is a rounded leather hat that covers the ears.

For shoes, I chose flat linen shoes. After putting them on, I tied them to my ankles with fine hemp ropes.

Pat your clothes hard to remove the smell of some clothes that have been stored for a long time.

Then he picked up the hard cowhide armor and long sword and other weapons contained in the armor box, and disappeared into the carriage in an instant.

Then he reappeared in an instant, with a fur belt around his waist and two short swords hanging on it. He didn't know when these two weapons were collected. They seemed to be weapons obtained from gangs that had been wiped out a few days ago.

After wiping out the gang, he collected many of the weapons used by the opponent as trophies. The knight lord said nothing about this. After all, it was the trophies captured by Kiel himself or his subordinates. Compared with all the property obtained by the entire gang, It's just a drop in the bucket.

At the same time, Kil's sheepskin vest also contained an unfinished upper body scale armor.

The dark, non-reflective armor was very unattractive, and it was blocked by the sheepskin vest. Now at night, it was impossible to tell that he was still wearing this thing.

The soft flat shoes stepped on the adobe floor without making any obvious sound. At least the Bloody Tooth who was brushing his horse not far away did not notice the movement of Keir.

Keir nodded. It seemed that he had chosen the right shoes.

He tiptoed away and came to the knight's tent.

The knight's two personal guards were on guard at this time. When they saw Kil in ordinary clothes, if they didn't know Kil's face, they almost shouted to stop him.

"Kiel, why don't you wear the armor you never take off?"

"It's really weird. If you are like this, adults are like this too?"

Smiling, Kil didn't say anything, nodded and walked into the tent. The two guards didn't stop him. The knight told them to let them in directly when they saw Kil.

After seeing the Crow knight in the camp, Kil's eyes lit up.

He thought that Knight Crow would take him for reconnaissance. Of course, he would not wear the knight's heavy steel armor that showed his identity and status, but he would probably wear a high-end samurai uniform often worn by Knight Crow.

But he guessed wrong.

Knight Crow wore a hunting suit worn by wealthy young aristocratic families.

This kind of hunting clothing is not the 'real' hunting clothing worn by Kil's previous hunting companions. After all, it is too rough and professional. Although it is suitable for wild hunting, it does not meet the dressing taste of rich and powerful young people.

Knight Crow wears a pair of high-top soft cowhide boots that reach as high as the calf, but they are not made of thick cooked cowhide. The leather is softer. Only the bottom is made of thick hard cowhide, and the rest of the boots are soft and comfortable.

The legs are a pair of tight breeches with the bottoms put on boots, which is very smart and convenient.

At the same time, the top is a thick cloth that reaches the bottom of the thighs. There are several practical pockets sewn on the clothes. The belt is a thick cooked leather belt. The metal belt buckle has been polished and is not shiny.

The belt was buckled tightly, and there were several leather pockets hanging on it, which contained things. A coil of rope was also hung on the belt through buckles.

Unlike Kiel, Knight Crow was unarmed and unarmed. Also, Knight Crow can cause casualties without using weapons at all.

The clothes were also covered loosely with a dark hood. As for the head, Knight Crow wears a hunting hat decorated with feathers, and a square cloth knotted around the knight's neck. You can tell at a glance that it can be lifted up at any time to cover the mouth, nose and face.

-

Knight Crow saw Kiel coming in, nodded, and noticed that Kiel was carrying two daggers. He fumbled around his waist, and then stretched out his hand: "Kil, give me a dagger."

Kil was a little reluctant to part with it, and Knight Crow waved his palm up and down: "I don't want it from you, it's just for decoration."

Then he took off a sheathed dagger from his belt and handed it to the knight.

The knight fixed the lock on the dagger scabbard to his belt, then returned to his camp bed and took out a square cloth of the same dark color from the box under the bed.

"Here, put it on your neck, tie it in a knot, and be careful not to let others see your face."

Kil took it and knotted it around his neck like the knight.

"Kiel, come here and look at the map."

He unfolded the map drawn by the Baron on the wooden table. When Kil approached, Knight Crow pointed at the centermost building on the map and said: "Look, this twenty-meter-high tower is equipped with a magic crossbow." The anti-aircraft tower of the artillery. The building connected to it below is not somewhere else, but where the town's self-organized security militia is stationed everywhere in the town."

"But it doesn't matter. The population here is not large. Almost half of the population in the town are not locals. Therefore, I estimate that the number of security militiamen is not large. Even the low-rise local building where the tower is located is not full. That's why this is More than half of the bottom of the building is leased to other people and chambers of commerce.”

The knight pointed to another part of the map, which was the details of the building where the tower was located.

"Here, here, and here, occupying three-quarters of the building area, are three chambers of commerce jointly run by locals and outsiders. One is a chamber of commerce that handles wool, and the other is smaller and makes clothing for business trips. The other small chamber of commerce was very interesting. There was nothing visible outside the house. I quietly opened a window and found that it was filled with luminous plants?"

Keir smiled: "I know, sir. The local buildings are dense and the lighting is not good, so every household will buy some luminous plants to light up their homes to save some lighting costs."

Knight Crow suddenly understood, nodded, and pondered for a moment: "We will go over here in a while. There are very few people in this chamber of commerce that grows luminous plants. I noticed that the local area is lively at night and people rest during the day. The other two chambers of commerce are at night Everyone is working, but this plant-growing chamber of commerce only has an old man guarding the gate, and there are no other unnecessary people inside the building."

"When it got dark before, I took a look. Some store clerks took away some luminous plants, worked inside for a while, and then they all left."

"As for the security militia, they have few people, so don't bother with them. The plan to steal the magic ballista will be discussed after this close investigation. Let's go."

"Yes, my lord."

Keir responded immediately.

But Knight Crow shook his head after hearing Kiel's answer: "You can't call me that. Well, in this case, Kiel, you call me Uncle Dodel. And I call you Joe."

"Okay, uh, Uncle Dowdle."

Knight Crow nodded: "Let's go, Joe."

-

The two walked out of the camp. The guards at the door saluted, and the knight waved his hands and left. The two knew that the man in hunting attire was Knight Crow, so they paid special attention.

The two of them bypassed the place where the soldiers rested and walked around the inner edge of the building towards the door.

On the road, they met the patrolling town guards and militiamen. At first, they were confused about how the two of them got in wearing such clothes. However, when the torch shined over them and they discovered that it was Knight Crow and Kil, they immediately saluted.

"My lord, I didn't notice it was you." The guard immediately moved the torch away and used the torch light to shine on the noble's face. This was a very rude act and was considered a minor offense. He would be punished if investigated.

"Okay, I'm going to walk around the town. You patrol well, have a good rest tonight, and don't chat too late. Tomorrow we will march at the same speed as today. You don't want to fight those harpies again, do you? "

The guards and militiamen touched their ears. It was obvious that they were deafened by the monster's scream, which was an experience they still remembered freshly.

"Yes sir."

After leaving the patrol team, the two of them were blocked by the militiamen and guards standing guard at the gate. After recognizing them, Knight Crow came up with his previous excuse.

Even exactly the same.

The militiamen reacted similarly, which amused Kiel.

Walking out of the low-rise building where he was stationed for the night, Knight Crow saw the expression on Kil's face and explained: "Oh, Kil, you didn't expect that I would say the same thing. In fact, this is normal, you What do you think we will say all day long? With the soldiers, we can only repeat and repeat some of the things we have already said to ourselves. But we have to say it."

After a pause, Knight Crow said dissatisfiedly: "But if you repeat it like this, the soldiers will still get the things you tell them wrong or even mess them up. This is how organizational management is. Your subordinates will never do things exactly as you want. Yes. If there are seven or eight-point statues, they are already very good soldiers. If there are five or six-point statues, they are elite soldiers. If there are three or four-point statues, they can also be used in battles, and even as troops in the hands of nobles everywhere. Most of them are at this level.”

Having said this, he shook his head and said to himself: "No, I overestimated them. If they can carry out the orders given by the commander in three or four points, they are already an 'elite' army. Because in many places, they Not even Kendall County’s annual call-out of the militia for training.”

Kier interjected: "Because training every year costs a lot of money!"

Knight Crow was happy: "That's right. Many nobles are stingy about spending their own money here. They would rather spend money to hire some reputable mercenaries, because it is a one-time expense."

"My lord, no, Uncle Dowdle, where are the soldiers with one or two points?"

Knight Crowe smiled disdainfully: "One move, one blow, one blow, and one rush to scatter, one fell to pieces."

The knight used several consecutive words to vividly describe how such an army fought.

Kil felt that even the goblin army might be more effective than the army described in this way. At least the ordinary goblins would not be defeated quickly before the superior goblin warriors were all dead.