Mercenaries and Adventurers

Keir was curious about what the other party said: "Lord Earl? Chestnut face?"

The sloppy man slapped his head and realized: "He is not the Earl of the Western Province, but the Earl of our Southern Province. That noble lord has an elite army. If he is willing to take action, he will definitely be able to defeat the invaders of our territory. The southern army was repulsed."

"What about chestnut face? What is this?"

Kil jumped off his horse, took out an iron coin from his pocket and threw it to the opponent.

Although the opponent is thin and slovenly, his movements in catching the coins are extremely accurate. Maybe everyone can catch the money in extremely accurate movements?

"Well, chestnut face is what those soldiers who were damned defeated in the battle said. Every one of the soldiers from the Southern Kingdom who fought with us has a face like a chestnut peeled open in autumn, red and brown."

Bloody Fangster chuckled lightly, jumped off the horse and asked: "You have never seen the army of the southern kingdom, and you believe what those defeated troops said. It's ridiculous, why did you flee here? If I didn't guess, If I'm wrong, it was those defeated armies that sacked your village and then took you all the way to escape here, right?"

As soon as Bloody Fangster said these words, the man's face turned ugly. He clenched his fists and said something to Lai Lai: "It's all our fault for believing the words of the young people from their own village. Let them in, otherwise It won’t be like this. It won’t be like this.”

After watching the man sinking into self-pity, Kil and Bloodfangster pulled the horses towards the village.

"Did they come last year?"

Keir asked Xiangster.

Nodding, Bloody Fangster confirmed: "Last year, I heard that the nobles on the southern border suffered a huge defeat. Tens of thousands of troops were defeated and fled. Not only did they fail to capture the enemy, but they also lost a large area of ​​land on the border. .”

"Not only that, I heard that the defeated army fled back to various parts of the southern province. As a result, many villages were devoured by the evil spirits who came down from the battlefield, and a large number of people fled here again with them."

Bloody Fangster shrugged: "This is the northern part of the Cavern Territory. There are many refugees in each village. You can imagine what it is like further south. I heard that there are more refugees at the provincial pass, making it a mess. Fortunately, everyone's weapons were confiscated when they came to us from the pass, otherwise, think about how many defeated generals were among the refugees, and how much trouble and chaos they would bring here."

While the two were talking, they passed by a large number of refugee shacks outside the village. The smell here was terrible. It seemed that many people had lost control and dumped their own feces directly around the dilapidated houses. No one organized the collection and disposal of the feces or dumped it into Downstream of the river next to the village.

Kil and the others pinched their noses and walked quickly across here, but they were still surrounded by a large number of children.

"Uncle, please give me some food."

Under the gossip of his family, a thin child knelt on the edge of the street far away from the two of them, lowered his head and raised his empty hands, begging the two outsiders Kiel for some food.

There are more than ten children kneeling in a row, and the feeling they bring is self-explanatory.

Keir immediately wanted to take out the prepared dry food reserves from the pockets carried by the horses and give them some so that those thin little hands would not keep raising them.

But Bloody Fangster grabbed his hand and shook his head: "You can't control it. No matter how much food you give, you can't control it."

"That's right, you two adults, that little food is of no use. I'm young and have some strength, so hire me to work! No wages, just provide me with food that can feed five people."

Immediately, a group of thin young men stood in front of him, patting their chests and introducing themselves.

Keir looked at these young men who were no taller than his chest, and whose legs and feet were no thicker than his wrists, and shook his head in disappointment.

Bloody Fangster drove them away: "Go away, go away. Do you know what we do? Just let us hire you. We are going to the south to fight. Do you understand war? It means splitting people apart. Hundreds of people are killed." Thousands of people are doing this to each other, and that’s war.”

Bloody Fangster's words frightened the teenagers.

In fact, as soon as it was said that they were going to the south to fight, these teenagers started to shrink back. Although the children are young, most of them know why they were fine before last year, but last year they were taken away by those armed with weapons and fled here.

Isn’t it because we lost the war in the south?

Therefore, when Bloodfangster said this, the teenagers dispersed silently and squatted on the edge of the street, sitting with the younger children who could only kneel down and pray for food.

Keir looked at them for a while, then took out some dry and hard bread sticks and placed them on a relatively clean stone on the side of the road.

"Hey, what are you doing? It's not like they don't have parents. Their own parents will find ways to support them."

Bloody Fangster shook his head, feeling that this was of no use.

Once Bloodfangster reminded him, Kil also remembered that there were all the teenagers on the side of the road in broad daylight. What were their parents doing?

"Where are your parents?"

The children gathered around the stone and fought for the dry bread that Kiel had put on it. Kil couldn't figure out how they broke the bread sticks that were thicker than their thighs? This thing is so strong that it can knock someone unconscious with a swing.

A taller boy was given a piece of dry bread and immediately hid it in his clothes. Then when faced with Kiel's question, he pointed to the pasture on the other side of the village.

"My father and brothers all went to work on the ranch. It was hard to get the job!"

"Where's mother?"

"My mother and sisters went to the village to knead animal skins and make fur clothes."

Another young man next to him interjected: "My mother can smoke meat, and she brings me a small piece of dry and hard bacon every day!"

The other friends immediately showed envious expressions, and even the bread they had just been given was immediately compared with others.

Keir smiled, then concealed his smile.

This village is not particularly big. How many refugee laborers can it ultimately employ?

It is estimated that there are only less than half. Where are the whereabouts of the more people?

The two left the teenagers and quickly entered the village along the soft dirt road.

-

The village was obviously much tidier. The streets were paved with a layer of crushed gravel. They found a place to scrape the mud from the bottom of their boots. Kil and Bloodyost were looking for a place to buy horses.

"I've been to this place before, Dongyaohua Village, one of the countless villages in Kawen Territory that look similar. If it weren't for being next to the trade road, I wouldn't be able to remember its name."

Bloody Fangster said while pointing around.

Refugee children from outside the village will not follow them into the village, either because they do not want to cause trouble or because the ground in the village is paved with small stones and they will get cuts on the soles of their feet without shoes, so they dare not follow them.

In broad daylight, the main street in the village seemed very lively. Business travelers were riding horses and driving carriages, hauling away dried bacon and selling it to distant places.

Kiel saw that the merchants and clerks who came and went were basically not very hands-on. All the work was done by refugee women in plain clothes. Even the work of drying meat and other goods was done by strong peasant women among the refugees.

The local villagers shook the bags of coins with satisfaction and carefully put them into sturdy money boxes.

There are some strong young men, but you can tell they are from the village just by looking at their clothes, and they often carry swords on their hips, looking as if they should be taken for granted.

Keir saw the problem at a glance: "These people from other places have no intention of settling here."

Bloody Fangster felt surprised and asked, "How did you tell? Isn't this your first time here?"

Kier turned up his nose and said proudly: "They don't want money, just food, and the women among the refugees don't communicate much with the local male villagers. Although it may be to avoid trouble, the same goes for young unmarried young men and women. That means these outsiders only think they are staying here temporarily."

"They will definitely go back to their hometowns. They will just live here for a year or two and then go back. So they are just looking for jobs to make ends meet and have no intention of staying here for a long time. The same is true for the local villagers. , see through the thoughts of outsiders, so they can take advantage of as much labor as they can in a short period of time."

"Hey, your guess is really accurate. I only figured it out by asking around. You kid can tell it right away. You have a lot of brains."

The two people talked and laughed and came to a stable built in the village.

Every household here has its own horses, so this stable is a place specifically for foreign merchants to trade horses.

"Firebeard! It's me, Bloodfang! Hey, come to life!"

As soon as he came in, Bloody Fangster made a patrol, and then shouted at a middle-aged strong man in the distance.

Apparently that person was a familiar friend.

"You guys have crossed the Strange Wind Plains again. You are such a brave guy. Who is this?"

The middle-aged strong man named Firebeard indeed has a fiery red beard and a strong body. He looks like a bear standing upright.

Kil was wearing ordinary clothes today, neither iron armor nor hard cowhide armor. He just wore a wolf fur cloak over a thick cloth.

Although spring is getting warmer day by day, as long as the wind blows on the vast grassland, the temperature will not rise, so you must wear thicker clothes.

It gets even colder at night, and you can see white mist-like water vapor whenever you open your mouth.

"This is my new friend, Joe Kiel. Although he is young, he is a very strong warrior. He has saved me more than once. This time I am coming to you to pick out some good horses for him. It’s a bit of a favor. So, take out the good horses in your hands, and don’t use old horses or sick horses to make up for it.”

Firebeard immediately opened his eyes, and then looked around carefully: "What are you talking about? All the horses here are good. How can there be any reason for old horses and sick horses to be sold as good to customers? No. Of course, uh, Kil. Soldier, don’t listen to his nonsense. I have all good horses here. Which one you like, just tell me directly. I guarantee that the horse will be good and the price will be better, and I will give you a half discount!”

After listening to this with great interest, Kil moved closer to the restless prairie horses in the stable and looked at them curiously.

These sensitive animals are far more sensitive than humans. Kil's body was too murderous. When he relaxed, others didn't notice it, but these animals noticed it.

They stamped their hooves, trying to stay away from Kiel, who was leaning over to observe them in the small stable.

But the place is so big, where can I hide?

"Can I go in and take a closer look?"

Keel wanted to feel them carefully so he could choose, but the horses all hid inward, so he asked if he could go in.

Firebeard shrugged: "Don't be fooled by their appearance. They are all ferocious little guys. You can go in and touch them, but be careful not to get kicked by them. I am not responsible for the treatment here. You have to do it yourself. Find the priest in the village."

Keir waved his hand, reached out and flipped in.

A strong horse inside became even more uneasy, its eyes avoided Keir's gaze, and its ears fluttered down.

"Good boy, calm down, I just want to look at you."

Kil circled it, then slowly touched the horse's body and smoothed its hair.

"Kiel, look at its teeth, hooves, and spirit."

Bloody Fangster reminded from outside.

Then he turned to Firebeard: "You must have a good horse, take it out and see, my friend is rich!"

Can you not have money? Last night, Kiel won three games in a row. Everyone else lost their pants, but he made double the money according to Kiel's wishes.

He bet several gold coins that Kiel lent him, and all other people's money in the gambling board was lost to the two of them.

"Really rich? Well, nice horse, right?"

Firebeard turned around and shouted to his son: "Third brother, you and your two brothers will bring the best pawn of our old overlord."

Hearing the name of the old overlord, Xueyaster's eyes lit up and he looked forward to it: "I knew that you brought your best mare to the city that time just to spend money to match the old overlord's breeding stock. Come on! Let me see how powerful it is like its father!"

While rubbing the horse's ears, Kil listened to their words and was curious about what this 'old overlord' was.

Sounds like a nickname for a famous horse.

After asking around, it turned out to be true.

"The old overlord is a divine horse owned by Viscount Cavan of Cavan! The most widely circulated theory is that the Church of the God of Animal Husbandry begged the Pegasus from the God Realm for Viscount Cavan!" Bloody Fangster looked excited. shouted.

Fire Beard sneered: "It's fair to say, can you, a caravan guard, really believe it?"

He looked around and saw that there was no other outsider in his stable, so he whispered: "Actually, the old overlord heard that it was a gift that the dwarves were going to give to His Majesty the Regent, and ran out of the envoys when they passed by us. , those dwarfs gave up after catching them for a while. As a result, the old overlord quickly gathered a large number of wild horses together and became the leader of the herd. Later, he was discovered, captured, and presented to us Ka Mr. Viscount Wen."

"This reason is quite credible."

Keir said so while lying on the fence.

Soon, a tall and extremely strong horse was led over by Firebeard's sons.

Ho! Several people were unable to hold back this young and strong horse. When the other horses in the stable saw its appearance, they immediately lowered their heads and kept moving up and down.

As if to please it.

None of the humans present paid attention to this extraordinarily tall and strong horse. They were simply arrogant.

As soon as Keir turned out, he walked straight towards the horse.

"Be careful, buddy, it has a very bad temper. None of us brothers have been able to successfully subdue it." The eldest son of Fire Beard carefully pulled a rope loop, which seemed to be wrapped around the horse's neck. But it doesn't look like a man leading a horse, but like a horse leading a man.

This young horse with the blood of the old overlord is more than two meters tall, and Kil even only reaches its neck.

He stretched out his hand and tried to touch the fur on its neck, but it twisted its neck and avoided Kil's hand.

"Hey Lu Lu Lu——"

A strange scream came from the straight white teeth, which sounded like he was laughing at Keir.

Kil smiled, stared into the horse's eyes, took a deep breath, and then the life energy in his body gathered.

He didn't move or waver, but just once, the atmosphere immediately changed.

"Lulu, lulu—"

"Lulu, lulu—"

The surrounding horses sensitively sensed the change in Kil's, and each one screamed in surprise, but when they screamed, the strong old overlord's blood became unhappy.

After snorting, all the surrounding horses fell silent. They all lowered their heads and secretly looked at the duel between Kil and it.

"Please let go of the rope on it."

Kil said to the three Firebeard sons.

The three young men looked at their father, while Firebeard looked at Bloodfang.

Xueyaster took out a small money bag from his arms, shook it in his hand, and made the sound of gold coins colliding. This attracted the attention of Jianhuo Beard's family. He opened the money bag and revealed more than ten gold coins inside.

"Kiel?"

"Um,"

Keir didn't even turn his head, but still stared at the strong horse confronting him: "How about it? Can you let go of the rope on it? If the horse runs away, the money is yours."

Firebeard immediately smiled: "That's enough, that's enough. It won't cost so many gold coins to find the old overlord to mate with him once."

After speaking, Firebeard waved to his sons, and the three young men immediately carefully handed the rope in their hands to Kil's hand, but Kil refused.

"Just let it go. Let it confront me."

The three young men looked at each other, shrugged, and untied the three nooses on the horses. Then at the same time, the three of them ducked to the side.

As expected, his bad temper was not an excuse. As soon as the rope on his body was removed, this strong and tall guy revealed his true colors. First he fiercely sprayed hot air on Kiel's face, and then hit Kiel sideways with his huge horse's head.

The neck full of muscles gives it great strength. Not to mention humans, other horses that are equally strong will have their heads buzzing after being beaten like this.

But in the face of the huge horse's head that was smashed horizontally, Kil just squatted slightly, stretched out his right hand and turned into a palm, and slapped the horse's face with the same ferocity.

Snapped!

Kil was hit by the huge impact and moved thirty centimeters to the right, but the horse that attacked him also opened its mouth and stared at Kil, a human, in confusion.

The long horse's face was slapped, and its huge eyes were still a little dazed at this moment.

what happened?

What just happened?

Shouldn't this man be knocked to the ground directly by its head?