Mercenaries and Adventurers

When he came to his carriage, Bloodtusk, who was sitting on the roof of the carriage, said to him: "Kiel, stand higher and look towards the forest to the south and west."

Kil rolled over and climbed to where the carriage driver was sitting, turning his head to look in the direction indicated by his companion.

The forest, which was blocked by the mountains at dusk, was extremely dark, but in the forest with shadows and shadows, a hazy light spot blocked by the tree trunks appeared.

The branches blown by the wind in the mountains occasionally sway, slightly blocking the luminous place, but the next moment, you can see it again.

"It's the light of the torch."

Kil affirmed that his eyesight was better than that of Bloodfangster. This was due to the growth of life energy in the knight's training.

"Someone is watching us in the woods. Kil, are they those guys?"

Bloody Fangster poked his head out from the side and asked Kil.

Nodding, Kil responded: "That's right, wild beasts don't raise torches. Some of the hotels along the way that we saw when we came here were also destroyed and set on fire. Here, besides us, there are only those Guy."

Kil snorted coldly: "Huh, you really look down on us. A team of more than 800 people, do you really think they are more than 800 sheep? Ste, take out my crossbow from the carriage and use it. Stop shooting on the roof of the car later, and shoot from the hood of the car. By the way, give me the hunting bow and arrows, I will use them when riding a horse."

After hearing the instructions, Bloody Fangster rolled down from the car roof, got directly into the car hood, and handed the bow and hunting bow to Kil: "Where are the long weapons? Do you need them?"

While Kil was stuffing his two-handed ax into the carriage, he took the hunting bow and several bags of bows and arrows and said, "Yeah, that's fine too. Take them out."

After summoning the blood-licking grass, Kil loaded the hunting bow and arrows on the weapon rack behind the saddle. Next to him, Bloody Fangster lifted one end of the double-edged steel spear and lifted the rear part of the gun out of the carriage carriage.

Keir stood on the ground outside the carriage, grabbed the butt of the steel spear with one hand, and lifted out the steel spear weighing dozens of kilograms with one hand.

"This thing is really not for ordinary people. It's so heavy."

Kil shrugged: "Yes, as you can imagine, I originally got a full-metal spear before I received the knight training from Knight Crow. As a result, I couldn't swing it at all, so I had to take it. It’s used for physical exercise. Hehe, it felt heavy enough at the time.”

It's different now. The all-metal spear that felt heavy at the time is just right to use now.

After adding the double-edged metal spear to the weapon rack on the horse, Kil touched the neck of the blood-licking grass and asked it to stay in place for the time being and not to move.

The short dusk passed quickly, and due to the obstruction of the mountains, the commercial road in this mountain range was soon shrouded in darkness, with only clouds floating high in the sky with a touch of orange-red color.

Keir carefully observed the distance around him.

The forest to the north was dark and quiet, like a dormant beast. And heading south across the west side of the creek, the light of the torches in the forest is also slowly moving.

Directly south, across the creek is a barren slope of shrubs with no trees, but the half-human-high shrubs, flowers and weeds are very convenient for people to hide in. The shrubs grow silently on the hillside in the absence of wind.

Kil rubbed Yahuazi with his tongue. He felt that there must be many people ambushing there.

Towards the south and east, although there is a forest close to the creek, the water in the creek there is deeper and it is not convenient to wade across the river. If these bad guys are very familiar with this place, they probably won't rush from there. They will definitely come out of the forest, first go to the south of the clearing with shallow water, and then rush towards the clearing where Kiel and the others are.

But there is an uphill slope from the creek to the open space. If people can be blocked on the uphill slope, the opponent's large number of manpower will definitely be of no use.

That's what I thought, but Kil thought it was unlikely.

The terrain was favorable to them, but the unarmed and disorganized young refugees were unable to intercept the bandits' attacks.

"It will just turn into a close-quarters melee and a bad battle."

Keir shook his head. He didn't think these young refugees, who were weak from long-term hunger, could deal with the brutal bandits. Even if there are ten times the number of opponents, it is only a matter of time before they are defeated.

-

Kil came to the nearest fire and said to these young people who had been given more food and obeyed his orders: "Are you all full?"

Some people felt that there was something wrong with Kiel's momentum and tone at this time, but they still replied that they were full.

"Very well, I want to tell you something. Don't be nervous and make noise. We are surrounded by bandits on this trade road."

As soon as Keir finished speaking, the young people beside the fire started making a noise. Most of them got up from the ground, stood upright and looked around, but the surroundings were pitch black, and they who were malnourished could not see at all. It’s too clear what’s in the distance.

"My Lord, Lord Knight, you will protect us, right? Right?"

Faced with this question, Keir nodded solemnly: "Of course, of course. Calm down, everyone. First of all, hold the wooden sticks distributed to you before eating tightly in your hands. This is the first step.”

When Kil said this, they quickly held the rough wooden sticks in their hands. With weapons in their hands, they felt a little safer.

Keir then said to them: "You have to understand that there are many of us and few of the bandits. As long as we gather around the fire, we will be safe tonight. Don't think about escaping or surrendering. Escape, it's just nightfall." , it is impossible to run to the White Stone City Wall level alive in the dark, those guys will definitely arrange ambushes on the road. As for those who plan to surrender to the bandits, after I kill them all and repel them, I will also surrender. The bandits were also killed together. Do you understand?"

The young people around were frightened and kept nodding their heads vigorously up and down.

"Finally, you people are quite obedient, so for your safety, if a fight really breaks out, retreat to the carriage. My companions inside have crossbows and can support you in the battle. Don't run around, just Just fight with your back on the carriage. There are many of us, and those bandits will not be able to do anything to us in the end, as long as there is no confusion."

Kil waved to everyone in front of him: "Everyone, sit down and don't think about informing other people around the fire. Just take care of yourselves."

After hearing what Kil said, everyone sat down again uneasily. They talked in low voices and did not let go of the wooden sticks in their hands for a moment.

Kil then walked towards Priest Batar. He had to explain to the priest what he needed to pay attention to in the subsequent battle.

-

"Boss, there are so many people here, it's all wasted money."

On the north side of the clearing, there is a continuous forest across the road. In a forest full of dark shadows, behind the trunk of the big tree closest to the outer edge of the forest, more than a dozen bandits in different clothes carefully hid themselves in a place that could accommodate their stature. in the shadow.

There were voices coming from the trunks of two of the big trees that were close to each other.

"Shut up, talk less, have everyone in the south been notified?"

The bandit leader, a sturdy middle-aged man, asked coldly.

A reply came from the shadow of another tree trunk: "We have all been notified. The poor ghosts are numerous and gathered together. Therefore, according to your instructions, notify those in the south and let them drive as many people as possible onto the road. Poor ghosts When chaos breaks out, we can catch all those guys. Hey hey hey, there are a lot of young women inside, boss, let’s not sell these women, right? Everyone is quite old and hasn’t started a family yet."

The middle-aged bandit leader snorted coldly: "You still want to start a family? In this time of gradual chaos? Don't think about it. As for those caught, of course they won't be sold like animals, you%￥, yourself How much does it cost to keep it or sell it to the collector? If you resell it to a red house in the city, the value will be at least several times higher! You have to calculate your accounts carefully, otherwise you will not make or make less money in the future, and the brothers will put you on the hook. How about feeding predatory birds in the trees? Remember, coins are the most practical thing.”

The person who asked the question before remained silent and huddled in the shadow of the tree trunks. A suppressed chuckle came from behind several nearby tree trunks: "Those greedy birds will peck out your eyeballs first."

Someone took the opportunity to pick up: "Eat your 'dagger' again."

"Asshole! It's obviously a 'long dagger'."

Someone continued to laugh, "They will peck through the belly and tear out their favorite hearts, livers and kidneys."

Finally, someone finished: "But I will spare your head, because people who are punished like this don't have the brains that birds like to eat."

The person being teased cursed in a low voice.

The ensuing fight was stopped by the bandit leader: "Someone, please go around far away and then go south. Give the stupid guys in the woods to the south a reminder. Wait until these people have fallen asleep at midnight before launching an attack."

"Boss, let me go."

The bandit leader waved his hand, and a detective bandit wearing a colorful animal skin took the order. Then he ducked and sneaked into the darkness of the forest. His legs swung rapidly. In addition to making a little collision and trampling sound of vegetation, his whole body was very fast. The sound went away quickly and softly.

-

After a while.

"Wait until midnight? %%\u0026*, is there something wrong with your leader's brain, or is there something wrong with your brain? Those soft-legged shrimps, smelly ticks, and earthworms digging in the ground, why don't you wait until midnight? As long as it gets completely dark, The poor guys who were digging on the ground just had a black eye. My brothers rushed up and drove them all away. Hum, when they get to a slightly darker place, there are so many of them that they can only wander around in the dark. .”

In the woods on the east side of the south side of the clearing, a fat bandit sat with his legs spread on the backs of several people lying on the ground, speaking "heroically" to a bandit wearing a colorful animal skin.

His words were immediately agreed by the other bandits around him.

This is the style of this gang of bandits. They attack pedestrians and caravans at night, attacking them hard. If they can beat them, they eat them all. If they can't beat them, they take advantage of the merchant's goods and leave.

Since the selection of attack targets is very good, the real hard bones have not been chewed a few times since its establishment, but some small caravans have swallowed them completely several times.

It can be regarded as a bandit team with quite strong numbers and strength.

Of course, the quality was not as good as the team led by the middle-aged bandit on the north side of the trade road. The two had different styles and different reputations.

"But that's what our leader said. If you don't do it, of course I can't care about it, but from now on."

With a secret threat, the bandit wearing animal skins retreated. Bandits are all big bosses and cannot directly contradict or do anything. Otherwise, they will suddenly become angry and kill him. Even if the subsequent bandit leader helps him avenge him, he will die. He is the one who really suffers.

"Hmph, those guys in the north are very famous. If they really compete with us, they are no match for us. I really thought that now is the good time in the past. Bah, this trade road is dead and there is no trade. The team meeting is here, brothers, after this robbery is over, we have to leave here, change places, and change our ways."

The fat robber is not as stupid as he seems. He even said that after understanding the current situation, he had already made plans: "Don't mutter, I know what you are worried about. Isn't it just that you are afraid of being hostile to other local robbers or gangs when you go to other places?" Attack. Let me tell you, why we have fewer merchants here, isn’t it because our southern provinces are all in chaos, and they have begun to attack the caravans of villages and towns around them on a large scale. They are at the source. They robbed all the caravans, and we still have nothing to eat. Do you think this is correct? Is this the truth?"

The subordinates suddenly realized this and began to flatter their leader one after another.

"Okay, stop talking nonsense. We robbed this refugee team today. Once we robbed the people and sold them, we went to the black market to exchange the money for better weapons and equipment. After that, we went out and robbed the villages we encountered. In a village, when you encounter a town, grab the town. Try to take advantage of the opportunity to expand the team. By then, everyone will have more than ten people, haha. Dominate the area!"

The flattery was released in the forest again, and for a moment, it smelled terrible.

-

On the shrub wasteland just south of the clearing, the scout bandits wearing colorful animal skins crawled and moved, and quietly found the leader of a bandit ambushing here.

"That's what happened. Our leader hopes that your team can delay the attack until midnight as much as possible. But the fat man next door claims that he will attack after it gets completely dark. What do you think?"

Facing the people approached by other bandit gangs, the bandit leader who was also lying behind a bush snorted: "What do I think? You can do it after dark, or you can do it in the middle of the night. I don't have any objections, but I have only one request. , when you attack later, don’t think about letting us rush up first, and get rid of us when the benefits are finally distributed. "

"Don't worry, you don't know our leader's reputation. Which joint attack has ever caused you and your team to suffer a loss?"

With a flattering smile, the bandit wearing animal skin whispered.

But the face of the bandit leader next to him changed: "Which time did you suffer a loss? You have the nerve to say that you didn't share the majority of the benefits. Other teams like us can only share a share of the soup. I'll give it to you. Ming said, what happened today was not because you invited everyone to come over and take action, but because everyone has not been open for several days, and they are all focused on this person. Don't use the same old tricks that you took the lead to ask for more benefits. "

"Bah." He spat on the face of the animal skin bandit, but the bandit who had his face spat on did not dare to fight back.

Because the bandits from the opposing group behind the surrounding bushes and flowers all took out their weapons and stared at him.

So the humiliation can only be endured.

"Whatever everyone gets today belongs to the same person, and there is no redistribution. That's it, I'm done with this, and I won't hang out here anymore. I'll tell your %￥ boss that you can play alone here from now on. .”

After saying that, the leader of the bandits waved his hand in disgust and drove the people away.

The bandits wearing colorful animal skins had no choice but to retreat silently and crawl away quietly. He grabbed a handful of grass, wiped the spit from his face, snorted secretly, rolled his eyes, and then quietly ran towards the woods on the southwest side of the clearing.

-

In the deep forest, a torch was inserted into the hole dug in the tree trunk, emitting a bright light of burning grease.

The bandit wearing colorful animal skins half-knelt on the ground with a suppressed smile, and said to the tall and thin middle-aged man in front of him who was being served by several people: "The noble King of White Walls, what our leader and the other two leaders said. That’s what it means.”

The tall, thin, middle-aged bandit calls himself the King of the White Wall, claiming that he and his inherited bloodline own a large piece of land on the east side of the business road between the White Stone City Wall and the mountain range.

This is not nonsense, because the bandits of all sizes who are entrenched here have heard that before the city of Montauca was developed, that is, when the Kingdom of Saint Holes was first established a few decades ago, the first Among the nobles who settled here, there was one whose territory was in the place he claimed.

But later on, provinces were established in various parts of the kingdom, and the city of Montoka, which occupies a convenient location, developed, and troops were sent to occupy the white stone city wall checkpoint left by the dwarves.

At that time, the checkpoint was not a checkpoint, but a small town owned by the middle-aged bandit's ancestors.

The long string of trade routes and land to the east of the checkpoint are not so desolate and uninhabited. There are also one or two villages.

However, due to the decline in strength, the White Stone City Wall pass was occupied by Viscount Montauca sending troops, and the earls of the southern provinces also allowed this to happen. The use of political transactions eliminated the possibility of the natural transportation arteries of the two provinces being contested by military forces for years.

I heard that the Earl of the Southern Province gave up his local demands in order to give the Viscount Montauca exclusive preferential rights in customs duties.

At this moment, the ancestor of this middle-aged bandit turned into a bandit who plundered the trade routes and wandered in his family's original territory. Because of their familiarity with the local area, even if the city of Montauca sent troops to clear out the enemy, it would have no effect, and military expenditures would be wasted.

Today, the family inheritance has passed to this man, and the tall, thin, middle-aged bandit is still active in the local area.

"I heard everything you said."

The tall, thin middle-aged man spoke in a leisurely manner, and there was a butler-looking person next to him serving drinks.

"You can do whatever you want. I can see that you all plan to leave here after finishing this work. That's fine. That's fine. It's enough for us to be the only family here."

Under the illumination of torches, the so-called bandits around were sitting on the ground holding their own weapons. Most of them were equipped with leather clothes, and a few of them wore leather armor. Their equipment and aura were different from other bandit teams in appearance and level.

It's just because this bandit team neither attracts young bandits who want to join, nor does anyone ever join other gangs, so the team composition is very simple. The frequency of their attacks is not very high, and there are even rumors that these people will only select teams of noble families with noble backgrounds or contacts.

This time the follow-up attack seemed to be because someone saw a young knight in the refugee team.

"Go back and tell your leader that after tonight's feast, please leave simply. The thirsty creek cannot support so many fish schools."

The tall, thin middle-aged man waved his fingers, and the butler-looking robber stepped forward to see off the guests.

The bandit wearing a colorful animal skin was confused, bowed his head, took a detour, and decided to quickly return to the boss.

Because the last orange glow in the sky above our heads is about to dissipate.

There is no moon rising in the starry sky. It has not risen yet, so there will be no moon rising tonight.

Tonight will be a hidden moon day.

It is inconvenient to go out on such days because it is dangerous.