Mercenaries and Adventurers

Kil shook his right hand to relax the discomfort caused by the sudden forceful fisting.

To be honest, Kil can already feel the discomfort in many places in the full metal armor that this craftsman friend built with him. His strength has grown rapidly. The self-defense combat metal armor specially made when he was slightly stronger than ordinary people has created restrictions and restrictions not only on movement, but also on offense and activities.

Rather than further improving his combat effectiveness.

"Hey, it hasn't been long since I wore it." He said to himself.

The armor was made in the winter, and he wore it when he set out with the army in early spring. Now, it has only been more than a month, and there are already many damages on the armor, and it no longer matches his own strength.

But he had no choice. For the time being, he could only put on his clothes first and take a step at a time before talking.

The sword-wielding enemy fell to the ground and had his arm broken by a punch. It seemed that he lost his fighting ability not only because of the pain. Kil walked over and took a look, only to find that this man did have a mental problem. At this time, his whole body was twitching and he had obviously lost consciousness. But he was still mumbling something in a language with an obvious accent.

He patted the man's face and tugged at the young man's drooling mouth. The other man didn't react at all, and just said some names of men and women from the same family.

After thinking for a while, Keir took the rope and carefully tied the person's hands and feet, lifted it up and left it on the ground.

The opponent's broken arm seemed to have an extra joint. When tied up, it could be bent into a strange angle by moving it.

Kil picked up the hunting sword that he had dropped in a hurry, and walked to several bandits who were severely burned by the flames of the magic dagger.

Some of these people had their upper bodies covered under floating soil, and smoke was coming out. It looked like nothing, but their lower bodies were ignited by flames. The hem of the animal skin clothing worn by the bandit and the animal skin boots on the calves, as well as the long hairy thighs, were carefully scorched and blackened by the flames.

I kicked the man, but he couldn't move. Curious whether the man was dead or unconscious, Gere pulled out his upper body from the floating soil.

As a result, when I looked up with the magic light, I saw that the man's face was purple, and it didn't look like he was pretending. But he died without knowing what happened.

"It's strange, the fire on this person's head and face has obviously been extinguished."

Kil muttered, and then checked the person next to him who was burned by the magic flame.

Upon inspection, I discovered how dangerous it is to have magic flames in direct contact with vital parts of the body. In the area where the bandit's head and face were swept by the high-temperature magical flames, many vital skin surfaces were turned into charcoal. Of course, there was also a big problem with the important blood vessels underneath.

Kil used the tip of his sword to poke the neck of the robber he was examining, and found that the blood vessels under the skin of his neck were also damaged. When the metal tip of the sword poked, the blood vessels fell off and tore off.

At this time, fresh blood was squeezed out from the bottom of the fracture close to the body, and the blood vessels on the tip of Kiel's sword seemed to be ripe with the blood inside.

The blood coagulated and blocked the blood vessels, so it took only a short time to kill the fallen bandit.

"Damn it, never let the high-temperature magic flame jet touch a place like your neck in the future."

After Kil sighed, he realized that these bandits were all hopeless. He approached the entrance of the low cave near the clearing where the bandits had rushed out before, looked inside, and listened to the sounds inside. After finding nothing, he chased the bandit leader whose left leg was cut off by him.

-

Even though it was a familiar territory, Barney the mountain wolf still couldn't run very far with his broken leg and no support from the lighting.

Kiel followed the wounds and blood on the ground and easily found the guy who had climbed fifty meters away and was hiding behind the trunk of a big tree.

"￥% # ￥!" The stubborn bandit leader threw his left calf towards Kiel.

Kil chuckled: "What, who do you think this thing can hurt? I don't want your stinky feet."

Swinging his long sword to knock off the severed leg, Kil carefully followed the opponent's crawling escape route, gradually approaching the bandit leader who was still resisting tenaciously in the end.

The bandit with a broken leg holding a long sword stubbornly stood up by the tree trunk, then jumped on one leg and killed the young knight fiercely. If he were an ordinary young man, he would probably be frightened by this guy's crazy appearance, and then be killed by him in surprise, but for Kil?

There were two clang sounds, the two long swords clashed twice, and then Kiel twisted the sword and disarmed the opponent.

The shield then makes close contact, and even with its light weight, it can give the enemy a painful 'kiss'.

Sheathing the sword, Kil grabbed the opponent's remaining leg, picked up the opponent's fallen weapon, and dragged it back.

"What are you doing, you ￥% guy? How about just killing me? Ha, you want my treasure? Go to hell, I wouldn't even tell you in my dreams."

"It's not up to you."

Kil forcefully pulled one of the guy's legs, dragged out the obvious trail of leaves on the ground, and returned to the previous clearing.

After tying this guy up firmly, Kil also used a piece of charred animal skin torn from the corpse next to him and stuffed it directly into the mouth of the bandit leader, silencing the man's random shouting.

"Just be honest, you have done a lot of bad things, huh, you will suffer."

Keir broke a few branches from the nearby woods into small strips, borrowed some fire from the still burning corpse of the bandit, and raised a lighting fire in the open space that could indicate the direction in the woods at night. I was afraid that I would not be able to find this place that I missed before.

Then, following the route he had followed all the way down from the top of the hill, he walked quickly towards the top of the hill in the opposite direction to join his men.

"Lord Knight, is that you?"

Facing the young refugees who were standing guard with weapons back to back on the top of the hill, Keir nodded and said, "Of course it's me. What can the remaining bandits do? Come on, follow me and search the bandits' lair. Hey, hey, again It’s everyone’s favorite post-war activity.”

Kiel was very excited, but these young men were a little disappointed. They carried the body of their companion who had been protecting them for a long time and followed them step by step behind the young knight who led the way down the mountain.

Soon they came to the open space at the entrance of the bandits' cave again.

The burnt corpse lying on the ground did not surprise the young people, but the two bandits who were tied up made them overjoyed.

"Sir, which one of these is the enemy who killed our people? We want to give him a good look!"

Some young people carefully looked at the several bandits on the ground who were either killed or captured. When the accident happened, the enemy moved too fast, and no one could see what was going on. The enemy and the knight chased each other one after another.

Keir waved his hand and said casually: "Okay, it's the guy who is dressed like a human being. But this guy is crazy. He lost his mind when he hit him. Well, as soon as he met this guy, he said You are talking nonsense, I guess this guy has long been thinking clearly."

The mountain wolf Barney, whose mouth was gagged and speechless, struggled twice and made a whining sound from his mouth.

But no one paid any attention to him.

Before tonight, this guy was still a powerful leader of a bandit gang, but now, he is just a bad guy with an unknown outcome who was captured after being injured and broke his leg.

Hearing the knight say that the enemy who killed their people was crazy, the remaining five young people gathered around to take a look curiously, and found that the guy who was not gagged was indeed mumbling something he had never heard before. some names. At the same time, his face was distorted, and he kept making various intense facial expressions. His eyes were mostly closed, but occasionally they would open. Under his eyelids were not clear eyes, but whites and pupils that were turned up. It also keeps spinning randomly throughout the entire eye socket.

He looked like he was really crazy.

Several young men did not kill the man, but actually kicked him a few times and relieved him. They even got more creative and used the palms of their dead companions to slap back and forth on the crazy bandit's face.

They were displeased when they heard that the knight said that another wounded and captured bandit was the leader of the group of bandits. They became even more motivated. It was boring to bully a madman, so they slapped the bandit leader in the face with the palms of their companions.

The mountain wolf Barney's glaring expression of wanting to kill and eat meat made even Keir laugh.

"When big bears are sick and weak, they can only eat fox excrement. Haha, you mountain wolf, I think you are the same."

After letting them play around for a while, Kil then arranged for two people to guard the prisoners and sort out the corpses and the weapons of the bandits in the open space.

"These heavy hammers and wood-cutting axes are both good tools and can be put to great use. Add some fuel to the fire to keep it burning!"

"Yes sir."

Then, Kil kept his body low and took the lead to crawl into the low bandit cave, with the other three following behind.

-

The entrance to the cave is very low. Kil, who is wearing armor, has to lie on the ground to move. It is much easier for the young refugees. They are wearing simple and damaged bandit skin clothes and can barely move by bending down.

But fortunately, this passage that winds downwards and deepens is getting bigger and wider. Otherwise, Kiel would have to stay outside and let his men come in to investigate.

There is wind flowing in the passage, and the air is not turbid, but has a unique dirty smell of bandits. The smell was caused by infrequent washing and then dozens of people gathering together for long periods of time.

After turning the last corner, a spacious cave interior appeared in front of him.

The top floor of the cave here is higher, and there are lighting braziers and torches in three places around it to provide lighting, so that people who come in can see everything here clearly at a glance.

But Keir just glanced at it and secretly said that was bad.

"###, I was cheated!"

It was not for anything else. He looked inside the cave and saw that apart from crude wooden beds and hammocks hanging randomly, there were not many caravan goods that he had expected the bandits to plunder.

After all, it is impossible for all the caravan goods to be sold by these people at low prices. How can such a good thing happen?

Thinking about it this way, you can understand that he was deceived.

Judging from the situation, it is impossible for this gang of bandits to have only one stronghold and lair. This bandit lair not far from the woods on the north side of the trade road is most likely just a place where bandit gangs wait for the caravan and wait before launching the robbery.

You don't need to guess that the real lair of these guys must be somewhere deeper in the woods and somewhere safe in the mountains on the north side.

Maybe it's a hidden cave like this one, with traps around and a covered entrance?

While Keir was upset that he had been deceived, the other three young men who followed him in had already carried weapons and carefully searched the side.

They had done this twice before, so they were already familiar with the movements.

They even developed a division of labor. One person would pick up the torch inserted at the entrance and provide lighting at any time. One person was holding a weapon, guarding the surroundings, and another person was carrying a bag on his back, constantly searching the robbers' beds.

The entire bed was lifted up, and all the coins that had been deliberately hidden by the thieves were pried out from the cracks in the wooden window underneath. The linen quilt filled with hay and soft leaves was torn open, and after a few stirs with his hands, he could find the small money bag hidden in the place where it was often dismantled and repaired.

Without taking a closer look, they were all thrown into the big bag.

Straw pillows or wooden pillows are the top priority of the search. Let your companions chop these things open with a machete, and you can get more or less something from them.

Either various coins or small shiny pieces of jewelry.

Throw them all into your pocket.

Kil didn't care what they did. He took a simple glance and found a place to make a fire for cooking and place food on his left hand after entering the cave.

Lifting the lid of the frequently opened barrel, apart from a few jerboas that had been disturbed and escaped, there were pieces of dry hard bread as big as a human head.

The discovery of these grains made Kiel very concerned and fancy.

In the current situation in the southern provinces, it is difficult to say how much value the coins and valuables have. After all, normal commercial trade and transactions have been disrupted, and it must be a common occurrence that you can’t buy anything with money, and you can only guess with your heels.

And these grains or food are even more important.

"It's a pity that we couldn't find the real lair of the bandit in one go. Well, we still have to interrogate and pry open that guy's mouth."

Suddenly there was a meow from the side. Kil turned around and saw a gray-haired cat jumping off a wooden bed and chasing after the jerboa that was running around just now.

The little cat immediately held down the largest jerboa, bit it to death, then held it in its mouth and came to Kiel.

Kil looked down at the little fur ball. As a result, the kitten opened its mouth and spat out the bitten jerboa. It used its paws to pull it to Kil's body, and then sat up proudly.

With the corner of his mouth raised, Keir closed the lid of the bread bucket, tightly closing it this time to prevent the jerboa from sneaking in.

Then he knelt down, stretched out a finger and carefully rubbed the gray cat's forehead. The little thing is not afraid of people either. After letting out a small cry, he ran with a proud step to catch other jerboas that had nowhere to go after being driven out.

While the cat was not paying attention as he walked away, Kil pinched the slender tail of the jerboa with his fingers, and then threw the thing into the lighting brazier not far away.

With a sizzling sound, a burst of burnt-smelling smoke emerged from the brazier and flowed away along the gap at the top of the cave.

Just when Kiel was about to check what survival supplies he could harvest as much as possible, young people not far away shouted in surprise but not in a panic: "Wow, ah, ah, ah! This, this, this!"

"What's wrong?"

Kil asked loudly and walked over quickly.

But the voice that answered him had a different meaning: "Sir Knight, she is a woman, hey hey, and she is not wearing any clothes——"

Kil snorted and walked over to take a look. Sure enough, in the corner of the cave, where the mattresses were loosely shrouded on the wooden bed, two naked women covered in bruises were tied up inside.

"Don't let me go yet, you two, we are not bad people. This group of bandits have been defeated and you have been rescued."

The rope was quickly untied, and the cloth gagged in the mouth was also removed. The two rescued women did not look surprised at being rescued. Instead, they wrapped themselves in quilts and carefully looked at Keir and the others. .

"Who are you?"

Keir shrugged: "I am a knight from Kendall County in the north. I originally had a mission with the priests of the Church of Saturn. However, when passing the white stone city wall checkpoint, these farmers who had taken refuge in villages across the southern province were blocked by the local checkpoint. After they were stopped, I took the young people from the farmers with me to find a way out. It just so happened that they could also be of some help to the mission."

"You missed the point!"

"The bandits have united to rob us. But after a night of fighting, several groups of bandits have been defeated. I am leading people to search, no, I am clearing the lair of the bandits."

As a result, one of the two women said bluntly: "Then you are disappointed. There is nothing here. Barney never puts things together."

Kil was a little far away before, but now he walked in and said to the two of them: "Oh, Barney? Are you familiar with this bandit leader?"

Perhaps they let something slip, or perhaps they were frightened by the glowing eyes under Kil's mask. Not only did the two women not answer Kil's question, they even shrank their heads and shrank into the beast. Among the leather quilts.

"What does this mean? It's hard to answer, or what?"

Kil was a little confused, but a young man next to him smiled and said: "Sir Knight, they must be intimidated by your momentum."

Looking at the armor on his body, Kil sniffed. In addition to the smell of blood, the blood stains from previous battles on the armor had not been wiped off. And he has scrubbed his armor twice tonight. How can this scare people?

He frowned and nodded at the two women in the quilt: "Let them get dressed and come out with us later. You three, find someone to keep an eye on them. The remaining two will be searched. ￥ # ￥ Yes, there isn’t much here. I hope the real home base of this gang of robbers isn’t too far away.”

Just as Keir was about to walk away, a voice came from the animal skin quilt: "It's very far away."

"What?" he turned around and asked.

The voice came out again: "We have to walk along a dry river for a whole day, heading towards the mountains."

Keir joked: "It's very clear. Have you been there? Or?"

There was no response. Kil shrugged and walked towards the most conspicuous place opposite the cave.

The place was open, and a tall wooden chair was placed near the cave wall. It looked like the place where the bandit leader was giving orders.