Mercenaries and Adventurers

Being lifted sideways off the ground by Kil, Licking Blood Grass felt very humiliated, but with all four hooves in the air, what could it do?

He could only make fawning noises towards his master in panic.

Kil, who was carrying the entire war horse on his shoulders, heard that it was subdued, and then carefully placed the blood-licking grass beside him and stood there.

As soon as its four hooves touched the ground, the blood-licking grass opened its mouth and used its tongue to lick its owner to please it, fearing that the owner would leave it helpless in front of so many humans and horses.

"Okay, okay, stop licking, be honest, and let everyone put you in new clothes."

After soothing him, Kil waved to the craftsmen and apprentices around him and asked them to continue to put horse armor on the war horses.

This time, the blood-licking grass was much more honest, standing obediently in place and letting the little people around it add some heavy 'new fur' to its body.

The first installation process is also a time of constantly polishing and repairing the minor deficiencies of the armor. If there is a slight problem with the lock buckle and the connecting belt, it can be solved directly on site.

For this reason, a fire was kept lit in the stove next to the stable, and the metal locks with inappropriate shapes were directly put on the stove to be repaired.

There are also apprentices who use strong scissors to cut off the excess belts. Or, if you encounter a belt that is not long enough, just replace it with a new one on site. Tools and materials are readily available, and problems can be found and solved on-site.

Keir was very satisfied and stood side by side with Mr. Scott chatting.

"Ha, is this how you usually teach disobedient horses?"

Mr. Scott was still shocked by what just happened.

Kil smiled: "It's not always like this. Although it is easy to tame the horse, it will only make it feel afraid of me. This is not good. The war horse is the rider's partner, a friend, and a companion to fight alongside. A reliable companion. I have to make it like me, not just fear it.”

Mr. Scott nodded: "That's right. The same is true in business. When dealing with other chambers of commerce, not only do you want others to be afraid of you, but you also have to find the right place to do business together to make a profit. Otherwise, just rely on the strength of the chamber of commerce. If we are strong and make things difficult for small chambers of commerce in other places, it will only make us unpopular."

"Knight Kiel, it's good that you can understand this truth at such a young age. I didn't understand this truth until I was thirty."

After speaking, Mr. Scott shook his head, seeming to remember his previous life experiences.

While the two were talking, the final dressing of the blood-licking grass had been completed. At this time, a tall war horse with most of its body protected by different armors was standing in the open space in the middle of the stable. Compared with the real war horse covered with armor, the wooden fake horse on the side seems to be too far behind in terms of momentum.

For Blood Licker's eyes, only a horizontal observation gap was left for it in the facial armor. The rest of the eyes were completely covered by the metal horse helmet visor forged in one piece.

Pfft——

It exhaled a burst of hot air from its nose, clearly feeling that it had become stronger.

This caused Blood Licker to shake its neck from side to side, and the long protective plate armor connected to its neck made the sound of metal friction.

"Here, add some oil here, and polish the connection a little bit." The old Kent craftsman directed his and other apprentices. The other three craftsmen, who were also craftsmen, could finally sit on the wooden floor beside them. Rest on the box for a while.

In order to build things as soon as possible, they stayed up all night last night. The two middle-aged craftsmen did most of the forging work themselves. Another old craftsman even directed other forging craftsmen in the blacksmith shop to help him build things together.

Mr. Scott acquiesced to this. After all, although this was an action to please the foreign knights, in the final analysis, as one of the actual managers of Dorne Town, he did not like the fact that the Knights of Kiel and his hundreds of refugees were doing this. Spend even one more day in Dorne.

In the past two days, not only were the actual senior managers of other chambers of commerce jointly questioned repeatedly by people in the town, but he, Scott, also had to deal with more than twenty people who came to question friends and partners who were investigating the matter.

Everyone who came had the same question, which was to ask them, when would the team outside the town be able to leave.

Although Kiel and his men did not show much aggression or aggression, they still caused worry and trouble to many people in the town.

Many businessmen have seen or heard of how quickly and ruthlessly human characters and expressions change after seeing wealth and interests.

Because many of them are like that, they use themselves to save others. These hundreds of people are still an outside group. How can they not make many people in the town sleepless?

Dorne Town itself welcomes the outside population and labor force, but it cannot be integrated as a whole.

Even a particularly ferocious bandit gang must be disbanded before they can gradually integrate into the production and life of Dorne Town. A gang of thieves trying to get together in town? How could it be possible?

The town has its own overt and covert rules and requirements waiting for it, and behind the scenes, the town's armed forces are secretly fighting against such forces.

Dorne Town doesn't even have an official black gang, which shows how intolerant the businessmen are of the development of foreign violent forces in their dominant territory.

Therefore, during these days, not only the troops from the north were crossing the border, but also the hundreds of refugee groups crossing the border, which made the merchants in the town quite nervous.

Fortunately, several people, including Mr. Scott, finally understood and answered other people's questions by asking Keir.

[Hundreds of people, including the Kiel Knights, will only rest in the town for a few days, and then continue along the road to find a safe settlement. We welcome everyone to trade and help these poor fleeing farmers. 】

-

laugh--

As the last strap binding the saddle was tightened, the war horse finally completed all armor wearing and temporary modifications.

"Master Knight, as you can see, the armor of the war horse is completed. Please check it yourself. Master Steward, please take a look too. This is an excellent set of armor. I believe that similar business in the future will definitely bring success to the Chamber of Commerce. Come for more profit.”

The old Kent craftsman straightened his back confidently, and even though his face was quite tired, he still spoke loudly.

The apprentices who had participated in all the work were tired and sat on the ground aside. They excitedly pointed at the imposing horses and exchanged with their partners what they had learned from the work.

Mr. Keir and Mr. Scott both nodded in agreement and walked over together.

With satisfaction, Kil patted the horse up and down with his hands, tapped his fingers, smashed it with his fists, and even pulled out his long sword and hit various parts of the armor with the sword blade.

He was very satisfied with the results. Although the defense was not very good, it was enough to deal with most situations.

If when he met the bandits a few days ago, his horse had already had the armor it has today, it would probably have been different at that time. Although the result is that he defeated the bandit gang, his own personal losses and the course of the battle will be very different.

He probably wouldn't be that embarrassed. He almost capsized in the gutter a few times.

Mr. Scott also circled around Knight Kiel's steed, but the focus of his observations was quite different.

He was accompanied by four craftsmen who took the lead in the work, so that as he asked questions about the areas that interested him, the craftsmen immediately gave the answers the steward needed.

"What is the cost of this part? Is it troublesome to obtain raw materials and manufacture it? How long did it take several people to complete it?"

Facing the steward's inquiry, the craftsmen leaned into the steward's ear and answered in a low voice.

Some of them pleased Mr. Scott, some not so much.

But what they didn't know was that even though he lowered his voice as much as possible and whispered his answer, Kil still heard most of their conversation.

He calculated in his mind and realized that the cost of this set of war horse armor alone was several gold coins in terms of raw materials, not to mention the related manpower and technical costs. And in order to get this set of war horse armor for Kiel in advance, not only did the personnel not have normal rest, but also some other resources and goods were used here regardless of the cost and process.

Fortunately, the most widely used multi-layer protective cloth has not been sold since it was developed and invented by old Kent craftsmen. Therefore, excluding the cost of raw materials and production costs, the price in this place is not easy to calculate.

This multi-layer protective cloth is of course much cheaper than metal armor. It even has price and weight advantages compared to hard cowhide materials.

"I think in the future we might be able to launch a complete set of war horse armor that uses this kind of multi-layered protective cloth in large quantities. Not only do we make the armor here, we can also produce only this kind of multi-layered protective cloth ourselves. It is sold to other places, and craftsmen in various places make their own armor according to their own requirements."

Mr. Scott rubbed his chin and finally came up with such a plan.

Several craftsmen had different reactions when they heard this.

The old Kent craftsman who personally invented this multi-layered protective cloth is of course the happiest. As the inventor of the technology and the only master of the production technology, it goes without saying that he is about to make a fortune.

And if this new material can be promoted, his personal reputation will naturally be greatly improved. For the old craftsman, this is what he values ​​most at this time.

The expression management of several other craftsmen is not so good. Showing envy on their faces is the lowest description. Another craftsman who is also old can no longer hold back his facial muscles, and his envy, jealousy, and hatred are already revealed on his face. On.

But this has nothing to do with Keir at all.

He couldn't wait to jump on his horse and was ready to ride the blood-licking grass for a short walk around here.

Later, he will go to the uninhabited trade road outside the town and try to make the blood-licking grass run at full speed to see if there are any problems and shortcomings. If it can be corrected, he will correct it on the spot. No, it can only be said that he will pay more attention in the future.

As soon as he got on the horse, Kil clearly felt something different from riding the blood-licking grass before.

Because thick armor is added to the horse's body, the width of the horse's back is slightly increased. This required Keir's legs to be spread wider than before. As a result, Kiel's feet could no longer even reach the stirrups that were hanging on both sides at their original length!

This surprised Kil.

"Let's not discuss it yet, Kent Craftsman. Please change this first."

Kil's face was helpless. His feet couldn't reach the stirrups. It wasn't that he couldn't ride a horse and gallop. It was just that with the stirrups, the rider could be more stable on the horse. Riding and fighting were much easier, and it was easier to fight with strength. .

You can still ride without the stirrups. However, people with average riding skills may easily be thrown off the horse when the horse turns.

"This is easy, Sir Knight. You just need to slightly adjust the length of the strap connecting the stirrups."

With that said, the craftsman called a few reluctant and tired apprentices to come forward, and neatly helped Kil adjust the height of the stirrups.

In this way, Kil put his feet in the stirrups and bumped them slightly, trying to drive the blood-licking grass forward slowly.

But Blood Licker stood obediently in place, still moving its head and neck up and down from time to time, trying to adapt to the armor on its body.

"Why don't you leave?"

Kil muttered, swinging his feet again and bumping the horse's belly.

But the blood-licking grass still seemed to have no feeling at all, standing there without any reaction.

A middle-aged craftsman next to him saw the reason and reminded: "Sir Knight, your war horse is wearing armor, and you are driving it with the original strength. It cannot feel it. Please use more strength!"

Once reminded, Kil understood and bumped his feet hard. This time, as usual, the blood-licking grass responded, then moved his four legs that were covered by hanging multi-layer protective cloth, and walked forward slowly. OK.

Kil pulled the reins and made the blood-licking grass walk in a circle in the small open space.

As soon as the horse started to walk, various parts of its body began to make noises, boasting, boasting, boasting.

When the craftsmen saw it, they immediately suggested some slight modifications to reduce the collision and friction between the various parts, so that the final movement would make less noise.

Kil had no problem with the noise, because Knight Crow's horses, covered in a set of steel armor, would make a loud metallic sound as long as the horses moved.

He's used to it.

After riding a horse and walking dozens of times around the open space, Kil then dismounted and asked the craftsmen to adjust the armor again.

This time, the Kent craftsman did not participate, but discussed the multi-layer protective cloth with Mr. Scott who became interested.

After a while, the sun in the sky dropped a little lower, and Kil jumped on the horse again and continued to let the blood-licking grass walk in circles in the open space.

Sure enough, after special adjustments, the bumping and friction noise this time was significantly reduced compared to before.

Keir expressed satisfaction.

Then he knocked the horse again, causing the blood-licking grass to speed up slightly, and started running in circles in the open space of the stable at a slow trot.

At this time, the noise became louder again, and the craftsmen could not catch up with Knight Kiel, so they had to stand still and wait for the knight to come around every time, observing and listening to where the horses were deficient and needed improvement.

After running dozens of laps, Kil pulled the reins to slow down the blood-licking grass and stop it.

The blood-licking grass was a little reluctant when it started running, but when it remembered its owner's previous punishment, it slowed down and stood still, like a good child.

"Very good, very good!"

Keir slapped the horse's head hard, and the steel visor on the horse's forehead made a banging sound.

Then came another adjustment.

In subsequent tests, the small stable space was not suitable. Of course, the streets in the town are even more inappropriate. The tall and heavy horses charge and run. Not to mention whether they will scare other horses and pedestrians on the road, the power alone can easily cause panic among the residents of the town.

For this reason, Kil led the people out of the [Burning Furnace Chamber of Commerce] and went to the deserted business road on the west side of the town.

This is the road that Keir took when he came, because during this period the only teams that dared to pass through the westward trade route were the armed caravans of the large chamber of commerce, so now there are almost no pedestrians or caravans on the road here.

Mr. Scott, who came with him, looked at the empty trade road and sighed with regret: "Hey, this road used to have to raise manpower and funds to repair it every six months. At that time, everyone thought it was troublesome. Looking at it now, The troubles I had at that time turned out to be really happy things.”

He lowered his head and even pulled a handful of weeds from the trade road, twisted them with his hands, and then threw them on the ground with regret.

After seeing this, Kiel enlightened: "Don't worry, as long as the war on the border is won and the noble lords and knights from all over the country lead their troops back to their hometowns, the trade routes will flourish again. Even because of the large mineral veins that were discovered, Business will happen more frequently.”

"I hope so. Huh, everyone thought the same thing last year, ah, 'The Kingdom of Saint Holes is protected and will surely win.' Oh, these words are just deceiving the people below. I didn't expect that even all of us would be deceived." I got it. I heard from the battlefield deserters who fled to the town before that the neighboring countries have sent out a large army, and the most elite knights and troops are on the field. Even the weak neighboring countries are not opponents that those careless nobles can defeat. .”

“Fire swept across the battlefield, and smoke obscured the sky.

Fear strikes from the flames, and the losers trample themselves and collapse.

The knight of fire crossed the mountains and set fire to the mountains one after another where no one could set foot.

It also crushed the bodies and minds of the deserters. "

Mr. Scott looked at Keir: "You know, this is a short poem that came from the provincial capital in winter. It was still sung in taverns and banquets, but now people are no longer allowed to recite and spread it. I originally thought that the chaos caused by the defeat in the war would last for several years, but Kil, seeing you northerners of the kingdom coming to support, I think things can still be saved."

Mr. Scott slapped Keir hard on the shoulder: "Don't die on the battlefield. Don't forget, you still owe me a favor."

Keir smiled and said: "Of course, I will be careful. I am so young and I haven't lived enough yet."

After chatting, Kil remounted his horse and rushed towards the straight and deserted trade road in front of him.