Mercenaries and Adventurers

One day after Kiel's team left Dorne Town, at noon on the third day, they saw a village in the distance.

The village was not big. It was built next to a bridge in this plain area. When looking at it from a distance, Keir felt that there was something wrong. Because even during the day, the smoke from the chimneys of various buildings in the village seemed too little.

"Where is that?"

Kil asked while riding on horseback, pointing to the sparsely populated village in the distance. Next to him, people who had fled and passed by explained: "Knight Kiel, that is the waterwheel village. It was named because there is a large waterwheel in the village that was built not many years ago. It seems to be a certain It’s the domain of the nobles.”

But Keir didn't see anything like a large waterwheel in the village.

After the team approached, about a few hundred meters away from the village, people saw that the various buildings in the original village were covered with traces of black ash from the flames, and some of the fruit trees planted by the villagers in the village. There were no green leaves or flowers this spring, but a few black carbonized branches hung on most of the bare tree trunks.

The village was built along a trade road and a river flowing through this place. On a wooden bridge leading to the trade road, most of the wooden bridge deck here was scorched black, and the entire wooden bridge was crumbling.

"The village looks like it was set on fire. I wonder if the villagers inside are okay? But the problem is, I haven't heard anything happened in the southeastern village closest to here in Dorne Town?"

Kil rode and ran to ask Bloodfangster who had inquired about the news. He had not heard about the disaster here in the town.

It seems that either the disaster in the village happened recently and the news has not reached the town yet, or no one escaped from the disaster at all. Either way, things in this village are not what they guessed after seeing it at this time.

"Everyone should be on alert. Armed teams, all hold their weapons in their hands and pay attention to the surrounding situation! Maomao? Maomao!"

Kiel rode through the long queue of people, shouting with a loud voice. The people who heard him spontaneously retreated from the trade road to the wasteland on both sides, allowing the team's armed forces to move quickly.

Several young people in the armed squads became excited, as if they had a premonition of a battle. Some people's teeth chattered continuously with excitement, and their hands and feet became stiff.

But now, no matter how stiff my hands and feet are, or my head is dizzy, I have to follow the actions of others. Either follow the Kiel Knight to the front of the team, or guard left and right on both sides of the long team, or rush to the back of the team to guard the direction for everyone.

After more than a hundred people who could fight were in place, the long and scattered team gradually shrank in size under the busy command of Priest Batar and Bloody Fangster, allowing everyone to gather together.

And when Keir called out to the aliens, the furries popped up from the top of the carriage containing the empty boxes. After wandering for a long time, although they were in low spirits, they still responded to the call of Knight Kiel immediately.

Courage Maomao jumped off the carriage with the other seven Maomao who could fight, followed the voice of Knight Kiel through a large number of panicked people, and finally found Knight Kiel near the waterwheel village in front of the team. .

"Maomao, here we come! Maomao, here we come! Powerful, human, with, what, orders?"

Courage Maomao didn't know what these humans were panicking about. It wasn't like there was a powerful and invincible monster, so why were they all so nervous?

Kil's face was expressionless. He was still wearing the same clothes he usually wore and didn't put on any armor. Mainly because it was daytime, and although the village not far away looked like it was in distress, there was no obvious danger.

"You came just in time. Now I have a task for you."

Keir stretched out his hand and pointed directly at the small village along the river not far away that seemed to have been ravaged by fire and seemed deserted and dilapidated: "Go and investigate that village for me. I only need to confirm one thing, that is, whether there are a large number of people inside." Human ambush.”

If there are unknown enemies, but there are not many of them, then there is no reason why Keir can't go up and meet them for a while.

Of course, if there are many enemies and they are ambushing them in a village, there is no reason for Keir to lead his people across the river to this village. It is only noon now, so he can let the team continue to go southeast along the trade road. Completely ignore everything here.

Whether he was attacked by bandits or captured by a defeated army, it had nothing to do with him. As long as the team is walking on the trade road, the opponent will not be able to catch up with his team unless he pursues him directly.

"Okay, okay!"

Maomao doesn't care whether the task is dangerous or not, they only care about the amount of metal they can get as a reward in the end.

Courage Maomao led the team, and soon the eight Maomao rushed out of the nervous human team. After exchanging a few words in a low voice, they split into two. One team headed towards the wooden bridge across the river along the trade road and the dirt road leading to the village. , the other team turned a corner and ran towards the upstream of the village along the river. With a few splashes, the pair of furs jumped directly into the not very fast river and swam directly across the river.

Kil turned his horse's head, took the opportunity to return to his carriage, got in, and when he came out soon, he had put on a suit of metal armor. Similarly, when Kiel was wearing armor, several people who were responsible for taking care of the horses also took off the special horse armor of Lilacia hung on the carriage, and hurriedly replaced it with armor for combat use.

It was the first time for the people who took care of the horses to put armor on the horses in such an emergency. Not only were their faces covered with sweat, but they were also quite stiff in the simple and neat movements they had done in the past.

However, no one around the guards who were responsible for protecting Kiel criticized or laughed at them. Everyone was very nervous. Everyone knew that they met a village that seemed to be suffering from disaster. At this time, everyone was uneasy and no one laughed at them. The man at work was nervous and made a mistake.

"Don't be nervous, take your time."

Keir came squeaking from the side, his boots making a loud sound as he stepped on the solid trade road.

Seeing that Knight Kiel put on armor and was fully armed, these people were anxious, but Kiel opened the steel visor and comforted these people in a relaxed tone: "Really, I don't know what the situation ahead is, so, Don't be nervous and take your time. Maybe the news brought back by the aliens who were investigating in the past will not be bad. According to my judgment, the village has been burned for a while, so it may not still be in danger."

"Really, my lord?"

A young man asked hesitantly while putting on the metal armor on Blood Licker's chest.

"Can I still lie to you? Besides, if you really have to fight, being nervous and panicking will not make things better. Things will still happen. What's the use of worrying or being afraid? In the end, you are not delaying yourself."

Kil shook his head and helped the other party lift the heavy horse with the metal chest armor, allowing the young man to successfully hang the fixed belt and buckle on it.

After shaking for a moment and feeling that it was stuck, Kil casually helped others put on the armor.

"Here, let me help you carry it."

"It's a little tight here. Could you please loosen the fixed lock?"

"How's it going? Licking the blood grass, why don't you feel comfortable and scream?"

The blood-licking grass didn't feel any discomfort in the new clothes, so it lowered its head and nudged its owner. But the horse's head, which was covered with metal armor, made a loud impact with the metal armor on Kil's shoulder.

Pong! ! !

Kil smiled bitterly and moved his right arm. It was not that his arm was hit, but that he was worried about whether the armor of his right arm would be deformed by the heavy impact.

Fortunately, although the sound was loud, both of them were unscathed by the impact.

Finally, the horse's weapon rack was also installed behind the saddle, and each of Kiel's weapons and equipment was also installed: a hunting bow and two bags of arrows, a set of crossbows and two large bags of crossbow arrows, and a heavy all-metal double-edged spear.

Kil also coquettishly hung the newly purchased cloak on the shoulder of the metal armor. At this time, he jumped on the horse and flipped up the black and red cloak. He felt that he was more majestic than before when he wore a large monochrome cloak that covered the armor. He came handsome and good-looking.

"Everyone, take care of yourselves and follow the orders of the priests."

Kil finally told the subordinates who directly obeyed his orders, and then slammed the stirrups hard, causing the blood-licking grass protected by two layers of armor to sense the urging, and spread his hooves to run towards the front of the team.

The sound of heavy horse hooves rumbled loudly, and this powerful sound of riding horses actually relaxed the spirits of the people who saw Kiel.

‘Look, the Kiel knights who protect our team are so powerful, what else do we have to be afraid of? ’

Thinking of this, everyone was no longer so nervous. Instead, they nodded their toes, stretched their necks, or stood directly on the team's supplies, watching the Kiel Knights who had passed through most of the team and headed forward.

"Wan Sheng!"

I don't know who it was, but suddenly shouted this slogan. Others were stunned when they heard it, and the next moment, more people followed suit.

"A great victory! A great victory for the Knights of Kiel——"

Kil laughed loudly. He knew as soon as he heard it that the first call was from Bloodfangster. This old caravan guard could always bring some new tricks.

In response to what everyone is shouting at this time, no matter what lies ahead of him, he must not fail.

Only ten thousand victories, only ten thousand victories.

Kil put down his steel face armor, and his strong body protected by the solid armor rose and fell slightly as the horse ran. His breathing was steady and powerful, his spirit was high, and his fighting spirit was surging.

-

Courage Maomao and his three companions crossed the half-burnt bridge across the river on their hands and knees.

It's a pity that such a good wooden bridge was scorched black by the fire. If he were in his own tribe, with so much strong wood, he could add hundreds of new wooden houses to the tribe.

Due to their body shape, Maomao's house is not big. For humans, some large wooden boxes are quite comfortable and suitable for Maomao.

Unlike humans, their houses are not only small, but also do not require indoor lighting. Instead, they require safety and shading. Furries don't like spacious sleeping places, which will make them feel less safe when resting.

A room that is too bright can also make them feel restless when resting.

As for the various facilities they need in life, they all live in groups and share them. Not only that, the female Maomao will also take care of each other's cubs who are familiar with their companions. They have a strict internal hierarchy, but they also work together. This is how generations have lived in dangerous mountains and forests. This kind of intelligent creature that survived in the world has inherited an effective tradition.

They walked across the unobstructed wooden bridge in broad daylight, and of course they were spotted by the people in the village.

But the expected attack did not happen. I don't know if the people in the dilapidated village saw the team of hundreds of people behind Maomao, or if they had other plans. However, this made Courage Mao Mao, who had been paying attention at any time, breathe a sigh of relief. What they feared most was the sharp arrows shot by humans. Even if the team it brought were all elite warriors from the tribe, it was still very dangerous for humans to continuously fire arrows. .

Tap tap tap, tap tap, tap tap.

The four of them quickly ran across the last bridge deck, and then after rushing across the bridge head covered with black carbon ash, they turned around and hid under the wall of a house at the bridge head.

The wall is only about one meter high. With their tails supporting their bodies, Maomao can poke their heads under the wall to investigate.

But reconnaissance cannot just stick your head out in front of the enemy. Wouldn't this create favorable conditions for human hunters to shoot in the head.

So Courage Maomao led people around the wall of this villager's house along the river at the end of the bridge. After a half circle, he used the temporary broken charred bush to cover his house and carefully and slowly poked his head out to observe.

The villager's house at the end of the bridge has been completely burned by a fire. The beams and pillars of the house that were originally made of rough wood are now only a few half-broken wooden pillars inserted into the soil.

The walls made of a mixture of stone chips and mud had already collapsed, and even the roof of the house completely covered the entire interior of the house under them. The fruit trees and livestock pens in the yard had been burned by the flames, but there were no stinking, rotting corpses of livestock, not even the likely remains of chicken coops.

Courage Maomao didn't understand what these meant, but he sniffed carefully. Among the mixed smells of the ruins of the house, there was indeed no smell of decaying corpses, but only the strong smell of burned objects.

It discussed in low voices with its men for a while, but couldn't agree on anything. They had to go deeper into the village.

So Maomao walked quietly along the base of the wall to the village, constantly looking for human scent in the village through sniffing.

The other team of Maomao crossed the river by swimming. They avoided the wooden bridge in front of the village, detoured a certain distance and reached into a low hill on the back of the village.

The side of the low hills facing the village had obviously been burned by flames not long ago. Many shrubs and saplings that should have grown lushly in spring had been burned by the flames and turned into black ash.

But the tenacity of life is far from being extinguished by flames. On the land that was originally burned by the flames, new plants absorb sunlight and rain, as well as the remains of plants that turned to ashes, and grow rapidly.

The four furs smeared some dirt and black ash from the ground on their bodies, and the mottled fur that the furs cherished was directly stained. It was not clear at all how long the furs would spend combing and licking their own hair during normal rest.

After all, these Maomao are the elite warriors of the tribe. As warriors, they pay more attention to concealment than to having shiny, smooth and beautiful hair.

Most furs with warrior blood have complex fur patterns that are not bright and conspicuous. This kind of natural hair allows them to easily cover their bodies in the wild woods, whether they are standing still or walking slowly. Their colorful hair makes them invisible to enemies.

But this has no effect on the gentle slopes of the flame-burned hills. If you want to avoid being discovered, you have to make yourself dirtier and blend into the background of this environment.

It has to be said that these Maomao warriors responsible for close combat did the right thing. They were covered in ashes and did not attract the attention of anyone in the village, so they quietly came in from the side of the village.

Unlike Courageous Maomao who entered the village from the front to investigate, these close combat Maomao soon heard human voices after climbing over the low walls of two farmers' houses.

It sounded like the old voice was pleading for something, while the younger human voice was throwing a tantrum.

Along with the sounds of whips and bodies falling, a house in the village that had not been completely burned gathered together the few remaining humans here.

Sneakily, four soft black and gray furry cat heads peeked out of a fence.

Opposite the wall is a small two-story building that has not yet burned down. There are seven or eight people gathered in the yard, but five of them are old humans. The remaining three young people looked anxious and kept pushing and pushing the old people.

"You all get out of here, do you hear me? Don't think about those people coming to save you. We are all human beings, and you old guys don't have to be ordered to work."

A young man threatened in a low voice while cracking the short leather whip in his hand.

But the five old men who were threatened by him just sat on the ground covered with black ash, holding each other's arms with their companions, without any intention of getting up. Even though the young man had whipped them before, they didn't get up.

At this time, another bald young man looked at these old people who were determined not to leave with disgust, and said to the young man holding a whip: "Since they don't want to leave, let them stay here. It's all a ruined village anyway." One, the treasures excavated these days are enough for us to travel to the nearby town of Dorne for a long time."

The last young man holding a shovel next to him paused the shovel in his hand: "You're right, but in order to prevent others from knowing our faces and names, it's best to kill these old guys. Move faster, Maybe the team passing by will send people over to investigate. It’s best to leave them with a few dead people so they can’t figure it out.”

The young man with the whip in his hand was a little confused: "No, murder? You can't commit it. Just lead a few of them to avoid this team. To be honest, we only dug a few yards in this place..."

"Bah, you young people have really gone astray. It's a pity that we still find food for you! After eating the master's food, the guests should not draw swords on each other."

An old man coughed, spit from his mouth, and sprayed it hard on the face of the young man holding the whip.

The young man was spit on his face, and he immediately swung his whip and hit the old man on the head, leaving a whip mark on his hair and skin: "Guest? Who is the guest? Just those rotten beans." Does it count as food?”

Seeing that his companions were still beating him, the bald head directly pulled out his dagger: "What nonsense, kill these people, let's retreat first, and come back after a while to dig out the treasures left by the villagers who fled!"

Seeing that a tragedy was about to happen, several close-combat Maomao looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

But fortunately, at the other end of the yard, Courage Maomao came over. Although he didn't know what was happening here, he yelled "meow——" and jumped up from under the wall with his three companions. .

The sudden appearance of strange cries and the four unseen monsters jumping up the wall startled all the humans in the yard. Not only were the three young men who wanted to kill people panicked, but even the five old people sitting on the ground screamed: "What a monster!!"

At the same time, there was a noisy meow on the other side of the yard, and four black furries also jumped on the wall, following the leader to intimidate the humans in the yard.

"Meow meow meow?"

Courage Maomao's eyes widened. How long had it been since they last saw each other? Why did the four companions become so dark?