Mercenaries and Adventurers

It was impossible for Keir to bring five more old people to the team, and the old people were unwilling to leave the waterwheel village where they had lived all their lives.

Even the once peaceful and prosperous small village was now in ruins.

But it doesn't matter. There were not even ruins in the former Shuichu Village, it was just a wilderness. Among the first migrants who settled here at that time, there were these five old people. Not to mention that the village was in ruins, even if the village was razed to the ground, they could still build it up again.

Not to mention that they still have descendants. Even if the young people have taken refuge and fled, as long as the war is over and the raging bandits are eliminated by the lords who have returned with troops, those young people will surely come back, right?

As long as there are people, the village will be rebuilt.

And in the future, if there is a future, they must build a tall and solid wall around the village, no matter how many years it takes and how much manpower it takes. Instead of following the example of Dorne Town and not building a wall for protection.

Dorne Town is so rich and powerful, so naturally it is not afraid of sporadic bandit harassment.

Not so in Waterwheel Village.

Finally, on behalf of Priest Batal, Kiel moved some God-given food from the team and gave it to these old people. The old people happily accepted the food, but refused more help from Knight Kiel.

"Although we are old, our skills are still there and we still have some strength. We can still find usable wood in the village and build a simple house for temporary accommodation."

That's what they said.

As for the young men who coerced the elderly and secretly dug up the villagers' buried wealth, Keir tied them up and took them away.

The young man with a serious head injury was tied up and handed over to the care of the priest. The other two people were tied with belts and helped the people in the team push and pull the carts and donkey carts.

In short, it cannot be left idle and should be taken away together.

Of course, their punishment was more than that, but Kiel did not punish them directly. Instead, he stayed in the team and used their labor for free.

The twists and turns at noon delayed them for a while, but in the end Kiel allowed the team to move on and try to cover more distance before evening.

The so-called treasures of the villagers in Shuiche Village, which made Keel dumbfounded, were just some exquisitely crafted farm furniture. The furniture is not elegant in style. It only requires a craftsman who is very attentive to making it. The materials are excellent, so it is easy to sell at a stable price in the market.

Those three crooked young people also regarded Shuiche Village as a treasure house that they could use whenever they wanted. By digging a yard in the village, they could dig out a lot of their own furniture that the villagers had buried before they fled.

These things can be easily exchanged for some money when moved to the town of Dorne, which is enough for the three of them to live happily for a while.

Of course, it was impossible for Kiel to carry this furniture in the team. It took up space and was heavy. There were no extra carriages to transport such things.

So he just gave up and continued setting off along the trade route with his team.

-

That night, outside the camp where the team spent the night, Kiel noticed something like being spied on.

And instead of being peered at by one or two eyes, it felt like there were more. The opponent's level was also uneven. The level was average. While riding on the horse, Kil took advantage of the afterglow of the setting sun and saw the metal metal carried by the opponent. The faint reflection of the object.

There are also several more secret and high-level hidden peeks.

If you just scanned the high and low shrubs on the horizon, you wouldn't be able to detect these prying eyes.

Only by using the far-sightedness given to him by the big bird god and his sharper eyesight after training as a knight, Kil could see that there was actually a figure squatting under a bush hundreds of meters away. .

Or there is a slightly taller treetop further away. If an ordinary person looks at it, the big tree in the distance may not be able to see clearly, but at this time, Keir can distinguish what is climbing on the top of the tree. Is it a beast patrolling its territory, or a human in a cloak?

Or an exceptionally large raptor?

He asked the big bird god, but the other person said that there were no apostles of his nearby. This made Kil wary of people peeking from afar.

"We won't go far to log wood tonight. The woodcutter will be near the overnight camp. Just chop down a few trees, it will be enough."

Keir shouted to the loggers waiting for his leadership.

"I won't follow you this time. This is a test to see if you guys can complete the amount of firewood everyone needs without my help."

The leading woodcutter immediately clapped his chest and assured: "No problem! We will cut down several big trees and drag them back to the camp before dark!"

The other tall and strong loggers behind him raised their axes high and shouted together.

Of course, Kiel couldn't let the logging team without him go out to cut trees without safety protection. Although these people all had an ax and were strong enough, they didn't look easy to mess with.

But this does not mean that these people have enough fighting power. Fighting is not a simple matter, and victory in the battle cannot be achieved by just relying on passion and roar.

But only if the equipment, skills, training, coordination, and awareness are sufficient can dozens of people gather together to exert their combat effectiveness.

Even though there were dozens of lumberjacks, if these people were to fight against a small group of twenty-five armed squads, they would definitely not be their opponents.

After all, the fight hadn't started yet, and the hunters in the armed team could take away five or six people in several waves just by shooting arrows before the two sides came into close contact. And if five or six people on one side died in advance, this would be a devastating blow to combat morale.

In particular, if the loggers did not anticipate the cruelty of the battle in advance and prepare themselves mentally for death, it would be easy for them to flee.

Maybe it would be possible for most people to surrender immediately.

Therefore, Kiel directly asked one of the four armed squads, a fully staffed escort logging team, to cut trees around.

The camp where the team spent the night was busy and noisy. Everyone was busy in a hurry, trying to get ready for the night before dark. The bald young man captured at noon had already woken up. At this time, he was stripped naked by everyone, leaving only a piece of tattered animal skin wrapped around his waist. He was hard at work digging a deep hole for the wooden pillars of the simple tent.

Since it is a simple tent, the main wooden pillars used as support for the tent do not need to be dug very deep, but a depth of half a meter is still necessary. At this time, the bald young man had a stinky face and was digging a hole hard.

There was a team of people driving wooden nails nearby and laughed at this man: "Anyway, I heard that you have been doing this kind of similar work before, so this job is left to you. Do it well!"

The bald man cursed in a low voice, but the surrendered young companion next to him still smiled favorably and bowed to the people in the team responsible for monitoring and guarding the two of them, respectfully: "Yes, yes, we promise to complete the work well."

The bald head was rather disdainful of his companion's appearance. Before, he thought this companion was a ruthless character, but when it came time to decide life and death, he turned out to be a softie, revealing his true weak nature that he had concealed before.

Naturally, he couldn't hide his disdain from his companion who had a flattering look on his face. His young companion also showed a look that you don't understand. During the break of hard work, he explained to the bald head in a low voice: "You don't understand. Death is neither scary nor difficult, but what is really difficult is living."

"Bah." Baldhead spat in his companion's face.

The companion wiped his face indifferently: "If I were like you, so tough at noon. Do you think we are still alive at this time?"

The bald man's eyes widened: "Why are you so afraid of death? If you die, you will die. Before you die, maybe you and I can join forces and take away a few old men together, or give that knight a hard blow."

The companion's eyes widened and he hurriedly covered the bald man's mouth, fearing that he would say some more nonsense: "%￥%, do you think you are very powerful? You have never lost a fight since you were a child? You stabbed the robber who bullied your parents in the stomach. In Dorne Town How many times have you drank wine invited by others? Now you are so fierce? What kind of powerful ability can you really have? Fart, let me tell you."

The companion looked around, and then said to the bald head with a frightened expression: "I asked about it when I was pulling the cart in the afternoon. Did you know? The young knight who subdued us both at noon."

The bald man interrupted his companions disdainfully: "I was the only one who was subdued. Can you just surrender like a useless scum?"

"Okay, okay, I'm useless, I'm useless. You know, the knight who is talking to us, the young knight, not long ago, in order to protect this group of people, fought against a large number of bandits who attacked in the dark, don't Don't care, those bandits are not the weaklings from our hometown. They are the remaining bandit teams after a long fight on the trade road. There are more than a hundred people! They were all killed by that knight alone! He even killed those bandits overnight. The lairs of the bandits were all destroyed and set on fire!"

The bald man didn't care at first, because the young knight looked a few years younger than him. Although he was fully equipped, apart from those things, he didn't think he was that powerful.

But after hearing that the other party killed more than a hundred brutal bandits alone, he didn't believe it at first and looked stubborn.

But looking at his companions who were staring at him and the crowd of hundreds of people around him, he had to doubt: "Really?"

"Really! I asked several people. Basically, the people in the team have experienced the incident I mentioned. It was a real thing that happened not long ago."

So, the bald man shuddered, stretched out his hand to touch his eyebrows, and thought of the last moment before coma.

-

"How's it going? Are you in touch with the 'great' Saturn?"

Next to the fire in the center of the camp, Kil was trying to cover the front of his elf metal shield with the soft cowhide he bought. However, although he was very strong, he was not very good at tinkering with these technical tasks. Obviously Gana It was very easy for the craftsmen to repair this shield, right?

Next to him, Priest Batal, who had just finished evening prayers with the believers, looked exhausted and sat down on the other side of the fire.

In the past, every time Priest Batal led the believers to pray, he always looked in high spirits. At this time, he was in a bad state, and he was obviously still worried about the suffering in his hometown.

Not only was his hometown in sudden chaos, but also, for Priest Batal, the safety of the Saturnalia Parish in the city of Paris, which was more important to him, had always been on his mind.

After hearing about the accident before, he relied on contacting the God of Agriculture and asking him to guide and comfort him, thus suppressing his chaotic thoughts.

But today at noon, I learned that the chaos in the city of Belis was caused by unknown outsiders impersonating their Saturnian priests, and put the real Saturnian priests there into a dangerous situation.

He really couldn't guarantee a peaceful mind.

When the magical treatment was performed in the afternoon, the young man with a head injury spent three times the energy and divine power to be cured.

He had treated the injuries of hundreds of people in a row the night before, but it seemed to him that it was an impossible miracle at this time?

"call--"

The priest placed his hands heavily on his face and said in a muffled voice: "There is a scale. On one end is the closest friend who can see a familiar face, and on the other end is the friend who was not a relative or friend in his youth, but more like a relative. They're all stuck there, suffering, probably suffering. Kier, what do you think of all this?"

Kil silently raised his chin with Bloodfang who was sitting on the other side of the fire. Apparently Kil had already told Bloodfang about the previous matter.

After thinking about it for a while, Keir said: "Shouldn't we choose one side on the scale?"

"How to choose? I don't dare to choose, they are all so important..."

At this point, Priest Batal, who covered his face with his hands, began to cry.

This time, neither Keir nor Ste was able to deal with them.

Taking a breath, Kil simply said: "What about if we don't choose, we want them all? Adults must have the courage and courage to want them all! If you think of a way, you should be able to want them all."

"Yes, yes, there must be a way to get it all done." Bloody Fangster added.

Kiel continued: "Besides, sometimes the development of things cannot be decided by one or two people. Of course, our mission does not count. If the God of Agriculture can call me, then he must be sure that we can handle it." This matter. As for what can't be settled, I don't think the God of Agriculture will let us get involved."

Seeing that Priest Batal did not respond, Kiel quickly said: "I'm not saying that things in the city of Belisfa are not important. Listen to you, there is a large population and the towns and villages are continuously distributed in an open plain valley. Of course it is very important. Especially since it involves the lives and fate of many people. However, this is obviously not a place where just a few people can make a difference."

"Others who are more powerful and capable have presumably already been involved in the affairs there, so we might as well leave the matter to them. The God of Agriculture will obviously not give up the management of an entire parish, right? Think about it, greatness The God of Agriculture has not even given up on the believers in a small place like Changmai Village, and he will definitely not give up on such a large and important area."

"Think about it, like the city of Montoka where we met before, the Church of the God of Agriculture there is powerful enough, right? I guess it is stronger than the Church of the God of Agriculture in the city of Belisfa. None of the people there have been beaten by the God of God of Agriculture, right? Transfer, apparently things aren’t that bad.”

Kil looked at Bloodfangster: "It's not that bad, right?"

"Definitely. I asked for information in Dorne Town before. The merchants who came back from the city of Boris France just said that the acting city lord of the city of Boris France ordered other churches in the city to capture the place of Saturn. Church, but other churches didn’t really contribute, they were all just showing off, just to show off to the confused noble lord.”

Bloody Fangster said with certainty. Although he didn't know whether the news was true or not, he just needed to look sure. After all, it didn't matter whether the news everyone knew was true or not. So what if it was true or false?

Can he still fly to the city of Belisfa at this time, rain down lightning from the sky, and wipe out all the bad guys who are causing trouble?

The gods may be able to do this, but since even the gods have not done this, there is no point in them worrying about it at this time. It is important to comfort the upset priest Batar.

After hearing the words of relief, Priest Batal seemed to be in a much better mood. He lowered his hands from his face. Although his expression was still gloomy, the corners of his mouth were no longer tight.

The priest even asked for a bowl of wheat porridge and drank it in big gulps.

After the evening prayers ended, his believers immediately ran to have dinner, but he was always worried about something and did not eat.

"It's okay, don't worry. Let's just do our job well."

Keir said this.

The priest nodded and said nothing more. After eating the wheat porridge, he lay directly on the ground next to the campfire, with the amber metal staff beside him. The priest looked up at the vast starry sky in the night, and The emblem of the god hanging high in the starry sky, competing with the moons for orbit, was stared at without blinking.

Perhaps because the dim light emitted by the amber on the amber metal long staff was obstructive, the priest reached out and patted the huge amber gem on the top of the long staff, so that the long staff would no longer stimulate the hidden power in the amber gem.

Kil has always been covetous of this staff weapon, but Priest Batal did not let others touch this borrowed valuable thing.

Among the things that Kiel and his group borrowed from Montoka City, not counting the three powerful blessing abilities, this amber metal staff was the most precious.

Priest Batal still understands this.

Looking at that thing, Kil suddenly remembered that among the things he borrowed at that time, there were two plant-hiding divine power cloaks that could hide the body, so he asked the priest for one.

"What are you doing so late?"

Both the priest and the Bloodtusk looked at Kil. Kil did not put on the full-covering metal armor, but rarely took out the hard cowhide full-covering armor that he had not worn for a while.

"What are you doing? There are some things peeking at us outside the camp. I have to drive them away."

Kil wore hard cowhide armor, and then put on this plant-based hiding cloak that could change its shape according to the environment. He didn't use his usual long sword for hunting and the cross-water head two-handed axe. He only used the safe 'Heart Fire' magic. Daggers, as well as a pair of bows and arrows and a short-handed crossbow captured previously.

"Look at the camp, I'll go out for a walk."

After explaining, Kil called a few Maomao to accompany him, then left the bright camp and sneaked into the dark and vast wilderness.