Mercenaries and Adventurers

Just behind the hill in front of Kiel's team, an ordinary village called Xinqingquan Village seemed to be populated from a distance.

Dozens of farmhouses in the village have plumes of smoke rising from their masonry chimneys.

It's noon of the day. Logically speaking, farmers in the village don't eat much lunch. Most farmers and women will eat a full meal in the morning, and then work all day in their fields. Wait until dusk before returning home for dinner.

Therefore, at this time, the people who light fires to cook and eat at noon are basically not the original farmers and villagers of this village.

"Everyone # ￥ # , please give me more food. When you are full, you can wait for a while and then fight with all your strength! You must roar powerfully! You must show your strength when you step on the ground to cheer! If I see who wants to save If he tries his best to be lazy or run away, then don’t blame the leader for attacking him with this big ax in my hand!”

In the center of Xinqingquan Village, a fat man was stepping on a big rock and shouting to the people around him. The stone he stepped on was the origin of the village's name - a pointed rock outcropping from the mountain that continuously oozed sweet spring water every day. And the people around the man listening to his shouting were hundreds of bandits and scoundrels who were constantly receiving food.

This group of people had already gotten the news, and the leader spent a gold coin to buy it from a person who specialized in delivering similar intelligence messages. On the commercial road next to the village, a group of hundreds of people will pass by in a moment. Refugee team.

This team is composed of villagers who originally fled from nearby villages. The purpose is to return to their hometown and find a safe place to settle down.

But how could the bandits let them come back? This was the first thing these bandits and scoundrels thought of after occupying many uninhabited villages.

These deserted villages, the deserted houses and yards, the furniture and objects buried by the villagers who were unable to take them with them as they fled, and most importantly, the patches of farmland that have been reclaimed by the villages, have all become these uninhabited villages. How come the property of the bandits engaged in production has been lost.

If you want to ask these bandits who do not work or engage in production, what is the use of uncultivated farmland? Then you are looking down on them. If they don’t do the work themselves, why can’t they get others to do the work?

Anyway, in recent times, the local knight lords have led their troops away, and no one cares about what they did.

These bandits ignored them all, not to mention the stubborn villagers who were originally reluctant to leave, but also the refugees who could be caught near the village, the guys or businessmen passing by the small caravan, the defeated small bandit gangs, and even some thugs. After losing the battle, the deserters who wanted to return to their hometowns had to farm for the bandits who occupied the villages.

In some remote places where it was really impossible to capture the population and labor force, bandits even broke up the Goblin tribes in the mountains and forests, captured the population, tied them up with ropes, and gave them land to farm.

Poor goblins, the hard laborers had only grown mushrooms and collected wild fruits in the tribe before. How could they have grown crops that humans had to water and fertilize in the fields?

Anyway, these bandits don't cultivate any land. They risk their lives to engage in banditry in order to stop farming and pay taxes to the lords everywhere.

How can we farm?

-

At this time, at noon, these village-occupying bandits, numbering in the hundreds, were eating a full meal before the battle, listening to various threats and encouragements from their leader standing on the rocks. For example, whoever captures the prisoners will be at his own disposal, and only one-third of the stolen property will be handed over to the entire gang, and the rest will be his own.

All this made them, who had been fighting with two other bandit gangs not far away for occupying neighboring villages, feel very excited, and some of them had cruel smiles on their faces.

Everyone is not afraid of fighting and bloodshed, and if their hands and feet are cut off, they are afraid that they will have no work to do and can only eat themselves. The people within the team will be brutally oppressed and exploited.

He is not afraid of fighting with the armed caravans of the large and well-armed chamber of commerce, or fighting other village-occupying bandits who are equally cruel and in need of labor. Every bandit feels that his abilities are not bad. The guy who gets injured and falls down during the battle must not be him. Once the battle is won, the gang of bandits who collect the results will be able to live a long and happy life.

And when their leader finally mentioned that there were at least 300 female refugees in the refugee team, the bandits who were eating all screamed with excitement.

"Hahahaha, so brothers, you must give me all your strength in the battle later, so that you can catch more women before others. Leader, I am not a non-worker. Whoever catches someone, I will personally use a paint pen to write the names of their respective owners on the bodies of those who are snatched. I will ensure that everyone’s interests are protected."

Having said this, the fat guy chuckled and patted his crotch with his free hand: "But brothers also have to support me. You have to let me pick out the people and property you robbed. Okay. Otherwise, if the most beautiful woman doesn’t let the leader of the team sleep, the other two guys nearby will know about it and they won’t be able to laugh at us. Right?”

The robbers who were eating burst into laughter. Some of the guys who ate quickly threw the wooden bowls and spoons in their hands into the house next to them. The slaves hiding in the house knelt on the ground to clean up the diners, and then patted them. With full bellies, they put on their own homemade thick leather armor.

It is said to be armor, but it is actually a simple and ugly thing made of several layers of animal skin clothes crushed together and sewn together with needle and thread.

However, although this thing is simple, heavy and heavy, its protective power is quite good. If a strong young man stabs this thing hard with a dagger, it will have to be stabbed several times to penetrate it.

And some guys with some status in the bandit team were wearing the equipment of the territorial soldiers that they had blackmailed and begged from deserters.

The iron helmets, which were originally covered with animal skins, were painted with plant juices to depict the terrifying faces of monsters and ferocious beasts in the mountains and forests. Occasionally they wore armor made of iron armor, and they used human blood to smear scarlet skulls on their chests and backs.

Not to mention that the people they captured to work looked scared, the bandits themselves would be frightened by this thing.

And their fat leader not only wore an iron helmet, but his fat body was also forcibly modified with two pieces of soldier armor into a set of large and thick armor clothes that fit his figure.

He also had a shield made of hardwood, which was taken out and carried on his left hand. At this time, it collided with the one-handed ax in his right hand several times, making a loud impact sound: "You all # ￥ # , please move quickly." Some, we have to capture that wave of people before they get close to here, otherwise the other two groups of bad guys will steal what is ours."

"If you want to have fun tonight, move quickly, pick up your weapon, put on your armor, and follow me!"

"Roar--"

Dozens of fast-moving bandits responded to the leader's call. After shouting in unison, they teamed up with their familiar companions and walked quickly towards the village gate.

Each of them had a smile on their face, as if this trip was not about fighting, plundering and enslaving others, but just going to the fields to harvest vegetables. After all, the battles they had experienced before were all like this. Those who can beat them are all weak, and those who can't beat them can't beat them no matter what, so they can only run into the mountains and forests to hide.

There were also poor slaves in the village that were roughly equal to the number of bandits. The bandit leader did not lead all his men, but still arranged for at least twenty people to guard the people they captured so that they could not escape.

"Besides, be careful when I take people out, don't let the other two groups snatch our territory and slaves. You and I both know that those people are the same rotten people and bastards like us, and they can do these things. .”

Before the bandit leader left, he made a special statement to the leader who stayed behind: "If it's really difficult to keep an eye on, you can lock all the slaves in the house first, and all the remaining men will go to high places inside and outside the village to defend, and every house will be guarded." Let's light up the fire so that the other two gangs can't see how many people we have here."

The leader who stayed behind scratched his bald head and asked their leader: "Boss, when will you come back?"

The fat leader could see the leader's little thoughts at a glance, and then slapped the man on his bald head: "You bitch, the thing in your crotch is itchy, right? Be patient, if everything goes well, everyone will be back in the evening." If things don't go well, you'll have to come back tomorrow morning at the latest. Take good care of our village. When I come back, you can take your pick from my share of the harvest. You can pick as many women as you want, as well as treasures. It's yours."

The bald leader licked his lips and laughed with a lewd expression.

The fat leader nodded at him with a helpless look on his face, and then strode out of the village gate with weapons and shields, surrounded by other bandits.

Outside the village gate is a winding path down the mountain, and outside the village, on both sides of the path, are the village fields where some crops are barely planted. However, none of the farmers and women who were supposed to take care of the crops were seen at this time, not even the slaves snatched by the bandits who were reluctantly farming.

There was a big move today, and all the people who came to work were in the houses in the village. I used to cook for them, but then they had to be locked up in the house.

However, the wooden wall surrounding the village that was originally built to protect the village from wild beasts and bad guys has become a problem that the captured people in the village cannot escape.

-

But what the fat leader didn't know was that when he led his men out of the village to plunder, the bald leader, who was still laughing and rubbing his head, no longer smiled, but instead had a look of sarcasm on his face.

This guy taunted in a low voice: "Idiot, I don't need your gift of charity at all. As long as tonight is over, won't those things of yours belong to me?"

He rolled his eyes and called his cronies: "Have you finally discussed with the 'good neighbor' next door and are you ready? I have been waiting for this opportunity for a long time."

His cronies looked around, staring at the dozen bandits who were not on their side, and whispered in a voice that only he and the bald leader could hear: "We have all been contacted, and the wall behind the village has been dug quietly. A small hole that can pass people through, and wait for all the slaves in the village to stay in the house. Instead of our people, they will be arranged to go to the gate of the village. Hehe, boss, they said they are also ready for an ambush outside the village. ”

The bald leader then rubbed his bald head comfortably, and after laughing a few times, he reminded: "Remember, when something happens tonight, don't wear a shirt, and don't wear it when it's cold in spring, otherwise the neighbors next door won't be able to tell the difference. It’s ours.”

His cronies also had their own worries, and they had to raise them before things really got going: "Boss, what if the group next door turns against us and takes care of us too? I can't trust them, they are just pigs in the pen. They all have more credibility than them.”

The bald head spat and whispered: "What is not risky? Is it a man? The thing is done, two of the three connected villages are controlled by a group of people, and the third one will not be honest if it wants to survive. Quit or join? When the three villages become one, do you think that we, who have made great contributions, will live better than now? Maybe hundreds of people will gather by then, not necessarily in Dorne Town, but several other nearby We can conquer even a small town. By then, we ourselves will be able to become nobles. We will never step on muddy ground again when we go out, sleep with the most beautiful woman in the village and town every day, and live in a large, clean house with several floors. Not to mention how beautiful those days were, could they be the same as we are now? We have to be a little ideal and compare with the guy next door. The leader we have now is this one."

The bald man pointed at one of his little fingers.

His strange movements left other bandit accomplices in the village not far away who were driving away the slaves baffled, and they had no idea what this guy was muttering to his cronies.

-

The hundreds of bandits who had left the village and were preparing to attack Kiel's team were now walking chaotically along the path outside the village towards the commercial road south of the village.

The bandit leader who led the group looked up at the position of the sun. He felt that he had been delayed in the village for too long and might have missed the opportunity to attack the passing refugee group first.

This is not possible. If they miss it, they will have to share the spoils with two other bandit gangs that also occupy nearby villages.

Who would be willing to do this, so after thinking about this clearly, the fat leader shouted: "Move, everyone, move, move quickly, lift your stinky feet, I will reach the store in a hundred breaths." Stop those people on the way!"

Some of the bandits who listened to him and had been with him for a long time quickened their pace, but more of the 'newcomers' who had only joined the bandit gang last year were still slow.

"Want to get whipped? Move quickly! Run."

After saying that, the bandit leader kicked out a young man walking slowly next to him.

But after the young man stood up, he just glared at their leader fiercely. Several other young men from the same village who came to seek refuge nearby drew their knives and came over.

"You're an immature wolf pup. I don't care about you. Brothers, hurry up and grab the good stuff first!"

With a shout, the bandit leader led the familiar bandits in his gang and trotted down the mountain along the path. Dozens of other bandits who had just joined the group were walking and laughing at the people who were running away.

"A bunch of idiots, what can these people do? We have to wait until we get there before we can have enough manpower to take down the opponent."

"That is to say, those who get there first must fight with the people guarding the refugee team. Only fools will take the initiative to die. Haha, it's just right. When they die, we just take over."

"Hehehe, maybe we can also capture the slaves of these people. There are some people I have been coveting for a long time."

"Ha ha."

These people deliberately slowed down their pace as they walked, thinking that the leader did not want another gang of bandits to intervene in the battle, so they had to intercept the refugees before they entered the nearby trade road.

And these bandits, who are large in number, can allow the leader and his bandits to fight in advance and weaken their strength.

Although they all appear to be a group of bandits, they are actually divided into the bandits originally led by the leader, and the 'newcomers' who have only joined intermittently last year. The composition is different, so the interests are also different.

Since the end of winter, they have been doing a lot of work intermittently. Most of the various benefits and benefits of these jobs have been given to the old people led by the leader. Although those bandits who have been working for several years work hard every time they fight, they should get so many benefits.

But the newly joined bandits could only watch each other eat meat and drink soup. Their dissatisfaction and dissatisfaction always existed and accumulated more and more.

From occasionally provoking fights, to now deliberately slowing down when time is tight, the same group of bandits are two waves, and the differences are clearer.

-

Passing through a forest at the foot of the hill where the village is located, the lush shade of the trees blocks the increasingly anxious spring sunshine. The bandits with chaotic footsteps trotted along the grassy path that had not been traveled for a long time, towards the trade road at the end of the path.

The bandit leader stared hard at the 'men' who were only small figures behind him, and felt that if they didn't take care of them, their subsequent actions would be completely impossible.

He told his thoughts to his close friends and companions around him while running, and the others immediately agreed.

Many people don’t even think about it for a second.

"Boss, you should have dealt with them when they joined."

"That's right! This group of people eats more every time, but they move the slowest when robbing. Damn, they want to ask for more loot after the battle? Do they want to lose face?"

"That's right, and these people can't do much good. We might as well collect their weapons and drive them to help us farm. To be honest, most of these people are lazy young farmers from nearby villages. Most of them used to be I have only held a hoe, never a knife! Haha!"

Once one person starts, the complaints from other confidants cannot stop.

Despite his rough and arrogant appearance, the fat bandit leader can be the leader of a bandit group. In fact, in addition to being able to fight, he also needs brains.

He reluctantly defended his previous behavior: "Brothers, listen to me. It's not that I can't see that this group of people is not useful. It's actually that the other two groups nearby are absorbing new people and expanding the size of the team. I also have to Let’s learn from them. Otherwise, if we don’t absorb that bunch of rubbish, the team will only have a few dozen people at this time. Compared with the other two gangs whose numbers have doubled several times, we won’t be able to cope with it.”

"They're all soft-legged shrimps, boss. I can kill four of them! Don't brag!"

A strong bandit raised the machete in his hand and said loudly.

Others said that they could handle two or three by one person and were not afraid of the large number of other bandit gangs.

But the fat bandit leader just smiled and retorted: "One against four, that's awesome! But what about five of them to beat one of you? What about six of them? Although they are all useless, they have never even taken a knife or killed them. You're extraordinary, but seven or eight people pounce on you and overwhelm you. Hehe, you probably can't save your ass that night, right?"

When the strong bandits heard this, they quickly covered their butts. Those guys who had been bandits for a long time had no women to ravage when they were in the mountains and forests. Some hot-tempered guys would often sleep with their own brothers, but it was difficult for them to do so. For the normal guys in a lot of gangs.

Although everyone is bad, badness also has a direction.

The other bandits laughed for a while, barely understanding their leader.

So, in less than a hundred breaths, the group of people had passed through the woods and saw a large group of people gradually walking towards the northwest of the trade road outside the forest path.

"There are so many people! The boss, and the guy on horseback!"

The fastest runner sees the target situation first and immediately reports to the bandit leader.

The fat bandit leader put his hand on his eyebrows and squinted his eyes to look into the distance: "I saw it, damn guy, he only told half the truth! I spent a gold coin to buy this information!"

"Boss, should we rush over and stop them now, or should we wait for our people?"

The bandit leader hesitated.