Mercenaries and Adventurers

That night seemed like a very long time to some, and to others, it was just another night in these days.

Although they were attacked by bandits during the day, everyone was able to 'repel' the bandits after all, especially not all relying on the help of Knight Kiel. For some people in the refugee team, this finally gave them at least half a breath of relief.

After all, Knight Kiel had already told them all that he and Priest Batar had another mission, and it was the main mission of their trip. It was just a matter of bringing hundreds of refugees who were originally starving in the White Stone City Wall pass. Just out of kindness.

The reason why the refugees followed Knight Kiel was to assist the two men in their mission. In fact, Knight Kiel and Priest Batal not only delayed their respective missions, but also worried about them.

Not only were Knight Kiel’s hands full of blood, Priest Batal also used his divine power every day, not only bringing the truly miraculous ‘god-given food’ to the team, but also taking good care of the injured people.

Many people have probably never received a single divine prayer treatment since they were born, but now, the injured people have experienced what it feels like - it is not pleasant.

The reason is that although the magic of praying for healing can quickly stop the bleeding and heal the wounds of the injured, after all, it cannot be made out of nothing. What fills the wounds is the people's own physical strength and body nutrients.

Every injured patient who receives treatment will be very tired and get hungry very quickly. The experience was not pleasant, but fortunately, because of Priest Batal, there was plenty of wheat porridge in the refugee team, and everyone was always well fed.

Interestingly, some people whose living conditions were not very good before they fled have even developed the illusion that their lives now are much better than before. If they weren't constantly being spied on and attacked by hateful bandits while walking on the trade road, these people would even hope that such days would last as long as possible, and it would be best not to end.

-

"Everyone, please be careful when dismantling the tents. There are not many of these tents. If they are damaged, there is no place to repair them!"

Mr. Barfoot, a former businessman, was holding a small book while making a mark on the book with a piece of charcoal. Whenever a disassembled tent is loaded onto the team's special carriage, he will breathe a sigh of relief.

The people who assembled and dismantled the tents were so careless that they often hit the tent's main support pillars when wielding their shovels. And since almost everyone has daggers and other tools for self-defense, there are always people with idle hands who will cut one or two small holes in the tent's waterproof cloth that is not easy to repair.

He couldn't find out who did it, so Mr. Barfoot could only ask the handy women in the team to use thick needles and thick threads to repair the torn tent tarpaulin during breaks during the day.

Yesterday, he was attacked by bandits during the day, which made Mr. Barfoot frightened. Fortunately, he had been in the middle of the team and did not encounter the attacking bandits yesterday.

Sighing, he looked not far away and looked at Knight Kiel, who heard that he had barely rested last night. He behaved like a businessman and hoped that Knight Kiel could always protect this team safely. Well, at least while he was borrowing it. With the help of hundreds of people, we must protect the team safely before they can stand up again.

"Those who are ready, please bring their own supplies. Please be considerate, after all, our team does not have enough transportation capacity, so we can only ask you to carry some supplies on your back or two people together."

As the chaotic team prepared to set off, Mr. Barfoot's voice was still quite loud, which made some people who had just experienced the bandit attack yesterday feel a sense of peace of mind.

Priest Batal, whose hands were covered with blood, tiredly climbed into Kiel's carriage. Without wiping the blood on his hands, he went directly to the carriage and rested tiredly.

The prairie horse he rode to resist the bandits yesterday was now limping and being held next to the driver's seat of the carriage, licking a coarse salt brick in the hand of the driver, Xueyaster. .

Bloodfangster glanced at Priest Batar who was resting in the carriage, without interrupting or saying anything. He was still complaining about the priest's reckless riding on horseback yesterday and the fact that he injured his horse in the end.

Although he knew that the priest came with good intentions to fight and resist the attacking bandits, Bloodfangster was still a little unhappy. After all, Priest Batar did not consider that the horse he was riding was not his own during the battle. this matter.

"Why……"

He sighed and touched his horse's forehead. The horse's injury was briefly treated by the priest yesterday evening, so today the young prairie horse could barely drive normally. Although I can't ride until the injury on my chest heals, it's no problem to walk on the cart without a harness.

"Actually, it's a good thing that you stay in the stable that bought you. You've suffered a lot these days after being out."

Bloodfangster muttered a few words, and seeing that the team was ready to set off, he picked up the long riding crop stuck on the side, swung it, and hit the horse pulling the cart on the buttocks.

The obedient horse immediately started to move forward slowly and slowly following Bloody Fangster's wishes.

Before the carriage left the outskirts of the camp where everyone camped last night, they saw a huge burned fire outside the camp, where the bodies of dead bandits and people were disposed of yesterday. In order to distinguish the identities of the two, the corpses burned facing the direction of the camp were the corpses of the people who died in the team. On the side facing outward is the body of the bandit who died yesterday.

It was dawn at this time, and a large amount of black smoke and heat were still coming out from the side of the huge fire. However, the side where the dead bodies of the people were burned had been actively extinguished. Some of the dead relatives and friends had been extinguished. The people were using wooden sticks and elongated shovels to retrieve the still hot broken ashes of the deceased.

Although friends and relatives have died, their ashes must be carried with them.

The ashes just shoveled out of the fire were still very hot, not only smoking, but also emitting a large amount of choking smoke. I don’t know where these people got some small cylindrical barrels made of wood blocks, and poured the ashes into them one after another. Just like before, they didn’t distinguish who the ashes belonged to during their lifetime. Carrying them with them made them sad. 's heart is satisfied.

-

It wasn't like Kil didn't sleep last night. He still managed to find time to lie down, but as soon as he closed his eyes, the bandits who died in his hands appeared in front of him again, chasing him in the chaotic dream. run.

He probably just fell asleep, but Kil struggled hard and woke up soon. So he didn't want to sleep anymore, so he had to lead the patrols on foot to guard the safety of the camp until dawn.

At this time, the team set off at dawn. He ate the wheat porridge in his bowl in one gulp, threw the empty bowl to the people who were serving as guards, mounted the blood-licking grass without horse armor, and deliberately stayed near the middle of the team. .

In this way, no matter whether Lao Chang's team is attacked in front or behind, he can quickly arrive on horseback and repel the bandits.

Yesterday evening, the alien Maomaos he hired came to him with the corpses of two bandits they had defeated. They used the two corpses of bandits to show that they also played a role when the bandits attacked yesterday.

"Well done, how about you take charge of the rear of the team from now on? During the rest of the journey, you will get off the carriage and spread out around the team to warn of possible dangers! If you do a good job, I will give you discretion It’s a reward. You want metal, right? Then it will come in handy like now.”

After receiving Kiel's approval and commitment, Kiel specially arranged the carriage where the Maomaos were sitting at the end of the team, allowing these alien long-tailed kittens with some fighting ability to help him share the safety pressure of the entire team.

Strangely enough, yesterday the bandits were fierce and attacked his team several times, but today there was no movement.

While riding a horse on a vigilant patrol going around the team, Gil looked at the continuous mountains and forests surrounding the trade road.

When we reached noon, the armed team walking in front sent someone back with news that there was an obvious fork in the trade road ahead. That fork seemed to be frequently visited by heavy carriages, but it led to the left side of the trade road. That is, in the mountains and forests facing north.

Because we didn’t know what to do, the front of the team had stopped.

After hearing the news, Kiel replied loudly: "Don't stop, continue along the trade road. That branch road leads to a logging forest, but now it has become the lair of bandits. That is none of our business. Continue." go ahead."

"Okay sir."

The armed people delivering the news quickly ran to the front, and the stagnant team soon started moving again.

When the middle of Kil's team also came to the fork in the road mentioned earlier, he looked along the road that extended into the mountains ahead, his eyes widened, and he murmured something in a low voice, Soon his vision was enhanced and he could see things that were unclear in the distant mountains and forests.

He saw the location of the original logging farm that he knew from the mouths of the bandits and prisoners. That place was not on the other side of the mountain, but actually in front of everyone's eyes. It was just because of the dense trees on the mountain and the buildings in the logging farm were all made of logs. The building is crude, so it is difficult for ordinary people to see it with the naked eye.

But to Kiel's eyes, whose vision had been multiplied by divine magic, it was clearly visible there.

Not only did he see the lumberyard buildings made of crude logs, but he also saw some interesting things.

A group of bandits, numbering around fifty people, were attacking the lumber camp.

The most interesting thing is that the people who defend the lumberyard buildings are also dressed as a group of bandits. Although there are not many in number, they can defend very tenaciously with the defensive power of crude logs and a handful of bows and arrows.

Every time the attacking bandits tried to push up the wooden planks, they were driven back by arrows fired from the windows of several lumber mill buildings. The defending bandits have almost established a crossfire with no blind spots. Unless the attacking bandits can have almost no blind spots like the Roman legions in Zhao Ji's original world, it will be difficult to attack the wooden buildings in the lumberyards. .

Kil was walking on the trade road at the foot of the mountain, but his eyes were always looking at the battle in the distance that ordinary people could barely see. There was a smile on his lips because he could see that among the attacking bandits, the one who took the lead was It was the bandit leader who attacked them yesterday.

The other party's fat and tall figure is very easy to recognize. After all, in this era, few people can be so fat.

"Idiot, try attacking with fire!"

Kiel muttered that it was not that he felt towards this group of people, but seeing that their offensive was frustrated, he naturally wanted to find a way for the attackers, just like watching people playing chess, the onlookers like to provide advice. After all, if he were to lead the attack there, he would not continue to attack recklessly like this. Instead, he would change his style of play after a method didn't work.

After watching for a while, just when Kil felt bored, he saw the attacking bandits throwing more than ten burning grease torches at a log building while attacking again with wooden planks. .

But then Keir saw that in the second and third floor windows of the log building that was barely lit by torches, buckets of water dripping down the outer surface of the building were poured out by the bandits staying inside.

It seemed that the defense was well prepared.

In this way, the initial fire lit by the torch was quickly extinguished.

Not only that, because it was difficult for the attacking bandits to get close to the attacking building, the torches they threw could not be taken back, so they could only lose them in vain.

Not only did Kil feel frustrated by the attacking bandits, he rolled his eyes and thought of a new idea: "Idiot, since the fire attack doesn't work, just cut down the wood and make a human impact hammer. Ten people will carry it and smash the door under the protection of others. I don’t believe that a simple wooden door of a wooden house can stop a few hits from this thing!”

-

But the nagging of Kiel, the attacking bandit leader ‘Iron Bucket’, was destined not to be heard.

His thoughts were very simple. He didn't believe that the 'dead spot' bandits in the house really prepared enough water to put out the fire.

"Brothers! Whose animal skin clothes are the greasiest? Use them to make some more oily torches! I don't believe it. After coming here a few times, they still have enough water to put out the fire! There is no way there is a hole in the house. Well, right! Come, I will provide you with an animal skin vest first."

Soon, the new torch was completed, and ‘Iron Bucket’ shouted: “Get ready to attack! Haha, this time these people will probably have to urinate in a few buckets of water to get out!”

The bandits roared with laughter, and swarmed forward with the wooden boards they had found. Behind each wooden board, there was a bandit holding a newly made torch, ready to light it and throw it at any time.

Soon the bandits who were holding up wooden boards to resist the arrows reached the edge of the 'safe distance line'. If they walked forward, they could shoot diagonally behind the wooden boards from the other two log buildings on both sides of the building in front.

However, this distance was barely enough for the bandit with outstanding arm strength to throw the torch to the edge of the house.

"Light the torch!"

Amidst the terrifying sound of the flying arrows, the bandit leader ‘Iron Bucket’ gave loud instructions.

One by one, the bandits holding newly made torches lit the torches in their hands, and then gathered enough strength to prepare to throw.

"Throw them to me! Burn them to death!"

As soon as he finished speaking, more than a dozen whirring torches flew out with blazing fire, and then more or less landed under the three-story log building in front.

‘Iron Bucket’ looked forward expectantly. As long as he lit up one building, he would be able to prove that he had the strength to light up other recalcitrant buildings. Therefore, relying on negotiation and persuasion to surrender, he could seize the opportunity to win other houses.

Although this place is sandwiched between two villages, at least he and his bandits now have no choice, right?

Let's settle down temporarily, then gather people and think of a way to take revenge.

-

But 'Tietong' had a good idea, but he didn't expect that the people in 'Dead Spot' who stayed behind in their old nest would have to live in wooden houses for fear of fire. Therefore, before the group attacked Xinqingquan Village, they gave each lumberyard logs. In the building, several log buckets that people can sit in were made.

This thing is made of a whole section of thick logs with the core hollowed out. It is a bit crude. It can be filled with water in a short time, but there is no problem.

So when this wave of more than a dozen newly made torches ignited the log building, basins of water were quickly poured out of the windows above, extinguishing the fire points under the building. By the way, the determination of revenge of the "Iron Bucket" gang was also extinguished.

The attacking bandits quickly retreated in panic. Loud ridicules and obscene curses came from the windows on the second and third floors of the building in front of them. However, the bandits who were frustrated in their attack were demoralized and retreated to the woods next to the lumberyard. After that, everyone put aside the wooden boards with arrows stuck on them, and gathered together in a small group, sitting or lying down.

"try again!"

As soon as he opened his mouth, 'Tiegong' saw a pair of eyes that were originally submissive to him, looking straight at him with no respect for him. Although no one denounced him, they were just afraid of his own strength.

Reading the hidden meanings in the glances that came over him, 'Iron Bucket''s face turned red, and he suddenly lowered the ax he raised.

He is not a fool, in fact on the contrary, unlike his rough and fat appearance, his mind is quite cunning and flexible, otherwise he would not be able to stop these scum.

"Forget it, don't be in a hurry, it's already noon, let's eat first. Come here! Take out the glowing food that you grabbed yesterday! Let everyone try it. Some brothers who were injured yesterday and couldn't join in time, come and try these churches Sir, this is what the noble lords eat. This thing can shine! And look at how plump the grains of wheat are. Not to mention how good you feel after you are full!"

With the interruption and distraction of these things, most of the thieves present were diverted, which made 'Iron Bucket' relieved.

As a bandit leader for several years, he knew one thing clearly. If these scumbags had no way out, it would probably not matter even if he led the gang to fail again and again. After all, there was no way out, so I could only listen to him and maybe survive.

This is why he was able to survive with his bandits after being driven into the mountains and forests by the local knight lords a few years ago.

But now the situation is very different. These damn scumbags have another escape route - they can sneak away and then join the 'Dead Spots' or 'The Hanged Ghosts' to find another way out.

Or even leave here and develop elsewhere. Anyway, today's world is very suitable for the development of bandits. No matter how many bad things they do, no one will punish them.

What's even more frightening is that these people may even subdue or kill him, take him or simply his head, and go to "Ken the Killer" in exchange for that guy's favor or reward.

"call……"

Slowly exhaling, 'Tietong' felt that the current situation was very bad. If he fights, he can't knock down the seemingly ordinary lumberyard building in front of him; if he retreats, where can he lead his people to retreat?

Thinking of this, he even thought about leaving here with only some reliable cronies. After all, he did not put all his wealth in Xinqingquan Village. He had hidden more belongings in his former lair in the mountains and forests for a long time. .

Thinking of this, he looked at the performance of the guys around him and made up his mind.

Instead of joining in the excitement of frying wheat grains or cooking wheat porridge, he secretly called in the bandits of less than ten of his cronies. He didn't take any more supplies. He only stole two barrels of the luminous grains that he had just robbed, and then took the people with him. Sneaked away.

-

Kil finally turned his head and no longer looked at the battle in the logging camp that was about to pass behind him. He had a better understanding of the specific fighting level of the bandits. When these people face a simple and direct battle situation, they can still come up with some strategies such as swaying the tiger away from the mountain. However, when faced with a slightly more complicated battle situation, the depth and depth of the situation will be clear at a glance.

"Hey, what about me? What level will I be in if I fall into the bandit's scheme?"

Kil smiled to himself, knocked the horse's belly, and signaled the Blood Licker to speed up and catch up with the refugee team.