Mercenaries and Adventurers

"These bandit scum must have got mixed up with the monsters harassing the town! When this year's war is over, I will have my father lead the troops to hang them all, and hang them all on the execution platform!"

The heir to the baron was very unhappy. He thought that the only problem the town faced was the dangerous flesh demon parasitic monster. Who would have thought that there were two sizable bandit gangs on the outside of the main trade road leading to the outside world in Sars County? .

In this way, not only were their connections from the inside to the outside of Ye Mei Town blocked by the monsters, but the external forces coming to them were also blocked by the bandits.

How unreasonable!

The young man lost his temper in the main seat of the hall for a while, then calmed down and began to ask Kiel, the foreign knight, about the details of the incident.

There is nothing that cannot be said. In order to save face, Kil slightly revised the story about how he was transferred away from the mountain by the bandits. Other information about the bandit gang includes what he and his subordinates saw and experienced with their own eyes, as well as what was tortured from the mouths of the captured bandits. , all were stated in detail and appropriately.

After listening, the old man sitting opposite Kiel said thoughtfully: "The problem is not that serious."

"What do you say?" the young man asked.

The old man explained: "The origins of those parasitic monsters are not simple, flesh and blood demons..."

He shook his head: "If it weren't for the lack of troops in the territory, when it was discovered that the bandits harassing the territory were these parasitic monsters a few days ago, the family would have brought the soldiers and church priests in the territory to send troops to conquer those guys."

"I know that. We don't have enough troops. Even if the priests have this intention, I don't agree with them to go out to fight in the town." The young man nodded. He already knew this. The church priests are very powerful, and they are very hostile to the flesh demons behind the parasitic monsters, but large-scale battles cannot be accomplished by just relying on the church priests in the territory.

Other kingdoms with strong church power may be able to do it, but the Kingdom of Saint Holes was established less than a hundred years ago and the church's power is limited. Obviously, it cannot be done. It must rely on the powerful power of the nobles.

But that's where the problem lies. Most of the soldiers in Sars County and a wave of militiamen recruited were taken away to fight by the young man's father, Baron Sars.

That's why Ye Mei Town will completely shrink its population and strength after discovering the parasitic monster.

Parasitic monsters, parasitic monsters, if the villages outside the town are left as before, then within a month or two, there may be no survivors in Sass County.

The topic turned back, and the old man continued: "It is impossible for the parasitic monster to just let go of those stupid bandits on the outside of the trade road. In my opinion, the cunning monsters took advantage of those bandits, um, to turn those bandits into a layer of A covering barrier.”

Keir's eyes lit up and he understood what the old man meant!

After fighting the parasitic monsters, he had wondered why those parasitic monsters were still pretending to be some kind of bullshit 'hanged ghost' bandit gang. It turned out that they had this intention.

The old man continued to explain his opinion: "The terrain of Saskatchewan is very closed. Except for the main trade route in the northwest of the town, all other directions are blocked and separated by continuous mountains. It is impossible to pass through dangerous mountains and forests. Arrive at the neighboring noble territory.”

The middle-aged lady opposite also figured it out. She stopped shaking the small fan in her hand and said in surprise: "So as long as those monsters seal the road to death, it will be difficult for the outside world to know, or it will be difficult to mobilize them after knowing it." Can you support us?"

After saying that, she rolled her eyes angrily and cursed in a low voice: "Brother should have listened to my husband's suggestion and built a special checkpoint on the northwest trade road. If this checkpoint was still in the hands of the family at this time, Here, things wouldn’t be what they are today.”

The young man understood. He took a deep breath and covered half of his face with his hands: "Auntie, it's useless to talk about this now. If I can support it until my father comes back, I will support Knight Bollett's suggestion in the future. "

After seeing that they were no longer talking, the old man continued to express his opinion: "And those monsters found a group of bandits from nowhere and arranged them on the trade road leading to the outside world, blocking the way from the outside to Yemei Town. caravans and populations.”

At the end of the sentence, he pulled out one of his beards and looked at the gray beard: "The trade route has been cut off for a long time since spring..."

"And we didn't even notice," the young man added.

The people in the hall stopped talking and made eye contact with each other.

Keir leaned back, feeling that the atmosphere was a bit unpleasant.

Sure enough, after a moment, the old man looked at Kiel: "Young knight from the north, I just heard you say that those parasitic monsters are no match for you? And it is very easy to defeat them?"

Kil quickly waved his hand, not wearing this high hat: "Where, where, I was just talking about it, I can lead the team through the robbery and blockade of the bandits and monsters, mainly because of the bravery of the people under my command! You know, who is willing to take the risk from The people who set out with me from the safe White Stone Wall Checkpoint were all young people from the refugee ranks from various places. With more people, some strength, and no way out, they fought very hard."

Kil smiled: "I can't. After all, I'm just a trainee knight with limited power. I mostly command them to win in battles along the way."

Keir said very modestly, but the old man opposite was not stupid either. He changed his words and said, "So that's it, then that's not bad."

"What's good?" Kiel said together with the baron heir on the main seat in the hall.

The old man glanced at the baron heir, and then said to Kil: "The town lacks enough warriors to fight those monsters. Although the church has sufficient power, and the priests belonging to various gods also have the motivation to deal with the flesh demons, you must know that because There are too many nearby people gathered in Yemei Town, and the guards in the town are already very insufficient just to maintain law and order."

"Yes, thefts, robberies, fights, riots, these things are happening inside and outside the town every day. There are many that my guards can take care of, but many more cannot. I don't know, most of them can only Rely on the original manpower in each village to handle it yourself."

The young man waved his hands unhappily and said these troublesome things.

"So guys, what does this have to do with me and my people? When I came here this time, I just stopped by Yemei Town to replenish some necessary supplies. After that, I will lead the team and continue south to Changmai. Fight the villains and rescue the captured and imprisoned villagers."

As soon as the old man heard what Kil said, he immediately continued: "Young Knight Kil, this is very relevant. As I just said, the territory is facing difficulties. Every day, the parasitic monsters wandering outside the town are coming. To increase their numbers, we need to eliminate them, we must eliminate them. We cannot wait for churches in other areas to slowly prepare manpower. After all, everyone knows that other areas also have their own troubles."

"Perhaps this activity of the Flesh Demon will be extinguished in the future, but Sars County will definitely suffer heavy losses." The old man's eyes were glaring: "You said you wanted to rescue the southern villagers who were kidnapped by the defeated army, and you said you wanted to give them to the refugee youth who had nowhere to go. A safe place to avoid trouble. Hmph, if you ask me, you can’t even think about it until these parasitic monsters are dealt with."

Keir met the old man's eyes: "Do you think I have to arrange my personnel in Sars County? If I can bring them in, I can take them out! It's not like I didn't find a few safe places along the way."

The young man sitting in the main seat was a little nervous. He didn't know why the second grandfather of the family was suddenly so tough. He wanted to speak to calm the atmosphere, but was stopped by his aunt's eyes.

So calm down and watch the situation develop.

Facing Kil's previous remarks, the old man sneered: "The territory needs the strength of you and your people. You said you need to replenish the team with supplies. It's easy. Lead the troops to help us deal with these monsters. The Sasse family will organize all the people in the town." Power gives you all the supplies you want. You said you want to lead people to rescue the captured people, and after defeating the defeated army that crossed the mountains, it must not be that easy, right? Look at these strong and brave soldiers in the hall , if you can deal with the monsters plaguing the territory, the Sasse family will send troops to help you."

The old man added: "You know, that Maizi Village is, after all, a tax-paying village in the territory. The family has the obligation to deal with this matter."

Seeing what Keir wanted to say, he immediately interrupted: "But there are obligations. The family can immediately help send troops to defeat the defeated army. Of course, it can also deal with this matter next year. But everyone knows that the captured people will soon It is difficult to survive for more than half a year. Starvation, beatings, abuse, disease, and cold will all kill the captured people one by one."

Kil rubbed his teeth and looked at the old man a few meters away with an unkind look: "You have finished speaking..."

Although on the surface he looked speechless after being spoken to like this, Kil actually didn't care much about what the old man said. After all, he didn't have no cards on his side. He was confident that he and Batal could only rely on him. The two priests can save the people of Changmai Village.

But he rolled his eyes and became silent.

At this moment, the door of the hall was opened from the outside, and the second housekeeper of the Sass family who had gone to invite people came in led by Priest Batal.

The priest came in and took a look at the situation. When he didn't understand what was going on, the housekeeper immediately arranged for two male servants to carry a chair in from the other side door of the hall.

Just next to Kiel's side.

In this way, Priest Batal came over, introduced himself first, and then saluted the three Saas family members present. The second housekeeper next to him immediately loudly introduced the identities of the three Sasse family members.

As soon as Priest Batal sat down, the middle-aged lady across from him fanned the fan in her hand and talked in a brisk tone about the current difficulties faced by Yemei Town in Saas County.

"To this end, each church in the town has sent personnel who can deal with the flesh demon parasitic monsters, and I will temporarily manage them in this mansion. Priest Batal, right? I think you understand the current situation in our Sars County. Difficulty, we must organize enough forces to guard our people, resist the external evil minions, and eliminate them."

"I understand." The priest stood up and nodded solemnly.

The old man opposite struck while the iron was hot and spoke to Priest Batal, but his eyes kept looking at Kiel: "That's the problem. The organized church is powerful enough, and the Saas family also has some elite armored soldiers, but the problem is these There are too few people, far from enough! Although those monsters have not attacked the town these days, the harassment has not stopped. Reports have been reported, and others have not been reported. Villagers who have taken refuge outside the town disappear every day. "

The young man at the main seat took over: "The number of those monsters has been growing. No one knows how many monsters are entrenched in their lair, and what evil intentions those monsters are planning, but we We all know that our blind defense is not the answer. We must fight back! Hit them hard! Reduce their numbers and let them curl up so that everyone in Sars County can survive. Either wait for my father's army to come back, or wait. Church organizations in various places eradicate the power of the church from the forces of flesh and blood demons.”

Priest Batar nodded, feeling that these were all correct. He looked at the warrior Kiel on one side. Kiel flat-mouthed, shrugged, leaned over and said, "These are the principles, but the question is whether there are these people." It's so serious. Those parasitic monsters you've seen are actually just like that. But I don't want to delay any more in Changmai Village. There are countless things in the world that need people to solve, and it can't be done by the two of us. After busying yourself, are other people useless?"

The priest also thinks it makes sense.

So, what is the problem with the stalemate at this time?

"The power of parasitic monsters is growing every day!"

"I am confident that only a small number of people can rescue the captured villagers of Changmai Village."

"The Sasse family has an obligation to send people to rescue these people."

"Forget it, I think Ye Mei Town is also in need of manpower."

"Then how about we eliminate the parasitic monsters together first? After all, this is a big problem that can affect the entire county!"

"On the way here, I saw that there were quite a few guards on the wall around the town. You don't need the refugee team under me, right? After all, most of them were farmers before. They fight in a messy way. How can they compare to those who have been trained for a long time?" Where are the town guards?”

"But Yemei Town has gathered people several times the original population of the town. In order to maintain the situation without chaos, the town must have enough guards to maintain law and order!"

"But I rescued two young people who escaped from the town outside the town. They were imprisoned in the town's police station. Do those guards still have the time and energy to extract money from their families?"

"There's nothing. Even if there is, it was in the past. If you go around the town casually and observe a little, you can see that today's Yemei Town is like boiling hot water, all pressed by the lid of the pot."

"Whether the hot water in the pot can be turned over, the problem is not the lid, nor the hot water itself. Everyone knows that the problem is the flame at the bottom of the pot! The current situation in the town, most people are suffering, but some people are quite happy look like."

"Hmph, the flames are not in the town, they are just those parasitic monsters outside the town! Without those parasitic monsters, all the problems are no longer problems."

"I don't think so, old man. Although I am young, I understand that when the monster's fire is gone, some other fire will be ignited again, just to keep the water in the pot hot! Some people who are full can't Will give up voluntarily."

The old man was so angry that he waved his hand and said: "Don't talk about these irrelevant things. Sars County needs your soldiers to participate in the crusade. They have faced those parasitic monsters. They have experience and have achieved results. Although they will not be the main force, they will But they are indispensable manpower.”

"He's gone, right? Without my people, wouldn't you be able to do anything? Just stay in the town and do nothing?"

"The problem is that now we have knights like you, as well as hundreds of experienced soldiers, plus the priests from various churches who have been organized and assembled in the town. We have the opportunity and the strength to solve today's problems. Young people, there are The opportunity is in front of you, wouldn't you give it a try?"

"Problem, problem, problem, you have to involve my people who have nothing to do with me..." Kil breathed out and stopped talking.

The old man looked at Priest Batar standing aside: "I guess this young priest also wants to make some contributions to the local people, right? You should know that parasitic monsters are a big problem, and we now have the opportunity to solve it! Do you want to join in? "

Priest Batal thought for a while. He had no objection, so he looked at Kiel.

Kiel pointed to Changmai Village on the map in the center of the hall, which put Priest Batal in a difficult position. On one side were the familiar religious people stationed in the village, and on the other side were the larger number of suffering farmers, as well as the local Saturnalia Church. of other priests.

Priest Batar couldn't make a decision himself, so he decided to leave the choice to the Kiel warriors who were guided by the god of agriculture to his partner. The two exchanged glances, and Kil knew that the final decision rested with him.

So he leaned back in his chair and shook his head.

The three members of the Sasse family present frowned. Unexpectedly, even after talking about this, the young knight was still so stubborn and refused to lend his power.

Kil slowed down for a moment, and after seeing that the situation was stable, he spoke softly: "Please don't embarrass me. Although we have said so much, after all, Priest Batal and I have the mission entrusted to us by the God of Agriculture, and we have been delayed for a long time along the way. , the mission must be completed as soon as possible. If possible, of course I can help the local area deal with this troublesome matter on the way back. "

"If you can, please wait a little longer."

The middle-aged lady opposite crossed her legs with each other, leaned on the back of the chair, and fanned casually with the fan in her hand: "But every day, the situation is getting worse."

The old man closed his eyes and snorted: "It's hard to even distribute the food that is given to the people every day."

"How is it possible?" The young man on the throne didn't believe it: "There is so much food at home, I go to see it every two days!"

Keir also felt that the old man was talking nonsense. Everything he saw in the central square of the town was normal.

The old man opened his eyes: "Why, doesn't Little Bell realize what the problem is?"

Everyone else looked over, and the old man said: "The family has a lot of food stored, even enough to feed everyone at this time for several years. But the problem is that it is calculated based on the degree of cooking into wheat porridge. The town Come on, there is not enough firewood to burn. In fact, it has been gone for a long time. Now all the fuel in the town comes from the southern part of the town that was burned down a few days ago. After demolishing all the buildings within the burnt range, we can raise more Fuel to last these two days.”

The scene was quite quiet for a while. The old man chuckled and looked at Keir: "If we don't make any changes next, we will have to demolish the civilian buildings in the east of the town and use the wood in the buildings to maintain enough for the whole town." fuel."

"But you don't need to think about it to know that no civilians in the eastern town are willing to offer their houses. Riots and resistance are bound to happen. This is the main reason why the town cannot lack guards."

The young man at the main seat organized several conversations and then said: "I'm not sure about this. I really have no choice. Can I cut down the trees in the family mansion first and supply it to everyone in the town?"

"It's a solution, but the question is, even if we add the shrubs in the maze garden, how many days can it support the whole town? Little Bell, do you understand?"

Kil stood up at this time. He coughed twice, attracting everyone's attention, and then said: "It's not easy to ask my people to help you fight, but I have a group of loggers in my team who specialize in logging. , maybe we can get enough firewood for the town."

"Help you solve some burning problems."