Mercenaries and Adventurers

At midnight last night, the team's carriage came back.

However, the direction they came back was not from the southeastern gate where they entered the town before. After the riots and frictions occurred there last night, even if Priest Batal, the priest of Saturn, intervened to calm them down, the grievances of the people outside the southeastern wall of the town were still there.

So the drivers who drove horse-drawn carriages and donkey-carts at midnight last night all came out from the southwest gate of the town.

When they came out, not only did the gate open and close quickly, but there were at least a hundred guards escorting the convoy to the area controlled by Kiel's team. After returning the empty trucks, they formed a dense but scattered queue and trotted back to the town. .

The next morning, just after dawn, and as soon as Kiel and his people had breakfast, the area controlled by the team received two groups of people coming out from the southwest of the town.

One group is the merchants in the town who have a small number of people but carry a lot of goods and supplies.

These people were led by a young and powerful official from the government office, with five backbones of the town's chamber of commerce as the main body, commanding more than 20 guys from various chambers of commerce. They carried poles on their shoulders and transported boxes in wooden boxes. of various goods.

These people did not directly enter the area controlled by Kiel's team, nor did they approach the area where nearby villagers temporarily lived. They were just beside the wall, protected by a dozen town guards holding crossbows and holding crossbows. Holding his nose and enduring the stench of accumulated feces outside the wall, he began the material exchange that Keir had agreed with the town's lord family yesterday.

Keir left this matter in the hands of Mr. Barfoot and the old businessman Nobby Fintig, and the swordsman Will was responsible for maintaining security and order. Try to exchange the extra useless materials in the team for various materials that will be useful to everyone in the town today.

In addition, considering that people may not be generous enough to collect things that the team cannot use, Keel handed a jar of coins from his carriage to Mr. Barfoot and asked him to use the money in the jar to purchase supplies. Everything will be discussed with the old businessman.

The money in the jar is basically the wealth seized from bandits along the way after Kil led the team. Because it was coins rather than supplies from the merchants in the bandit's lair, the money was not spent before in Dorne Town.

This money is said to be Kiel's own property, and it was obtained by fighting the bandits after the team was formed. Although Kiel was the main force in the battle, the armed people in the team also shouldered a lot of work, so Part of this jar of coins also belonged to the entire refugee team.

Keir was not a greedy miser, so he generously took it out at this time of need. Of course, Kiln still whispered to Mr. Barfoot and the old businessman that they should try not to spend the money if they could.

In response to Keel's instructions, Mr. Barfoot patted his chest to ensure that he understood the meaning, while the old businessman stroked his beard and squinted his eyes. He smiled and said nothing, but nodded.

In addition to the merchants in the town who came to trade, another group of people who came early in the morning was an unloaded convoy consisting of twenty caravans and freight carriages.

It should be noted here that the caravan freight carriages organized by the Chamber of Commerce are not only made of solid materials, but also have greater volume and carrying capacity than the horse-drawn carriages and donkey carts under Kiel. The length and width of the wagons are slightly higher, and each wagon is pulled by two pack horses, which is far more powerful than the one-horse wagon in Kiel's team.

In addition to the twenty empty wagons and the drivers who drove them, Keel also saw a person standing in the open carriage of each wagon.

This made Kil narrow his eyes and look at these people carefully.

At the same time, as the convoy came to a stop, these people also got out of the vehicle and looked at Keir as well.

Kiel noticed that the people who jumped out of the ten carriages in front were all elite soldiers of the Baron Sasse family that he had seen before, while the people who slowly climbed out of the ten carriages in the back were church personnel in robes.

Different from the Chamber of Commerce emblems painted on the twenty carriages, the ten church personnel who came down behind were priests from four different divine churches.

However, unlike the Batar priests who were armed at the Saturnalia Parish Church in Montosa City, these local priests in Yemei Town did not have special protective equipment or gemstone metal staffs that were conspicuous and had special abilities. They were the same as the first time Kier saw Priest Batar, wearing priest robes of different styles and colors, and basically holding a simple long staff made of metal in their hands. The difference is that they may know that the enemy is not human, so each of them carries one or two more one-handed wood-cutting axes around their waists.

To be honest, it was a bit nondescript for the priests to carry a logging ax on their bodies. Perhaps they themselves felt awkward, so several priests directly placed the one-handed logging axes they brought on the carriage that had come down before.

While the two parties were sizing each other up, the person leading the motorcade, which was more advanced in specifications, jumped down from a carriage in the middle of the motorcade. As soon as the man came down, elite soldiers from the Sasse family and middle-aged officials from the government office surrounded him.

Keir could tell at a glance that the person was the eldest son of Baron Sass whom he met yesterday, the actual manager of Ye Mei Town at this time, and an heir to the title in his twenties. This made him a little surprised.

Although the matter of obtaining fuel for the town is very important, it is not something that the top leader must personally solve, right?

He felt that the riot that occurred outside the southeast gate of the town last night needed this young man to calm down and resolve it. Instead of going out in person, running outside the dangerous town and taking the risk of fighting parasitic monsters to solve a minor problem facing Yemei Town at this time.

Without thinking any more, Kil strode over.

-

The heir to the baron is named Bel-Sass, and he claims to have received knightly training like Kil, and is also an apprentice knight.

When Keir went to see this man at the baron's mansion yesterday, he was wearing standard aristocratic clothes. But now that he saw him again, what he was wearing was completely different.

A standard set of knight's steel armor, with additional decorations on the surface of the knight's armor made of unknown brass or gold. Overall, it is stable and gorgeous, with both defense and decoration.

However, Kil noticed that unlike the heavy steel armor worn by Knight Crow and Knight Rumi, the armor worn by the heir to the title was more similar to the armor worn by the garrison knight he had seen at the Wrath River Pass before. .

That is to say, it is much more defensive than the armor that ordinary people can wear, but it is far weaker than the knight armor worn by the Crow Knights.

Moreover, Gildo looked at the decorations on the opponent's armor and felt that the weight of the upper and lower decorations on the armor alone might weigh about ten kilograms at least. As we all know, steel is far stronger and tougher than copper and 'soft' precious metals.

But if the knights in the southern provinces like to dress like this, it is also a matter of preference, and Keir has no objection.

"How's it going? This armor of mine? I ordered it in the large iron shop of Drum Castle, the capital of the province. It is the most popular knight armor among young knights in recent years." Bell held the steel armor in his hand. Helmet, said loudly to Kil who came over.

Keir said perfunctorily: "It looks very good, much better than mine."

"Of course, the skills of the forging masters in the provincial capital are very famous. Especially when they make armors for knights of noble families, they can always find a balance between decoration and practicality that satisfies everyone."

Kil recognized the emphasis on the pronunciation of the word "noble family" and raised his eyebrows. After approaching, he asked directly: "I don't care about this very much. I just want to know about you and the people you bring with you. Soldiers and Why do the priests from various churches come here with the carriages preparing to transport firewood?"

Kiel looked at the elite guard soldiers standing next to Bell, the heir to the baron and the actual manager of the town, and the ten church priests who came silently, and asked continuously: "I don't remember that these things were included in the content of yesterday's discussion, right? ? You provide me with material exchange, and I will bring you enough firewood. It’s that simple, and what are you going to do with these people now?"

Bell raised his chin, waved his left hand and said: "Now that the situation in Yemei Town is difficult, as the heir of the family and a knight, I have the ability and necessity to do something for my people. Foreign knights, I I know you don’t like what I did before, in fact I don’t like it myself either.”

Keir narrowed his eyes and said nothing.

"The elders of the family proposed this, claiming that it could protect the family's subjects in the chaotic world and prevent them from additional violence. In fact, this is indeed the case. When facing external dangers, they gathered under the wings of the family to protect them. Under this, life and wealth were preserved.”

"Why doesn't it look like it to me?" Keir raised his finger and pointed to the gathering place outside the town on the west side of the crowd. It was dilapidated and chaotic. The old and weak people who came out to bask in the sun after dawn gathered on the ground and looked around in a mess. .

"At least they are alive, and their wealth, I mean the land, which is the main body of wealth, has not been lost. I have seen the current situation, and there are some problems, but this is what I am trying to solve now." Bell was a little embarrassed and reluctant. Removed the topic of people outside the town and shifted the matter to him.

Keir snorted softly: "That's not what you said yesterday. Well... I remember that you rarely spoke during the discussion yesterday?"

Bell narrowed his eyes, with a dangerous light flashing in his eyes: "I rarely make decisions. You know my identity, and this is necessary. In today's chaotic world, there is nothing wrong with listening to some experienced experience. .”

"Then what are you here to do now? And whose experience is it?"

Kil's mouth was sarcastic, which made Bell's face look ugly. The other party took a few steps forward and got closer to Kil. At the same time, he waved his hands to keep the elite soldiers behind him who wanted to follow him away.

He leaned into Kiel's ear and whispered: "I was very unhappy about what happened last night. After it happened, I personally rushed to the wall on the southeast gate and saw the resolution of the riots among the residents outside the gate."

"So?" Kil also whispered: "That's when you discovered that you were blind? It was because there were countless hands covering your eyes, and your ears were surrounded by many people's flattery all year round. Are you obedient?"

"Don't tell me you're a good guy, I'll laugh," Gere scoffed.

After all, Bell was a young man, and when he was ridiculed by Kier like this, his face turned very ugly. He glared at Kiel fiercely: "I have been arguing with the two elders of the family for half a night..."

"This is your business. Your sudden participation, especially with so much power, makes me very unhappy."

Kil's eyes glanced at the knight's armor on Bell's body, as well as the elite soldiers and local church priests around him.

"Qiao Keer, trainee knight, it doesn't matter whether you are happy or not. Today I am going to lead people to do something for the town and solve the problems that the town must solve now." Bell solemnly affirmed, and he knew it was a serious decision as soon as he heard it. A decision made after determination.

Blinking his eyes, there was a smile on Kiel's lips: "Well, you will lead the team today, and you will lead these convoys. How about I just be responsible for the lumberjacks under my command? In addition, I require the last firewood transported by my convoy to be transported at night." The Mei Town Government Office or the Sasse family needs to pay with coins, and the price is based on the current fuel purchase price in the town, um, how about double it?"

Bell took a step back and stared at Keir: "Didn't we agree yesterday that all the firewood would be owned by the town for free, and the town would invite merchants to provide material exchange as a conditional payment?"

Keir crossed his arms and said, "But you didn't say yesterday that you were going to bring people to join in? You go back to your town, I will lead the logging convoy, and the firewood will be shipped back for free. If you temporarily change the conditions and intervene, I will You will be charged for the firewood brought back by the convoy here.”

"You..." Bell glared at Kiel angrily.

"This is my condition. Or do you think you can change the agreed things at will? Just because you think you have more people? Are you powerful? Or is it because you are the heir to the baron? Let me make it clear, or you can pay more Money, or go back to your town and shrink into your mansion. Hum, take the initiative to close your eyes and cover your ears with your hands, so that you don’t need to see the depression and chaos inside and outside Yemei Town, and you can’t hear the complaints and complaints of your so-called citizens. .How do you choose the heir to the Sasse family?"

Gere pronounced the word "heir" bit by bit and focused on raising his voice to sting the young man opposite.

The words with obvious sarcasm and reproach bypassed the gorgeous and thick knight steel armor on the young Bell, causing his expression to change constantly. This was the first time in his life that a young man had been ridiculed in person and could not retaliate.

Although he was confident that he was far better at knight training than the young man in front of him who was several years younger than him, but in terms of intuition and momentum, he knew that he was no match for him. Even though the deep murderous aura surrounding the other party was not directed at him, he could still feel it. Although the opponent is young, has weak knight skills, and the knight armor is not as strong as him, but in a real fight, he may not be his opponent.

It is something that cannot be seen or touched, but both can feel it.

-

Just as the two of them were in a stalemate with cold faces, a middle-aged government office official in the motorcade wiped the sweat from his head, quickly came over in small steps, took the initiative to hunched his thick waist, and kept talking. The apology eased the atmosphere at the moment and shifted the two people's attention to this person.

With a flattering smile on his face, the middle-aged official said to the baron heir: "Master Bell, in fact, there is a sum of money here at the Government Affairs Office, which was prepared in advance to cope with the shortage of firewood and fuel in the town."

"Oh?" Bell looked at this man doubtfully.

Next to him, Keir narrowed his eyes and looked at this man's performance with a sarcastic smile.

"When the mansion issued a call to the people of Yemei Town to take refuge, we little people estimated that something like today might happen, so when the situation in the town was good at that time, we prepared a sum of money to deal with the shortage of firewood and fuel. . Although it wasn’t much, we thought at the time that we would use the money to buy some useless shabby houses in the town, demolish them and collect firewood for use.”

"This... is a way, but it can only last for a while. And I have to take care of the government office's money. Where did you get the money from? Huh?" Bell turned around and asked.

The middle-aged official wiped the sweat on his head with a silk handkerchief. It was not long after dawn and the temperature was cool, so he didn't know why he was sweating.

"The town is taking in people who have evacuated from surrounding villages, and the trade routes are gradually blocked. The town's pigment trading house happens to have a sum of money used to run the trading house this year. The trading house cannot be opened for the time being, so we will discuss moving the money first. Come here to maintain the stability of the town." When he said this, the middle-aged official did not look directly at the baron heir Bell, but looked downwards, just staring at the noble coat of arms of the Sass family decorated with gold on the chest of Bell's armor.

Keir wanted to laugh when he heard this, but he knew that although the middle-aged official was lying, he still found a way out of the conflict between the two, so he despised him and did not laugh out loud.

The expression on his face didn't change.

“At that time, we had planned to use this money early. We would first buy and dismantle uninhabited houses in the town. We would only buy the house itself, not the land. So we calculated that the money would last for a while. "The middle-aged official continued to speak, and his words became smoother and smoother, as if he really had such a sum of money, and as if they really planned to do it.

Bell trusted the government office official in his family. Hearing this, his originally stiff face also showed a smile: "I know, because the bandits attacked the south of the town before, and the fire destroyed many houses, so we provide You bought a lot of firewood that can be burned, right? I know this. Although your plan didn't come in handy, it was a correct method. I absolve you of the crime of misappropriating the money from the trading house. In that case."

When Bell said this, he turned around and said to the expressionless Kiel: "Use this money to buy the firewood brought back by your carriage today. So, apprentice knight Kiel, bring your woodcutter and yesterday's firewood." When the convoy is passing through, lead the way. I and the people I lead are responsible for my carriage, and you are responsible for yours. Go-go!!!"

Bell, the heir to the baronet, had a high-pitched voice, full of energy and pride.

Kiel flattened his mouth, turned around and greeted his woodcutter and the drivers of the convoy, and asked the grooms in the team to feed the horses and donkeys of the convoy. He also put his horse, the blood-licking grass, in a horse armor belt. Come up.

He muttered: "For the sake of the coins provided by a fool."