Mercenaries and Adventurers

Zhao Ji walked on the main road in the city, and found that because of the cold weather, the lively atmosphere in the past was much less. He first went to the Punika craftsman for a walk, greeted a few familiar apprentices, and found that The apprentices have all been called back by the Punika craftsman, and they are soaking the hard wolf fur in a stone tank to soften it.

The Punika craftsman is personally processing the fur of the wild wolf leader. His processing method is slightly different. Instead of soaking the entire fur in the solution to soften it, he treats it little by little. Clean the dirt and dead parasites on the fur little by little, and carefully remove the remaining fat particles on the inside.

Zhao Ji didn't disturb the concentrating craftsman, and after watching silently for a while, he greeted the other apprentices with a few words of pleasantries and left.

Walking into the slums may be due to the drop in temperature. In the past, there were many fewer children running around in the streets and alleys of the slums. Most of them were asked by their families not to leave the warm house.

After all, it’s not good if you get sick from the low temperature because of running around outside. For poor families, every serious or minor illness is a difficult battle. It’s okay if the family is a member of a certain church. If you get seriously ill, you will alarm the priest in charge of preaching to him, and they will use the magic of exorcism to deal with such things.

But many poor families cannot afford the annual offerings to the church, so they can only turn to alternative herbalists to treat their diseases.

However, fresh and cheap herbs are only available in the season when everything is prosperous. In winter, the herbalist only has ointments and powders that can be preserved for a long time. These things are not cheap, so for poor families, it is better not to get sick as much as possible, or not to get sick.

The table corner tavern was still the same. As soon as Zhao Ji entered the door, he saw a large number of drinkers sitting at a table, eating cheap baked beans and sipping cheap ale.

Todd is also there, he is the bartender who is in charge of the tavern during the day, and his elders will be in charge of the bar at night. At this moment, the young man was crawling under the bar counter, seeming to be picking up the coins that had fallen into the gap inside the bar counter, but he did not see Keel who came back and entered the door.

"Yo! It's the famous Keel in our tavern! Haven't seen you for days, everyone thought you died somewhere outside the city, I don't think you can be so short-lived, look, I'm always right , This is worth a toast. Guys, let's toast to Keir coming back again!" A familiar drinker saw Kiel entering the door at a glance, and immediately stood up to talk, and the other drinkers were attracted Attention came, and when they saw Keir coming back, they all yelled and drank the wine in their glasses.

Zhao Ji laughed: "I invite everyone here to have a glass of high-quality ale, thank you for not forgetting me. Haha."

Hearing Keir's promise, all the drinkers cheered, and the atmosphere in the tavern immediately rose.

Todd got out from under the bar, it looked like he got out the dropped coins, and when he heard the compliments from the drinkers, he turned his head and saw Keel walking over.

"Hey! I thought you died somewhere in the wild. People from the Foxtail Chamber of Commerce said that you are all right, but I don't believe what they said at all. How is it? How did you get out this time?" Todd took the copper coin carefully. Put it into the metal cash box embedded in the bar counter, and happily said to Keel who was sitting on the chair by the bar counter.

"It's a lot of harvest, but it's all done with desperate efforts. The number of goblins outside the village of Doral Forest is more than expected, and it took a long time to get it done. Give me something to eat and drink first! The best meat Skewers and the best ale." Zhao Ji rubbed his stomach, he was a little hungry.

Todd originally wanted to say something to Keele, but seeing Keel's stomach growling, he decided to ask the elders in the back kitchen to make some fresh and tender yakitori, and then he served Keel a large glass of fragrant ale.

After Zhao Ji heard it deeply, he finally felt that everything in Dorallin Village was not so good, at least the quality of the beer was too poor. The taverns there should hurry to Kendal City and learn how to make their ales smell rich and foamy.

After drinking a big glass, Zhao Ji burped contentedly.

Todd leaned over and said, "You look a lot stronger than when I saw you before. You stand up and I compare. You seem to have grown a little taller."

Oh, Zhao Ji is very sensitive to this. He stood up and touched the muscles on his arms. He was indeed much stronger than before. It would be better to say that he was too thin before, and he came to Kendall City for more than half a year. , his figure is tending to normal. And during the time in Dorallin Village, because he was alone in the wild, he was building a camp, fighting against wild beasts and monsters, exploring the ruins, and moving the property of the ruins.

The exercise of these things made his body stronger than ordinary people.

Compared with Todd's arm thickness. Sure enough, he didn't realize that his arm was twice as thick as Todd's.

"Did you go to that village to farm? Your arms are so thick." Todd muttered.

Zhao Ji smiled: "I have to do all kinds of things in the wild alone, back and forth, and that's it. There's no way, when you want to do something in the wild, no one can help you , I can only rely on myself to do it over and over again.”

"Let's compare your height, you stand up straight." After Todd stood up straight, he took a wooden tray containing food and placed it on top of his head. The tray is straight, and when Zhao Ji stands up straight, he can see that he is about the same height as Todd.

Todd is a little older than him, and Zhao Jiji's own body is only sixteen to seventeen years old.

"Sure enough, you have grown taller. You grow really fast."

"Hey, I hope I can grow taller in the future."

"Why?" Todd asked suspiciously.

Zhao Ji made a gesture: "After height, the arms, legs and feet will be longer, which will be more advantageous when fighting."

A drinker with a sword at his waist replied: "That's right, long hands and feet are more advantageous in battle. Long hands, your sword will stab the opponent first, long feet, your pace It’s faster and farther. Either way, it’s beneficial.”

Todd said a few words, then pulled Keir to the edge of the bar, and said in a low voice: "About the commission of cooperation. These days when you are away, several customers have come to find them. I will push some urgent things for you. After all, you don't know when you will be able to come back, so you have to find someone else to deal with the guests."

Zhao Ji took another sip of the rich-flavored ale and listened attentively. He was also very concerned about this.

"There are still some commissions that are not in a hurry, and I have promised them to you. They are all written down on paper, you can take a look. Three commissions, one is from the city, and the other two are from the county. Kendall is doing business, and I found out about your deeds when I came over for a drink, and told me specifically."

Zhao Ji took the paper that Todd had folded from his clothes, and muttered in surprise: "You, Todd, can also write."

Hearing Keel's mumbling, Todd rolled his eyes: "My parents paid a lot of money to find someone to teach me how to read."

Zhao Ji grinned, tapped the opened paper, pointed to the crooked characters and said, "I just learned this? That's it?" After speaking, he dipped his finger in a little beer, and put it on the wooden bar counter. His name and Todd's name were written.

The two are very different. Although Todd’s writing on the paper is recognizable, it is unsightly, while Zhao Ji’s writing on the bar is serious and stable. All the characters are on a line, and each character The shape is regular and the size is the same.

Todd saw what Keel wrote, and his face immediately flushed red: "Okay, okay, as long as you can recognize it. No matter what you do, I will practice writing well in the future." After thinking about it, he He continued: "For my job, I only need to be able to read and write. Everyone is here to drink, not to ask me to write a letter."

No more teasing Todd, it's okay to make jokes, just let the two people who haven't seen each other for dozens of days liven up the atmosphere. While drinking, Zhao Ji read the commission information written by Todd on the paper.

Since none of the commissions were urgent, the time was not recorded on the paper.

The first client was a merchant from the south, who lived in the checkpoint on the main road leading to the outer counties in the south of Kendall City. One of the businessman's nephews was kidnapped by the bandits who were rampant there. According to the businessman, the reason for the kidnapping was because he didn't cooperate with the bandits and didn't serve as an outpost in the checkpoint.

An outpost is the name of a person who specializes in inquiring about news, has nothing to do with robbers, and provides intelligence.

After the bandits kidnapped the businessman's nephew, they asked him to think carefully this winter, and if the businessman still didn't agree when spring came, they would tear up the ticket. And it will also specifically target this businessman for robbery.

The businessman commissioned Todd and Keel to find the bandit's camp, rescue the kidnapped nephew, and eliminate the main leader of the bandit.

Seeing this, Zhao Ji raised his head and asked Todd for the details of this commission.

Todd clicked on the merchant's request: "See, if you can complete any of the three requirements, he will give you a bounty. The difficulty of the three requirements is gradually increasing."

Zhao Ji read out the first request: "Find the camp of bandits."

Todd said: "This is the easiest, as long as you dare to go deep into the forest in the south of the county and find the corresponding bandit camp and come back alive. There are many bandits in the south of our county hiding in the forest and the border hills. They rely on Kendall City to go outside The main commercial roads in the county make a living. Generally, they don’t kill people, they only loot some goods, but there are also some brutal ones, but in recent years, they have been wiped out by the militia led by Knight Crow. So you just need to find the bandit camp where the kidnappers were kidnapped , next spring, that businessman will hire some people and invite other caravans to wipe out that bandit camp together."

"But that businessman's nephew is doomed." Zhao Ji said with a bark.

Todd spread his hands: "People can be regenerated when they are gone, but if they earn less money or agree to bandits as outposts, but are discovered and stabbed out, their reputation will be ruined. For merchants, the reputation of the caravan and the principal It’s more important than money and life, if you lose your life you can hire people, if you lose your money you can earn more. But if your reputation is gone, it’s really gone, no one will do business with you again, and it’s all over.”

Nodding his head, he felt that Todd was right, that's the truth.

Todd clicked on the second request: "Rescue the kidnapped person, this is nothing to say, it is more difficult. After all, people can be the best. I heard from the businessman that he has been training his nephew for a long time. Yes. Trained as the next generation leader of his caravan. Of course, don’t take what the businessman said seriously. He’s just talking, and you and I don’t know him, right?”

Zhao Ji laughed: "That's right, but people still have to be saved, and no one would think that the money is low. Since he said so, how did he entrust the amount?"

Todd said in a low voice: "The first target is a gold coin. After all, it is life-threatening, so the price of the whole entrustment is not low. The second entrusts three gold coins, so people can't be seriously injured. And the one who was rescued later The thank you fee given by others is calculated separately. The third one, how should I put it, is basically impossible. I heard from the businessman that the other party’s gang has at least 30 people. If one or two people go there, they will die. If they are rescued, they will die. It's not easy. I don't recommend you take any more risks."

Zhao Ji still asked, "Talk about the amount first."

"I heard from the businessman that there are five leaders on the other side. One of them gave a reward of one gold coin, and the other subordinates were given a silver coin. In addition, I heard from the businessman that those bandits are wanted and can be exchanged for them in the city or at the checkpoint in the south. Another reward. Living bandits can get more rewards, and the government office doesn’t seem to recommend killing ordinary bandits, but famous bandits are allowed to kill them, and it’s okay to kill them.”

To bring the bandit back alive? How could it be possible? Zhao Ji often heard people say in the tavern that the main problem of law and order in the county was the wolf infestation in the north and the bandits in the south. Those guys with their heads pinned to their belts want to live?

How can it be! Watch me trade these gangs of plunderers for my fame.

Having said that, Zhao Ji drank the glass of ale, and just as the food he wanted was ready, Todd refilled a glass of wine in Zhao Ji's glass and brought the food over.

The chicken is dipped in the sauce and grilled on the fire, and the aroma is overflowing. The large skewers of meat skewers also looked very impactful. Zhao Ji blew on a piece of chicken, then opened his mouth to tear it off, chewing on the chicken sprinkled with spices, Zhao Ji took another sip of ale.

Cool.

After eating the whole bunch of meat in a row, Zhao Jicai looked at the next order.

This entrustment is a bit strange. The client is the village steward of a village in the west of the county. He said that someone in the caravan traveling between the village and Kendall City has disappeared inexplicably. It wasn't that he was attacked and killed by people or wild beasts, but that when the caravan camped in the wild, when they got up in the morning, the caravan lost one person for no reason.

No blood, no fighting. Even if someone is on duty at night, someone is still missing.

This caused many small caravans to no longer go to their villages, and the people of the large caravans prepared more donkeys and passed through the areas where accidents often occurred in one go, but this also increased the cost of caravan transportation, causing the village to It takes more money to buy daily necessities that are not produced in the village. UU Reading www. uukanshu.com

Zhao Ji looked up at Todd, and Todd said, "This incident was a big mess a few days ago, but as the caravan went straight to the village with all their strength, no one had any accidents. The villager The steward came here in the same way, after all, no one wants to disappear randomly in the wilderness. You don’t see people when you’re born, and you don’t see corpses when you’re dead.”

After a pause, Todd went on to say: "This commission, I suggest that you accept it if you are sure. If you are not sure, forget it. It's too weird, too weird."

Zhao Ji narrowed his eyes: "Then, have you heard that the pastor of any church intervened in this matter? Or the knight lord of that village?"

Todd shrugged: "There is no definite news of death. How can the church be willing to intervene? Besides, how can the shepherds in the city be willing to go out of the city to risk suffering? As for the knight lord? Do you think a pig will go out of his pigsty? Come out to defend your own village territory?"

"Pig? Knight lord? Ah, you are talking about that knight Fichner that everyone calls a pig? It turns out that the village is his territory." Zhao Ji figured it out.

Todd sneered a few times: "It is said that the pig's territory, but I heard that he has never been there, and the stewards of the village came to the city to handle affairs. He never forgot when collecting taxes, but he needs to stand up and stand up. When he left, he was still huddled in his own manor. I guess next year, it would be impossible for the village to pay him taxes."

Zhao Ji felt the same way. It was okay when nothing happened before. Everyone followed the existing rules and habits, and the taxes that should be paid were paid. Although the knight did not come to the village, it did not affect the development of the village itself.

But something happened, but you are useless. It is estimated that next year's tax will not be paid to the knight manor in the city.