Mercenaries and Adventurers

Kiel and his party followed a group of militiamen through two mountains, and saw a large group of militiamen camping.

It was almost sunset at this time, and the mountains were different from the plains, so camping at night must be done early, otherwise, at dusk, the mountains would enter the night at an extremely fast speed.

It would be too late to camp until dark. Without the light of the sky, the troublesome and complicated work of camping will enter a state of chaos.

It would be fine if it was summer, but winter nights are dark and cold. If you fail to build a tent with enough people to rest and keep warm during the rest, many young militiamen who have no experience in camping in the winter will freeze to death. frostbite.

Crow Knight, who has rich experience in the army, naturally would not make such a simple mistake. He led the brigade of militiamen when the sun was setting early and was close to the mountains.

So just after Kiel and the others climbed over the mountains at dusk, they came to the militia camp that had basically completed camping at night.

Due to the large number of craftsmen in Kendall City and sufficient supplies in the city, the logistics of the militiamen are good. Not only are the teams distributed with water and matching pot fuel, but also these militiamen who need to conduct actual combat training do not need to move during the daytime. , responsible for carrying these logistics materials.

These things are all handled by the clerks and assistants that Knight Crow brought from the city's government office. The militiamen only need to be responsible for clearing up the bandits.

This means that the final scope of the militia's winter training did not exceed the scope of Kendall County. In the county, Baron Kendall can still provide very good logistical help to his troops. Of course, once you leave Kendall County, these convenient logistics management will be gone. You can't bring all the clerks of the government affairs office out of the county to accompany them on the expedition, right?

Knight Crowe wanted to, but of course the other two senior clerks in charge of the government affairs office would not agree.

At the gate of the camp, there was a group of melee militiamen patrolling and guarding. They saw that a group of militiamen who went out not only captured four bandits, but also brought back some armed men who didn't look like bandits. These people approached for questioning.

The militia captain Os, who was walking with Keir, told the interrogation and inspection captain what he had learned. Obviously, the news of the monsters and the forest with a lot of bandits caught the team leader by surprise.

The man rubbed his hands, and asked in an uneasy whisper, "Is this news credible?"

Os looked at the honest Kiel and his party behind him, and then said: "It should be credible. Besides, these things are also considered by Lord Knight, aren't you? What are we worrying about? We will all disband and go home in a few days. To be honest Yes, militia training is much better than eating at home, where you can eat pickled bacon every day. At home, I can only eat more fried dried beans to fill my stomach."

"Who says it's not? My father wishes that all my brothers in the family would come to participate in the training every year, which would save a lot of food. It's a pity that the places are all reported by the village. Each person can participate at most twice now, and then they will die. "The interrogating militia captain said regretfully.

Since the patrolling militia leader couldn't judge Kiel's news, he had to follow Os and his team to guard Kiel's group one after the other, and came to the center of the militia camp.

The Crow Knight's camp and the clerks who manage the team's logistics are all arranged in the center of the camp.

The knight's tent is arranged here, of course, not to protect the knight himself. After all, Knight Crowe has said that he can wipe out these hundreds of militiamen by himself. No one in Kendall County can defeat him, so naturally he does not need protection.

His camp is arranged here, in fact, it is convenient for the militiamen to find him when they have something to do, and it is also convenient for the knights to command in case of emergencies in the camp.

The other clerks and their assistants were placed in the center of the camp, purely for safety reasons. With the militia guards of hundreds of people around them, even in the mountains where wild beasts and bandits that are more ferocious than wild beasts are rampant, they don't worry about safety at all.

Some of the clerks who had come down from their leisure took out their delicate flutes, whimpered and blew in front of the campfire next to their camp, and played while warming the fire.

There are people passing by, and they will occasionally sing a voice or two, so that the smooth sound of the flute will not be too lonely.

"Report! Sir Knight, some hunters claiming to be La, Lanisa Knight's hunters have something to ask you." The patrol captain came to the knight's tent and announced loudly.

The two guards sitting on the wooden barrels at the entrance of the tent arranged their equipment and stood up to guard the entrance of the tent.

Not long after, the thick curtains of the tent were lifted, and Knight Crowe, who had removed his heavy armor, came out with a dinner plate.

He saw Kiel's group who were under guard at a glance. He didn't know the hunters under Knight Lanisa, but he had seen Kiel's armor twice, and he immediately recognized the man with the helmet on. Keel.

Casually handing over the unfinished dinner plate to the guards under him, Knight Crowe waved his hand to let the patrolling militia continue to work.

"Keil, I didn't expect to meet you here." Looking at Kiel, Knight Crowe said with his waist in his arms.

Kiel took off his helmet and revealed his face. He smiled: "Master Knight, there is something to say about how I appeared here."

With a wave of his hand, Knight Crowe first asked Oss, who came back, to go out to the militia, go to the responsible clerk to register the mission situation, and then quickly eat and rest.

After Oss and his party cheerfully pulled the desperate-looking captured robbers to register, Knight Crowe asked a guard to arrange a place for Kiel and his group to stay and rest next to his camp.

The young hunters and the rescued female populace were given some water and fuel, and immediately started tinkering. The women raised the fire, and started making dinner with the food brought by the guards and a small bucket of ice and snow. The young and strong hunters unloaded their weapons and equipment, and began to build their camp for the night.

Kiel and the three old hunters were brought into his camp by Knight Crowe, and they heard news about Knight Lanisa.

-

There was nothing complicated in the tent, except for a wooden box containing the very heavy armor of Knight Crowe, there was only a camp bed, a simple low table with documents and maps, and a small iron stove with charcoal fire.

Knight Crowe asked the guards to hand over the plate to him, and then placed it on the iron stove. The thin silver plate quickly used the temperature of the charcoal fire below to heat up the cold food.

There was no place to sit in the tent, and Keir didn't mind being dirty, so he sat directly near the small stove and dried his hands. Kiel and the old hunters told Knight Crowe what Knight Lanisa had told him. .

While eating, Knight Crowe listened to what Kiel and the hunters had to say about their experiences. Knight Lanisa explained before that when facing Knight Crowe, they need to tell their experiences in detail so that Knight Crowe can grasp the whole situation.

"The bandits spend the winter in the forest? Hehe, those bandits are really not afraid of things deep in the mountains. But they are really bold. Huh, there are also monsters, this time I am a little careless. Kendall and I did not expect that the things that appeared this time Warcraft turned out to be such a difficult guy. It’s really hard for Lanisa. Fortunately, that child has always been serious, and he is smart and strong enough.” After Knight Crowe finished eating, he took the heated dinner plate directly with his hands He said, not afraid of being hot, and put it down on the ground next to the small stove.

After he nodded and finished his comments, he looked at Keel again: "I didn't expect you to join Lanisa's men. Do you want to go to the north with her to deal with the wolves?"

Keir scratched his nose, hoping that joining Lanisa Knight's men would not affect the future trading contract with Crowe Knight: "Uh, yes. There seems to be nothing in the south recently, and I'm not a temperament that can be idle. I met Lord Lanisa Knight and her hunters in the forest at that time, and I agreed to them. I heard that this winter, they will deal with the raging wolves in the north of the county again."

The three old hunters who were also sitting on the ground beside them nodded, admitting that they did have this plan. In fact, the few of them are quite curious. I didn't expect that Keel, a young man, would know Knight Crow, and he seemed to know something.

"Ha, I just like young people like this. They have an aggressive spirit, exactly the same as when I was young." After a pause, Knight Crowe continued: "I know what Lanisa arranged. Let this stubborn bandit lair be destroyed." After the extermination, I will lead the militia to move forward and wipe out all the bandit gangs hiding in the militia. But this period of time is not short, at least it will take about ten days, if it is slow, it will take more than ten days depending on the situation. Rani Can Sha's supplies last?"

A few old hunters were questioned, so they discussed it directly. According to the undamaged supplies found in the bandit camp that was wiped out at the beginning, they are not counted as brought out by them, and should be able to be used for a long time.

The main reason is that the winter supplies hidden by many bandits were not stored in the camp, but buried in the surrounding forest. They killed all the bandits in that camp immediately, so naturally they couldn't find out the whereabouts of the hidden supplies.

Knight Crowe heard the discussion of the old hunters, and he continued: "Since the food is still enough, you should do this. Tomorrow morning, you will arrange for people to bring the rescued people and a messenger back with one of my men. Kendall City, the news is very important, Baron Kendall must be notified and let him make arrangements for the next preparations."

He went on to say: "The rest of the hunters should go back to Lanisa first and help her guard the corpse of the monster. That thing is very important. It is not only the personal record of Lanisa Knight, but also the great glory of our Kendall County." .But, Keel!"

"In!" Keel replied immediately when called out suddenly.

Patting Kiel's armor, Knight Crowe said: "You have to stay. Although you said that you joined Knight Lanisa's hunter team, I heard that you have sneaked into the bandit's lair alone before and rescued him single-handedly." Killed more than a dozen people? Your experience and standing are essential to deal with this bandit gang's lair."

After he finished speaking, he looked at the old hunters again: "Keir will help deal with the bandits at the militia first, you go back and tell Lanisa. I will borrow Kiel for a while, haha, he rescued them Some of the people in the camp helped the militiamen lead the way as guides. But compared to those people, Kiel probably knows the surrounding area better."

The old hunters looked at Kiel, and Kiel shrugged, so they could only show that they knew.

They didn't have the right to refuse the knights, and Knight Crowe could ask all of them to help deal with the bandits. Some young hunters in the team were probably willing to do such a lively thing.

After finishing speaking, Keel and the others bid farewell to Crow Knight. Knight Crowe called the guards at the gate, and began to write a letter to explain the arrangements for the guards to return to Kendall City tomorrow.

-

"Keir, do you still know Mr. Crowe Knight?" An old hunter asked curiously while stroking his beard.

Keir followed behind the old hunters, and replied casually: "Yes, I met the Crow Knight who came out to deal with monsters in a deal with monsters near Kendall City. Hey, his performance at that time was not bad. It's better, it's in the eyes of Lord Knight." Naturally, he wouldn't talk about the important private transaction with Knight Crowe, he knew that it couldn't be said.

"Is there any more?"

"And I have a very good relationship with the guards at the gate of Kendall City. I naturally got acquainted with Knight Crowe after I came and went. Hey, you may not be clear, I am actually quite famous in Kendall City, especially when I often go to People drinking in taverns."

"Really, we hunters are always running outside, mainly in some places in the north all year round to contain the wild wolves that are developing southward. Every year after the autumn harvest festival, we will basically gather in Kendall City." An old hunter said. Talk about their usual work.

Only then did Kiel realize that not all the hunters gather together all the time, usually they are old and new, with the Kendall River Ferry and Umi Lake Village as their bases, along the road between the two, to curb A pack of wolves testing from north to south.

Only in winter will they gather in Kendall City for some repairs, and tentatively deal with the main activity area of ​​the wolves in the north of Umi Lake Village with Knight Lanisa.

Of course, the number of hunters is small, and it is naturally impossible to seal off a very large area. That's why Kiel encountered a pack of wild wolves competing for territory with monsters like goblins in the wilderness west of Doral Forest Village. .

While Kiel and the others were talking to Knight Crowe, the young hunters had already quickly set up the tents for everyone to camp. The rapid speed made the militiamen next to them envious, not only because there were six female civilians lighting fires and cooking next to the young hunters, but also because these young hunters could only rely on the flames of the surrounding campfires to darken the tent where they would spend the night Build it up.

This technology makes the militiamen who are dismantled in the morning and set up in the evening very envious. They all hope that they can also have such proficient skills, and that they can also have a wife to cook for them in this wild mountain forest.

Kiel and the others finished their meal under the envious eyes of such a militiaman.

The guards under Knight Crowe brought a lot of bacon and hard bread. Of course, there is also a bucket of drinking water that has been frozen into ice cubes by the cold weather.

The rescued women lit a fire, and then took out the small iron pot they were carrying. They first dug out the frozen drinking water, and put large and small ice cubes into the hot iron pan that was baked by the fire. Then, they used the portable daggers issued to them to cut open the bacon, cut the salty, fat and lean bacon into small pieces, and poured them into the boiling water.

Then, they smashed the frozen hard bread with the handle of the dagger, and then crushed the small pieces of bread crumbs horizontally with the dagger, and poured them into the pot.

The high temperature melts the fat in the cured meat, which wafts into a roaring taste. The addition of bread crumbs will not make the soup too monotonous.

Keel and the others ate a hearty and hearty dinner.

After that, the women who sat on the horses for a day got tired and got into the middle one of the tents that had been built. Surrounded by young men, it's better to be careful anyway.

After eating, Keel took out some food that the bandits had prepared in the camp to feed the horses from the belongings carried by their group. Since Keel was jealous of the three horses, he personally took the job of feeding the three horses.

All three horses are docile-tempered and have gotten to know Kiel after a few days of feeding. No longer resisting Keel feeding them, Kiel will deliver food to the horses, straighten the matted hair of the horses with his hands, and check the horses for parasites.

Probably because of the winter~www.readwn.com~ so the condition of these three horses is relatively good, Keel did not find many parasites hidden in the hair of the horses. And after he observed the defecation of the horses, he didn't find anything in the feces.

Keir asked who would send the news back to Kendall City on behalf of Lanisa Knight tomorrow, and the important task of going back fell on an energetic young hunter.

Keir personally asked the old hunters and learned that these horses were the trophies of Knight Lanisa, so they would be kept in the stables of Knight Lanisa's villa after arriving in Kendall City. The same goes for the rescued women. If they have relatives and friends in Kendall County, they will naturally arrange for them to be sent there for reunion care. But if not, after obtaining the consent of these rescued women, they will be sent to Wumi Lake Village and arranged to marry them to unmarried youths in the village.

However, two of the women are already pregnant. According to Lanisa Knight, the two pregnant women are allowed to live in her house temporarily to prepare for pregnancy. After giving birth safely, they will move to Umi at another time. Live in Lake Village.

Of course, it is not easy to arrange for unmarried young villagers with children. Most of them will see which villager's family needs more manpower in the future, and the woman with children will be placed there.

Wumi Lake Village, which is often harassed by wolves and has suffered a slight loss of population, will not reject any newborn child. In fact, many resident families in the entire Kendall County migrated from the Empire or other places with a large population. During the long migration process, many families were constantly combined and split, and then recombined. In order to obtain a piece of reclaimed land of their own, the relocated people have suffered so much that they no longer care about anything.

As long as a complete or incomplete family can be formed, the people don't care about anything else.