Mercenaries and Adventurers

After a while, Kiel temporarily stored the long sword contaminated by evil forces with the craftsman. As for the so-called magic material, he used it as an excuse to raise funds, so he waited a while to raise it for him. He had also obtained a strange looking piece of metal from the bandits before, but it was too heavy, weighing thirty kilograms in a small piece, and it was obviously likely to be used for a long sword.

Thirty kilograms, no matter where he uses it in weapons and equipment, he can't use it now, can't use it. We can only wait until the strength increases to see if it can be used.

Keir walked to the next door to the weapons forging workshop. In the armor workshop, Ganner was beating a large piece of metal armor. His apprentice was keeping the furnace in the workshop at a high temperature, waiting for Ganner to put the armor on at any time. Heat over a flame.

Ganna is not very strong, so whenever the nail cools down a little and hardens, he heats it in a furnace. Only steel in a high-temperature softened state can be easily beaten to deform the steel armor.

Kiel said hello, took a look, and left. He couldn't get involved in the forging work, so let a professional craftsman like Ganner do it.

While walking out of the artisan area, Kiel was worried about the high price of those magic materials. Especially the last magic material introduced, the blessing and praise metal plate made by the Church of the Sun God, the price is as high as twenty-five gold coins.

All of Kiel's wealth is not that much. There are only a dozen or so gold coins in the treasure box he buried outside the city. Those coins were accumulated by him after he hunted down slime monsters and sold them to the chamber of commerce and rescued merchants who were **** by bandits. He accumulated the money from the bandits' income, plus the income from selling a large amount of metal materials before.

Of course, he also spent a lot of money on the various weapons and equipment he prepared for himself.

As a result, the saved money couldn't even afford the magic material.

Keir thought for a while, before he remembered that when he was dealing with bandits with the help of monsters, he had harvested some valuable things from the bandit leader's wooden house. It's just that he couldn't estimate the value of these seemingly valuable things, so he just kept them and didn't sell them.

Thinking about it now, those things have to be dealt with quickly, only by converting them into coins, and then taking this opportunity to buy magic materials and strengthen his weapons.

As a warrior who relies on force to survive, Kiel's primary goal is to ensure that his force can cope with all kinds of enemies and monsters he faces.

However, before he could find a way to dispose of those valuables, he had to find Knight Lanisa and ask for the horse she promised to use.

-

Going up the main road of Kendall City, Keir came to the gate of the upper city. There is also a city gate here, and it is guarded by two heavily armed guards.

Unfamiliar with these two, it is impossible for Keir to go in directly. He had no choice but to inform the guards about him at the gate of the city. He heard that Keir was under Lanisa Knight's hunter team, and now he was going to Lanisa Knight's villa, so a guard went in to ask someone from the Knight family. Condition.

After a while, the guard returned with a maid from Lanisa's knight's house.

The guard waved his hand, indicating that Kiel, who was waiting at the gate of the city, could follow the maid in.

Kiel thanked the guards, then walked over to the maid.

The maid was wearing a thick cotton-padded skirt. The outer fabric of the cotton-padded jacket was quite bright, and the family crest of Knight Lanisa was finely embroidered on it.

The maid didn't wear gloves, and because of the cold weather and the lack of shelter at the gate of the Shangcheng District, the wind was relatively strong and she kept rubbing her hands.

She looked at the young Keir, took a closer look, and said, "You look very ordinary, don't you seem to be extraordinary?"

"Ah? No, did Lord Knight say something? It can make you think that I should grow a pair of arms or something." Kiel shrugged and said.

The two walked along the stone street, and the maid led Kiel in front. The soft shoes on her feet made no sound when they walked on the ground, and Kiel's pair of warm boots had hardened leather soles, so every step would Make a loud snap.

The maid walked around and turned her head to look at Kiel: "Except for being a bit strong, it is indeed very ordinary. Lady Lanisa told us the story of her defeating a monster before. In the story, you are amazing, but you are not as tall as me .” After finishing speaking, the maid stopped and compared the heights of her and Kiel.

Kiel scratched his head, he was quite tall, it was because the knight's maid was too tall. He remembered that among the women he had come into contact with, not many were as tall as her. Even Knight Lanessa didn't seem as tall as the handmaiden.

Regarding the maid's evaluation, Kiel had to save some face for himself: "Actually, I still have some strength, and my martial arts skills are not bad."

"Really." The maid rubbed her hands, blinked her eyes, and said doubtfully.

While talking, they came to Knight Lanisa's house. It is very close to the gate of the upper city, opposite the closed door of the Church of the Sun God and the Pantheon next door.

Lanisa Knight's house has a circle of towering walls and occupies a large area. After entering through the small door at the main entrance, Kiel discovered that besides a front yard, there were several tall houses connected to each other.

Different from the surrounding church buildings, the houses of the knights are very simple, without the stories of gods and reliefs carved on the outer walls, and there are no attractive fancy patterns spliced ​​by various colored stones and bricks.

It's just an ordinary brick and wood building, but it's taller.

Keir followed the maid into the house through the side door of the main building, and walked through a corridor to the restaurant.

The ground of the restaurant is paved with large rocks, surrounded by various landscape paintings and decorative weapons. Kiel took a glance and saw that those weapons were real ones. After all, it is a knight family that relies on force to guarantee its status, which is really normal.

At this time, on several wooden tables in the middle of the restaurant, many family members of Knight Lanisa were dining with the knight himself. Kiel was wondering if he came at the wrong time, but when he looked around, he found that the meal was over. The knight's family members looked curiously at Kiel who followed the maid, and then prayed to the gods, and then left the table. He walked out of the restaurant with the maids and servants.

Knight Lanisa did not leave after finishing the meal, and after motioning for Kiel to come over, she asked the maid to move a new wooden chair and sit down.

Keel saw that the other chairs were different, probably because the knights had their own chairs, and as an outsider, he naturally couldn't use other people's special chairs.

Sitting down, Knight Ranisa asked Keel if his weapon had repelled the tainted evil.

Kiel, who confirmed that the knight was involved in this matter, smiled and said: "My lord, not yet. The animal husbandry craftsman has brought out many good things." He rubbed his hands: "I really want it, So put the long sword with him for the time being, and plan to raise some coins in the past two days to buy all those things."

Lanisa laughed: "Craftsman, hahahaha. Craftsman Endel will definitely be dumbfounded when he hears you call him that. But you are quite rich, and you want to take all the magic materials. However, remember to do what you can, and when raising money, it’s best not to go to the city to find gangsters to borrow usurious loans. Just find a familiar businessman to borrow a low-interest loan that will be repaid in the near future.”

Keir didn't quite understand. He hadn't planned to borrow money. After all, after borrowing money, he would be a grandson in front of the creditor, and he would be a head shorter than others for nothing. As a time traveler, Keir didn't want to lose face. It is impossible to borrow money, and it is not impossible to sell high-value loot.

But Knight Lanisa didn't seem to understand Kiel's specific situation. For what Kiel said about buying all the magic materials, it was not a small sum of money, and even their knights had to figure out a way.

Of course, their knights all have their own village fiefdoms. The fiefdom of the Lanisa knight family is in Wumi Lake Village in the north. Because it is close to the vast Wumi Lake, there are fat and big fish that can be used as special commodities for the fief. Every season, the village will transport a large amount of dried fish as tax revenue. These delicious dried fish with special effects can be preserved for a long time, and can be sold for a lot of money when transported to other places.

Immediately afterwards, Knight Lanisa went on to talk about what happened next: "In a few days, after the bones of the hunters who died in battle were brought back to his home and buried, our crusade against wolves this year will begin. Quite a few packs of northern wolves have been wiped out, but the roots of the wolf pack have not been harmed. After a long period of investigation, the old hunters found that they have expanded the birth of new wolf cubs."

"What does this mean?" Keel asked puzzled.

Knight Lanisa took off the delicate napkin around her collar, stood up and asked Keir to go with him, and when she left the restaurant and walked upstairs, the knight said: "Wolves are not human beings. It only takes more than a year for them to be able to hunt from birth." The wolves in the Northland are larger in size, and the species seems to be different from other scattered wild wolves in the wild. The growth time is a little longer, and they will grow into adult wolves in about two years."

"So we're going to kill more adults and pups this year before the pups grow up in large numbers?" Keel said.

"That's right. Last year, the hunters and I used tricks to injure them. According to the skills of those cunning beasts, the same trick trap will not be committed by prudent beasts again. This year, we will have to rely on the combat power provided by you, the newcomer. Keel, with you helping other hunters, when I entangle the wolf king opposite, you will definitely defeat those guys."

Kiel followed Ranissa Knight to another room, which looked like a study. Judging from the furnishings in the study, it doesn't seem like a place that women will use for a long time.

From the bookshelf on one side, Knight Lanisa took down a self-made simple book. She flipped through the simple book made of many papers, and then handed it to Keir.

"I heard that you can read and write, which is different from other hunters. So this is the record of how I led the hunter team against the northern wolves before and after. You can read it and learn how we dealt with the wolves before. There is no time to train you on how to fight wolves this year, but I know that you have dealt with many wild wolves alone before, and you should have some experience in dealing with wild wolves."

After receiving the simple record made by splicing separate sheets of paper, Keel put it inside the clothes and put it away.

Immediately afterwards, Kiel told Lanisa Knight that he had moved his residence from the Foxtail Chamber of Commerce to the Hunter Stronghold in accordance with the other party's request.

"So, are you here today to beg for the other two horses?"

"Yes. But I don't just use the horses alone. When we hunt down the wolves later, we can use them to transport more supplies. With enough supplies, we must go deep into the north of the county to deal with the wolves, and we will be safer. Right?" Although Keir came to ask for the promised horse, he didn't want to make a bad image of himself, so he promised that the horse would come in handy in the crusade.

After hearing what Keir said, Knight Lanisa nodded: "Yes. However, three horses. You have to take care of them. The cost of raising each horse is quite a lot. Three horses, if you want to keep them for a long time, you need Be prepared to spend a lot of coins."

Kiel gratefully thanked the knight.

"I will ask people to go to the government affairs office to handle the ownership of the three horses. Kendall City is different from other places. Owning private horses is subject to heavy taxes. This year I will say hello to the government affairs office and exempt you from taxes. Remember to pay taxes at the government office next year, or they will fine you. If you don’t pay, your horses will be confiscated.” Knight Lanisa introduced to Kiel.

After finishing speaking, she clapped her hands and called the maid at the door.

"My lord?" Another knight's personal maid saluted after entering the door.

"Go and call the butler."

"Yes, my lord." The maid closed the door and left after saluting again.

"Master Knight, why does Kendall City impose heavy taxes on privately owned horses? Is it related to the Imperial Knights in the north of the county?" Keel asked about the topic he cared about.

Lanisa snapped her fingers: "That's true. Since Kendall County has the Imperial Border Knights guarding the most border of human existence, so according to the agreement between the kingdom and the empire, we must provide sufficient supplies to the knights guarding the border of mankind." Support. Part of this support will be given to the kingdom, and the nobles in the border areas will give another part."

"so?"

"So, the large amount of horses needed by the Knights has to be borne by our baron and several other border barons. Not only that, but there are many other supplies besides horses. We have a large permanent land in the north of Kendall County. They also undertake the task of providing fuel supply to the knights in the lumberyard. The other adjacent counties provide other supplies. So every year we buy a batch of horses from Bingxun Pass and give them to the knights in the north In order not to allow private individuals to influence the price of nearby horses, the government office has to impose heavy taxes on horses.”

"So that's the case. Thank you, sir, for solving the doubts that have plagued me for a long time." Keir finally understood why the economically developed Kendall City is why all the chambers of commerce use donkeys to pull carts, so they will be heavily taxed. .

-

As soon as this topic was finished, Knight Lanisa's steward knocked on the door and entered.

"This is Joe Keel, you know. Take him to the stables and give him the two horses I got back two days ago. By the way, I will go to the government affairs office later to find out the ownership of the three horses I got. Turn it over to Kiel. Say hello to the relevant clerk, don't collect taxes this year, and talk about it next year." Knight Lanisa quickly explained the matter.

"Keir, follow my butler and go to the backyard to get the two horses. After the ownership of the horses is completed, they will be handed over to the hunter's stronghold. Remember, before you get the sign representing the ownership, don't wait three minutes. Let the horse pass through the market, or you will be found by the passing clerk, and your horse will be detained." After the knight Lanisa explained, she went to the desk and took a book to read. She waved her hand and let the two go out.

After bidding farewell to the female knight, Keel followed her butler to the stables in the backyard.

The older butler didn't seem to be curious about Kiel, so he brought Kiel to the stable without looking at him.

The backyard of the knight family is very large. It not only has stables and a garden, but also has a low stone building in the innermost part. It can't be seen that it is used for anything, but it looks very solid.

The stables are quite big, and there are not only some horses and livestock in it, but also three carriages, one of which is a truck, and the other two are carriages for people to ride in, but one is more refined, and the other is more ordinary up.

The steward found the napping groom and asked the groom to bring the two horses. No nonsense, just hand over the two horses without bridles and saddles to Kiel.

Seeing that the two nothingless horses were in trouble, Keel asked the housekeeper for a rope, tied two slipknots at both ends ~www.readwn.com~, put it around the necks of the peaceful horses, and led them gently Walk out of Lanisa Knight's house.

All the way out, Keir carefully pulled the rope and led the two horses to the hunter's stronghold behind the government office, and asked the two horses to live in the small stable in the front yard of the stronghold with their friends.

To give water to the new horses, only to find that they had already eaten in the morning. Looking at the sun, Keel came to the house, called the dozing old hunter, and went to the backyard for noon bow practice.

After practicing a pot of bows and arrows under the guidance of an experienced old hunter, Keir returned to the house, took out his wooden training weapons, and practiced the martial arts of spears, swords, shields and big swords alone in the empty backyard archery field .

He hasn't practiced like this for a while, but he was fighting outside a while ago, and actual combat is more effective than pure virtual practice.

-

In the afternoon, Kiel greeted the old hunter and got all the certificates for the horses sent by the servants of the knight family. In fact, it is three very well-made wooden signs. It describes the coat color of the horse, who owns it, and whether it has paid taxes.

Keir put two in the house, took one and put it in a backpack, then put all the things he got before into the backpack, and led a horse out the door.

He has to go to the general store opened in the artisan area to buy a set of bridle saddles for horse riding, and then ride it to Bingxun Pass where there are a lot of merchants.

There, he wanted to sell some of the valuable items he had seized before, and exchange them for money to buy magic materials.

Among the things he carried in his backpack were: a small ruby ​​in a box; and a bone box containing a set of eerie jewel ornaments. A few odd bits and pieces of art.