Mercenaries and Adventurers

Keir cheered up and said hello to Baron Kendall, and then fell silent.

The baron and the knight did not put the topic on Kiel either. They exchanged simple greetings, and then the baron listened to the report of Knight Rumi.

"My lord, the militiamen are ready to leave at any time. You can start now. If you march with torches tonight, you will arrive at Bingxun Pass at midnight today. If you don't march at night, you will arrive at noon tomorrow."

Baron Kendall nodded: "Let's go there as soon as possible. I have arranged for people to make arrangements at Bingxun Pass in advance. The militiamen can take a short rest outside Bingxun Pass tonight. After leaving the county tomorrow, they will switch to a formal march."

He gently fiddled with the neatly trimmed beard on his chin with his gloved hand: "It's just for those people to see. If I want to, I can set off on the same day, and I can win the Bingxun pass on the same day."

The baron's words directly made the two knights laugh.

But Keir didn't understand what they were talking about, why did he take down the Ice Flood Pass? Isn't that the jurisdiction of Kendall County?

But he remembered Knight Crowe's order to keep him quiet, so he just listened and didn't interrupt.

After the three of them finished speaking, they turned around and walked out one by one.

Knight Crowe took Keir, got on his horse after getting out of the tent, and then rode around in the militia camp. Kiel saw that the Knights of Crowe called up the town guards who had set off this time, quickly formed a team, and then ordered two teams of militiamen at random. Dozens of people just broke away from the group and walked down first. I came to the fields outside the city that had been ravaged by floods a few days ago.

Outside the city, even though the militiamen had been camping outside the city for the past few days, the farmers here did not delay in farming.

Under the leadership of the Saturnalia Church, the men of the farmers led the oxen and used plows to plow and mix the fertile silt with the moist soil underneath, while the women helped the priests divide the fields of each family.

Some deep-buried stone strips could not be washed away by the flood, and these stone strips became the conditions for distinguishing large areas. Then, with the help of roughly divided fields, each household selected their own from the large area. Legal field size.

At this time, the peasant women would quarrel for the fields near the city, pushing and cursing continued, and whoever had more momentum would be able to fight for a place closer to the city at this time.

If there is no fight, the priests of Saturn will not get involved in this kind of thing. After all, this kind of thing is really out of place.

Of course, when there was a dispute, the priests would only defend believers who believed in the God of Saturn. If they didn’t believe in God, they would naturally have to face the group of farmers and priests and consciously choose a remote field to cultivate by themselves.

After a few days, the ground that was ravaged by the flood was gradually passable. The original road was submerged in silt, but fortunately, there were trees with well-developed roots on both sides of the road, so that people could see where the original road was at a glance. .

And Kendall County also has a decree unknown to Keel. After the flood, the fertile silt on the road is a godsend that everyone can take. Farmers who are farming can take it at will.

In fact, the government affairs office saved a sum of money to clean up the road mud.

Naturally, the farmers rushed to collect these free things in advance, and directly used wooden buckets and shovels to transport the silt from the trees on both sides of the road to their fields.

"My lord knight, where are we going? Why don't we go with the main force." Keel followed the leading Knight Crow on horseback. At this time, behind the two, the town guards and militiamen on foot followed, and the two He also walked slowly on horseback.

"We are the pioneers, exploring the way. A few of the most elite teams walk in front of the main body of the team for half a day, providing marching reconnaissance for the main body and logistics of the rear team."

Knight Crowe rode leisurely on his horse and explained to Keel.

"We have more than 20 town guards and two small groups of militiamen walking in the front, judging the road conditions, bridge conditions in advance, and even confirming the places where large troops will camp every day. However, we will discuss with the towns and nobles passing by along the way to march through the road. There is no need for us to handle the matter, the baron has sent people to roughly finish the matter during the winter."

"approximately?"

Knight Crowe coughed in embarrassment: "It's roughly the same. Think about it with your head. Not all nobles would like to have a team of hundreds of people walk through their territory all the way, even if we are walking. Busy main road."

He nodded at the militiamen behind him: "You should be aware that the lower-level nobles don't have a formal standing army. At most, like Kendall City, there is a force of one or two hundred guards that maintain the main town. Other places, villages, towns, settlements, and even cities with smaller populations, may not be able to withstand this level of attack by hundreds of militias."

He chuckled: "Keir, you will understand later that not every place is the same as Kendall County, and not every lord is the same as the Baron Kendall family. Development? Hehe, where are they in that thing? Is it important to receive the coins in your hand?"

"During the years I served in the army, I have traveled the entire kingdom. Ignorance, backwardness, xenophobia, narrow-mindedness, stupidity, short-sightedness, misery, oppression, famine, poverty, cruelty. These things are extensive and spread throughout the kingdom Yes. Not everyone is happy in the villages scattered across the countryside. Elsewhere the cities, even if they are glamorous, stand next to real ghettos full of squalor."

"Heh, the commoners of Kendall always laugh at themselves that the place they live in is a slum. Where are the poor people there? The rich people in other cities can't live in their clean and safe houses." Speaking of this, Knight Crowe shook his head. Shake your head.

He looked at Keir: "I won't say much, young man, you see with your own eyes."

"I understand, Lord Knight." Kiel responded.

But he only heard Knight Crowe whispering to himself: "You understand."

"So, dozens of us will lead the way ahead, and Rumi will follow us with a large force. At this time, they should have already set off. The baron will lead the logistics team with people, food, Materials, equipment, money, etc., are all in the logistics.”

-

Not long after Kiel and others set off, the Rumi knights gathered all the militiamen, lined up, and set off along the road.

And just as the militiamen gathered and set off, Baron Kendall had already started the donkey carts that had been prepared yesterday in the city gate square.

His attendants took down the baron's big tent, packed it up, and prepared to load it into the car.

Part of the militia was left to the baron to command, plus his own personal guards, the logistics team was also quite large.

The donkey carts full of supplies drove out of the city gate one after another, among which were the baron himself and the two knights' supplies and vehicles. The two personal guards of Crow Knight also drove the carriage into the long queue. These vehicles have been dragging the long queue. The front end has caught up with the end of the militia group, and the rear end has not yet left Kendall City. .

When the last donkey cart came out of the city gate, Baron Kendall waved at the city gate, bid farewell to his family and clansmen, arranged for five guards on horseback to follow at the end of the convoy, and led his people to the front .

The donkey cart is faster than the militiamen on foot, but the logistics and logistics, of course, cannot run faster than the troops that are the main body of the team.

At this time, the militiamen from various towns driving the car were chatting and laughing, talking with the clerks and cooks in the same car about the things and novelty that most of them went out with the army for the first time in their lives.

Several church priests who accompanied the army had a special carriage. In the spacious carriage, several priests from various churches did not speak. Everyone was doing their own thing, or sitting cross-legged in the middle of the carriage to meditate, just putting their hands together and praying to the gods. Praying, there are still people lying on the window of the car, opening the wooden window of the car, and using an ink pen to record what they have seen and heard during the trip on the notebook they carry with them.

Baron Kendall and his party galloped past the road, and the baron himself waved to a young priest who was looking at him. And the young priest recorded the heroic posture of this group of people when they rode their horses in a notepad.

He revised and revised, and finally described the scene to his satisfaction.

'The baron beckoned to me, and I excitedly greeted the baron who was passing by the carriage. On the contrary, the baron's attendants were very skilled in riding, far surpassing the guards who followed. The soft ground became a mess after being trampled by the horses, but fortunately, our carriage was close to the end of the team, which would not affect the militiamen marching forward by foot.

Everyone is restrained in a carriage compartment, even so, but the special compartment is spacious and does not make us feel uncomfortable. Everyone is restrained, simply because they have never been in a small space with so many people from other churches, and this time will continue for a long time. Huh, I'm looking forward to the afternoon refreshment now. Will it be fixed in the afternoon? After all, the donkeys and horses pulling the carts can walk slowly for a whole day like this, but the militiamen can't be like this, right? '

Not only the accompanying priests felt fresh about the march, but even the militiamen were very excited. After all, most of them had already arrived in Kendall City at the end of winter before the snow melted. Although there has been free food supply these days , but after all there is still nothing to do.

Now that everyone has finally set off, even though the future of the trip is uncertain, everyone is still relaxed.

Someone sang a song, and soon, a popular country song rang out from the militia. On both sides of the wet and soft road, some working farmers and women stopped their work, stretched out their hands to build a pergola to cover their eyes, and looked at the singing team on the road.

Baron Kendall rushed to the front of the logistics convoy and followed the militiamen responsible for the security of the logistics team. Hearing the singing coming from in front of him, he also sang in a low voice with the attendants beside him in high spirits.

Although he is middle-aged, he is more familiar with the land under his feet than most of the people in the team, including the songs sung by the people in it.

The Kingdom of St. Halls advocates music and songs. Although it was the habit brought by the great nobles when the country was founded, it has still influenced this young country that has only been established for a hundred years from top to bottom, including the low-ranking nobles and people.

"Hey, pick up the fire, hey, pick up the gun, and shoot at the roaring beast."

"Hey, pick up the shield, hey, pick up the sword, and strike at the robbing bandits."

"Hey, pick up the leather rope, hey, pick up the bow, and shoot hard at the running enemy."

"Hey, take off your pants, hey, take off your shoes, and rush towards the passionate woman."

"Hey, stay alert, Hey, be careful, because you don't have money to feed them."

"Hey, grab your clothes, hey, run quickly, be careful not to be caught by their relatives."

The Rumi knight in the militia team rode on a horse and let out a chuckle. Although his village belongs to Kendall County, it is actually blocked by mountains. The enclave-like land can be developed by him to build a village. Because the lord of the neighboring county owed a large amount of money to Baron Kendall many years ago, the development of the territory was not good enough, and the land was transferred to Kendall County under the witness of the noble council.

Naturally, Baron Kendall doesn't want it everywhere. The village established by Knight Rumi has a relatively valuable plant growth environment, which is also the source of funds for the development of his territory.

Don't ask why people don't develop, it's simply poor, and they can't even get the money for the early development of such valuable plants.

Of course, this also led to the fact that although the two are close neighbors, their relationship is just that.

The Rumi knight not only had to guard against wild beasts and magical beasts in the mountains and forests adjacent to his territory, but also had to guard against the people of Linjun who would trip him up at any time.

Speaking of this, the main reason is that Knight Rumi has never heard this song that was occasionally sung in taverns in Kendall County. Take it for granted, the second half of the song is even more mixed with the dirty things in the country.

Knight Rumi has never heard of this before. When he joined the army, although the soldiers and knights in the army would have songs when they marched and stationed, the content of those songs was really serious, and most of them were the main points that needed ideas when marching and fighting. , the generals specially recruited a well-known bard with superb skills to create it. It is far from being so relaxed as people in remote places think.

He shook his head, shaking off the tragic scene in his mind when he was young. Looking at the young faces around him, he didn't know how many people would survive here when he returned.

How many people return to their hometowns with disabilities, and how many families will they bring grief to?

'Hey, after all these years, I have become weak. ’ Pulling out the long sword at his waist slightly, and then inserting it back, he touched the knight's spear stuck on the weapon rack beside the horse, without saying anything.

-

Claw Knight and Kiel were the first to leave, so they were also the first to feel the muddy ground.

After the great flood in the past few days, the farmers on the road farther from Kendall City had not had time to remove the silt, so Kiel and his team soon slowed down.

The horses' hooves were stained with mud the size of a human head, which made both Keel and Knight Crowe unhappy. The excitement of the horses being able to walk around was long gone.

Crow Knight's war horse is worthy of being a war horse. Although he is unhappy, he is tall and healthy, and the mud on his hooves is not a big deal. Secondly, as a war horse, he has experienced even worse conditions But, it's just silt, see me ignore them.

And Kiel's horse shook its head to express its displeasure to Kiel, causing Kiel to stroke the horse's neck, put his mouth close to the horse's ear, and say something nice to appease him.

I don't know if the animal understands what Kiel said to the horse to clean up the mud stained on the horse's hooves after a while, but obviously, Kiel's intimacy and comfort still have an effect. Although it was hard work, the horses still worked hard to move forward.

The guards and militiamen were in a lot of trouble. They stepped on a lot of mud at the beginning, but they quickly stretched out the team cleverly, and spontaneously formed a thinner team, specially walking the Claw Knight and Kiel's team. Where two horses walked.

The soft soil in these places has been taken away by the hooves of the horses. Although the roads below are more wet, at least the silt and mud will not make a mess on their newly issued boots.

Not only the militiamen had new boots, but the town guards under Crow Knight, especially the guards who accompanied the army this time, also got new hard cowhide armor boots recently made by Ganner craftsmen.

Needless to say, Ganner artisans have masterfully incorporated the shape and benefits of Keel's boots into this new batch of boots. Some time ago, when sending the boot samples up for inspection, Knight Crowe recognized at a glance that the boots were very similar to the boots in the hard cowhide full-face armor that Kiel often wore.

Call the craftsman to ask, and it is true. The young Gannar artisan was the first artisan to make that armor for Kiel.

However, Ganner craftsmen still removed some unused parts on the boots for the guards, such as canceling the thin iron sheet under the sole of the foot. Although this design can prevent sharp sharp stones from piercing the sole, But additionally increased the weight and expense of whole boots.

When Ganner craftsmen tried on the samples, they felt that the softer and more flexible soles were more suitable for the guards to wear for a long time than the firm and hard soles.

As for the original iron plate on the sole, he moved it to the front of the calf of the boots and mixed it with the original hard cowhide. The original hard cowhide is used as protection.

In this way, not only the lower legs that are easy to be kicked are better protected, but the protective area is also increased than before.

Baron Kendall is quite satisfied with this sample. The craftsman skills in his town have improved rapidly. It is not in vain that he left the armor craftsman from the big city and specially trained a local armor craftsman.

In fact, Knight Crowe quite recognized Kiel's suit of armor, but the money is second to none. The main problem is that the production is very complicated. It takes more than half a month for an armor craftsman and an apprentice to make a set of that kind of armor. , it is really not worth it.

In this way, it is better to directly produce a pair of new boots in large quantities and distribute them to the town guards who are traveling this time.

The guards and militiamen complained softly, and after reaching the Kendall River, they must wash their boots with river water.

Otherwise, they would not be able to stand using the new boots like this.

Soon, as the road gradually turned south and was close to the Kendall River, Knight Crowe looked at the sun in the sky, and then selected a wilderness not covered by silt as a temporary repairing place for the entire team.

He was riding on a horse~www.readwn.com~ and he slammed his horse straight towards a tree beside the road. There was a loud click, and the armored horse didn't even shake, and directly smashed the big tree with his chest. Mercedes-Benz into the wild.

The knight circled around a field of new grass and wild flowers, then stopped his horse, and said to everyone in the team following him: "I saw it all. The place I rode past just now is the open space that the team needs to repair later. Keel, You clean up the dirt on the hooves of the two horses. Others have processed the grass, wildflowers and bushes in this area, and piled them aside for the later horses and donkeys to eat. When you are done, you go to the opposite river next door, Give your boots a good wash!"

"Yes, my lord!" Keel scratched his head and said yes.

The guards called the militiamen, and first simply scraped the mud on their feet by the side of the road, then each drew out their swords, and everyone swung their swords to chop the weeds together.

Clean it up quickly.

Keel got off his horse and drew out his dagger, first comforted his horse, and then carefully approached the war horse of Crow Knight. The smart, huge horse also knew what Kiel was here for, and raised a hoof to let Kiel clean the mud off the hoof.

But Knight Crowe walked to the tree that was broken just now, first lifted the whole tree, and then carried the whole tree like this, and threw the big tree into the open space that was not needed.

With the broken half-trunk remaining, he drew out the sword at his waist and easily cut off the part of the tree above the ground with an easy horizontal stroke.

He then kicked up and kicked the remaining part of the big tree far into the wilderness.

The piece of broken wood flew and flew, and flew for more than a hundred meters before rolling and hitting the ground.

In the distance, there was a dull falling sound from the landing point.