Mercenaries and Adventurers

The captain of the guard who walked out alone noticed that the priest who came over had his hands empty, but a set of simple armor was added on his shoulders and chest, and the church robe on the priest's body was stained with a lot of blood, which looked very suspicious .

And the priest himself was also a young man, but he didn't have the vicious look he had imagined. Instead, he had a serious expression and a little resoluteness.

The blood on the clothes and the shaking horse made the captain of the guard not able to see which church the other party was a priest. It wasn't until the priest on the opposite side reported his name that he realized that this was actually a priest of the Saturnalia Church.

‘That’s not too good, people from the Saturnalia Church. '

The captain of the guard thought secretly, and then he also said: "Hi, my lord priest, I'm 'Blue Dog' Nuss, the captain of the caravan guard of the 'Burning Furnace' Chamber of Commerce. As you can see, there are my people behind, Guarded caravan. Then, I ask you."

'Blue Dog' Nus pointed to the hundreds of people who were blocking the trade road not far away and said, "What are you leading these suspicious people for?"

He nervously looked left and right, but the left and right of the trade route was not as he suspected, someone took the opportunity to try to hide and outflank the past. It was quiet, just like the usual wasteland mountains and forests, there was no difference.

Priest Batar quickly waved his hands and said, "Misunderstood, misunderstood. The people behind me, they are not suspicious people."

"No? But I saw a lot of people, um, many of them were holding weapons, and they were dressed like bandits who robbed in the woods?"

Speaking of this, Nus the Blue Dog choked. Seriously, he didn't even think that Priest Batar was a real church priest, although the suddenly amplified voice before did seem like various priests speaking at festivals or celebrations. The magic methods used are similar, but he also knows that besides magic, there are many other methods that can achieve similar situations.

You don't have to use a common magic to call yourself a priest of the Saturnalia Church.

And when it comes to the Church of the God of Saturn, he doesn't want to have contact or friendship with these people recently.

"It's like this, they are all the refugees brought out by me and the Kiel warriors, no, the Kiel knights brought out from the Whitestone City Wall checkpoint. As you may know, the Whitestone City Wall checkpoint has increased customs duties by dozens of times, and many people who have no property The refugees were all blocked there, unable to get through, and unable to return home."

Priest Batar sighed, and then said: "The place is too small to support so many people, and everyone's life is very difficult. I passed by there with Knight Kiel, and we decided to come forward with the elders among the people. Lead the young men among them back to our southern province and find a safe place."

He pointed to the bloodstains on his body: "But as you can see, after leaving the Baishi City Wall checkpoint, I encountered a large number of bandits' attacks. After the knights fought hard with everyone, I finally defeated those bandits. These bloodstains of mine are the blood stained when I was treating the wounded." And the people also seized a large amount of clothing and weapons from the bandits."

"My lord priest, what about the evidence you mentioned?"

The captain of the guard did not believe the other party simply by relying on empty words, so he asked for evidence. At the same time, he also noticed the words spoken by the priest. The rider who didn't come not far away turned out to be a knight.

That's right, looking at the equipment, it looks like a knight, but the equipment is almost meaningless, and the armor is not bright enough to be powerful.

"You can follow me to have a look. If you take a closer look, you will know whether it is a bandit or a refugee. In my team, there are not only young people holding swords in front, but also a large number of people carrying supplies seized from bandits. And there are some kidnapped businessmen rescued from bandits.”

"Didn't you trick me into going to tie me up?"

"Absolutely not. You can send a trustworthy and loyal subordinate or companion to take a look. We are not bandits, and we will not attack caravans. Of course, I have knights sitting here, so I am not afraid of you." The more than 20 caravan guards, it is best to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings."

"Of course, and I hope it is as you say."

After finishing speaking, the two hit horses and walked back.

-

Priest Batar returned to Kiel and overtook the amber metal staff thrown by Kiel.

"How do you say it?"

The two spoke in a low voice, and the surrounding horses neighed, and Keir couldn't hear what the two said clearly.

"I explained it. The other party obviously misunderstood us as bandits. I asked him to send someone to take a closer look at the team."

Kiel laughed: "If we are really bandits, there are still people alive in this caravan? Ambush a group of people on the other side's way in advance, and when we see a large army turning around here, where is there a chance to run now?"

"You don't say these things, it's scary."

Priest Batar knew he was joking, so he shook his head.

-

After 'Blue Dog' Nus returned to his companion, someone said to him immediately: "Captain, I think there is something wrong with the rider on the other side. Are you not afraid to face twenty of us alone?"

Rolling his eyes, 'Blue Dog' Nuss said: "The priest said he was a knight, and he didn't know if it was true or not. By the way, they said that the opposite party was actually not a bandit, but a gang fleeing westward, and ended up being blocked at the Whitestone City Wall checkpoint. Unlucky guy. Under the leadership of those two people, they returned to find a place to live to survive. As a result, they were attacked by bandits before and defeated the guy who captured the bandits."

"It's all fart!"

Immediately someone scolded disdainfully.

'Blue Dog' Nus frowned: "But it doesn't seem like a lie when they say they should send someone over to have a look."

"Will the liar go over and kill him?"

Shaking his head, 'Blue Dog' Nus continued, "It's not like, just send one person. So, which one of you is the most loyal, dare to take the risk of the other party's deceit, and go over there for everyone to see?"

The twenty riders looked at me and I looked at you, all hesitant.

Speaking of loyalty, for the captain himself, many people dared to defend with all their lives. But this kind of thing that is obviously possible to die in vain, many people have to weigh it.

In the end, a young man who was less than twenty years old urged his horse to come out: "Captain, I will go! I am willing to find out for you and everyone. If I die, everyone must run away quickly, and the family members please Brothers."

'Blue Dog' Nus waved his hand: "Don't worry, the compensation for those killed in battle will be doubled, and I'll pay another sum."

Others also expressed that they would give another sum of money and bring it all to the families of the brave young people who investigated.

The young man slammed his right fist on the wooden shield on his left arm, making a bang bang sound like a heartbeat.

Then, he knocked on the horse's belly and drove the horse forward.

The eyes of the companions have been following his back. At the same time, everyone is nervously holding the shield or bow and arrow in one hand, and the rein in the other hand. They can quickly turn the direction of the horse and retreat quickly at any time.

-

A young rider rushed over on horseback, and Kiel whispered something to Priest Batar. He did not move, but the priest turned around and rode side by side with the young rider who was approaching and passing by.

The young rider looked at the 'knight', but was startled by the metal scratches all over the opponent's armor. Not only the armor, but also the metal shield was full of scratches.

I don't know how harsh the battle was to have such a result.

And when he got close to that 'knight' and passed by, he clearly felt the hair on his body stand up, like a jerboa being stared at by a wild cat.

It seemed that he could be easily pressed to the ground with one paw by the other party, and he could be killed or played with at will.

With a shudder, the young rider picked up speed and moved away from the man.

The two of them rode horses and quickly approached the hundreds of 'bandits' they had seen before. As soon as he approached, the young rider was startled by dozens of refugees holding swords, because they were wearing the animal skin clothes that bandits in the mountains often wear, and these people were really no different from bandits.

But when he slowed down and looked closer, he could tell the difference.

The clothes on these 'thieves' are all tattered, especially the vital parts of the body are often bloodstained and damaged. Young riders who have been in a few battles know that this is a characteristic of captured clothing, clothing taken from a slain man, that's all.

Because when fighting, no one would think about the damage and beauty of the clothes after defeating the enemy before defeating the enemy.

He even noticed that there was a character in the crowd who seemed to be the leader of the team. The simple leather armor on his body had huge cracks and damage on his chest or abdomen. The clothes he was wearing inside could be seen, obviously seized.

The damage was probably caused by the metal spear on the so-called 'knight' horse's back.

Thinking that the simple leather armor he was wearing seemed to have been modified to make it easier to put on and take off every day on the road, and the protection was not as good as other people's damaged leather armor. He touched the surface of the leather armor on his chest nervously.

"What's the matter?" Priest Batar saw that the other party's expression was wrong, so he asked.

"Nothing, nothing." The young rider responded immediately.

As he got closer, the young rider could look past the dozens of people staring at him unkindly in front of him and see others in normal clothes behind him.

Indeed, from a distance, they were not armed at all, at most they had a dagger or short knife on their waists. And at their feet, there were also small boxes unloaded from their backs, or large boxes carried by wooden sticks.

These people are more or less carrying some supplies, and there are men and women in them, and there are more women. They are also wearing normal clothes and looking normal, and they don't look like they are being coerced by bandits.

"Can I go over and take a closer look?" Thinking of being responsible for everyone, the young rider gave up and proposed to pass through the team of hundreds of people and go to the back to have a look.

"Of course, everyone get out of the way, please get out of the way."

Priest Batar responded, and then called out loudly, asking everyone in front to make way for the horses to pass through.

The armed people in front immediately moved left and right, making way for a path, while the people in the back, who had been sitting down to rest, got up again cursingly, carrying the boxes and supplies they were responsible for, making way for a crooked path.

Then Priest Batar rode ahead, followed by the young rider.

"Master Priest, why did we stop? Walking and resting like this, how far can everyone go in a day? Let me tell you, walk for half a day at a stretch, take a break at noon, and walk for half a day."

On both sides of the narrow road, some religious people complained to the priest.

Priest Batar smiled: "I met a caravan ahead, please wait a moment, we will start our journey later, isn't this discussing who will let whom. Wait a moment, everyone."

As for the subsequent proposal, he pretended not to hear it. This is just a complaint, because everyone has different physical strength and physique. How fast a team can go does not depend on the speed of the fastest group of people in the team, on the contrary, it is the slowest one in the team. A group of people determines the speed of action of the entire team.

This is a truth taught to him by the Kiel warriors.

This principle is simple but very profound. It can be applied not only to traveling, but also to many other affairs.

Similar to when he was stationed in Changmai Village before, the safety and security of the village did not depend on the young people from the most promising families, but on the poorest and most difficult villagers in the village. At the same time, when discussing things in the village, it is not based on how many people agree with a certain proposal, but when some people in the village who most disagree with something relax, the matter can be done.

"It must be the other party who let us. There are so many of us, and there are Knight Kiel and Priest Batar here. Can the other party make way for us?"

"That's right!"

Someone nearby was discussing loudly, these words were heard by the young rider, and he silently memorized them.

Soon, he passed through the front line and came to the crowd of ordinary people.

Here the horses slowed down, for fear of bumping into the resting people.

After watching it closely, the young rider finally breathed a sigh of relief, because this group of people must not be bandits anymore.

However, the refugee team of hundreds of people did not go to the western provinces to escape the war, but instead ran to the southern provinces that are now becoming more and more chaotic, which is a strange thing.

Passing through the ranks of the people in the procession, the young rider saw several carriages, two of which were full of large and small boxes, which seemed to be not very heavy.

The two Beidi horses pulling the cart were staying in place, their bit loosened, and they were enjoying the green grass fed by the driver. Grass is pulled from the side of the road by hand. It’s like this in the wild. You can pull some grass to feed the livestock, but it’s not so good in the towns. A handful of hay or firewood costs money.

At the end of this team are some distressed businessmen and some women wrapped in inappropriate clothes. These are the rescued businessmen and people.

After that, there were dozens of other armed people. The young rider looked at the way these people came from, but found nothing strange, and then the two returned on the same road.

The two walked out of the crowd and then returned to the place of confrontation.

Priest Batar stopped beside Kiel, while the young rider trotted back into his ranks.

-

"How about it?"

Seeing that the person came back safely, 'Blue Dog' Nus probably came to a conclusion.

"It's true that there are a large number of people, all carrying things, not bandits. There are dozens of armed people in the front and behind, all wearing tattered animal skin clothes and damaged leather armor seized after the battle, and their weapons are all It was very chaotic. At the same time, there was no ambush behind the opponent's team."

The young rider stated all his observations in one breath.

The captain of the guard thought for a while, and then stopped everyone in place. He drove forward and approached the two of them to talk.

As soon as he approached, he felt a sense of discomfort and danger from that 'knight', but he saw the armor on the opponent's body, and he roughly understood the reason.

The wear and tear on the armor looks very exaggerated. Nuss the 'Blue Dog' thinks that most of this may be done on purpose to bluff people, but a small part should be the superficial scars from actual combat.

It's normal for him to feel uncomfortable after such a combat experience.

"Two, my people have just seen it. Indeed, it is a normal refugee team."

Kiel said: "So, now can we discuss how to protect each other during the staggering process of our team?"

"Sorry, I'm just the captain of the caravan's guard. This kind of thing has to be decided by the caravan steward accompanying the caravan."

Kiel squinted his eyes and looked at this person, causing the other party to shudder for no reason. He said in a bad tone: "Aren't you playing with me? Why don't you hurry up and take care of the caravan behind you, now, immediately, call over immediately Let him roll over and take a closer look, and then, I will let you pass, you let me pass, and discuss a result as soon as possible."

He looked up at the cloudy sky: "Is it difficult to delay time like this?"

Heart beating wildly~www.readwn.com~'Blue Dog' Nus, who was sweating coldly on his head, nodded again and again: "Yes, yes, I'll bring someone over right away."

"Now!"

The guard captain immediately turned his horse's head and galloped away.

He yelled as he passed his companions: "I'll call the caravan steward, you stay still."

The caravan guards looked at each other, but after the young rider's explanation, they understood that the front was not a bandit but a refugee, so they all relaxed.

On Kiel's side, Priest Batar complained that Kiel was too impatient, but Kiel curled his lips: "That's it, don't urge me, the other party doesn't know how many times I have to dawdle. good."

"Who would have thought that now that caravans seldom travel on trade routes, they would still meet a caravan here. In the past, maybe everyone would just pass by, but now everyone has raised their vigilance. Easy to fight."

Priest Batar complained. He could see with the naked eye that the formerly stable southern province was getting worse day by day, and the sense of tension was clearly revealed from these little things that he didn't care about in the past.

The two talked and waited for a while, and two horses ran over from the caravan that turned the carriage from a distance.

One of the riders was the guard captain 'Blue Dog' Nus who had just passed by not long ago, and the other was a caravan steward wearing a merchant's service and a cloak on his body, but a set of leather armor was funny on the outside of the cloak.

The steward was holding the reins with one hand to keep the horses running, while the other hand was pressing down on the waterproof deerskin soft fur hat on his head.

The hat was set with a few broken gemstones on the front and decorated with a bright red bird feather, which didn't look cheap.