Mercenaries and Adventurers

"There are no clouds in the sky today and there is no fog in the fields. It is a good weather for traveling!"

Bell Sasse sat in the driver's seat of the front car of the team he managed, and said with a smile to Kiel who was riding next to him. Next to Bell, the driver of the carriage was quite nervous, and his hands holding the reins could not move. Fortunately, the two horses pulling the carriage were both old workhorses, and there was no need for the driver to control them in order to keep up with the last of Kiel's team ahead. Just a carriage.

When Kil heard the words of the baron heir, he rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to complain: "As a knight, can you put on your armor and helmet? You know that where we are now is not your safe and comfortable baron. The mansion.”

Seeing what the other party had to say, Keir continued: "And is your focus wrong? The weather has been very good these days, but if you look at the fields on both sides, they are all good fields that have been left uncultivated. Without farmers’ cultivation, what will happen to this year’s grain harvest?”

The wheels of the carriage rolled, making the sound of well-lubricated axles twisting. Different from the creaking vehicles in Kiel's fleet that lacked maintenance, the vehicles in this improvised fleet in Yemei Town were all very good. Apparently the trade road was blocked, and the local merchants They have not forgotten the maintenance preparations for the caravan vehicles.

Bell waved his hand indifferently: "Don't worry, I understand all the issues you mentioned. There is no need to pay grain tax for the fields that have not been cultivated this year. And the rations that everyone eats, the warehouse at home is as plentiful as a hill. In fact, Although Saskatchewan is a grain-producing area, these grains cannot be sold at all."

He shrugged: "Balisfa is also a grain-producing area, and the roads to other parts of the province are much easier than here." Shaking his head, Bell finally explained: "Although farming can feed people, But this alone is far from enough. In a wealthy place, where can one become wealthy by producing food? No, right? So my father has been developing the county’s specialty pigments and opened a special trading house for this purpose. .If the 'bandits' hadn't cut off the trade routes, the situation in the town would not be so bad."

Kil snorted: "Really." He looked forward, then knocked the horse's belly and accelerated forward: "But I'm sorry, I have to spend a little time to deal with the few bad guys blocking the road ahead. "

But as soon as Kiel increased his speed, Bell Sass on the carriage beside him stopped him and said, "Wait a moment, let the convoy slow down, and leave the guy blocking the road to my people."

Kiel said nothing, and the two of them stared at each other for a moment. Seeing the other's insistence, Kiel said nonchalantly: "Since you and your people want to show off, I will just watch and watch your performance."

After finishing speaking, Kiel shouted forward: "Slow down the entire convoy! Slow down! Prepare to stop, prepare to stop!"

Hearing Kiel's shouting, the entire convoy gradually slowed down and stopped. The loggers wanted to jump out of the car and knock down the parasitic monster approaching in front, but Kiel came over and stopped him: "Save your energy, today we will Luckily, there is a scramble to take care of those guys."

As soon as he finished speaking, running past on the dirt road next to him were ten elite family soldiers led by the trainee knights of Bel-Sass, as well as the same ten church priests.

These people's steps were scattered, but their momentum was strong. Kil's eyes swept over and found that the elite soldiers actively gathered around Bell to protect them. They seemed to be very powerful. Although the priests from various churches who were temporarily summoned knew in advance that the so-called bandits were flesh-and-blood monsters that parasitized human bodies, they had never dealt with them before, and many of them might not have heard of them, so they were a little worried.

Worry was shown on their faces, with their brows furrowed and their hands and feet stiff.

But to be honest, these priests don’t have to be like this at all, there are ten of them! There were only five parasitic monsters approaching from the front, and no matter how you looked at them, they were no match for these priests.

Kiel followed Bell and others on foot to the front of the convoy. Those who were standing behind did not step forward to join the fighting formation. He folded his arms and watched them step forward to fight.

The lumberjacks on the carriage behind him were whispering, discussing in low voices whether the people from Yemei Town could deal with the parasitic monster in front of them.

After listening to it, Kil felt that it was similar to what the loggers were talking about. There were only five monsters and they would not be a match for the local power at all. Almost fifty monsters would be enough.

-

"Forward! Follow me forward—"

Bel-Sas shouted loudly, commanding the elite armed forces of Yemei Town behind him.

At this time, he quickly put on the armor and helmet in his hand, and with the help of a soldier beside him, he connected the lower edge of the helmet to the breastplate of the armor through several thin steel chains with locks.

After he got used to the leather interior of the helmet, he opened his eyes to judge the contact distance of the monsters in front, and shouted: "Everyone stop! Battle formation. Priests, please give the soldiers magical assistance and use your special skills. Come."

The elite soldiers stopped one after another, and then spread out horizontally in groups of two, holding square shields in their left hands and one-handed axes in their right hands. The church priests who followed were a few steps behind. They took out the symbols of their respective gods before the battle, and began to pray in various ways and use the magic that came in handy at this time.

Among the church priests, there were more Saturnine priests, accounting for four out of ten, so at this time the four people gathered together, squatting forward and spreading a small amount of wheat seeds and beans, and shouted in unison according to what they had discussed in the past two days. , cast some kind of prayer magic that gives the warriors energy to move.

“The cultivator should not be exhausted, any more than the crop should continue to grow.”

“Those who defend producers will be protected, just as the gods protect us.”

"The food in our hands will not be exhausted in this battle if it comes into contact with the warriors."

"Because it is blessed by the gods, it obtains the energy of food, and when you are full, you will gain strength."

The four of them recited the prayer that had been rehearsed in advance, and collectively mobilized their divine power to apply it to the food in their hands. Then the four of them spread out and threw the food in their hands towards the ten elite soldiers in front. The soldiers looked surprised. If you hit, retreat immediately.

The green power of the God of Agriculture was transmitted to these soldiers along with the scattered seeds. Immediately, they burped in their mouths, and a temporary force surged out of their bodies, and their waists straightened up.

There were not only priests from the Church of the God of Saturn present, but at the same time, two priests from the Church of the God of Wealth walked out with a chuckle. They each took out a few coins from the money bags around their waists, prayed in a low voice, and then He flicked the coins from his hand toward the soldiers in the front row.

"Those who receive this gift will gain courage."

"Same as usual."

"The Church of the God of Wealth promises that those who defeat the enemy will be rewarded with gold and silver."

"Inspire courage and fight hard to win the favor of the gods."

The prayer was short, but the effect was extraordinary. Every soldier who was touched by the golden power on the coin changed his expression, and all hesitation, hesitation, and worry were wiped away. They each held their shields and axes tightly, and their breathing became heavier. The parasitic monsters running quickly in front of them may have changed in the eyes of these soldiers.

Sparkling gold and valuable!

That may or may not be an illusion.

The two priests from the Church of the God of the Dead on the side saw what the priest from the Church of the God of Wealth was doing. They looked at each other with disdainful smiles on their faces, and one of them muttered: "How can wealth shake the eternity of death? Humph— "

So the two people stood together, with the person on the left holding a long metal staff in his left hand and extending his right hand in a palm, touching the two palms of the left hand of the person on the right. At the same time, the priest on the right raised the long metal staff he held in his right hand. The two were close in age and had worked together in Yemei Town for a long time, so they were very familiar with each other. The powers of the two gods of the dead were highly integrated with each other, and there was no need to adjust in advance. , jointly release a magical spell.

The two people first had gray-black divine power blooming in their eyes, entangled and mixed with each other's divine power, and then sent it to the top of the raised metal staff from left to right. Although there were no gems or other objects inlaid there, the divine power of the dead erupting from the tip of the staff was more mysterious than the most mysterious. The profound magic gems are more dazzling and attract attention.

The divine power on the head of the staff expanded, changing its form as the two priests of the God of the Dead prayed.

"Those who pass away leave their bodies behind."

"Go, go, don't stay."

"The body of the dead cannot be occupied."

"Go, go, don't stay!"

"The eyes of expulsion have been opened."

"Go, go, don't stay—"

With the last shout, the divine power of the dead on the heads of the two staffs finally turned into two dark human skulls. They gritted their teeth and flew forward in the air. Before the elite soldiers in the front row came into contact with the parasitic monster, they fiercely Pounced on the body of the parasitic monster, and after a silent impact, the parasitic monster that rushed forward fell to the ground. After a few twitches of its hands and feet, the seemingly energetic human body quickly decomposed into pus, black mud.

The parasitic monster that was attacked and fell to the ground was left with only a bunch of plant roots that were tangled together in panic, struggling in the black mud of pus after human body decay.

After these two dark skulls knocked down the two parasitic monsters, they passed through and their figures dimmed a little. Then they changed direction in the air and quickly pounced on the two parasitic monsters that jumped up in panic. .

These two parasitic monsters were just like the previous two. When they jumped up, they were still parasitic monsters on the human body. When they landed, the long-dead human bodies quickly decomposed into thick, foul-smelling pus and black mud.

Two groups of plant roots were struggling and entangled in these things, and the core human face screamed in fear.

The last parasitic monster knew that it was about to suffer, so it turned around and ran away, but how could it possibly outrun the flying unit with two legs? Before he could even run a few steps, the light black skulls flew over and bit his body, turning it into a ball of pus and black mud.

The two skulls, whose strength was obviously insufficient, after dealing with the last parasitic monster, turned around in the air and flew back to the heads of the two priests' staffs. They once again turned into the power of the dead and returned to the priests' bodies.

As mentioned above, in fact, the black skull released by the priest of the God of the Dead is very fast. From the time the magic is released to the time it returns to the body, it only takes two breaths, eleven or two seconds.

Before most people present could react, the enemy was wiped out.

The two priests of the God of the Dead shrugged, chuckled, and said no more.

Everyone else was dumbfounded.

The ten elite soldiers of the Sars family turned to look at the two priests of the God of the Dead, their eyes full of surprise and a little dissatisfaction. It's not that the enemy was eliminated in advance, rendering him useless, but he was simply dissatisfied that he didn't have to kill the enemy and perform meritorious service to obtain the extra income promised by the Church of the God of Wealth.

But they could only express it silently in their eyes. They would never dare to let these big-headed soldiers curse. These powerful soldiers were afraid of offending the two priests and turning themselves into a puddle. Stinky mud.

The two priests of the Church of the Sun God shrugged, took a few steps back, and retreated behind Bel-Sass, as if they were watching the show.

The two groups of church priests, who had already released their magical prayer skills, stared at the two priests of the God of the Dead who seemed to be motionless but were actually trembling with unkind expressions.

The anger in his eyes could literally burn someone to death.

It was clearly agreed that each of you would use your talents to solve the crisis in Sars County, but you two actually engaged in a sneak attack, unleashing the ability to kill with one hit without any sense of martial ethics. Huh, I advise you to be a rat tail juice and don't do any clever things. .

Just when the situation was calm, Kil coughed twice and said loudly: "Sass Knight, those monsters are not dead yet. If I guess correctly, the two priests of the God of the Dead have eliminated the monsters. The bodies of the innocent people it parasitizes. Well, that’s right. The people being parasitized don’t even have brains. They are obviously dead long ago. Their bodies are just controlled by the roots of the terrifying monster in their abdomen.”

After receiving Kil's reminder, Bel-Sas immediately reacted, waved his hand and ordered to the family's elite soldiers: "Yes, that's it. Soldiers, step forward and chop the monsters with sharp axes! Approach with caution when fighting!"

As soon as the order came out, the soldiers breathed a sigh of relief and immediately rushed forward in pairs, selecting the monster body struggling in the pus, black mud, and corruption. They cautiously held their shields in front of them and raised the one-handed ax in their right hands. , then squatted down and slashed with a swing.

Black mud splashed everywhere, and the core of the monster whose roots were chopped made a sharp scream. However, without the support of the human body, the large group of plant roots that fell on the ground did not have much mobility and could only be tossed around randomly. The black mud was slapping around.

But these are useless. The elite soldiers of the Sass family have become stronger and more courageous. These days, they are also discussing how to deal with these monsters. Therefore, the sword is raised and dropped. Don’t ask if your eyes are dry. Just ask. Cold, professional soldiers.

A group of two kept swinging the axes in their hands, and most of the parasitic monsters were chopped into a pile of chopped plants in less than twenty seconds. Soon the human face in the core was chopped into pieces and died. Those who were lucky could only support them a little. The counterattack before death could only hit the soldiers' shields, which had no other effect except making them stink.

Master Bell of the Sasse family was quite proud of having killed the parasitic monsters that came to attack. Although the process was not as intense as he expected before the battle, this crushing situation made him even more proud. .

Looking at Bel-Sath who raised his eyebrows at him, Kil curled his lips under his visor, and then complimented: "They are really amazing, your soldiers and priests. I just don't know why you are such an amazing fighting team. Instead of shrinking inside the town, let the people outside the town dig trenches and build earthen fortresses to resist these monsters?"

Bel-Sath smacked his lips, not wanting to explain to Kil. It couldn't be said that they were frightened after confirming that the bandits outside the town were posing as flesh demons, right?

How shameless. It would be bad if the people and businessmen from other places saw the joke. It would damage the family's prestige.

"These are just a small number of monsters, and after the last attack in the south of the town, my people actually encountered parasitic monsters with powerful abilities and martial arts. These..." Bell pointed at the monster fragments in the mud in front of him and waved them. Waving his hand: "It's just an ordinary unit of the monster group. We don't know how many parasitic monsters there are in the wild, so we still have to be cautious."

After finishing speaking, Master Bell stepped forward to encourage the priests who had contributed. Finally, he looked at the priests of the Sun God Church who had not contributed, but in the end he did not say anything.

-

After hastily dispelling the attack of a wave of parasitic monsters blocking the road, the people brought by the Sasse family returned to the town's convoy.

I don’t know if the noise caused by the priests was too intimidating, but on the way to the Zhenxi lumber camp, I didn’t encounter much obstruction from parasitic monsters.

But this wasn't good news. Kil used the magic given by the big bird **** to enhance his eyesight. With the wide vision of riding on horseback, he could see other parasitic monsters in places that other people couldn't see.

These guys climbed up in twos and threes from the abandoned farmland, or stumbled out of the deserted villages adapting to new clothes, or strode from the distant woods with the heads and furs of wild beasts on their heads, or dragged their heads and broken bones. The human body's hands and feet are swaying together.

They gathered in a distant place out of sight of ordinary people, discussing something furtively.

Kiel used his heels to figure it out, it must be their group.

After all, there is probably no one else besides their group within dozens of kilometers outside the town.

In this regard, Kil considered what he saw and told Bel-Sass. The trusted driver who was riding in a carriage with the heir to the territory was frightened and trembling, and his carriage driving skills were greatly inferior. But Bel-Sass crossed his arms on his chest and looked confident: "This is a good opportunity. As you just saw, it is very easy for my people to defeat them. If, I mean if, if we want to win the battle in the future, Yuanshi launched a counterattack and completely defeated the Flesh Demon, instead of waiting silently for nearby towns to gather church power~www.readwn.com~ and ultimately procrastinate and lose a lot of time to deal with the Flesh Demon. Then this battle comes at the right time!"

Kil snorted: "You are too arrogant. The battle just now, if it can be called a battle, made you confident enough, even confident enough to be a bit arrogant, then you will definitely fall into trouble. And the price is, It’s a living life.”

The other party stared at Keir with an unkind look: "I smell a smell of jealousy. Who sent it? Humph, can what you just said be considered a curse caused by jealousy?"

"That's just a warning."

Kil shook his head and said, and then he complained in a low voice: "You have been planning this for a long time, right? I shouldn't have agreed to come with you before I set off. The town of Yemei must be cut down for firewood fuel. For this, it's really not possible You should put my people on your chariot."

"You and your people just came at the right time."

"Haha, to answer the previous question, yes, I have considered the current situation. My father taught me that those who retreat blindly will often only face failure, while those who continue to attack will often be accompanied by success. In the family The elders’ ideas and practices are too conservative. Maybe if you do as they say, the final result in the territory will be the same. Sooner or later, you will defeat the rebellious bandits and evil monsters, but the process is different, and the accompanying evaluation will be It will be very different.”

Kil squinted his eyes and looked at the young aristocratic heir who was sitting firmly in the carriage driver's seat: "What do you want? No, have you considered the risks and losses?"

When the other party didn't answer, Keir laughed self-deprecatingly: "I didn't ask. The lumberyard is here."

"Please, this is my lumberyard. I know it's here without you having to tell me."

Bel-Sass said at last.