Mercenaries and Adventurers

Just before dawn, Keir 'sleeped' out of his tent.

In fact, he didn't sleep all night. On the one hand, he was so excited after eating the water ghost meat, which made it difficult for him to fall asleep. On the other hand, he practiced controlling his life energy last night and was busy all night.

Even though he was mentally exhausted, his body was abnormally healthy and energetic.

Not much ink was left in the sleeping bag, so Keir got up and put on the full leather armor he usually wears, with a helmet hanging on his waist and a long sword and dagger hanging on his belt. Then he rolled up the dog skin sleeping bag and climbed out of his tent.

In the faintly bright morning light, the whole camp was already bustling with activity. In the distance, there were shouts from the militiamen who had already risen up, and there were also shouts from the chefs who were busy making breakfast.

Putting the sleeping bag into his carriage, he kicked down the tent two or three times, rolled it randomly, tied it up with a rope, and threw it into the carriage.

After urinating outside, Keel asked for fodder for two horses and two buckets of water from the logistics carriage when he came back.

Seeing Keir coming with food and drink, his two horses took the initiative to come over and hit him with their heads.

"Hey, don't make a fuss, don't grab it, one share, the fodder and water are the same." After speaking, Keel put two small pieces of forage on the ground, and put a bucket of water next to them for them to drink.

While the two horses were galloping to show off the hay, Keel took out a bristle comb from under the carriage seat, and walked forward to brush the hair of the two animal companions who were only focused on eating.

After all, it is considered to be in the wild, so they must be brushed with a comb every day to try to brush out the small parasites on the skin under the hair.

Every few times Keir brushed, he stretched out his hand to kill the horse lice hanging on the comb, and brushed the two horses efficiently and quickly with the familiar technique.

He threw the comb into the carriage, and when he was about to wash his hands and eat something, a personal guard of Knight Crowe came over: "Keir! Master Crowe asked you to go there, at the gate of the baron's camp place to eat."

When he finished speaking, the guard threw a hard piece of bread to Kiel by the way.

"Here, the logistics bought fresh bread from the next town. It is said that it was made yesterday. God knows how many truths there are in those guys' mouths." As he spoke, the guard put another piece of bread in his hand on the leather armor on his body. Knock on it, and there is a bang bang sound of a hard object.

"Remember to go to the cook for another soup. You have to soak this thing until it softens before eating, otherwise I think my teeth won't be able to hold it."

Kiel thanked the knight's bodyguard, and after these days of familiarity, he and the two bodyguards of Knight Crowe were already very familiar. After all, we usually eat and chat together. Occasionally, he dragged his armor and competed in front of Knight Crowe, but Knight Crowe couldn't see the low-level sparring of ordinary people like them, and often rarely expressed his opinion. Only when Kiel had a one-on-one with other people in the barracks did Knight Crowe and Knight Rumi come over to have a look and raise a small amount of interest.

Kiel asked Knight Crowe in private, and the answer he got was that the strength gap between knights and ordinary people was too great, and the combat competitions of ordinary people had no actual reference value for them.

It's just some of Kiel's combat tactics in one-to-many situations, which are a little bit interesting.

Having said that, Kiel thanked the guard, and while beating the armor with hard bread, he went to the camp center cooks to get a thick soup that was made in the morning.

Basically, they all eat similar food. After all, it is impossible to have enough time during the march to give the cooks a chance to play. Especially the time in the morning is precious. They have to get up early to cook food. This is because the camp is next to the town. When they had not left the northwest province a few days ago, when they camped in the wild, their food was even worse, and the chef They work harder.

When I wake up in the morning, I have to use wheat flour and water to make a dough. I either hurry up to make bread or wheat cakes, and then cook many pots of vegetable soup with soup and water at will. I put the vegetables in according to the logistics. What’s the matter? What to eat.

It is often better to camp next to the villages and towns. The logistics clerks will take people to the villages and towns to buy some fresh food overnight, or order a batch of bread in stock in the bakery overnight, which saves the chefs from the morning. Mostly tired.

That's when cooks can get creative with their morning vegetable soup.

The militiamen disliked the lack of oil and water, so they cut some strips of fat marinated in clay pots on the truck, chopped them into the finest particles and boiled them into the soup.

The militiamen disliked eating several kinds of vegetables, so they searched for more fancy vegetables from the logistics carriage and added them to the morning soup.

Sometimes they used the hammer of the army blacksmith to break the bones of the prey left over by accident last night, and added the meaty bones to the soup to add some nutrition to the meager vegetable soup.

But it is inevitable that the careless militiamen will have their mouths cut by the bones in the soup. At this time, the priests with impatient faces have to appear.

When Kiel was making bread for today's breakfast and walking towards the door of the baron's tent, he saw several conspicuously dressed businessmen kneeling on the ground at the door of the baron's tent, facing the baron who was sitting and eating with grief and indignation. say something.

Baron Kendall listened to these businessmen with a blank expression, and then slowly ate the breakfast that the chef made for him in small bites.

When the businessmen finished speaking nervously, he nodded and looked to both sides: "You two, what do you say?"

Knight Rumi looked up at Knight Crowe, and then he gulped down his oversized vegetable soup. But Knight Crowe put down his bowl and returned: "My lord, it is difficult to rule out the various circumstances in which the man was killed. Was he killed because of conflicts of interest, or because of a woman? It is not impossible to quarrel, there are many reasons, and we can only find out after careful investigation." How did he die last night?"

The silver fork in the baron's hand: "But here is the problem. Although the march has been faster than we expected, there is still a distance from the southern border of the kingdom, so we have to reserve enough time. I would rather arrive earlier , and cannot arrive at the place where the troops agreed to go out after the agreed date."

After he finished speaking, he stretched out his head and said to the businessmen who were kneeling on the ground in front of him: "Don't worry, these days you help purchase all kinds of supplies needed by the army. Troubled by the price increase. Especially your Capas Chamber of Commerce, you are doing a good job.”

Seeing the Lord Baron praise them, these few merchants who were nervous even though some of their companions were killed, still showed excited and grateful expressions on their faces.

The baron went on to say: "You have done as agreed, and I will naturally protect you as agreed. Since someone was killed in the town, no matter what the reason is, I will give you a result."

He looked at the two knights under him: "Then, two. Which of you two would like to stay here temporarily to find out how our merchant accompanying the army was killed in the town?"

"My lord." Knight Crowe pointed to Kiel who came over to salute and said, "This kid told me something about him, maybe our little Kiel can stay and solve this troublesome matter."

Several businessmen pretended not to hear Knight Crowe calling the killing of his companion a troublesome matter. After all, as merchants whose main activities were in the Ice Flood Pass, they really knew too much about Knight Crowe.

But these people still turned their heads to look at Kiel. They have heard a little about this young man who has finished the salute. Well, he is very good at fighting. I heard that he can fight against the town guards of Kendall City with his bare hands. people. In addition, they heard something about the Simmons Chamber of Commerce.

Perhaps, the young man recommended by Crow Knight could do it? After all, he was a ruthless man who could rescue the kidnapped little Simmons from the robber's den, and not only saved one person, but also rescued many people together.

At the same time, these merchants recalled the incident of bandits attacking the rescued people. In the ice flood pass before, the merchants did not think that the soldiers at the pass wiped out those daring bandits, and the young man Kiel was involved. It is hard to say To prove it, was it this young man who dealt with those bandits?

"Ah?" Kiel watched himself being handed over by Knight Crowe, and everyone looked at him. He was a little flustered, but he didn't embarrass himself. Instead, he smiled confidently: "My lord, what's the matter? What can I do?"

Knight Crowe raised his chin at Baron Kendall, and the baron nodded slightly, agreeing.

"Kill." Baron Kendall said to Kiel: "Last night in the town, one of our military merchants was killed."

Kiel blinked, and immediately realized what these people were doing. He put down the wooden bowl in his hand, and knelt down: "Master Baron, I am willing to seek justice for the killing of our businessman, and the murderer will definitely be killed." Find it and bring it out."

The baron waved his hand: "I agree with your request. But you have to pay attention, this matter is not easy to solve. If the matter is simple, I will have someone catch the murderer right now. When the man was killed last night, No one saw what was going on, or just now his companion didn't come back all night and went to check, only to find that he was already dead."

Knight Crowe said: "No one saw it, so I don't know who killed him for what reason. It may be jealousy, it may be the uneven distribution of benefits, it may be murder, it may be offending people. It's all there. Possibly. This is not something that can be found out by just touching the lips. It needs to be investigated carefully. But you know that the march of the army cannot be delayed by this matter."

Knight Rumi put down the big wooden bowl and said: "So I will leave you a few people, and the army will continue to march normally. You stay here with people, check it out, and catch the murderer."

Baron Kendall tapped the precious metal wine glass with the silver fork in his hand. Of course, there was no wine in the wine glass, and it made a crisp sound, which attracted everyone's attention: "There is no need for a living person. The crime of murder is a capital crime. Communicate with the local lord and knight. Once you catch someone, just behead them."

Keir lowered his head: "Yes, my lord."

Then Baron Kendall arranged the matter: "This matter is easy to say, but it is complicated in practice. After all, it is not my territory. Even if the people who were killed were from Kendall, this is the western province after all. No one cares about the killing of a foreigner. You have to communicate well with the local knights. This is a revenge investigation after one of your own people is killed. .”

"After all, you are young. Crowe recommends you. I naturally believe that your bravery can handle this matter. But I have to arrange a few people to assist you. Crowe, arrange a small group of militiamen for Kiel. At least ten people should be left as The lowest level of deterrence, otherwise no one will listen."

"Okay." Knight Crowe nodded.

"Another two town guards will be transferred to you, the guards who have dealt with the murder case in Kendall City."

"No problem." Knight Crowe, as the captain of the town guard, naturally knew that he had to arrange someone familiar with the matter to help Kiel, so that even if Kiel was a brave and brainless guy, at least there would be such a person to drag him down. Will not return in vain.

"I will hand over one of my personal guards to you, Keir. He has seen the world and will help you communicate with the local knight lord."

With that said, Baron Kendall called a personal guard who was standing guard around: "Lubis, you heard me, follow Keel to deal with this matter."

A middle-aged bodyguard named Lubis came over and knelt on the ground, saying, "Yes, my lord. I will assist Kiel's knight servants to communicate with the local lord."

After finishing speaking, the guard nodded to Kiel, and Kiel also nodded friendly. He knew that this was the eyeliner that the baron had sent to watch beside him. After all, if he wanted to lead people away from the large army, it was impossible not to arrange people to watch. If Keir's command made a mistake or something happened, there was at least one person who could lead the others to catch up with the army and report.

"Finally, according to my rules, I will send a clerk with me. He will record your investigation deeds. I will check his records later. Rumi, you arrange this matter. Go get someone here now , remember, young and capable clerks are needed."

"I understand, my lord." Knight Rumi stood up and walked towards the logistics convoy.

The baron looked at the merchants in front of him: "Leave one of you to follow Kiel and the others, and the others continue to march with the army. How?"

"Thank you for your arrangement. Your wisdom and determination make the gold coins shine."

Several businessmen all knelt on the ground and praised them. They discussed and decided to keep one who was most familiar with the murdered businessman, and the others continued to march with the army.

-

Soon, Knight Rumi found the clerk. He was a young man with a strong body and shrewd eyes. He didn't look like he was holding back.

Knight Crowe also thought about it for a while, and called two town guards. From Kiel's point of view, these two guards had dealt with him before and were very familiar with them.

"Kayan, Zambirus, Kiel, you know them all, right?" Knight Crowe winked at Kiel.

Kiel nodded: "Not only do we know each other, but we also often communicate fully."

The guard named Kayan was the first young guard who had formally dealt with Kiel in the ring a few days ago. The other person was a middle-aged guard named Zambirus, who was covered in sinews and flesh. He didn't expect to handle a murder case when he was in Kendall City.

In fact, they said that they had handled similar cases, but most of the things were mainly in charge of such cases.

However, the two did take credit for similar incidents, so they left an impression on Crow Knight.

"In this way, the two of you follow Kiel to deal with this matter. If you can't find the murderer, don't rush to catch up with the team." After explaining, Knight Crowe asked the two to stand behind Kiel.

"Also, I'll leave the Nightingale team to you, Keir. The whole team is good at melee combat. Don't let them die or get injured in this kind of thing."

Facing Knight Crowe's rude remarks, the merchants just smiled calmly and didn't care. They didn't expect Baron Kendall to really do what he said, saying that he would take care of the caravan accompanying the army, protect them, and really put in his strength and manpower after something happened.

It seems that we can deal with this nobleman a lot in the future, even if these people can't find the murderer during this trip, at least the baron's attitude has been revealed.

People really take their businessman's affairs seriously.

Finally, Baron Kendall waved his hand and signaled them to go down to work.

Keir then picked up the food, and after saying goodbye to the adults, he ate and greeted the people around him.

"What do you do now?" asked the baron's personal guard, Lubis.

After gulping down all the food, Keir casually passed the wooden bowl in his hand to the cook beside him, causing the other side to curse, and then Kiel said with a smile: "Look closer first. That's right."

Kiel turned around and looked at the businessman following them: "I haven't asked your name yet? How do you call it? And the businessman who was killed, your friend, where is his body now?"

-

The businessman named Pusi-Oluobi was about 30 years old. He brought a few members of the 'investigation team' who had been reorganized a little to the merchant's camp opposite the military camp.

It's a mess here, human and livestock feces are everywhere, and because they are about to set off with the army, all the caravans are eating, packing their bags, and preparing to set off.

The dead man's caravan belongs to the Red Hair Chamber of Commerce, a large-scale chamber of commerce formed by several familiar businessmen and friends. "Why is it called red hair?" Keel asked ~www.readwn.com~ Oulobi forced a smile: "Because the name everyone gave was not satisfactory to others, we chose a friend's red hair as the chamber of commerce As a result, the chamber of commerce has grown bigger and bigger. I have answered this question many times over the years."

The caravan of the Red Hair Chamber of Commerce consisted of seven carriages, and it was considered to be a large-scale one among the caravans accompanying the army in Bingxun Pass.

It’s not that there aren’t more and bigger caravans following up, but a lot of caravans have stopped along the way before, and I feel that this trip has gone south with Kendall’s army a lot. After all, many caravans don’t need to open up the northwest Trade routes outside the province.

And this red-haired chamber of commerce can still stay at this time, according to Ou Luobi, it is simply because the managers of their chamber of commerce are relatively young, and they are still very aggressive. Province.

"But now it seems that the population of this western province is larger, and the hard conditions for doing business can be much better." He said that here is on the commercial road, and there is a place to stay every day, instead of living in the wild.

"But it seems that the locals don't welcome foreigners like us."

Orobi felt a little emotional.

Beside Kiel, the muscular middle-aged guard approached and said in a low voice: "Pay attention to Kiel, don't think that people are not killed by themselves. Outsiders may kill some, but our own people are killed because of conflicts." It’s not uncommon to see the level of homicide. Let alone a businessman, I’ve seen a family kill each other for the house.”

Kiel nodded and thanked Zambirus for the reminder. It seems that compared to the other young guard, this one is much more serious about things and more experienced.

Even if he beat them all up more than once before, in the ring.