Mercenaries and Adventurers

Of course the bandit leader was hesitant. Although the people under his command were still quite fierce, no matter how much he had despised the refugee team he was about to intercept this time, when he came over to take a look, he saw that the other party was not unarmed. The team looked far away and was not messy, even walking. At that time, there was an additional small group of armed troops for protection.

He was a little hesitant. If he rushed out to intercept the opponent so recklessly, would he be unable to deter the opponent because he had fewer people on his side?

And if you can't rely on your fierce men to deter the refugees who don't know where they come from, a fight is probably a high probability event. But this is troublesome. There are dozens of people on his side, and they may not be able to fight in the middle of the day.

Thinking of this, the bandit leader still said: "In this way, let's rush out first to let the other party see us, slow down the team's speed, or even stop. And let's wait a little longer for the remaining people who haven't come over yet. 'Fake hand'? 'Prosthetic hand'! Where are you?"

A bandit nicknamed False Hand hurriedly came over: "Boss, you called me?"

The fingers of this guy's left hand were all chopped off for some reason. Although the injury was healed, the palm of his left hand was bare. This guy had to wear an animal skin glove. Where the fingers were originally, he put five pieces of them to sharpen them. The beast's claws. Although it cannot be used daily, it can be used to intimidate others and fight.

He is considered a long-time confidant of the fat bandit leader.

"In this way, you go back to urge those ￥%￥. This time, the target group of robbery is huge, including people and property. If you want to eat, you have to come and get it yourself. Just tell them this."

The bandit leader made arrangements and watched the 'prosthetic hand' turn around and run back along the village path. Then he slammed the big ax in his hand against the shield and shouted: "Brothers have heard this, go out and stop this group of people first, and try to make sure that these people are eaten in our territory. Let's go!" "

He shouted one last time and strode out first, arriving on the commercial road at the foot of the village.

Dozens of other bandits followed closely behind the bandit leader, pretending to be as arrogant as they usually do when robbing and fighting.

Some bandits took off their thick animal skin clothes, revealing strange green tattoos on their upper bodies; some bandits hung a dried human skeleton on the front of their shields, preparing to use this thing as a mental intimidation in battle; others On top of his soldier's armor, which was originally dressed like a wild beast, the bandit spread out the colorful fur of several beasts and draped it on his shoulders like a cloak.

Most bandits who have been in the business for a long time have one or two unique mental intimidation methods that they have come up with. It is a bit funny to use this thing by one person, but after doing it all, the effect of mental intimidation is greatly enhanced, and there is not much insight. The people were easily frightened by these 'dressings' and lost their will to fight and their determination to resist. Then they gave up resistance and allowed them to plunder and ravage.

Each bandit gang has some differences in style. At this time, the team led by the fat bandit leader often moved in the nearby mountains and forests to avoid being strangled by the soldiers led by the knights, so they prepared a lot of wild beasts in the mountains and forests. costume appearance and beast material.

In another village behind the mountain next to Xinqingquan Village, a gang of bandits who occupied it especially liked to hang people on trees and keep the bodies from rotting for a long time.

Large armed caravans passing through the opponent's territory are often mentally tortured by the corpses on both sides of the trade road, thus creating opportunities for bandits to attack.

As for the village-occupying bandits behind a mountain to the southeast, those people also have vicious intimidation tactics, which I won’t go into here.

-

After occupying the trade road, the bandit leader and his men spread out and occupied the trade road and both sides of the trade road. Every time they took a few steps toward the refugee team, they shouted loudly together: "Ha!"

Take a few steps: “Whoo!”

Take a few steps: "Ha!"

A few more steps: "Whoo!"

Each shout was quite loud, not only attracting the attention of the refugee team hundreds of meters away, but also boosting the fighting spirit and momentum of the bandits through the uniform shouts.

There were obviously only dozens of people, but it seemed like he was one of the hundreds.

What happened next was just as the bandit leader expected. The refugee team in the distance panicked for a while after discovering the bandits who suddenly rushed out. However, the panic quickly disappeared, and hundreds of people were visible to the naked eye. The crowd of people carrying handbags on their shoulders quickly formed a group after the procession paused.

And the guard team that I saw from a distance was not just one team, but four teams, with at least a hundred people in total.

"￥%, next time I see the guy who reported the news, I will have to twist his head off."

The bandit leader cursed, feeling that he was in some trouble.

It seems that this group of refugees still has some confidence to dare to migrate out of the city under the current situation.

With an armed force of at least hundreds of people, it was difficult to say whether the other party would be afraid of his team of dozens of people.

But when he thought that dozens of people would come over from his side, and there were more than a hundred of them, the bandit leader breathed a sigh of relief.

Amidst the uniform shouts of his men, he shouted from left to right: "Go slower, and step harder on your feet! Show off your momentum."

He walked slower, but he didn't want to encounter the opponent's guard force so early. Although he didn't think his side would lose, it was still not good to have a numerical disadvantage, so he had to try to avoid head-on confrontation. When it comes to robbery, he has always relied on the strategy of robbing more people and robbing fewer people. If there are fewer people than the opponent, then you have to overwhelm the opponent in terms of momentum and force the opponent to surrender or run away.

This is also the experience and ability that allowed him to avoid being strangled by the lord's soldiers in previous years, and to achieve such a status and manpower now.

-

The 'Prosthetic Hand' bandit heard the threatening shouts from his companions on the trade road behind him, and the 'Prosthetic Hand' increased his speed.

After he walked some distance back along the village path that he had jogged down the mountain before, the new guys who had joined the gang for less than a year were lazily walking along the path as if taking a walk.

What made the 'fake hand' angry was that this group of people had clearly heard the shouts of the leader on the business road not far away, and at this time they were still laughing and pointing in the direction of the sound. Some people had mocking looks on their faces and didn't know what they were whispering.

Vaguely, the 'prosthetic hand' only heard words like "Idiot, music."

This made him blush, and he strode forward and shouted: "What are you talking about! The leader has already started to block and intimidate the refugee team, why are you still so slow!"

The young bandits who were yelled at by him looked at him mockingly, but did not reply. The other rookie bandits who came in twos and threes looked at him mockingly.

I don't know which one has cheap hands and feet. While the 'Prosthetic Hand' was paying attention to everyone, he sneaked around behind the 'Prosthetic Hand' and kicked him to the ground.

"Who? Who kicked me!"

As soon as he yelled, someone around him grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground on the village road and threw it towards the head and face of the 'prosthetic hand', blinding his eyes.

Then the people around him swarmed up and kicked him with their feet.

This really pissed off the 'Prosthetic Hand'. Although this guy has a disabled hand and was being kicked around by people at this time, after all, this guy is a bad guy who has been a bandit for a long time, and the lives of innocent people on his hands are not worth it. One or two.

It was because he thought he was one of the leader's subordinates that he was successfully attacked and attacked. He understood that if he didn't fight back or escape, he would be beaten to death by these young people if he didn't fight back or escape. of.

Even if the leader avenged him later, it would be difficult for him to exchange his life for the lives of the more than ten people who were attacking him at the moment.

Most likely it will be nothing.

Thinking of this, the 'prosthetic hand' roared fiercely, and then swung the left prosthetic hand again and again, swish, swish, swish, after half a circle, several people's legs, feet and pants were scratched. Ordinary linen pants have no protective effect. , the legs and feet wrapped inside were also scratched.

As soon as these people were injured, they wailed and squatted down. At this time, the 'prosthetic hand' endured the pain and jumped out of the crowd. Without having time to stand up, he rolled all the way towards the steep grassland on both sides of the path. Roll down.

Just as he was flipping out, some of the people who had kicked him pulled out their weapons. If the 'fake hand' hadn't moved quickly, he would have been chopped to the ground by now, and then probably chopped into a pile of rotten flesh.

"￥￥ # ! Let the leader show you a good look when you get back!"

After the prosthetic hand rolled out, he quickly got up from the ground, and then yelled at the young bandits not far away. His scolding actually caused a team of dozens of bandits to chase after him.

The 'prosthetic hand' turned around and ran towards the trade road at the end of the village road. As he ran, he raised his left hand behind him. The beast's claws on the prosthetic hand were dotted with scarlet. I don't know how many unlucky people got it. blood.

Enraged by this scene, the young bandits chased even faster.

Not only were they swearing, but they also took out weapons one by one, holding them in their hands or raising them above their heads, and chased them down the path.

When the 'prosthetic hand' saw that he was running faster, he muttered: "Does this count as completing the task assigned by the leader? No matter what! Let's run first."

-

Kil was riding on horseback, his eyes scanning everything in the distance.

He looked very intimidating, but in reality most of the experienced bandits were standing still.

On the mountain side of the trade road, the people sent back by the bandits had a conflict with some other bandits who were still halfway there. After being beaten, they led the people to quickly approach the trade road down the mountain. These were also seen by Keir.

Looking further up the mountain on the left, you can see the smoke from burning firewood behind the hills and trees on the mountain. It must be a village on the mountain. But it is estimated that it has been occupied by bandits and has been occupied for a long time. This was also seen by Keir. He estimated the size of the number of people represented by the smoke, and finally the number calculated based on experience made him feel relieved.

Everything above happened in the center and left side of the line of sight, and there were no people on the steep hillsides and wild grass on the right side.

There was a small forest near the trade road. Kil saw the slight reflection of the sunlight from several swords, and guessed that there were probably a few people here who were not the same group as the bandits blocking the road at this time.

And at a higher place, on the top of the hill on the right, it was faintly visible. Kil guessed that there were still people hiding there with superb concealment skills.

Although he couldn't see the other person when he looked over, the sense of peeping in that direction was similar to the feeling brought by the hunters of the Church of the God of Hunting before.

This made Keir feel a bit dizzy.

The bandit trouble in front of him didn't seem to be a real trouble. It was the elite hunters hiding in the dark that made him feel uncomfortable.

The former's target is him and his entire refugee team. Although the target is large, the power that Kiel can use is not small. But the target of the latter was not the refugee team, only Kiel himself and the wooden sculpture of the big bird on his chest.

The hunters of the church may not be able to take action because Kiel has been in the team all day long, or they may have some concerns, fearing that an attack on Kiel would cause disaster for the refugee team of several hundred people. So I just followed him from afar.

These people must be walking faster than Kiel. Along the way, Kiel can feel that the other party is always peeping at him from a distance in a place with good visibility in advance.

However, if Kil takes the initiative to come out of the team and go to challenge the hunters who come into contact with these hunting gods, these guys seem to be willing to fight with him.

"Otori God, it's been a few days. Can you finish what you promised?"

While waving his hand and directing the armed squads to form an echelon formation to deal with the bandits in front of them, Keir asked the foreign furries to disperse in the direction from which the refugee group came, that is, to conduct reconnaissance behind the group, to be wary of outflanking and attacking groups of bandits behind them.

He murmured questions in a low voice that only he and the god himself could hear. The big bird god, who had entered the secret realm of dreams from Kiel to avoid the demonic flames and remained silent since returning, finally answered at this moment.

"Gah, it's coming, it's coming. Human beings, you have to be considerate of me. Although my idols were finally scattered to attract new believers a few days ago, you also know that the two of us have been being harassed by the little hounds of the God of Hunting. Staring! Gaga...these guys have sharp noses and are constantly sniffing and looking for my idols and new believers."

"Oh, so things are not going well? Then you still think it will be soon?"

While muttering softly, Kil jumped off his horse and asked a group of grooms and people carrying new horse armors from the blood-licking grass to come over and put the battle armor on the horses urgently.

Kil also stepped in to help, speeding up the armoring of the war horse.

Fortunately, thanks to the armor-wearing training of the grooms who took care of the horses in the past few days, although the situation is urgent at the moment, the armor-wearing speed is actually faster than usual training.

"Gah, this is God's promise. I will complete it. You just need to give me a little more time. If it weren't for the interference of those little hunting dogs, what I promised you should have been completed by now! What has been bothering you these days Those things will be destroyed one by one by my shadow bird in the dream! Quack, quack, quack!"

Finally, Kil helped lift the heavy metal horse armor and assisted the grooms standing on the empty wooden box to hang the metal armor on the blood-licking grass with belts and locks.

As if he had a premonition of a fight, Blood Licker excitedly licked Kil with his tongue. Kil's face, without putting down his helmet and visor, was covered with Blood Licker's saliva.

Kil was not annoyed, he wiped his face and patted the forehead of Blood Grass to relieve the horse's nervousness.

Shrugging, Kil regretted getting involved in the big bird god's affairs. Moreover, if he had known in advance that it would be so troublesome to protect this group of refugees, he would not have been so kind and brought these people with him at the White Stone City Wall level.

If there were only three of him, Bloody Fangster and Priest Batal, each riding a horse and driving a cart, the traveling speed would naturally be very different. By this time, they would have arrived at Changmai Village and get down to business.

But things are like this, unpredictable.

"Lord Knight Kiel, your horse has been put on armor! Huh-huh-"

Several horsemen were panting, and the people helping on the side were also panting. I didn't know whether they were tired or because they were afraid because they saw the bandits not far away.

"Very well, you can go back. It's daytime now, and those bandits won't do anything to you. Don't worry, I'm here, and they won't be able to cause any trouble."

With a wave of his hand, Kiel told them to retreat into the tightly packed crowd.

Although there are many people on their side, there are still few people who can and dare to fight. When everyone encounters trouble, they get together without causing trouble, which is enough to satisfy Keir.

"I hope these bandits will retreat voluntarily after seeing me."

Kil said casually, turned around and waved to Bloodfangster and Priest Batar who were standing on the roof of his carriage, signaling that he was about to move out.

"Keep the team formation and be vigilant. Of course, everyone should not be too nervous, be alert mentally, and don't tense up the body, otherwise it will only waste your energy in vain. I will come back as soon as I go."

Kiel greeted the four groups of armed people who were arranged in a trapezoidal formation beside him, and then he clamped the horses hard and let the blood-licking grass run forward on the trade road.

The fully armed war horses and knights look extraordinary and can smash any enemy in front of the knights.

-

"Boss?"

One of the bandits shouted a strange reminder.

"I saw it, I'm not blind!"

The fat bandit leader angrily replied to his subordinates' ignorant questions. Of course, he saw the man on horseback in the refugee team in the distance. He was not only wearing iron-gray metal armor, but also had a black-red cloak behind him. While he was waiting for help, the knight also put a full set of war horse armor on the horse with the help of his men.

Very fast.

"Damn it, I must burn that guy who sold the information to death! Burn him to death!"

The bandit leader gritted his teeth and roared in a low voice. He never thought that a refugee team of hundreds of people would be led by a knight. Aren’t the ‘thugs’ under these lords following the lords from various places to the provincial capitals to participate in border wars with neighboring countries?

Why is there still one left?

When they came out of the mountains and forests to make it big, they made repeated inquiries and spent a lot of time and money to confirm that almost all the knight lords and noble lords had left. Only then did everyone dare to come out of the remote mountains and forests to rob Caravans on trade routes and remote villages.

Unexpectedly, today they encountered the knight who had been chasing them repeatedly before.

"Hmph! There's just one knight! It's not like everyone hasn't seen that, except for this knight, everyone else can only huddle together. They are no match for us! Charge up, go together, take down this knight, and the rest It’s just easy wealth and slaves!”

The bandit leader shouted loudly, saying things that he didn't even believe, and even his old bandits didn't believe.

But these words were heard by the new bandits who followed them. This group of young people thought that they could fight with a large number of people, and they didn't pay attention to any enemies at all. At this moment, many people actually believed the bandit leader's message to boost morale.

Xinyi naturally shouted random slogans, most likely robbery declarations, vulgar slang, etc., and cursed at the knight approaching on horseback at a slow speed.

The bandit leader protected the "fake hand" of his trusted subordinate who was sent to call for help. He stretched out his arms grandly and pointed the one-handed ax in his hand at the knight approaching slowly not far away: "Who can lead the team to capture that knight?" , let him be the deputy leader of our gang!! Did you hear that, whoever can help me capture this man, he will be the deputy leader of the gang! He may even become the gang leader who manages a territory after capturing nearby villages in the future!"

His voice was loud enough that even Kil, who was approaching, heard it.

Kil shook his head and laughed. After he finished laughing, he put down the steel mask, and then adjusted the position of the cloak swinging in the wind behind him.

Fighting is important, but so is a handsome personal image.

A good image can help Kiel lead his team with twice the result with half the effort. This is something Kiel has gradually understood.

As for the bandits, many young people who had recently joined the bandit gang opened their eyes. The deputy leader suddenly surpassed the leader level and became the number two figure in the gang. That's right, the team is gradually expanding, and it's time to add a deputy leader to the gang.

And this person, why can't it be me?

Seeing that the atmosphere was in place, the bandit leader gave a wink to a few of his cronies. Immediately, these cronies understood and walked away a little to blend in with the team. Then they held their throats and covered their faces and shouted: "No He’s just one person! Watch me take care of him!”

Then move forward.

If only one person in the team shouts and does this, most of the others will stay where they are and watch this person challenge the performance.

But when several people said this together and made a show of it, the young man was so excited that he shouted unconsciously: "Let me come! Let me come! I'll take care of him!"

"This person is mine! Come on, brothers, come with me!"

"Kill!!!"

In an instant, dozens of young bandits rushed out in twos and threes with their familiar companions.

These people rushed out, and the fat bandit leader did not lead anyone to retreat - this was too obvious. He waved his hand with a cold face, led his men, stepped on the ground with big steps, shouted in his mouth, "One step" Increasing momentum step by step and attacking slowly forward.