“Let’s continue our journey. Hopefully, we’ll have some luck in the next village.” Baron Belian sighed and kicked his horse’s belly.
They had been traveling around Tinietz County for two days, but with little success. From Wincheston in the north to Ryan in the south, from Sap in the west to Bra in the east, all the villages and forts they passed treated them with surprising consistency—first, they expressed a warm welcome upon hearing their purpose was to buy grain, as the lords’ old grain had begun to rot, and they naturally wanted to exchange their “excess” grain for glittering silver coins as soon as possible.
However, as soon as they heard Baron Belian’s request that the grain must be delivered to the Provence border, the smiles on everyone’s faces immediately turned into frowns.
The reason was simple: in these chaotic times, when one had to travel in groups of three to five, carrying swords and knives, transporting eye-catching grain was like a naked, beautiful woman walking among a group of parched men.
The roads and passes leading to the southern border of Tinietz passed through countless dense forests, desolate lands, deep valleys, and hills. Behind every tree and every stone, there might be a group of vicious bandits sharpening their teeth, waiting for prey to come to them, and the marauders and bandits, who were worried about food, would never let a single grain safely leave their “territory.”
In these chaotic times, this was an undeniable fact; without dozens of strong Soldiers to guard, no one dared to carry large amounts of grain through bandit-infested areas.
Currently, local lords, big and small, could only organize weak farmers to pick up wooden pitchforks and hoes to “guard” their sacred territories from the invasion of greedy marauders and bandits.
After being rejected several times, Baron Belian had already raised the price of grain to twice that of normal years and promised to pay a large additional transportation fee.
Even so, only one gentry, whose courage was bolstered by silver coins, agreed to Belian’s terms, selling three cartloads of old wheat that had already begun to mold in his granary to Baron Belian at a high price, and three serfs, who had been flattered by the gentry, were hired as cart drivers.
“My Lord, at this rate, the Soldiers in Kalk Fort will have starved to death before we can collect enough grain~” the brown-haired attendant said with a slumped head as they traveled east with two thousand pounds of grain.
“There’s still a place called Andermatt Fortress furthest to the east. Let’s try our luck there one last time. If we still can’t gather enough grain, we’ll return to Kitzby.” Baron Belian was already disheartened.
He had money enough to buy tens of thousands of pounds of grain but had only managed to buy less than two thousand pounds of moldy old wheat.
Dozens of Soldiers in Kalk Fort might have just used their last ounce of strength to kill the last enemy who climbed onto the city wall while starving, and he was futilely wandering here…
… … … …
In a dense forest leading to Andermatt Fortress, a newly formed group of mountain bandits was plotting a big deal.
The bandit leader, carrying a giant felling axe used by loggers, twisted his ugly face and asked the scout, “One-Eyed, did you really see clearly? Is it really three people? Are there any large troops following them?”
The bandit scout, who had lost an eye for peeping at the Lord’s wife bathing, licked the corner of his mouth and replied, “Big Boss, I swear by my remaining eye, there are indeed only three people, three horses, and one mule, and they seem to be the same riders who passed two days ago.
However, this time there are no dozen Soldiers following them.”
“Are those the same fellows? Did you see if the leader had a flag? Don’t let it be some passing noble.”
One-Eyed continued to incite, “Big Boss, there’s no heraldic flag, no military flag. Although all three are wearing black cloaks and capes, there are no military markings. They should just be armed guards of some wealthier merchant caravan.
I think those horses are quite good, perfect for a hero like you to seize.”
The bandit Big Boss was originally an ordinary self-sufficient farmer from the neighboring county west of Tinietz.
When he was twenty, his family’s plow ox suddenly went mad and injured the village’s Knight Lord.
The Knight, usually strong, was seriously injured and did not recover, starting to vomit blood within a few days, and then died not long after.
Having caused a huge disaster, he had no choice but to flee to a foreign land, barely making a living by robbing lone travelers on the road.
The war in the south and the increasingly severe security in the southern borders of Burgundy County made him feel that his era had arrived.
So, more than half a year ago, he began to gather and recruit a group of misfits into his team.
In just a few months, they had already plundered several small settlements, obtaining some grain and a small amount of money.
A few small victories made the leader experience the thrill of group plunder, so their appetite grew larger and larger…
The Big Boss looked back at the dozen or so subordinates resting on the grass under the trees in the forest.
They were all recently joined vagrants and serfs who had escaped from manors.
Having lost everything, they gambled their lives for food.
Therefore, even though their weapons were crude and their armor incomplete, they always succeeded in looting and plundering by relying on their desperate bravery.
“Bastards, it’s time to work! Get yourselves fired up! After this haul, we’ll go home to drink wine and eat meat.”
The scattered henchmen in the dense forest roared, picked up their farming tools and sticks, and followed the Big Boss and a few “old brothers” towards the carriage road to the northeast.
On the carriage road returning west from Andermatt Fortress, Art and his two companions were galloping.
The return journey had not been peaceful; not far from Andermatt Fortress, scattered marauders and bandits began to subtly appear in their field of vision.
They were like starving wild dogs, not daring to attack a lion rashly but always sniffing out their prey and lurking behind, waiting for an opportunity.
Ron’s fear of unfamiliar dense forests had deeply rooted itself in his heart.
Every time he passed through a dense forest, he would gallop along the edge of the forest, and only after confirming there was absolutely no ambush would he nervously pass through like a rat crossing the street.
“My Lord, there’s movement in the dense forest ahead. It’s uncertain if there’s danger. Should we take a detour?” Ron galloped back from the edge of the dense forest.
Art glanced into the dense forest, feeling nothing unusual, but since Ron said there was movement, they should still take a detour.
They were only three people, and if they got entangled by a group of bandits in the dense forest, it would be difficult to escape smoothly.
Art took his riding bow from the saddle and held it in his hand, ordering Jason, who was following behind him, “Jason, the river to the north blocks our way, so we can’t detour.
Scout a bowshot’s distance south along the dense forest to see if we can bypass this dense forest.
If there’s danger, return immediately.”
Jason acknowledged with a nod, turned his horse around, and galloped south.
Watching Jason’s back gradually disappear, Art dismounted, handed the reins to the dismounted Ron, and said, “Ron, let’s rest here.
You feed the horses some grain and water, and I’ll stand guard around.” Then he drew a light arrow, climbed onto a raised stone by the roadside, and looked around to keep watch.
After about the time it takes to eat a meal, Jason, riding his panting horse, returned to the stone by the road and found Art, saying, “My Lord, it’s no good.
The terrain to the south becomes steeper and steeper.
We might be able to climb over the mountains on foot, but with our horses and mule, I’m afraid we won’t be able to climb up.”
Art called back Ron, who was guarding the surroundings, and asked, “Can you confirm there’s something unusual in the dense forest?”
Ron nodded and replied, “My Lord, although I can’t be sure they are ambushing mountain bandits, I’m certain there are people in the dense forest, and more than one.”
Art believed Ron’s words. On the way here, there were several tails following them for half a day near this dense forest, but they didn’t dare to attack rashly because of their numbers.
Now that only three of them were returning, those tails might turn into teeth.
Art looked at the surrounding terrain. To the east was a wide plain, and besides the dense forest, there was no cover around, so they shouldn’t be ambushed.
Even if there was danger, they could gallop away on horseback.
“Let’s go find a place to make a fire and cook.”
“My Lord, did I hear that right~ make a fire and cook? We’re not rushing anymore?” Ron was already prepared to counter-attack the enemy’s rear, just like last year in the Birch Forest south of Ryan.
“Otherwise? You said there might be danger in the dense forest, so why should we rush to our deaths?”
“But we can’t bypass this dense forest.”
“I didn’t plan to bypass the dense forest either, but we’re not in a hurry to travel, waiting a day or half a day is fine.
If there really is an ambush in the forest, they won’t have the patience to wait that long.
At that time, they’ll either retreat or rush out of the dense forest to attack us.
All we need to do now is keep our swords on us and our horses saddled.
Once we’re full, rested, and our horses are energized, if there’s danger, we just get on our horses and run east.”
“That’s right~ Anyway, we can escape, and we’re not in a hurry, so let’s just wait.
Jason, go pick up some firewood.
We’re having roasted bacon for lunch today.”
On a gentle slope in the dense forest, a dozen mountain bandits, their hands and feet numb, were still lying there, craning their necks and looking towards the road east of the dense forest.
The buck-toothed strongman crouching beside the Big Boss finally couldn’t stand it anymore.
He stood up and roared, “Big Boss, are those Bastards coming or not? My neck is about to break.
I say, let’s just rush out with axes, why bother with an ambush~”
The Big Boss, lying on the ground, twisted his neck and glared at the strongman, saying fiercely, “If you don’t lie down, I’ll chop off your pig leg.”
The strongman knew the Big Boss really dared to chop off his pig leg, so he sullenly lay back down, muttering, “This is really frustrating, I’d rather go back to being a marauder~”
The Big Boss pretended not to hear the strongman’s grumbling, turned his head to One-Eyed beside him, and ordered, “You blind Bastard, have those Bastards arrived or not?”
One-Eyed was also puzzled; it had been half a day, they should have crawled over by now~
Just as he was wondering, a lookout henchman ran back.
One-Eyed stood up and kicked him, “Bastard, who told you to run back? Where are they?”
The little henchman quickly got up, brushed off the footprints on his clothes, and stammered, “Se-second Boss~ those Bastards are making a fire and cooking in the open space in front of the dense forest~”
“What? Making a fire and cooking!! Are you blind? What time is it? Why aren’t they rushing and eating?” One-Eyed kicked the little henchman to the ground again.
The little henchman was almost in tears, lying on the ground and whimpering, “Big Boss, Second Boss, everything I said is true, they’re even roasting bacon~”
The mountain bandit Big Boss stopped One-Eyed from kicking a third time, pointed at the faint black smoke rising above the dense forest, and said, “Enough, you bunch of useless people.
Let’s go, follow me and charge out!”