The sun gradually sets in the west, and twilight envelopes the earth. At dusk, the breeze blows in, making the long grass nod and bend, and blows away the insects hidden in the grass. They dance in the golden light, flashing with little reflections.

The camp of the Soft Maple Thousand-man Team was made up of a continuous group of tents. Because they were only staying here for one night, the captain leading the team did not send anyone to cut down trees or erect fences.

The cooks of the Thousand-Man Corps built dozens of large earthen stoves. When marching, they not only had to carry iron pots, but also bricks to build the stoves. Dinner was a thick soup of vegetables mixed with potatoes and bacon.

Each soldier carried fried flour cakes, soaked in broth and eaten to relieve satiety and replenish some water. During the march, soldiers were not allowed to drink cold water that had not been boiled. Those who disobeyed would be punished in public.

Whipping.

In addition to this food, Ques actually made two fragrant roast suckling pigs using the two piglets traded back from the village chief Binkbeak of Acorn Village. One of them was stuffed in each mouth.

Sour apples, full of oil and aroma, plus spices mixed with honey and water, these two roast suckling pigs were very popular. The dwarf Gorindo ate more than half of them himself, and Haramond gave up.

I had wanted to give half of it to the captain.

In the early morning of the next day, when the sun had just risen, the cooks diluted the remaining broth from last night with water, then poured some corn into it and cooked it into hot porridge. After the thousand-man team had this simple breakfast, they immediately broke camp.

They set off for the next journey. Shortly after they set off, the cartographers on the skimmer put together a copy of the rubbings of the map drawn yesterday and put them in the hanging tube on the foot of the letter eagle.

The big bird returned to the eagle's nest of the large army in the rear in order to present the latest march map. The planned march route of the thousand-man advance team took about five days, and the cartographers carried seven or eight letter eagles, which was theoretically enough.

After walking for another half day, the thousand-man team took a break for an hour. Since there was no camp, the cooks did not have to cook. The soldiers only used salted flour cakes and water, and mixed them with some dried berries and

Nuts, and had a hasty lunch. The cartographers who had already had lunch on the skimmer took advantage of this time to travel dozens of leagues further to check and draw the route for the afternoon march.

As usual, Haramond and his fellow adventurers followed more than twenty soft maple soldiers to provide protection for the cartographer who would go down to the boat from time to time to survey the situation on the spot.

Tapt Island is hilly, but they still landed the skimmer on the top of a hill. The draftsmen carried their tools and walked down the gangway one after another. Starting about thirty yards from their feet, it looked like they were growing on an old tree.

The moss and rows of grape vines grow on the hillside, and you can tell at a glance that someone has carefully cultivated them. They are grouped in pairs, always at about the same distance, and arranged horizontally along a not very wide step.

The edges of the steps are smooth and rounded, as if they have a history. There is a path in the middle of the grape vines, winding like a vine. At the bottom of the mountain is a small valley, which is somewhat similar to the terrain of yesterday's acorn village. On the other side, it is next to

In the middle of the large forest, you can see fields divided into pieces, with standard specifications, symmetry and neatness. Along this direction, looking from the top of the mountain now, you can vaguely see some buildings. They are layer by layer.

A simple but sturdy wooden shed and fence, the inner fence should be a livestock pen. In the middle of this huge landscape painting, there is a puff of green smoke slowly rising into the sky, swaying back and forth with the wind in the air.

A group of people walked along the steps and walked among the grapevines. Some soldiers even picked some grapes that seemed to be ripe. Ques also picked a bunch to taste and found that the taste was okay. The grapes that were about to ripen were not so sour.

However, as the team approached the bottom of the mountain, everyone, including the cartographers, was almost careful to remain quiet.

They have basically guessed that the bottom of this hilly valley is probably a wine-making manor. And such a manor in Taput is basically impossible to be owned by farmers. It may belong to a wealthy businessman, but it is more likely to belong to a certain landowner.

, and even small nobles with armed guards. Of course, judging from the size of this valley, even if this is the territory of a small noble, it is estimated that that noble will be difficult to support a large number of guards, with at most a dozen professional or even semi-professional guards.

The sergeant was stunned.

There are twenty elite soft maple soldiers in this team. They have flintlocks, bows and arrows, shields and swords. Together with Haramond and his adventure partners, even the noble manors can

The probability can also be attacked.

Not to mention, as long as a signal is sent, it won't take long for the skimmer at the top of the hill to arrive at the battlefield. The caster, more than twenty other soldiers, and the artillery on the ship can easily deal with a small noble manor.

They rounded the last section of the mountain road, and heard the shrill creaking sound of the gate below. Moving forward downhill, there were roofs that were connected together. A thin stream of smoke rose from the middle, spiraled upward, and was blown away by the mountain wind.

.However, they discovered that the smoke was not coming from the chimney.

The two-story house made of bricks and stones, the brewery made of rammed earth, and most of the outbuildings have been razed to the ground, and the embers are still burning; the beams have turned into charcoal, emitting heat; the wooden fences and thatched roofs have been burned

The light ironically exposes the back room to the clear blue sky

Underneath, they looked like the leftover ribs of a greedy giant after a meal. Around the ruins, as if they had been randomly discarded by the same cruel giant, there were at least thirty people lying, their bodies shattered and lifeless, and their weapons and other things just

scattered around them.

They found the side door of the manor that was left burned. The solid wood protruded from the dark surface, like the newly polished copper pole on an old lamp. It was very abrupt. There was a dead guard next to the door. The dwarf Gorindo used

The handle of the ax poked the door panel, and the charred wood pieces fell one after another, but the building itself did not move. So he poked the door harder with the axe, but the door frame still stood.

"Very good." Gorindo said, "Although the fire here should have been burning for two days, the main building is still quite strong. When we explore inside, the entire building should not suddenly fall on top of our heads.

." He inserted the ax blade into the narrow gap between the door and the door frame, like a mason's pry bar, and pushed it upward. The door finally opened, and black ash fell all over the floor.

Opening the door, they went in and took a look, only to find that the thick thatched tile yurt roof had been burned away, and the entire manor was exposed, like a big barrel without a lid. The windows on the high walls were blackened, and there were black broken glass.

It pierced the sky, as if a big hand had ripped off the roof, pierced the beams, and smashed the windows with its fingers. After a quick search, they found nothing that could infer what happened here.

.

Probably because the hall of the manor was once covered with tapestries, even the walls were burned. The benches, stairs and the ashes of the fire were still in place. Next, they found the accommodation area, which was a long and low building.

There are many small rooms in the hall. Relatively speaking, the damage here is not that serious - one end of the hall was burned down, but for some reason, the fire did not spread, so the other rooms survived.

"This manor may have been attacked by migrating tundra trolls. Those monsters have the habit of migrating in autumn." No living people were found in the house, and there was nothing that could be speculated about. The captain of the escort team checked the bodies of the dead bodies outside the house.

Although their clothes had almost been burned away, many of them had hideous wounds. The captain thought they were scratched by monster claws.

"Tundra trolls don't set fire. Most trolls are afraid of flames, because flames can reduce their regeneration ability." The young gunslinger disguised as Ques shook his head, used his palm to indicate the size of the following wounds, and also gave

expressed his different opinions. "This place is actually not far from Wallinsburg. The nobles or landowners who live here probably

He is not a recluse. If there are really tundra trolls passing by here every year when they migrate, he will definitely find a way to ask their county chief for help. Even if it doesn't work, these people with weapons can hide in the manor.

, closed the doors and windows and stayed there for a while. They must have been forced out by something setting fire, and then they were killed."

"I agree with your point of view," Haramond also thought so. He had just checked the yard of the manor and found that there were still livestock in the barn. Although most of the cows, horses, goats, chickens and ducks had been smoked to death, the bodies had already been found.

It stinks and attracts flies, but there are still more than a dozen fat pigs in the pig pen alive and well, just because they haven’t eaten for a few days, so they are a little wilted from hunger. If it is really a monster like a tundra troll that is attacking the manor

Launching an attack, they are unlikely to abandon those livestock and allow these food reserves for the winter to stay here.

"Perhaps there are really devil worshipers here, and those guys seem to like setting fires and killing people." Haramond suddenly thought of the man he saw yesterday who was hanged at the fork in the road. He originally thought that it was just Ai

After the two reformers of the Ravila Legion seized the jurisdiction of Wallinsberg, they deliberately created a topic in order to divert the conflict. But what happened at this time, it is impossible to say whether it is true.

However, for the Soft Maple people, a team of thousands, a devil worshiper could not scare them. The guard captain simply sent a signal and called the skimmer to the manor, so that the ship could

A group of people entered the ruins together to look for any loot.

As a result, they actually arrived at a small wine cellar that contained some brewed wine. Moreover, in the residential area of ​​the manor, they also found some stored grain, meat, and jewelry belonging to the owner of the place.

and several large bags of coins. In addition, more than a dozen fat pigs were driven out of the barn. This time the boat was exploring the road, it can be said that it was a fruitful harvest.

Even though there were too many people present, the money and jewelry obtained had to be handed over to the public and there was no way to hide them secretly. However, the harvested grain, various pickled meats and more than a dozen fat pigs could be sold to the army cooks
Chapter completed!