It can only be said that Westminster Castle is worthy of being the military center that defends Dunling. Its response capacity and efficiency are much higher than expected. When Kraft was still packing the washing equipment that day, he received the message that the personnel were complete and ready to go tomorrow morning.
news.
When Kraft arrived the next day with Coop and his luggage, he saw a team with more horses than people. The riders were partially armored or wearing chain mail and carried one or two extra horses.
, driven by retinues, carrying armor and sundries.
There were more than thirty people in total. According to his observation, the packages on these horses carried at least seven or eight sets of full-body armor. Under normal circumstances, there would be multiples of attached personnel.
According to what Internal Affairs Officer Wilbert said before departure, they originally wanted to bring more people, but the more people the better. An extra group of infantry would only slow down the speed and turn the fast march into a muddy trek.
, and give the other party more time to react.
…
"It's actually impossible to bring more people." Martin and Kraft were walking side by side in the middle of the team. They had been traveling on this relatively good road for more than two days and were approaching the not-so-remote destination.
"The town of Hudson is not big, and the manor is just one of the temporary residences on the Duke's travel route. It is usually maintained by very few people, and only when it is about to be put into use will someone come to prepare it in advance. There is no time to receive a large number of visitors at this time.
supplies.”
"Actually, there are quite a few of these people. We don't need too much pressure to collapse if we are frightened." After two days of getting along, Kraft is quite satisfied with the quality of this team.
They are able to consciously maintain formations, have regular guard rotations at night, have a high armor rate, and carry medium-range direct-fire weapons such as crossbows and short bows that are suitable for use in small-scale conflicts. To sum up, they are a professional team with no shortcomings.
, quite perfect.
The slight sound of metal friction kept ringing under Martin's robe as the horse jolted. It was the chain mail and the metal piece covering it. "Although this is somewhat inconsistent with the spirit of a knight, I can't say it's completely right."
do not worry."
He acted insecure. After dissecting the leader of the pagans, they also opened another body. The situation was better than the former, but the sight of the body surface being intact but most of the interior being eaten away... seemed invisible.
The leech sticks to a corner of my soul, and I feel a sick chill every time I realize it.
"Ha, Martin! I can't even remember the last time I saw you scared." The rider in front turned around and let out a harmless but loud laugh, which directly hit the pain point.
"Barrow, ride your horse well. I remember how you fell off the horse last time. Don't force me to tell you again."
The interruption from his companion diverted him from his slightly gloomy mood. Martin directed the team to slow down to give the horses a chance to rest. Taking advantage of this moment, he took out something tightly wrapped in cloth and handed it a leather wallet with a buckle.
Kraft.
"I trust Barrow and the others. We have served together under the Duke for some years and know each other well." As he spoke, he showed Kraft the same leather wallet on his belt, indicating that he could hang it here.
"But it is foolish to believe in the incompetence of the enemy. Call it cowardice, or a little intuition, Diego's thing always makes me feel bad. And those who have not been found, especially his followers, should be left alone.
Diego is the last person who should be lost in the woods these days."
"I very much agree with your idea. Be strict with your enemies." Kraft hung the leather bag on his waist as he did. It was the size of a pencil bag and seemed to contain something slender like a pencil. Combined with the tightly wrapped
The things made him have some conjectures.
"This is?"
"Just in case, it's also a gift. I believe you will like it." Speaking of this, Martin showed a mysterious smile.
Kraft separated the cloth strips wrapped on the surface. Inside is a smooth reddish-brown wooden handle and body, equipped with metal parts and a bow. It is in a folded and stowed state, less than half an arm's length.
He had seen Martin use something similar, but this one looked significantly more refined, with silver decorations and carvings on the wooden body. It looked like a branch stretching and flapping with silver oak leaves as wings.
"A one-handed crossbow? I really didn't expect this." I'm sorry to say it, but in fact, Kraft wanted one when he first saw Martin take out this thing on the boat.
Unfortunately, I knew it was not cheap and had nothing to do with my own business, so I didn't find a chance to get one. I didn't expect to get what I wanted here.
"There are special arrows in the leather tube. This thing is fairly accurate within fifteen steps and has great power. The only pity is that in order to fold the crossbow, it is not as strong as similar arrows, and the effect is ultimately inferior."
"Thank you, I like this very much." This is definitely the most desirable gift he has ever received. Kraft couldn't put it down. If it weren't for the inconvenience now, he would have wanted to find a target to try it on immediately.
With the company of the new toys, the rest of the journey seemed less boring. When the sun was high and everyone was drinking horses by the river, they could already see the drifting wood, which was the product of the logging farm in the forest not far away.
, transferred free of charge by water logistics to the town of Hudson, a settlement protected by a leather log fence.
Of course, the Duke's resting residence would not be placed together with the town. The main body of the manor is a two-story building near the edge of the forest, with a low stone wall to protect the shady vineyards, and the outer ring is made of stone that can be stepped over.
A simple fence encloses an area that includes a small area of woodland.
The caretaker, who was about to fall asleep, was awakened by the sound of horse hooves and ran into the building to call out the sad-looking manor steward.
He ran over with his muddy sleeves rolled up. He was relieved when he heard that he was not here to inform the Duke of his itinerary. Then he led them into the building and rambled about some things in the manor.
Probably thinking that the team came to inspect the situation of the manor, he talked about things like this year's rain, the quality of the grapes, the preparation of firewood, and the fact that the forest output sent by the town was not as good as in previous years. He didn't have time to go to the mayor and the villagers for the time being.
tax officer.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The meaning should be that someone can urge it, but Martin is not here to care about this at all, and nodded and skipped without concern.
As for the town, the butler shook his head and said that there were too many things going on in the manor and too few people. He didn't have much time to wander there, and the only interactions between them were short-term contacts such as handing over items. It was really difficult for him to know anything about it.
.
"Okay, I understand." Martin pressed his forehead and threw the luggage to the entourage, reining in his horse and turning around. "Leave them to arrange the room first. I remember there is a church in the town. If you still have time in the afternoon, you can go and ask first.
.If the guy we’re looking for is here, the people in the local church won’t be slower than us, right?”
Kraft pulled Coop up, and the two of them followed half of the team, turning their horses and running towards the town of Hudson.
What was unexpected was that the religious atmosphere in this medium-sized town was quite strong. Before arriving, they were mentally prepared to encounter a situation where no one cared about the church and pagans set up new churches, but in fact the situation was exactly the opposite.
At least the facade of the church in the center of the town is well maintained, with cobblestone paving, and several transplanted lilies in several flower beds are in bloom in season, clustered with a few flowers of different colors, as if they are some kind of wild flowers.
Kupp had never seen such large white flowers in the north. He was a little surprised when he came closer to admire them, but found that the "wild flowers" dotted around them were not round like flowers, and the "flower stems" were white. He was stunned for a moment.
, and realized that this was actually a brightly colored umbrella being used to fill the gap.
Such a unique combination made him feel a little strange while being surprised. He lost interest in watching and quickly followed the team.
Kraft stepped into the church first. It was already afternoon, and he thought it would take some trouble to open such a small church, but the sound of sermons was echoing inside the open door.
The bald, middle-aged priest wore a wrinkled white robe that had not been ironed. He held a large holy book in one hand and narrated a story about a manifestation of the saint immersedly on the stage. From time to time, he changed his hand to hold it.
There were actually more than ten people on the rows of chairs in the hall listening to the Lord’s teachings. It was hard to imagine that this was a scene that could happen in this town on a non-Sunday day.
Regardless of the etiquette or the obvious respect for the church gods, interrupting the priest's sermon at this time is extremely impolite and can easily cause disputes. You can only sit down in the back row and wait for the priest to finish the event.
Or come up and ask again after a break.
The priest on the stage noticed that someone was coming, looked up and smiled at them, greeted Martin and Kraft, who were taking the lead, with his free hand and made a church-specific ring on the chest, then lowered his head and continued to talk about the scriptures.
There were no interruptions to the activity because of their clothing.
"... Then St. Jaeger said: 'This is the king you have chosen.' At this time, the voice of the Lord echoed in his mind, 'No, Jaeger, this is not the man I want to choose. Don't be fooled by appearance.
Confused, the human soul is the most important.'
I saw that the seven sons in this family were all tall, handsome, and extraordinary in style. When each one came to St. Jaeger, St. Jaeger would doubt whether this was the king chosen by the Lord. However, the Lord's answer was always: 'No.
'.
Their hearts are not strong enough to complete the test and draw the sword..."
Kraft listened for a long time before he found a part he seemed to recognize. He tilted his head and whispered to Martin: "Is this the story of His Majesty being selected for the sword? Is the original text in the holy book that complicated?"
"I don't know, I haven't read it either." Martin whispered with a guilty conscience. He was a knight who knew common words and arithmetic. If he wasn't interested, who would listen to this?
"At this time, St. Jaeger was confused. He asked the father of the family: 'Are all your sons here?'
The father replied: "I have a youngest son who is grazing sheep in the wilderness and has not returned." Hearing this, Saint Jaeger was delighted and went to the wilderness to find the youngest and thinnest child.
At this glance, he knew that this was a person who could obey the Lord's teachings and see the Lord's kingdom. In the land named Noss from now on, the replacement of the throne was not a struggle for power, but the favor of the Lord..."
The temperature was just right in the afternoon, and Kraft dozed off while listening in the back row. To put it more abstractly, it was roughly like a good-for-nothing young sheepherder who got a golden finger from heaven, and with the blessing of God and the guidance of his grandfather, he pulled out the famous sword in the stone.
, the story of overthrowing the old nobles and the old king and becoming a benevolent new king.
It has a certain storytelling quality and fully demonstrates the basic views of divine right of kings and the supremacy of God. It is full of backwardness.
The alien souls had become desensitized to the explosive and igniting points in this world ten years ago. Now it was difficult to fall asleep on the spot, so they could only glance around to sustain their consciousness.
Look at the pillars, beams, rows of chairs, and then look at everyone here, and finally turn to the priest. From his bald head, you can see the wrinkled white robe on his body, and the church symbols on his chest have partially faded.
【Something seems wrong】
The priest finally ended his long story, dismissed the townspeople, and walked towards the outsiders who obviously had something to do. Kraft stopped Martin, stepped forward and took the initiative to hold the hands that were trembling slightly after holding the holy book for too long.
"Father, is it not easy for you to live in this remote place?"
"Ah? No, no, it's all to spread the gospel of God..." The priest in the town was completely confused by this unfounded enthusiasm, and the handshake of the blond knight in front of him was gradually increasing, making his finger bones hurt.
, I can’t get my hand out no matter what.
"Look at the pair of wing rings on your robe. The color of the wings has faded?"