Richard directly took the plate next to him and munched on it, Gunther opened his mouth, and finally had no choice but to choose to take another one.

"Something interesting?" Anne couldn't understand why the warriors of Alpine Fort still had such a good appetite, didn't they know what it was to be nervous.

Richard tilted his head and swallowed the full capacity of his mouth with difficulty, and picked up the throwing spear in his hand.

"I plucked it from the back of that cavalryman. He flicked the iron with his fork, and the sound was dull and more like striking a stone, and it was clearly impure in texture.

"Look at the spear blade, such crude workmanship, such inferior iron, and you can still see uncleaned slag, even a country blacksmith who specializes in making farm tools has no face to make such a thing. ”

"And this spear shaft, made of oil pine. "As far as I know, this tree is prone to spontaneous combustion because of its high oil content, and generally only grows in cold areas in the ice and snow, and is almost not distributed in Pompeii. ”

"You can often see pine trees on the ice fields in my hometown, and we use this as torches. Gunther chewed and muttered.

Richard struggled with both hands to break the pole in two, tore a piece of wood from the stubble, and put it on the candle. A moment later, a burst of blue-blue flames erupted.

The grease content of this wood is simply terrifying, and it crackles from time to time as it burns, giving off a very strong pine scent.

"See, I'm guessing it's made by the wilderness natives themselves. Richard sneered, "Damn, can you imagine a wilderness native capable of mining and smelting iron!"

He couldn't understand a thousand and 10,000 couldn't understand—first, where the minerals of the wilderness, which had always been known for being barren, came from, and second, where did the natives who found the minerals come from.

An indigenous tribe can have 200 people to the sky, and the size determines that they cannot complete the complex division of labor. The transmission and exchange of knowledge is entirely a matter of luck, and accuracy is often questionable.

Even if a group of gnolls find a mineral deposit by shit, how can they happen to know each other, know how to smelt, and happen to have the necessary material conditions?

"Meteorite, I maybe. Hurt reached out and took the blade of the spear to take a closer look, then shook his head and denied his guess, "It's obvious that the impurities caused by the insufficient smelting temperature can't be removed, and it's not meteoric iron." ”

"Connoisseur. Richard gave a thumbs up.

"My lord, there are some news that you may not have heard. ”

The Voya Firm had been engaged in the wilderness trade for many years, and with the backing of this land snake, Anne knew far more about the wilderness than Richard, an outsider.

"The wilderness is huge, far larger than you might think, even larger than the entire Pompeii Empire. Closer to the border are the weakest tribes, because they are threatened by Pompeii and live in the worst conditions. ”

"But few people know that there are many larger and more powerful tribes in the vast expanse of the wilderness further north. Some of these large tribes even had thousands of adult warriors, and were no different in size from small independent kingdoms. ”

Richard nodded, he had never heard of the news, but it made perfect sense.

Pompeii may be able to tolerate a few shabby settlements on the border and make a small fuss, but he definitely can't bear to get too close to the real powerhouses.

"The side of the couch does not allow others to snore, this is the truth. ”

"The side of the couch ......," Anne nodded in agreement as she reflected on Richard's words, "and this sentence is really concise and meaningful. ”

"So you think it's the big tribes that attack the mercenaries?"

"Not a doubt, but a confirmation. "Anne was not the elegant and virtuous type that Pompeii had traditionally admired, but on the contrary, she was full of heroism and a firm tone in her statement.

"The Woya Trading House has trade with the local tribes, and they will not be attacked at all in normal times, only these outsiders will be so unscrupulous!"

"It's not surprising that large tribes have the ability to smelt iron, but why are they here. Hurt interjected.

"In previous years, when food was scarce in autumn and winter, they would go south to plunder small tribes and even the civilians of Pompeii, but now it's only ......summer," Anne spread her hands, indicating that she didn't know.

"What do you care about so much. Gunther waved his spoon dissatisfiedly, "Anyway, if you dare to come to Alpine Fort, you will knock them into concussions one by one!"

This thing's voice is very loud, and everyone in the big canteen can hear it clearly. The brute and the centaur roared together, and the mercenary in the corner turned even paler.

"Hurt originally said that there was a shamanic coalition to deal with me, and I thought it was strange at the time, if I could just rely on face to mobilize a group of unprofitable natives to help fight the war, it would really be like seeing the undead. Richard spread his hands.

"Now it seems that they have been bullied by the jackals who have gone south, and they are desperate to bully me. Hehe, Lao Tzu looks so much like a soft persimmon?"

"Richard, take your followers back to Cologne, and abandon Alpine Fort for the time being. The wilderness is already in chaos, and no one can accuse you of cowardice at this time of retreat. Anne sighed.

"Dear Miss Anne, why do you want to go back to Cologne with these three or two chickens and dogs?" Richard slapped the table and laughed, "I don't think I'm coming fast enough, I've long wanted to capture slaves to build me a castle." ”

Despite being a nascent territory, Richard had unquestionable authority in Alpine Fort, and once he made a decision, all the others could do was cooperate as best they could.

The barbarian and the centaur practiced the tactics of the infantry bow in full swing on the training ground, striving to sharpen their guns in battle.

The centaurs, who had the most dexterous legs, were temporarily honored and released as scouts to scout the turmoil around the entire Alpine Fort.

Richard asked for all the gold coins of the caravan, and Anne didn't know what the money was for at this time, but she gave it without hesitation. The trade team doesn't carry too much gold, and after being borrowed five hundred last time, there are only over two hundred left.

The money remained in Richard's hands for no more than a quarter of an hour, and then turned into several pieces of iron armor.

The battle with the gnolls resulted in a large collection of worn weapons and armor, most of which were left in the warehouse as tatters and left unattended. Anne was a very careful person, and she asked the caravan's servants to remove the relatively complete pieces of armor and reconnect them with cow tendons, and make up a dozen usable pieces.

These valuable armors were given by Richard to the highest-ranking barbarians.

When they charge, they will serve as the sharpest arrows to break the formation, bear the fiercest counterattack of the enemy, and play the decisive role! In any army that has not completely rotted to the roots, this elite must wear the best armor, get the highest salary, and drink the strongest wine!