In the evening, Art led the horse back to the cabin. This autumn, due to other miscellaneous matters, Art's hunt was not as abundant as last year's, and the barley reserves for the autumn harvest were drastically reduced by the arrival of the Scott family. However, what made Yate even more anxious was not the eating and drinking of the people in the valley, but the great changes in the situation outside made him feel that the time had come, but he was weak and hiding in this deserted place, how could he take advantage of the chaos to rise.

"Emma, I can't see Ron's shadow during this time, he doesn't help build the wooden house, where does he run all day long?" Art asked Emma, who was milking the goat.

Seeing that Art had returned from hunting, Emma hurriedly stepped forward to take the reins, bowed to Art and said, "Back to the master, Ron has been wandering around the mountains and forests during this time, and he said that even if the master does not accept him as an attendant, he will recover the lost prey for the master." ”

"Nonsense, why didn't you tell me earlier, do you know how dangerous this forest is! What should he do if he goes into the mountains alone and is targeted by wolves? What to do if you encounter a brown bear and wild boar? Art was in a hurry.

"Cooper, Scott, come in." Art walked towards the two men outside the wooden fence who were digging the foundation for a new wooden house.

"If you don't tell me something like this, what are you going to do if something happens to Ron!! Do you know how dangerous it is in the forest. The more Art spoke, the angrier he became.

The two stood quietly in front of Art without saying a word, and only after Art was a little less angry did Cooper say softly: "Master, Ron is a child who knows shame, and he is also a stubborn child, he insists on going into the mountains to hunt a deer and come back to the master, we can't persuade him." Besides, he's not a kid anymore, he knows what he's doing. ”

When Art lost his temper in the cabin, Ron walked into the courtyard with a man-long wooden spear in his left hand and a wild goat tied to a vine in his right hand, but he still did not hunt a deer......

The crowd stopped talking and looked at Ron in unison.

Ron drove the goat into the sheepfold, dragged his tired steps and tattered clothes to Art and said, "Master, I'm useless, I can't hunt the deer ......," said Ron, who buried his head deep in the scars of old and new.

Art looked at Ron, then at the wild sheep in the yard, and all the anger was gone. He looked at Cooper Sr., then at Scott, and then asked Ron in a soft tone, "Can you ride a horse?" ”

Ron was a little confused by the sudden question: "Old ~ Master, I have never ridden a horse, but I used to ride a donkey a lot." ”

"Pack up and come out with me tomorrow."

............

After dinner, Art called old Cooper, who was preparing his belongings for tomorrow's trip, and said, "Cooper, I'll be out for a long time this time." During this time, you should take Scott to guard this place, try to stay near the hut, and remember not to go out of the dense forest on the north side of the valley, which is very chaotic outside. Besides, now that the work in the field is over, you are to clear the trees and weeds near the hut and make a clearing, and then cut down more timber to build a long log house, as I told you before. ”

Old Cooper listened to Art's words, nodded his head, and then said to Art earnestly: "Master, are you really ready?" ”

"Cooper, troubled times have arrived, and this is the last darkness before dawn." After that, he picked up the Uzi steel longsword lying on the wooden table with both hands, rubbed the row of inscriptions on the sword, and silently recited in his heart: "Until the lamb becomes a lion."

At noon the next day, Cooper Sr. and the Scott family bid farewell to the two who were about to go out in front of the gate of the small courtyard

Art didn't know how long it would take to get back from this trip, so she was well prepared.

Art wears a semi-circular iron helmet, a long shirt and an inner jacket, a cowhide light armor, a bearskin coat, cowhide boots, and a fine iron dagger at his waist; Under the jujube red steed, the front saddle is hung on the left side of the horn riding bow and sheepskin water bladder, and the right is hung stainless steel long sword and skin small round shield; A sheepskin felt blanket was tied behind the saddle.

Ron was also wearing a hooded tunic at this time, a sheepskin jacket, cowhide boots, and a short sword and a wooden-handled short knife hanging from a cowhide belt around his waist; Under the green mule, with a water bladder in front, a large bundle of fur and a large piece of smoked venison in the back, a set of mattress sets tied to the back of the saddle, containing a spliced animal blanket, a bag of wheat bran, a deep-bottomed copper pot and two sets of utensils, a few black bread and some loose items.

There is no money in the valley, and Art takes all the money with him, because he needs a lot of money next....

..........

The sky was already gray, and in a pile of boulders in the wasteland, there was the clanging of iron tools.

"Ron, don't patronize the sword in your hand, remember to keep your feet steady. Spread your feet shoulder-width apart, step forward with one foot forward, the tip of the front foot pointing forward, the back foot externally rotated, and the waist slightly lower. ”

"Place your right thumb on the sword as you hold it, and don't be surprised, just do it. Okay, now try slashing at me in a pear position......"

From the time the two arrived here before sunset, Art began to teach Ron the most basic swordsmanship, but Ron never had a swordsmanship foundation, and Ron never achieved the most basic effect that Art wanted until the darkness all around. However, as the farmer's son, Ron is very aggressive, and although he doesn't have any tricks with a sword, he can also help a little by swinging his weapon with brute force.

After an afternoon of "slashing and blocking", Ron was already sore in his limbs, and his face was white and his lips were purple. He never imagined that practicing swordsmanship would be so hard. But he didn't want Master Art to feel too weak, so he forced himself to make a fire to cook and feed the mules and horses......

Art was amused to see Ron limping and struggling, but he didn't have the slightest intention of helping him. If Ron became the farmer's son with peace of mind, maybe Art would be soft-hearted, but since he chose to become his retinue, then he had to stand the test and grow up quickly, because there wouldn't be much time left for Ron to grow......

On the second day of the trip, the two were already approaching Tignacs.

Along the way, the two experienced the impact of the war in the south. Riding north for less than half a day out of the boulder pile, on the trade road to the north, there are people fleeing in twos and threes from time to time, most of them are ragged and thin as dry wood, many of them simply can't hold on to the next populated place, and you can see a sleeping corpse on both sides of the road from time to time.

Even if they are lucky enough to reach the next village or manor, they are either expelled by the devil who treats them as evil spirits, or they are used as serfs or even sold into slavery by the lords because they cannot pay the huge "transit tax", and even the extremely greedy and murderous lords lead troops to slaughter the homeless, plunder the property, and forcibly take the population.

The cold winter is coming, and the road to the north will be even more difficult......

The two of them avoided the outcasts and the hunting lord's cavalry, and when they reached the outskirts of Tignets, it was noon on the third day. At this time, Tignets was already in chaos.

At the foot of the city walls, the refugees set up a mess of shanties out of dead branches and weeds, and on the bonfires lay pots, tumbling in which I don't know what kind of soup they were, and when the two of them rode by, they either looked up at them with their heads up and looked at them dementedly, or stretched out their hands to beg, they were languid and hungry, and among them were women holding their babies waiting to be fed.

"Two handsome gentlemen, look at my beautiful daughter, just one Finny" When Art and the two walked out of the edge of the refugee shack, a middle-aged woman like a fat pig grabbed Art's reins, and Art followed the fat woman's fingers to look at several thin and shivering girls sitting in the door of a broken house. Art stared in disgust at the fat woman in front of her, who was wearing a heavy and inferior perfume, and turned the horse's head, and the reins broke free from the fat woman's grasp.

The fierce light in Art's eyes made the fat woman's heart tighten, and she quickly got out of the way, spat at the backs of the two of them leaving, and then began to look for the next target.

"Help~" was about to leave the refugee area, when suddenly the screams of women and children came from the edge of the refugee camp on the right, Ron immediately pulled out the short sword at his waist, and Art also put his hand on the hilt of the sword.

"Let's take a look." Art said to Ron, who was beside him, and the two rode towards the remote part where the sound was heard.

From afar, Art heard the muffled sound of sticks on the flesh, and turned the corner of the city wall to see five city thugs dressed in shabby linen beating a man who was bleeding from the beatings, but still protecting his wife and daughter behind him. Art made a cautious gesture to Ron, and then bent down to avoid the dead branches beneath his feet, but Ron accidentally knocked over a broken clay pot, making a strange noise, and the thugs stopped what they were doing, stood up and looked back.

"They've spotted us." Art gritted his teeth and drew his sword, commanding Ron, he was already sure that these people were bullying city hooligans.

"What's going on? Is it a sheriff? The hooligans saw two sword-wielding warriors suddenly leap out from behind the walls, but unlike the town guards they usually saw, they were wearing animal skin and leather armor. They hurriedly picked up their sticks and turned around and rushed towards the two of them, and suddenly the crisp sound of blades clashing sounded.

"Oh~~." Holding a sword in his right hand and a dagger in his left, Art used his sword to attack the dagger defenses, firing his bow left and right to kill the hooligans. Seeing that Art forced the hooligans back, Ron also surged with blood, and slashed with a short sword with brute force, knocking over a hooligan in front of him to the ground in three or two strokes, and the rest of the hooligans stopped when they saw their companions being cut down.

"Get out of here!" Seeing that the hooligans had been stunned, Art shouted at the hooligans with his long sword.

Several hooligans hurriedly picked up their comrades who had fallen to the ground and were bleeding, and fled in a puff of smoke......

Ron stepped forward to check on the man gathered among the women and children, the man sat down on the ground, saw Ron coming up, and quickly stood up, dragging his wife and daughter to his knees, and kept saying words of thanks for saving his life.

Ron stepped out of the way, and Art came over to the man and looked at him and asked, "Are you outcasts fleeing the war?"

"My lord, we are the villagers of Alsburg in the southeast of the Pore Mountains, and in the autumn more than 20 robbers who came down from the Pore Mountains killed the lord and occupied the village fort, and the robbers did all kinds of evil in the village fort. I fled here with my wife and daughter, and as soon as I arrived, I was targeted by this group of hooligans, who not only wanted to snatch my belongings, but also took my wife, but fortunately the two adults saved my family's life~" The man took a rag handed by the woman and pressed the bloody wound on his head.

Seeing that the man's family was fine, Art told them to leave here quickly, beware of the hooligans coming back to seek revenge.

A small episode did not change the plans of the two. When they reached the southern gate of Tignaz, they had to pay a full amount of commercial taxes to enter the city, as the guards of the gates, who knew Arte well, had been sent to clear out the bandits.

When he entered Tiniez, he found that the city was already crowded, and the inn called Liberty Bison was now crowded with wealthy merchants and squires who had fled from the south, and they were shouting at the bartender for drinks in their arms with naked women in their arms, in a lingua franca with a strong southern flavor; The streets are full of pimps and beggars begging along the streets, and the slum shacks in the northeast and the slave markets in the northwest are already crowded with homeless people and slaves for sale; Despite the tireless patrolling of the streets and alleys with the town guards, theft, robbery, and murder of goods increased.

The chaotic situation seriously affected the normal operation of the city's commerce, many caravans and vendors were reluctant to come here to trade, the influx of population and the withering of commerce caused the city to be chaotic and the tax revenue declined, so the lord's hall had to raise the merchant tax and impose the entry tax, and collect more taxes to hire soldiers to maintain order.

All of Yate's fur and fur goods this time were only exchanged for less than 250 copper fennigs, but Art didn't care too much, and this money should be the cost of the two of them traveling north.

The two spent four finnigs that night in a leeward section of the free market, which was patrolled by tax collectors and tax collectors, much more secure than in the rest of the city, and they had a good night's sleep.

The next morning, the two swallowed a piece of rye bread with a large bowl of oatmeal at a stall in the free market. As soon as the sun had risen, the two men packed their bags and set out of the north gate, heading for the most prosperous city of Lucesin in the south of the Count of Burgundy.

After passing through Lightsri and Engelberg, they arrived in Lucerne at noon on the third day. From Provence to Burgundy, Ron had seen fortified castles, but he was amazed by the vastness of the city, the density of the population, the grandeur of the urban structure and the prosperity of commerce and trade.

The castle of Luceson was about two miles in circumference, with walls fifty feet high and fifteen feet thick, and the road at the top of the walls could accommodate two horses, and the four corners were built with towering stone towers, and the walls were equipped with horse faces and arrow towers every one hundred and fifty feet. There is a 20-foot-high and 15-foot-wide inlaid grille on the east, west, north and south of the wall, behind which is a huge iron-clad oak gate; Outside the city is a moat that surrounds three sides, and the city is lined with shops, squares, churches, monasteries, and lords' halls are connected by a wide and smooth paved stone avenue...

The two men led their horses and followed the caravan into the city, crossed the drawbridge, passed through the heavily guarded city gates, and came to the city, where they found a secluded inn to stay.