A farmer walks along the path with a hoe and a snowy foot, and his feet are deep and shallow, and sometimes he may slip.

Looking at the large fields in front of him, which were set against the black and white background of the remaining snow, the farmer sighed a little annoyed, this year's snow was so great that even some elderly people said that they could not remember when it had snowed so heavily before.

The fields were frozen hard, and the soles of my feet hurt when I stepped on them.

The farmer walked to the field, took a breath, and then picked up his hoe to cut through the layer of snow that covered the ground, and then began to dig up the cabbage that was half-buried in the ground one by one.

Although these cabbages are not very tasty, they are very delicious to many farmers who rely on them to feed their families, and at least when cooked, they always smell as if they are burnt or not.

There was a muffled noise, and the farmer stopped and looked around, but saw nothing, and then he went on working.

But soon the sound came again, and with it the sound the farmer could feel a slight vibration from the hoe that had sunk in the ground, and he looked up with some uneasiness into the distance, and then saw a swaying figure appear on the horizon.

The uninvited guests were so fast that before the farmer could even tell who they were, they had already broken into the land, and as the hooves of the horses stomped the snow and mud that had been splashed on the ground, they were already in front of the agitated farmer.

The farmer clung to his hoe, but he had no intention of using it, and when he saw the sabers swinging back and forth with their mounts beside them, he knew that they were not to be messed with.

And he also thinks that there is no need to be a hero, no matter who these are, they should not be too much.

There are so many people coming and going in this land, some local lords, others foreigners from far away, who often declare themselves masters of the land as soon as they arrive, but often have to leave again after a short time, and then another person plays the trick.

The locals had long been accustomed to it, and as long as they could live a comfortable life, it would be the same to give taxes to any lord.

The men didn't look easy to mess with, and the look on their faces made the farmer feel dangerous, not so much that they were fierce, but that there was something unsettling about them.

Judging from their clothing, they looked like the army of a certain lord, because if they were robbers, they would have looked a little too formal, and the farmer saw a somewhat strange-looking badge in the same place of several people's clothes.

"Is this Tempura?" A knight with a southern accent asked aloud, and when the farmer nodded, he continued to ask, "Where is the church, and we want to see the priest here." ”

The farmer gestured in a direction in the distant town behind him.

"You're dumb?" The horseman pulled his horse around the farmer, and he seemed a little dissatisfied with the farmer's silence.

"No, I can speak," said the farmer, hurrying as he held his hoe tighter, as if a drowning man were grasping at a life-saving straw.

"I thought you were dumb," said the cavalryman, bending down and reaching out to pat the farmer on the shoulder, "tell me if anyone has passed by here lately, and I mean if any strangers have been in town." ”

"I don't know," said the farmer nervously, "I only know that I come out to work every day, and maybe the rest of the town knows." ”

The cavalry looked at the farmer closely, then returned to his companions and said to one of them, "It seems that we must go into the town and make inquiries." ”

It was a strangely dressed man, with a somewhat alien taste, and his thick curly beard looked a little funny, but the farmer saw in his eyes a terrifying brutality and wildness: "If you go into the town, you may find some news in this area. ”

A group of horsemen swept past the farmer, and as they galloped away, the farmer licked his lips lightly, then lowered his head and continued to plow the cabbage in the field.

The town of Tampura is not small, hundreds of households are already a small town, the appearance of those cavalry has attracted people's attention, looking at the horses galloping through the streets, people immediately get out of the way, watching them run in the direction of the church, people can't help but secretly speculate about the origin of these people.

Although Tempra is a papal territory, the lords of all sizes have declared ownership of this land, especially the appearance of the French some time ago, which has made it even more chaotic.

The horsemen dismounted in front of the church, and led by the two men who had asked for directions and had a curly beard, they entered the church, which had not been renovated for many years, as seen from the outer walls.

Hearing the footsteps, the priest, who was lighting candles in front of the altar, turned around and saw a few people approaching, and his eyes showed a slight doubt.

"God bless you," said the soldier who had gone ahead, bowing, and after kissing the priest's robe, he continued, "forgive me for disturbing you, for we are messengers sent by Lord Gombray of Agri, who ordered us to come and visit you, and brought you his greetings to you. ”

"But I don't know him," asked the priest, puzzled, "can I know what you mean?" ”

"Priest, our lord would like to have the help of the Temprah," the current Agri bowed, "we are going to call up a group of men here to repair the broken bridge ahead, and my lord wants to get the supplies needed here, we need bread, cheese, and enough jerky, especially to bring with us, for we will soon have to continue our journey." ”

The priest looked surprised, he obviously did not know what these people were talking about, and when he finally heard that these people had been sent from Rome, the priest was even more surprised.

"It has been snowing for a long time, and we have cut off contact with Rome, and even Fort Piano can send people, but it can't get through Rome," the priest seemed happy that Rome had finally sent someone, "I think this is the best news I have heard today, and it must be that God heard our prayers, and you must know that the people in the city were worried about whether something would happen after so long without news just yesterday." ”

Seeing the priest's joyful face, the soldier couldn't help but smile smugly, and when he made the request again, the priest immediately nodded in agreement.

"But before that I have to put on some thick clothes," the priest patted on the shoulder, "this place has been injured before, and it hurts a lot in bad weather, so you'll have to wait a little longer." ”

"You light priest." The soldier respectfully stepped aside.

The priest walked slowly past the men, and then walked through a small door next to the chapel.

As soon as he disappeared around the corner of the door, the priest's slow steps immediately quickened, and he walked along the wall, through the narrow dark passageway, to the flashing door and knocked.

The door opened first and then immediately opened, and the priest hurried inside.

"It's the man from Cambrai, they're coming." The priest whispered to the two men in the room.

The two men were one with long hair and the other was short.

"Did they find us?" The long-haired man immediately grabbed the heavy sword that was placed on the table.

"No, they are the messengers sent by Cambrai, saying that they want to recruit men from the village to build bridges, and they are not here to find you." The priest stopped the long-haired man and continued to whisper, "They haven't noticed you here. ”

"How many people are coming," the long-haired man asked, "if there aren't many people coming, we can get rid of them." ”

"Five, two of them look like you call bohemians," the priest shook his head, "don't move, I don't want you to fight and kill in the church." ”

"Come on, you weren't like this before," the long-haired man said disapprovingly, "there are only five of them, and we can kill them all if we rush out, and we can do it without those mercenary unlucky ghosts." ”

"But then, if we alarm that Gombray, we won't have a chance," the short man frowned, "maybe we can change the method, didn't that Gombray say that the bridge should be built, we can let people mix in with the villagers, and then find a way to kill him." ”

"As you can see, those mercenaries may be reluctant to fight with them, but it is not easy for them to blend in with the villagers, the smell of blood on those guys can be smelled from afar, and those bohemians are not difficult to deal with." The long-haired man shook his head disapprovingly, "What's more, we spent so much money just to let these guys do something sneakily, in addition to killing that Cambrai, we also want to let those Romans know that this road is not working, and now we have the final say on everything here, which is always important." ”

The long-haired man's words made the short man a little embarrassed, but he also understood that his companion said some truth, they came to intercept Alexander this time, of course, to kill this person by order, and as the long-haired man said, to cut off the connection between Rome and the north, especially in the recent period of a heavy snowfall has helped them a lot, and they can even block the communication between Rome and the north with only a few people in the case of heavy snow blocking the road, and because they use mercenaries, So no one knew the origin of these robbers who suddenly appeared.

Even so, they are cautious, often the same mercenaries are fired after a few uses, and then they are found with new men, so that no one can understand their origins.

For those mercenaries, originally as mercenaries and robbers are their two different identities, the heavy snow road closure originally made their business somewhat difficult, but these two people can always know exactly which road will be passed by in advance, and know how to avoid those dangerous patrols, which makes it easier for them to rob those unfortunate pedestrians.

After a few robberies, in addition to handing over a share to these two people, the remaining benefits are enough for them to live a good life in the future, so they naturally will not mention this kind of good thing to others casually.

"We'll have to find some new men," the short man thought to himself, "maybe it doesn't need to be very powerful, but it has to be clever, we just need to sneak close to that Gombray and kill him while he's not looking, and as for blocking Rome's road to the north, I think it's much more convenient as long as this Gombray is dead." At least it will take some more time for Rome to send more people. ”

Speaking of this, the short man looked at his companion and continued: "But you have to stay, and it is best not to leave the church for some time now, that Cambrai and many of his men have seen you, be careful not to be recognized by them, and I will go this time." ”

The long-haired man was about to argue, but after thinking about it, he kept his mouth shut.

"The villagers here all know each other," said the priest, putting on his thick clothes, "but I will tell them that you have wandered from other places, and that you wanted to eat in the church, and now you have this opportunity." If you want to find someone else, just say that you are a companion who used to wander together."

The short man nodded, and he followed the priest towards the door, and when he reached the door, he turned back to his companion and said, "Go find some people as soon as possible, the construction of the bridge cannot be a short thing, we do not know how long Gombray will stay here, so we must find an opportunity to kill him before he returns to Rome." ”

The long-haired man nodded silently, first watching the priest and his companions leave, and then following the door, walking from the other end of the aisle to the back of the church.

At this moment on the steps in front of the church, Carlo was shouting to the townspeople who had gathered: "We need people who can work, if the carpenter is the best, my master is very generous, and you will be paid for repairing the bridge in the village in front of you." ”

There was a stir in the crowd, and people whispered about whether it was true or not, and when they saw the priest appear, some people immediately shouted, hoping to know from the priest whether it was true or not.

"It is indeed true, they are emissaries sent by Rome."

The priest's words reassured the inhabitants, and when they saw that the priest had taken the initiative to introduce a stranger who did not look very strong to the Roman soldiers, many complained a little.

"Why don't we locals, we're idle now," a townsman came out of the crowd, "We are all heavy workers and are not afraid of hardship, so let's give this opportunity to our own people in Tanpula first." ”

"Of course it would be nice if you could do the work," Carlo nodded, "and the bridge needs to be repaired as soon as possible, so we still need a lot of people, don't worry about not having work, the big nobles of Rome are most concerned about getting the road repaired as soon as possible." ”

"You need a lot of people?" The short man suddenly asked, and when he saw Carlo looking at him, he smiled and said, "Some of my friends may be able to do this job, and some of them are good at their craft." ”

"Yes," said Carlo, looking at the short man in surprise, for he did not like the task of gathering the workers, and that he would rather pick up a musket and fight with men than the tedious things, but he said with suspicion, "but these people you said must be able to work." ”

"Don't worry, they're all great guys, and they're very capable." The short man smiled.