A horse-drawn carriage with a high side gang swayed along the rugged and potholed road, because the ground was frozen, and the originally muddy ground was hard and cracked everywhere, so the muddy road was not comfortable to walk on at all.

The wheels of the carriage creaked in pain, and the people sitting in the carriage grumbled as they jolted.

There were several people sitting in the car, all of whom were residents of the town of Tempura.

In this cold weather, they all tried to dress themselves warmly, and although it was clumsy to wrap their bodies completely, they felt at least much better than those who were frozen to death when they looked at the frozen world around them.

Some people from far away brought back news that because of the heavy snow this year, people have been found to have frozen to death, even in the city of Rome.

Compared to those who wake up in the morning and are found frozen to death in the streets and in the wilderness, the people of Tampura are not only lucky, but even lucky.

Because winter is difficult at this time of year, people have to find ways to take advantage of this season to find some odd jobs to make ends meet, men will leave the house temporarily, and women will use their small skills to do some needlework and sewing to supplement the household.

Thinking of those who were caught off guard by the heavy snow outside, many people were secretly afraid, wondering if they might become one of those people if they were outside and had no preparation.

Well, now, a job suddenly appeared and the people of Tempra suddenly had a chance to make money.

Although it takes a long time to build the bridge in the wild, it only takes a few days to earn florin, which is something that has never been thought of before, and if it can be completed as soon as possible, it may earn more, it is rare to have such a generous lord, which makes the people of Tempra very happy, and some people even think that God is helping them.

However, not everything went so smoothly, and what annoyed the people of Tampla was that a foreigner who appeared out of nowhere seemed to be working against them.

The stranger didn't know what to do, so he first impressed the priest of the town church with pity and let him blend in with the workers who were building the bridge, and then when the lord asked for manpower, this guy actually robbed the locals of the opportunity and took care of the business for his own people.

This made the Tempra people angry, and what was even more odious was that this guy said that he had recruited a group of homeless people from other places, which made the Tempra people feel even more intolerable.

Tempura is not a well-known place, but it is very calm and few outsiders come to it.

And although it is not close to Rome, the Tampla people have become accustomed to calling themselves Romans, but when will there be room for a group of homeless people from the countryside to steal the work of the locals?

The people of Tanpla are indescribably annoyed in their hearts, and it is not a good sign to think that if they start like this, those homeless people may stay on Tanpla.

Thinking of this, the workers thought it necessary to teach the short vagabond who did not know the height of the sky and the height of the earth a good lesson.

And they also wanted to ask the priest for a reason, although mercy was good, but after all, those strangers were of unknown origin, and in such a chaotic day, everyone still hoped that the priest would think about the people of Tempra first.

It's just that although this is a good intention, but if they want to say this to the priest, the people of Tampla feel a little weak-hearted, after all, the priest's status in their minds is high, although they dare not show any malice, but such a statement will definitely cause the priest to be unhappy.

But thinking about the smug look of the short man when he left, and thinking about the damage that might be done to the town if he really brought a large group of homeless people, the most important thing was that the opportunity to build the bridge and make money was snatched away by a group of strangers, and after a few people discussed it, they decided to take advantage of the time to go back to the town to carry things, and send people to the priest to talk about it.

Although the road is not easy to walk, the town is not very far from the construction site, and the roof of the church in the town can be seen in the distance before it gets dark, which is also the tallest building in the entire town of Tempura.

"I said, how should we talk to the priest," seeing that the courage he had mustered up for his livelihood was not far from the town, and one of the residents asked his two companions with some trepidation, "What if the priest is angry?" ”

"Yes, I've heard that Father Ned's temper isn't very good," the other said, a little uneasy, "if the priest blames us for this, he might be kicked out of town." ”

"But if we just let those homeless people into the town, do you think we'll have a good life in the future?" A man sitting in the back of the car leaning against the gang asked the same man from the town who had complained in front of the church about why he didn't give the job to the locals first.

"But the priest took in the homeless man because of his kindness, and isn't it tantamount to going against the priest's will by doing so," the villager who drove the car was still a little uneasy, "Maybe we shouldn't have told the priest about it, and those people left after the trip......"

Listening to his own uncertain tone, the people behind him snorted in their noses: "Those people are like locusts, no matter where they go, they will cause trouble, and the wages for this bridge repair are quite a lot, you are willing to give it to others so casually, don't forget that winter has just begun, and it is not yet Christmas, after which we will not have new work until at least March, what will we do during this time?" ”

The man's words silenced the two companions, and the three of them looked at each other, although they didn't make a sound, but they gradually understood what each other meant.

Just as the three of them were about to break the silence, several black dots suddenly appeared in the field in the distance.

Because of the heavy snow cover everywhere, these people were obvious, and although they were far away, they were enough to attract attention.

"Who are they?" The villagers who were driving the car straightened up and looked at the black spots in the distance that seemed to be moving almost parallel to them, "Those people really don't care if they are tired or not, they are afraid that they are so fast in the heavy snow, and if they get stuck in the snow, the horse's leg bones will be broken." ”

"I can't see clearly, but it should be some soldiers, I just don't know where they are," the companion sitting next to him looked better, and then he licked his lips and said enviously, "Actually, I also want to be a soldier, although it is more dangerous, but as long as you are lucky, you can earn your wallet slowly after a few years." ”

"Then you have to be lucky, or you might die sooner," muttered the villager sitting in the back, who stood up on the car and looked at the riders who were closer to them, "It seems that these people are in a hurry, are they going to the town, I hope they are not here to ask for trouble." ”

"If we're really looking for trouble, shouldn't we go and report to that old man Gombray?" The villagers who were driving the car were a little worried and asked, "We are working for him." ”

"I don't know, wait," the man in the back hesitated a little, and then said suspiciously, "It's strange why they suddenly entered the woods behind the town, didn't they come to the town?" ”

"Maybe it's just passing by," the companion immediately breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, "there are quite a few of these people, there must be more than a dozen, if such a group of soldiers break into the town and make trouble, it is not fun." ”

"Yes," the man in the back replied as he sat down slowly, a little puzzled, and finally saw that the men seemed to be running towards the woods behind the town, not far from the church, which made the man a little uneasy. ”

Father Ned, standing anxiously walking around in the snow, had been waiting for a while in the woods behind the church, feeling a little cold on his feet and stomping back and forth.

With the sound of hooves, a group of horseback figures appeared outside the woods, and then a dozen people ran through the woods towards the priest, and when they stopped their horses, everyone kept spitting hot air from their mouths as they ran.

"You are late," said the priest with some grumbling, "and you should not come on horseback, for I have no place to hide so many horses." ”

"But we'll have to get out of here as soon as the time comes," said the long-haired man, jumping off his horse, "Priest, we're not like you, and once we kill that Cambrai, we'll have to get out of here anyway, and we can't do without horses." ”

Listening to the sarcasm in the long-haired man's tone, the priest showed a hint of anger, but then tried to calm himself down.

"Well, I'll settle the problem of the horses, but you must not show your stuff," said the priest to the others, "and in a moment you will all have to change into the clothes of a vagabond, which I have prepared for you, and you will not be able to carry long weapons, but only short swords and daggers. ”

"Don't worry, it's not the first time we've done this," one of the mercenaries said nonchalantly, "after we go in, kill that unlucky guy and we'll leave, and then we can make a lot of money, and this is a good deal." ”

"Be careful, this time is different," he said at some point, the short man walked out of the back door of the monastery, and he looked at his men, "Listen, the identity of the person we are going to kill this time doesn't matter, but the person who hired us to do this must die, so we can't be a little sloppy," he said as he looked at the mercenary with a random face from before, "to find some plastered faces." ”

"What?"

"I said go find some ash, your face is full of oil, you look like you've just eaten a meal, it's not a bum," the short man said to the others, "and you, you need to look like you've been hungry for days." ”

"Why don't we just go to that guy and cut off his head." A man with a bald head asked.

"Because there is a whole team of soldiers around the man, and some of the Bohemians who look very strong," said the short man, looking at the men in front of him, "although you are not the most courageous mercenaries, I have heard that you are the most cunning, and there are many famous fellows who have suffered at your hands, so I am looking for you this time." ”

After speaking, the short man carefully looked at the people in front of him: "Listen, what I want is to kill that Cambrai, as far as I know, he can't stay here for two days, so I don't care what method you use, I want to kill him in these two days, and there must be no mistakes." ”

Speaking of this, the short man sighed: "Trust me not to be careless, this man is very difficult to deal with, especially the bohemians under his command, those are very troublesome guys, if you don't want to suffer, you must be careful." ”

While the short man was giving his accomplices a lecture, the bohemians, whom he called a headache, were all frowning at a strange group of Agri not far away.

There were about a dozen of these Agri, and in addition to being more robust than the others, they wore slightly different weapons.

In addition to spears and halberds, the Agri used muskets.

This allows them to fight only by establishing a solid formation, relying on dense spears and muskets interspersed with them, and engaging the enemy as far and semi-close as possible, rather than being close enough to stab each other with swords directly into each other's bodies.

This was also the way Alexander envisioned a way to put the Agri to work, after all, it would take too long to expect a group of peasants who had just laid down their farming tools to become soldiers on their own.

However, if they can form a strong formation, then the Agri will also be able to confront the enemy.

But these Agri were a little bit unnecessary, and in addition to carrying muskets, each of them carried a saber.

It is precisely because of this that it attracts the attention of bohemians.

The sabers were bought from the Bohemians, and Alexander bought the dozen sabers at a good price, and then used them to equip the guards he had chosen.

When Carlo asked why he didn't let the guards use his swords, Alexander replied: "If I had to choose a weapon for myself, I would choose a sabre, because this is the real weapon for killing and self-preservation." ”

It's just that both the Agriguards and the Bohemians were somewhat resistant to Alexander's decision.

The Bohemians thought it was a joke to let the peasants who had just thrown away their hoes use their swords, and the Agri were somewhat unfond of this more pagan weapon.

However, looking at the guards who were familiarizing themselves with the equipment, Alexander was full of confidence, and there was still some excitement and anticipation in his heart.

Alexander remembers the many things that Giuliano della Rovere, the pope who would later be known as the god of war, did many things, the most famous of which was to use the now famous Swiss to establish a Swiss Guard, known for its bravery and loyalty, using the Swiss people, who are now famous.

Every time he thought about this, Alexander couldn't help but try to establish such a guard of his own.

It's just that Alexander was well aware that with the development of firearms, his own guards were not destined to be the same as the Swiss Guards.

And the Orions of Agri are undoubtedly the most suitable candidates for such a guard.

It's just that Alexander didn't know that his guard had just been born, and it was about to face a difficult and dangerous test.