On the northern bank of the Mureš River, Hungary's natural border with Wallachia, there is a small town called Bojala.

The city is not big, but it is very lively, because it is located on the boundary river, many merchants from the north and south will stop here, because once you go out of this small city, it means stepping on someone else's land.

The Mureš River runs from west to east, passing through the Transylvanian highlands and then south into the Bucharest Plain, then eastward until it joins the Danube and finally empties into the Black Sea.

Situated in a bend of the Mureš River, the city of Bojara, which straddles the river with three stone bridges connecting the two sides of the river, was much more lively in the early days, especially during the Hungarian Civil War, when it served as a hub for the rebels to transport grain to Wallachia and as an outpost for the royal army to pursue the remnants of the rebels who had fled into Wallachia and then find an excuse to invade Wallachia.

However, most of the time Bojara is more of a transit place for merchants from both countries, because they are often heavily taxed, so most merchants choose to barter directly in Bojara, which has the advantage of avoiding paying an extra customs duty, and all they have to pay is a much more appropriate fee to the barons of Bojara.

Of course, this is illegal, and it can even be regarded as a very serious tax resistance, but because this baron of Bojara has a deep relationship with a certain big man in Prague, and it is said that the baron will pay a very heavy amount of money to the big man, so even if they know what happened to Bojala, those high-ranking officials in Hungary will not easily offend the person with good hands and eyes.

However, during this time, Bojara was not very peaceful, and a person who came from somewhere disrupted Bojara's orderly life, although there were sometimes some small accidents.

The merchant, Prato, was evidently a man of great origin, and a few months earlier he had come to Bojara with money and a way to whom he did not know, and had bought a large house in the city second only to the Baron's house, and then he had started a business, which had unfortunately cried out with the Baron's petty business, for he was a trading firm.

The name of this trading house is also somewhat strange, it is called "Bojara Trading Post, Balkan Branch of the Continental Development Company".

No one knows what the word "Balkan" means, but it is clear that this man named Prato is not alone, but has a great background.

Although the baron had paid attention to this man from the beginning, he never thought that this man's business would be pointed at him, a big man in Bojara, and the Balkan branch of the Continental Development Company erected a conspicuous sign in front of his house on the first day of its opening, which clearly read: "Pay customs fees, settle in person, settle credit, and serve wholeheartedly."

In short, the baron soon found out that the Balkan branch of the continental development company was coming to steal his job, which made the baron furious, but before he could figure out how to squeeze the other party out of Bojara City, the man named Prato took the initiative to find him.

This well-informed businessman showed the Baron his extraordinary relationship and background, and when he heard that this man was the guest of honour of the great nobles in Budapest or Prague, the Baron could only obediently put back his anger for the time being.

But looking at the proud appearance of the man named Prato brandishing the glittering Florin, Ducat, and the colorful Ladia coins everywhere to solicit business, the baron was still jealous and thought that he must find an opportunity to teach this bastard out of nowhere.

Prato was obviously a busy man, and not long after the opening of the Bojara trading post of the Balkan branch of the Continental Development Company, he left the city of Bojara as soon as he gradually started to do business, and this was a few months away.

This made the baron think again, and after some observation, he found that this trading post was all recruited by some foreigners from Prato, although he really couldn't understand why the business of this Balkan branch was so good when it first opened, but the baron still felt that he still had to have the final say in the city of Bojara.

It was only soon that he discovered that the Continental Pioneer Company had a long history, and for a long time afterwards the people of the city of Bojara could see the large and small caravans that belonged to the company between Hungary and Wallachia.

The baron began to hesitate, he didn't know how big that Prato was, but judging from the business of this mainland development company, maybe this person really shouldn't be dealt with.

The baron, who was worried about the danger of causing trouble, had already figured out how to avoid the menacing mainland development company, but he soon found that even if he didn't want to provoke that Prato, it seemed that he couldn't do it, because in just a few months, the Balkan branch of the Bojara trading post had almost wiped out most of his previous business.

Apparently regardless of who Prato was working for, he was also taking advantage of the opportunity to solicit private work for himself, and by taking advantage of the Bucharest trade routes developed by the Continental Development Company, Prato opened up trade in the Balkans for the company, and at the same time took advantage of the situation to squeeze his own small business, among which the barter of local merchants from the Baron of Bojara was one of the inconspicuous but sufficient ways to make Prato a lot of money.

It's just that Prato didn't expect that when he was busy everywhere contributing to the great cause of the Duke, he was already being targeted because he had offended people.

And he apparently didn't really realize that the ferocity of the Balkans was sometimes unexpected.

The city of Bojara began to become unpeaceful, in order to rob the business, the thugs raised by the Baron of Bojara began to look around for trouble with the trading post, and I don't know where I heard that it seemed that someone in Prague had expressed dissatisfaction with this Prato, which made the baron suddenly emboldened, he began to openly provoke, and even sent people to threaten the merchants who did business with the trading post, and for a time the city of Bojara was full of provocations and brawls.

Perhaps because of Prato's absence, the people of the trading post did not seem to know how to deal with this sudden situation for a while, and because the city of Bojara was quite accessible, it was soon heard that there seemed to be a big man in Prague who was hostile to Prato, which made the staff of the trading post lose their minds, some of them were from Budapest, and some of them were hired temporarily nearby, so for them whether it was Budapest or Prague, those places were as far away as hell on earthBut the big man there must not be offended, and now that I heard that Prato had provoked such a person to displeasure, for a time the people in the trading post could not help but panic, as if something bad was going to happen at any time.

Of course, this could not be concealed from Baron Bojara, who felt that his chance for revenge had finally arrived, and after some careful consideration, he decided to take the opportunity to drive the Bojara trading post, the Balkan branch of the Continental Development Company, out of the city.

The baron, who had made up his mind, sent a special visit to the rector of Munch, and asked the rector to deign to come to Bojala, because he wanted to report a blatant disrespect for Christ, for Prato had never been to a church since he came to Borgala, and although the fact that he was a Catholic might be justified, according to some rumors from Prague, it was impossible to say that no one had seen him go to church even in Prague.

Therefore, the baron decided to ask the rector to come to the city of Bojara for a verdict in the name of disrespecting Jesus, and if the ruling was valid, not only would Prato himself be expelled from the city, but the trading post would also be closed.

The Baron's idea was simple but effective, and the best thing was that Prato was not in Bojara at this time, and according to the people of the trading post, he should have been doing business somewhere else, or in Budapest or somewhere, but wherever he was, he was indeed facing a situation where he might be adjudicated in absentia, as he could not defend himself.

The Baron saw that victory was beckoning to him, and it made him both happy and painful, for he had paid a large sum of money to persuade the recess, and the cost of hiring thugs and the fact that the influence of the trading post had taken a toll on his business for some time, and the Baron already felt that he was already a little hurt after such a toss.

But the thought that the trading post would soon close made him feel a little more relieved.

But perhaps it was the reason why God was not on the side of the baron this time, but on the night before the rector arrived, Prato, who had not been seen for several months, suddenly appeared in the city of Bojara.

This came as a surprise to both the baron and his men, after all, although they had already bribed the recess, Prato's sudden appearance suddenly disrupted their original plan.

And perhaps because of Prato's flamboyant attitude of "I'm a hard backer" when he came to Bojara before, some people couldn't help but wonder if they shouldn't offend this person.

The baron was also alarmed, he didn't know who Prato was or who he knew, but he knew that offending this man was obviously a serious matter, and now he had no way out.

After a sleepless night, the Baron finally decided to use the most direct and effective way to deal with this pesky enemy.

The Balkans didn't really like intrigues, they preferred to solve problems in a simple and brutal way, so the baron once again took out a sum of money and told the thugs to do their work, but this time he wanted Prato's life.

According to the baron's plan, he was going to send someone to quietly kidnap Prato out of the city, and then let out the word to the townspeople that Prato had fled from Bojara overnight in fear because he had heard about the accusations against him.

The idea is flawed, but it is not bad, but the point is that even if there is a suspicion that Prato himself will obviously be found as such if he does not show up to clarify the matter, and then it only takes the rector to announce a few counts that have been examined and confirmed that the person is indeed guilty of disrespecting Christ, then it is unlikely that anyone would want to speak for him.

As for perhaps he had something to do with some big man in Prague or Budapest, the baron felt that the great nobles in those places would not go to great lengths for a merchant, and he also calculated that he would buy the trading post as soon as he was forced to close the door, although he did not know who Proto was working for, but the baron still saw that this continental development company seemed to be a great behemoth, so he was worried about continuing the business of the trading post, and perhaps in the future, he would also have the opportunity to do business with that company.

The baron suddenly felt that he was a very clever man, and that he could quickly think of a better way after such an accident, so he opened a new bottle of wine and prepared a toast to his genius brain.

But before he could finish the drink, the thugs he had sent out to kidnap Prato came back, and they reported to him that Prato had gone mad and had just returned and had ordered the men of the outpost to toss.

They cleaned the yard, washed the tables and chairs, painted the walls and took all the bedding outside to dry under the moon.

Anyway, the trading post is so busy now that there's no chance to sneak in and tie that Prato out.

The words of the thugs made the baron lose his mood for a moment, and he felt that Proto had been sent by God to torture him, but even then he was not willing to do so.

So he instructed the thugs to keep an eye on the outpost at all times and report any changes to him.

The whole night passed in such a trance, until it was almost dawn and the trading post was still bustling, and just when the baron was almost desperate and waited for the rector to come and simply announced to his face that Proto was guilty of disrespecting Christ, someone ran back to him and reported to him something unexpected, that Prato had gone out of the city with two retinues.

The baron was not convinced at first, he had been tossed like this a few times, and he did not want to be disappointed again, but when someone reported to him that he had indeed taken two people out of the city with Prato, the baron could not help but hope again.

This time he no longer trusted his men, who he thought were still not smart enough, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.

After hearing that Proto's retinue seemed to be armed, the baron had a full men, each of them carrying a sabre, and the baron himself and his retinue also carried two muskets, believing that such force would be sufficient to deal with the three Pratos.

They quickly crossed the river and chased south along the main road from the direction where they had heard that Prato had finally disappeared.

The traffic in Bojara was obviously much better than elsewhere because of the connection between the two borders, and because there was only one main road, the baron was not worried about losing it, and although it was always bustling with people, it was still very secluded at this early stage.

The baron and his men chased after him, and soon he didn't go far when he saw Prato's master and servant walking slowly in front of him.

It was clear from the parcels on their horses that Prato was ready to go far away, which made the baron suddenly feel that as long as he was not there when the verdict was announced, it might not matter if he didn't have to catch up.

It's just that since it's already here, let's just finish it.

Thinking so, the baron followed far behind with his men.

Prato, who was walking in front, also seemed to notice that these people behind him seemed to have bad intentions, and he stopped and looked back, and immediately ordered his entourage to speed up.

Seeing that Prato seemed to want to run, the baron, who had been a little hesitant, finally made up his mind, and while shouting to his men, he drew his sword first, and in a frenzied shout, the baron led people to chase after Prato.

Prato ran for his life, he didn't know who these people were, he didn't recognize the baron, but took them for robbers, so he kept grabbing some gold coins from his horse bag and throwing them backwards, and then he simply threw his wallet to the people who were chasing him closer and closer, hoping that they would let him go.

But except for a few of those people who stopped to pick up the money, the others had been chasing after him, especially the one who was the leader, although he couldn't see his face clearly, but judging from his crazy appearance of constantly shouting, Prato believed that if he fell into his hands, it would definitely not end well.

They kept chasing and fleeing, first one and then the other, and the two attendants were overtaken by the men because their mounts were exhausted, and Prato saw them slashed to the ground with a swordsman's sword, which made him realize that these men were not robbers, but had come to kill him.

Prato prayed to God in his heart as he ran as hard as he could, and he swore that if he could escape this fate, he would be a philanthropist, and he would never go to those lowly and depraved places again, and he would never again do things for the Duke for his own personal benefit.

In short, Prato swore to be a saint free from low tastes, and he even cried out for his life: "God forgive me!" I am willing to give half of my property to the Duke as a wedding gift! ”

Then he heard a clear neighing of horses not far ahead.

"Pagassos?"

Although all the neighing of the horses sounded in the same tune, Prato's mind flashed to the figure of Pagasus for some reason, and then before he could react, more neighing came from the front.

A group of horsemen appeared in the woods beside the road, and as the cavalry quickly swept through the trees, Prato saw a familiar figure appear not far from him.

"Shel?" Prato shouted excitedly, but the guard officer didn't seem to hear him, and as Sher quickly waved his hand at the Bojara people behind him, who had stopped to look at each other because of the accident, the hunters quickly rushed towards them.

Prato looked back at the enemy who had been overwhelmed by the hunters in an instant, and couldn't help laughing happily, but then he suddenly remembered his mission, so he quickly turned his horse's head and said to Alexander, who had been slowly urging his horse to him: "My lord, I received news from you from Bucharest, and after knowing that you were going to take this route, I rushed to Bojara, and I have prepared hot water, food, and a clean and comfortable bed for you. You and your hunters can get a good rest in Bojara. ”

Looking at Prato, whose shocked face had not completely faded, Alexander smiled interestingly: "We do need a good rest, you can't guess what we have been through before, but what I'm interested in now is not hot food and comfortable beds, I want to know if the congratulatory gift you mentioned for half of the property is still counted." ”

Hearing this, Prato's face instantly turned white.