Dressed in rags and riding a normal hybrid pony, Francis Swift looks like a ghost who has just come out of hell to the human world. Not only that, but he did haunt the borough of County Durham like a ghost.

Normally, he and a few "like-minded" friends would spend some time in the neighbouring county of Northumberland, on the border between England and Scotland. Because of its vast territory and numerous villages, he and his friends could plunder a considerable amount of cattle to feed their hunger or exchange it for money.

If he had been hunted down by the Earl of Northumberland, the Governor of Northumberland, he and his friends would have made the long journey to Cumberland and Westland, southwest of the border.

With no land, no castle, no financial resources, no inheritance of nobility and wealth, Francis "enjoyed" this "unfettered" life in poverty. Just as his father, Lamberton, named him "Francis", implying that he could only be a "free" person in this life.

Before becoming a free man, Francis envisioned being able to support himself on the wealth of his father and brother. In any case, he was Lamberton's biological son, he was the younger brother of the eldest son, Joseph, and a noble son of the Swift family.

Lamberton Swift knew very well that his second son had no right to inherit and had long planned to abandon him. Therefore, he threw this headache to the eldest son to solve. Joseph looked at his brother Francis with contempt as a knight who had won a knight's joust.

When he learned what his brother thought, he smiled and offered Francis the following condition: as the elder brother, he could replace his father to provide Francis with the necessary necessities of life, and even provide him with weapons, horses, armor and other knightly equipment.

In exchange, Francis had to swear allegiance and submit to his brother Joseph, who would remain a knight for the rest of his life. Francis thought he could accept such a condition, but Joseph said the last one: Francis had to give up the right to marry!

Francis angrily left the castle, leaving what he considered to be the safest and warmest home in the world. He hoped. You can rely on your ability and loyalty to exchange for a chance to survive in knightly tournaments and wars.

Knightly jousting, once flourishing in the 11th and 13th centuries, was clearly marginalized in the time of Henry VIII, and was even reduced to a ceremonial tool for royal and government parades.

It seems that the hope of gaining wealth, status and fame through knightly jousting has been shattered. There is also an option, which is to go to war. However, it has now been a full 8 years since the last war in which England participated. Another war? His Majesty's treasury does not seem to have enough money in the treasury for the war at all.

When Francis was about to collapse, he was told that he could use his military capabilities and use military violence to obtain financial resources. And, while gaining financial resources, it is possible to pay almost no cost with lives. What does that mean? He thought of a word that could represent this statement: plunder!

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"Francis, will your father's honorarium army come?" A broken knight named Richard whispered to Francis, who was concentrating on the road.

"I swear to God that they will surely come, for this road is the only way to Barnard's Castle." Francis said with a blank face.

"However, there are only 5 of us, can we defeat the army of gratuities?"

"Richard, there are more people on the other side than us, of course we can't be tough. We just need to keep up with them. ”

"You mean we'll do it when they get to Westwick?"

"That's right, Joseph, this bastard, will definitely go into the village to rest for a while, and then you can easily get the honorarium."

Richard looked at the empty road, relaxed his body a little, and said with a smile: "I really didn't expect that this time it was a full two months' honorarium." Francis, we're going rich. ”

Still with a cold face, Francis glanced at him and said, "This time, we plunder the army that Lord Darlington used to fend off the Scots, not farmers, merchants, craftsmen, and priests. Therefore, you should be more careful not to be killed by them easily. ”

A few minutes later, Francis and his friends spotted the gratuity army marching down the road. According to his plan, they would follow the gratuity army far behind until they reached the village of Westvik in front. Obviously, Isabel and the others, who were lying in ambush on the south side of the road, were unaware of the existence of Francis and his men.

Isabel watched the marching gratuity army as she pulled out a heavy arrow from the quiver behind her and placed it on the pole of the longbow. Then, in the darkness, he stood up and drew his bow with arrows, adjusted his breathing, and easily aimed at the war horse under Joseph's crotch......

Joseph rode on his horse, looked back at Sir Victor, who was also riding forward behind him, and said with a smile: "Sir, there is the village of Westwick ahead, can we stop and rest for a while?" ”

Sir Victor replied calmly, "My lord, there are still a few miles to reach Barnard Castle, and I think you can rest when you arrive at the castle." ”

"Just a break, something to eat, something to drink. This is not a border, so do you need to worry about the Scots? Joseph grumbled in his heart. After complaining, he smiled and said, "Okay, wait until you get to the castle and rest." ”

Sir Victor watched the groves on both sides of the road with alarm, not wanting to make a mistake as he approached his destination. After hearing Joseph's words, he nodded at him and said, "Thank you, my lord." ”

As the gratuity army continued on its way, Viktor once again set his sights on the grove on his left. He always sensed that there seemed to be people in the grove, but he couldn't tell if the shadows were trees or people.

At this moment, he vaguely saw a very strange face "staying" in the dark shadow, staring at them motionlessly. What made him even more incredible was that the face seemed to be still smiling.

Hidden behind the mask, Isabel focused on her goal, her left hand clenching the back of the bow and the three fingers of her right hand pulling the bowstring that had already attached a heavy arrow.

Take a deep breath and spread the bowstring on your right index finger, middle finger and ring finger......

Listening to the sound of "...... and swish", a heavy arrow off the string flew like lightning towards the set goal. Before the first arrow hit the target, Isabel drew her bow in succession and fired the second and third arrows cleanly.

Able to find her target in the darkness of night and successfully shoot three heavy arrows at it, Isabel should be grateful to the knights around Joseph who held torches to illuminate him.

It wasn't until Sir Victor found out that Joseph's horse had been hit three times by three arrows that he realized it was too late. He could only watch as the chestnut purebred Arabian horse neighed in pain as he carried Joseph to the ground on his right.