It was getting dark, and the sun was already starting to fade from the horizon.

In front of Viruga's gates, the captain of the guards yawned and glanced at the militia behind him.

The men were holding spears, leaning listlessly against the walls, far inferior in spirit to the soldiers before him.

But this can't be helped, these citizens were originally busy with their own affairs at home, and suddenly someone came in and told them to temporarily serve as guards and patrols to defend the city, and the salary, no one would be happy. It is true that they have fulfilled their civic duties and receive half a month of training every year, but their morale is really not good.

The captain felt that the time was almost up, and planned to have the armed citizens close the gates of the city, and then go to the tavern for a few drinks before patrolling at night.

But just as he was about to speak, there was the sound of horses' hooves stomping on the ground in the distance, mixed with the neighing of some horses.

He turned back and saw a convoy approaching this way, and looked a little anxious, as if he had guessed that the gates were about to close.

Judging by the clothes and flags of the other party and the desert horses pulling the carts, the captain judged that they were a caravan from Salander. Although he was a little impatient, he waited a little for the caravan to enter the city. You know, he can use this as an excuse to get a lot of money from these foreign merchants.

As he had guessed, the turban-clad merchants were all Salander's faces, and the guards looked like Kugit mercenaries. However, this is in keeping with the tradition of Salander merchants, who often hire Kugit guards to save money. They were cheap and reliable, and they knew how to avoid the ringing horses as they crossed the grasslands.

There was only one in the team who was a western face of the continent, but it was a blonde woman, and judging by her dress, she might have been a maid slave. This is also a characteristic of the Salander people, and it is not a big deal.

Speaking in the lingua franca of Kallad with a southern desert accent (though this lingua franca is only in circulation on half the continent), they told the captain that they were merchants from Salander, and that the carts were loaded with date meat and carpets. The captain checked it and found that there was really no problem. However, he still complained that the other party came too late, and let them pass him to punish himself.

The other party understood what he meant, and the soldier with his back to him stuffed him with a few small silver coins to make it easier for him to do so.

He told them that the money was not enough to invite his brother to drink, and the merchant said that they did not want to stay outside the city for the night, so he lifted a corner of the linen on the cart and asked him to pick a carpet.

The deal was settled, and he didn't let his men bother the merchants, and after greeting the patrolmen, he let them into the city.

Unbeknownst to him, the next day the merchants, in addition to selling their own goods, had secretly inquired about all the high-ranking officers in the city, and had ascertained the number of defenders of the city wall and the time of the change of guards.

Also the next day, Count Mateas's messenger arrived at the pass.

There was only a small camp of a few local soldiers and a few quarrymen, and it looked very shabby.

The messenger signaled their visit, and the soldiers laid down their dry bread and pickles and led him around the neighborhood.

The pass is covered with gravel and dead wood, as well as stones excavated from the mountains, and is about the height of the city's cathedral. As the city guard of Alfabe said, even if there are a thousand people, it will take several days to dig it up.

The messenger checked and saw nothing wrong. And the soldiers began to complain to him, saying that guarding this place was boring, and that supplies never arrived on time.

The messenger did not heed their complaints, gave them some brass plates as a reward, and rode away.

After about ten minutes, the soldiers couldn't see the messenger anymore.

They and the workers immediately pushed away a few large rocks from the corners of the ruins, removed two logs, and revealed a passage just long enough for a four-wheeled carriage to walk.

And a Salande caravan also approached the other side of the road.

"You're here at the right time, and we'll all be done sooner."

The Rhodok soldiers guarding the area made a joke and led the caravan through the passage, charging the toll like the guards at the gates of Viruga.

The bearded merchants in the caravan were fresh faces, and they claimed to have received the news from another group of merchants. However, they were generous, not only paying the toll of 50 dinars that were still in pursuit, but also giving each soldier 1 dinar, and they no longer asked where the other came from.

They told the merchants which road to take, where to be careful with the carriages, where patrols from other areas might pass by.

After he finished saying all the information that the other party wanted to know, the businessman, who had been listening carefully and had a good attitude, suddenly showed a fierce look, took out a short knife from his waist and plunged it directly into the soldier's neck without neck protection.

Other merchants drew their daggers, drew their scimitars from the spice bags and date baskets in their carts, and went on a killing spree in the camp.

Although these soldiers were confidants of the local lords, even the workers were trained. But how did the incident happen suddenly, and they were usually not equipped with any good equipment in order to pretend to be poor and confused The patrols sent by the city, so half of the people who attacked them on the other side were killed, and the whole army was wiped out in more than a minute.

The Salander mercenaries, disguised as merchants, immediately searched the camp and sent a man on horseback to report to Byron. Their army stayed outside the five caries, waiting for them to take it before marching.

They dug out a wooden box from the tent in the camp and opened it with the dead man's key. There is a toll of almost 600 dinars in it, it seems

When the messenger returned to Viruga, the Alfabe city guards were still chasing Rolf and his men.

In the past few days, he had chased almost 100 caries, fought them twice, and cut Rolf's force in half, while his own had less than 20 casualties.

Relying on the horses allocated to them by Count Mateas, they once again caught up with Rolf. In a clearing near a village, the winner will be determined.

Alfabe felt a little strange that the other party did not continue to flee after seeing them, but set up a position to engage them head-on, which was tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg.

However, he didn't think much about it, and let his soldiers dismount and set up a formation to surround the other party. In his opinion, he won this battle.

His thoughts did not change until the fierce sound of horses' hooves and the bright sound of bull's horns. And at this time, they become the weak side.

The villagers, who had been watching from afar, saw what was next.

They saw a large number of mounted cavalry cut into the Rhodok line from the flanks and rear, while a group of Kugit riders went around to the other side to cut off their rear, firing arrows continuously.

Faced with cavalry units outnumbered by their own infantry, and by bandits who had previously been surrounded by funds, the infantry was quickly overwhelmed.

Facing the heavy cavalry that surrounded him, Alfabe dropped his weapon and raised his hands......

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