After leaving his home in Ekirsun, Byron returned to the tavern and rented a room. He deliberately chose the one with the window facing the stable, if nothing else, so that he could wake up immediately when someone attacked his beloved horse and climb through the window to protect his horse.

As the night wore on, Byron went upstairs with a light meal. Chickpea stew in a large pot is the best dish that a country crappy chef can make. A piece of goat's cheese, which tastes as smoky as an old goat, is barely acceptable to eat with bread mixed with chaff and grit. A bag of red wine is the most expensive of the meal, but even then it doesn't taste good.

A meal that the nobles didn't even want to touch was a delicacy for Byron, who had been on the run for days and was hungry. He devoured the food on his plate, drank red wine, and ate like a beggar on the street.

After swallowing all the food in his stomach and drinking for a while, the moon had risen high in the sky. Byron let out a long breath, lay down on the bed contentedly, ripped off his boots, and closed his eyes to enjoy the rare rest.

But before he could fall asleep, the angry hiss of the thunder startled him, and he even forgot to put on his shoes, grabbed the sword and jumped out of the window. Although the room was on the second floor, the haystack downstairs was piled up until it reached the windowsill, so Byron was not injured, but rolled down in some embarrassment and fell to the ground, with a lot of dead grass and horse manure on his body.

He rushed to the man who was pulling the reins, brandished his armed sword, and when the other man saw that the situation was not good, he ran and ran into a fellow who was sleeping in the stable. He pushed the guy away, but while running, he accidentally tripped over his leg and fell into the mud. Byron seized the opportunity to hold him down and dagger him to the chest with his sword. The other travelers and the tavern guards who were awakened by the sound rushed out with their fellows, all of whom thought that the robbers were stealing their horses. And the guy who was held down by Byron was indeed dressed in light armor with a knife at his waist, much like the outfit of those bandits. They immediately raised torches and searched] sounded the alarm, and for a moment the whole town was in chaos.

After some tossing, it was discovered that this guy was just a regular customer in the tavern, and the tavern owner explained that this guy was an out-of-town traveler, and he owed him a sum of money for drinking and gambling, so he was left by the boss to work as a handyman to pay off the debt. As a result, this kid won a few dice games at night, drank a lot, and even remembered Byron's horses, and I really don't know whether it was because he drank too much and did not come to Hu Lai, or if he had premeditated.

When the truth was known, everyone present was very unhappy, and the whole town was alarmed, and it turned out to be just a horse thief. The guards who had hurried over were also very dissatisfied, and arrested the drunk, saying that they were going back to interrogate him if he had any complicity with the robbers, but in fact everyone knew that they were going to beat the guy up in anger. But so what, it's none of their business anyway, and after a while everyone disperses. Byron was relieved and went back to sleep after complaining to his boss. In return for the capture of the horse thief and compensation for the frightened, the boss waived Byron of all room and board.

"This bastard, let me make a lot of money less!"

Seeing that guy was taken away by the soldiers, the boss quenched at his back, full of dissatisfaction. Byron looked like a rich mercenary, and ordered the best wine in his shop at dinner in the evening, which was a good thing, and the money that the guy owed him might not be able to be repaid, and he made less money. In desperation, he had no choice but to vent his anger on the hapless fellow, scolding him, and warning him that if anything happened to the guest's horse, he would be swept up and gone.

After some tossing, Byron finally fell asleep, and slept until noon the next day. After a brief tidying up, he went downstairs, where the tavernkeeper had found the men for Byron had arrived, and they were crossing their fingers to pass the time.

Byron came up to them, explained his identity, and then looked at them. As the boss had said, the three brothers were strong, one of them was taller than Ekirsson, fat but had strong arm muscles, and Byron believed that if he was given an axe, he would be able to bring down three fully armed Svadian recruits. There are also two people whose bosses have not mentioned before, they have also done the business of licking blood at the tip of a knife, but it is not very glorious, they do a living by making wine bowls from other people's heads, and they have been unlucky. After washing their hands, the two of them returned to their hometown to farm, but they always felt that they didn't make enough money. When they heard that a rich mercenary captain needed some help, they rushed to the scene.

"Give them some mead and some food."

Before they could negotiate, Byron asked for some cheap food and drink, which undoubtedly raised their status and made them feel more good about themselves.

"So, you want someone to escort you to the carriage?" A former Haikou took a big sip of mead, smacked his lips, and asked curiously.

"The world is not good now, everything is a tight sale. The salt of Wocheze, the smoked fish and slaves of Tiha, and the flax of Saggs could make a fortune as long as they were shipped abroad. Byron had thought of this statement based on previous experience, and this set of words worked at any time, because after so many years of war in Calradia, there was no place that was not plagued by scarcity, and these words always ignited the desire for wealth and made him believe that Byron was an expert.

"Yes, as long as it can be shipped abroad, you can make a fortune. Hearing this, the former seaman grinned, of course he knew which goods were the best-selling, because it was these things that he had captured the most when he had plundered caravans. His meaning was also obvious, Byron had a good idea, but he had to have the ability to slip under the nose of the robber pirates, or fight him, otherwise no amount of money would go into someone else's pocket.

"Brother, I know what you mean, I've been working as a mercenary before, guarding caravans, and I know how much trouble there is along the way. That's why I've hired Ekilsund, and if you join us, then we'll be able to go all the way to Živa and pack up our money. Besides, what about the robbers, we make no less money from those captives and booty than the merchants pay me. Byron said with a smile.

"Ekilsun? This old stubborn came out of the house? Several of the people present were surprised to hear Byron's words, and then fell into deep thought.

"Well, Captain, you're driving on good terms, and Ekilsson agrees to help you... I think you can be our leader. When you leave and where you want to go, it's up to you. ”

Soon, they came to an agreement to join Byron's ranks. The two pirates had a set of equipment of their own, and they didn't try to sell them even in the most difficult of times. As for the three Great Bear brothers, as reserve soldiers of Jarr, they had sharpened axes and shields and helmets at home, and Byron only had to buy them a few sets of chain mail. In just one day, he had once again gone from being a bare-bones commander to a small and powerful mercenary captain, several times stronger than when he first hired new recruits.

Of course, this is inseparable from the gold and silver in Byron's pocket.

But that's not all they brought to Byron, and when Byron didn't have any hope of asking them if they knew who knew the way, the pirate gave him an answer.

"Guide? I don't know a full-time guide. But I know of a man who has traveled all over Calradia, and we have heard many stories from him. Unfortunately, this guy was arrested as a horse thief last night. ”

Five minutes later, Byron left the tavern and led the men to the barracks where the town's soldiers were stationed.