A farmer suddenly bent his back, like a meerkat, he raised his head and looked around vigilantly, while beside him, the two children behind him, one was the eldest between a teenager and a young man, and the other was a second son who walked and clicked, also raised their heads with him, but they didn't see anything, "Daddy......" After waiting for a while, the eldest son could not help but shout that their work for the day was not over, and that they would not be able to work in their own fields without finishing the lord's portion, and that because their father, despite repeated hesitation, had resolutely refused to grow "tobacco" in his own fields, the stewards and overseers were very dissatisfied, and if they were given an opportunity, they would be whipped a few times. If a few years ago, those vicious fellows might have been merciful because of lack of labor, and only made them suffer, but now because of the relationship of cheap slaves, these people are more and more ruthless and ruthless.

The farmer glanced at his eldest son, who knew more than the children, and knew that their lords would prefer to take back the land, drive them out, or buy them as slaves, and in fact the more sensible way was to obey the orders of the grown-ups, whether they were to grow tobacco or wheat, or even if they were to plant thorns in the land. But he had the good fortune of learning to read and write with the village priest Ilmut, and he was more knowledgeable, so even though the stewards claimed that they would buy those "things" for a pound of wheat for a pound of tobacco, the farmer remained unmoved, and he even thought that when the autumn and the crops were ripe, he would try to hide in the jungle after paying his taxes.

Behind him, his eldest son couldn't help but yawn, he raised his hand and rubbed his face, he only felt that his hands and feet were weak, and his spirit was weak, was he sick?

Soon, the man who aroused the farmer's alarm appeared on the other side of the dusty road, and the farmer waved his hand, and his eldest son immediately picked up his younger brother and disappeared into the wheat field, and the farmer also crept down carefully—a habit that has only been in recent years, and who knows who will come? Even the knights and soldiers of their lords, when no one notices, will easily rob a few poor civilians, and when they leave this village and go to another village or city, they will be sold as slaves to the merchants, and they will never return to their own homes and never see their relatives - of course the lords do not want to see this happen, but who can refuse the shiny gold coins, and the lord can't, anyway, his territory is missing the population, so it will be made up from the territory of other lords.

The farmer didn't know what a vicious circle was, but as time went by, the danger became more and more serious, and he saw it with his own eyes, although he was lucky not to lose himself, his wife or his children, but there was a family in the neighborhood who went out to do things, and only his husband escaped, even if he went to appeal to the steward, the answer he got was ambiguous and vague - They are stupid and lowly commoners, but they also know that there must be a hidden shadow in them, but what can they do, the knights and lords may be expecting them to rebel, and then they will be executed or enslaved for rebellion, and they will be in the hands of the nobles.

The people were moving quickly, they rode horses, and there were two wagons, loaded with goods covered with black coarse cloth, and the wagons were each dragged by four Moorish horses, and generally speaking, this kind of hard-working, powerful but slow horses only needed one horse for a caravan, and the need for two horses only meant that the weight of the caravan was much greater than that of ordinary kinds, and the farmer's eyes looked through the gaps in the wheat, and found that the rut was as deep as a ditch, and that the caravan had only goods and no people— He looked again at the men who rode horses, and they were not moors, but tall and intelligent cypresses, which were usually found only with formal knights, and were of great price, and were draped in neat harnesses, and their saddles and bridles, though not adorned with gold, silver, and precious stones, were evident to be made of fine calfskin, and the metal rings and buckles were of brass and were unusually polished. As for the knights, they were all dressed in softly colored leather armor, carrying bows and arrows, and hanging broadswords or daggers, one of them was particularly strong, like a bear entrenched on his horses, their cloaks were uniform, and their long underwear and leggings were very similar in color and material—and so on, and there was even a man in a robe among them, who seemed to glance unintentionally at where the farmer was, and the farmer bowed his head in horror, not daring to peep any further— Could it be a spellcaster? The farmer had met the mages, they were terrible, but they were also extremely expensive, and even their lord could not keep one by his side for long, but not so often, he would still try to "entertain" After passing through the casters here, if the mage can't do it, then his disciples and apprentices can too, but it's a pity that the latter two can't act independently without the permission of the master, not to mention, the lord here only has a small city, three villages, and he has to support a mage unless he drains every drop of blood in the territory.

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What the farmer saw was Cremar and his party.

It is almost impossible to continue to venture into the southern countries as an adventuring party, especially those like Monton and Coma, who will also be wary and keep an eye on every outsider - especially the rangers, if not Kerryben, who are almost always on the side of neutrality or goodness, and those who believe in Suron, Rosada or Ilmort will not be friends with the thieves. But mercenaries are different, because of the relationship between the lord and the knights, they urgently need outside assistance, if there are no in-laws, no allies, then only gold can be easily summoned or sent mercenaries have become the best choice.

Afra is familiar with this, after all, when she found and took away those Flo priests, she disguised herself as mercenaries and infiltrated many countries more than once - if adventurers still have honor and faith to maintain, then except for a few large mercenary groups that have established themselves (such as Crefa), mercenaries have little credibility and morality to speak of, in fact, they are similar to thieves and assassins, they are all miscellaneous people who are accustomed to walking in the dark- For this reason, they walk a little more and are easier to cover than adventurers and rangers, they are more numerous, and their professions are quite varied, you can find any kind of people among mercenaries, even dwarves and gnomes occasionally haunt them.

Cremar and they were also disguised to a certain extent, especially Kerry's long hair like soft gold, and the elven rangers did not hesitate to cut them short to the base of their ears, and then dye them dark brown, put on a turban, hide their ears, and Afra came up with some potions, which could be applied to the skin to make the skin dull, rough, and weather-resistant—this was also one of the products of the Priests of Flo, and many times they relied on this to escape stubborn suitors and even kill themselves. Eloch and Lucieux did the same, while Cremar was rejected, "The casters were almost all pale," Afra explained, "Maybe not, but most people's impressions of mages are the same, and let's not change them." ”

Afra's change was the greatest, the potion she used turned her soft skin into a swarthy color, the hair on her forehead hung down loosely, covering the jewel eyes, she deliberately layered many pieces of clothing on her body, the colorful colors, messy collars, tassels and belts made people can't help but look away at the sight - it hurts to see it, she put big earrings on her ears, and her voice suddenly became sharper, "After the lords of the Dragonfire Islands fled," she said: " There are quite a few eunuchs left behind, and if they don't die, almost all of them are mixed in with the mercenaries, or serve as the leaders of the mercenaries, or act as spies, or maybe both, and I think the nobles here must be willing to really understand how the two things they crave, slaves and 'tobacco', work. ”

Ugly Chicken was the simplest one, and if she didn't say it, no one would be able to tell that she was a woman and not a man, and she even managed to get a mustache that covered half of her face.

"We came from the Dragonfire Islands, and our previous master was the lord of Xizhi, and after he was attacked by the Normans of the Highlands, we succeeded in ensuring that he was able to return to land with most of his possessions and children," Afra said as he rode his horse leisurely, fabricating their origins: "Later, because he could no longer employ us, the original Grand Mercenary Regiment split into several squads, and we were one of them. ”

"Is that mercenary group the one called 'Black Fire'?" Adel asked with a smile, "I remember their leader still in Crefa's prison. ”

"It's not just him," said Afra, "even the lords of Xizhi are there, and their mercenaries and slaves are almost all dead and wounded, so to be able to point out that we are not Blackfire, at least not here." ”

Kerry smiled and flipped the badge in his hand, this badge that on the surface has been tried his best to create, but in the details it is shoddy, it is in line with the identity of the mercenaries, their status is humble, even if the lords of the Dragonfire Islands have the dwarfs to work for, they would rather the gnomes build a folding barbecue grill than the badge of the mercenary group, maybe the leader's one is, but the subordinates will only be inferior imitations of humans.

"There's a problem. Lucieu said, "If the lord here asks us to do something...... What about evil things?"

"Then give him a price that doesn't sound very good. Afra replied quickly.

"What did he give?"

"Then we'll do it—but how," said Afra, "it's our business—it's a place full of dangers, and the mercenaries are a pack of wolves, and it won't be the first time, nor will it be the last, when the mercenary and the hired have conflicts, conflicts, and then one of them bleeds to death." Then, Afra thought, we might be able to walk among the nations in the name of the Black Fire, and a lean and mighty team would soon attract the attention and coveted of the people, and perhaps what they needed would appear to them on their own without them exploring.

"But be more careful," Eloch intervened between the two girls at the right time, "and it may be much more dangerous than outright hostility." ”

"The point is," Afra said, looking at her guardian, "I don't think there's anything else that threatens us. She said, "But I wish my Highness all the best." ”

Lucie turned her head in exasperation, and Eloch could only shake her head, but by this time, the town was not far from them.

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Because of a little delay in the afternoon, the farmer did not take his sons back to his house until the stars crossed the sky, and their house was, of course, extremely simple, with mud brick walls, wood and straw roofs, pigs, chickens and people living together, and there was no partition in the room, and there was a pit in the middle, in which there was firewood, and a pot was hung, and the paste in it was their dinner.

"Do you know?" said the farmer's wife, as soon as she saw that he had finally sat down, "the next door has bought a slave." ”

The farmer glared at her, "It's not a good thing to enslave others. He said that knowing that his wife had always wanted to buy a few slaves, and that they had saved up a little money, and that they had wanted to buy a ploughing ox, but that the slaves were getting cheaper, she could not help but be impressed: "Dispel this thought, old woman," and he said, "We should go and buy a cow." ”

"But it's a slave girl," his wife whispered, "and he said he wanted her to have children." ”

"Are they married, then?" said the farmer's eldest son, who had grown up and longed for a wife.

"Not really. The farmer's wife said, "That's just a slave." ”

"If that's the case," said the eldest son, "they don't have to pay the marriage tax either?"

For a moment, the farmer's resolve was shaken, and though the Reverend Ilmut had said that slavery was an unforgivable sin, the marriage tax was very heavy—an iron pot in which the newlywed girl could sit, if the fee could be waived...... They have three sons.