At the end of May, farmers begin to harvest the oats planted in the spring.

When the cloudless sky was blue and the temperature rose, the scythe-carrying farmers put on their short clothes and walked down the road in twos and threes, leaving in the morning and returning to the village with oats at noon.

These crops, which can be harvested after three months, are usually not for human consumption, but are basically used as food rations for livestock as long as they are old. In the past, the villagers used to use the oats as a tax credit for the lords after harvesting, but now, the farmers are happy that they are all bought directly by Roddy at a slightly higher price-

Because Luo Di has already ordered dozens of military horses from several other villages, and these fodder are only exported to domestic sales.

Thanks to Luo Di, not only did he exchange his armor, but he also bought a large number of salt, cloth, pig iron and a series of things that could be traded with the villagers that could be circulated in the village, which barely supported his newly formed "team".

He paid out of his own pocket to improve the food of the soldiers, especially by increasing the supply of milk, meat, and eggs, and the cost of daily meals increased nearly tenfold compared to before—a move that the farmers were seriously puzzled by and even called "luxury", but Roddy ignored these and still demanded strict compliance with the scouts.

These changes began in early May, and from the beginning of June until the beginning of June, the scouts were immersed in this brutal "devil's training".

Ten laps around the village is a warm-up, and thirty laps are physical training; The weapon used in face-to-face training is no longer a wooden sword, but a real sword wrapped in cloth; In addition to one-on-one confrontation, there are also various coordination tactics and even hand-to-hand combat; The pounds of the short bow are getting bigger and bigger, and the target is getting farther and farther away.

Not only that, but every evening, they would also take a course called "Combat Quality Training", and the instructor was naturally Luo Di - the content taught, including all the combat awareness, tactical sign language, night contact code, tactical intentions, etc., was assessed every day, and every failed scout was punished for running ten laps of the village.

At first, the scouts suffered from coma, fainting, cramps, and other symptoms of intense training, but after a month, they were fully accustomed to the almost perverted training. Each scout's complexion has been tanned a lot, and each one has improved greatly in strength, stamina, and combat - and at the same time, the entire team has gradually condensed into a real "order-forbidden" atmosphere.

Everything was going according to Roddy's plan, and nothing happened to him... What made him strange was that Francis didn't seem to suspect him at all, and there was never a "stranger" in Nolan Village to ask about the orcs.

Although he felt strange in his heart, he didn't have too much energy to go to Hollier City to spy on the earl, but only learned from the occasional information that the other party was always holding back, so he was relieved - anyway, no matter how bold that guy was, he wouldn't dare to rush into the "Rosicrucifixion" monastery to kill people, and Roddy was much more relieved about Sally's situation at present.

By the beginning of June, the horses ordered by Roddy had basically been shipped to Nolan Village, and at the same time, the newly ordered bow-making materials had been collected, and Roddy had already begun to prepare to start making his own suitable short bows... But at this moment, an accident happened that caused the scouts of Nolan Village to stop their training......

June 3, Kerry Village.

Like Nolan Village, this small village on the border of the kingdom has a similar quiet atmosphere on this summer day, with the farmers busy in the fields, occasionally pointing to the distance and talking about something, the children at the entrance of the village playing, and the little girl's braids being pulled by the little boy hiding behind him, and then laughing and chasing.

Just after noon, the scouts belonging to the village of Cree were sitting in the shade of the trees at the head of the village, their uniforms with the coat of arms of the Rusifron family draped crookedly. Because of the hot temperature, they didn't bother to fasten their buttons, and some even threw their leather boots aside, lying barefoot on the haystack under the shade of the trees, covering their eyes with their arms covered, in a comfortable posture.

This is the norm of scouts, and the word "mixed rice" is perfect for them.

The captain named Hank took two sips of water bladders, leaned against the earthen wall, put his hand on the pergola and looked into the distance, and asked, "Hill, they haven't come back yet?" ”

"On a sunny day, I guess I'm suffering from heat stroke, right?"

The team member replied casually that a lazy atmosphere was the norm for this team. For them, all they can do in this life is to spend their days like this day by day - the backward life and the barrenness of book knowledge, and even the fact that most of them have not seen what a real city is like, makes them basically not have much imagination about the future.

"Hey, Captain Hank, I've heard that there's been a lot of movement in Nolan Village lately."

"Nolan Village? Scold. I don't know what the captain over there is crazy about, I heard that he ordered a lot of horses, and he had to ask for a good breed of military horses. I haven't heard of a new order from the old duke, maybe it's been spread randomly. ”

"A few days ago, I saw a lot of old guys happily carrying oats back, saying that Nolan Village was buying, and the money in exchange was more than the tax deductible, and I didn't know if it was true or false."

"Heh, it looks like you've bought a lot of horses? Hey. Do you have to feed it with oats, is it really a lot of money and nowhere to spend it? Could it be that Lord Kirk wants to fight, he secretly engages in these things, can the old duke not know the way? ”

"Well, old duke. It's been a long time since I've been here, didn't Master Francis and Miss Sally have been here in the first place, if it hadn't been for that incident, it would have been-"

"Orc attack? Could this kind of thing be fake? They say they have noses and eyes, but no one sees real orcs, this kind of thing. ”

Captain Hank waved his hand and said loudly: "Okay, okay, we can't care about the real or fake, and now these old men don't want to see any mess, so." ”

"Captain, they seem to be back."

The guy who was looking into the distance interrupted Captain Hank's words, he sat up from the haystack, shook his clothes covered with grass clippings, stretched, and looked into the distance again, "Heh, isn't it just that I'm coming back a little late, isn't it because they're all learning how to line up in a line?" Hey, these rammers really think they're knights..."

Because of the rising temperature, the figure on the distant horizon was a little unrecognizable due to the distorted air, but it would not be someone else who could come at this time, and the scouts didn't care, Captain Hank clapped his hands and motioned for everyone to get ready for the afternoon patrol, tightened the saber that had not been drawn for a long time, and when he brought his horse, his eyes looked into the distance again.

This time, he noticed something unusual.

"What's that?"

A scout on horseback suddenly asked.

No one answered their question, because the dark shadows that appeared in the distance were not at all the team that Captain Hill had imagined, but a large group of strong men rushing across the grassy slopes in the dark—the mounts that rose and fell as they galloped didn't look like war horses, but. Wolf?

"No, it won't. This is. Wolves? ”

"Wolf...... Wolf cavalry? Orcs? ”

The discussion came to an abrupt end, and the scouts couldn't quite accept the scene in front of them - the contrast between the topics that had just been discussed and which seemed to be extremely far away from them had become reality in an instant, and the contrast made their heads collectively stunned for a moment.

Just as they were hesitating, the team in the distance had already begun to sprint with all their might, and although the dozens of wolves that clearly appeared in the field of vision were not as tall as war horses, their erect hair, sharp teeth like knives, and orcs holding scimitars and huge clubs behind their backs all explained their true identities.

Wolf cavalry, the most feared mobile unit of the orcs.

"Run. Run! What are you doing in a daze?! Retreat—"

Hank opened his mouth, and the words that were originally "ready to fight" were finally unspoken because of the timidity in his heart—there were only nine scouts around him, and the other party. There are thirty powerful orc warriors riding wolves! The consequences of rushing up to fight can be understood on your knees!

This sentence made the scouts lose their morale at all... Or rather, they themselves never had much morale - when the wolf cavalry was still a kilometer away from the village, the scouts on horseback scattered in a hurry, and there was no sense of resistance.

"Enemy attack! Run! Run—"

Some scouts did not forget to warn the villagers loudly, but they also knew in their hearts that such warnings would not have much effect.

At the entrance of the village, there were two little girls with braids who finally caught up with the boy who pulled her braids, she was panting and saying something, but the boy replied with a grimace, the girl pouted and wanted to twist the other party's nose, the boy smiled and wanted to dodge... Then, their movements were interrupted by the sound of dull footsteps.

The two turned their heads curiously, and on the road that crossed the village, some guys appeared that they had never seen before. The soldiers with hideous faces on the back of the wolf swept away like a black wave, and in the billowing smoke, the weapons in their hands were waving mercilessly.

The little boy was stunned, as if he remembered something, and wanted to drag the girl behind him who was already scared stupid to run away, but as soon as he turned around, the blood-stained long knife had already torn through the air and slashed straight at him.

"Poof—"

The broken corpse flew out of the coffin, blood splattered on the ground, and the frightened screaming girl tried to escape, but was smashed directly in the chest by a wooden stick that then crossed the air - the small body was almost smashed out of the coffin by this blow, and the twisted body rolled to the ground, and was soon crushed by the whistling wolf, and she could no longer see the original appearance.

The orc, riding the strongest wolf, slowly stopped in the square in the center of the village, but in his hand was the head of the steward of Kree Village.

Throwing the head on the ground, the orc stood by the low wall where the scouts had been not long ago, and the orc behind him was reporting what he had stolen.

Grains, dried meat, bread, oats...

"Take what you can take, take what you can't... Set fires, burn everything, and leave nothing alive. ”

The orc who led the team looked at the village where the wailing was fading, and whispered: "Xhosa will not live up to the expectations of Lord Sarota, you must remember that the blood debt will be paid in blood!" ”