Chapter 7: The Dragon's Horn

The Castle of Shadows is located forty miles northeast of the Emerald City, halfway between the Emerald City and the Oxhorn Forest.

The castle doesn't cover a very large area, and its resident population is no more than seven hundred, most of whom are family members of the Dragon's Horn mercenary group.

According to the general rules of the Rios Continent, anyone who is a silver-level professional can obtain a noble title and receive a fief.

Even if the Emerald City is located in the wildest of the Northlands, this rule must be followed. Although Allen and the others set up a mercenary group and spent most of their time in adventures, they still have their own fiefdoms.

In the entire Dragon's Horn mercenary group, in addition to Allen, there are two silver-level professionals, the seventh-level heavy shield-bearer Todak, and the seventh-level arcanist Marianda.

The two men also obtained fiefdoms, and under the mediation of the three of them, the entire seven villages and towns near the Shadow Castle also became the territory of the mercenary group.

The Emerald City is located in the wildest northern part of the Hadma Empire, and is the three most important border cities on the border periphery of the Hadma Empire.

In the vast wilderness near the Emerald City, there are inaccessible forests everywhere, where countless fierce and brutal demonic beasts live, and from time to time they face the invasion of the orc tribes of the northern wasteland.

Because of its unique geographical location, the city became an outpost against the invasion of the orcs, and in addition to the 20,000 heavily armed regular troops stationed in the city, there were also 20,000 or 30,000 mercenaries active in the vicinity of the entire city.

The Dragon's Horn is one of the three major mercenary groups in the Emerald City, and although they have the smallest number of mercenaries, they have the strongest high-level combat power.

In addition to Allen's three silver-level professionals, there are as many as thirteen professionals in the entire mercenary group, and there are also three rare spell-casting professionals among them.

The entire Dragon's Horn Mercenary Regiment is divided into two squadrons, nine squads, and four special squads, with a total number of more than two hundred and sixty regular members.

Coupled with the logistics miscellaneous troops who are several times the number of them, the entire mercenary group is almost a small legion.

This time he ventured into the depths of the Horn Forest, and Alan almost all the elite soldiers were dispatched, except for a few masters who guarded the lair, almost all the elite generals joined it.

When everyone entered the castle, they saw Darui, a sixth-level archer, quietly jumping down from the city wall.

Darui is also the backbone of the mercenary group, and is the most powerful archer in the entire Dragonhorn mercenary group. He is currently the garrison officer of the Hidden Castle and the squadron leader of a mercenary squadron.

The Dragon's Horn Mercenary Regiment has two mercenary squadrons, one squadron is used to guard the lair Shadow Castle, and is responsible for protecting the safety of the villages and towns near the castle, and killing scattered demonic beasts that come across the border.

The commander of another mercenary squadron is Aberne, a sixth-level warrior, who is responsible for protecting cargo and maintaining the security of the road from Shadow Castle to Loki City, a border fortress of the Hadema Empire, for more than 500 miles.

In the vicinity of the Emerald City, there are three large mercenary groups like the Dragon's Horn, and they are scattered around the periphery of the Emerald City, and they are a very important and powerful force in the city. Each large mercenary group, like an independent military group, is the most important part of the border military system of the Hadma Empire.

Darui saw Catrod and Wood on the backs of Allen and Dondeley, and said nervously: "What, what's going on with these two guys, will there be irreparable sequelae?"

Don gave Darui a hard punch and said briskly, "I was hit by the mixed toxin, and I burned my internal organs, and the injury is more serious. But this time, we have harvested a lot of magic materials, and when the time comes, Lady Marianda will definitely be able to survive intact with several precious potions. However, it is estimated that he will not be able to participate in the major operation for three months. ”

Seeing Don say this, Darui suddenly relaxed. He patted Katerod's ass lightly and said to Alan playfully, "Every time I go out to act, this unlucky guy always gets hurt. This time it looks the worst, I'm afraid Sister Martina will get you in trouble. ”

Martina, the wife of Katerod, weighed more than 200 pounds and had a waist as thick as a bucket. For this fierce, murderous and pungent woman, Don En, these male mercenaries, have always had a lot of headaches.

Alan spread his hands and said helplessly: "You know Darui, I was also injured in this adventure and needed to rest for half a month. If Martina comes looking for trouble, let him go to Marianda, and my sweetheart will take care of it. ”

Knowing that Lady Marianda had a lot of terrifying rumors, Darui only felt his scalp tighten. This seventh-level arcanist is a cautious woman, and coupled with mysterious magical methods, Darui does not dare to make jokes about her.

Seeing Darui smiling awkwardly, Tang En pointed to the backpacks on everyone's backs and said, "This time the harvest is good, not only did I find the grass of the Kui Snake, but I also killed two adult Bighorn Aoi Snakes. In addition, a lot of magic herbs were found on the way, and the harvest this time was at least fifty gold coins. ”

Fifty Khadema Empire gold coins is already a lot of money. In the average barony within the empire, the annual income is only fifty gold coins. If you exclude miscellaneous expenses, the net income may be about ten gold coins.

For this adventure, although two people were injured, Alan was relatively satisfied. With a wave of his hand, he beckoned to several backbones in the castle and said, "Let's go, let's discuss how to divide this money." ”

Built at the foot of the valley, the Shadow Castle sits in the shadows almost all year round.

A group of more than a dozen people entered the basement of the Shadow Castle, which was even more sunless all year round, and even more eerie under the dim candlelight.

Everyone piled up all the magic materials they had harvested on a huge stone table, only to see Marianda appear in front of them like a ghost.

Among the mercenaries, it has always been the brothers who settle accounts.

Even within the same mercenary group, the distribution of loot is a very serious matter.

Marianda carefully examined all the items and said, "The two adult snake horns are in good condition, each worth twelve gold coins. The four small snake horns were not mature enough, and each one was two gold coins. The two snakeskins were somewhat damaged, adding up to six gold coins. The magic of the Magic Snake Bone is not pure, and it counts as one gold coin. One mature snake gallbladder is worth three gold coins, and the remaining four small snake gall bladders have a lower medicinal value, worth forty silver coins. The snake heart is also considered a material, but it is not very useful, adding up to thirty silver coins. I looked at the rest of the materials, they were not particularly precious, except for the grass of the sunflower snake, most of them were not worth a few dollars, and the total value was eleven gold coins. ”

"In general, the Marianda valuation is slightly cheaper. If these things are shipped into the interior of the Hadma Empire, the price should increase by 20%. Well, it's fifty-five gold coins. Eren made the final decision and set the value of the magic materials.