The twilight was blank, and the day was contending with the darkening night, which was huddled and clung to the sun, covering the earth with its thick, damp can.

In the early morning, a gentle ray of sunlight entered the room through the open window, and Hantus rubbed his red and swollen eyes, he felt that his head was still dizzy after drinking a little too much in the past two days.

When he had just gone to the window and stretched, he found that a delicate breakfast had been prepared on the wooden table beside him, with barley sweetened bread, roasted grouse, warm milk, and even the rare sand fruit.

The sand fruit is an expensive fruit, produced on the edge of the desert of Salander, and must be transported through the distant desert and plains, and must be shipped before the fruit is ripe, otherwise it will rot, and it must be used in a special carriage that is easy to dry, so it is very expensive, and it is not tasted by the rich.

Surprised, Hantus called the bartender. "What's going on?"

The bartender told him, "This is a young gentleman who has prepared it for you, and he has already paid for your room, and he asked me to give you this note." The bartender took out a folded piece of parchment from his bosom.

Hantus took the note from the other man's hand and asked, "What does he look like?"

"He buried his head in his hood, and I didn't see his face clearly," replied the bartender, "but he looked thin, not very tall, and wore a black cloak." ”

After the bartender left, Hantus opened the parchment, leaving only a short word, an address. Hantus placed the note in the corner of the table and sat down on the bench in front of him to enjoy the hearty breakfast laid out in front of him.

"Hantus. A loud voice rang out from the hall of the tavern.

When he heard his name called out behind him, Hantus, who was about to step out of the tavern door, stopped and turned sideways to look at the unfamiliar face behind him. "You are?"

He found that the man was tall and burly, with a pair of big eyes on his square face, which were bright and bright, thick black eyebrows, which revealed a heroic spirit between the eyebrows, two lips that were often pursed, revealing a confident expression, and two hooks under the straight nose, which showed a resolute and strong face.

"It's really you," Victor said with some excitement, "damn it, I should have recognized it that night..."

Without waiting for him to finish, Hantus interrupted, "I'm sorry for this friend, but let me take the liberty of asking, who are you?"

Victor strode up to Hantus, who was about his own height, and he frowned and reminded him, "Do you remember that 15 years ago, at the head of the city of Zhiwacheze, we leaned against the wall and shared a piece of black and hard bread?

"Victor?" replied Hantus without thinking. "Is that you?" how could he forget! The comrade-in-arms who risked his life countless times to save his life, the comrade who fought side by side with him and defended the city wall.

"That's right, it's me. Victor said in a somewhat mocking tone, "I thought our Virgian hero had forgotten about me as a nobody." ”

"I'm not a hero," Hantus said with a frown and a slightly embarrassed expression, "I won't forget you, but... I haven't seen you all these years, and you've changed so much. ”

"Are you saying I'm getting old?"

"I didn't say that. ”

"Come on! That's what you mean. Victor looked him up and down carefully and then laughed loudly, "I haven't seen you for so many years, and you have changed a lot, if it weren't for the fact that you showed your skills in public that night, I really wouldn't dare to recognize you." ”

Hantus asked, suspiciously, "How did you end up here?"

The corners of Victor's mouth twisted bitterly and said, "To survive." What about you?"

"It's all the same. ”

Victor invited, "Are you free?"

Hantus politely refused, "This will not work, I have to go out and do something." After a pause, he added, "In the evening, when I get back, we will have a good get-together." ”

"Okay, then I'll be waiting for you here. ”

After Hantus left the tavern, Resarit, who was sitting at the bar counter, approached Victor and said, "Head, he is the sharpshooter who shot the Nord leader with a poisoned arrow at the head of the city of [Rivacheze]?"

"Yes," replied Victor in a firm tone, "though he never admitted it, I am sure that he shot the arrow." ”

Resarit asked in a low voice, somewhat confused, "This title will bring him honor, wealth, and even titles and domains, so why would he turn everything out of his fingers?"

"That's because you don't know him. "Just as I don't know what he's thinking.

When Hantus had eaten and drunk and was fully armed, he came to the address on the note, and he saw a somewhat emaciated man in a black cloak and hood sitting in a clearing in the woods, which matched the characteristics described by the bartender at the time.

The battle-hardened Hantus was aware of the risks, but he was a man of great courage. "I'm a retired veteran, and a mercenary who has been around for many years," he thought to himself, "There are a lot of acquaintances on the road, and no one dares to mess around with him here, right?"

"Thank you for your generosity," asked Hantus politely, stepping forward, "but do we know each other?"

The man got up and said, "I want to compare my archery skills with you, friend!"

When Hantus heard this answer, he was a little stunned at first, but then reacted and said in a flat tone: "Okay!"

I saw the man throw an apple into the sky, and then suddenly drew his bow and raised his hand with an arrow......

After a few breaths, an apple with an arrow in it fell!

Hantus smiled slightly, took a copper coin from his bosom, threw it vigorously, and then, with a single shot, he nailed the coin to a tree with an arrow.

"Well, you've won!" the man lifted his hood, revealing a delicate face, blue eyes, and long blond hair—the face of a middle-aged beauty!

She has long golden curly hair, like a golden waterfall, lined with a fair melon seed face, under a slightly upturned nose, there are two pink rose-like soft lips, and a pair of slightly green blue eyes flashing with the glimmer of a spring in the forest......

Hantus looked a little crazy with his eyes wide open, he had never seen such a beautiful woman, as beautiful as an angel in a dream!

"I'm Tuchu Ireli!" the woman looked at Hantus with a shocked face, then smiled and said, "I need your help!"

"I don't know what I can do for you. "Hantus remembered this woman, who was known as the 'Queen of Snow Ridge', a famous aristocratic woman who not only had an angelic appearance, but was also famous for her martial arts and archery in the Snow Ridge Mountains.

Her background is even more interesting, her family was a not-so-well-known minor lord in the east of the Kallad Empire, whose ancestors had played some credits in the Eastern conquests during the reign of Emperor Wells Augustus, and then was appointed as the eastern lord of the empire from a civilian officer, in a small immigrant village in the mountains, where there were Kugit and Vigias and some poor Karad people in the East.

Hundreds of years have passed, and this small castle has been almost forgotten, even as the Kujit people migrated here, even if the Karad Empire became the Swadia Kingdom......

After countless historical changes, this place is still peaceful!

The reason is simple, this is a remote and barren place that is easily forgotten, located in the easternmost col of the 'Bobhel Snowy Mountains' mountain range, where the northeastern snowfields and the eastern plateau are guarded, and this castle is called "Château de la Lague"!

With the eastern part of the empire almost completely occupied by the Kugits and the northeast occupied by the Virgians, the lord of Fort Lerag surrendered to the Kugits on May 23, 1233.

At this moment, the Kugit people were very surprised, they hardly knew about this remote snowy hill town, at that time Gerak Khan did not care about this poor and remote small place, this place was almost worthless to the Kugit people, so he agreed to surrender, and let them forever be the lord of [Fort Lerag]!

As a result, Alex Lucius, the then lord of Fort Lerague, changed his name to a Kugit name, Tuchu Alex. Putting the surname in front is a custom of the Kujit people.

This woman is Alex's only daughter, Tuchu Ireli. The reason why she came here was to hire a person with strong martial arts skills for her father, as the city lord's bodyguard and the head of the peasant army.

"I want to hire you as head coach of Le Ragher, and I hope you won't refuse. "Tuxu Ireli is not only beautiful, but also has a good martial arts in a barren mountain town!

"I'm just a mercenary, and whoever pays me, I give my life. ”

Ireli directly offered the price, "20 dinars a month, plus endless wine." ”

Hantus listened to the woman's offer and agreed without hesitation. "And when are we going?"

20 dinars is equivalent to two years of hard-earned money for a family of four, and even a top mercenary rarely gets paid so well. What's more, it is a beautiful difference that does not need to sleep in the open without eating and sleeping, and there is no need to fight with others.

"Now. ”

"My clothes are still in the tavern, my ......"

"When you get to Le Rague, you'll have clothes that suit who you are," Ireli wouldn't let him finish, "Alright, let's go!"

"No, I can't go yet," said Hantus, still insisting, "I need to go back to see my old friend, and I must say goodbye to him." ”

"I'll be waiting for you here this time tomorrow. "On this war-torn continent, the biggest beneficiary is a free man without faith like a mercenary, whether it is a god or a demon is no different for a mercenary, the countries on the continent of Calradia will hire formed mercenaries to fight, as long as the price is right, they will do anything.

Live a life of licking blood all day long, most of them are soldiers who are obsessed with war or veterans who have achieved nothing after retiring, the swords in their hands have become a tool for them to make money, as long as they are alive, they have money to earn, they have to spend their lives, they eat when they are hungry, they are sleepy and sleepy, and the life that mercenaries want is so simple.

In their spare time, these mercenaries who work hard for money will go to the tavern for a few drinks or spend the night in the brothel. The liquor sold in the taverns in Chanda City is getting more and more expensive, but the business in these taverns is still booming.

Every night, the defenders of Chanda City from different countries pack their weapons and are willing to come here to hear distant stories and news from their homeland, and of course no one will fully believe what they hear, there will always be more cowhide kings in the tavern than wine glasses.

Even in the summer, it is still cold at night, perhaps because of its location on the edge of the Vigian snowfields. The cold wind blowing from the northeastern snowfields blew uncontrollably against the guards who cowered behind the city walls.

Walking down the street, Hantus clasped his arms and strode towards the tavern in front of him, thinking that he would have to buy a warmer coat next time. As soon as he walked into the tavern, the peculiar atmosphere quickly made him forget about the cold. Maybe everyone is like this, that's why they want to come to the tavern!

At a table in the corner on the right side of the tavern, a preoccupied Victor was sitting there chatting with a few fellow mercenaries, and he had been staring at the tavern door when he saw the figure who had just advanced from the tavern door, and he raised his hand and shouted at the other party, "Hantus, here!"

When Hantus saw this, he walked over and sat down beside his fellow who had been born and died, and then he beckoned to the bartender, "A bottle of the strongest soyu." ”

At this time, several mercenaries sitting around Victor got up and left with great interest, and walked to a long table nearby and sat down, including those mercenaries who had been taught a lesson by Hantus with his fists and kicks two nights before.

Hank's left eye was still slightly swollen with a black circle, Roman's square nose was almost not broken by a punch, and several other mercenaries were also slightly injured, but fortunately none of them hurt much.

Hantus unscrewed the wine cork and first filled himself with a full glass, then he took the glass and poured a large sip of ale into his mouth, "Happy, really happy," he said after filling himself with another glass, "They're all your people?"

"Yes," said Victor, with a grim expression, "you beat them that night, and if you hadn't struck them with that arrow, I'm afraid they'd have fought you with them." ”

Hantus smiled a little awkwardly, "I drank too much that night, and I got excited on the spur of the moment," he glanced over at the mercenaries sitting at the other table, "Are your men all right?"

"This little injury is nothing to those of us who lick life from the knife point. Victor looked at his former companion with some concern and said, "You are really uneasy. ”