I don't need you to worry," Hantus disagreed, smiling a little disdainfully, "and with your men, I can still clean them up with ten or eight." ”

Victor glanced at him meaningfully and shook his head slowly, "You haven't changed at all over the years, your personality is still so straightforward, and you always don't care about the consequences." ”

Facing the commander who still cared about him, Hantus smiled and said, "Am I not alive and well? ”

Victor no longer talked to the old boy, he difled the topic and asked, "Where have you been all these years without news from you?"

"When the battle was over, like most soldiers, I was dismissed by the army," said Hantus, "and I returned to my hometown with my salary, and with the money I had earned my life, I built a few houses in the village, and lived a quiet and stable life." ”

Victor took over, "I went to the small village you said you used to talk about looking for you, but the people in the village said you were gone again. ”

"Then there was a group of snowy robbers who burned and plundered near the village, and the lord sent a team of mercenaries from Chanda to exterminate the bandits," Hantus poured another sip of wine into his throat, and continued, "Your Excellency knew that I had been a soldier and was familiar with the surrounding situation, so he sent me to follow these mercenaries to exterminate the bandits." Later—"

"—and then you became one of the mercenaries. Victor finished the following words for him.

Snow bandits are the main threat to law and order in the Virginia Plateau, and by being hunters, they apply their animal hunting skills to hunt and kill, even armed caravans need to be careful in the snowy fields. The javelins and bows of the snow bandits were deadly. They will suddenly approach their prey and attack.

"I have killed a Nord pirate with a heavy crossbow on the coast of Zhivacheze, and I have killed a snow leopard with an arrow in the easternmost snowfield," Hantus recounted, "and I will be a bounty hunter when there is no war, and I will divide a caravan with my fellow travelers when I am destitute." ”

"And what about your companion?" guessed Victor with a look of suspicion, "you're not going to tell me, are you alone now?"

"They're all dead," said Hantus, grimly. "At least in my heart, they're all dead. Hantus reminded himself that they had betrayed me, that they were not my companions, that they were all dead, dead...... Perhaps the word betrayal is not in their minds at all.

Victor was speechless, and after a while, he slowly spoke, "Haven't you thought about joining other teams?" he suddenly emphasized, "It is almost impossible for a person to survive in this continent where bandits are rampant and war-torn are endless. ”

"I thought about it, but now I don't need it. ”

This answer surprised Victor and puzzled him at the same time. "You're not going to be a mercenary?"

"You're right," Hantus told him, "I got a job from a noble woman this morning that I couldn't refuse. ”

"What kind of job is it?" asked Victor curiously, "and what kind of reward did she promise you so much that you couldn't refuse?" He wanted to say, "Brother, as long as you join my team, what she can give you, I can give you too."

"To be the head of her father, the lord of Kugit, as a guard and head of the sect," replied Hantus, with a dry laugh, "a monthly payment of 30 dinars, and above all a guarantee that I would have an endless supply of wine every day. ”

Victor didn't know what to say, and there was silence for a while, and he said, "This is indeed a good choice for you." He knew in his heart that this was exactly the errand that those of them who licked their lives dreamed of. He could no longer find a reason to force himself to invite his brothers, who had been born and died together, to join him. "Come, for our reunion, I salute you with this cup. ”

Hantus took his glass and drank it down. Victor filled their glasses with booze, "This one is for our parting." ”

In front of the bar in the tavern hall, Alleyn only drank two glasses, then lowered his head to look at the dagger in his arms, it was the relic of a dead mercenary, the dagger was polished to a bright point, the sharp edge of the knife scraped his hand, and the comfortable grip gave his hand a good feel.

At the end of his gaze, just as he was about to have another drink, Alleyne saw a lean young man in the tavern keep approaching the drunken mercenaries, and then stuffed something into his pocket, which was the mercenaries' money bags.

The quarrel between Hank the Big Man and Roman the Little Man caught the mercenaries' attention, and the half-drunk mercenaries shouted excitedly, unaware that a thief had taken their money bags with them.

The thief met Alleyne's gaze, as if nothing had happened, and he flashed out of the tavern as if nothing had happened, and Kress put away his dagger and chased after him.

The young man walked into an alley, which was a dead end.

Alleyne stopped, listening carefully to the sounds around him, until a man climbed over the low courtyard wall and landed behind him, he was not drunk, he had already prepared, and the moment the man landed, Ellen reacted.

"This is the most common sneak attack tactic that only a stupid thief like you can think of!" Alleyne took a step back, his elbow slamming into the man's chest, but instead of a young man's scream, a tall, stocky middle-aged man fell out under the impact.

Something fell to the ground, and by the faint lights of the street at night and the sound of landing, Alleyne was sure it was a single blade.

A sense of foreboding overflowed in the depths of Aren's heart. Immediately after, three strong men with weapons appeared in the dead end, and Ellen rolled on the spot to dodge the large wooden hammer that smashed it, and at the same time picked up the single knife on the ground.

The body of the first strong man fell to the ground under Alleyne's first slash. The second person rushed up right after, using a simple but practical move from years of mercenary experience, sideways to dodge the blade that slashed from above.

In the next moment, the wrist of the strong man holding the knife was firmly grasped by him, and he wanted to kick it from the bottom up, but after thinking about it carefully, it was a bit too cruel. The kick turned into a kick, and the strong man clutched his stomach and fell to his knees, his single knife also held in Alleyne's hand.

The last strong man who rushed forward waved the big wooden hammer in his hand, the heavy wooden hammer broke through Ellen's block, and the single knife in his right hand fell to the ground, he simply dropped the left hand to the ground, and rushed to the last strong man with his bare hands.

Ducking his head to dodge a horizontal blow, the strong man's head was hit hard by Alleyne's punch, and the movement of his hands slowed down. There was no chance to be missed, Alleyne's right hand touched his waist, and then he rushed forward, straddled his right leg behind the strong man, and tripped him with a simple trick that a child would have.

However, one of these moves is something that a child can't, and while tripping the strong man, Alleyne's right hand holds the dagger he has just drawn, and the sharp blade brushes the strong man's ankle, and he will never be able to stand up.

The young man curled up in the alley with a few money bags in his arms, looking at each other tremblingly.

Alleyne stepped forward slowly, pulled a total of six money bags from his trembling arms, and then uttered a sentence like all rich young masters. "It's not easy for you, come here, I'll give you something. ”

The young man obediently came over, but what Alleyne gave him was not money, but a heavy punch.

By the time he collapsed into the alley with black eyes and bright red foam, Alleyne had already turned away, leaving him with only two words, and those two words were scum.

Alleyne pushed open the door of the tavern, and the mercenaries who were anxiously searching for the money bag were embarrassed to retrieve the money bag he had taken back one after another. He then joined the mercenary companions in a drink, and got drunk as usual. As mercenaries, they cherish this hard-won vent.

Memories were like a necklace with broken threads, and when Alleyne opened his eyes again, it was already the next morning.

Quickly put on his equipment, he went to the owner of the tavern to get the flag entrusted to him to keep, most of the mercenaries woke up, and the faces of the mercenaries who had woken up returned to their former calm, without the excitement, happiness, and sadness of being drunk.

All because they are mercenaries, they must face their fate. That is, to face the impending death at every moment with courage and calmness.

When this moment really came, as mercenaries, like all mercenaries on the mainland, they did not make friends with anyone, they depended on each other for life and death, but they did not have the slightest friendship. All this is just to lay down the tears of the living when the dead are gone.

The team set off after breakfast, and Ellene, like many mercenaries, silently repeated his fantasies in his heart, which could also be called pursuit, which was just an excuse for the mercenaries to fill the spiritual emptiness. But he persevered.

The team left Chanda, and Ellen walked in the vanguard column, answering his questions with the simplest answers, as he had done for years. "I hope that one day, I can protect all the weak and the right. At that moment, maybe just for a second, Alleyne really longed for this ideal to become a reality.

The sunshine without clouds was particularly bright in the summer, and Ellen's mind jumped to the dead mercenary companions in the many wars he had been a mercenary in the past few years, which made his otherwise calm breathing a little nervous, and he closed his eyes and silently reminded himself.

"To cherish everything that is alive is to regret everything that has passed. Alleyne brushed the flashes that flashed through his mind with the words an old mercenary had told him. The gray figure that had once lived beside him, with its bright and soft glow, faintly emerged from behind a narrow cloud outside the calm mercenary, and then hid in the faint purple mist around it.

On the low rolling hills, seedlings of wheat, barley and oats are bursting out of the dark ground and growing vigorously. On the slopes below the snow-capped peaks, herds of cattle and sheep are grazing on delicious green grass, and sometimes you can see tall horses that symbolize the snowfields of Vegia.

It is undoubtedly rich, but it is also full of troubled land, as evidenced by the occasional sight of depleted farmland.

The mercenaries slowly walked along a gravel path with a wide and long river, the You River, on the left side, and a lush forest on the other, where a few birds could occasionally be seen flying out of the woods into the blue sky.

Ressarit rode slowly to the front of the group on a black warhorse, and Victor, riding a snowfield warhorse, rode alongside him. They keep a certain distance from the dense forest, in case of sudden cold arrows or thrown axes in the woods.

Victor's mount is one of the finest breeds of horses on the Calradian continent, while the horse on which Ressarit sits is an extremely ordinary steppe horse, which is used by the light cavalry of Vegia, Kugit, and Swadia, which is fast, enduring, and has a wide range of food sources.

At this moment, the steppe horse, in addition to carrying a heavily armed Ressarit, carried a gun carriage and a crocodile leather pocket, which was full of gold coins, and a heavy cavalry gun on the gun rack.

Victor wears a chain plate composite armor, a covered helmet on his head, scale armor gloves on his hands, and an elite cavalry shield on his back. In order not to be scratched and punctured by some broken armor, Victor specially put on a light leather armor inside.

Beneath the narrow cavalry shield was a huge battering crossbow, the personal collection of Marshal Voldra Tepoyer of Vigia. The reason why it was given to Victor was because there were few people in the entire kingdom of Virginia, except for Victor, who were able to use such an exaggerated weapon alone.

This is the strongest siege crossbow in the continent of Calradia - with great penetration and precise tools, the sharpshooters of the Duchy of Rhodok were able to accurately shoot enemies at a distance of 200 paces, and it is said to be able to nail into plate armor within 50 to 100 paces. Fortunately, there are not many people in the entire Duchy of Rhodok who can use it alone. The standard equipment used by the Rhodok marksman in the broad sense is now a heavy crossbow.

At Victor's waist hung a heavy spike war hammer, his melee weapon, and a crossbow on the other side, all of which were generously gifted by the old king of Virginia, Haverleaf I, 15 years earlier, except for the siege crossbow.

Ressarit said in a calm and steady tone, "Head, I want to talk to you privately. ”

A smile tugged at the corner of Victor's mouth, "Say it, my friend." ”

"I am the second son of the Count of Gronia, and you must have heard of him. Resarit spoke unhurriedly, "Since I don't have any inheritance, I came to the continent of Calradia to seek my future and help others train in combat skills. So—"

"How many more times are you going to say this to me before you stop?" Victor didn't wait for him to finish, and immediately replied.

So, if you know a commander who genuinely wants to win on the battlefield rather than condone his soldiers, I'd be glad you could introduce him to me. He stubbornly finished.

Victor hesitated for a moment, then finally compromised, "If there is a day, I will, I promise you." ”

"On that peak at the end of the valley, do you see the castle?" said Ismorola Fort?" said Resarit, who was riding on horseback, pointing sideways to the northeast of the mountain, "I was there a few years ago, and spent the whole winter training the lord's men. ”

Victor tilted his head and looked at the castle that stood majestically on top of the snow-covered peak. "Since you have an errand you want, why did you come to Chanda and become a mercenary?"

"Unfortunately the lord is not interested in training the rabble into warriors," Resarit grumbled indignantly, "and I told him that he should train them rigorously, or else he would have to bury them later." But he wouldn't listen and let me go. ”

"Who was the lord at the time?" asked Victor curiously.

"You can call him fat, or bald, or he's a fat, bald fool. Resarit took a deep breath to calm his agitation, and then said calmly, "It's now the castle of Voldratpoye. ”

Victor was silent for a moment, then nodded slowly, "Yes, I know. ”

"Of course, as you know, Ellen told me that his father had served under Marshal Voldrert when he was with you in the defense of Živatze. Speaking of which, Resarit was somewhat sympathetic to the chieftain's plight, "It's just that after the war, Aren's father was given a title and a title, and you were so down." ”

"Alright!" said Victor, grinning indifferently, "if you told me so much to uncover my scars, then you did." ”

"No, it's not," said Resarit with an apologetic expression, "head, I'm just curious to know what happened in between, although you don't have a domain or a title, you have a battering crossbow given by Marshal Volderater, and you have this fine knightly equipment that King Haverif was rewarded, and I even heard that His Majesty is going to give him a knighthood and a territory near the city of Živacheze, I wonder why you have fallen to this point?"

"You won't want to know. Victor was unmoved, with an indifferent expression on his face.

"I'm sure I'm sure I'd love to know the story. Resarit's tone was firm. Young people are always curious and exploring about the unknown, and especially like to dig up any story that someone they respect has experienced.

Victor fell into deep thought, half speechless, and then let out a long sigh, "Because of a title." ”

"What kind of title?" asked Resarit without hesitation, "is it more important than the title of king?"

"The title of Hero of Virginia. Victor's expression was solemn and serious. What other title could there be than a king that all the Virgians would worship, aspire to, praise, and awe?

"Didn't you say that the Nord leader was shot by your comrade?" a puzzled arc hung up at the corners of Resarit's mouth. He couldn't imagine that this had anything to do with the leader's descent from a noble knight to a down-and-out mercenary.

"Yes," said Victor, taking a deep breath, relaxing, and not without sarcasm, "but no one would believe a peasant, or rather, no one would believe that these aristocratic lords would rather believe the storytellers and the bards who are good at poetry and praise. ”

"And you're helping him fight for the title that rightfully belongs to him?" Resarit guessed, "and offended the powerful ......"

"No, you're wrong, I'm not as upright as you think," Victor interrupted sharply, "I want to take this title for myself." He sneered a little self-deprecatingly. I did have this idea myself, but it was only a flash in my mind that was filled with honor and greed.

Resarit looked at him in surprise, his eyes a little more confused, "You did it?"

Victor nodded noncommittally, "Yes, but then I regretted it." His brow furrowed, and a look of remorse appeared on his face, "I regret my selfish actions, and I regret that I have turned my back on brotherhood because of greed and vanity. ”

He was taken aback by what he said. "You told the truth?"

"Yes, I told King Haverleaf the truth. ”

Ressarit was speechless in shock for a long time. "I see. ”

"Only I have a deep understanding of how much courage and determination it takes, and the only thing thankful is that the king did not cut off my head. A wry smile crossed the corners of Victor's mouth, and he said in a somewhat low tone, "He told me that I should keep this secret." ”

"If the king chops off the head of the hero who saved Virginia, I'm afraid the entire king will fall into a panic, and there may even be a resumption of war on the continent of Calradia. Resarit deduced with interest, "If I were you, I would never tell the king this secret." ”

Victor soothed his breath. "Am I being selfish?"

"Yes," said Ressarit in a strange low tone, "but as you Virginians say, whoever does not brag that he was the archer who shot the Nord god of war Gang Ding Harebrex at the head of the city is not a good soldier of all kinds." ”

"Is that a compliment?"

"I'll keep it a secret. With that, Resarit turned his horse's head and slowly rode towards the back of the mercenary team.

The sun is even more powerful, no one dares to look up to see where the sun is, only feel that everywhere is flashing, the air, the ground, are white and bright, the white is a little red, from top to bottom the whole earth is like a huge fire mirror, every light is like the focus of the fire mirror, and the sun is going to make things angry.

In the middle of the mercenary team, Alleyn sat on a large trailer for tent materials and food tools, sharpening his straight-edged military knife, preparing to change the Rhodok weapons for the brothers who had gone to fight in Rhodok.

Straight-edged military knives, broadswords, heavy broadshields, throwing spears, and siege crossbows are the five iconic weapons of the Rhodoks. Fat Robin didn't know how much gold he had earned from their gear swap, he was the most cunning weapon merchant in Zenda City.

The cart jolted along the bumpy road, and Ellene's whetstones sometimes slammed straight into the blades, and after many failures, he put them away and lay on his back on the tent cloth from nowhere, the smell of wine running into his nose.

"Which uncle secretly brought alcohol?Can't you bring a bar when you're on a mission?" Standing up from the cart, Alleyne slowly walked towards the two brothers who were about to toast behind him.

Hank the Big Man and Roman the Little Man were just about to have a drink when a dark shadow passed by, and the wine in their hands disappeared.

Hank clenched his fists and gestured emphasisively, "Alleyne, that's our wine. He tried to use intimidation to force the other party to return the wine to him, and perhaps most mercenaries would be intimidated by his tall and strong physique, but Alleyne would not eat his set at all.

"Your liquor is confiscated!" said Alleyne scurrying out of the car with two bottles, rounding the two brothers who tried to intercept him, before jumping onto the last big trailer.

Under the shell, that fragile soul baptized by death.