Old Jack's Tavern is located in the southwest corner of Blackfort, in the middle of nowhere, in the company of stables and pigsty, but the tavern has always done good business. Because Old Jack's Tavern is the location of the black market in Blackcastle Town. Every day, before it gets dark, mercenaries, merchants, intelligence dealers, bards, and warblers come and go in and out of this tavern for various purposes. In such a tavern, you can buy a lot of things that you can't buy outside, provided you have to have money.

Nelson was sitting bored in a corner of Old Jack's tavern, with nothing but a heavy tomahawk lying horizontally on the sturdy oak table in front of him.

A weapon is placed horizontally on the table in the tavern, indicating that he is a mercenary waiting to be recruited, and there is no food or alcohol on the table, simply because he has no money.

It was cold outside, but it was warm inside the tavern. A fire pit had already risen in the center of the tavern, and leaping tongues of fire were licking against a cauldron on top of it. More than a dozen pickled rabbits in the pot are tumbling in the milky white soup, and the rich aroma teases everyone's appetite.

Howl, the tavernkeeper, would never chase away any of the pauper's mercenaries, but don't expect him to give you a cup of inferior mare's milk worth even 5 copper soles, so Nelson can only swallow at the pickled rabbit for now.

The door to the tavern was pushed open, and Nelson looked up to see the owner, Hal, with a flattering smile, welcoming several guys covered in cloaks to the private room on the second floor.

Nelson knew that these men were the quartermaster's men of the Black Fort, and they would often give Hal obsolete munitions to sell. Nelson's War Bear Mercenary Regiment had bought two obsolete crossbows from Hal, and Nelson didn't see where they needed to be eliminated except that the emblem had been worn out.

The door was violently slammed open again, and a one-eyed strong man with a height of 1.9 meters rushed in with a cold wind, causing several mercenaries sitting at the door to shout and curse.

"Head, sure enough, it's free. Ignoring the provocative mercenaries, the one-eyed dragon walked straight to Nelson's table and threw two 10-pound pieces of black bread on the table with a "bang".

Several mercenaries who had wanted to have a good conversation with the one-eyed dragon with their fists, and when they saw that the one-eyed dragon was Nelson's man, they quickly sat down again, talking loudly about which of the several hostesses in the bar had a bigger butt, as if nothing had happened.

"What about them?" said Nelson as he picked up a loaf of brown bread and munched on it, the black bread already hard as a stone crunchy in Nelson's mouth like a freshly baked oatmeal.

Lilia also took them to the church in line, thinking of getting a few more loaves of bread. The cyclops scratched its head. "If only the church had caught a few more wizards, then we would have received some more free bread. ”

After each purification ceremony, the church distributes some free food to the local population, an ancient tradition that continues to this day.

Nelson swallowed a five-pound piece of black bread in two bites and smiled at the one-eyed dragon, "Wizards are so easy to catch, the wizard who was captured in Dodor eight years ago died more than twenty years before he was subdued. Like the arrest of Black Castle this time, it is really rare that there are no dead people. ”

"Head, the Pterodactyls have sent me a message again, and they want to talk to you. The one-eyed dragon said to Nelson.

Nelson stared into the cyclops' eyes and whispered, "Gru, what do you think?"

"Head, I listen to you. The one-eyed dragon grew to Nelson's gaze. "But Hammer and the others seem to be quite excited. ”

"If they want to leave, I won't stop them, but I want to make it clear to you that the Pterodactyls are not clean. Nelson sighed and said to Gru, "I've always suspected that the Pterodactyls are the outskirts of the Blood Fox Bandits, and merging with them won't end well. ”

"Our War Bear Regiment, established for more than 20 years, has fought against the Sarsanians in the north and exterminated the Gnoll tribe in the south, but the most we fight against is the Bandit Bandit. The old leader of the previous generation was seriously wounded in the battle with the thieves, and before he died, he handed over the mercenary group to me. I still remember him telling me that thieves don't have a future, but mercenaries do!" Nelson touched the tomahawk on the table, a little emotional but more determined.

"Head, you saved me from thieves six years ago, and I was blinded by this eye. Don't worry, head, my life is yours! I will starve to death, and I will not give my life to the thieves! I will go to the hammer and tell them to go!" Gru stood up excitedly and rushed out.

"Sit down!" Nelson called out to Gru.

"I know how many of them think, over the years, the old brothers in the regiment have died to death, crippled, and Iron Hammer and I have privately told me to dismiss all the disabled brothers, and only in this way can the mercenary group continue to grow. He has a point, but I can't bear it. Nelson said to Gru a little helplessly: "This time the Kingdom of Gambis is pioneering the Centaur Hills. I brought everyone here just to try my luck and see if I could be recruited by that lord as a family guard, and I could be regarded as finding a way out for everyone. I just didn't expect it... ”

Gru was silent, the strength of the War Bear Mercenary Group was considered the best among its peers, especially the leader Nelson was also a top master among the mercenaries. It's just that there are too many old, weak and disabled soldiers in the regiment, and there are 11 mercenary regiments of more than 40 people who have lost their combat effectiveness. Every time I take on a task, the employer shakes his head when he sees so many cripples. Until now, the mercenary group has not received a mission for a long time.

And the lord's recruitment of family guards is indeed a good way out for mercenaries, but what if there is a noble lord who is willing to raise so much waste for nothing? The two were relatively speechless for a while.

Nelson casually lifted a large package at his feet and gently dropped it on the table, the weight of the package causing the table to sink down.

Patting the package gently, Nelson said with some reluctance: "It seems that I can only sell this old fellow." ”

"Head, isn't this your half-body plate armor? this can't be sold!" Gru stood up in shock.

You must know that mercenaries are generally equipped with leather armor, and very few can be equipped with chain mail, and plate armor is strong enough to withstand most attacks, but its heavy weight is also unbearable for those who do not have enough strength, and its high price is even more prohibitive for mercenaries.

This half-length plate was a gift from Nelson's owner after defeating a group of thieves who were sacking a caravan. Usually, Nelson's baby is so bad that she even has to do the maintenance work herself.

And now Nelson was going to sell it!

"Needless to say, there are not many funds in the group, and there is no business now, so if you sell it, you should respond to the emergency. With that, Nelson picked up his package and walked over to the bar.

"Tell Hal to come out and have something for him to see. Dropping the package on the bar, Nelson said to the bartender in a gruff voice.

After a while, Hal came out, touched the package on the bar, and said to Nelson with a smile, "Captain Nelson, before you sell this bust, I want to take you to meet a big man. ”

"Big man, who?" said Nelson, looking cautiously at the tavernkeeper.

"Lord Baron Wimbledon!"