Hatheron gasped and slashed his heavy tomahawk at the corpse at his feet so that his precious tomahawk stood beside him, then took the axe from his belt, shook it in his hand, and threw it at the back of the officer's heart as he rode away.

Throw the axe right at the target. However, this was not Hatheron's fourth achievement, when an arrow pierced his throat before he could be struck with an axe.

Hatheron looked back with displeasure and anger, and then saw Yesenina with an indifferent face pulling her bow in search of her next target.

"Good archery. Seeing the only woman and the best marksman in the gang, Hako immediately turned his anger into praise.

However, this praise did not elicit any reaction – except for the last soldier who escaped and fell to the ground – Yesenina's sixth achievement.

Hako shrugged his shoulders reluctantly and helplessly, and then turned to the little man who was pulling off the armor of a headless officer: "Mad dog, how many of you?"

The little man looked back - and Harko could clearly see that the guy was smiling with a silly "hehe" on his face, and saliva was dripping from his mouth and dripping to the ground - as usual, as rumored to be, once the mad dog started to cut people, his brain was not good, but he clearly remembered how many enemies he had killed: "Four, hehe. ”

One more. This frustrated Hako. But considering that the other party was a "mad dog", Hako had nothing to say - and then he turned to the big man who was counting the cargo: "Iron head, how are you?"

"Four. "The iron head doesn't look back. Lift half of the carcass and throw it into the cart - for the robbers who were hiding in the mountains waiting to rob the caravan, horse meat was basically the best food they could get.

So, so far. He was the least productive one. This was not the first time this had happened, but it made Hako very unhappy - the robber re-lifted his axe and turned his head to the last man in the group: "Dumb, what about you?"

The one who was called mute was a middle-aged man with short black hair. Unlike the other bandits, the mute wore not light leather armor, but heavy and sturdy plate breastplates, metal arm guards, and iron boots. When asked. The dumb man was carefully retracting his clean-wiped sword into its sheath.

"Nonsense, you don't know how to count?" said Dark, dissatisfied, "except for the dumb ones." Does anyone else use a sword?"

Almost immediately, Harko swung his axe at Duck's head. But seeing the heavy halberd in the other man's hand, Hako still dispelled this thought-who called him the weakest guy in the gang? Although he was worshipped as a hero in the cottage, he was in the bandit that came out to plunder. Except for those newcomers who have been approved to "see the world". He's really the weakest fighting one.

Dissatisfied, Hako turned his gaze to the battlefield, ready to see how many of the new mutes had killed:

Six archers in chain mail and helmets, two of whom had their necks pierced by sharp arrows, apparently the work of Yesenina, while the other four were nailed to the ground with javelins, each javelin passing through their chests, as if the precious chain mail did not exist - again, Hako was shocked by the strength of the new fellow - the strength of the arm alone. The dumb man was already able to wrestle with Duck and Ironhead.

Next to the carriage, four men were armed with shields and long swords. The bodies of the leather-armored veterans were horribly twisted, apparently the work of an iron-headed hammer. The other three unlucky men in cloth clothes and spears and a veteran soldier were cut to the ground - only a mad dog with a badge representing nobility would have such a wasteful method of killing. The other three men in cloth clothes and spears with different heads were the work of Harko himself.

Then, four veterans with shields and swords, four noble guards with swords in both hands in chain mail, and one officer in a plate cuirass, carrying an eagle shield and a sword, fell not far from the "dumb" - two veterans died from Yesenina's arrows.

Of course, as Yesenina's elder and bodyguard, Dak kept Yesenina by his side as usual with his halberd, and did not participate in the battle - but, to no avail, Hako was still the weakest of the bandits. Moreover, the damn "dumb" actually jumped to become the guy who achieved the most results.

Hako knew that he was further away from Yesenina.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

When Xinding, who had followed the gang down to "see the world", happily pulled the cart back to the small fortress in the mountains, the refugees waiting in the fort cheered.

The small iron-clad wooden doors of the fortress were rolled open, and the bandits entered their sanctuary with the spoils of war to the cheers of the crowd.

Since it is in the mountains, it is not an important trade route, and the cottage does not always get enough loot. In order to solve the food problem, the refugees in the cottage are not only responsible for daily hunting, but also have to grow some crops and raise some livestock in the fort.

But this time, the bandits brought back not only six wagons full of food and leather, but also a large number of weapons - although these weapons did not increase the number of men of the gangs descending the mountain, they could greatly strengthen the fort's defense and make the refugees' homes safer.

After sorting all the supplies into warehouses for preservation, under everyone's gaze, Duck stood in front of the pile of weapons and armor that could be used: "According to the custom, it is the distribution of the loot. ”

The people around were quiet. For this small refuge, the distribution of the spoils of war was a big deal—not only about the composition of the bandits, but also about the safety of the fortress.

"Hako, three. ”

"Mad Dog and Iron Head, four each. ”

"Yesenina, six. ”

With a whistling sound, there was an uneasy buzz - as is customary, the more people killed. Echigo announced, and that the loot could be prioritized - and Darker had already said all the old men, leaving only the "dumb" results unannounced. This means: Either he was dumb and didn't have any results, or he had better grades than Yesenina - and before that, Yesenina had publicly promised that men who had outperformed her in raids could ask to spend the night with her - although this was the reason why many refugees desperately wanted to squeeze into the gangs, but no one in the gangs had been able to do so yet.

"Quiet!" Duck said, pausing for a moment in his heavy halberd and looking majestically at the people below, who quickly fell silent again.

"Dumb, eleven. With Dark's voice. Once again, the refugees let out a shout of surprise, mixed with whispers and whistles.

The emaciated mute, who had fainted by the river a month before, had killed as many of the enemy alone as Mad Dog, Ironhead, and Harko in his second raid alone. This cannot but make people feel a great sense of security while being surprised. On the other hand, some people gloated that someone could finally pluck the thorny rose – and of course, more young men lamented it.

"So. Mute. You can be the first to pick the loot you want. Duck said, stepping aside.

Yesenina bit her lower lip and tensed her body. The reason why she made that promise was only because of her confidence in her own strength, but now ...... What would she do if the mute picked herself up in front of everyone and walked to his room? obey or kill him? After all, despite being a bandit, she still had the noble blood of the Hassell family flowing through her body—she wouldn't allow herself to sleep with a man who didn't even know who he was.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

However, in the surprise and regret of everyone. The dumb man walked up to the pile of weapons with a blank face, and without hesitation, took out the only eagle shield and a two-handed sword from it.

Skillfully carry the eagle shield behind your back. The dumb man gently drew his two-handed sword, swung it twice with his right hand in front of everyone, and then nodded in satisfaction and walked off the stage.

The people were in an uproar again - the selection of loot and the request for a night with Yesenina did not conflict, the dumb man could have both, but this guy turned a blind eye to Yesenina - he didn't like men, right?

Seeing the mute leave, the female bandit leader felt relieved and angry at the same time - of course she didn't want to sleep with this man who had only known him for less than a month, had never said a word, and didn't know who the other party was, but she didn't want to see the other party completely ignore her beautiful appearance and seductive body that she had always been deeply confident in - could it be that this guy was not only a mute, but also a blind man?

Darker paused with his halberd again and coughed to silence the crowd—after which Darker motioned for Yesenina to pick her spoils. Yesenina hesitated, then hung a sharp dagger on her belt.

"Iron Head?" Mad Dog kills as many people as Iron Head, but the selection of loot is always in order.

The bald man frowned and thought for a long time, then he held a sledgehammer in his right hand and lifted the only set of plate cuirasses in his left hand - the iron head has a lot of strength, but because of the heavy sledgehammer, he is destined to not be able to run as fast as everyone else, so when facing those shooters, in addition to Yesenina's cover, his own protection ability is also very important.

"Mad dog. ”

When calmed down, mad dogs are not as intimidating as they are in battle. Instead, he smiled and bowed to the crowd, like an elegant actor—to the applause of the crowd, Mad Dog picked up six daggers from the trophies and deftly tossed them—and this earned him even more applause.

"Hako. ”

Harko frowned, scratching his head in embarrassment - he really didn't know what to choose - there were no axes in the loot, and he only used them, but if he didn't take them, he would lose money. After much thought, he grabbed the officer's helmet and tried to put it on—just right.

"You've got to get rid of the top feather. Just as Hako was smug that he had finally made the right decision, Duck poured cold water on him again.

"Why?"

"You look like our head like this - do you want to be greeted by all the enemies as soon as you come up?"

Harco stood there dissatisfied—Duck's accusations made him look like a fool—and worse, Duck was right. If he can kill eleven at a time, then it doesn't matter if he is greeted by the enemy as soon as he comes up. But he's a Hako. Not dumb......

Next, Darker distributed the remaining bows and arrows and weapons to Xinding and the guards one by one. The aroma of the horse broth also drew attention to the fact that the refugees gathered around the cauldron in wooden bowls. Wait for Chef Sim's big iron spoon to serve him today's dinner.

"You guys, come on. Just as the gang members were about to go to dinner, the mad dog suddenly stopped a few people with a stern face.

All the members of the gang – except for the mutes who left early in the morning – gathered very conspicuously. But when everyone is focused on horse meat, it's a completely different story.

After sitting down by a campfire, Mad Dog was the first to speak, "What do you think if I, Ironhead, and Harko go up together, what chance do I have of dealing with the dumb man?"

This is a strange question. But Mad Dog is also quite a smart one when he's clear-headed—so. After coming to his senses, Duck answered Mad Dog's question: "There is no chance at all." I had seen it very clearly from the side—with his four javelins, the first four men would not have been able to get within fifty paces of him—even if the iron head was wearing a plate cuirass. ”

This answer clearly hit the self-esteem of almost everyone. Mad Dog's brow furrowed even tighter—after. He turned to Yesenina: "What if you deal with him?"

The female bandit leader frowned, obviously disliking the mad dog hypothesis, and then she sighed as well: "I saw the speed of his charge—if I stood at a distance of two hundred paces, I estimated that I would have a chance of three arrows." ”

Other words. Yesenina only had time to shoot three arrows. The dumb man can run one hundred and fifty paces and throw a javelin......

"What's wrong, mad dog?"

"He's only been with us for a month - we all know each other, but we don't know anything about him - a guy as strong as him, if it's an enemy, and some helpers, we don't even have a chance to choose how to die. Mad Dog frowned, then slammed into the ground with determination, "I'll have to get to the bottom of him—or else." I won't be able to sleep at night. ”

"I'd better go. With that, Yesenina stood up. "After all, this can be considered my territory. ”

"But he's mute. Harko's eyes widened, "What's the use of asking him?"

"Didn't you notice? The weapons he used, the javelin, the one-handed sword, and the eagle shield and two-handed sword he had just chosen. Yesenina patiently explained, "Swords, especially two-handed swords, are not weapons that civilians can afford. So he was either a nobleman, or a very famous mercenary - I don't remember which good mercenary was mute, and if he was a nobleman, then he should have at least been able to write his own name. ”

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

After that incident, when Yesenina and some refugees came to this refuge in the mountains under the protection of Dak, the small fortress that had been idle for many years was already covered with dust. Almost all of the wooden furniture was rotten and even mushrooms had grown. At this time, when night comes, all the refugees will take refuge in the main fort of the fort and sleep together and take turns keeping vigil to ensure that their throats are not cut by wild beasts or enemies in their sleep.

But as time passed, more and more inhabitants gathered in this last place of tranquility. All the gates of the entire fortress were reinstalled and reinforced, and the entire fortress was cleaned and renovated. Then, the system was also established - those who did not have combat power were responsible for maintaining the fortress and planting and hunting, those who were not fighting were given weapons to guard the fort, and the strongest people were responsible for descending the mountain - if they encountered a small group of caravans and bandits, they would use force directly, and if the enemy was too strong, they would hide from the past, or try to make some exchange with the products of the fortress.

As this division of labor became clearer, the places where people lived changed – the bandits lived in stone huts on the second floor of the main fort, each with their own room, the guards lived in towers at the corners of the fortress walls and took turns patrolling the walls, and the rest lived in makeshift wooden huts on the first floor of the main fort and outside the fort.

And after successfully obtaining the qualification to join the gang to go down the mountain for the first time, the mute also had a room of his own on the second floor. And because of this. Carrying two bowls of horse broth, Yesenina arrived at her destination without much difficulty.

With a bowl of horse broth in each hand, Yesenina could only open the door with her shoulder—not ladylike at all, but the female bandit leader didn't care.

However. Yesenina froze when she saw what the mute was doing—the heavily armed mute, holding a javelin in each hand, was throwing at the same time very slowly, which seemed to be very laborious—and on the javelin, the eight animal tendons on one end tightly wrapped around the javelin and the other end tied to the wall illustrate why the mute struggled so hard to do such a simple movement.

Seeing Yesenina come in, the mute was neither surprised nor angry, but stopped what he was doing and quietly looked at the female bandit leader.

"That ......" met the mute gaze. Yesenina suddenly felt nervous - apparently, the mute asked for an explanation - however, in fact. Although she seemed confident in front of her other companions, when she was really alone in the face of the mute, Yesenina didn't know what to say.

Then, she saw the bowl in her hand: "They said you didn't eat dinner. ”

The mute laughed. Gently lower the two javelins so that they hang against the wall. Then he raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, walked straight up to Yesenina, took a bowl, sat down on the stone bed and drank it heavily.

"Well, who are you?"

The mute stopped eating - he quietly looked up at Yesenina and said nothing.

This look made Yesenina panic - the mute seemed to know everything, but the mute did not speak, only listened.

It's out. The female bandit leader bit her lip. Finally made up his mind - in any case, this question must be thoroughly discussed sooner or later: "You see. Your watch is so good...... It's worryingly good. ”

The mute laughed again - he nodded in understanding, and continued to look at the female bandit leader in silence.

"Well, to be honest, the five of us joined forces, and we didn't have the confidence to defeat you. Yesenina pondered the words, not knowing whether her next words would make the mute a complete member of the gang, or make him turn his face on the spot - considering that more than a month ago, it was the refugees who saved the mute, and the latter was a little less likely, just a little bit - after all, no one knew anything about the mute, "and we don't know anything about your past, so we can't help but be a little worried." ”

The mute raised an eyebrow, as if to express his strangeness at Yesenina's words.

"You see, Duck is the captain of my family's old guard, and the iron head was originally a blacksmith in the village, and the mad dog was killed for killing an earl......"

"I don't need to know that. ”

"Are you ......" Yesenina's eyes widened in surprise - this was the first time the mute had spoken in more than a month since he arrived in this small fortress, "you are not dumb?"

The mute smiled faintly again: "Did I tell anyone that I was dumb?"

Surprised, Yesenina was stunned for a moment before she realized the ridiculousness of her words. But she didn't feel funny at all: "Then you ......"

"If you don't have to speak, you can go three or five years without talking – except for being a little stuffy. The mute said as he grabbed a piece of horse meat from the bowl and chewed it a few bites, then went on to explain, "I fully understand your concerns. All I have to say is that I have no ill will towards you. If you don't believe me, I can leave, or I'll stay. Don't ask me who I am, what I've done in the past — I won't say, and I don't care who you are and what you've done in the past — that's fair, isn't it?"

Yesenina sighed. It's a big discovery, but, "Maybe I can trust you, but what about others?"

The dumb man picked up the bowl and gulped down the rest of the hot soup, then stretched his body and showed a satisfied expression: "Didn't I make it clear, it doesn't matter to me." As he spoke, the dumb man smiled sarcastically, "Maybe, the next time I choose the loot, I will bring you here directly, and others will believe it?"

This sentence made Yesenina's face turn red - the female bandit leader angrily smashed the bowl in her hand at the dumb man - but the latter caught the bowl unmoved: "Calm down, Yesenina." You see, as long as you don't say it, I'm still dumb – and that reassures other people. As for my past or something, you can make it up. I don't care. ”

"I'm not going to deceive them. ”

"Alright," the mute sighed helplessly, "my name is Agolo." Agolo Lante - I suspect that someone is trying to murder me, in order to plot my inheritance, so I escaped from my house and hid with you first - so you are satisfied?"

Yesenina frowned. The woman's instincts told her that this guy was lying—whether it was about his name or his past—but what could she do? Throw herself into her arms and beg him to tell the truth, or try to knock him unconscious and tie him up and send him into the basement of the main castle?

With more doubts and worries, the female bandit leader sighed and left the mute room. She began to regret the messenger she had given herself—now. How did she explain the headache to her fellows......

===Try to make a dividing line===

Back where her companions had been waiting, Yesenina had even more headaches—she still hadn't figured out how to explain it to her companions.

"How?"

"En......" the female bandit leader frowned and looked embarrassed, "about himself." There is no valuable intelligence either. What is certain is that he should have no ill will towards us. ”

"Not necessarily. Harko retorted aloud with a frown—Yesenina had been gone for too long—too long for asking about something.

Yesenina sighed helplessly: "If he wants to deal with us, as long as he slaughtered me and Dak in the last attack, do you think you can come back alive? Do you think the people here can withstand it?"

Hako's eyes widened. He grabbed his already messy hair vigorously, and then closed his mouth. It's an indisputable fact that everyone here isn't necessarily a dumb opponent together......

"So what do we do next?" Mad Dog suddenly stopped dwelling on the question of the mute, and seemed to have acquiesced to the harmlessness of the mute.

"What?"

"We've just attacked a convoy of Ryordian and looted their grain, grass and leather, so don't you stop because the Ryordian people will smile generously?"

Yesenina smiled disdainfully: "The advantage of the Ryordians is their powerful knight order - if they were to fight in the mountains, they would die an ugly death, let alone come to attack here. ”

"Yesenina. Suck it up. Our little fortress could not withstand much attack - except for us, except for a few caretakers. It's just a bunch of civilians here—do you expect them to take up arms and fight the regular army of Ryrdian like we do?" Darkk frowned, then drew lines on the ground with his left hand.

All the old members of the gang gathered together and watched as the only man who had ever been an officer drew a map on the ground.

"This is our fortress, and here here are all slopes and woods. And from here to this is the main road," Darker paused, pointing to the side of the main road, "This is Fort Versk, which has not been repaired since it was destroyed by the Dark Knights three years ago. ”

Yesenina bit her lower lip hard, and looked at her father's captain of the guard, Dark, who must have suddenly brought it up again now, and it must not be for nothing.

"The convoy we plundered was coming from this side to Fort Vilsk. "Duck is going back to Vana, or Alter's team, transporting supplies to this side. ”

"So, now Fort Versk has been taken by the Ryrdians?"

The veteran nodded: "This is the most reasonable explanation - I don't think that after so many years of fighting, Raldian will suddenly make peace with us Virgia and give us food and leather." ”

"But there's no reason for His Majesty the King to give up Fort Vilske just like that, right?"

"The Nords in the north are also a great threat, so although His Majesty the King will not give up, he may not have enough energy to take care of this side. ”

"Then, it's even more important for us to work harder. After Yesenina finished speaking, she suddenly noticed that her fellow bandits—even the captain of the old guard, Dark, were looking at her with a look of surprise—which made the girl panic: "What, you?"

"Mature, my dear, now we don't have the strength to confront the regular army of Raldian. ”

"We can't just do nothing and watch our father's castle fall into the hands of the enemy. ”

"Of course, of course. Darkk nodded calmly in agreement, "So, first of all, we'll have to keep an eye on what's going on on the road – they're not going to rest when the supply convoy is robbed." Then, the next time we go out, we'll have to bring more new ones with us and let them bleed—if not on the flat ground against the Knights of Raldian, at least they'll have the courage to stick their knives into the necks of their enemies while defending the city. ”

Yesenina frowned—she intuitively felt that doing so would not help to retake Fort Wersk: "What else?"

"And?" the veteran smiled and stood up and patted the female bandit leader on the shoulder, "and patience, my little Yesenina - we've been hiding here for three years, and we don't care about hiding for another three years." But if we are discovered, defeated, there is no chance. ”

The female bandit leader relaxed: "I understand. So, let's go on another hunt tomorrow?"

The last sentence was for the other members of the gang - Mad Dog smiled and nodded, and Hako looked at Yesenina with a flattering look: "You just decide." And the iron head patted his bald head: "Stay anyway." ”

"So, let's rest early, and tomorrow, we'll go out and have a look. ”

================================================================================================= (To be continued......)