Asa lay in the haystack, listening carefully to the cries of his belly and smelling the musty smell of the grass beneath him. The big men at the wine table next to them were eating meat and pouring wine into large cups, boasting to each other about the bravery on the battlefield and on the women's beds, and let out bursts of hearty lewd laughter. The men had their weapons at their feet, and some of them had discolored blood stains on them.

There were also a few skinny men lying on the grass next to Asa who seemed to be dead like him.

This is the mercenary tavern in Airy City, which gathers all the people in the city who have no skills and plan to exchange their lives for money, as thugs or bodyguards for others, and some as accomplices for bandits.

The smell of meat wafting from there contrasted with the musty smell beneath him, and Asa suddenly imagined that the big men would suddenly have an argument with him, and he could angrily beat them all to the ground, and then sweep away all the things left on the table. It's a pity that those big men are completely indulged in the small world of beer, beef and small talk, and don't care about him at all.

And he was really not hungry enough to take the initiative to find fault and beat people for a few pieces of meat. What's more, a big man was happy to drink just now and invited all the people in the tavern to have a drink, even if it may have been only an occasional havoc, but it still made Asa's evil thoughts extinguished without shame.

The money he had borrowed from Chrissy was sufficient, a good horse and some adventure necessities, and until ten days ago, when he met the hanged merchant in the field, he had eight silver coins and more than thirty copper coins. The hapless vendor met a gang of big-eared monsters in the wilderness, but instead of killing him, they robbed him of all the goods he had bought with all his savings. Asa gave him all the horses and money, and walked to the city of Airy on foot.

Asa suddenly misses the time when he was in the wilderness jungle. At least the food is not worried, and catching a large prey is enough to eat for several days. And in this human city, everything has a price, and if you want it, you have to buy it with money. If you want money, you have to use labor, time, and freedom to exchange, and you have to have the technology to change it. Otherwise, you have to steal, cheat, and rob.

Asa found that he was not suited to live in such a congregation. He does not have the customs and lifestyles of a normal person to follow the established order, such as the habit of being instructed to work, the habit of exchanging actions that are meaningless to him for things that are meaningful to him, such as food. He also did not ignore the blunt and domineering of the orderly, once he thought about the feelings of the other party, he did not dare to rob it. Stealing and deception are even more human, not only must they be blunt, but they also have to be willing to think that they are a few levels lower than others in their hearts, and they dare not come head-on, so they have to use dirty speculative means to obtain other people's things.

But man is a social animal after all. No matter how much I like to get used to living alone, in fact, deep down I still want to communicate with my peers. Even when he was hungry, Asa stayed in the city, watching the people go about their lives and eating, listening to the traffic on the streets, the roosters and the dogs barking, all of which made him feel the peace that he could never have alone in the wilderness.

He just wasn't used to the way of life given by this strange environment, as if a native wild dog lived in the environment of a domestic dog, but he liked the breath of these countless kinds. He still didn't want to go out to be able to stay in the city. So he came here to try his luck, even if he didn't have any other useful life skills, but he was still capable of doing this kind of physical work. And maybe we'll get word of the damn forest here.

He had been wandering around the city for a long time, asking for news of the 'Forest of Whispers' or the 'Unspeakable Forest', and had asked many people, but to no avail, and had almost been arrested as an infidel. It seems that the heretics are making a lot of trouble in this city of Airy, and there are soldiers searching everywhere, and from time to time I see people crying and taking them away.

The door to the tavern was pushed open. A young man stood in the doorway.

All eyes were on everyone in the tavern. This was not a companion, the young man was dressed in a knight's attire, which, though very old, was still very neatly worn, and a cloak that was clearly just a decoration. His handsome face was slightly childish, and his hair was neatly groomed like the outfit on his body. This should be a patron, and several people next to Asa poked their heads back and regained some energy.

The young man looked nervously around the tavern at the men who were either fierce or vicious. He said in as flat and high a voice as he could, "I am the knight of Rodhart, and I have come here to enlist a brave man to be my squire. ”

The tavern was filled with laughter and scolding, the men were still drinking and eating meat, and the people next to Asa fell back into a dead state.

The young man stood in the doorway, as if reciting a manifesto, and said, "What I ask is a firm faith, a good heart, and infinite loyalty to the master and to the chivalry." ”

There was a stronger burst of ridicule and scolding, and someone on the haystack asked, "How much is a day?"

"I don't have any money. What I can give to those who follow me is more valuable than money, and that is a noble spirit and a great honor. His name will forever be engraved next to mine, forever recited by the bards. The young man continued to recite his manifesto in a low voice.

The tavern erupted in wild laughter. The big men paused and slapped the table loudly, as if they had heard the rap of the most famous comedian on the continent. Even a few people on the haystack laughed and came alive. A big man laughed and asked the bartender, "Where did you get such a joke teller?" ”

The bartender smiled and shook his head, walked over to the young man who was already flushed, and said, "Here are all the men who work hard for money. You're in the wrong place, go to the country. ”

The young man continued his persuasion with all his might: "I am going to go to that woods south of the city on a very dangerous but great mission. Can someone brave come with me?"

A drunken man stood up, squinted his eyes and approached the young man, pointed to the young man's face and said, "This nonsense little guy is full of handsomeness, if it is a girl, I am interested in going out with him." ”

The young knight, who had already been a little annoyed, clenched his fists and glared at the big man, and although he tried to keep his voice as steady as possible, no one could hear the trembling of excessive anger: "I swear in the name of God that if this man dares to insult a knight again, he will be washed away with his blood." ”

The big man's eyes widened, and he reached out and pushed the young knight's chest: "What?

The stomach will be beaten. Asa watched the young knight's shoulders sink down, and knew he was going to make a move.

With a muffled sound, the young knight's right fist slammed into the big man's abdomen. The big man bent his body back, and immediately knelt down and landed on his forehead, and the wine and meat he had just eaten rushed out of his mouth. Seeing this, the other four big men at the table immediately raised their weapons and rushed over.

Take a step forward, take a half-step to the left, elbow him in the ribs, and knock him over. Asa watched the knight's body sink forward and move forward, silently speculating in his mind about his next move.

Facing the few big knights with weapons in hand, they did not retreat but advanced, and went straight to the front one. When the opponent swung the knife and slashed, one turned to the left, dodging the knife while hitting the elbow under the weakness of the big man, with a muffled sound, the big man snorted and fell out to the right, just blocking the weapons of the two big men on the right. The two big men hurriedly put away their knives.

Turn around and hook down on the jaw. Asa predicted in his mind.

The big man on the left had just raised the mace above his head when he was punched in the jaw, and the sound of bones shattering was heard by everyone in the tavern. Asa could also tell that he had lost about five or six teeth.

Get up and kneel the nearest one, hold the chest, and finally twist the right hand and cut the neck again, and that's it. This young knight is quite good. Asa felt that his observation and mind seemed to be getting clearer and clearer, and he had never been able to see other people's movements and predict movements like this before, probably because of the practice of meditation too much. Although the book was mortgaged by him, he remembered the meditation methods described on it for a long time and still practiced them every day.

The knight had already twisted the arm of the last man back, and the big man screamed in pain like a pig. The knight looked at the big men who were moaning on the ground, and let go of his hand with some annoyance and anger, although he had just said that he wanted to see blood, but it seemed that he couldn't get that hand down.

He turned and walked to the door, and the newly released man picked up a sword from the ground and stabbed it at the knight's vest.

Halfway through the stab, one hand grabbed the big man's hand from behind, pinched it, the sword in the big man's hand fell to the ground, and then twisted it backwards with the same technique as the knight just now, and the big man began to continue the scream just now. But he only screamed halfway, and a blow to the back of the neck immediately quieted him.

"Are you going to the woods south of the city?" asked Assa. There was no clue anyway, and it seemed that Chrissy had also said that it was in the south, so it would be better to go with this young knight and try your luck.

The knight asked in surprise, "Will you follow me?"

Asa shook his head and said, "Just going with you."

The knight tried to persuade him: "Then will you help me with a task, and if you succeed, I will pay you." "He's not bad at learning, and he knows how to talk about money, but he doesn't forget to mention his manifesto. "And it's a very honorable task. ”

Asa frowned and thought about it, it seemed that it was not bad to eat, and nodded.

Walking out of the tavern, the knight got on his horse. Asa walked beside him, eating the beef he had brought from the tables of the big men as he went. The Knight was thrilled with his successful recruitment, and kept asking Asa about his origins and ambitions. Asa simply replied that he was a homeless man from the royal capital.

"My friend Asa, you really don't behave like a knight's helper, just like a beggar on the street. The knight saw Asa finish the beef and licked the oil off his hands, probably feeling out of place. Very politely prompted him.

Asa wiped his hand against his body and said, "Do you have to speak in such a tone?"

The knight pouted and said, "All knights must speak like this." This time he used a normal tone. "Have you seen any of the other knights?"

"Yes. Asa replied. Sanders, the captain of his former mercenary days, and that annoying Clauis were both knights.

"Really?" the knight was surprised. "I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard stories and books that knights should be like this. Aren't the knights you know like that? Where are they knights?"

"Captain of the Holy Order. Asa replied. This answer immediately caused a great reaction from the knight on the horse, and he leaned down sharply in front of Assa, looked at Asa with surprise and awe, and asked, "Really? So what are they like? How do they speak?"

Asa looked at him, worried about his waist bending at that angle, and said, "It's about the same as you." It's just that you don't talk as pretentiously. ”

"Really?" the knight straightened up and sighed with mixed sorrow, looking ahead at the leisurely demeanor of the air. "yes. It's better to speak casually, so as to appear knightly. Only great heroes can be true colors. ”

Talking all the way out of the city, Asa learned that this young knight named Rodhart was not really a knight, but a student who had just graduated from the knightly school in Erathia, and this was his hometown. His only relative was his grandfather, a local squire who longed for a knightly career, and exhausted his family property for his grandson to study at the knight's school, which was originally only accessible to nobles, hoping that he could become a real knight, but unfortunately he died in poverty last year. And Rodhart didn't know the news until he graduated, and he came all the way back to bury his grandfather.

Outside the city, Rodhart looked left and right at no one, and said to Asa, "Friend Asa, now we will go and complete this great task." Have you heard about the minister?"

Asa shook his head: "No." ”

The knight's face was radiant with excitement, and was full of the passion peculiar to a young man, and he said, "I happened to hear about it from the soldiers of the town hall. Lord Chincha, who had come to inspect the royal capital, had just arrived outside the city yesterday when he encountered a group of bandits. Lord Chincha has been kidnapped, and the bandits have demanded a large amount of money from the magistrate, and now there is chaos in the city hall. If we had rescued Lord Chincha one step ahead of the army, how much credit would you say? He looked at Asa with a glint in his eyes, as if he were happy for him. "You can also share in this great honor. ”

"Hopefully it won't be too long. Asa yawned, full of the tiredness of the old man.