"Uh-huh, what happened later?" Hammer looked excited, and didn't know if he listened, "And then, you said you were a jailer?"

"Don't worry, I'm about to stop here," the veteran glared at him, "and then the old baron died in battle, and the little Baron Klenine succeeded to the throne, and I took advantage of this time to bribe him with the money I had saved in the army, and then mixed up with the errand of a jailer." Pen Fun Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 Honestly, this is a really good errand, and in order to make life a little better, the prisoners did everything in their power to please us, and willingly handed over the last bit of property. Alas, in those years, life was quite moist. ”

"Then why did you become a soldier again?"

"It's not because of the damned war!" said the old soldier, "the little baron was very irrational in his movements a few times, and he was so happy that when the king summoned his men were not enough, so that even a veteran like me, who was retired in prison, was pulled back into battle. Hey, I still pay all kinds of filial piety during the New Year's holidays, but I don't know if it's to compensate me for being promoted to the head of the ten. ”

"Then you saved a lot of rookies like you saved me?" Hammers asked casually, but he didn't expect the veteran to shake his head and speak in surprise.

"No, not only did I not save them, but I deliberately sent them to death in order to escape for myself. You know, recruits who have just enlisted in the army are pretty easy to fool. ”

"What!" Hammers startled, "why?"

"At that time, or all the time I have been, I thought that life and death were destined to go to war, and that I was not smart enough to be killed, and those recruits who were deceived into the battlefield by glory were undoubtedly one of them, and they were willing to indulge in the beautiful dreams woven by the nobles, and forcibly waking them up not only did not get thanks, but could also cause trouble. So I can't save them, and I'm too lazy to save them. After all, in order to survive, I can do whatever it takes, even if I sell my comrades. ”

"That... Why ... ”

"Why should I save you," said the veteran, shrugging his shoulders as he recalled, "maybe it's a discovery of conscience, maybe it's arrogance, who knows." ”

Hammer still scratched his head, curious, but didn't know whether to ask or not.

"Do you remember that battle three years ago?" the veteran asked suddenly.

"Three years ago?" Hammers thought for a moment, "Oh, it was when His Majesty King Haraus first ascended the throne, I remember." ”

"Before that battle, as usual, I pulled a wave of new recruits into battle, and then, you know, lost badly, and I easily ran back, again, and threw my men in the woods. ”

"And then you're going to mend your ways?"

"How could it be. The veteran gave Hammers a blank look and continued, "Not long after the end of the war, His Majesty the King issued an order for the lords to increase their efforts to reorganize their armies, and at that time, Baron Kolenine had no money, so he thought of a way to mark some of the dead from the list of those who died in the war as defections, and then confiscated their family property for military funds. Among them was one of my soldiers, a very polite lad, though I don't remember his name. ”

"Is that what is going on?" Hammers was taken aback, "I thought... ”

"That's why I say you're stupid. The veteran hated that iron could not be made of steel, "You should pay attention, these bastard nobles don't understand what mercy is. You should have seen that his family property was confiscated, his wife and two sons were used as slaves, and even his parents committed suicide in disgrace under your humiliation. ”

"This... Hammers bowed his head in shame, he was one of those who threw stones at those hapless people back then.

"You may not have seen the life of a slave. "His youngest son does the dirtiest and most tiring work on the manor, and once if I hadn't happened to pass by, he would have drowned in a cesspool." His eldest son accidentally caught a bad cold and was thrown to fend for himself in a dilapidated house outside the city, where he died not long after. And the mother of two children, since she was taken into the manor, has not been seen again... The more Hammer listened, the more ashamed he became of his ignorance, but fortunately there was a campfire to cover him, so that the veteran could not see his red and hot face. "That... Hammers quickly diverted the subject, "Is this what your conscience finds?"

"No," the veteran shook his head, "though they are pitiful, there is nothing I can do. It can only be said that the man of their family was unlucky and died on the battlefield. ”

"So, what is it about you that that makes you change your mind?"

"He's back. The veteran replied briefly.

"Ahh

"Probably because the comfortable days have been too long, my heart has softened, and I feel a little regretful for the first time, if I had pulled him when I was running away, maybe there would have been one less broken family... Well, that's probably what I thought at the time, so I started trying to escape with my soldiers. ”

"However, my next batch of recruits were all rammers, and they almost brought me to the lord, so I left them to fend for themselves. After that, it's this time, but fortunately, although you kid is a little stupid, you still know the current affairs. ”

"Haha, I'm embarrassed to praise me like that. ”

"You're going to have to be scared. The veteran glanced at Hammers with disdain, "I am telling you this to tell you that military exploits, honor, and money are not as important as your life, so don't ruin the life we have saved for you." Just like the bear we encountered before, how far to hide in the future, the bear's slap is much more powerful than the horse's hooves. ”

"Hehe, old man, you underestimate me too much," Hammers arched his muscles again in disapproval, "I think I'll kill even a tiger now!"

"Hmph," the veteran snorted unhappily, "since you are so energetic, then keep vigil, all night!"

"Huh?"

。。。

The next morning, looking at the gradually brightening sky, Hammers, who was already drowsy, was relieved, and quickly extinguished the bonfire with only embers left, and the super veteran shouted "Old man, get up, it's dawn, it's time to go!"

But the veteran remained motionless.

"Old man?" Hammer stepped forward and nudged the veteran, who was still wrapped in a bearskin, only to find that his body was already cold and stiff, and he had already lost his breath.

"Old man?" Hammer pushed again in disbelief, and it felt like pushing a stone.

"Old man!" he cried out this time, holding his shoulders and shaking him desperately, hoping to wake him up from his nightmare, but the old soldier still closed his eyes and did not respond in a single reply.

"Don't spoil the life we managed to save you. Just like the bear we encountered before, how far to hide in the future, the bear's slap is much more powerful than the horse's hooves. ”

Suddenly, Hammers suddenly remembered these two words that the veteran said last night, no wonder, no wonder he felt a little wrong at the time, no wonder, I see! But what's the use of that? The veteran, already dead.

Hammer looked down, looked at the veteran who still looked like he was sleeping, and then at the towering ridge in front of him, and gritted his teeth to carry the veteran on his back. However, the old man's stern voice seemed to be heard in his ears again

"Don't spoil the little life we managed to save for you!"

"Bad, bad... Hammer gritted his teeth and repeated the word, hesitated for a long time, and then held back his tears to lay the old man's body on the ground, and then, drawing out the old soldier's strangely shaped Rhodok straight knife, laboriously digging a hole in the ground.

The soil of the Rhodoc Mountains is soft and easy to dig, but the thick leaves on the ground and the knotted roots of the trees in the ground also make his work difficult. Hammer laboriously dragged the veteran's stiff body into the pit, then covered him with a handful of dirt and dead leaves with his hands, and did it all before clapping his hands and standing up.

"Old man, the mountains and rivers here are beautiful, and it can be regarded as a good place. Although I can't recite Merando's prayer to give you a requiem, you should be satisfied with the bearskin's skin as a shroud and the bear's paw as a tribute, which is a treatment that even ordinary nobles can't enjoy. ”

As he spoke, he looked around again, as if something was missing... Oh yes, tombstones, no tombstones.

It is impossible to find stone to carve, and you can only use wood. Hammers found a stick of the right thickness, swung a straight knife and slashed it. Although this Rhodok straight knife looks like scrap scrap left over from a blacksmith's weapon, and it is very awkward when cutting people, it is quite easy to chop branches or something. However, the roots and gravel had sharpened the blade of the machete, and it had long since lost its sharpness, and the slash soon made Hammers's proud biceps muscles sore.

Finally, he panted and cut down the not thick tree, and cut off a trunk of uniform thickness and inserted it into the old soldier's grave, and then cut off a piece of bark, revealing the whiteness underneath, and planned to carve something, but...

"Old man... What's the old man's name?"

"Damn!" he cradled his head, desperately recalling, hoping to find a clue from his usual bits and pieces, but found nothing.

"Damn, damn, damn!" Hammer's eyes welled up with tears, and he didn't know if it was because of anxiety or shame, "What the hell is your name, old man!"

Just when he was so anxious that tears were about to flow out, suddenly there was a sound of chatter in the woods, and Hammers quickly raised his head and looked in that direction vigilantly.

The bushes were pushed away, and several Rhodok soldiers came out.

"We hear voices from here, who are you. The leader spoke.

How could there be a Rhodok here? Although he had strong doubts, he still replied with the Rhodok accent of a veteran, "I... I'm a Southern Army, from Odom in Moran Village. For Asona and the others, the parade in Norma was undoubtedly a success, and they only stayed in town for one night, and the next day the parade doubled. Most of these people are retired horsemen and knights who have taken up arms again to protect their princesses, while the rest are retired horsemen or the sons of knights

, in order to seek his own title and glory. Although knights were also nobles, the title was not hereditary, so these young men had to carve out a future for themselves with a sword and shield.

Another factor that allowed the ranks to expand a lot was the caravans that followed closely. After all, the army is a kind of high-level violent gang, and you don't have to worry about being attacked by bandits along the way. However, these people are not serious businessmen, and these speculators with a keen sense of smell are like scavenging vultures, relentlessly chasing war and death. To tell the truth, Mu has done this kind of business before, roughly pulling some delicious food and drink, and some other things that the soldiers like to the barracks, selling them at a high price while the weekly salary is paid, and then buying some tattered armor weapons and loot that the lord doesn't want at the price of scrap, and going back to fool those uninformed hillbillies. In addition, the meat of the dead horses would be cut off and made into roasted meat or air-dried meat, which would be sold to the fighting army as military rations, and then profit from it.

However, this method of making money later fell out of fashion, because the lords could not see that the copper-covered fellows were taking advantage of them in vain, and ordered the soldiers to do their work. Of course, businessmen, as the most brilliant people on the mainland, naturally always have some crooked ideas. Mu had heard of a daring guy who didn't even spare the dead, but when he was exposed, he was hung behind his horse by angry soldiers and turned into paint on the camp floor.

Well, although in terms of personality and morality, the leading leaders don't like these guys, but the caravan follows undoubtedly helps to boost the morale of the soldiers and ensure the supply of the army, so the general commanders also acquiesce to this behavior.

But these delicacies are a waste to the barbarians who come down from the plateau, and it is you and His Majesty King Haraus that the noble soldiers are more worthy of these delicacies. ”

Mu thought about the goods such as pickled meat and cream on the truck, and couldn't help but pout, these things still dare to call themselves delicacies, this guy is thick-skinned enough.

"But I'm sorry," Mu pointed to the river next to the team, "we won't follow this river all the way to the battlefield of Viruga, and we will turn around and head to Fort Wincord after a while." ”

"Fort Wincord ... That's not ... The merchant was startled, and when he looked up again, he saw Mu's meaningful smile.

"You... YOU ARE ... ”

"Princess Esona's army, she is about to ascend the throne in Uxhall. ”

"Ahh A hint of horror flashed across the merchant's face, but soon a more flattering smile grew, "Princess Ezona, Duke Asona is going to be king, that's great!" As he spoke, he enthusiastically took out a larger money bag and stuffed it into Mu's hand without saying a word, "We Svadia have lost too much, if the invincible Princess Asona can become the king, it must be quite a lifting thing! ”

"Ah, it's great that you have this heart, and Her Royal Highness will not forget your dedication. ”

"Haha, that's great. The merchant secretly wiped his sweat, "Then, I'll go back to the team, the caravan still has a lot to deal with." ”

"Well, thank you. ”

The merchant smiled and said hello and hurried back to his van, while Mu rode back to Isona.