Chapter 68: Barricades and Bloodshed
They passed through the border checkpoint and officially entered the territory of the Anteli Kingdom. Pen Fun Pavilion wWw. biquge。 info In the rear, not far from them, the Imperial border guards, who had been hanging far away, could no longer follow. Dieter had communicated with Baron Victor and asked him to lead his army to follow the escort at visual distance when he set out today...... Thankfully, the fabled Wild Hunts didn't teleport to them as he feared, suggesting that the girl named Ciri wasn't lying, and she was no longer being followed.
There were more than fifty people in the group, and more than a dozen guards who were ostensibly mercenaries were all good at one in a hundred in the intelligence bureau, plus there was a strong man like Grom, and the monster hunter named Ruien who was temporarily hired also deliberately advanced along the route where the Anteli population and army were densely populated...... With this arrangement, even if he is attacked by hundreds of wild hunts, he is sure to protect Rhodes' safety.
The convoy moved at a constant pace, and after a while it came to the second level, which was a bit strange, and Dieter didn't remember the level.
Barricades were erected on the wooden bridge. Several long wooden sticks were placed on the shelves to block the way, and the people standing in front and behind were dressed differently and had no flags, but looked like a group of militiamen.
"What the hell?" asked Morfan, curiously, and rode forward slowly, "What are you doing in the way?"
"Pay the tolls. The militiaman closest to them said that he still had a stick of grass in his mouth, and his body shook and looked casual, and he looked up to the side, and the people looked at him and saw a coffin.
"What tolls? Didn't we pay taxes when we crossed the border just now?" Rod asked the people around him a little strangely.
"We have a villager who was hit by a horse-drawn cart and died on this road. The militiaman moved the branch to his lips, "right there, and in order to bury him, and to make proper arrangements for the families of the deceased, we have decided to levy a golden dragon on every carriage that passes along this road." ”
"To receive this money, you can have a certificate from the lord or official here. Morfan snorted coldly, "The people who were killed in the collision have nothing to do with us, and there is no law to support this kind of charge." ”
"Don't bargain with me. The militiaman spat out the straw stalks and said lazily, staring at the gray-haired girl sitting straight in the saddle, his gaze resting on her slender thighs covered in leather trousers, and at the collar of her chest, which had been cut open. "It's none of my business, I'm just collecting money here. If you don't want to pay, then go another way. ”
That being said, the other militiamen, who were sitting on stumps on the side of the road or on horses, surrounded them, and several of them raised their crossbows in protest.
"It's a robbery. Ciri whispered to Rhodes in a decisive voice, "We are so numerous that they only want to collect money, and if it were a single traveler, they would probably have robbed everything directly, and they are definitely not residents of this area." ”
"The analysis makes sense, but please don't do anything. Dieter whispered a warning to the two young men who were about to move. If you really want to fight, both the number and the combat effectiveness are your own advantages, but the opponent has three crossbows within the line of sight, and the arrows are not long-sighted, if you hurt anyone, the gains outweigh the losses, and there are only a few carriages in the team, so let's break the fortune and eliminate the disaster.
"Are we going to pay?" Rhodes asked Dieter in surprise, but was glared at by the other party, not daring to say anything more. He only promised to listen to Dieter in the morning, but he didn't want to be driven home for such a.
The leader of the caravan counted a few small gold coins, put them in a small bag and tossed them to the roadblockers: "Next, get out of the way." ”
The man who had been holding a blade of grass in his mouth took the money bag, opened it and counted it, and nodded to his accomplices. Someone dropped the guy and moved away from the barricade, and the man with the crossbow lowered his weapon and retreated to both sides of the road, letting them pass.
Ciri glared angrily at the guys who blocked the road and collected money, but the people in the caravan paid the toll, and as an outsider, she naturally didn't want to question it much.
Rod also drove his horse a little depressed and passed the wooden bridge beside Grom.
The roadblockers are still trustworthy, and after receiving the money, they will watch the caravan pass by, without the slightest remorse and turn their faces, they are only a dozen people, and there is no chance of winning if they really do it, blocking the road is only for money, there is no need to risk a small profit.
But the pendant on the boy's chest suddenly shook slightly, and it sensed hostility towards the wearer. Rod sensed something strange and looked up, but didn't notice anything unusual.
Until a loud shout rang out: "Wait!"
Not only the caravan members, but even the roadblockers were taken aback, and a crossbow-wielding roadblocker raised his weapon again, facing Rhodes' direction: "Let that kid come down!"
"Calm down, Perlon, they paid the money. ”
"Let that kid down, when I was teaching Julie's bitch in Shadow Town the other day, this kid jumped out and pretended to be a coer. Dismount, kneel in front of me, and let me step on your little white face, and it's over!"
"What's wrong with you and Julie?"
"I made an appointment with her that I would go that day, but she went to pick up other guests again, causing me to run for nothing!"
"Lay down your arms, sir, you're making me nervous. Grom drove his horse between Rhodes and the crossbowman to stop the boy, pressing the ball at the end of the hilt of his sword: "Don't make trouble. ”
"Drop it, Perlon. The Spit Out Blades of Grass militia did the same to persuade their accomplices, much to the latter's annoyance.
"I said, let that kid come down, I'll count to three, and if I don't get off my horse, someone here will die today!" the crossbow bearer's face was flushed, and the hand holding the crossbow trembled, "One! Two ......"
You can find the door without doing anything, some people are nervous and some people are helpless, and the little silver fox who poked his head out of his backpack to look at the situation outside shrank back in fear. It was only then that Rhodes remembered who the shouter was, and although he had no impression of his face at all, he understood that it was the guy who had beaten the woman on the street before. He looked at Dieter hesitantly, for fear that he would be driven home for what he had done wrong.
"yes, someone is going to die. Dieter didn't say anything, but Grom opened his fingers, wrapped them around the hilt of his sword, and sighed and struck.
The roadblockers only felt a flash in front of their eyes, the burly swordsman who was still sitting on the horse before was already standing beside Perron, who had lost his mind, and the latter's weapon had already left his body with his arm, and the attacker was a full ten meters away from Grom before, but he didn't have time to pull the trigger!
"Keep your sanity, or more than one person will die. ”
But someone didn't hold it, and maybe they didn't know what sanity was in their lives, and as blood spurted out of Perlon's severed arm, and with a scream, everyone on both sides drew or raised their weapons, and several militiamen swarmed up with spears and surrounded the Great Swordsman. The remaining two crossbowmen aimed at Grom's back and pulled the trigger, but missed, one was knocked down by Sylna, and the other missed and reloaded as she retreated.
"Don't move. Ciri said to Rod, drew his sword from his back in a dashing manner, kicked his horse's belly and rushed towards the reloading crossbowman, the boy tried to follow to help, but was pulled by Morfan's reins, and then remembered that he had no weapons and could not help if he followed.
With a loud explosion of air, the Great Swordsman made a whirlwind, and the next scene was etched in Rod's mind for days: Grom easily avoided the tip of the spear, and the spearman in front of him had his obviously unshaven and unshaven mouth open, and a red line slowly appeared on his bare and greasy, frightened and twisted face, and the red line slowly expanded, and blood gushed out of his body - the whole person was almost split in two, and the blood was sprinkled on the ground, forming a puddle.
The same kind of death, the visual impact and psychological shadow of cutting a living, the same kind of person as oneself in half, and killing a wild hunter in black armor with an indistinct face are very different. Rhodes was in a bit of a trance, but forced himself to stay awake, he was a man who aspired to be a dragon slayer, and the killing and blood were bound to come along the way, and he had to get used to them.
The caravan's guards did not attack, but surrounded Dieter and Rhodes to protect them. On the other side, Ciri, who had rushed out on horseback, caught up with her target, leaning over her saddle and striking a smooth blow, the reflection of her sword flashing, and the crossbowman, who had already begun to flee, fell forward, convulsed and never got up again.
"Run!" With a loud shout, the remaining roadblockers threw down their weapons and money bags, or scattered their legs or horses, and ran out dozens of meters in an instant.
A battle was over in an instant under the crushing balance of strength, and Grom was now back to his horse, holding a piece of blood on his sword, and the man who had originally pointed the crossbow at Rhodes had been killed by him for screaming too loudly. The roadblocker, who had been menacing before, left four corpses behind and quickly disappeared without a trace.
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