Baron Onegarrot stared at the Nightblade Leopard on the floor tiles, unable to believe his eyes.

The ferocious and bloodthirsty beast was a full two circles larger than its kind, its thick limbs ending with razor-sharp claws, and its snow-white teeth protruding from its mouth, a full 10 centimeters long. Judging by its appearance alone, it was undoubtedly a formidable and ferocious animal, but it was now a cold corpse.

The nightbladed leopard was twisted into a ball and drooped on the ground like a broken pocket, its dark fur covered in dried blood, and there were dozens of wounds, large and small. These wounds were not very deep, and the bright red muscles were like a basin of blood gnawing on Garrot's heart, which made his heart ache.

"The bones are broken, they must have been hammered with a peg by the paladin. There are too many wounds, even on the buttocks, and I can't find a good piece of skin. A burly middle-aged man turned the Nightblade Leopard over and shook his head regretfully.

"Vidal, don't talk about useless things!" Baron Garrot glared at his butler dissatisfied, and asked expectantly, "Tell me, how much else is this thing worth?"

Vidal stood up, scratched his head with his bloodstained hands, and said in a rough voice: "Only four ribs and two leg bones are good, and two bone daggers can be sharpened, and the four bone spear tips are worth 300 gold soles, and the tendons are fine, a total of 5 are worth 500 gold soles." The leather is useless! At most, one leather helmet is worth 200 gold soles. In total, no more than 1000 gold soles. ”

"What?!1,000 gold soles?The ferocious Nightblade Leopard that can sell for 20,000 gold soles, is it worth 1,000 gold soles now?Vidal, are you pouring too much purple cane wine into the ground, have you miscalculated?" Garrot grabbed Vidal's collar and roared fiercely.

Vidal may seem rude, but in fact he is shrewd, although he is a good drinker, he rarely makes mistakes, he is not only Garol's henchman, but also a companion who grew up together, has a superb craft of leather making, and deals with merchants all year round, this account will not be miscalculated. After Garrow complained, he still loosened the butler's collar stupidly.

Vidal wiped the spit off his face and gloated, "Master, you also have to pay 2,000 gold sol to the Warhammer mercenary group that killed the Nightblade Leopard. ”

"You mean, I'm going to lose 1,000 gold soles?" Baron Garrot angrily took two steps back and forth, shouting, "These bastards have ruined my good deeds, let them go!"

"Sir, when you hired someone, you were vouched for by Father Miad. Vidal reminded.

The kingdom of Naville is mountainous and poor, and the land is barren, rich in minerals, flora and fauna. The Neville people, who rely mainly on mining, hunting, and gathering medicinal herbs for their livelihood, are fierce, savage, aggressive, mostly illiterate, and extremely unfriendly to outsiders.

The small lords of the remote region of Neville were both nobles and mountain chieftains, and they usually lived in the wealthy royal capital, where they lived a very good life, secondly, they were ready to defend themselves against the orcs of the northern wilderness, and most importantly, they would rob the Sassans under the organization of the high lord. It is precisely because of this top-down atmosphere that the Neville people are untrustworthy, robbing, and inconvenient transportation, and over time, it has become a forbidden place for small caravans.

Since Neville is an important barrier against the orcs, the Church has greatly supported it, not only taking on nearly forty percent of the civilian resources, but also sending scholars and priests to help Neville's lords manage the territory. In Barony Garrot, Vidal, the steward, was only responsible for collecting offerings and transporting the output to the royal capital for sale, while Father Miad was the real administrator.

The people of Garrot lived a bartering life, and they exchanged hides, herbs, and minerals for supplies to the steward Vidal, many of whom had not even seen Coppersol, but Baron Garrot needed money.

Life in the royal capital of Naville is very luxurious, with all the good things and the prices of goods are surprisingly high. Baron Garrot not only had to buy food and daily necessities for the miners in his domain, but also had to pay for the expenses of the family soldiers, and also had to maintain a decent life for his wife and children. There really isn't enough money!

A few years ago, Father Miad had discovered an elemental crystal mine in the mountains, and after informing Garrot, he organized the people to mine it. Originally, everything was going well, but just a few months ago, two violent Nightblade Leopards moved to the vicinity and continued to attack the miners, and the mine was abandoned. When Garrot received the news, he rushed over with his army, and he tried to catch the two beasts.

Elemental crystals are scarce in production, but they are not very useful, and can only be used by peak knights. The finest elemental crystals cannot be measured in monetary terms, but ordinary elemental crystals are processed and generally sold as gemstones. Garrot doesn't really care much about his Elemental Crystal Mine, which can only generate 2,000 gold soles a year before digging for top-grade crystals. This amount of money is insignificant compared to the value of the ferocious beast.

The flesh of the ferocious creature is barely boiled and almost useless, but its bones make excellent crafts, the tendons are the material of military heavy crossbows, and the fur is even more valuable. There are two fierce nightblade leopards in the territory, and in the eyes of Baron Garrot, it is equivalent to a windfall from the sky, but it is not easy to hunt them.

Ferocious, cunning, perceptive, and incredibly fast, the Nightblade Leopard is known for its stealth. The Nevilles are excellent hunters, with a wealth of experience and skill in hunting, but the only way to deal with ferocious beasts is to block, surround, and squeeze their space to move, and then let the knights enter to hunt. This required a large number of men, and Garrot mobilized all the men, but it was not enough, so he sent people to the border towns of Gambis to recruit mercenaries.

The virtues of Lord Neville, the seasoned mercenaries know it. Although Garrot offered a high price, he couldn't recruit anyone, and in the end, it was Father Miad who came forward to vouch for it, and only then did three mercenary groups accept the commission.

According to the agreement, each mercenary can be paid 40 gold soles, the casualty pension is 50 gold soles per person, and if the mercenary group captures prey, whether dead or alive, a reward of 2,000 gold soles. Garrot's abacus is very good, these mercenaries can only earn cannon fodder money, and the two prey will fall into his hands sooner or later, but he never expected that a nightblade leopard would be killed by the mercenaries, and it would be ruined.

Garrot can be untrustworthy to the mercenaries, but he doesn't dare to offend Father Miad, who let the priest feed nearly half of the people for him and take care of the territory for him?

Seeing that this bounty was inevitable, Garrot asked distressedly, "What about the other Nightblade Leopard?"

Vidal replied: "Pierced in the eye by the Knight of Horus, intact. ”

With the 20,000 gold sol in hand, Garrot was in a better mood, and then he remembered and asked, "That...... How did the Warhammer Mercenaries take out the Nightblade Panthers?"

"Last night, a Warhammer mercenary took off his armor, left the fire, and stood inside the encirclement, acting as a decoy. No matter how clever a beast is, the Nightblade Leopard is the most bloodthirsty, and it can't overcome its killing instinct to surprise the mercenary. Who would have expected that the mercenary turned out to be a fierce warrior, and he directly entangled the Nightblade Leopard, and others, including the Holy Warrior, swarmed up, resulting in the beast. Vidal shook his head and praised heartily: "It'......s a shame to be brave!

Due to the difference in body structure, fierce humans are far from being opponents of violent animals, and human beings with intelligence and emotion can overcome the fear of death and dare to fight with their bare hands against violent animals, which makes people's blood boil.

"How's that warrior?"

As he fought, he shoved his hand into the throat of the Nightblade Leopard and grabbed the beast's tongue so that it didn't run away. Fortunately, Father Miad cast a magic spell on him in advance, and the man did not die, but his hand was useless. Vidal cracked the Nightblade's mouth open and showed Garrot its tongue.

Looking at the obviously long tongue, Garrot could imagine how crazy and ferocious the beast was at that time, and what kind of attack the mercenary had endured, and he said regretfully, "Such a warrior...... It's a shame indeed...... Give them the bounty!"

"Master, do you want someone to take the money back halfway?" Vidal made a meat-cutting motion, obscene and ruthless.

Baron Garrot glared at his butler and exclaimed, "Warriors are worthy of respect! Give the money to the Warhammer mercenaries now, and send someone to escort them back, lest those blind guys ruin my reputation!"

"Yes!" Vidal said in awe, turning and walking out of the castle hall.

It wasn't long before Vidal returned, and he said to Baron Garrot, "Sir, the commander of the Warhammer Mercenary Regiment didn't ask for a reward, he wanted to see you. ”

"Don't want a reward?" Garrot was amazed, thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, "If that fierce warrior hadn't been abolished, I would still have taken them in, now...... Hehe, I can't afford to raise too many soldiers. ”

"Master, they didn't say they wanted to join us, they only said they wanted to negotiate a deal with you. Vidal said with a strange expression.

A lowly mercenary group actually wants to negotiate business with itself?!

Garrot's first thought was to grab them and whip them severely, but when he saw the corpse of the Nightblade Leopard on the ground, he still said, "Then let's see them." ”

The spacious hall, the elite guards, and the lord sitting on the main seat made Wei Qi's forehead and palms sweat constantly.

As a merchant, Welch had seen the world, even more so than most of the lords, but the noblest man he had ever seen was the mayor of his hometown, a lord. In fact, the vast majority of freedmen have never seen a true knightly nobleman in their lifetime, let alone a lord. This is the first time Fat Wech has entered the castle, the first time he has met the lord, and he has to negotiate a deal with the lord of the high lord.

Thinking of business, Fat Wech's nervous brain finally came to life, and he bowed deeply to Baron Garrot respectfully.

Garrot sat on the lord's throne and slanted at the four men at the bottom of the stairs, three of whom were dressed in old leather armor, and one of whom had his right hand wrapped in a thin linen bandage, presumably the fierce warrior who fought hand-to-hand with the beasts. The other was dressed as a civilian, bloated and fat, with flickering eyes, not at all like a mercenary licking blood with a knife, nor like a strong miner in Mune, but with the smell of a merchant. This made Garrot's curiosity about this mercenary group a little heavier.

"You're the leader of the Warhammer Mercenary Regiment?" Garrot asked Fat Wech.

"Honorable lord, I am a freeman merchant, the Hammer Leader of the Warhammer Mercenary Regiment. Welch humbly pointed to the hammer.

"Oh. Turning his gaze to the stout hammer, the baron asked slowly, "I heard that you refused the bounty just to see me?"

Iron Hammer stepped forward and bowed, "Lord Lord, our Warhammer Mercenary Regiment is a guard hired by Boss Weiqi, and Boss Weiqi wants to make a deal with you. ”

"A freefolk merchant hired a mercenary group?"

Garrot sneered: "I don't care what your relationship is, if you dare to tease me, I will reward each of you with ten lashes and another two years of hard labor." Now, tell me what you are here for!"

Fat Wech's lips trembled in fear. It is a felony for civilians to deceive the lord, although the crime is not punishable by death, but if the lord is in a bad mood, a slight hint is that they will shed their skin if they do not die, and the priest who is stationed will only turn a blind eye, at most remember it in his heart or warn him. In the face of a big man who can crush himself at will, it is strange that Wei Qi is not afraid, but in the face of profit, he has looked down on life and death and is fearless.

If 1 million gold soles were put in front of Wei Qi and bought his life, Wei Qi would definitely not agree, but if there was a deal that could make 10,000 gold soles, Wei Qi would dare to stab the Night Blade Leopard in the ass with a knife, and he did exactly that.

It's been almost a year since Welch and the Warhammer Mercenary Regiment came out, and in the past ten months, they have trekked nearly 7,000 kilometers, passing through 41 cottages, 12 free camps, 72 battles large and small, facing jackals, goblins, kobolds and ferocious beasts, killing 17 companions, including a merchant who died of illness on the way. The team has also changed from more than 40 people at the beginning to 98 people now.

Along the way, they continued to collect mountain goods, and continued to sell goods, and so far they have earned more than 8,000 gold soles. Witch calculated that he could get 542 gold soles, which was more than he had earned in five years in Blackcastle. Wei Qi understood that his original business was simply a joke, and business was his future pursuit.

Wei Qi and the other merchants summed it up, and they all unanimously decided to change the sitting merchant to the trader, and also summarized a lot of ways, such as the mountain goods must be sold in the big towns to have a good price, dealing with caravans is far less cost-effective than dealing with sitting merchants, the more sought-after goods are paid, the lower the tax, and most importantly, the thighs of the Warhammer mercenary group must be clung to.

The merchants walked all the way and sold all the way, and they couldn't stop at all, and they didn't want to stop at all, but they ended up stopping at the border town of Gambis-Neville. Everyone looked in Neville's direction, saliva and dilemma. The fine iron arrows were all gone, there were 800 pounds of jaggery left, and there wasn't much left to trade with the mountain people of Neville.

In fact, these are not the main reasons why the caravan hesitated. The freedfolk traders were originally merchants from the eastern province of Gambis, and they had heard of the situation in Neville.

Neville people will never buy what they can rob, and they will never sell what they can't. In Neville, the mountain people are the lords, and even if they have goods, they must be traded through the lord.

Do lords trade with freedfolk merchants? If the lord is willing to trade with freedmen, what else do you have to do with them? Isn't it because you are afraid that the lord will confiscate the goods?

The Warhammer Mercenaries stopped in the border town for 10 days, with no intention of going back. Aware of Hammer's embarrassment, Wedge quietly found the three regimental commanders and had a deep conversation. Hammer told him that the goods were quietly provided by a certain big man in Randall's collar, and that big man made a request that if he wanted to continue to get the goods in Randall, he had to exchange them for fire elemental crystals.

Wei Qi was immediately anxious, he didn't care about the source of the refined iron arrowhead and the jaggery sugar, there would always be someone who would do something that harmed the public and private interests. In Blackcastle, Wetch has also helped some of the bigwigs resell goods. What makes Wei Qi anxious is that if there is no goods on the road, this business will not be able to continue.

Obviously, Randall and Neville are the two ends of this trade route, and the cottage in the middle is the node of the trade route. It is the goods at both ends that connect the nodes, and without the goods, the trade road is over. Because of the secrecy and difficulty of this trade route, large goods such as grain, wine, timber, minerals, etc., could not be operated at all, and only small but refined goods such as raw sugar, salt, and refined iron arrowheads could be maintained.

Losing Randall's Brown Sugar and Arrowheads is equivalent to losing the entire trade route, but if you want to keep it, you must open the way for the Neville people, and Wage is at a loss for this.

Luckily, Father Miad of Barony Garrot went to the border towns to recruit mercenaries and hunt down the ferocious Nightblade Panthers. After discussion, Hammer decided to leave the newcomers and traders in town, and he led the mercenary group to accept the mission, hoping to get in touch with Baron Garrot, and Witch took the initiative to ask for help, and he wanted to do his best to facilitate this.

The mercenary group fought the Nightblade Leopard, and Wedge also rushed up and stabbed twice, and a powerful companion paid for it with his left hand. All of us are doing to meet the lord.

The lord is in front of him, the trade route is in his hands, and now he is just waiting for himself to convince him!

Fat Wech took a deep breath, the fat on his body no longer trembled, and the whole person became enthusiastic and high-spirited.

Garrot shuddered somehow when he saw Wage's fiery eyes.