Although Hornfort is a very small island, there is a small fishing village on the beach not far from the castle, where hundreds of villagers have lived for a long time by fishing and cultivating wasteland on the island. Although only some potatoes can be grown in the barren saline and mountainous areas here, the supply of salt and ships has brought some life to this small village.

After learning of the existence of this fishing village, Edward immediately organized a half-hundred-man army of soldiers to forcibly requisition a large amount of salt and grain, which can be regarded as filling the reserves of the castle warehouse during this time.

Although the Dominic fishermen who dared to be angry and did not dare to speak out hated this group of Turinese people who suddenly appeared, they still "cooperated" under the threat of bows, arrows and spears and handed over the few food stocks at home, and hid behind the door and viciously stared at the group of "high-spirited" Turin soldiers who were loaded with food and drove away from the village.

Although this approach was quite rude, it made Hirel feel quite puzzled - according to the usual practice of this "Adjutant Edward", I am afraid that it is most "reasonable" to slaughter the village and burn it to ashes, not only to replenish supplies to the greatest extent, but also to avoid the fishermen from colluding with the enemy, but now it is such a "gentle" way, at most it is a rampant conquest, which is simply normal for an army invading the Empire.

Edward didn't seem to have any further preparations, and spent the whole day organizing his soldiers to build defenses, setting up ballistas removed from battleships on towers, and building two improvised stone throwers to collect war supplies, as if they had forgotten the fishing village.

As for the villagers who had been robbed of everything, they could only pray except to hide in their huts and endure the torture of famine, and to survive on the roots of potatoes and the fish and shrimp that they occasionally caught on the beach every day, just as they had endured exploitation by the Dominicans in the past.

Probably even the Radiant Cross couldn't bear to see the villagers so pitiful, and in just three nights, a group of "reinforcements from Bright Star City" appeared on the shores of the fishing village in several longboats, although they looked rather strangely dressed - with horned helmets, armor mixed with animal skins and chain mail, their beards and loose hair almost obscured their faces, and the scars on their faces were extremely hideous.

Although this group of people looked quite scary, the villagers did not have much repulsion, only a little fear - in the Kingdom of Dominica, the mercenaries of the various city-states were the real main force, especially the villagers who lived near the city-states had long been accustomed to watching these soldiers in different clothes attack each other in this land.

However, when the head of the fishing village saw that this group of mercenaries who looked like savages came to the village, not only did he not hide in fear, but took the initiative to give up his longhouse very enthusiastically, and even collected all the food left in the village, and prepared a rather hearty dinner for these people.

Large pieces of potatoes and bread were piled up next to the campfire and roasted to a fragrant aroma, fresh fish and seaweed shells, shrimp and other sea threads were boiled together into a small half-pot "seafood stew", and the rude mercenaries did not have the slightest politeness to enjoy the food that the whole village had squeezed out for them, and even the village chief himself just sat next to the mercenary leader, swallowing saliva and smiling.

When they had finally had their fill of food and drink, the trembling village finally cautiously made its request, hoping that the mercenaries could defeat the group of Turin devils entrenched in the castle and leave a way for their poor people to live.

The burp mercenary leader laughed and patted the village chief on the shoulder, almost breaking up the old guy - they had been sent to retake Fort Clarion after receiving money from Bright Star City, and there was no need to say anything more.

"The food and gold of the Horn Castle were all hoarded in the castle by the abominable Turinees. The overjoyed chief of the village immediately began to denounce the atrocities of the people of Turine: "They have robbed all the food, they have taken everything, and even the able-bodied young people in the village are dying of starvation!"

"If you take that castle, all the gold and the goods in it will be yours - only that you will leave us poor people some good food to survive the hard days before the middle of summer. For a warrior as mighty as you and your men, those timid Turinese hiding in the castle are no match for them, and if you take advantage of the darkness of the night, they will surely tremble and surrender!"

"Of course, no one can stand firm in front of our 'Black Crow''s tomahawks!" the mercenary leader grinned ferociously and licked his lips greedily, "but we still need a little help from you." ”

"Any help is fine, please do as you ask!"

"I just want one thing, and that's your head!" The mercenary leader who suddenly roared angrily raised his battle axe, and the village chief, who still had a somewhat flattering smile on his face, was directly cut off half of his skull, and his head was planted next to the campfire with blood on his face. The well-fed black crow mercenaries stood up with a loud laugh, and the village chief's family, who had just gathered next to them, was immediately frightened!

Arrogant laughter, feeble screams, struggles and wailings...... The little fishing village, which had just had a little hope a moment ago, immediately fell into a terrible nightmare, the young child who was struggling before the tragic death in a pool of blood was still crying weakly, and his chest was broken by the mercenary who suddenly walked by, and the mother who was screaming and wailing in the distance could only watch, pushed to the ground by several strong men, with wide eyes and rough tearing of his clothes.

The carnival-like mercenaries were quite familiar with each house in groups of three or five, cut down the fishermen and croppers who dared to resist to the ground, dragged the already frightened woman to the ground in a cry, tore the rag-like clothes into her mouth, and couldn't wait to enjoy it.

The rest of the men skilfully rummaged through the dilapidated house with no walls, and it was evident that this was not the first time they had done such a thing, and after they had looted it, they threw their torches into the pile of firewood and grass, and left with a loud laugh.

Half of the head of the dead village chief fell on the side of the bonfire, and only a raging flame was reflected in the already gray eyes, and the tongue of fire in the wind left a group of demons dancing on the ground, and in the dead gray pupils, I saw the group of "saviors" just now burning and looting in the village unscrupulously, as if they were monsters released from hell.

"Kill all these poor ghosts, and see if you can grab anything more - women, gold, or other valuable things, these people must have hidden a lot of good things!" The mercenary leader walked triumphantly on the dirt path strewn with corpses on his shoulder, carrying a short-handled axe, "Let those sorcerers who slam the door know what will happen if they owe money!"

It wasn't until the next morning that the sky cleared, and the fishing village in the sea of fire gradually lost its sound, and the whole village turned into a scorched earth.

"Find someone, go to the castle on the top of the hill and report it, and see if the lord is willing to hire our crow mercenary group!" The mercenary leader who got up from the woman with a wine burp said to the brothers next to him quite casually: "Tell him that the dead man in this village is a gift to him, and as long as he is willing to pay for it, we will help them deal with those wizards!"

"What if this group of Turineites is the same and doesn't want to pay for it?" asked a crow mercenary with a two-handed axe.

"What should I do, you still ask me what to do?!" the mercenary leader laughed, then glared at the mercenary viciously.

"If he dares not to pay for it, we will even knock down that castle, snatch all the money inside, and then go back to our old home in Lund!"