The gates of Fist Castle were wide open, and six knights escorted their lord at the gate, and the messenger sent by Mana, the Knight of Leon, who was also a scout, stood by and smiled at Mana.

Leon made a safe gesture with his hanging hand on his thigh, and when he saw this time, the female knight was relieved, and after dismounting and tidying up her clothes, she led the crowd up.

It was inconvenient for Siegel to reveal his identity, and it was not easy to disguise himself as a knight's personal soldier, so he left incognito. He personally went to scout the nearby elves and ancient war trees, hoping to make a difference.

Fort Fist was a small castle in the entire castle defense chain, and according to the information gathered by Fezak, there were less than ten knights and an equal number of knightly squires living here, plus more than a dozen servants. Usually no one cares about this place, because there is no production, and there is no entertainment. Their lives were sometimes not even as good as those of the orcs, and they even had to farm and hunt for their own livelihoods.

It seems that the actual situation is even worse than what is described in Fezak's intelligence, and Manna understands it after a closer look. Although the other lord rode a charcoal black horse, it should be a high-grade war horse depending on the breed, but it was really not well maintained. The armor was made by a famous artist, and it was of the highest quality in terms of texture, workmanship, and defense, but it didn't fit.

Armor can be passed down from generation to generation, but each generation owner should find a suitable armor craftsman to modify it according to the body type. Could it be that this castle doesn't even have a qualified craftsman who can adjust the armor belt?

Manna wanted to allow Heim's trade route through the castle, and Fist had been waiting for this day for a long time, and the two sides had even begun to exchange pleasantries before the negotiations were completed. The only trouble was the difficult road for the female rider to pass, but both sides agreed to send craftsmen to repair it, at least to build a ramp that would allow the wagons to go along.

The caravan had always taken the Ore Avenue, following the path of the foothills of the Walled Mountains. But now there are elves patrolling the roads. The ore avenue is unobstructed and no longer safe enough. Elves don't have a penchant for killing, so the merchant is not afraid of losing his life, but all the goods are confiscated and then locked up in a cell by the elves, and no merchant likes such an outcome.

The walled mountains belong to the dwarves. The path of the castle's defensive chain was given to humans by the dwarves to manage. The elves have no intention of entering the walled mountains for the time being, so the road on the hillside is safe for the time being. It was not without clever merchants who wanted to take this path, but it was impossible for them to pass through the castles of so many lords - the gate tax and tolls alone would suck up all the profits. Only Siegel, who is also a lord, is qualified to talk to the lords, coordinate and distribute everyone's interests, and the recent victories in the two wars of the Heim Lords have also increased his voice.

In this way, the "Mid-Levels Trade Road" was opened, starting from Heim Territory and ending at Fist Fort. Originally, Manna wanted to continue east to the White Bird Family's Bird's Nest City, but after hearing that there was a section of the road leading there that needed to cross the rift valley and had to rely on a rope bridge. This idea was dismissed for the time being. It was not easy to build a stone bridge that could pass carriages, and depending on the Fist Lord's intentions, he would rather not build the bridge.

"The road down from me is not difficult. He said, "And the road is hidden in the crevices of the mountains, and the elves will not notice it at all." ”

They looked at the map, and a long river flowed near Fort Fist to the east, merging into the main stream to reach Waterdeep. River transport is also a good option, as it is fast and has a large carrying capacity. While Siegel had no intention of providing support to Waterdeep—at least not until the fall of the Knox Society—it was an option later.

They didn't stay in the Fist Forts for long. Even the enthusiasm of the lord could not be saved. Remembering her mission, Manna excused herself to look at the northern steppes. He hurried away.

"The caravan will be coming soon, and the trade route will soon be operational. Mana's parting words made the lord excited. "I don't think it's much at first, but it's going to change over time. ”

"Absolutely!"

The way down the mountain was as they said, hidden and easy. With the help of the shelter of the mountain peaks, it is difficult to see the road from the plains. When Manna joined Siegel at the foot of the mountain, the lord of the Heim Lords was sitting on a tree stump. Quietly looking at the book in his hand.

"Yesterday afternoon, there was a squad of elves patrolling from east to west, an ancient tree of war, three elven rangers, and a druid. Siegel closed the magic book and spoke to his knights. "They'll go back at dusk and pass through here again, so I guess they'll come again around noon today. If my estimate is correct. The date of the ambush is set for tomorrow. ”

"All is as you command. ”

"Okay, I see you've been curious for a long time, and you've always wanted to know what weapon you're going to test this time. ”

Siegel took some crossbows out of the pouch and gave them to the knights. Unlike regular crossbows, the wrench used to wind the new crossbow is placed underneath the crossbow body, causing the center of gravity to drop a bit, and you need to adjust your feel to get used to aiming.

They tried flipping it, and the new lever wrench wasn't too much of a change, except for being slightly lighter. This crossbow with a downward trigger is not a new invention, what is there to keep secret, as for the knights to take poison before they can try it?

Everyone is not stupid, and they know that the lord must have something to follow.

Sure enough, Siegel took out the dark red magazine and snapped it onto the crossbow with a single press of his hand. The magazine can be moved back and forth, which can accommodate various types of crossbow body lengths, and the magic array on it can also determine when to push the crossbow into the firing slot. Siegel then holds a crossbow in one hand and pulls the lever in the other. The string of the crossbow tightened, the bolt fell, and a snapping sound was heard, and the shot was ready.

He flattened his crossbow, took a few steps away, aimed at the stump he had just sat on, and pressed the trigger. With a whoosh, the bolt sank into the stump at great speed, leaving only a small section still exposed.

"It's not bad, my lord. The knights said - with a hint of compliment and sycophancy. Being able to penetrate the stump in this way can already pierce some relatively thin plate armor and pose a threat to the people inside. Weaker chain mail and inlaid leather armor will definitely be able to penetrate. In the case of a one-handed crossbow, this is already quite a lot of power. But according to the knights' imagination, the power of this crossbow is not worthy of the mobilization of the people.

"Don't worry, take your time. Siegel gestured to the stump.

Less than a minute passed. The power of the plasma in the bolt began to manifest, and flames of white sparks erupted from the hole into which the bolt had been shot, and even the iron bolt began to melt. Soon, the stake ignites from the inside out, slowly turning into a burning bonfire.

"That's pretty much how it works against trees, and it's not as powerful as if it were shot at a person. Siegel said, "I wanted to be more powerful. But considering that the elves are relatively thin, if they are shot through, they will not have the effect of internal combustion, and it will also increase the cost of the crossbow itself, so it is made like this. ”

The knights looked at each other with wide eyes, and then said in unison, "Lord Lord, this is already very powerful!"

Siegel shook his head and said to himself: "At present, the crossbow arrows that have been shot into the trees cannot be grasped or pulled out by the big fingers of the ancient tree of war, so the burning cannot be stopped. But the elves can help—if they can get there. The power of the drawn crossbow bolt is reduced by at least 90%. I haven't solved the problem of being able to pull it out by hand for elves yet. Erdu suggested that I use a retractable barb, which would hook as soon as I pulled outward, or at least expand the damage, but I didn't agree yet. ”

Manna hurriedly waved her hand and said with a pale face: "No need to agree, it's murderous enough now!"

"That's what I thought, too. Siegel smiled. "I took this crossbow and showed it to Hum, don't look at him as an orc, his brain is not stupid at all. He came up with a new modus operandi. ”

Siegel holds a crossbow in his right hand and extends his left arm forward. Make a rein-grabbing motion. He then swept the crossbow over his left arm, blocked the wrench with his left arm, and pushed hard with his right hand to complete the winding. The crossbow clicked softly, and Siegel raised his hand to shoot, then continued to wind. Shoot again, repeating.

"At present, you can put four crossbow arrows in the magazine, and after shooting, you must hold the crossbow in your right hand and change the magazine with your left hand. Hum said he would try to change the magazine with one hand, but there was no way to do it yet. Siegel demonstrated how to replace. Then he said: "This magazine is a magic item, don't throw it away, take it back if you can." It can also be loaded with normal crossbow arrows, but normal crossbow arrows do not have the burn damage of striking ancient war trees. ”

The mouths of the people are crooked, and they no longer know what language to use to comment.

"It's possible to make a larger ammo magazine with about ten crossbow bolts in it. Siegel scratched his head and said with some regret: "It's just that I tried, and then it would be a bit too heavy to use with one hand, and magic crossbows are not cheap." ”

"Four shots are good, good ......"

"Most importantly, don't take your magic bolts out of their magazines, as they will quickly become ineffective and may ignite the surroundings. Siegel gave the crossbow to Mana and finally said, "Erdu is trying to improve the crossbow used to defend the city, and I'm not in a hurry to do that." That's all there is to say, is there anything else you want to know?"

The knights shook their heads and looked at the crossbow with terrifying eyes. This thing shoots into the armor, and even if it doesn't penetrate the skin, it will quickly burn. At that time, whether it was plate armor or cuirass, it was actually the outer wall of the stove, and the inside was barbecue.

It's better to be targeted by something like this than to pray for it to shoot through. A hole may still be alive, but there is really no way to save it if it is lit into a torch.

Only Mana, who had also become a lord, thought of a question and asked Siegel with her weapon: "Although the crossbow is better to use and has not improved much, the actual changes have not been great. I don't know how much the crossbow and ammo magazine are worth, these are all magic weapons, can we afford them?"

"Fortunately, a set will cost around four hundred gold coins. Siegel said, "The ammunition magazine takes up the lion's share and can be reused, and the crossbow bolt is actually not expensive, but you should not mention this to anyone." If Heim uses it himself, the materials are available in the territory, and he can afford it at present. But this thing is mostly sold to others. ”

Manna nodded and said, "I see, no wonder we want to open up trade routes, it turned out to be this idea." ”

This is just one of the many purposes of the trade route. Siegel said, "Before the number is spread, this kind of crossbow bolt is only to increase the confidence of the lords to resist, and at the same time, the Heim Lords can also have a good income." The actual amount of information provided to the outside world will change depending on the situation of the battle. ”

Manna finally understood Siegel's thoughts, and it turned out that he had already made such a plan. Grain, minerals, weapons, and perhaps the horses of the Raven tribe in the northern steppes, all of these combined can already affect the entire course of the war. Even if the Heim Territory does not have a large army, it has the ability to decide the outcome with the resources it already has.

Now that there is a special weapon against the elves, Lord Siegel's methods are indeed endless. I don't know what he has prepared for the Knox meeting on the other side? (To be continued......)