After hearing Sylvia's words, the people in the caravan didn't know what to say for a long time. Many people thought that Sylvia must be crazy. She had achieved glory, status and status that no one else could achieve in their lifetime.
Rights are given up like this. Except for madmen, it is absolutely impossible for normal people to do such a thing.
On the contrary, those wandering knights who originally respected Sylvia very much admired Sylvia even more, because they knew very well that if they were in Sylvia's position, they would never be able to give up everything and leave.
As for the inference that Sylvia was driven away, no one would think so, because just think about Sylvia's status and reputation in Toussaint according to various rumors, coupled with the military power she controls
Her power is only to drive others away. No one can drive her away, not even the Duchess.
On the way, Sylvia gave some pointers on the caravan's safety issues. The caravan leader found that what Sylvia said was very reasonable, so he simply handed over the caravan's security to Sylvia.
Yeah, of course the cost of hiring is a lot.
Sylvia did not refuse. After completing the caravan escort job, she began to rearrange the caravan escort according to her ideas.
For example, the knights are integrated together and assigned to the back of the caravan. Once they encounter an enemy, the knights have enough space to launch the first round of impact on the enemy.
The mercenaries were placed in the middle of the convoy. Next to them were some heavy vehicles. If there was a sudden attack, these vehicles would move to both sides and move closer to the center, so that they could quickly form a defensive ground.
As for bounty hunters, they are used as scouts. Their rich tracking instincts allow them to detect abnormal situations around them through some clues, allowing the caravans to have enough time to defend themselves.
After Sylvia's arrangements, the originally chaotic convoy queue became orderly, which also made the traveling speed much faster. A camping point that was originally expected to take the evening to reach was reached just after noon.
The caravan had to modify its itinerary plan, continue on the road, and wait until it reached a village about half a day away from the camp site before setting up camp.
The village chosen by the caravan leader to camp was not near the trade road, but on a hillside away from one end of the trade road. This village mainly cultivated a kind of arborvitae, which is one of the main raw materials for cloth.
The cloth made from this kind of tree hemp is very strong, durable, and not easily corroded by sea water, so it is often used by the Nilfgaard Empire to make military uniforms and sails.
Although the Nilfgaard Empire has a great demand for hemp, the purchase price of hemp raw materials is not high. Those villages that grow hemp can barely make a little profit from each year's harvest, and the real profit is huge.
Those who control the weaving workshops are the big merchants and big lords. The Nilfgaard Empire will purchase various fabrics made from hemp at prices that are ten times or even dozens of times higher than the raw materials of hemp.
It is precisely because of the huge benefits contained in hemp that the villages that do not plant hemp are divided into small territories by the big nobles and big businessmen. Everyone can only purchase the hemp in their own territory. That
The hemp in the land can only be sold to the owner of the land.
This kind of decision is very beneficial to the nobles and businessmen, because they do not have to raise prices and compress profits because of the acquisition of tree hemp. At the same time, it also avoids some unnecessary competition. If someone needs to expand the tree hemp acquisition territory, they only need to purchase another piece of land.
It's enough to transfer the land. If there are any disputes, there will be a committee established by the merchants and nobles to arbitrate.
For the Nilfgaard Empire, this order is also beneficial. They can obtain a moderately stable supply of hemp cloth and do not have to spend extra energy on trivial matters such as acquiring hemp and making it into cloth.
But for those villages that grow hemp, this order is definitely not a good thing, because they have been tied to the cultivation of hemp for generations, but they can only obtain extremely meager benefits.
It is precisely because of this that these villages that grow hemp want to resist, and the first step they take is to stop selling hemp to nobles and merchants, and at the same time declare to the outside world that they will stop planting hemp and plant food instead.
The behavior of these villages simply touched the pockets of the great nobles and businessmen of the Nilfgaard Empire. Naturally, those nobles and businessmen would not allow this, so they openly sent people to appease these villages, while secretly thinking of ways
We need to teach these villages a lesson and let them know how powerful it is.
The caravans traveling between Toussaint and Matina are well-informed people who are well aware of the conflicts between these hemp-growing villages and the big nobles and big businessmen. They are unwilling to get involved in these conflicts, so they choose to set up camp.
At that time, even if there were villages next to the road where the caravans could rest better, they would not choose to camp here, but would go to other open areas to camp.
However, the caravan leader chose this village this time with a little selfishness, because he had encountered bandits in the past, and the caravan suffered heavy casualties, and he was also seriously injured. At that time, everyone in the caravan thought he was dead, so
He was casually dumped on the roadside, but the villagers of the village found him and brought him back to the village for treatment, and he was able to survive.
Not long ago, he received news through his own channels that this village was also one of the villages that refused to sell tree hemp and was planning to switch to growing food. Moreover, the noble who controlled the purchase of tree hemp in this area was a military noble with an extremely violent personality.
, this noble has decided to use this village as a target to establish his authority, and is going to send his personal guards disguised as bandits to kill all the people in this village as a warning to other villages.
The caravan leader originally planned to leave the caravan to camp in a safe area, and then he rode to the village alone to report the news, so that the people in the village could leave the village before the nobles' personal guards arrived, and then come back after the situation calmed down.
.
However, with the addition of Sylvia and others, the caravan leader also had other ideas, especially since the caravan arrived at the reserved camping site half a day in advance, and it only took half a day to reach the village from this camping site. He felt that
This was a revelation given to him by God, so he decided to take the caravan to the village and let the guards of his caravan and Sylvia act as protectors without knowing it.
In this way, everyone was brought to this small village by the caravan leader without knowing it. The small village did not have an inn. Because of the relationship with the caravan leader, the caravan was arranged at the edge of the village.
A fairly spacious open space.
Sylvia was a little confused about the caravan leader leading everyone to camp in this off-road village because no matter from any point of view, this village is not a suitable place to camp. However, this is a caravan after all.
She didn't say much about the location chosen by the team leader. In addition, this village could provide some supplies, so the disadvantages of camping in this village were ignored.
Until the caravan formed a defensive camp according to Sylvia's instructions, and when Sylvia began to arrange the defense work of the camp, the caravan leader invited Sylvia aside to let him know what might happen tonight.
Tell Sylvia.
However, what puzzled the caravan leader was that Sylvia did not scold or blame him for this. Instead, she looked at the other party calmly, looked up and down with a scrutinizing gaze, and then said: "The caravan should be yours, right?"
?”
"It's not entirely mine." The caravan leader shook his head slightly and explained: "There are also shares from two nobles. I am only directly responsible for managing the caravan."
"Is it worth it?" Sylvia asked again: "Is it worth losing your caravan for these villagers?"
"They have saved me before." The caravan leader said solemnly.
Sylvia asked calmly: "But have you ever thought about the other people in the caravan? They were used by you and put in danger because you wanted to repay your kindness?"
The caravan leader was unable to answer this question. He just lowered his head with a look of shame on his face.
Sylvia said nothing more and turned around to return to the camp, but the caravan leader said at this moment: "Sir, you'd better ask them to stop camping and set off overnight! I'll tell the village chief and others that they leave the village...
…”
"It's not necessary! It's just a group of thieves!" Sylvia interrupted the caravan leader and said in a deep voice: "Remember, there is no private guard of the nobles at all, just a group of thieves."
After saying that, Sylvia quickly returned to the camp, then pointed out the location of the camp, and then came to the tent prepared by the caravan for her and Leo. Leo was currently in the tent using his own method.
Strengthen control of blood power.
"I know where the peeper you found hiding in the woods came from!" After entering the tent, Sylvia said directly to Leo.
"Where are you from?" Leo asked in a coordinated manner as he was multitasking.
Sylvia then repeated what the caravan leader had just said to her.
"Do you need me to deal with them?" Leo asked.
Although the peeper had left long ago, Leo was able to trace his whereabouts based on the traces he left, and then found the location of the noble's private guard.
"No need!" Sylvia shook her head and said, "I haven't been active for more than a month, so I just want to warm up with these guys."
Seeing that Sylvia had already made a decision, Leo didn't say much and asked Sylvia if she needed help. Sylvia just asked to protect the villagers who existed when the battle happened.
.
After that, Sylvia found Geralt and the others separately and explained the situation.
Although Geralt and the others were indignant that they were being used, they did not express any intention to leave and stayed. Sylvia left them in the caravan camp and was responsible for guarding the camp.
Then she met with several prestigious people among the wandering knights, mercenaries and bounty hunters, and told them that there might be a battle tonight and asked them to prepare.
Several people wondered why Sylvia knew about this, but Sylvia said nothing more, nor did she reveal anything about the caravan leader.
The admiration for Sylvia made the wandering knight immediately believe Sylvia's words and expressed that he would obey Sylvia's arrangements. Although the mercenaries and bounty hunters were a little confused, they did not ask any more questions.
I feel that no matter whether someone eventually comes back to attack here, there is no harm in them being prepared for defense.
So, Sylvia began to rearrange the defense of the camp, asking bounty hunters to set up some simple traps outside the camp, forming vehicle barriers to keep them out, and then handed over the defense work of her camp to
Cassirer, because Cassirer was the highest-status person in the camp, and he was also the one who actually participated in the war.
Sylvia herself led the heavily armed wandering knights and left the camp, disappearing into the darkness outside the camp.
Sylvia's series of actions were not covered up at all. Everyone saw it in their eyes. Some smart people immediately realized that something was going to happen, so they found a safe place to hide first.
At this time, the caravan leader also led the villagers to the camp and accepted the protection of the caravan.
There are not many villagers in this village. There are only more than 200 people. The number is slightly less than that of the caravan. Because when Sylvia used the carriage to surround the caravan, she expected that this would happen, so she surrounded the caravan area.
It has been expanded a lot, so more than two hundred people can enter the camp without making it feel crowded.
The people in the caravan did not express any objection to this, because they all thought that the possible fighting that would happen later was caused by the caravan, and they felt a little guilty when facing the people in this village.
Because of the addition of villagers, the camp immediately became lively. Although these villagers could not increase the combat effectiveness of the caravan guards much, the word "number of people" is still used here, at least because of Sylvia's actions just now.
The panic quickly dissipated from the camp, and everyone was sitting around the campfire chatting and bragging.
The lively atmosphere in the camp made Angouleme, a young girl, extremely excited. She walked around, inquiring about various rumors and news, listening to the mercenaries and bounty hunters bragging to each other, as if she regarded the place as a bonfire.
It's a party.
As time passed, everyone felt sleepy. Those who had tents went inside to rest, while those without tents simply spread a blanket on the ground not far from the bonfire and rested on the spot.
Cassirer arranged for most of the mercenaries and bounty hunters to rest, leaving only a few people to take charge of the night watch. Geralt and Regier couldn't sleep, so they also joined the night watch team.
A few hours passed, and it entered the middle of the night. When ordinary people are extremely sleepy, Geralt and Regier, who were in charge of guarding, heard bursts of rapid horse hooves in the distance almost at the same time. They climbed to the roof of the car and looked towards the sound.
Looking over where the message came from, I saw more than a hundred torches appearing in the darkness and approaching very quickly.
Chapter completed!