Chapter 20 Inference, Penny Village, One-Armed Man
Upon receiving the Viscount's call, Lord Herring immediately arranged for the rearguard, and then hurriedly followed the messenger to Sleepy Hollow.
At this time, most of the flesh and blood battlefield in the valley had been cleaned up. The corpses of the Luo Yanta family guards were lined up one by one and covered with burlap to be slowly recovered later; while the corpses of the thieves were left far away.
At the same time, soldiers picked up large bundles of firewood, which seemed to be ready to be burned directly.
"Robson, you have seen the current situation, what do you think?" After Lord Rosser informed Lord Herring of the general situation, the Viscount asked immediately.
"Viscount, as Lord Rosser said, if we plan to continue the pursuit at this moment, we must divide our forces. But if this is the case, some battle losses may be inevitable." Sniffing the bloody smell in the valley, Lord Helin helped him
He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, shook his head and said.
"Yes." It seemed that not even the resourceful Lord Herring could do anything, and Viscount Salk could only sigh helplessly.
To be honest, in the face of an enemy whose strength is unknown, Viscount Salk would never agree to divide his forces to weaken himself unless absolutely necessary. But according to the current situation, if you give up the pursuit, it means giving this group of thieves a greater chance.
The longer it flows through time and space, the more destructive it may be in the aftermath.
Closing his eyes and thinking deeply, the old man was rarely indecisive.
"Viscount, make up your mind." Lord Rosser raised his head and looked at the hazy moonlight in the sky, and finally couldn't help but urge.
"Lord Rosser, have you still not found Sir Luo Yanta?" At this moment, Moriarty suddenly asked.
"Yes, we have searched the whole valley and still haven't found any trace. However, all the bodies of the guardsmen have been found in the valley. I think Sir Luo Yanta was kidnapped by thieves." Lord Rosser glanced at Moria.
Di, replied.
"Thank you, Lord." Moriarty smiled slightly, then turned to Lord Helene and said: "Sir, I would like to ask you about the farm closest to Sleepy Hollow on the two roads to the southeast and southwest.
Or what are the villages? Which families do they belong to?"
"To the southeast...is Beni Village, which belongs to the Balak family; and to the southwest...is Shiqiao Manor, which belongs to...the Luo Yanta family..." At this point, Lord Helin seemed to understand something all of a sudden, and immediately stopped.
mouth, and at the same time looked anxiously at Viscount Salk opposite.
"Sir Ensberg, what do you mean?" After a moment of suppressed silence, Viscount Salk looked at Moriarty with an unprecedented severity and asked.
Everyone present is an old man who has lived in the upper class of the aristocracy for a long time. How could they not hear the implication of Moriarty? However, Moriarty's inference is really a bit "villainy", and it can even be said to be mixed with some...
There were some "malicious" slanders, so no one except Viscount Salk dared to intervene in a hurry.
"Dear Viscount Salk, and all your lords and lords." Facing the viscount's burning gaze, Moriarty did not panic at all, but said calmly with a serious look on his face: "Let us temporarily abandon our respective identities and stand neutrally.
Put yourself in the shoes of the captured Sir Luo Yanta and those thieves, let’s assume..."
"Say." The Viscount nodded slowly.
"Tonight, thieves from Ogg County encountered the Luo Yanta family's cavalry and attacked them in Sleepy Hollow. Judging from the situation on the battlefield in the valley, the thieves' situation does not seem to be very good. They not only plundered
They took away all the victim's property, weapons, and even the bones and flesh of the horses killed in the battle. Obviously, the provisions of this group of thieves were quite insufficient."
"Not bad." Lord Rosser agreed.
"And after experiencing a fierce battle and obtaining some valuable loot, what do the thieves need most?" Moriartish asked.
"We need a place to make fire, eat, and recuperate." Sir Hasis replied immediately.
"Yes, thieves also need to eat and rest." Moriarty nodded to Sir Hassis and continued: "But these thieves are bandits who have just arrived in Kent County and are not familiar with the geography of this county.
and environment, so…”
"So they need a guide to lead them to the nearest farm and capture it." At this time, Viscount Salk said in a deep voice: "And prisoners are the best guides. Am I right, Morrie?
Artie?”
"This is a logical inference that is in line with common sense, Viscount." Moriarty had finished what he wanted to say and what he planned to say. Then he bowed to Viscount Salk on the horse and said nothing more.
.
"Moriarty, I have to say that although this logical inference is quite unpleasant and disgusting, it is the closest to the truth." After about a minute of silence, Viscount Salk said coldly.
"So, Viscount..." Lord Rosser and Lord Helene stepped forward at the same time.
"I order, new target: Beni Village in the southeast. In five minutes, everyone will set off!"
"Yes, Lord Viscount."
As soon as the commander gave the order, the entire coalition army immediately became excited again. Except for a small number of personnel left to deal with the funeral affairs in Sleepy Hollow, other noble knights and soldiers remounted their horses, raised torches and prepared to march.
"Moriarty, if your guess is wrong this time, your family and I must make a formal apology to Luo Yanta." Looking at the coalition forces that had quickly formed, the old man finally said to Moriarty.
"Thank you for your trust, sir." Moriarty bowed lightly to the viscount, then pulled the reins of his horse and followed the old man's back quickly toward the southeast.
Nights in the countryside are always quiet and comfortable. Farmers who have worked hard all day now have the sweetest time to doze off. Even the miscellaneous dogs raised by farmers mostly whimper and crawl in their grass nests late at night.
, unwilling to move.
It's a pity that such peace will not belong to Beni Village tonight.
When the strongest men in the five villages were all knocked to the ground and unable to stand up, all the villagers, including the elderly, women and children, were horrified and driven out of their warm homes with bloody swords and gathered in the
On the threshing floor in front of the village. Fortunately, when the trembling villagers stopped resisting needlessly, those thieves with dirty clothes and unfamiliar faces did not hurt anyone anymore.
"I'm sorry for waking everyone up so late."
The man standing in front of the villagers and speaking was a thin, dark, middle-aged man with a haggard face and a ragged beard. His voice was low and hoarse. The man wore a half-knight armor with a collar that didn't fit very well and was quite damaged.
One left hand is holding a broad long sword half the height of a man, and he stands upright.
Looking at the one-armed man in front of them and the strong men with swords around them, the villagers looked at each other and did not dare to say anything.
"We need a place to stay overnight. We will only stay for one night and leave at dawn. So you don't need to panic, but you don't need to cause unnecessary trouble that will make everyone unhappy. Of course, we will stay
Some money will be used as food and accommodation expenses." The one-armed man said in a gentle tone, as if he did not have the consciousness and behavior of a night bandit.
"Master, we don't charge money." Faced with such a strange situation, the old village chief of Beni Village had no choice but to bite the bullet and stand up and reluctantly replied.
"I'm not a master...hehe." The one-armed man shook his head and smiled leisurely.
"Yes...yes..." The old village chief really didn't know what to say, so he could only keep nodding.
"Take them to the barn, lock the door...remember to leave a few quilts." The one-armed man sighed softly, waved his hand, and turned around to leave alone.
Immediately, a young man holding a short sword and carrying a long crossbow led a dozen of his men and drove all the villagers into an empty barn. After randomly throwing in three quilts and two water bags,
Finally, the barn door was slammed shut and then locked.
After locking up everyone in the village, the thieves set up several large bonfires in the middle of the barn.
Pancakes, potatoes, and even a little sausage and wine were rummaged by the thieves from one farmhouse to another.
Then, everyone set up a pot, boiled hot water, and threw the large pieces of horse meat and horse bones that they carried with them into the pot. Not long after, the entire sky above Beni Village was filled with the aroma of meat.
"Centurion, here you go."
After the horse meat was cooked, the young man carrying a crossbow first cut off the fattest and tenderest piece of it, sprinkled it with some coarse salt, and brought a few pieces of bread and a pot of local wine brewed by the farmer.
Arriving in front of the one-armed man.
"Thank you, White, please sit down and eat together." The one-armed man released his left palm holding the sword, picked up a piece of extremely dry and hard bread, gently bit off a piece, and chewed it expressionlessly.
.
"Yeah." As if he had long been accustomed to the leader's reticence, White also sat down next to him, used the dagger in his arms to cut off a long piece of horse meat that was exuding a strong aroma, rolled it up with another piece of bread, and brought it to his mouth.
Middle, chew it with big mouthfuls.
"Have the villagers been settled properly?" After eating only a piece of bread and a piece of horse meat, the one-armed man stopped moving, but the wine in the pottery pot was not even touched.
"It's all ready. Billy and Aken are guarding the barn." White managed to swallow a mouthful of food and replied.
"No one broke the rules?" The one-armed man's left hand was placed again on the hilt of the long sword wrapped in circles of black burlap.
"No! Ever since you split that bastard Wingobi into two pieces with your sword last time, no one dares to mess around anymore. But I saw that a few bastards still have some misconceptions about the women in the village.
I'm just holding it in." As he spoke, White seemed to glance at the bonfire not far away with disdain, where a small group of thieves were laughing loudly and eating and drinking hard, and many of them glanced at it from time to time.
Direction to the barn where the villagers were imprisoned.
"Yes." The one-armed man nodded, lowered his head, and breathed out quietly.
