Nearly thirty carriages, hundreds of horses, and a team of hundreds of people came out of the city in a mighty manner. Harald stood on the city tower, shaking his head with evil eyes. These caravans would have gone to sea at his port, so he just
He could receive a large sum of tax money, but now that everything was ruined due to the port closure, he could only take a huge sum of money from these businessmen and let them go.
"Mr. Boris, what are you doing?" Ryan found Boris, the leader of the Blood Ax Mercenary Group, and several wounded men packing up their things and leaving in the other direction.
"We?" Boris smiled awkwardly: "A few of us may not be able to help you on the road. Mr. Lane, I originally thought I could still contribute some strength. But..."
After finishing speaking, Boris was hesitant to speak. It was obvious that he had not fully recovered from his injuries in the battle with the beastmen.
After the exchange, Ryan learned that Boris planned to take the wounded, including Banda, back to Winter City, the capital of the Nord Kingdom, to recuperate. Several healthy mercenaries would accompany them to take care of them.
"I understand, I wish you good luck." Ryan understood him.
"Also, please tell Ms. Trovik for me that the favor our Blood Ax Mercenary Group owes them in Gloria has been repaid, and we do not want to have any contact with them in the future," Boris said on his face.
Unable to tell what his expression was, he slowly looked away and looked at the road back, with sadness in his voice: "The Glory Council has given us a lot, but it has asked for more from us. It's time for everything to end.
"
"Okay, I'll convey it to you." Ryan didn't say anything. It was not unusual for spellcasters to repay favors, so he just watched a few people leave.
The Gray Blade mercenary group led by Birger was walking in the front, and he himself was riding a fast horse half an hour ahead of the convoy, followed by the guards and the Blood Ax mercenary group, and then the merchants and sorceresses returned.
There is Ryan and the others in the middle, and the tail end is managed by the guards and a few wandering knights.
We had just left the town not long ago, and the road was not easy to walk. The wheels of the carriage kept running over some small stones and raised roadside, which shocked the young man in the carriage.
"Ah ah ah ah! It hurts, it hurts!!!" The young man in the carriage shouted in pain. One of his arms was covered with bandages and hung on his chest. It was obvious that the injury was unclear.
It's Banda from the Blood Ax Mercenary Group. The young mercenary was injured during the battle at the dock. Now he can only sit in the car and rest. Fortunately, it's not serious, just a bruise.
"Simon, I heard that the Lord of Kalzenhaven held a banquet later! Did you go?" Banda felt very depressed. He lay on the hospital bed and thought about it countless times that Ms. Trovik would visit him.
But the fact is that the sorceress never appeared from beginning to end.
"I didn't go, how could I have the chance to go? That's a place where 'higher people' go, how can we people be qualified?" Simon shook his head: "On the contrary, the captain and deputy captain both went. They said they were just normal people.
It’s just a party.”
"Yes, the leader didn't come back until the next morning after drinking." Banda looked at the dark clouds outside the carriage and sighed: "I was lucky enough to save my life. Hans, Rem, and Bao
Ermo and the others have already..."
The young mercenary thought of his comrades in the mercenary group who had died before, and the battle with the beastmen. The number of members of the Blood Ax mercenary group had changed from more than fifty people to more than thirty people now, and twenty of them were forever.
left them.
"Actually... the leader said when he came back yesterday that he regretted accepting Ms. Trovik's commission. The price we paid was really too high." Simon checked his crossbow.
And oil his dagger.
"By the way,...does Ms. Trovik..." Banda hesitated for a moment, then asked.
"No, it's the knight...well, Mr. Lane asked how you were recovering." Simon's face didn't look good when he mentioned Lane. He thought it was really disgraceful to be forced to apologize to the veteran on the dock that day.
thing.
The convoy continues to walk, and this section of the road is still safe for the time being.
"It seems like it's going to snow again, the weather is like this." Ryan rode his tall horse Pinecone. He could feel that the weather was never getting better, and he felt a little worried.
Yesterday at the banquet, Velarde told him a very bad news. The northern barbarians once again gathered their troops and marched southward.
This is not the problem, after all, the Nords have been accustomed to fighting the northern barbarians all day long for many years.
What really concerned Ryan was Velarde's words.
"The city wall of Storm Fortress was found to have undergone some kind of mutation. In some locations where the city wall has been attacked all year round, the defenders found that the city wall had grown eyes and tentacles, and seemed to have self-awareness. The Church of Justice believed that this was due to the long-term attack on the city wall.
It was caused by the erosion of the flesh and blood of those Chaos believers, so under the auspices of the Church of Justice, the walls of Storm Fortress will be demolished and rebuilt after being burned by fire."
But at this time, the northern barbarians attacked, and Ryan felt that there might be some connection between them.
Forget it, I couldn't think clearly for the moment. The man shook his head and shook the messy thoughts out of his mind, only to find that some snowflakes had been thrown off his hair.
It's snowing again.
"A mentor of balance and balance, the recent weather is really weird." Ryan casually smiled at the druid riding on the road.
Yes, during this trip, the bad-tempered druid "Tree Planter" Eldrad will go with everyone. The reason is also very simple. The druid was expelled by Velard.
He arrived in Kalzenhaven and had no place to stay for the time being, so he made an agreement with Oliver to set off with the caravan.
"Nature's whisper needs to be heard, she is wailing, a terrible storm is sweeping..." God Eldrad whispered, and then Ryan immediately interrupted him: "Enough is enough, mentor of nature.
, could you please say it in plain and easy-to-understand language? Mr. Eldridge won’t be as difficult to communicate as you are.”
"Eldridge? Do you know him?" Druid was a little confused, then nodded, still in a bad tone: "It's chaos energy. Chaos energy is blowing the sky, causing it to be cloudy and snowy now."
"Ancient Tree Walker" Eldridge is one of several "walking agents" of the Church of Nature, so it makes sense that Ryan would know him.
"Haha~" Ryan just squinted his eyes and smiled. These people in the Nature Church are really not lovable.
When actions such as picking a fruit or wearing clothes can be interpreted as an offense to nature, when this group of people can directly trample on the basic laws of the kingdom of citizens' property independence and freedom for the so-called "natural balance", Ryan believes that any
It is difficult for people to have a good impression of them.
How similar to those little animal protectors.
The "communication" between Ancient Tree Walker and Ryan was also quite pleasant, because only after Ryan hung him in the tree did he want to talk to Ryan properly.
Without further ado, Ryan noticed that the wandering knights at the back of the team had slipped into the middle of the team at some point: "Gentlemen? Shouldn't you be at the back and pay attention to the safety of the team behind them?"
The leader was none other than Ike. He was trying to spy on the goods in the carriage in the middle of the team. When he heard Ryan's words, he sneered and said: "Sir, where are we going now? We haven't entered the forest yet. Look,
Are we..."
"Please perform your duties seriously. I won't argue with you this time. Please keep at least three people at the end of the team at all times!" Ryan said angrily.
The words of the kingdom knight were still very effective. The few wandering knights looked at me and I looked at you, and they all nodded and returned to the end of the team.
The curtain of the carriage next to the horses was raised: "If it weren't for Mr. Lane's support, I really wouldn't dare to go with these guys."
"Mr. Oliver must know that they occasionally do other jobs." Both the merchant and the knight knew what they were talking about, and they smiled at each other.
"I don't mind accepting a few more new armors and war horses." Ryan said in code.
"I don't mind helping Mr. Lane introduce some buyers to sell things. I don't need to charge a commission." Oliver also answered the code.
There seems to be a tacit understanding reached.
"Tsk! Dirty deal." The sorceress's faint voice of disdain came from the carriage on the other side.
After two days of rest, the sorceress's body has recovered a lot, and Ryan can already feel the strong magic fluctuations in her body.
Hearing Teresa's voice, Oliver immediately subconsciously kept silent, but Ryan changed the subject: "It's snowing outside, please keep warm."
"If it's too cold outside, you can come and rest in the carriage. Okay, I'm going to meditate." The sorceress's beautiful face flashed past the curtain.
"Huh~ It's really cold!" A big man in black robes rode up from behind and said, "Even in the mountains of our tribe, the weather will not be so cold in October."
The face of this big man in black robe is painted with oil paint, his hair on his temples is cleanly shaved, and the hair on the top of his head is tied into bunches of dreadlocks. The same is true for his beard - the thick long beard is all tied into pigtails.
And spread it on the chest.
He was wearing thick leather armor, and then a brown deerskin coat. Some animal teeth were strung into necklaces and hung on his strong chest. He carried a spear and a long bow behind him, and a short knife at his waist. Look.
He looks quite young, with a dark complexion and an old appearance. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes are stretching because of the owner's laughter: "You are the White Wolf Knight 'Sledgehammer' Ryan, right? I know you."
"Who are you?" The big man in black robe knew that he would not be surprised. The Kingdom of Nord took the initiative to promote Ryan, and he was very well-known in this place.
"Haha~ I am Rost, from the Canglang Tribe. Mr. Oliver hired me to be his bodyguard." The big man in black robe was very bold. He untied the kettle from his waist, unscrewed the cork, and the strong smell of wine came out.
One of the words floated out: "Would you like a bite, brother?"
"No, thank you. I usually don't drink on an empty stomach."
"That's such a pity." Rost picked up the kettle and took a big sip: "This is the wine blessed by the shaman of our tribe, and it is brewed with malt!"
"Tribe, shaman? Are you from the north?" Ryan looked at Rost's thick arms. He was 1.9 meters tall. If Ryan, who is 1.8 meters tall, looks well-proportioned, he is actually very strong.
Type, then Rost is a completely tall, muscular man.
There are quite a few Nords with this kind of body shape, but not many with oilseed skin and dreadlocks.
"Yes, I have been here for hundreds of years. I am a barbarian." Rost spread his hands naturally, and then immediately added: "I am a canonized barbarian. Our previous generation patriarch Mo Ruike was in the Battle of Fasha
He was active in the army and was conferred as an Imperial Knight by His Majesty Ludwig!"
No wonder this barbarian dared to come out and act arrogantly. It turned out to be official approval, right? Ryan thought.
The northern barbarians have not always worshiped the evil god of Chaos. They also once had their own gods and beliefs.
After the advent of Chaos, the northern barbarians were indeed the first group of people to kneel at the feet of the evil god. In addition to being the closest to the Gate of Chaos, the environment in the northern wasteland is also an important reason. The northern wasteland is too harsh.
It's really too cold. If Nord is still warm for three months a year, the northern wasteland is severely cold all year round. The land is almost impossible to cultivate, and life is always very difficult.
Even though the vast majority of barbarians chose to surrender to Chaos, there were still a few barbarians who were unwilling to surrender to Chaos, so they chose to leave their hometowns. There were many barbarian tribes that moved inland within Nord's territory, and most of them were unwilling to do so.
They went to the city to live with others, so with the king's permission, they established their own settlements and lived in the mountains or desolate canyons. Many tribes still retained their most primitive beliefs. Even Ryan had seen the fear of wild beasts.
For the sacrificial rituals of gods, it should be noted that the god of beasts has fallen when Chaos came, but these tribes still insist on this custom.
But this thing is uncertain, because gods are very powerful beings, and it is difficult for them to die in a real sense. Some gods will leave themselves with the means of reincarnation, and some gods will choose to give up part of their power.
Preserve yourself and fake death.
Even if the god himself dies, as long as part of his power still exists in the world, everything will still turn around.
"Is that so... How have you all been doing for hundreds of years?" Ryan looked at the Hodalan Mountains shrouded in mist in the distance. The mountains were not particularly towering, but they spread far and wide. Unknown among them
There is something else waiting for these people.
"It's okay. Although life here is hard, we can survive with the great lady of ice and snow with us." Rost caught a snowflake with his hand and put it on his face, letting it go.
Slowly melting: "It is the power of the goddess that protects us from falling."
"But your goddess has never woken up since then." Ryan whispered. The goddess of ice and snow always sleeps. Apart from occasionally getting some oracles from the goddess when she wakes up, the barbarians actually get no benefits.
But they have to contribute a lot of faith and sacrifices.
How ironic, isn't it?
But without faith, human beings will not be able to unite effectively. Without faith, human beings will not be able to muster the courage to fight against the extremely powerful evil god of chaos and the erosion of darkness.
"Faith makes us strong." Estelle appeared on horseback beside everyone. The half-elf rode a tall horse, wearing a hood and a delicate moon-white cloak and goose-yellow robe made by elves. Their appearance was elegant and their tone was soothing:
"There is news from Birger that we can stay at the reserved location tonight. There is no one there, but..."
"Just what? Don't tell me that there are no people, but there are monsters!" Oliver, who was sitting at the front of the carriage, shouted exaggeratedly. The guards and mercenaries laughed loudly, and everyone looked at Ace.
On Ter's body.
They are also waiting for answers.
"The dilapidated village that was left for hunters and passing caravans to stay overnight has been severely damaged. I think... maybe many of us have to sleep in the open at night." The half-elf still had a smile on his face: "So, everyone, please take action.
Hurry up and get to the campsite as early as possible, so we can try to repair some houses for everyone to live in at night!"
"Okay then! Speed up your pace!"
"Hurry up!"
"Speed up~"
When the sun left its last afterglow on the mountain top, the huge motorcade finally approached tonight's camping site. (To be continued)