Chapter 15 Mercenaries in Border Towns
The miserable Paladin, after walking for nearly ten days and running out of ammunition and food, finally stepped out of the endless forest and saw the bustling town not far away at the border of the forest. Reluctantly opening his very tired eyelids, Paladin listened to the faint noise coming from the town, with a relieved smile on his face and murmured: "Enos! I swear to never walk in the forest again. This is simply not what a normal person should do." A place to walk!”
Because Paladin had little experience in forest life, he suffered a lot in these days. Because I was afraid of being discovered, I didn't dare to light a fire. I endured the smell and ate the raw meat of the killed deer in the middle of the night. Digging in the moist soil and drinking the hard-won mud water. Late at night, I was almost bitten to death by a fist-sized mosquito! This is a nightmare day!
With a chuckle, Paladin's originally weak body suddenly ignited with strength. He ran away and ran towards the town that was like heaven in his eyes! Because he knew that with the gold coins on the priest, he could have enough food, clothing and sleep here.
Somewhat contrary to Paladin's expectations, he was walking in the street in a state of embarrassment, and it was almost impossible to tell that he was wearing a priest's robe. The passers-by on the road actually ignored him with a non-surprised expression. Apparently this pattern is very common here. Looking at the pedestrians passing by, Paladin noticed that except for some shop workers and travelers. Most of the people filling the town are warriors wearing various types of armor, with long swords at their waists and shields on their backs.
You can even see a faint trace of blood red on the armor. That's the result of not wiping it clean after being stained with blood. In addition, Paladin also saw a ranger wearing leather armor and holding a crossbow and dagger. These people may be in groups or alone. Some even carried one or two dead monsters with sharp teeth and claws and hideous faces. Walking up and down the streets.
Paladin knew somewhat clearly that these people were either mercenaries attracted by the forest's monster profits and national subsidies, or bards and travelers wandering around. No wonder, there are many ferocious and dangerous monsters wandering deep in the forest that blocks the borders of the Principality of Kasmi, the Kingdom of Aixinzhe, and the Kingdom of Nubia. Not only are they powerful and extremely fast, some of them even have magic!
Especially magic beasts, the bodies of these monsters will form magic crystals. Magic crystals are magical crystals used by Warcraft to absorb and store magical elements. The more powerful the magic beast can produce, the better the magic crystals it can produce. The sales on the market are getting more and more outrageous. As far as Paladin knows, a fire element magic crystal produced from a fire-eating snake can be sold for five gold coins!
Five gold coins are enough to feed and clothe an ordinary family for more than a year! One can imagine how huge the profits here are. Therefore, the Principality of Kasmi saw this profit and surrounded the entire border around the forest with city walls. It only sent heavy troops to guard several large cities and dozens of towns, allowing these mercenaries who came for money to hunt. . A huge 60% tax is collected from the trophies, as well as regular hunting license fees.
As a result, there were many people who crossed the city wall to poach without wanting to pay taxes. However, apart from being hanged, Paladin had never heard of anyone being rescued if they were caught.
After thinking about it, Paladin suddenly stopped. Because there was a tavern pattern with a sword stuck in the tree in front of him, "Forest Sword Tavern?" Paladin, who was muttering to himself, suddenly realized that he should take a rest. He swallowed deeply and subconsciously touched the bulging gold coins in his pocket. Paladin finally pushed open the jingling wooden door with one hand and walked in.
"Well..." As soon as he walked into the tavern, the pungent smell of alcohol and strange stench in the tavern immediately made Paladin cover his mouth and nose. Started to look at the people in the tavern. Groups of topless or mercenaries wearing simple armor were squandering their share of remuneration and drinking ale with their arms around low-looking girls. Perhaps the traveler who came after a long journey had no intention of meeting other people and vented his full belly on the barbecue on the table. The knife and fork in his hand quickly flashed afterimages.
Two tall drunk men were fighting as if they were no one else. The few soldiers wearing male armor sitting on the side ignored the fighters and talked about women, money and lords. The tall, thin, middle-aged man was playing the organ in his hand and humming a nice but rude ballad. He was probably a bard.
The bloated old man sitting at the counter was pouring rum out of boredom. Maybe as a boss, the turbid rum in front of me is more interesting than these mercenaries. Singing, yelling, fighting, and laughter filled the tavern. No one noticed or cared about an embarrassed young man.
Paladin glanced at it, and when he was about to step forward, his eyes narrowed instantly! Because he saw a man shrouded in black robes on the edge of the tavern! The important thing is not this person, but in Paladin's view, the two hundred and sixty fiery red magic elements surrounding this person are as obvious as torches in the night!
This man is a magician! Moreover, the armored warrior sitting next to the magician also had more than twenty earth-yellow elements lingering around him! But before Paladin could figure out why the man dressed as a warrior could also do magic, perhaps he felt Paladin's gaze, and the man in black robe who had been motionless suddenly raised his head shrouded in a black hood. A pair of profound and wise eyes immediately looked over! Paladin immediately tilted his head, pretending to glance over in a hurry, and walked straight to the counter.
The three people sitting in the same seat as the black-robed magician saw his gaze and immediately noticed Paladin. One of the women, wearing tight-fitting leather armor and carrying a bow and arrow and a knife, immediately lowered her voice and said, "O'Neil, what's wrong with this person?"
Sitting next to the woman who looked like a ranger, a drunken male warrior wearing fine armor spoke loudly: "Liliel, you are just a poor traveler who has to watch hundreds of times every day. Or should I say Have you fallen in love with this boy?" "Orkney! Watch your words! Her fiancé is still sitting here!" A handsome red-haired boy with two daggers at his waist heard Orkney's words He was teasing and immediately retorted that he was Lilier's fiancé.
At this time, the mage O'Neil, who was shrouded in black robes, returned to his original bowed posture. If it weren't for the long black hair exposed from the hood, the slightly hoarse voice would make people mistake him for a Old man: "This man, wearing priest's clothes, should be a clergyman going to be installed as the priest of the church. And just now, the moment he looked over, I felt a slight loosening of my connection with magic... It's strange, I Never encountered such a situation.”
When the ranger Lilier heard this, she immediately shook the wine glass in her hand with a helpless look and said with a smile: "Dear Master Onnell, although I don't understand magic, you are so cautious and say a series of words from time to time. I really can't stand the character of esoteric things." On the contrary, Orkney, the warrior who was originally smiling and a little drunk, actually put down his wine glass at this time, without any hint of drunkenness on his face, and turned to look at Paladin extremely seriously!