Chapter 381, Meeting the Demon Hunter Again
The old world, the empire, Prince Rick's Land, an ordinary village in the west of Rick's Land.
In the midwinter season of January, the land is still covered with ice. During this season, the villagers hide in warm rooms, enjoying the fire and the aftertaste of the Winter Veil Festival. Every house is closed tightly, and travelers can only see the high-rise cooking smoke.
Reikland is rich, and even in winter, there are quite a few militia teams that spontaneously organize patrols in the village.
Rickland and Aviland are the richest provinces in the empire. There are the largest number of self-cultivating farmers here. Farmers only need to pay taxes to the emperor or elector. The local lords can only collect trade tax and poll tax. Self-cultivating farmers Cultivate your own land, then sell your produce at the village market or town fair to earn a profit and build wealth.
However, because of this, the yeoman will not be protected by the army of the nobles. Unlike Brittania, whenever the serfs are threatened, they only need to ask the knights for help. The knights will usually be dispatched unless there are special circumstances. The rules have not changed much since the founding of the country for thousands of years.
The empire is different, especially in the wealthy Rickland, the nobles pay less attention to the life and death of the yeoman, and some nobles even hope that the yeoman will die so that they can invade the land of the yeoman.
In this case, the yeoman must arm themselves to protect themselves, or... hire troops to protect themselves.
In the snowstorm, a witcher on a scrawny horse approached.
He had an unnatural paleness on his face, two swords behind his back, a two-handed steel sword and a thin silver sword, and a short pistol hanging from his waist. He was wearing a set of brown scale armor and his head Wearing a peaked hat.
The demon hunter was obviously heavy, at least his skinny horse was a little unsteady on his feet. In the snowstorm, the demon hunter rode his skinny horse to this ordinary village.
He looked a little anxious, and when he came to the gate of the village, the witcher immediately got off his horse and splashed a piece of snow on the ground.
"It's a witcher!"
"The witcher is coming."
"Perhaps that work can be left to him."
The villagers whispered to each other about the arrival of a witcher.
Compared with Britannia, the empire is more familiar with the witcher. While the villagers hate that the witcher often abuses power, looking for traces of depravity and corruption, they also hope that the witcher can help them solve various problems and hidden worries. This makes the villagers have complicated feelings about the demon hunters. They will give them a good face when they need them, and wish them to leave when they are not needed.
The demon hunter has been traveling all year round, and he has never suffered from all kinds of stares and discrimination. This is already a common occurrence for him. He didn't think about it, but walked quickly towards the notice board in the village.
There are several notices posted on the billboard, saying that someone in the town is buying piglets.
Kaiser Karl Franz is recruiting a convoy.
Hemgart is in urgent need of sewer cleaners at a good price.
The witcher looked anxiously for a while, and finally saw a reward order underneath.
"Traces of Beastmen appeared fifteen kilometers away from here in the Rickwald Forest. It is very likely that a Beastman tribe is active. The village needs manpower to detect the activities of the Beastman tribe. If we can bring back the Beastman Beastmaster's For the head, the reward is an additional thirty gold marks."
"Bounty, fifteen gold marks."
The witcher let out a sigh of relief, and he tore off the notice while many villagers watched.
He found the village head, who was a middle-aged man with gray hair, standing at the door of the largest house in the village. He was wearing thick woolen clothes, a soft hat, and many strips of cloth hanging from his body.
"Excuse me, did you issue this notice?" The demon hunter came to the village head and handed over a reward notice.
"That's right, it was announced by the village. What are you going to do?" The village head shrugged. His attitude towards the demon hunter was not very good, but he barely maintained the communication situation: "If I want to do it, I can send someone to you Point out the direction, and if you don't do it, please post the notice back on the bulletin board.
"
"I'll do it." The demon hunter said hastily, "Since I've taken the notice, I'm going to accept this commission."
"But you still want to bargain?" The village head shook his head. "Everyone says that the demon hunter is greedy and a devil who eats people without spit out bones. Tell me, devil. What conditions do you want to talk about?"
"Fifteen Golden Marks are too few. Normally, this kind of mission requires at least twenty Golden Marks." The scar on the demon hunter's face looked very fierce, but his tone was relatively small, and he tried to bargain with the village chief .
"That was the previous price, and now it is this price." The village head looked calm, and he said to the witcher, "Fifteen gold marks is a lot, enough for you to spend three months."
"Can I have more?" The demon hunter tried to bargain: "In winter, weapons become cold, and muskets are not easy to use. I need to take a lot of risks when entering the forest. This is also for the safety of the village. I need more Some money to get fully prepared, to maintain the equipment."
The village chief looked at the demon hunter, he first set his eyes on the demon hunter, then looked at his equipment and the scars on his body, and then nodded: "Well, considering that you have to risk your life Dangerously enter the forest to deal with the Beastmen, the village can give you three more gold marks, but you must leave before sunset tomorrow."
"Deal...and more." The witcher nodded in agreement, he seemed hesitant to speak.
"What else is there?" The village chief had already turned around, so he had to turn back again: "What else do you want?"
"I haven't eaten since noon yesterday..." The witcher was a little embarrassed, he was very hungry, he had already spent all his money, and he only had a few pieces of black bread left on him, so he wondered if he could get credit first.
"What's your name?" The village head asked suddenly.
"My name is Abel, from Hemgard." said the witcher.
"Mr. Abel... How can you complete the task if you don't have enough to eat? In this way, I will ask the hotel in the village to get you some food first, and the cost will be deducted from your commission."
"Okay!" Abel was very grateful for the village chief's understanding, and he nodded gratefully: "Thank you very much."
"You don't need to thank me, just don't arrest me as a heretic and a chaotic believer." The village chief turned around again, wanting to go back to the house.
At this time, there was a dense sound of horseshoes at the gate of the village, and the village chief had to turn around again, feeling a little dizzy.
The experienced demon hunter Abel immediately realized that there must be a great noble.
At the gate of the village, a group of noble knights riding tall horses are entering the village. The leading noble is riding a pure-blood elf war horse, wearing a silk dress and a white fox fur coat of a Bretanian nobleman, holding a thunderbolt A surging warhammer, the Holy Grail Knight badge hangs on his chest.
Next to him are two knights of Reik's Guard wearing silver full plate armor and richly decorated.
The iron cross, skull, and laurel crown, the knight order badge composed of these three patterns is enough for guards anywhere in the empire to let them go immediately.
Sure enough, the village head, who had been indifferent to answers just now, immediately changed his face. His mouth was wide open, and his face was full of flattery and adoration. He trotted all the way with a wooden crutch, kneeling on the snow. Middle: "Very, very, very welcome! The emperor's guards! Welcome to the Village of Bad Smiles."
"Hello, village chief, we are ordered by the emperor to escort the distinguished guests to Hemgard, and we will stay here today and pack up your best two houses." A Rick guard said quite arrogantly, He took out two gold marks with the head of Karl Franz from his pocket, threw them directly in front of the village chief, and motioned the village chief to get up: "Hurry up."
"Yes!" The village chief answered loudly, he took the gold coins with excitement and unstoppable excitement, ran all the way through the snow, and shouted hoarsely: "The Rick guards are here! The Rick Guards have come to our Smile Village carrying the emperor's mission!"
"Wow~" The whole small village is like a midsummer festival. All the villagers came out. More than 300 villagers rushed to watch the two Rick guards. They cheered and said hello to a group of people. Many villagers Even knelt down and tried to offer some beautiful handicrafts.
The two Rick guards just smiled and waved to say hello. They conveyed the emperor's will, sympathized with the villagers' production, and asked the villagers whether the nobles had collected taxes indiscriminately.
The status of the Rick Guards in the empire is similar to that of the Holy Grail Knights. They are not only one of the core forces of the empire, but also have the power to monitor various places and send news directly to the emperor's ears. Since their establishment, they have followed the emperor and Evil fights endlessly, which earns them the respect and love of the common people.
"At least on the surface, people here are doing well." The Rick guard said to Ryan who was walking beside him.
After the Winter Veil Festival, Ryan, who is already thirty-one years old, has become more stable after his marriage. He has lost a bit of the impulsiveness and sharpness of a young man, and has more of a sense of precipitation that truly belongs to a great aristocrat.
"I'm surprised that you would give money to the villagers." Ryan raised the corner of his mouth when he heard the words: "When I was in Nord, it was their luck that the knights of the kingdom could live in the peasant's house."
"Ludwig, the savior, taught us that everyone is entitled to be paid for their labor, at least in the lands of Rick and Avi in the south of the empire." The Rick guard who spoke was actually a recruit, His name is Rudolf Lichtenstein, he is the eldest son of Duke Lichtenstein, and he was sent to serve in the Rick Guard.
"Yes, or in other words, this is only the case in the south of the empire." Another Rick guard said: "Actually, there is still a popular saying in the north of the empire, 'Where you were born, you have to get used to what you are', If you are born a peasant, you are a peasant all your life; if you are born a nobleman, you are a nobleman all your life."
This Rick guard recruit is called Wagner-Schmidt. These two recruits were sent by Emperor Karl to escort Ryan until Hemgard reached the national border of the Ax Bite Pass. Although they were two knight recruits, Rudolph brought Eleven knights, Wagner also brought five knights, plus Suria, Veronica, Teresa and Suria's servants, it can be described as a mighty group of cavalry.
"I always thought that only Brittania had such a strict distinction between serfs and knights." Teresa was riding on a mixed-breed elf horse, and the glamorous sorceress asked curiously.
"The situation is different in different places, Ms. Trovik." Rudolph was not so enthusiastic when facing Teresa. They always secretly obstruct their way of making money, and always resist the teachings of His Majesty Ludwig, but we must thank the savior, without him, you would not be able to walk on the street so openly."
The nobles of the empire still have prejudices against wizards. The nobles need the power of wizards and fear the power of wizards. Neither Teresa nor Veronica is a wizard certified by the Royal Wizarding Academy of the Empire.
That's why wizards are eager to become the chief wizard of the royal family, because it is a symbol of status and status, it represents the trust of the emperor, and it can also gain the respect that wizards crave.
The graceful and luxurious Suria spoke, and the countess showed a moving smile: "He is a great emperor. Without him, the old world would have been destroyed in the invasion of chaos."
"I'm glad we have reached an agreement, Mrs. Suria." Rudolph smiled understandingly, and from the corner of his eyes he noticed the demon hunter Abel standing in front of the big house in the village: "My God, the minions of Chaos have already Has it spread here? I actually saw a demon hunter!"
"Oh! It's Abel! Long time no see!" Ryan's eyes were sharpest, and he smiled when he saw the figure of the witcher. : "Mr. Abel, long time no see."
"Long time no see, Your Excellency Earl, it's a pleasure to meet you." The witcher greeted very bachelorly, he squeezed out a polite smile, and shook hands with Ryan as a gesture.
"What is the witcher doing in this village?" Rick Guard Rudolph said loudly, "Did you discover heresy, or did you accept the commission?"
"I accepted the entrustment." Abel knew that the other party was distinguished, and he was not the kind of demon hunter under the jurisdiction of the church. The Archbishop of the Justice Church, Vicmar, controlled many demon hunters, and these demon hunters had the right to Supervising the nobles of the empire, but Abel did not, he joined the Demon Hunters Guild - a loose guild.
"Very well, I wish you a happy mission." Wagner didn't want to talk to the witcher.
Nobles don't like witchers either.
"What commission?" Ryan became interested instead.
"About..." Abel was about to talk about the entrustment, but Ryan noticed his pale face and the sound of his stomach growling. This legendary powerhouse was obviously still hungry. It seemed that his Life is really not easy, Ryan said with a smile: "This is not a place to chat, let's talk about it under a warm fire and delicious food!"
"I agree!" Rudolph raised his hand, and the Rick guard recruit said loudly: "Let's go to the hotel to see what to eat!"
Twenty minutes later, at the Butterbeer Hotel in Smile Village, beside the warm fire, there were five people sitting on simple tables and chairs: Ryan, Suria, Rudolph, Albert and Wagner. The wealth of the great noble knights was obviously not The witcher can be compared. Ryan took out a dozen silver coins and asked the hotel owner to cook a table of good dishes, fragrant broth, a basket of barley bread, delicious stew and refreshing butter beer.
"So... there are traces of Beastman tribe activities found in the Rickward Forest fifteen kilometers away." Ryan touched his chin, and he asked Abel: "You have accepted the entrustment of the villagers ? Going to investigate the Beastman tribe? But you only have one person, this is really a dangerous task, where is your companion? The one named Jule?"
"Jule went back to the Horn of Taal fortress for the winter...the fortress is in a hidden corner on the gray mountain beside Hemgard." Abel added: "Repairing and maintaining my equipment has already spent my savings I have to be clean, so just after the Winter Veil Festival, I came out to look for commissions, otherwise I would starve to death."
"Is the Beastmen tribe?" Ryan thought for a while, and he continued: "Since we are here, let's do Karl Franz and his Rick a favor!"
"Abel, I will leave this matter to you. You go into the depths of the forest to investigate the Beastman tribe, and then try to lure them out."
"This time, let's wipe out these disgusting chaotic bastards!"