Chapter 37, Conflict and Knight Competition

The young Knight of Ika took the initiative to approach Baron Kendall and salute, and proudly announced his family.

Baron Kendall nodded politely to confirm, and after a few casual compliments, he took the initiative to ask the Ika knight stationed at the checkpoint about the customs clearance of the caravan accompanying the army.

"Sir, I don't know much about this situation. I have to ask my deputy, the person in charge of taxation, later."

Although Knight Ika didn't like Knight Crow who took the initiative to leave the Kingdom's Knights Guards, he had great respect for Baron Kendall, who had such an elite.

"Well, please call over and have a look. Of course, if the knights of the Ika family can see that our trip is to assist the nobles on the border of the southern province, and reduce the tax on this customs clearance, I believe I will When you arrive in the south, preach the noble behavior of the Ika family to more nobles and knights."

The baron said it very politely. After all, he took the initiative to bring those caravans here, and he had previously expressed that he would provide protection along the way. At this time, he asked the caravans to pay a large amount of customs duties. He couldn't bear to lose face. It’s not impossible to pay taxes proactively.

But he himself is only willing to hand over the tax money to people he recognizes and knows, such as the previous Pota Knights. This young knight is not willing to pay the money, and would rather say something soft.

"You're welcome. Our Ika family has always been famous in the Western Province for its loyalty and martial arts. Come, please bring Mr. Podolis, who was in charge of customs duties. There is important work here."

His men immediately strode towards the shop near the pass in Angeng Nanguan.

The style of these shops is also interestingly similar to the architectural style of Nangnuanguan. They are all built with crude mud and wood.

The heavy mud bricks are mixed with a kind of tough wild grass nearby and a sun-dried vine that is everywhere. Therefore, although they are just simple mud bricks made of sun-dried and baked earth, they are very strong.

The building is large and spacious, but the floor height is not high. The windows in the walls are fastened with tough unhaired animal skins, and the animal skins are dyed with colorful petal pigments. The style is simple, rough and generous, but not ugly.

When Baron Kendall saw the architectural style of Angry Nanguan, he found it novel and interesting, so he talked to the young Knight of Ika about the customs and customs of the western province of the kingdom.

It's just that the young knight is not talkative and has limited knowledge. He can't say anything, which makes Baron Kendall feel regretful.

"My lord, please don't feel sorry for me. I think I have lived in our land for many years, and I have traveled all over the Western Province. Please let me answer your questions."

At this time, a middle-aged man came over, saluted to Baron Kendall, and spoke confidently.

"Mr. Portoris, you are here just in time. This gentleman has a lot of questions that cannot be answered. Before the military caravan comes, please tell this gentleman the story of our land!"

Knight Ika was overjoyed and immediately attracted the middle-aged man over, jumped off his horse, then grabbed the middle-aged man's belt, lifted it up and put it on his horse's back.

Faced with his master's actions, Knight Ika's horse rolled his mouth indifferently and hit his master with his head.

"Haha, sir, please don't be surprised. Knight Ika is like this and has such a personality."

After explaining for a while, Portoris began to answer the questions raised by Baron Kendall. He mostly answered Baron Kendall's questions with his own experiences and insights. For example, why most of the buildings here are built with mud instead of simply using wood or excavated rocks.

Portoris started with the imperial immigrants who mostly moved to the western provinces of the kingdom, and also covered the lack of mountains in the area.

-

On the other side, Knight Ika curiously came to the Kendall militiamen who were sitting on the ground. Amidst the restrained feeling of the militiamen, they curiously asked about the appearance of Kendall County.

Kilta, on the other hand, walked through the Nunu Beiguan next to the logistics carriage and followed the army caravan at the end.

There are some crossbow turrets with canopies placed on the level built of large rocks, just at the highest point of the level. And from what he saw, those crossbow turrets were not facing the Angry South Pass, but instead were facing the north of the pass, aiming at the villages and towns that spontaneously appeared in front of the pass.

It seems that for the rulers, what they need to pay attention to is the merchant caravans.

After passing through the open gate of the level, Kil saw the huge stone bridge connecting the north and south sides of the Angry River.

This stone bridge is 70 to 80 meters long. The amazing thing is that there is no pier support in the middle. It relies entirely on the north and south sides of the bridge to support the entire slightly arched bridge.

The same goes for the bridge deck. The side connecting to the river bank is the widest, but as it extends toward the river, the bridge becomes tighter and narrower. But even so, at the center of the entire stone bridge, Kiel made a simple gesture and found that it was convenient for two of the largest and most spacious cargo carriages to walk at the same time.

The bottom of the stone bridge is twenty to thirty meters away from the river, and the river bank is not a gentle slope, but a steep rock wall. It is simply relying on ordinary people to cross here. It is estimated that before this stone bridge existed, Basically impossible.

If you use something like a rope suspension bridge, you can build a wooden suspension bridge that allows one person to walk at a time, but it is still useless. The Angry River still naturally separates the two provinces in the northwest and west.

This does not seem to be a problem for the powerful and powerful, but for ordinary people, it is a completely difficult place to get through.

Keir noticed that there were artificially carved gentle slopes on the rock wall of the river bank near Beiguan, and there was a small stone pier on the river bank near the river, and there were actually several small boats without sails or oars parked on it. wooden boat.

He didn't see the purpose of those wooden boats at first, but he soon thought of the big frogs raised in front of the level, and he estimated that those frogs were used here.

At the same time, Keir also saw animal statues carved in stone on the fence of the stone bridge.

He rode over to take a look on his horse and found that the animals near the river bank were some common animals, but the closer he walked to the center of the stone bridge, the stranger the animals on these fences became.

It wasn't until Kil saw a familiar head on a sculpture that he remembered that it was the first monster head on his two-handed ax that crossed the water.

"Is it a water ghost?"

He didn't know why he wanted to carve the appearance of a water ghost onto such an important bridge fence.

Is it a local custom? Or there is another purpose.

Considering the various supernatural powers here, Kil thought it was probably the latter. After all, the church did not allow people to make their own statues of gods, let alone stone statues of monsters.

Are they afraid that the pedestrians and merchants who come and go every day pray to these stone statues? Will there be some bad changes?

Kiel didn't know that the sculptures on this important stone bridge had a completely opposite purpose. If he could stay and rest locally for a few days, he would definitely know from some shop owners living in the local area. Not only were they rarely attacked by monsters at the North and South Passes, but there were even sculptures of common animals left on the stone bridges. , don’t like to get close there.

Domestic animals raised in corrals, if the gates of the corrals are not closed, those small animals will immediately escape here, instead of running to the wild to seek freedom, it is just that they simply do not want to approach this huge stone bridge that brings wealth to mankind. .

-

When Keir followed the large caravan accompanying the army through the stone bridge and arrived at Nuangnan Pass, Portoris, who had been talking politely and respectfully to Baron Kendall, narrowed his eyes and stared closely at the large caravan.

Regardless of the actual value of the goods, or simply considering the size of the caravan, he knew that this was not a small amount of money.

With a smile on his face, Mr. Portoris inadvertently added at the end of the conversation: "I wonder how much customs duties you just paid to the Pota Knight in Beiguan, sir?"

But Baron Kendall, who seemed to be asking questions and writing something in his diary, was not led into the ditch by the other party's casual question.

He took the words calmly: "What are you talking about? When the Pota knight heard that I was going to lead a team to the south to support the war on the border, he was extremely excited and wished he could join us. Although it is his duty He is still alive and cannot leave this place, but he still exempts the caravans that provide supplies for my army from customs duties."

"You can ask these soldiers and businessmen. After Knight Bota sent someone to count the customs clearance information, he immediately reprimanded his old clerk: 'How can you collect taxes from such an army that is sharing the country's worries?', I I insisted on giving him a sum of money so that he would not be in a dilemma between his responsibilities and his emotions. But in the end he spared me the money."

"Hey, he is such a noble knight. Not only does he wear bright and warm clothes, but he is also as hot as fire."

In the end, Baron Kendall couldn't stand himself. He finished the last sentence feeling slightly uncomfortable, immediately turned around, took the silk handkerchief from the attendant, tapped the magic gem ring on his hand, chilled the silk handkerchief instantly, and covered it with the silk handkerchief. Rub it gently on your face a few times.

Mr. Portoris immediately felt that the Baron Kendall in front of him was really difficult to deal with. Not only did he speak without leaving any trace, but he was also very aristocratic. Even the hand towel used to wipe his face had to be cooled by magic before wiping his face.

It's not like he doesn't know the Pota Knight on the opposite level. If the other person's clothes are very good, other things are completely inconsistent with what the baron said.

The stingy Pota Knight had been angry at Beiguan for two years. Except for the one or two people he liked, he had not kicked out the old, weak, sick or disabled people in the original level.

It's not that the other party is of noble spirit, it's simply that the old, weak, sick and disabled occupy the checkpoint seats, and the salary cost is much less than that of normal people.

Many people don't need to spend any money. As long as they give a piece of food to someone who has lost part of their ability to live, he can have one person's salary left.

Among the taxes paid every year and the maintenance costs of these checkpoints, the salaries of the checkpoint soldiers account for a lot.

The remaining money will go into his own pocket.

How did Portoris know this, you ask?

Because they do the same thing here.

The young Ika knight didn't care about anything at all. Apart from practicing his knight fighting skills every day, he just rode around and ran around, saying he was on patrol. But he knew that this young man was just walking around with people, and everything he saw was a matter of money and money. The merchant can't stand the level.

The family rules of the Ika family are still very good, especially for those who want to take a step closer to the road of knighthood.

Therefore, the Ika Knights did not care, and Portoris took over these affairs himself. Anyway, he was not greedy for anything. Most of the taxes collected would be escorted to the provincial capital by the Ika Knights after a certain amount was saved.

He and the young Knight of Ika were actually related, and both were loyal to the master of the Western Province.

Back to the present.

Portoris didn't say a word to Baron Kendall's statement. He just smiled politely and said, "I lose if I believe just one word."

However, even if you don’t believe it, actual verification and statistics must be carried out.

"My lord, since the size of the caravan has been counted over at Beiguan, we have to do it here as well. You know, these are the rules set by our Lord Earl. It is not only like that in your Northwest Province, but also in our country. So does Bian. In fact, this rule is the same everywhere."

Baron Kendall said nothing, but waved his hand to let him do what he wanted.

So Portoris immediately jumped off the tall battle horse of Knight Ika, rubbed his knees, and then called the superior, first informed Knight Ika of the situation, and then went straight to the caravan accompanying the army with a pen and paper.

Kiel happened to be walking past him at this time. Portoris glanced at Kiel curiously, wondering why such a strange young man with a wooden doll in his hand could be mixed up with the elite army and look out of place.

But he just took a look and passed by, and then came to the caravan accompanying the army. With a straight face, he asked and inspected each caravan carriage in a serious manner.

However, Portoris did not notice that the Ika knight who had been looking at the Kendall militia stopped his eyes when he glanced at Keir.

Although Kiel looked tired and listless at this time, Knight Ika himself had experienced knight training. Even though his training methods were different from Kiel's in some parts due to the knight family, the path After arriving at the same destination through different routes, Knight Ika recognized at a glance that what Kiel was doing at this time was the most basic training in knight training, which involves sensing and controlling the life energy in one's body.

After many days on the wooden doll, the thinned life energy was still very threatening. After Ika Knight unconsciously approached Kiel, he also sensed it.

"Hello. I am Bors-Ika, a knight of the Ika family and the garrison knight of this level. Are you also from Kendall?"

Knight Ika raised his head and spoke directly to Kil.

Kil blinked and looked at the young knight who took the initiative to talk to him.

The other person was about twenty years old. Compared to Kiel, he had lost his youthful youthfulness and was full of pride and vitality.

"Yes, Lord Knight. My name is Joe Kil. I come from Kendall County and am a knight squire of Knight Crow."

Unexpectedly, as soon as Kil's words came out, the expression of the knight opposite him changed.

"There is no honor in training as a knight with someone like that. Without honor, how can a person gain a foothold in this world? I hope you can understand this and think about it clearly."

Knight Ika said something about honor that Kil couldn't understand, but Kil at least understood that he didn't like Knight Crow.

He was a little confused. Knight Crow was the most powerful person he knew in terms of strength and knightly experience. Although he was not as good as the heroes described by the bards, he was already the most outstanding figure that people could imagine.

How could this young knight, who was only a few years older than him, think that he could be stronger than his opponent at Knight Crow's age?

Although he thought this, Kil still took into account the status and strength of the two people, politely got off the horse, put away the wooden doll and saluted the Ika Knight: "I will carefully consider your advice. "

"Very good." After saying that, Knight Ika walked away and walked towards Knight Rumi to talk.

Kil raised his eyebrows, came behind Knight Crow inexplicably, and whispered what just happened to Knight Crow.

Knight Crow chuckled twice.

"This is what a family knight who has never experienced anything has done. Only if he can still maintain such pride in ten years will I think he is amazing. But now? It's just a young tiger who walks out of the forest as an adult and doesn't know the world. It’s not as safe as the tiger’s den in the forest where its mother lives.”

Soon, as the people of Kendall gathered in the open space outside Annoying South Pass, the stone bridge connecting the two places became empty again.

Someone came over to ask what Knight Ika was saying. The young knight looked at the North Pass on the opposite side and found that the North Pass had begun to let the merchants who had just been waiting to cross the border one after another.

He also waved his hand and asked his men to arrange for the merchants waiting here to bypass the Kendall army and go under the checkpoint wall to cross the border and cross the bridge.

-

Portoris completed his work quickly. After all, he had already asked the merchants in Angry Beiguan the previous inquiry. The merchants only had to repeat what they had said before.

Portoris also checked the goods of some merchants, and what he told them was indeed correct.

So soon, he walked towards the Ika Knight with a calculated piece of paper.

"So much money?"

Although the young Ika knight does not often deal with checkpoint affairs, he has learned the basic writing and calculations of the knight family, so he does not think there is a problem with the amount of customs duties for the military caravan.

It can only be said that these caravans accompanying the army, after reducing the number of caravan guards and thugs who usually escorted them, used the large sums of money saved to prepare more best-selling products.

The more carriages and goods there are, the more customs duties will naturally be paid.

Portoris remembered what Baron Kendall had said before that was true or false, and he also told it to Knight Ika: "When I was talking to the Baron just now, the other party mentioned that Knight Bota did not accept the news at Beiguan. Their tariffs.”

Knight Ika frowned: "How is it possible that that guy without honor, who wears as conspicuous and bright clothes as the actors in the theater, can't not charge such a large customs duty?"

He shook his head: "Impossible, this tax should be almost the same as our entire month's tax, right?"

Mr. Portoris corrected him: "Not that much, but it's almost half a month. But although I don't believe that the other party confiscated the customs duties, after all, the Beiguan people belong to the same province as the Kendal people, so maybe they will get a reduction of more than half. .”

He paused for a moment: "According to convention, for caravans coming from the north, they receive tax exemptions from the north. We here can fully charge the customs clearance tax."

"Then just take it. No problem."

Knight Ika handed the paper in his hand to Mr. Portoris.

But Mr. Portoris didn't take it, but turned around and stood in front of Knight Ika. Without saying a word, he just pointed at the hundreds of elite soldiers around him, as well as two knights on war horses, and a naked Baron Kendall who knows how powerful magic gadgets can be.

Knight Ika reacted in an instant. The young man narrowed his eyes and whispered: "Do you feel there is any difficulty?"

Mr. Portoris had a wry smile on his face: "This is not a difficult thing, but if the other party really doesn't give it, what can you do to them?"

"They don't dare. Our feet are in the Western Province, not their barren and uninhabited border area. You know, some scholars call their Northwest Province the farthest end of human territory. It's not that I look down on them, unless we are blocked. Kill them all, otherwise as long as one person informs the earl in the capital, they will not be able to leave the land under our feet, let alone go to the southern border to fight!"

Knight Ika said with certainty.

But having said that, he still had to find a way with Mr. Portolis on how to collect this large amount of money.

Although Mr. Portoris usually took care of and helped Knight Ika in various tasks, he could not think of a safe way at this time. He could only watch anxiously as this large amount of tax money would go away after a while.

But Knight Ika glanced at Knight Crow who was talking to Kil, snorted and said: "Don't think about it, I have an idea. They should hand over the money, but since there are many of them, why not agree to a competition?" Let’s do it. If we win, they will obediently pay the loser’s money. Not only will it look good inside and outside, but they will also be able to block the Bota Knight at the North Pass. If we lose, let them go.”

Mr. Portoris thought about it and thought it was okay. The question was, how to compete and who would compete?

As for soldiers, although they are not greedy for the wages of those soldiers, so they do not recruit the old, weak, sick and disabled to replace healthy soldiers, but the soldiers under their command do seem to be inferior compared to the elite soldiers like Kendall who will be taken out to fight.

If there is a knight competition, but there are two knights on the other side, during the conversation just now, he also learned that the Crow Knight is very strong. Not only has he served in the Kingdom's Guards Knights before, but he has also joined the Empire's Border Knights. .

Even though he had left the Empire's Border Knights and joined the local nobles, he was still not easy to mess with.

Facing Mr. Portoris's dilemma, Knight Ika raised his head proudly: "Let's have a knight competition, and the opponent will choose Knight Crow!"