Chapter 44, Contest Victory and Water Ghost
The young Ika knight's face was swollen, but after regaining consciousness, his thinking was still relatively clear.
"Is this? Did I lose?"
He coughed, and then asked the question he was most concerned about now in his uncomfortable voice.
Mr. Portoris had no interest in caring about anything else, so he didn't answer. He just kept asking about Knight Ika's physical condition at this time.
Knight Ika silently felt his physical condition, and showed an embarrassed expression on his swollen face: "I thought I could do it, but I didn't expect that I lost consciousness for some reason."
"Stop talking about this, just put the competition aside and have a good rest first."
After Mr. Portoris finished speaking, he immediately asked his checkpoint soldiers to lift the Ika Knight to a wooden door, and then four soldiers lifted the Ika Knight together towards the checkpoint.
After the processing here was completed, Baron Kendall came over with a smile and Knight Rumi.
"The three rounds of the competition have been decided. Please sign and seal this customs clearance document."
The baron took the newly rolled document from the attendant beside him. He wrote down what happened today on the document, and stated that Angry Nanguan exempted the caravan from customs duties.
After taking it, Mr. Portoris looked it over carefully and found nothing wrong, so he took out an ink pen from his waist, dipped it in ink and wrote at the bottom of the document that he agreed to affirm the contents of the document, and then signed his name.
Then he dabbed some ink on a ring between his fingers, which was engraved with the crest of the Ika Knight family.
The ring was printed on the backhand, and a seal with the family crest was left next to Mr. Portolis's name.
"Sir, please take it."
The baron took the document and handed it to his men, and then asked in a friendly manner whether the injuries on Knight Ika required the use of divine magic by the priests accompanying the army.
But Mr. Portoris refused: "Thank you for your kindness and the great gods that the priests believe in, but we have our own priests, so you don't need to worry about it."
Seeing that Mr. Portoris was anxious to see Knight Ika's injury, the Baron stopped disturbing him.
When Mr. Portoris walked away, the surrounding people and businessmen gradually dispersed, and Knight Rumi began to lead people to collect the countless crossbow arrows on the ground where the two knights were standing just now.
The Baron came to Knight Crow and asked about Knight Crow's injuries.
"It's no big deal." Knight Crow sat on a sudden rock in the open space. At this time, with the help of Kiel and the guards, he was taking off all his armor.
All one side of his armor was covered with tiny scratches and scratches, all caused by crossbow arrows.
The other side was intact, and even the paint and anti-rust oil painted on the armor's surface had not fallen off.
Knight Crow, who took off his armor, was obviously fine, but his whole body seemed to be wet by the rain, and his clothes were soaked with sweat all over his body.
"Kiel, bring me some water. Ha, I'm sweating all over. I'll go and wash myself in the Wrath River in a moment."
Knight Crow didn't feel embarrassed, so he threw off the soaked clothes in front of everyone. Soon he was only left with a pair of cloth shorts. He took the water bottle handed over by Keir and drank two whole water bottles in one big mouth. He drank all the water, then took a cloth towel from the guard, and strode towards the bank of the Angry River with his sword in hand.
The knight went to take a bath. Naturally, there was nothing to protect or see. Kiel and one of Knight Crow's personal guards used horses to transport the knight's clothes and armor back to the carriage of Knight Crow in the logistics vehicle. Then Kiel's personal guards found them. The knight often wears a warrior uniform and rides his horse to the river bank.
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The militiamen had a great time shooting arrows just now, but it would take ten times as long to pick up the arrows.
Knight Rumi asked each militia team to fill up the quivers issued by them. Today, they can't walk from the Nuangang South Pass, so they rested in the open space outside the pass today, leaning on the place where they just competed.
Tonight's dinner included the cattle that died in the first competition, so Knight Rumi said that whichever team failed to hand in enough arrows tonight would not be able to eat beef.
There was no soup.
In fact, there must be some militia teams who cannot eat beef, because the crossbow is a consumable after all. If it just misses the two knights and falls on the soft grass on the river bank, it can naturally be taken back without damage and recycled again. use.
But once the crossbow arrows hit the two knights, the metal arrows of the crossbow arrows collided fiercely with the knights' steel armor, causing damage.
This mainly depends on where the crossbow arrow hits, whether it rubs off the armor, or whether it hits the steel armor vertically. The former only had slight wear on the edges, and the blacksmith accompanying the army only had to use a pedal-powered wheel on the logistics carriage to sharpen it. In the case of the latter, the metal arrowheads of the crossbow arrows would have to be removed, gathered together, and re-melted to create them.
The marching environment is not as good as Kendall City. Without the convenient tools for large-scale casting, cutting and polishing in the weapons workshop, the blacksmith has to set up camp at night to process some in small batches, and then sit on the vehicle during the day to process the arrows made last night during the march. .
In fact, this is how blacksmiths deal with the wear and tear of weapons and armor of various soldiers in the army these days.
The most troublesome part was to dismantle the leather boots with broken soles for the militiamen and then replace them with new ones. Many militiamen walked irregularly and often wore and damaged the soles of their shoes, so the blacksmiths who accompanied the army had to be busy repairing them.
Having said that, among the militiamen who pick up the crossbows later, some of them will have to hold the broken crossbows and will be unable to eat the beef for dinner.
Kil sat on his horse and smiled as he watched the militiamen struggling to dig out the crossbow arrows nailed into the rocks. He knew that some people couldn't eat beef, so he laughed and laughed as they passed by.
Anyway, I can definitely eat beef. At the worst, I can buy some food from the store in the level to soothe my body.
It was like this along the way. As long as he camped close to towns and villages, he, a knight's squire who could not be controlled by the patrol militia, would have some small rights to go out.
When he came to the steep river bank, Kil jumped off his horse and followed the proud laughter of Knight Crow. He soon found Knight Crow washing his body with a cloth at the edge of the river below the river bank.
"Sir, your new clothes are here!"
Kiel lay on the edge of the cliff and shouted towards the bottom of the river bank, which was more than ten meters deep.
"Okay, wait until I finish washing. What is it?"
As he said that, Knight Crow screamed strangely, and then punched the water hard.
With a bang, a large splash of water erupted from the water. Several thick-armored and long-bodied carnivorous fish were broken into several sections and were blasted to the river bank by the knight's fist.
Knight Crow shook the cloth, then wrapped it around his waist and walked onto the river bank.
Keel saw it all from above, but could do nothing but shout to be careful.
After all, the river bank is more than ten meters high and low. In the previous life, it was almost as high as five or six stories. Unless you go down the stairs dug directly under the stone bridge at the north and south checkpoints, there is no other safe way to get down.
"Sir, are you okay? What is that?"
Keir shouted from above.
The knight looked at the fish he killed for a while, and saw nothing except that it was a ferocious carnivorous fish. After all, he was not a local, and he didn't know much about fish from various places. Apart from the fact that this thing is edible, there is nothing else to tell.
"Kiel, then, this big fish looks edible. You take this thing back to the army cook and eat it at night."
After saying that, Knight Crow first took the clothes thrown down by Keir, and then threw the dead big carnivorous fish that was broken into several sections onto the grass on the river bank.
Kil quickly tied up the fish pieces that were half as big as him with ropes, then said hello to the knight, and led the horse over to the camp being set up.
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Most of the militiamen on the roadside knew the young man Kiel, who was invincible in defeating soldiers in the daily marching camp. Therefore, when they were picking up crossbows, they saw that Kiel's horse was carrying a lot of fish pieces tightly tied with ropes on its back. I immediately asked curiously where this delicious-looking thing came from.
"Haha, it was brought up from the river by the knight who was washing by the river. Not only will there be beef in the evening, but there will also be fish soup!"
Kiel said with a smile, and the militiamen who heard his words also licked their lips, waiting for night to come.
But it was still afternoon, so they could only come over and pick up the crossbow arrows they had just shot.
The camp was quickly established with the help of some militiamen who had not been able to catch up with the number of crossbow bolts they had just fired. In fact, setting up the camp every day was a troublesome task at the beginning, but soon the two knights informed them of their experience in the army. Most of the logistics carriages carried some scattered wooden pillars and planks.
As long as a large number of carriages are surrounded by a half-moon shape when setting up camp, the militiamen can use shovels to dig out deep pits at equal intervals outside the carriages. Then the wooden pillars on the carriages are removed and inserted directly into the In the deep pit, bury it with soil and stamp it firmly.
Then, there are openings on these wooden pillars, and the wooden boards matching them also have suitable structures. Just put the wooden boards together and click them together, and the two can be firmly put together.
It doesn't take long to put together a camp fence that surrounds the wagon.
Then some militiamen were arranged to take turns guarding the camp gate and some higher carriages, and the entire camp was completed.
The tents of the soldiers and knight barons were all located in the middle of the camp, so even if they were attacked at night, the carriages closely leaning outside the tents could provide a good defensive and obstructive position.
Naturally, there were fires in the middle of the camp. After cutting down a few trees and adding a few handfuls of grass, the chefs quickly lit up the campfires for cooking.
The central lighting of the camp at night also relies on these multi-functional campfires, and other places are provided with specially made torches that can burn for a long time.
Torches made of rough thatch fiber mixed with grease can provide light for a long time before the grease burns off.
Of course there are also windproof portable lamps.
But after all, it was made by consuming lamp oil, which was not cheap. Every day, only this kind of thing was available at the camp gate to provide effective lighting.
This windproof portable lamp is very ingenious and effective in Kiel's opinion. The base is a metal can that can be filled with lamp oil. The upper layer is a cylindrical metal can with a sixty-degree opening on one side. The inside is luxuriously coated with a layer of Thin silver so bright light reflects from the opening.
At the same time, the top is an insulating and heat-resistant pottery piece, and then there is a metal and wood ceiling and hook. There is also a wooden handle on the back of the portable lamp opening, which is convenient for people to hold when walking around, or use the top Where to hang the hook.
Kiel walked into the center of the rapidly building camp and was immediately warmly welcomed by the cooks.
For the cooks, not only the militiamen can enjoy a delicious fish soup tonight, but because they are the makers, they can enjoy the things they made with their own hands first.
Of course, the two knights and the baron had to make separate portions of food, not because of anything else but simply because the baron had the highest status and the two knights were particularly good at eating.
The best meat on the belly of the fish is reserved for the Baron. If the Baron can't eat it or doesn't want to eat it, it will be eaten by the Baron's attendants and personal guards.
The large amount of fish meat in the middle of the fish body was mostly reserved for the two knights. There was no doubt that no one doubted that no matter how much there was to eat, the two knights would always eat every bit of the food sent over.
Of course, they often finish one meal and don't eat again for two or three days.
"These were all taken by Knight Crow from the Angry River while he was bathing at the riverside."
Keir briefly explained the origin of the food, then he didn't need the rope to tie up the fish pieces, and borrowed a clean cloth to quickly wipe his horse's back.
The blood and mucus on the body surface after the big fish died made his horse smell fishy. Keer had to borrow a bucket of water from the residence next to the checkpoint to simply scrub his horse.
After giving him an iron coin, Kil quickly rode his horse back to Knight Crow.
-
He thought that after such a long time, the knight had also washed himself by the river, but he didn't expect that when he walked over and looked down, he found that Knight Crow was in the river in anger with an unknown person. Things are fighting.
"Sir, do you want me to call someone for help?" Kil shouted down.
When Knight Crow heard Kiel's shout, he didn't look over. He just waved his hand to indicate that he didn't have to.
The knight was wearing a cloth towel around his waist, holding a shining long sword in his right hand, while his left hand picked up a dark pebble the size of a pineapple from the river.
He stood firmly in the center of the river that should have flowed over the waist and chest of an ordinary person, but the raging angry river was completely unable to overwhelm this human being.
The knight's enemy is a humanoid monster, about three meters tall, with hard scales and mucus all over its body. There are webbed things connected between the five claws of the sharp palm, and at the same time there is a big mouth that can be opened and closed to the chest, which is full of sharp teeth, and there is a long tongue like a meat whip.
The two multi-layered eyes are shining brightly, and the top of the head is a skull with bone armor. Looking at the spikes and luster on it, you can tell that it is very strong.
This thing obviously couldn't beat Knight Crow head-on. Although the opponent was taller, the sharp claws as the main means of attack were no match for the sword in Knight Crow's hand.
It’s just that this monster is very cunning. Although it is tall and powerful, its movements are very flexible. It often disappears into the river more than one meter deep and disappears completely. I don’t know how the river that is not very deep can swallow it completely. The body is hidden.
It would attack from the water, but Knight Crow just stamped his feet in the water, and a large amount of water spray exploded across the river, and a large number of pebbles exploded out of the water, beating the monster with a bang.
However, the monster had thick scales and was slippery with mucus, so it was of little use.
Although the entire monster has a horrifyingly big mouth and so many sharp teeth, it does not seem to be able to shout. Not only does it launch an attack but it is repelled by Crow Knight without making a sound.
Only the long tongue in the mouth sticks out and flicks around, which is very disgusting.
"Sir, what kind of monster is that?"
Kil looked nervous: "Do you want me to call Knight Rumi, Lord Baron? Or Knight Bota from Guanbei to help? Well, forget about Knight Ika, he is still lying down and can't get off the ground."
But what Kil didn't expect was that Knight Crow's voice was very excited: "Silly boy, what are you asking them to do? You don't even look at what this is? A water ghost in the river! Although they are monsters, they are not the same as Warcraft. Almost, if you kill it, you will have good luck. Isn’t this what nourishes your body?”
As he spoke, Knight Crow waved his long sword in the river, using the magic blade swung from the long sword to force the so-called 'water ghost' onto the bank of the river without water.
Kil's eyes lit up when he heard this. Regardless of Knight Crow's refusal to let him go down, he jumped on his horse and ran towards Angry Nanguan.
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Although he was excited, Kil also kept calm. The thing didn't look scary. At least it was significantly worse than the Wolf King of the North. Sure enough, monsters were monsters, and they were still incomparable to Warcraft.
He was riding fast on the river bank outside, but slowed down inside the level. Looking around, I saw fishing nets and ropes in a shop selling necessities for merchants.
He took out a few silver coins and copper coins directly from his pocket and slapped them on the counter of the store: "Boss, I want the rope and net. Hurry. I won't look for them anymore!"
He was said to be the shop owner, but in fact he was just a young man looking after the shop. The shop owner had some weight in the level, and he had already gone to the place where the Ika Knight lived in the level to express his condolences and look familiar.
"Hey, hey, hey, wait a minute."
Unexpectedly, as soon as Kil turned around and took down a large roll of rope from the shelf, he was grabbed by the shop assistant: "What's wrong? Don't you have enough money for the rope and net?"
"Not enough, not enough. The net is specially designed to catch the big fish that migrate upstream of the Angu River in autumn. It's very expensive!"
"Expensive? Why is it expensive? Is it made of gold or silver?"
The shop clerk looked speechless: "It is made from a very tough aquatic vine in the swamp area. The technique is very complicated, and it is soaked in a magical potion that can increase the toughness. You need to add another twenty silver coins." You can only take away the copper coins. As for the rope, I’ll give it to you.”
Keir felt annoyed, so he immediately took something out of his money bag and took out a silver coin just by the feeling of his fingertips. Then he casually grabbed a handful of copper and iron coins and stuffed them into the opponent's hand. Then quickly go get this so-called very tough fishing net.
The shop assistant quickly counted the large and small coins in his hand carefully. When he finished counting and opened his mouth to return the extra copper coins and iron coins to Kiel, Kiel had already disappeared.
"Uh, there are too many? Where are the people? Forget it, the extra ones are mine. They are the ones they don't want anyway, and it's none of my business."