"Master, you are going to the port of Abeldoorn in the north, right?"
"That's right." Simon nodded to the fat man as he watched the goods being loaded onto the carriage.
In fact, there is also a large commercial town in the southern Berg County called Dusseldorf. However, Simon felt that in the north, East Frankia, Jutland, a port where English merchants gathered, there might be different gains.
On this trip, Simon only brought little Klein and six militiamen who had accompanied the village chief to Abeldoorn Port. These six young men have been fully trained after the bloody battle to eliminate the bandits last time, and they are fully capable of acting as escorts for Simon when he travels.
"Hey, Lant, this strong leather armor may be able to save my life at a critical moment!" A young man was wearing a leather ring armor, holding a rusty dagger in his hand, and another man was also wearing leather. The young man A said.
"Although there are still knife marks on it and a strong smell of feces and blood." The young man pinched his nose.
The production of leather armor itself is full of "flavor". The tanner will first soften the hide by soaking it in a softener, which is a mixture of water and human and animal excrement. As for the knife marks and the smell of blood, these leather armors were basically ripped off by the bandits from the caravan guards escorting Alice and the old brewer.
"Be content. This is much better than wearing only a thin piece of rags when fighting." Another young man glanced at the complaining guy.
"I still have a helmet." The three stronger soldiers proudly showed off to the other three soldiers who were not assigned helmets.
"What are you so proud of? This is Master Simon's property. You can wait until you have the money to buy a helmet before you show it off." A relatively thin soldier said angrily.
These equipments are not something that ordinary farmers and serfs can afford. Just a Norman iron helmet would require a farmer to work without food or water for several years to buy it.
"That's because I'm stronger than you and more qualified to get better equipment." The soldier wearing tattered mail and a Norman helmet was still smiling brightly.
"Bah." A few relatively thin young men who were not assigned to mail armor or helmets curled their lips and said nothing.
Simon used all the mail, cotton, leather, and iron helmets he captured last time to equip the soldiers who followed him north this time. In addition to providing an extra layer of protection when soldiers encounter robbers and robbers, they can also take these somewhat damaged equipment to the armorer in Aberdoorn Port for repair.
"Village Chief, during my absence, I hope you can manage the village together with Hoffman and supervise the soldiers and serfs."
"Of course, my lord. I hope you can reach your destination safely." The village chief closed his eyes and made the sign of the cross on his chest.
"Master Simon, I'm here!" At this time, seeing Simon and the soldiers finally carrying the hay and wheat bran for the horses into the car, little Klein ran up quickly, carrying a hunting bow and quiver on his back.
"You were almost late. I won't wait for anyone." Simon scratched little Klein's nose. "I learn to ride a horse very quickly these days. You can ride the pack horse in front of me."
"Okay sir."
In this way, Simon and his party set foot on the dirt road leading to the north with a carriage full of goods.
………
The sun was shining brightly this morning, and after a while, the group was so hot that they were covered in sweat.
A soldier felt that the sweat-soaked linen clothes were constantly rubbing against the rough leather armor he was wearing, which made him very uncomfortable, so he wanted to take off his leather armor and feel comfortable for a while.
"What are you doing? This is your life-saving armor! No matter how uncomfortable or uncomfortable you are, you have to get used to it!" Simon, who was riding a chestnut war horse, immediately stopped the bold soldier.
In fact, Simon himself was unbearably hot.
On this hot day, Simon was wearing a shirt, a cotton armor, a chainmail armor and a burqa. In addition, Simon also wore a thick soft armor cap and a heavy Norman helmet on his head.
"It's hard to imagine how the Crusaders felt when they were wearing heavy armor and marching in the desert under the scorching sun." Simon couldn't help but think.
"We're at the village boundary, Master Simon!" a soldier walking at the front shouted.
After walking for a while, two sharp wooden stakes with human heads stuck in them appeared in everyone's sight.
"It's the heads of those damn bandits, bah!" As they passed the pile, several soldiers spat on the maggot-covered and rotting man's head.
"Speed up the pace and try to take a rest at Wessel Village ahead at noon." Simon said to the soldiers.
"Yes, sir." The soldiers with high morale responded loudly.
At this time, in the bushes in the dense forest on the roadside not far away, a pair of eyes with fear and resentment stared at Simon and his party.
"Boss, are they the ones who killed Viper Kofiel and Jack Longaxe?" Behind the bushes, a young thief turned his head and said to a slovenly long-haired gangster.
"Keep your voice down," the tough bandit covered the little thief's mouth with his powerful hands, and then nervously looked at Simon and his group passing by on the dirt road, "Do you want to kill everyone?"
After Simon led the men and horses away, the gangster let go.
This sloppy, long-haired bandit was one of the bandits who escaped from Simon's attack on the camp that day. This guy was also involved in the attack on Alice and the Old Brewers convoy.
But when searching for loot that night, the always cunning gangster secretly hid a small bag of Denier silver coins under a tree on the roadside while others were not paying attention in the dark. Unexpectedly, the camp was attacked the next morning.
After he escaped from the camp, he immediately took the hidden silver coins, fled, gathered the remaining soldiers and new recruits, and prepared to start a new business.
"How dare you still be the boss? If only I would lead people up to chop them down and then strip them naked." Looking at the "big fish" walking further and further away, the little thief whose mouth was covered was a little dissatisfied.
In the circle of bandits and outlaws, the atmosphere of martial arts is very strong. Obviously, this little thief has some other ideas about his new boss.
"You also want to put your head on that sharp wooden stake to rot, don't you?" The long-haired gangster frowned when he saw the newly recruited thief, and slapped him in the face. " Those were six fully armed soldiers and an archer, plus a knight who personally killed Jack Longaxe. There are only nine of us here, and we don’t even have any decent armor. How can we fight?"
The little thief shrugged his head, but still looked unwilling.
"Since they went out with rich goods, they will definitely come back with a lot of money. We can recruit more brothers during this period and give them a big surprise one night when they return!" Changfa The gangster looked at the seven brothers squatting behind him and said through gritted teeth.
………
After resting for noon in the village of Wessel, Simon and his party continued on the northbound road.
The further north you go, the forest starts to get sparser and the terrain becomes flatter.
"Stop," suddenly, a voice shouted from far ahead, "Who are you?"
Simon drew out his sword like a conditioned reflex and raised his kite-shaped shield. Little Klein also set up his bow and arrow and aimed forward.
"Sir, it's okay, that's the checkpoint set up by the Principality of Friesland at the border of Sticht County." The young soldier immediately explained to Simon.
"So that's it." Simon put his sword back into its scabbard and looked straight ahead.
There is a sharp wooden barrier standing in the middle of the dirt road ahead. Four soldiers wearing cotton armor are standing on both sides of the horse with their spears raised, looking at this side warily.
The endless forest disappeared at the outpost, forming a clear dividing line with the vast plains in front.
"I am Sir Simon of the Dorsten family." Simon rode forward on his chestnut war horse and stopped in front of the horse.
"Dear Sir," the vigilance in the soldier's eyes has not disappeared, "I want to see your blood certificate. Please forgive me for being reckless. This is not my personal decision, but a request by our Sheriff. "
"Oh?" Simon narrowed his eyes and looked at the soldier with scars on his face behind Juma, "Didn't you see the family crest on my burqa?"
"It's like this, sir. A few days ago, a mercenary leader named Haas took the stolen family crest, pretended to be a knight, deceived the checkpoints, and robbed nearby villages. The Sheriff spent a lot of money It took a lot of effort to bring those damn guys to justice. So now the Sheriff has issued a new order, please forgive me."
"Is there such a thing?" Simon couldn't believe it. You must know that using a noble's coat of arms or pretending to be a noble is an absolute capital crime no matter which territory you are in.
"Yes, sir, it has been very uneasy recently." The scar-faced soldier sighed, also looking embarrassed.
