The early morning mist has not yet dissipated. In the white world, Simon has already asked the soldiers to put on their armor, pick up their equipment, and prepare to set off.
"Master, everything is ready!" A well-dressed soldier walked up to Simon.
This soldier wore a damaged Anglo-style cavalry helmet with a gaiter, a chainmail suit that originally belonged to Sir Kun, and a German dagger in good condition at his waist.
His name is Miller. He performed well in the Baron Territory War a few days ago and killed three enemy troops by himself. Therefore, he was appointed by Simon as the captain of the six-man guard team.
"Let's set off." Simon took the reins from the stable boy, stepped on the stirrups and mounted his horse.
In this way, Simon and his party, who had stayed in Isselburg for nearly a week, finally continued on their way to the port of Abeldoorn.
"The environment of this era is so good!" Simon couldn't help but admire after leaving the dung-smelling Isselburg and breathing the fresh, slightly cold air in the morning.
The early sun shone through the hazy white mist on the dew-covered green grass and wild flowers, and the chirping of birds came from the looming woods in the distance.
Not far away, a group of wild deer that were grazing with their heads down heard the sound of Simon's and his group's hoofbeats and the clatter of equipment. They curiously raised their small heads to look at the road, and then jumped and disappeared into the mist.
This beautiful place makes people want to build a cozy cabin here and live a quiet and elegant country life.
"Master, there is a road sign here!" A soldier walking at the front turned his head and said.
"Oh?" Simon stepped forward quickly.
It turns out this is a fork in the road. The two wooden arrow signs with written text on the road sign pointed in two different directions.
"It looks like you're taking the road on the right?" Simon looked at the words on the road sign. The Latin text on the wooden sign pointing to the right begins with "A", while the one on the left begins with "R".
"Oh, no! Master, I really don't know which son of a bitch changed these two road signs." A soldier who had been to Abeldoorn Port before cursed and stepped forward, tiptoing to replace the two wooden signs. He took it out from the slot in the big wooden pillar of the road sign, reversed it left and right, and inserted it back.
"What's going on?" Simon asked with a frown.
"Master, there are often unscrupulous businessmen who turn the road signs upside down when passing by. This way they can take a lot of goods to Abeldoorn Port and seize the opportunity to sell them at a good price. And the misguided The merchants went to Redburg, and when they went to Abeldoorn Port, the prices of many goods that were urgently needed locally had dropped." The soldier said angrily.
"There is such a thing." Simon smiled bitterly and shook his head. If he hadn't been led by soldiers who had been to Abeldoorn Port, he would have gone through many wrongs.
Simon and his party continued to move forward along the road on the left.
By this time, the early morning mist had dispersed. Simon had vaguely heard the sound of the waves. Looking up, the sky in the distance is full of white seagulls circling.
After walking not far, the scattered groves around gradually disappeared and were replaced by large expanses of grass.
At this time, the sea in the distance can be vaguely seen, as well as the port of Abeldoorn at the end of the road extending into the distance.
At this time, there was a faint sound of bells not far away, and it was getting closer and closer.
"Hey, hey! Get out of the way!" Miller, who was clearing the way in front, looked at the man walking in the middle of the road ahead with his head lowered. He was wearing a wide hood, with bells tied to his arms, and his whole body was covered with patches. The thin guy in a brown robe covered in filthy liquid shouted loudly.
"This kind lord, please give me some food. I haven't eaten for two days." The guy who lowered his head and couldn't see his face said weakly and was about to step forward.
"Back off!"
Captain Miller and several of the guard soldiers nervously pulled out the swords and axes from their waists and pointed at the stranger who wanted to come up to him.
"No, gentlemen, I mean no harm," the thin, feeble fellow said quickly, retreating to the grass beside the road.
"Get out! Don't come close to us!" Miller waved his hand impatiently, and then said to Simon, "Master, he is just a guy who was punished by the gods and suffered from leprosy!"
"Leprosy?" Simon squinted his eyes and subconsciously covered his mouth and nose with his hands.
This is a terrible disease that is highly contagious. Infected people will have physical deformities, disfigurement, torture all the time, and great discrimination from those around them.
The man in brown robe just lowered his head and stood tremblingly on the grass on the side.
"For the sake of God, give him half a piece of bread." Simon ordered to little Klein riding the pack horse behind him.
After a while, little Klein took out half a piece of black bread from the cloth bag containing food and threw it at the feet of the brown-robed man.
"Thank you, my merciful lord. May God bless you!" The man in brown robe bent down, revealing his arms covered with abscesses and ulcerated skin, and picked up the bread.
"Let's go."
After passing the brown-robed leper, Simon and his party soon arrived at the gate of Abeldoorn Port.
This place is also like Isselburg, with only a wooden wall on the outside. However, in the open space outside the city wall, there are a few piles of stones, a few dusty carriages scattered, and a few simple workers' shacks.
Some rough masons were polishing the stones with hammers and large iron nails in the open space. Behind them lay a small pile of polished rectangular stones.
"What are you doing? Are you building a new city wall?" Simon was a little confused.
"That's right, sir, I heard in Iser's tavern that the Duke of Friesland is planning to use new stones to renovate and upgrade the city wall of Abeldoorn Port." Miller looked enviously at the large red and white stripes not far away. In a small tent built with dyed tents, two senior masons in fine costumes were pointing and talking in front of a piece of parchment with a pattern on it.
"What a rich man." Simon was also a little envious.
To be honest, purchasing stones, transporting stones, hiring senior masons for design supervision and rough masons to polish the stones, hiring a large number of laborers to build stone walls... the money spent on each step is far beyond what Simon can afford now.
"This gentleman!" A slovenly, well-dressed old man with a red nose stood up behind an old, weathered wooden table at the city gate.
"Please register." The big red-nosed old man finished the chicken leg in one gulp, wiped his greasy hands on his clothes, and then picked up the malt wine on the wooden table and drank it.
"This is Sir Simon from the Dorsten family. He came to Abeldoorn Port this time to look for craftsmen." Little Klein stepped forward and said to the old man.
"Huh?" The old man raised his head and looked at Simon carefully and strangely.
Ordinary nobles do not need to do these chores themselves. They only need to send people to post notices in ports and towns where many craftsmen gather.
But when the old man with the big red nose saw the goods on the carriage behind Simon, he couldn't help showing contempt in his eyes.
In the eyes of the traditional nobles with swords and nobles in robes, this kind of nobles who engage in what they consider to be low-level business is undoubtedly a disgrace to the nobility and extremely embarrassing.
Since Simon didn't say anything, the old man with the big red nose didn't intend to point it out.
"For the sake of the blood in your body, you would have to pay a huge tax." The red-nosed old man glanced at Simon coldly and took a sip of malt wine.
Simon didn't understand why the tax collector suddenly treated him coldly. But he didn't care, he rode his horse and walked slowly into the city.
To be honest, the oncoming smell was several times stronger than the stench in Isselburg, and it was really disgusting.
Simon couldn't help but think of the American TV series A Song of Ice and Fire that he had watched. A prince from the desert was so smoked that he stopped for a long time when he arrived at the gate of King's Landing. Finally, he held his nose and reluctantly walked in.
Medieval cities basically had no one responsible for managing feces on the streets. The old human excrement and horse excrement are constantly crushed under the soles of people's shoes, under the hooves of horses, and under the wheels of carts, layer by layer, forming a road paved with new excrement.
"Master, be careful!" Miller saw the second-floor window of the building on the roadside suddenly open and shouted to Simon who was riding a horse in front of him.
Simon immediately reined in his horse.
Sure enough, a large basin of feces and urine poured down from the second floor of the house, and all of it was poured on a thin man in front of him who was still walking without realizing it.
"You son of a bitch, Luca, are you fucking blind? Didn't you see someone down there?" The thin man used his hands to pat the shit out of his hair and clothes, and he retched from the smoke. A few times, and then pointed at the second floor and yelled.
"Hey, Dim, you can't blame me. The lord behind you has already seen it, you are the only unlucky guy who didn't pay attention." A bearded man stuck his head out of the window and said jokingly.
"You, you," the thin man was so angry that his whole body was shaking. He pointed at the strong man and couldn't say a word for a long time. "Wait for me. I hope you won't pass by my window next time."
"Bah!" The bearded man spit thick phlegm down with disdain and closed the window. This kind of incident seems to be a very common thing in Abeldoorn Port.
"Oh my God." Simon saw an old man wearing a ragged felt hat in the corner not far away, seemingly ignoring the people walking on the street, taking off his pants and squatting down on the street for convenience.
Sure enough, as some mean people in later generations said, if a person can get used to living in a medieval city, his nose can definitely withstand the gas bombs of the next war.
"I really can't stand it! Miller, let's go stay at the nearest tavern first and then decide what to do next."
