In a small clearing beside the road in the endless black forest, the convoy stopped on the roadside. After leaving Isselburg, Simon's convoy returned to the black forest in Hatuariya County in the evening.
"We will camp here tonight, and we can return to the village tomorrow morning." Simon looked at the increasingly gloomy sky and ordered the soldiers.
The soldiers took a breather, tied their horses to collect firewood, fetched water and prepared food, and were very busy.
"Master, this forest ranger doubts our identity and won't let us collect firewood no matter what!" A young guard soldier with eyebrows and big eyes looked aggrieved, leading a dirty white-haired old man from the woods next to the camp. Walked out.
"Are you the respected Lord Simon?" The old man saw Simon wearing the coat of arms of the Dorsten family in the camp. "Please forgive me for stopping your soldiers from collecting firewood. After all, this is Dorsten. The Teng family’s woods, I have an obligation to prevent any person of unknown origin from illegally occupying the legal property of the Dolsten family!”
"You did a great job. Just be cautious when dealing with strangers." Simon nodded appreciatively.
"By the way, Sir, I have one more thing to remind you," the old man smiled, and his expression turned serious, "There has been a group of robbers in the woods recently, there are about a dozen people."
"What," Simon frowned and stood up, "We just wiped out a group of gangsters last time, why did another group appear just now!?"
"That's right, Sir!" The old ranger's serious expression didn't seem like he was telling lies, and Simon really couldn't think of any motive for the old ranger to lie to him.
"Okay, thank you for the reminder, we will strengthen the protection." Simon thought, waving to little Klein next to the carriage behind.
"Thank you very much, my lord!" The old forest ranger took the copper coin from little Klein, kept rubbing the simple lines on it as if he had found a treasure, and then impatiently took the copper coin back into the rags. In a rotten cloth waist bag.
"Everyone, please pay attention. After completing your work, dig a trench outside the camp and install sharp tree stumps!" Simon shouted loudly to the soldiers in and around the camp.
………
It was already dark, and the soldiers who had finished digging simple trenches and laying traps gathered in a circle around the campfire, putting their weapons in hand, stroking their hungry stomachs, and looking at the hodgepodge being boiled in the iron pot.
"We'll be home soon." The shy guard soldier with eyebrows and big eyes touched his head. He misses his family very much.
"Yeah, I've been out for so long, and I don't know how my little Val is doing." A slightly older soldier stirred the cooking in the pot with a large wooden spoon.
Today's soldiers' meal is very simple, which consists of cooking some chopped onions, wild carrots, peas, cabbage, and a small bag of barley in a pot.
Although the appearance and taste are really disappointing, it is the biggest source of energy for soldiers every day. After walking all day, these serf soldiers, who used to live a life of one meal and one meal, were very satisfied to sit around the fire with their companions and eat a bowl of hot chowder, even if occasionally some soldiers would whisper. Complained about the monotony of the food.
It is worth mentioning that Simon would send one or two soldiers to dig wild carrots in the surrounding meadows and forests every time the team was repairing, and used them as the soldiers' daily meals.
………
"There seems to be movement there." A guard soldier who posted a sentry behind the grass outside the camp listened to the rustling of the grass in the distance and touched his ears in confusion.
"Huh? What is that?" In the darkness, the soldier seemed to vaguely see a dark shadow walking quickly across a small clearing illuminated by the moonlight beside the grass where the movement had just occurred.
"That, that's..." The soldier vaguely heard faint whispers, and after seeing another figure walking through the small open space under the moonlight, he confirmed his thoughts.
"Enemy attack!" A sharp cry passed over the camp.
"What!?" Simon, who was wiping his sword, threw away the rag and stood up.
The few quick-reacting guard soldiers beside the campfire also quickly threw away the wooden spoons and bowls in their hands, picked up the spears within reach on the ground and stood up.
"Quickly, put out the torches and campfires!" Simon made a quick judgment and shouted eagerly to the soldiers.
"hiss!"
A guard soldier kicked over half of the pot of soup, and the campfire neighed sharply, leaving only a few sparks. Darkness enveloped the small camp, accompanied by the strong aroma of food.
"Kill, brothers!"
At the same time, an angry roar came from the woods to the north of the camp, and then, dense footsteps and strangers' words came from the north.
After a short period of adaptation from the moment of light to darkness, the guard soldiers who were still in the center of the camp gradually saw clearly the surrounding dim environment and the vague enemy figures shuttled through the woods not far away through the moonlight.
Due to previous training in Verde Village, often eating animal livers when building wooden forts, and eating carrots every day after traveling with Simon, the soldiers' night blindness has improved a lot.
"Be careful! Don't stand there stupidly, stay away from the center of the camp, spread out!" Listening to the whistling of arrows, Miller shouted instructions to the soldiers in the darkness.
"Mr. Ryan, you are hiding!" The big-eyed soldier with eyebrows pushed Ryan, who rolled and crawled and hid behind a tree behind the camp.
"Ah!" Suddenly, the young man with eyebrows and big eyes was hit by an arrow in the leather armor on his abdomen. He took a few steps back and sat on the ground.
"Are you okay?" Miller, the team leader next to him, took the soldier with big eyebrows and big eyes by his armpits and dragged him to the tree on the left side of the camp.
Since they lost the bright target, the robbers' archers could only fire arrows in the direction of the sparking campfire. The soldiers with big eyebrows just now were just bad luck.
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!" At this time, an extremely painful and hysterical scream sounded from the trench to the north of the camp.
A gangster failed to see the path under his feet and fell into the ditch. A sharp wooden stake penetrated his chest, and a disgusting smell of blood instantly filled the air. Just because Simon's soldiers don't have night blindness doesn't mean that this group of robbers doesn't have night blindness.
"Damn it, I can't see anything!" A few lucky bandits who rushed into the camp with the campfire sparks intact were blinded. They knew there was someone not far away, but all they could do was to passively defend against the sharp blades and spears coming in the darkness, and slash at the place where they thought there was someone.
"Hmm!" A gangster felt something coming towards his head quickly. Before he could dodge, he felt severe pain on his face and then lost consciousness.
"Andrew? Damn it!" A robber with a short hair felt warm liquid splashing on his face, and tried to call his companion's name, but received no response.
"Oh my God!" Suddenly, a spear was thrust into the chest of the inch-headed robber. In pain, a raging fire ignited in his heart, and he threw the armed ax in his hand as a throwing ax with all his strength. Towards the direction of the spear handle.
"Ah! You damn bitch, I'm going to blow your head off!" The guard soldier who was hit by a flying ax on his left shoulder used his right hand to pull out the short hammer from his waist and swung it at the short-headed man with a slightly proud expression.
The attack in the darkness was like the scythe of death, harvesting the humble lives of the robbers. This was a completely asymmetrical battle, almost becoming a one-sided massacre.
"Sons of bitches, why can they see so clearly in the darkness where they can't even see their fingers?" Behind the battlefield, the slovenly long-haired bandit leader listened to the screams and begging for mercy from his companions. Besides being angry and unwilling, he also felt angry and unwilling. I can't understand it.
"Boss, are you withdrawing?" a gangster asked in surprise.
"The situation is over, let's go..." Before the slovenly long-haired bandit leader could finish his words, a long male voice came from the dark trees, which frightened him.
"Let's go, where do you want to go?" Simon looked at the frightened long-haired bandit leader in the faint moonlight, clenched the sword in his hand, and walked slowly.
………
The rising sun shone on this messy camp. Simon's escort soldiers said nothing, silently cleaning the battlefield, or bandaging wounds with the help of others.
"Be patient." Little Klein poured a bowl of strong liquor on the large wound on the guard's left arm.
"Hiss!" The guard soldier bit a branch in his mouth, enduring the pain in his left arm like the stings of thousands of insects.
"Ion, it doesn't matter. This is an exorcism potion. It is now cleaning the contaminated flesh and blood in your body." The soldier with big eyebrows and big eyes comforted his friend. The arrows last night did not penetrate the leather armor, and even the soldier with big eyebrows was able to save his life.
"It's ready for bandaging." Little Klein skillfully fished out the hot gauze from the boiling pot, and after the breeze cooled it, he carefully wrapped it around the injured arm of the guarding soldier.
After recovering from the last territorial war, soldiers have gradually accepted this new method of treating wounds.
"Have they all been killed?" Simon rubbed his swollen temples and asked Miller.
"Don't worry, sir, they're all dead." Miller smiled with his dry lips under his big dark circles.
"That's good." Simon looked at the long-haired head in the open space next to him and breathed a sigh of relief.
If it hadn't been for the old forest ranger's reminder that he had taken precautions in advance, he might have been plotted against by these little thieves this time.
"Has the battlefield been cleaned up? We have to return to the village quickly so that the injured brothers can rest and recuperate." Miller said loudly, and he personally joined the work team.
