As Sir Linton's servants clumsily carried his body to a pile of hay in the center of his house, a melodious sound of horse hooves drifted from the distant country road.
"What happened?" A young man slowly rode a strong traveling horse into the stable next to Linton's house. He dismounted and tied the horse to the hitching post, smelling the thick blood in the village. He frowned and looked at the fat man and others who were waiting outside Linton's house with vigilance.
This young man is a fat man. Among all the people he has seen since he came to the village, his complexion is second only to Sir Linton. As expected, he should be Linton's confidant or attendant.
The young man wore a clean red hood, wide yellow striped clothes, and a pair of old but polished deerskin short boots. He looked like a noble.
"Who are you?" The fat man put his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist and slowly and cautiously asked the young man.
"I am Sir Linton's attendant, Balder! In addition, shouldn't I be the one to ask you this question? Who are you?" At this time, Sir Linton's attendant, Balder, had noticed that the line of sight stretched from the entrance of the village to Linton's house. There was blood at the door of the villa, and his heart began to beat faster, as if he had anticipated what had just happened.
"I am the squire of Sir Simon of the Dorsten family, Hoffman. As you can see, your master lost to my young master in the duel just now, and now he has been summoned by God." The fat man looked at the man with amusement. The young attendant's expression suddenly changed. This is probably the first guy that everyone has seen who can express such surprise and grief at the death of Sir Linton.
"Oh no, ah, damn it, you must be lying to me. Mr. Linton has killed so many people and has such superb swordsmanship, how could he die like this!" With that said, the young attendant Balder stood at the door of Linton's house. The middle-aged soldier rushed in through the door with a surprised look, and directly saw Sir Linton lying on the haystack in the middle of the house, his eyes wide and lifeless, and his skin had turned gray and gray.
"Mr. Linton was as good to the child sent by his relatives as his attendant during his lifetime as he was to his own child." The middle-aged soldier helplessly shrugged at the fat man and others, and everyone was relieved. But at this time, a sudden noise from the villa attracted everyone's attention.
"You despicable guy, you must have killed my master from behind while he was not paying attention. This fatal wound on the left back of the neck is the best proof!" Attendant Balder pointed at Lin hysterically as if he was crazy. Simon yelled next to Dun's body.
"Sparrow Balder, I understand your grief for losing Lord Linton, but everyone in our village can testify that this Lord Simon fought a fair duel with our Lord..." The middle-aged soldier couldn't stand it anymore and walked holding on to the door frame. Entering the room, he whispered to Balder, who was now extremely emotionally unstable. However, he was interrupted by Balder before he finished speaking.
"I don't care, I just believe everything I see, and tell everyone in the Clovis family truthfully, and let them seek justice for Lord Linton, and you," said the attendant Balder who was so angry that his voice was trembling. As he spoke, he stared at Simon fiercely, "I swear you will pay for your despicable behavior today, we will see!"
"Really?" Simon sneered, looking at Balder, the young attendant who had lost his mind, with a murderous look in his eyes.
If this squire is willing to truthfully bring back the news that Linton died in a fair duel, there is no harm in Simon letting him go. But now this guy with a brain problem not only only believes in his own eyes and judgment, but also exaggerates to describe himself as a despicable sneak attacker. Simon has already begun to murder him.
"If you don't believe this result, I can duel with you and let God judge everything." Simon stared into the eyes of the attendant Balder. Sure enough, the young man who had been so cruel just a moment ago averted his eyes, instantly revealing his lack of confidence.
"I will not duel with a naughty and notorious guy like you. God knows what despicable tricks you want to use to take my life. In this case, there will be no one to send messages to the Clovis family!" Servant Balder He mustered up his courage again, glared back at Simon, touched the half-sword on his waist and slowly backed away to the door, as if Simon would draw his sword and chop him off as soon as he turned around.
To be honest, Simon really wanted to make this damn servant splatter with blood on the spot, and let him lie on the hay with the smell of mold and dried feces to accompany his dear master.
But the duel between himself and Sir Linton was legal, protected by law, and recognized by everyone present. And killing this servant directly in front of so many local witnesses is definitely an act of murder, and may even trigger a war between the two territories. Unless all the villagers in this village are killed, Simon cannot do such a thing.
"Fat man, you ride the fast horse you bought from Baron Karl and follow that guy with Gabriel..." Simon walked out and looked at the young man in the stable not far away who was stepping on the horse again. The attendant, while giving instructions to the fat man and Gabriel, made a gesture of wiping his neck.
"Okay, Master!" The two of them answered almost at the same time, then hurriedly got on their horses and chased in the direction where the young attendant left.
"It's time for us to hit the road." Simon said softly to Miller and Pedi as he watched Fatty and Gabriel's figures drifting away in the distance.
Simon hung Sir Linton's visor beside the saddle, stepped on the horse, and gently patted his partner: "Let's go, Lucky."
Simon, like the people here, gave his horse an auspicious name - Lucky.
Although it is recorded in the Genesis of the Bible that God allowed people to manage "living creatures of all kinds", in the minds of the knights, horses were not objects of slavery, but their close and good partners, even Simon I have heard that many knights treat their beloved horses as close friends.
Therefore, people in the Middle Ages would call their horses by names. For example, in "The Song of Roland", it is recorded that Count Geran's horse was called "Chestrel", Jerrel's horse was called "Stag Chaser", and Canalon's horse was called "Chestrel". Brown Spot', Roland's horse was called Brave, Charlemagne's horse was called Grey, and Simon knew a guy named Geralt who had a horse called Carrot.
The direction in which the attendant Balder escaped was the direction of Rothenburg. Simon was not in a hurry and took Pedi and Miller to walk leisurely along the muddy path leading to Rothenburg.
"By the way Pedi, let me put on Sir Linton's chain mail for the time being. Otherwise, with this cheap cotton armor on your body, you will have to go to see God if someone cuts you off or shoots an arrow." ." Simon turned his head and looked at Pedi, who was riding the packhorse laden with luggage behind him.
"Thank you, my lord!" Peidi was also polite and nodded heavily with gratitude.
Simon and others moved forward for a while, and the bare "grassland" full of tree stumps disappeared, and everyone returned to the embrace of Mother Forest. Simon guessed that they had arrived at another lord's territory, and the most obvious dividing line between this territory and Sir Linton's territory was the straight dividing line between the forest and the "grassland".
The dense forest not only did not bring any depressing feeling to Simon and others, but made Simon feel that his whole body and mind were more happy and relaxed than in the "grassland" full of tree stumps without any obstruction.
The familiar chirping of birds reached Simon's ears again, and the little animals faintly visible among the trees and grass were so lively and cute. Not long after Simon had traveled, a gurgling stream blocked everyone's path. Several larger flat stones were placed across the stream, allowing passers-by to step on them without getting their shoes wet by the stream. While passing by the stream, Simon noticed a simple pot-shaped fishing device made of rattan beside a rocky shoal not far upstream of the stream.
Not long after crossing the stream, Simon saw a large pool of fresh blood splashing on the ground next to the dirt road with ruts and livestock footprints, and continued to extend to the road ahead.
Not long after walking forward, Simon saw two familiar horses tied to a small tree on the roadside. Gabriel was standing next to his black horse, wiping the remaining blood on his sword with the rag he used to wipe his sword. . And the trail of blood that stretched from the front of the creek stopped abruptly.
"Sir, it's all done. Hoffman is digging a hole in the woods nearby." Gabriel stopped wiping his sword and raised his head, "Do you want to see the body of that little bastard?"
"No, no, Miller and Pedi can help the fat man. We are still in a hurry." Simon shook his head and refused Gabriel's kind invitation. He stepped off the horse and tied the reins on the horse. On the thick oak tree on the roadside, "Stay here and don't move, you are lucky."
………………
When Simon and his party got back on the road after disposing of the body of squire Balder, the sun had begun to slowly move tiredly toward the western horizon.
Fortunately, Simon and the others arrived at Rothenburg before the sun set.
Rothenburg is backed by an unknown river, and water from that river was introduced to serve as a moat on the front side of the castle.
Simon looked from a distance and saw that the forests near Rothenburg had been cut down, exposing large areas of bare grass. Simon knew that this was to give the archers on the fort wall a wider view.
Under the shroud of water vapor rising from the river in the distance and the dense trees on the other side of the river, the purely wooden castle actually felt like a paradise.
"Bishop of Frankfurt, I finally found you." Simon patted the letter written by the priest of Wenden Village to the bishop in the bag on his waist and exhaled.
