"Krieg is back!"
With an exclamation, the farmers working in the fields seemed to have heard something big. They stopped what they were doing, straightened their waists and stood up, took off their straw hats and looked around. .
"Look, there!" A young man with mud on his face pointed south, and everyone looked in the direction he pointed.
I saw a "savage" walking on the main road sandwiched between farmland in the distance.
His unrestrained tawny curly hair was scattered messily on his shoulders, and the beard that was integrated with his hair was braided. The filthy face could not conceal the sharpness emanating from the blue eyes.
Wearing a rolled-sleeved blouse full of scratches, a fur shawl, and carrying a long bow and quiver on his back, he walked toward the entrance of Esbai Village with his head held high.
"Krieg? Is that you?"
Farmer Erwin opened his mouth wide, his heart filled with doubts. The man walking in front of them was both familiar and unfamiliar, but besides Krieger, who would appear in front of everyone with such an image of a mountain man?
"It's me," Krieger stopped and laughed, "I heard that Baron Quinier died and his heir fled to the Principality of Flanders, so according to the law, the lord himself ordered me The arrest warrant has expired."
"I hope the Sheriff thinks so too, and may God bless you!" Erwin said, crossing himself on his chest and watching "Savage" Krieger continue to stride towards the village.
After Krieger left, the farmers in the field seemed to be like a pot of boiling water, and they were talking about each other.
"Thank God, this excellent carpenter has finally come back. I can't stand Old Gordon's carpentry anymore." A farmer curled his lips and spit on the ground. "The things Old Gordon makes are rough and unreliable." Forget it, the money collected is actually more than Krieger!"
"That's true," the farmer next to him agreed. "Old Gordon's craftsmanship is terrible and his character is disgusting. But he has a good relationship with the village chief Duden, so he can take over the whole village after Krieger leaves. Carpentry.”
Although everyone had great opinions on old Gordon, what couldn't be helped was that, except for him and Krieger, no one else in the village knew anything about carpentry. If you go to other villages or the nearby town of Camplintfort to find a carpenter, you will have to pay more.
"It's been a long time since I've been here. Things have changed a lot here." Krieger said with emotion as he walked.
In his memory, Esbai Village was rich and prosperous, but now, all he saw was decay and depression.
There are several abandoned farmlands on the roadside, and weeds have grown out of the fields that have not been taken care of since the beginning of spring. Krieger knew the owners of these fields, and he speculated that the free farmers had been killed in the war against the earldom of Berg.
Sure enough, not far away, he saw the hut of one of the free farmers. Krieger remembered that this free farmer was named Zorn. He and his wife Susse were both shy and good-natured people. Now, this semi-ground wooden house looks quite dilapidated. The walls are covered with creepers, and there are only embers left by a pile of firewood at the door.
"Clang"
Suddenly, the weak wooden door of the cabin was violently pushed open.
The village chief Duden rubbed his hazy eyes and walked out with his pants lifted up. The militiaman Adam who followed behind him was flushed but looked satisfied.
"Damn Duden really hasn't changed at all," Krieger stopped in surprise, "Now poor Susse has become a widow, without the protection of Zorn, and is surrounded by Duden and his nephew. It was ruined by two shameless people."
"Wait a minute," Village Chief Duden saw the blurry figure in front of him, rubbed his eyes carefully, and opened his mouth in surprise, "Krige!? Why the hell are you back, you bastard?"
"Watch your words, Duden. You'd better show some respect to me." Krieger patted the sheathed dagger on his belt. "I'm not a lamb who can't hit back or scold me. If you dare Talk to me like that once and I'll cut out your tongue."
"Damn bastards, uncivilized barbarians." Duden complained in a voice as small as a fly's wings.
As the village chief of Esbai Village and the right-hand man of the former baron, no one has threatened Duden like this for a long time. Although he was very angry, he did not dare to put his tongue to risk when he met Krieger, a "desperate" who had a life in his hands.
() () "What are you doing back here? Don't you know that the Sheriff has not revoked the arrest warrant against you?" Duden calmed down and tried his best to point at Krieger in what he thought was a calmer tone. He resisted the urge to add "jerk" to the end of his sentence.
"So what? In my opinion, it was reasonable for me to kill the drunkard who raped and killed my wife. That drunkard was related to you. God knows whether you would favor him and confuse the truth in front of the baron to excuse him? Rather than wait until At that time, I might as well have given him an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth on the spot. Of course, I was much more civilized than him, and I didn’t rape him before killing him.”
Krieger's words caused the village chief Duden's face to turn from white to red, and then from red to green. However, Adam, the brat behind him, was made to laugh by the humor of Krieger's last sentence.
"That's enough." Duden turned around and kicked Adam with a livid face. His laughter stopped abruptly. Then he turned to look at Krieger and said through gritted teeth, "Anyway, I can't live in this village for a day." , don’t even think about peace!”
"Then come and give it a try." Krieger laughed instead, spat at Duden's feet, patted the ax with dried blood on his waist, and continued walking towards the village.
"Who is that?" Krieger, who was approaching the village entrance, saw two soldiers dressed as Vikings standing guard at the village entrance from a distance, and was a little confused.
He recalled his hometown of Britannia. When those bloodthirsty and cruel Viking pirates rowed their dragon-headed warships through the waves and landed on the coast, the villages along the coast were filled with the blood and mutilated limbs of innocent villagers and fishermen. There were burning houses everywhere.
The Viking pirates who left a pile of ruins just patted their butts indifferently, as if they had just run over an ant, and either continued to plunder inland with their loot, or disappeared into the vast sea again.
It is said that a group of their compatriots settled in the northern part of the West Frankish Kingdom under the leadership of Chief Rollo more than 20 years ago. Therefore, people call it Normandy, which means "the land of the northerners". The Normans, who had integrated with the local Franks, were much more civilized than their "uncivilized" compatriots.
So, Krieger thought, could these soldiers in front of him be Normans from distant Normandy?
"Their body shape and height seem to be about the same as ours. They shouldn't be northerners." Krieg got closer and realized that these soldiers did not have the thick and muscular Viking features.
When the soldier came up to ask him who he was, the familiar local dialect completely dispelled Krieger's doubts.
"I used to be a carpenter in this village. I was hunted down because I offended the previous lord. I heard that the old lord was dead, so I thought I could return to the village and live a normal life. I believe that the new lord will never do anything wrong. A skilled carpenter is not interested unless he already has one." Krieger said while looking at the soldier, and the soldier was also looking at this guy dressed as a mountain man.
"Very good, you can enter the village. But by the way, were you a subject of Baron Wolfe before?" This soldier who once helped Baron Wolfe rescue the siege in the Battle of the Valley seemed to think of a familiar dress. .
"No, I come from far away Brittania, but this is my home too."
……………………
Krieger's home is a small but extremely sturdy thatched wooden house on the edge of the forest to the west of the village. Back then, he spent a full two Denier silver coins and twelve copper coins to buy this "bad land" from Baron Quinnier that no one in the village valued. It has to be said that the locals at first He is full of malice towards strangers.
After Krieger became a so-called outlaw, his land hut was taken over by Baron Quinnier, and was later rewarded by the baron to a young private soldier who had made great achievements in catching thieves but did not have any property. It's a pity that this little unlucky guy didn't stay long before he followed the baron on an expedition to the Earl of Berg and never came back.
Krieger wasted some time and opened the door lock that was corroded by rain and rusted. The originally cozy cabin he and his wife used to live in was like a pig's nest by this private soldier. The most unbelievable thing to Krieger was that this sloppy guy didn't even bother to go outside the door. The stale feces on the walls inside the house exuded a disgusting smell.
"It looks like we need to do some cleaning. Let me go to the Stump Tavern for a drink first." Krieger pinched his nose, closed the door, and walked towards the small square in the center of the village.
() () On the way to the tavern, every villager who saw Krieger first showed a surprised expression. Then, the surprise quickly turned into surprise, and everyone greeted him warmly.
However, there are also people with whom he has a very bad relationship, such as Old Gordon.
When Old Gordon saw Krieger passing by the door in his carpentry shop, he couldn't believe his eyes, and then his face became serious as if he had eaten a pound of flies. He knew that if he didn't do something, his good days of lying around and making money were coming to an end, so he took off his gloves and walked quickly towards the Sheriff's house.
"Hey, Tina," Krieger sat down on the bench in front of the pub and called into the room, "Bring me a glass of fruit wine. Also, I think you should remember what kind of food I like to accompany the wine. .”
"Oh, my God," Tina poked her head out of the tavern, picked up the pockets of her white dress and wiped her wet hands, "Of course I still remember."
Krieger sat on a chair and waited for a while. Most of the farmers had gone to work in the morning. Of course, they all went to take care of their own family plots. Except for a traveling businessman sitting not far away, there were almost no people in the tavern. There are no other customers.
"Your wine and the accompanying dishes, I hope I'm not mistaken." Tina came to Krieger with a glass of fruit wine and a plate of hot black bread with onions and pea paste.
"Thank you. By the way, where is your husband Herta? Why didn't you see him?" Krieger took the cup and took a sip directly, looking at the empty counter in the tavern with some surprise. In his impression, Boss Herta was a slacker, either on his bed, at the counter of the tavern, or in the kitchen.
"To tell you the truth, Count Loon went too far. Not long after we paid this quarter's taxes on the Annunciation, he levied an additional war tax. Herta owed wood The cooper gave him a sum of money, but he really didn’t have much money to repay it, so a few days ago he followed the passing caravan and set off to Flanders to borrow money from his relatives." Tina said with furrowed brows. .
There are not many merchants passing by the main road that runs through Esbai Village, so the news is even more limited. If Tina knew that Count Loon was dead and Duke Cologne was in power, she would definitely use the most vicious words to curse this damn guy to hell.
"But at least Mellie is still here," Tina said, suddenly laughing provocatively, "Do you want to have some entertainment after you've had enough wine and food? For example, let Mellie help you suck your dick..."
"Don't be stupid," Krieger's face turned ugly, "You know I would never do that, never."
Tina chuckled and walked back to the tavern, but she stopped at the door and turned back and said: "If you change your mind, you know where to find me, one copper coin at a time!"
Krieger waved his hand impatiently and silently ate the onion and pea mash from the plate.
Mellie is the slave of Hertha, the tavern owner. She comes from Gwinet and is technically a fellow Celtic of Krieger.
As for how she ended up working for Herta, Krieger couldn't tell. Perhaps captured in a war between the English and Welsh? Or another poor man who was captured by Viking pirates and exiled in a foreign land?
At least, whenever a drinker comes to the door, whether Herta recognizes him or not, he will lazily lie on the counter after calculating the price and add something that makes Krieger extremely disgusted: Give me a copper coin and you can fuck me in the tavern. female slave.
Just as Krieger was eating the black bread from the bowl with the fruit wine, a soldier wearing a Norman helmet and short-sleeved chain mail came to him: "The new lord and the sheriff want to see meet you."
"What lord?" Krieger was a little confused. "As far as I know, isn't there no lord here now?"
"No, the Duke of Cologne's messenger brought a letter last night. Baron Simon will become the new lord of Esbai Village and the surrounding manors." The soldier's response was brief and sonorous.
"Okay," Krieger picked up the wooden cup and drank the last drop of the fruit wine, "I'll go with you."
