Chapter 18: Heading to Port Abeldoorn
"Young Master, you are going to Port Aberdoron in the north, right?"
"That's right." Simon nodded to the fat man as the goods were loaded onto the carriage.
In fact, there is also a large commercial town in Berg County to the south, called Dusseldorf. However, Simon felt that in the north, the port where merchants from the east Frank, Jutland and England gathered, there might be different gains.
During this trip, Simon only brought Little Crentine and six militiamen who had been to Port Aberdoron with the village chief. After the last bloody battle to wipe out the bandits, these six young men were fully trained and could serve as guards when Simon was traveling.
"Hey, Rand, this strong leather armor may save my life at a critical moment!" A young man wearing leather ring armor, holding a rusty dagger in his hand, and said to another young man wearing leather armor.
"Although there are knife marks on it and a strong smell of feces and blood." The young man pinched his nose.
The leather armor is made of "flavor". The tanner will first soak the animal skin in a softener to soften it, which is made of water and human and animal feces. As for the knife marks and bloody smell, these leather armors are basically taken down by bandits from the caravan guards who escorted Alice and the old brewer.
"Satisfied, this is much better than wearing only a thin torn robber during the battle." 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 had not been assigned a helmet.
"What are you so proud of? This is all Mr. Simon's property. I have the affair when you have the money to buy a helmet before showing off." A relatively thin soldier said indignantly.
These equipment are not affordable for ordinary farmers and serfs. Just a Norman iron helmet requires a farmer to work for several years without eating or drinking.
"That's because I'm stronger than you and more qualified to get better equipment." The soldier wearing a tattered mail and a Norman helmet was still full of bright smiles.
"Ph." Several young men who were relatively thin and had no mail or helmets, curled their lips and didn't say anything else.
Simon used the mail cotton armor, leather armor and iron helmets seized last time to equip the soldiers who followed him north this time. In addition to adding more protection when the soldiers encountered robbers and robbers, he could also bring these somewhat damaged equipment to the armor smith in Port Aberdoron for repair.
"Missar, during this time when I was away, I hope you can manage the village with Lord Hoffman and supervise the group of soldiers and serfs."
"Of course, my master. I hope you can reach your destination safely." The village chief closed his eyes and drew a cross on his chest.
"Master Simon, I'm here!" At this time, seeing Simon and the soldiers finally carry the hay and wheat bran that the horses ate into the car, Little Clein accelerated his pace with his hunting bow and quiver on his back.
"You're almost late, I won't wait for anyone," Simon scraped Clein's nose. "I've learned to ride a horse these days. You'll ride the pack horse in front."
"Okay Master."
In this way, Simon and his group embarked on the dirt road leading to the north with carriages.
………
The sun was shining this morning, and in a short while, the group was sweating all over.
A soldier felt that the linen cloth soaked in sweat was constantly rubbing against the rough leather armor he was wearing, which made him very uncomfortable, so he wanted to take off the 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 adapt to it!" Simon, who was riding a maroon war horse, immediately stopped the bold soldier.
In fact, Simon himself was too hot.
On this hot day, Simon wore a shirt, a cotton armor, and a chain mail and a burqa on his face. In addition, Simon also wore a thick soft armor hat and a heavy Norman helmet on his head.
"It's really hard to imagine how the crusaders who were wearing heavy armor in the desert were feeling in the desert wearing heavy armor under the scorching sun." Simon couldn't help but think.
"I'm at the village border, Master Simon!" A soldier walking in the front shouted.
After walking for a while, two pointed wooden stakes with human heads appeared in everyone's sight.
"It's the heads of those damn bandits, I'm gonna!" As we passed the stake, several soldiers spat thick phlegm on the head of the man crawling with maggots.
"Snap the pace and try to rest in the village of Wesel in front at noon." Simon said to the soldiers.
"Yes, lord." The highly motivated soldiers responded loudly.
At this time, among the bushes in the dense forest on the roadside not far away, a pair of eyes staring at Simon and his group with fear and resentment.
"Boss, they killed the poisonous snake Kofiel and Jack the Long Axe?" Behind the bush, a little thief turned his head and said to a sloppy long-haired bandit.
"Speak quietly," the bandit Kong Wu covered the little thief's mouth with his powerful hands, and then looked nervously at Simon and his group passing by on the dirt road, "Do you want to kill everyone?"
After Simon took his men and horses away, the bandit let go.
This sloppy long-haired bandit was one of the bandits who escaped from Simon's attack on the camp that day. The guy also participated in the attack on Alice and the Old Brewers convoy.
However, when the plunder was plundering that night, the always cunning bandit secretly hid a small bag of Transnell coins under the tree on the roadside while others were not paying attention. Unexpectedly, the camp was attacked the next morning.
After he escaped from the camp, he immediately took the hidden silver coins and fled, gathering the remaining soldiers and newcomers, and preparing to start a new stove.
"Just be so brave, you still think of the boss? If I just lead people up and chop them up, then strip them naked." Looking at the "big fish" moving further and further away, the little thief covered his mouth was a little dissatisfied.
In the circle of bandits, road bandits and green forest heroes, the martial arts atmosphere is very strong. Obviously, this little thief has some different ideas about his new and old man.
"You also want to put your head on the pointed wooden stake and rotten, right?" The long-haired bandit frowned when they saw the newly recruited thief and slapped it directly on his face. "There are six fully armed soldiers and an archer, and a knight who killed Jack the Long Axe with his own hands. There are only nine people on our side, not even a decent armor, how can we fight?"
The little thief shook his head, but he was still unwilling to accept it.
"Since they are going out with generous goods, they will definitely return with a lot of money. We can recruit more brothers during this period and give them a big surprise on the night they return!" The long-haired bandit looked at the seven brothers squatting behind and said gritting their teeth.
………
Simon and his party rested in Wesel Village for a noon and continued on the northbound road.
The northward, the forest began to become sparse and the terrain became flatter.
"Stop," Suddenly, a shout came from afar ahead, "Who are you?"
Simon drew out his sword like a conditioned reflex and raised his kite-shaped shield. Little Crentine also set up a bow and arrow to aim ahead.
"Master, it's okay, that's the checkout set up by the Duchy of Fries on the border of Stigt County." The young soldier immediately explained to Simon.
"So that's how it is." Simon took the sword back into the scabbard and looked forward.
A sharp wooden horse-received horse stands in the middle of the dirt road ahead. Four soldiers wearing cotton armor are standing on both sides of the horse-received horse with spears, looking at this side vigilantly.
The endless forest disappeared from the outpost, forming a clear dividing line with the vast plain in front.
"I am Sir Simon of the Dorsten family." Simon rode forward on the chestnut horse and stopped in front of the horse.
"Dear Lord," the wariness in the soldier's eyes did not disappear, "I want to see your blood certificate. Please forgive me for my recklessness. This is not my personal decision, but our sheriff requested."
"Oh?" Simon narrowed his eyes and looked at the soldier with scars on his face behind Juema. "Didn't you see the family emblem on my burqa?"
"That's right, Lord, a few days ago, a mercenary leader named Haas took a stolen family emblem, pretended to be a knight, cheated on the checkpoint, and robbed nearby villages. The sheriff took a lot of effort to bring those damn guys to justice. So now the sheriff has issued a new order, please forgive me."
"There is such a thing?" Simon was a little unbelievable. You should know that using aristocratic emblem and aristocratic identity is an absolute crime of death no matter which territory it is in.
Chapter completed!