Chapter 212: Mercenaries
He suddenly intervened, drawing the attention of the three men.
Bevan furrowed his brows, Jeffrey still wore a smile on his face, while Administrator Piero spoke.
“Originally, this was to be handed over to Sir Puniel after he had rested, but since Sir Puniel is not that weary, then please, Sir Puniel, take charge of organizing those free warriors in the territory.” he said.
Puniel was puzzled. “Free warriors?”
Piero explained, “York Territory lies in Greenwood, where farmland yields are abundant. Moreover, the region under its rule suffered calamity, and the population altogether does not even reach fifty thousand. Thus, York Territory has surplus grain, which gave rise to many freemen unwilling to till the soil. Just as when Sir Puniel set out to war before, he had hired a large number of such free warriors.”
“And now, when there is no war to employ them, these men who live by the blade would never willingly set it down to haul stones for coins or return to toil in the fields. Instead of letting them stir up trouble in the territory, it would be better to manage them.”
Puniel frowned. “To manage them, at the very least they must have tasks to occupy them. But now, with all sides sealed, there is no place to make use of them.”
He added, “Do you want me to use the old method to make them quiet again?”
The old method naturally meant that once they were buried in the ground, they would indeed fall quiet.
Piero shook his head and said, “Merchants will not remain confined to the ports. They must go forth, farther still, so that the gold of York Territory may influence more lords. Hence, they need warriors to guard them.”
“Moreover, the Church has sent word. To the west of your territory lies the Northwind Mountains, once infested by dark creatures. They may now be opened for development, and it would be best to cut a trade route through there. Also, in the Marquis Territory, where it connects with the Northern Kingdom, that path is also passable. Merchants willing to trade with the Northern Kingdom must go there, and they too require the escort of those free warriors.”
Puniel understood. Though he still did not know how exactly to carry it out, since it was the Church’s will, he let the matter rest.
After all, between snatching at a little power and obeying the Church’s command, he knew well which was more important.
With Puniel settled, Piero turned toward Bevan and said, “I heard in the monastery that you have some kinship with Baron Morn.”
Bevan was stunned. “I have some kinship with him?”
Piero said, “It was your great-great-grandfather’s illegitimate daughter, who once lived for a time with the great-grandfather of Baron Morn, before he became a baron. From that period a child was born, and that child became the first Baron Turner.”
Bevan fell silent. Such a connection was so distant and tenuous that it was hard to believe.
Yet he also knew that news from the monastery bore some credibility. After all, those scholars all came from the same place; perhaps they possessed hidden records.
So he nodded, then looked to Jeffrey and said, “Then this time, I shall go.”
Jeffrey did not argue further. Whether true or not, whether hinted by the monastery or not, with such blood relations revealed, sending Bevan would indeed maximize the benefit.
Seeing that matter settled, Puniel asked, “Then what shall be done about Sir Belair, and that land of the Marquis Territory?”
Piero replied, “Sir Belair has already been sent to the hospital, and currently, only Knight Wolf is in long-term residence there.”
At those words, all three men breathed easier.
Piero continued, “The lord has already declared war upon the Patlin Family. Thus, annexing the Marquis Territory is only reasonable. Although Sir Belair is our friend, if he, admiring the lord’s renown, voluntarily presents his territory, we cannot well refuse, can we?”
…
This time, besides Belair, it was also Marl and his warriors who entered the hospital.
Of course, compared to Belair’s bodily injuries, Marl and his men bore more wounds of the spirit.
Monk Agamemnon, with the monks studying under him, was attempting to dispel these inner wounds.
Scholar Rudolf, who specialized in biology, naturally did not study such matters of the mind. Thus, Knight Wolf and Rudolf both stood inside Belair’s chamber.
Belair lay swathed in bandages upon the bed, a look of release in his eyes.
“Though I would rather recommend simply killing you to save trouble,” Knight Wolf bluntly said, Belair’s eyes hardly wavering.
“The Senate now has only four members, all scrambling for scraps of power. Yet at least they are clever men, who still get things done while struggling, and did not drag their quarrels into the hospital.”
“But you, a fool who deceived Knight George, if you really got dragged into this, you’d be played to death by them. So, I think you must feel guilt for failing to protect your people against the werewolves’ invasion. Thus, after the werewolves were driven out with York Territory’s help, you chose to present your territory to the great Lord Pegiraov Lundex, and willingly gave up your title, to live as a commoner under the lord’s protection.”
“I shall have this Proclamation spread throughout your lands. From now on, for the next ten years, you shall dwell as an ordinary commoner in York Territory, under the lord’s protection.”
After finishing, Knight Wolf turned to Rudolf. “Scholar Rudolf, this is now a commoner who presented everything and sought the lord’s protection. Be sure to preserve his life, and restore him. As for the gold required for his treatment, he will repay the hospital in time.”
Rudolf nodded. “I will heal him as swiftly as possible. But since he suffered too many injuries in his own lands, I cannot guarantee that after recovery, he will be as sound as before. Perhaps he will be left with some disability, say, a limp?”
Knight Wolf nodded and said no more, then turned and left.
Rudolf, meanwhile, looked kindly at Belair, who trembled uncontrollably upon hearing that he had ‘been proclaimed to have willingly become a commoner,’ and then left the room. When he returned, he brought with him a group of apprentices, their faces still showing youthful immaturity.
In their hands were scissors, pliers, hammers, axes, and other tools.
Rudolf pointed to Belair and said, “This is a near-perfect specimen. Sir Puniel is too experienced, so even repeated injuries left only broken bones, yet still maintained vitality. Most importantly, Belair has only the constitution of an ordinary man…”
Belair’s vision dimmed. As he looked at the growing gleam in the apprentices’ eyes, he felt as though he had fallen from one hell into another.
…
York Town had fallen into revelry. Warriors returning from the north spent lavishly the rewards they had gained from the battlefield. To honor their deeds, Senator Jeffrey granted them three days free from exchange restrictions.
They could spend gold directly.
As for silver and copper? Such spending could hardly befit these glorious warriors.
They had not even brought such metals back from the north.
The Morgan Family remarked that their honey wine stores were nearly exhausted, yet supply never ceased.
Merchants from Odo Village said the fish catch had dwindled greatly of late, so prices had to rise slightly.
Some York Town merchants produced animals they claimed had accidentally died in the wild, skinned them, and roasted the meat to serve the warriors.
In the taverns, women wore gauzy dresses from the Adams shops, revealing just enough in places. As they poured wine for the glorious warriors, one misstep had them seated upon the warriors’ laps, where both their lower and upper pockets were soon stuffed full.
Whether gentry, merchants, or commoners, all were swept up in this Senate-driven revelry. On the fourth day, York Town suddenly quieted, with only the lingering odors in the streets and the dwindled gold in the warriors’ hands bearing witness that the revel had truly occurred.
On the fifth day, the warriors awoke from their stupor. The people still flattered their valor and honor, yet when they could no longer produce sufficient gold, all they had left was empty praise.
They felt the loss keenly. They craved another war, yearned again for honor.
But now was the time of recovery after war—how could another come so soon?
Thus, until the next war arrived, they had to find a way to live.
So when Senator Puniel’s mercenary tavern opened, they all registered there as mercenaries.
Though to become one, they first had to spend a silver coin to receive a copper badge.
That badge was proof of being a York Territory mercenary, marking them not as vagrants. With it, they could accept commissions from the mercenary tavern.
Tasks like guarding merchant caravans, protecting York’s shipments bound for the north, or venturing west into the Northwind Mountains to capture dark creatures for coin.
For those who had once slaughtered werewolves, hunting dark creatures was their favorite pursuit.
Even the corpse of the most worthless cave dweller could fetch two gold coins at the mercenary tavern, not to mention the pricier werewolves and vampires.
And according to rumors, many of those dark creatures had fallen into slumber after touching forbidden taboos. Venturing into the Northwind Mountains now was like picking up gold for free.
Thus, after squandering in three days of revelry nearly all the gold won with their lives on the battlefield, these free warriors once more took up their wine-dulled swords as mercenaries and set off toward the Northwind Mountains.
While the mercenaries raised their blades again for gold, Knight Wolf led thirty elites aboard a warship outfitted with powerful crossbows, sailing by water toward the lands of Baron Morn.