The convoy repaired in Kitzby for two days, and Art asked Odo to escort Salter to buy some fragmentary goods at the free market in Kitzby.
At himself, Ron and others tried to recruit a group of craftsmen in Kitzby City. It would be best to recruit weapon craftsmen or blacksmiths who were scarce in several valleys. However, during the war, blacksmiths and weapon craftsmen were the most precious talents, and lords everywhere regarded them as treasures. Several people wandered outside the city for two days without meeting any craftsmen willing to follow them north. The craftsmen in the city were all members of various guilds, and Art couldn't take them away at all.
Unfortunately, Ate and the others only recruited three young men who were willing to accompany them to adventure in the Northland.
Early on the morning of the third day, at a roadside tavern outside Kitzby, Art, Ron, Odo, Bas, Kazak, and Tuba planned to have a hearty breakfast in the tavern and arrange the division of labor for the next time.
Art lightly knocked on the table and said, "Odo, have the food arrangements for the soldiers and coachmen been arranged?"
Several people sitting around the wooden table stopped chatting and laughing.
Odo replied: "Sir, the innkeeper has prepared a large pot of delicious fresh meat soup and sent it to the camp."
"Okay, innkeeper, you can serve us!" After confirming that the soldiers had arranged the food, Art started the officers' breakfast.
The bartender put six plates filled with bacon and pea mash on a tray and delivered them to the six people. In addition, each person also got a glass of Provence's own wine.
At took out a small knife from his waist, cut off a small strip of bacon on the plate, pinched it and dipped it lightly in the tapenade on the edge of the wooden plate, then put it in his mouth and chewed it. The aroma of sauce and meat swirled in his mouth, and Art enjoyed it quite a lot.
At this time, Art was carrying a lot of goods. The fully loaded carriage could not cross the mountainous area east of Sap, so Art planned to let Odo take his own goods back to the valley first. "Odo, you have to be more careful. The road from here to the wooden castle is not smooth. We would rather have some troubles than ensure absolute safety. Leave some supplies for Simon and the others when passing the border checkpoint."
"Ron, this time you take Jason and follow Odo back first, and you must listen to Odo's arrangements along the way."
The two nodded in agreement.
After breakfast, Art personally paid the salaries to all the officers and soldiers of the patrol team in the camp.
Before noon, the convoy returning from the south was divided into two teams. One team was led by Odo, the entire third team, the second combat team of the fourth team, and two sentry riders, Ron and Jason. A total of nine people took Art's own five carriages full of goods and went north from Kitzby and passed the border. The checkpoint arrived in the County of Burgundy and then returned to the wooden castle in the valley; the other team, led by Art himself, led the remaining soldiers, escorting the twelve carriages and eight coachmen belonging to Lord Galvin from the west of Kitzby through the hills back to Sapp. After handing the team to Lord Galvin, they returned to the wooden castle in the valley from Sapp.
Sappburg welcomed a convoy returning from the south. More than a dozen carriages were loaded with various southern goods.
Since the commercial road from Sap to the south was interrupted, there has been no southern goods coming and going here for a long time, and the commercial road to the west of Sap that leads to Linzhou is also sparsely populated.
The goods purchased from the south by these dozen carts are enough to sustain Sap's trade for half a year. Baron Galvin accepted all the goods that Art brought back as ordered, and gave him half the price that he would pay in normal years.
Twelve carts of goods were sold for 28,000 pfennigs. Excluding the purchase price, Art made 16,000 pfennigs on this trip. When a bulging bag of silver marks was handed to Art's hand, Art realized for the first time that making money could be so easy. But he also knew that these easy money must have a condition, that is, you can put the money into your pocket alive. You will pass through countless valleys and dense forests along the way, and there may be sharp-edged steel knives waiting to lick blood and kill people.
That night, Baron Galvin happily hosted a banquet in Sapp's castle for everyone in the fully loaded convoy. The soldiers who were injured in the last hilly battle of the patrol were also invited to the banquet.
Baron Galvin did not have any noble attitude at all. He frequently raised glasses with Art and others. Art drank a large glass of sweet wine and said to the host of the banquet with a slightly tipsy face: "Lord Galvin, during this trip south, I found that the war situation in the south is a bit unstable. The Lombard army has begun to take root in the central region. I am afraid the war will not end soon. , so you'd better take advantage of this season to seize the opportunity to trade with Provence. In addition, although there are no large groups of bandits in the southern hills for the time being, the mountains and hills stretching for dozens of miles are excellent hiding places for bandits. If the war situation in the south continues to deteriorate, those places will still be occupied by large groups of bandits sooner or later, so you have to make plans early."
Baron Galvin also had a reddish face, and his long beard was stained with wine and soup. "Art, I know everything you said, but I can't do anything about it now. Originally, Sapp still had dozens of caravan guards, but in the past two years, the caravans have been repeatedly robbed by bandits. My caravan guards were seriously injured, and now there are many Young people no longer dare to join my caravan escort. Besides, I just received an urgent order and the palace started conscription again. Last time I paid a huge shield tax to avoid the disaster. This time the palace strictly ordered all places to serve and canceled the tax in lieu of service. I must send the army north to gather to prepare for the battle~~"
亚特心中一惊:「施瓦本犯境了？」
「那倒还没有，不过现在东部边境局势危险，两国开战已成定局了～乱世将至呀……」高尔文男爵说完端起酒杯一口将杯中葡萄酒饮尽。
Matt also picked up the wine glass and muttered in his heart: "Troubled times are coming~Troubled times are coming~~"
….................
Matt, who was lost in thought, did not notice a pair of blurred eyes staring at him in the corner of the banquet hall. The name of the owner of those blurry eyes was Lottie Huguet, the only daughter of Baron Galvin, a beautiful girl who was still unmarried at the age of nineteen.
Lottie is tall and has a pretty face. Although she is not a stunning beauty, she is not comparable to ordinary village girls. The reason why she still couldn't get married when she was nineteen years old was not only because she had too high demands on her husband, but also because of Lord Galvin's poor reputation and unstable status among the nobility.
Although Baron Galvin was a nobleman, because he was never willing to send troops to fight for his lord, and was obsessed with gold and silver, his reputation in the noble circle had always been bad. The Hugues family behind Baron Galvin had been suppressed by the ruler of the county, the Marquis of Ivrea for many years. If it weren't for his rich family and friends, Sapp would have changed the lord long ago. Therefore, no noble was willing to form a political marriage alliance with this noble who was suppressed everywhere. Those who are willing to establish a marriage relationship with Baron Galvin are nothing more than two types of people - those who are greedy for Galvin's family wealth or those who are also suppressed.
Lottie once vowed to marry a brave warrior. Now, she felt that the brave warrior appeared in her heart...
The baroness's personal maid came over from the banquet hall, patted Lottie's shoulder lightly and said, "Miss, Madam asked you to come and dine with her."
Lotti was so happy that she hurriedly lifted up her skirt and walked to the main table. The maid hurriedly followed and lifted up the floor-length skirt for Lottie.
Seeing Lottie coming over, Baron Galvin stood up, took his daughter and introduced Art: "Art, let me introduce, this is my baby daughter, called Lottie."
"Lottie, this is Mr. Art, the patrol officer of the southern border of the palace."
Lottie gently held up the hem of her skirt and curtsied to Art.
"Mr. Art, thank you for defeating the devil in the hills for my father. You are really a warrior." Lottie's sweet voice sounded, with a shy face but she couldn't help but glance at Art.
Matt has seen this beautiful girl. In an era when people generally get married at the age of fourteen or fifteen, it is rare for a noble girl who is not married at the age of nineteen to be married.
Art held his right chest with his left hand, raised his right hand slightly, bowed forward and nodded, "It is the greatest honor of my life to be praised by a naturally beautiful goddess like Miss Lottie."
Lottie was so sweet to the bottom of her heart by Art's compliments that she stood in front of Art and looked at him blankly, forgetting to return to her seat.
"Lottie, you should go and have dinner with your mother." Father Galvin reminded Lottie softly.
Lottie returned to her mother with a blushing face.
Throughout the banquet, a soft gaze was always staring at Art's not-so-charming face, which made Art feel a little embarrassed.
………
On the second day, when the sun was high in the sky, Art had just woken up from the guest room of Baron Galvin's mansion.
At last night's banquet, Baron Galvin and his knights frequently clinked glasses with Art, and Art kept bringing his men's baskazak back to the host of the banquet. He was already very drunk after going back and forth...
A servant had already brought a basin of water outside the door to help Art wash up.
Att opened the door and was startled by the servant standing at the door. He didn't understand why Baron Galvin was so polite to him. Even if he helped Baron Galvin eliminate the hill bandits and opened up the trade route, he still paid a high salary. There is no need to be so polite~~
Att took the tub from the servant and said, "You can Go back and thank your master for your enthusiasm."
The servant bowed deeply and said politely to Art: "Master Art, my master asked me to wait for you to wash up, and then invite you to attend the master's family dinner."
Att was completely confused. His friendship with Baron Galvin was not worthy of Galvin's treatment at the family banquet.
"Is your master receiving distinguished guests?" Art thought that he might just be invited by the way.
The servant shook his head, "Aside from the master, his wife, and the young lady, you are the only one who is participating."
With his mind full of doubts, Art returned to the room to wash up, and then asked the servant to go to the patrol camp to get himself a slightly cleaner uniform to change into.
Following the servant through the high porch and through the neat courtyard to the inner chamber of Lord Galvin's mansion, Art marveled at the wealth of the "merchant aristocrat" Baron Galvin, and at the same time thought about his purpose of hosting a family dinner to invite a commoner alone.
"Lord Art, please come in."
The servant opened the wooden door of the inner hall, and the Galvin family were already sitting around the long wooden table in the hall. On the wooden table were some honeyed bread, carrots with almond milk, buttered peas, raisin salad, onion cheese pie, and a glass of light beer and silverware in front of everyone.
Att entered the door with a confused look on his face under the guidance of the servant. The Galvin family stood up and signaled to Att, who quickly bowed slightly in return.
After sitting down, the Baroness said to Art with a kind face: "Mr. Art, you drank too much last night. In order to sober you up, we specially held a family dinner for you. The table is full of light food."
Art nodded politely to the Baroness: "Dear Madam, thank you. "Mother-like caring."
The Baroness smiled knowingly, turned to Baron Galvin beside her and said, "Dear, we can start."
Baron Galvin lowered his head and whispered softly: "Thank you, the Holy Lord, for giving us food, Amen"
"Amen"
At took a sip of light beer, always feeling strange in his heart, especially Miss Lottie who kept looking at him——
"Could it be? No way?"
At the last thought, Art never expected that the baron would invite him to discuss marriage.
"Art, I asked your soldiers, and I heard that you are not married yet, is that right?" Baron Galvin has a relatively straightforward character, and he proposed the purpose of the banquet without waiting for three rounds of drinks.
Matt was a little at a loss and replied: "Yes, I haven't married yet."
The Baroness was overjoyed and said, "I heard that you are twenty-two years old, so you should have a virtuous wife."
Lottie listened to her parents' words, even though she was usually outgoing, she lowered her head shyly.
Baron Galvin drank a large glass of wine, hesitated for a long time, and sighed: "To be honest, I would never have thought that one day I would marry my daughter to a commoner, but I believe you are not an ordinary commoner, and maybe Lottie's choice is the right one..."
………………………