"Sergeant Major, Doctor Thomas has already seen him. There is nothing serious, he just fainted from exhaustion."
Odo, wearing a long cotton robe, exhaled and walked into a charcoal-burning commander's barracks in Beiguan Army Fort, and said to Angus, who was writing an urgent letter with a quill under the candle.
"How long do you think they have been running continuously? Two of the four horses have already burst their lungs from running, and the other two are also driven too much and it will take a month or two to barely recover."
Ron and Alon got the horses with the help of the Ennan goods store in Luces and then headed south day and night. The two of them basically didn't sleep in the past two days. Except for eating bread to satisfy their hunger and drinking and feeding the horses, they spent almost all their time riding horses or walking. When they finally arrived at Jushi Town and saw the patrol team, the two men finally couldn't hold on anymore and fell off their horses and fainted. The patrol team people were worried about an accident, so they sent someone to send the two people back to Beiguan Army Fort overnight.
"But it's good that the people are fine. They had already fainted when they were sent back. I don't know if something happened to them as they rushed back so desperately~" It was a little hot in the room, so Odo took off his cotton robe and put it on the armchair.
Matt has been away from the valley for more than a month. After completing the mission in Thorne City, he took people to the capital of the Kingdom of France, thousands of miles away. Now that Ron, the captain of Art's personal guard, suddenly returned, the two of them were really unsure.
It just so happened that Ron didn't carry anything like a secret message with him, so Odo and Angus didn't even have an accurate message.
We have no rivals in Paris, and they should be in no danger. I guess Ron and the others must have come back victorious.
"I hope so~" Odo drew the Holy Cross on his chest.
"Sergeant major, what are you writing?" Odo asked in confusion when he saw that Angus' writing had already filled a piece of parchment.
“A warning letter about banditry to Tyniec and the Palace Minister of Security. Recently, a large number of bandits have appeared in the southern border of Tyniec, looting everywhere. The county people have asked the patrol team for help. Some people claim that these bandits are disguised as the private army of the Dean family... .."
Odo glanced at the text written by Angus, "But my lord is not there yet~"
"Brother Odo, Ron has come back, he must have brought your lord's Military order."
Odo thought for a moment and nodded in agreement, "After you write it, I will immediately send someone back to the wooden castle to ask the old steward to stamp it with your coat of arms. Once Ron wakes up and confirms it, we will send it out immediately. I just don't know if Redoan is ready~"
Angus picked up the rough papyrus and gently blew the ink on the writing, "Don't worry, Redoan has been preparing for more than a month..."
Odo and Angus were still discussing in a low voice in the barracks. The sentry on duty knocked on the door and said, "Two adults, Chief Ron is awake. He is anxious to see the two adults, but he can't walk." Upon hearing this, Odo and Angus immediately put on thick clothes and ran out of the door towards the barracks of the medical team.
Walking into the medical team barracks, Aaron was still in a coma, but Ron was holding a large bowl of warm soup and wheat paste and pouring it into his mouth.
Seeing Odo and Angus come in, Ron quickly put the wooden bowl in his hand on the small table nearby, and said to several guards in the barracks: "You guys go down first, we are fine."
After the medical soldiers left, Ron tried to get out of bed, but his legs were sore and painful, and he could no longer get up.
Odo and Angus stepped forward to stop Ron.
“Ron, does your lord have any secret orders?” Angus went straight to the point.
Ron nodded and said seriously: "Master's military order!"
Odo and Angus stood up straight instinctively.
"Order, Odo and Angus, the two legionary adjutants, will immediately take over the Wells Legion and all the weapons under their command, and the barony will prepare for war. Time is life, Odo and Angus quickly started all actions as planned." Ron conveyed Art's military order word for word, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yes! Obey your lord's military orders." Odo and Angus said in unison.
"Brother Ron, how are they doing, sir?" Odo walked to the wooden bed and handed the bowl of clear soup and wheat paste to Ron.
Ron took the wooden bowl and poured the remaining wheat paste in the bowl into his mouth. He replied: "Brother Otto, Sergeant Major, don't worry, everything is going well with the master. He asked me to rush home quickly, just to kill the Dean family before the Inquisition arrives at Besançon. Count Baldwin has agreed to the master's plan."
While heading south through Tyniec, Eagle Eye collected the recent actions of the Dean family. Apparently they were already prepared. Old Dean was hurriedly selling off the family business that had been in business for many years. They sent a large amount of money to Besançon. It must have been that they wanted to use their lifetime wealth to exchange for the lives of Dean and his son. "
Angus nodded, "Ledoan also sent back a secret message saying that a group of powerful bandits recently ran to neighboring counties and robbed everywhere. There are rumors that it was the Dean family's private army in disguise. They were also crazy about money and wanted to commit crimes. They ran to the neighboring county to plunder with great fanfare. "
"Sergeant, we started taking action immediately. I sent someone to take your two warning letters back to the wooden castle to have them stamped overnight, and sent someone to the county early tomorrow morning. City and Besançon. You also immediately ordered Redoan to start taking action."
Angus clenched his fist and waved it hard a few times, and said excitedly: "Finally, FMD is going to cut off this piece of rotten flesh!"
"Brother Otto, I will go to Redoan to personally direct their actions tomorrow morning. You should also seize the time to prepare the Wells Army for war."
"Okay!"
…..
It is January in the dead of winter, and the weather is cold.
The snowflakes that lasted for several days finally stopped. The snow all over the mountains and plains began to melt little by little under the cold and scorching sun of winter. The roads that were originally hidden in a vast white plain also reappeared little by little.
A village half a day's walk east of Tyniec County is filled with smoke. In the main hall of a house in the center of the village, the old country squire (rich farmer) Juan, wrapped in a fur coat and lying on a lounge chair with an exquisite silver wine glass, is sipping expensive Bordeaux wine. The old country squire's rat-tailed beard is trembling with sips of wine, and he is very comfortable.
This village is one of the few villages directly under the jurisdiction of Tyniec County, and the acting lord is the county governor, Viscount Pierre. If there is no lord or elder (village chief) in the village, he is the king. This old squire with a rat tail beard is the elder of the village.
The old squire's father was one of the earliest participants in the "New Reclamation Movement" in Tyniec County. Two generations of father and son worked hard for decades in exchange for nearly a hundred acres of fertile land. Even with the most extensive and lazy farming methods, these lands can support more than a dozen civilian families.
There is a middle-aged maid and two serfs in the house. There are eight farmhands in the village who rent their land. The old squire also has a windmill in the village. His eldest son also runs a bakery in Tyniec County. This wealthy squire family can earn 8,000 pfennigs a year after excluding the taxes paid to the palace lord and the church. This income is enough for ten urban households, and if it is placed in the countryside, it is enough for twenty or thirty rural households for a year.
With this substantial family background, the old country squire can live comfortably and comfortably every year in the cold winter.
But the old squire is destined to be sad this winter.
The old squire finished the remaining wine at the bottom of the glass and was picking up the bottle for a refill. Suddenly, there was a bang in the front yard, the door of the yard was knocked open, and a dozen rough men with knives, axes, spears, swords, and dressed in various clothes with ferocious faces broke into the yard.
The man with unkempt hair and rotten teeth kicked over the serf who was blocking the courtyard, put the broadaxe against the serf's head, and said viciously: "Be honest, don't force me, I will chop off your head!"
One of the bandits who was the first to rush into the courtyard ran out of the main hall and said to the leader: "Chief Rigg, Mr. Juan is here."
The vicious leader raised his ax and stepped over the serfs. He walked into the main hall and shouted at the motionless old squire who was slumped on the couch: "Master Juan, on behalf of the Dean family, I come to you to borrow some money..."
Half a day later, a group of bandits walked out of the house holding a money box and leading two two-wheeled ox carts. Some of the bandits who were driving pigs and sheep also had a few old hens with flapping wings tied to their waists.
This trip was quite fruitful. The "Dean family" "borrowed" seventeen thousand pfennigs from the old squire Juan's house, as well as two carts full of grain, cloth, coarse salt, silverware and other supplies.
The leader of the team, Rigg, rode the green mule "borrowed" from the old squire's house at the front. The green mule couldn't run without a saddle and reins, so Rigg just did it for fun. He let the green mule under him move forward slowly, and he just tore and chewed the undercooked old hen in his hand, and the oil dripped all over his mouth.
Suddenly a rider rushed into the village, ran up to him, reined in the reins, and reported urgently: "Chief Rigg, our brothers encountered resistance in Bura Village. The chief ordered you to take the guys to quickly rush to Bura Village to gather and attack!" After the rider gave the order, he turned his horse's head and left. He had to go to the next village to convey the order to assemble.
"TMD, there are really some who are not afraid of death. Leave three of the guys to escort the goods, and the rest will follow me to support the chief." Rigg threw the old hen to the ground, jumped off the back of the mule, pulled out the broadaxe on his back, and led five or six bandits in a hurry towards the village of Bulla...
.
In the official room of the Lord's Hall in Tyniec County, Jerry, the captain of the inner knight guard, rushed into the room with two banditry warning letters, "Sir, two more villages have been robbed by bandits, still under the banner of the Dean family..."
Viscount Pierre, the county governor, has a large number of such banditry warning letters on his official desk, and all of them mention the Dean family.
This period is supposed to be the quietest time of the year. After all, large groups of bandits also need to avoid the cold and survive the winter, and small groups of scattered bandits cannot cause major bandit troubles.
But this winter is really like a devil, and the banditry that had been subsided for a long time suddenly broke out intensively. Within two days, seven villages and four manors in Tyniec County were robbed by bandits. Moreover, these bandits seemed to have agreed in advance to specifically target the rich lords in the villages and manors. As soon as they entered the village, they shouted, "Only the rich, don't disturb the poor." As a result, when the bandits entered the village, no one except the rich lords resisted.
Those lords and wealthy households with a slightly better attitude were relatively lucky. The thieves robbed their valuable belongings and left in a big way. The few who dared to take up arms to resist were unlucky. The thieves who originally entered the village were unlucky. There are usually only seven or eight bandits. If there is resistance, dozens of people will gather in a moment. They will tear down walls, break down doors, kill people, and set fires. They will not only loot the houses of the rich lords, but also force the common people in the village to enter the rich houses and steal all the belongings...
Pierre took the letter from Jerry and threw it on the table without even looking at it. He raised his head and asked, "Do you believe it was someone from the Dean family who did it?"
Jerry shook his head, "The Dean family would not be so stupid, and our informant said that the "savages" of the Dean family have been in neighboring counties recently, and they don't always poop in front of the house. "
"However, our disbelief does not mean that the lords and wealthy households in the county do not believe it. The reputation of the Dean family has not been very good in recent years. In addition, the private army they recently supported often sneaks around the county and oppresses the civilians. The people in the county are already very disgusted with the Dean family. "
Jerry said to himself: "But to be able to suddenly attack so many villages in just two days, the origins of these bandits must not be simple, and there must be someone behind them."
Pierre sneered, took out a letter from the official desk, and threw it to Jerry, "Look at this, there is an answer."
Jerry took the letter and read it again, and said: "My lord, this is from the patrol officer Baron Art. "This letter was sent this morning, and the person who sent it has already gone to Besançon." Viscount Pierre added.
"Huh? Is there any problem with this?" Jerry put down the letter and still didn't understand.
Pierre rolled his eyes at him and reminded: "The nearest sentry post of the patrol is in the town of Boulder in the southern wilderness. From the attacked village to the patrol, the patrol will report to the patrol officer. The patrol officer will then write a letter and report to the county. It will take at least two days, right? And this letter was delivered this morning, only a day and a half after the first village was robbed."
"The letter mentioned Sauron, More than ten villages and estates including Bura were attacked by the bandits of the Dean family. When they wrote this letter, Bura had not been bandited yet~"
"And you see, in the whole of Tyniec, apart from the county town and Dean's house, there are only two places where there are no bandit warnings - Sapp and Andermatt. One of these two places is the territory of his father-in-law, and the other is the territory of his friend..."
Pierre did not continue.
Jerry thought about it for a while and exclaimed: "Sir, you mean ~"
"I didn't say anything, so don't make random guesses." Pierre interrupted Jerry.
"Then should we send someone to have a look?"
"Send! We must send, since the one in the south likes to perform, we will accompany the performance. You send a few soldiers from the county and city garrison to visit some villages and manors that have been attacked by bandits. At least it means that we are not just taking food and salary and not doing anything."
"Yes!" Jerry left the office heavily.
With no one in the room, Pierre once again picked up the warning letter stamped with the heraldry seal of the Border Baron on the table, and said to himself: "The demons fight, and the mortals suffer..."