The refugee settlement was not very far from the White Water River. After crossing the wasteland on the north bank of the White Water River, one would enter the mountain forest. The refugees hid in the mountain forest and relied on the scarce food in the mountain forest to survive.
The mountain forest was the product of the junction between the Tanzan Mine and the eastern hills. The undulating mountains slowed down the force of the wind, giving the seeds that rode the wind a chance to take root and germinate here, forming a sparse woodland scattered intermittently along the low hillside. And this woodland had an owner a long time ago.
A short-lived "Calg" family had briefly become the lords of the woodlands and the wasteland on the north bank of the Whitewater River, but a plague ended the family's rule hundreds of years ago. Now, nature had completely wiped out the evidence of the existence of human civilization. The collapsed castle of the Calg family lay quietly behind some hillside, and the forest and wilderness were too close to the Gloom Mountain Range, so no one was willing to care about them.
As long as any family along the Gloom Mountain Range was destroyed, everyone would unanimously believe that it was caused by the curse and chaotic magic from the wasteland of Gondor. Therefore, such ownerless lands were everywhere in the Southernmost Region. Although there was only a Tanzan Mine between here and the territory of Viscount Andrew Leslie, the viscount obviously did not think of sending his people across the huge Tanzan Mine to develop the land on the other side of the mountain.
Cecil's combat troops were wearing lightweight enchanted armor, equipped with the new heat ray guns and magic combat backpacks. According to their previous combat training, they carefully and quickly moved through the forest. They had been away from the territory for a day and a night. Not long ago, they had rested and eaten. Now, they were in excellent mental and physical condition, and the refugee's hiding place was not far away.
After entering the forest, it was difficult for the warhorse to move, so Gwen left the carriage and led the horse to walk with Knight Philip. Amber was hanging on the broad back of his "Krieg warhorse" and dozing off.
The reason why she was "hanging" was that the half-elf lady was really bad at riding. In order to prevent herself from falling off the horse, she used several belts and buckles to fasten herself to the saddle. Anyway, in an emergency, she could roll into the shadows at any time, and she was not afraid of being tied up and affecting her escape.
A guy with elven blood couldn't even communicate with a horse. He was indeed a disgrace to the elves.
"We're almost there," Knight Philip said, looking ahead. "In fact, there are many refugee settlements in this area, but they're all hidden in places that are extremely difficult to find. But as long as we can find one, it'll be easy to contact the others."
Gwen nodded slightly, but his brows furrowed slightly. "Actually, I feel that the situation this time is a little strange."
"Strange?" Knight Philip didn't quite understand. "How is it strange?"
"Few people will catch slaves on a large scale after the Moon of Frost because the temperature will drop after the Moon of Frost, and farming will stop. Not much labor is needed, but most people will go into a state of food consumption. In this case, not only can the slaves not work, but they also need to feed them with food." Gwen shook his head. "Unless it's a mine that is not affected by the seasons, there is a need for slave labor all year round. But the largest mine in this area is the Tanzam Mine, and Viscount Andrew has no intention of increasing slave labor recently. And he seems to be disdainful of capturing refugees as slaves."
"God knows who paid those mercenaries," Knight Philip said. "Maybe they want to sell them to the central region, where there are many mines and merchants. And the price of slaves in the central region is high. Many people will take the risk to buy 'private slaves'."
Gwen did not comment. Soon, a thin smell of blood drifted into his nostrils.
"Stop!" He immediately waved his hand, and the captain of each squad stopped their troops in a low voice. Everyone was on guard.
Even Amber, who was so sleepy on horseback, instantly felt the change in atmosphere (this alertness was befitting of her bloodline, although it seemed like she was scared out of her wits). She opened her eyes with a whoosh, and her entire body turned into a shadow as she darted to Gawain's side. "There's the smell of blood in front!"
"Holy Light above!" Wright, the chaplain, immediately drew a holy mark on his chest. "Someone is bleeding to death."
Under the leadership of Gwen, the soldiers quickly crossed the woods and bushes, and the situation of the refugee settlement was presented before them.
The mercenaries had already made their move.
The settlement was surrounded by a tattered wooden fence and brambles, but it was obviously unable to stop the wild beasts wielding swords. Between a few dilapidated tents, there was a large open space. Eighty to ninety ragged and haggard looking refugees were herded to gather in the open space, while twenty fully armed mercenaries were divided into two groups. Half of them guarded the perimeter of the camp, while the other half unsheathed their swords and pointed at the refugees who had gathered. A man wearing a black half-body armor was walking back and forth in front of these pitiful people who were about to become slaves, constantly shouting and cursing loudly.
In the open space around them, there were seven or eight corpses lying on the ground. All of them were hacked to death. Obviously, when the mercenaries first attacked the camp, some of them put up a brief resistance, but this resistance was quickly destroyed. The corpses that were chopped into pieces on the spot effectively prevented the situation from spiraling out of control.
"Their equipment is really good," Gwen analyzed as he looked. "And half of them are mixed with the civilians. Once the battle starts, they are likely to use the civilians as hostages …"
"Hostages? You're thinking too much. " Amber glanced at Gwen. "Those are refugees who are treated like livestock by the nobles and the mercenaries. The nobles and the nobles' army never care about their lives. Those mercenaries must think the same of us, so they won't use them as hostages. But at the critical moment, it's possible to use them as shields … But as long as we can find a way to make a big move and catch them off guard, the refugees will immediately run away, and the situation will be out of the hands of the mercenaries. Now is a good time to take advantage of the fact that the hands and feet of the refugees are not tied up. "
Looking at the half-elf lady's logical analysis, Gwen could not help but be stunned. He then realized that he was indeed influenced by his experience on Earth.
Hostages … Hostages were only useful when people were treated like humans. But here, there would never be a scene where a villain threatened a noble with a knife on the neck of a "pariah" and shouted, "If you come any closer, I'll kill you."
Because the "normal" nobles would not hesitate to kill the "pariah" and the bandits together.
Thinking of this, Gwen sighed and then took out two crystal grenades. "Then let's make a big move."
…
The unknown mercenaries attacked the camp, and the few who instinctively chose to resist were almost instantly dismembered.
Cries and screams swept through the entire settlement in an instant, and then subsided in a very short time. The people were driven out of the tents and haystacks by the sword-wielding bandits like livestock and gathered in the open space in the center of the camp.
As refugees, even the last bundle of straw in their arms would be robbed. Therefore, the people in the camp were no strangers to bandits. However, when they saw the clothes and aura of these people, they realized that these people were even more terrible than bandits. They were mercenaries, mercenaries who were paid to do so.
Red Nose Tom's sister, the black-haired and black-eyed girl, "Joan," hid in the crowd, carefully averting her eyes to avoid making eye contact with those vicious people. She held her injured right arm with her left hand and endured the pain of dirt seeping into the wound on her face. As soon as the bandits broke into the camp, she smeared her face with charcoal mixed with mud. This was soon seen by the leader of the group of mercenaries. He laughed and praised her for being a smart girl, and then he almost cracked half of her face with a whip.
He laughed as he whipped her face. This way, her "makeup" would be permanently fixed on her face.
Blood was dripping on the ground mixed with mud, but Joan was relieved because the leader of the mercenaries was cursing in exasperation.
"You pariahs! You filthy mud! Bitches and bastards who only deserve to sleep in the stinking gutters! Where is that cripple?! I know one of you ran away! I know one of you ran away! Damn it! Eight of you have just died. Do you know how much money I have lost?! Where the hell did you hide that cripple?! "
Tom had long left in search of mushrooms and edible moss in a new direction, avoiding the sight of these mercenaries. When he came back, he would definitely notice the abnormality in the camp and run away.
Thinking of this, Joan secretly raised her eyes and glanced at the mercenary leader in armor with a silver longsword hanging from his waist. She knew that someone would soon reveal that she was Tom's sister, and she had already prepared herself for that. She knew that if she died, these long-legged beasts would suffer a greater loss. She knew that these refugees, including herself, could bring a lot of money to these mercenaries, and every time one of them died, the mercenaries would be more furious.
Most of the time, this was the greatest resistance that the "pariahs" could make in the face of nobles and their minions.
But just as these thoughts popped up in Joan's mind, a strange sound suddenly came from not far away. Her extremely sensitive ears, which had been trained by years of hunting, fell into the ears of Joan.
It seemed that there were two stones, one in front of the other, falling dozens of meters away.
Before she could figure out what the "stones" were, she heard two thunderous sounds coming from behind the mercenaries.
This thunderous sound was unfamiliar to everyone. Even when they were pointed at by swords, the refugees who were chased to the open space jumped up in fright. They desperately ran towards the camp, away from the direction of the explosion. On the other hand, the mercenaries who had experienced the bloodbath of swords were much calmer. Although they were also shocked, the first thing that came to their minds was – an enemy attack! Fight!
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