The fish soup was very delicious, and the fried fish was also delicious. Viscount Timba and Carrick finished the pot of soup.
Loriste began to throw the remaining fish into the stone pot to cook a second pot, and then went to pick a lot of wild vegetables and mushrooms.
Viscount Timba was puzzled: "Why are we still cooking when we are already full?"
Loriste pointed to the slave called Slave Han and the old man called Slave Mute.
Carrick disagreed: "They are slaves, so we don't need to give them food. We can just give them the remaining fish heads … "
Tagger smiled and shook his head: "Carrick, we are now on the run, not going on an outing in the wild. Taking care of everyone in the team is the key to ensuring our own safety. Look at that Slave Han. To put it bluntly, he is Lord Viscount's mount. Even if it is a horse, we have to feed and drink it so that it doesn't add to our troubles on the road. If we don't let him eat his fill and he doesn't have the strength to carry Lord Viscount, we don't know when we will be able to get out of danger … "
Viscount Timba nodded: "Tagger is right, these two slaves are lucky to be able to eat the same food as us."
Since they had to wait for the two slaves to eat their fill before setting off, Tagger found the bag of fried flour that was nominally on Knight Oz's body, but was actually stuffed by Loriste to frame them, and baked it into small cakes as dry rations on the road. It was already afternoon when everything was packed and set off again.
No one thought that Knight Oz, who was moaning in pain and crying for help, was the same thing. It was as if they didn't see it. His hands and feet were broken and his clothes were stripped off by Loriste. The former Gold Knight had become a cripple and could only lie there waiting for death …
Before setting off, Loriste stopped Viscount Timba from riding on the shoulder of the slave called Slave Han. He didn't say anything and just made some gestures. Viscount Timba was very puzzled and asked Tagger: "What does he want to do?"
Tagger said: "Lord Viscount, Locke thinks it is inappropriate for you to ride on the shoulder of this slave. It is too conspicuous, and it is easy to be discovered and become the enemy's first target. He thinks it is better to carry you …"
Viscount Timba said: "Then why didn't he speak?"
Tagger replied: "Lord Viscount, Locke has always been a man of few words and doesn't like to talk."
On the other side, Laurist had already torn the clothes off Knight Oz's body into strips and weaved them into a basket that looked like a soft bag. He brought it over and gestured for Viscount Timba to lie on Slave Han's back. Then, he used the soft bag to tie him and Slave Han together.
Viscount Timba was very satisfied with the soft pouch. He asked Tagger if he could give him the guard named Locke. He was willing to pay a high price.
Tagger shook his head. "Lord Viscount, Locke is not a slave, and he is not my guard. He was an elite force that the Chamber of Commerce had painstakingly cultivated for more than ten years. He only listened to the President's orders. Even though he was with me and obeying my orders, he could still decide whether or not to run away when there was real danger. For the Chamber of Commerce, they would rather lose me than sacrifice him. For a Chamber of Commerce like him, they would spend a lot of money to train him into a Great Sword Master, so that he could become the pillar of the Chamber of Commerce's military force in the future. "
"Oh, then how did they train them?" Viscount Timba was very interested in this topic.
"Lord Viscount, it's not just our Peterson Chamber of Commerce. The seven major Chambers of Commerce of the Commerce Alliance are the same. They adopt young orphans and train them to learn literature or martial arts according to their talents. When they grow up, they will become the backbone of the Chamber of Commerce. A guard like Locke is already considered one in a thousand. By the time they advance to the Gold rank or become a master swordsman, the chamber of commerce will have spent at least tens of thousands of gold coins on them, "Tagger replied.
"Why don't you hire those Great Sword Masters from the outside, but you have to train them yourself?" Viscount Timba was very puzzled.
"Lord Viscount, we also hire Great Sword Masters from the outside, but there are very few situations like this, unless we know them very well." Tagger pondered for a moment and said, "Our Chamber of Commerce is different from you nobles. Because we want to do business, we need to keep it a secret. If they are not trained by our own Chamber of Commerce, it is very difficult for us to trust their loyalty. If trade secrets were to be leaked, it would easily cause a great loss to our business. "
"I see." Viscount Timba nodded in agreement. "Indeed, it is also very troublesome to hire Great Sword Masters from the outside. The Great Sword Master I hired with a large sum of money only knows how to ask for money and treatment, and he even gives me a bad attitude when I ask him to do things. When it comes to the actual battle, he is useless. Five people went, and none of them came back … "
While Viscount Timba was complaining, Tagger asked Carrick in a low voice and soon found out the whole story.
It turned out that when Laurist disembarked, the second-level Great Sword Master that Viscount Timba hired brought four Gold Knights and three hundred slave hunters under the viscount to participate in the anti-disembarkation battle. In the end, the entire army was annihilated, and not even a single messenger came back. As a result, Lord Viscount had no high-end combat guards by his side, and only took two slaves to escape.
Laurist, who was following behind, wanted to laugh as he listened. It turned out that the second-level Great Sword Master that he met when disembarkation, who was having fun fighting with Ingelek, was sent by this Viscount Timba. In the end, when the second-level Great Sword Master was escaping, he was shot by a steel crossbow and died like a rabbit that had been shot by an arrow.
Viscount Timba began to be interested in the Chamber of Commerce's plan to adopt orphans and train them into talents that Tagger had mentioned. He very much hoped that his family could also train a group of useful and loyal talents like the Chamber of Commerce. As for orphans, he did not need to collect them; he could just use the family's domestic slaves.
Domestic slaves? Tagger still did not understand what this was. Next to him, Carrick explained. It turned out that domestic slaves were small slaves born from the pairing of male and female slaves. Some were even illegitimate children born from female slaves who were raped. Because these small slaves were born as slaves, they did not have the freedom and rebellious spirit of the captured slaves. They easily obeyed and recognized their slave status.
For example, the old mute slave was a second-generation domestic slave, and the slave, the Han slave, was a third-generation domestic slave. His parents were the same as the old mute slave, second-generation domestic slaves. In the original slave market of Nubit Port, the price of domestic slaves was about twice as high as slaves captured from outside.
Viscount Timba's idea of training domestic slaves into talents was very good, but Carrick also pointed out an oversight of the Viscount. In the Haneabada Kingdom, slaves were not allowed to carry weapons. They could learn to awaken qi, but they were not allowed to carry weapons because that would pose a threat to their masters.
Tagger, Viscount Timba, and Carrick chatted happily as they walked and talked about all sorts of things. Laurist obtained a lot of information about the Haneabada Kingdom and the Hamidas Royal City. For example, the current King of the Haneabada Kingdom, Luther III, was a 1-star Gold Knight, and the three Great Swordsmen consecrated by the royal family were a lot higher than the Great Swordsmen hired by the nobles.
For dinner, they ate four hares and three pheasants that Laurist had caught. Their mouths were covered in grease.
According to the description of Viscount Timba and Carrick, they were now at the edge of the hills. After walking for another morning, they would cross two hills and arrive at the Royal City Plain. Viscount Timba said that he had hunted in this area with his brother-in-law, Luther III, and could roughly remember the terrain. After walking for another half a day, they would arrive at a royal manor. At that time, they could ride a carriage or ride a horse back to the Hamidas Royal City.
The morning of the second day was still very smooth. They quickly crossed two small hills and arrived at the edge of the hilly area and the Royal City Plains. Then, they walked for another afternoon. After crossing a large wheat field, they saw a manor in the distance.
Viscount Timba kept urging and cursing the burly slave called Slave Han who was carrying him on his back, telling him to move faster. Although Viscount Timba was being carried by Slave Han, he felt that he had traveled a long distance and was extremely tired. At this moment, what he hoped for the most was good wine, delicious food, and a big soft bed so that he could have a good night's rest.
Laurist, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped. He listened attentively, turned around, and made a few gestures. Then, he bent down and hid himself in the wheat field that was half the height of a person, and soon disappeared.
Tagger grabbed Viscount Timba's clothes and softly scolded Slave Han to also squat down.
"Don't go. Locke said that there is something wrong with the manor in front. He will go and investigate it first."
Carrick said suspiciously, "I think it's very normal. What's wrong? Are you being paranoid?"
Viscount Timba also said, "If we go earlier, we can still catch a sumptuous dinner, take a hot bath, and have a good sleep. Tomorrow, we will take the carriage and arrive at the Royal City at noon. Don't mess around now, okay …"
Tagger said seriously, "Viscount Timba, Carrick, I believe in Locke. He has an innate vigilance towards danger. Just now, he said that the wheat has matured, but we haven't seen a single harvesting slave along the way. This is very abnormal … "
Carrick's expression also changed when he thought about it. "Yes, Sir, if everything is normal, we should have seen those harvesting slaves along the way. Now that we haven't seen a single person, it is very likely that something has happened in the manor in front. Have you forgotten that the enemy has cavalry? I suspect that they have already entered the Royal City Plain. Could the manor in front have already been occupied by the enemy and are waiting for us to walk into a trap? "
Viscount Timba was also afraid. The five of them hid behind a mound, anxiously waiting for Laurist's arrival.
Laurist returned after more than an hour. He made some gestures with Tagger and said a few words very briefly. Viscount Timba and Carrick heard it very clearly, and their hearts turned cold. Because Lollister was talking about cavalry, hanging, rioting …
Sure enough, Tagger said, "Viscount Timba, Carrick, I think we are in trouble. Just now, Locke went to investigate the manor in front. He said that there are more than ten cavalry there. Looking at their equipment, they are our enemy, the light cavalry scouts of the Norton Family. There are many gallows erected in the manor, and the people hanging on them are probably the manor's stewards and slave overseers. This is not the worst thing. The worst thing is that the slaves have rioted. They are holding iron forks and weapons, saying that they are going to besiege the Hamidas Royal City … "
Viscount Timba's face turned pale. "Then can we still go back to the Royal City?"
Tagger said, "Don't panic, Viscount Timba. Locke said that the people in the manor are making preparations. I heard that they are going to other manors to join the slaves there, so they shouldn't be besieging the Royal City right away. We will wait here until it gets dark. At that time, the people in the manor won't be able to find us, and we can rush to the Royal City overnight. This way, we can arrive at noon tomorrow … "
On the side, Carrick also said hatefully, "Yes, Viscount Timba, we will wait here patiently until it gets dark. When we arrive at the Royal City tomorrow, we will report to His Majesty the King that there is a riot in the manor. His Majesty the King will naturally dispatch his army to kill all these ungrateful slaves, so that those who come later will be warned!"
With the comfort of Tagger and Carrick, Viscount Timba finally calmed down. Then, the six of them rested behind the mound for an hour, and the sky began to darken. Only then did the group of people get up and secretly bypass the Royal Manor, which was bustling with noise and laughter, and flee into the distance.
After walking for more than four hours without stopping, everyone stopped by a small river to rest for a while.
Carrick said, "Viscount Timba, I remember that there is also a Royal Manor along this small river. Why don't we go there and take a look?"
But Viscount Timba was already frightened, so he shook his head and said no. The manor here was very close to the manor where the slaves were rioting. It was only about an hour's ride on horseback. It was very likely that the slaves here were also incited to riot. Viscount Timba didn't want to become one of those unlucky people who were hanged on the gallows.
Tagger asked, "Viscount Timba, are there many Royal Manor in this plain?"
Carrick answered on behalf of Viscount Timba. It turned out that this plain had no name. Later, because the Royal City was located, it was called the Royal City Plain. When the Haneabada Kingdom had just been founded, because the pirates did not produce, there was a wide range of riots, and they barely survived by fishing. Therefore, at that time, the biggest purpose of the pirates to attack the Golden Coastline was to plunder food. However, the coastal countries were prepared and fortified their defenses, making the price of food for the pirates higher and higher, to the point where the losses outweighed the gains.
When the second king of the Haneabada Kingdom, Luther I, came to power, he no longer plundered the coastal countries. He obtained an understanding and opened up trade routes, which solved the food shortage dilemma. Then, Luther I vigorously developed the Royal City Plain and built dozens of Royal Manor farms in this plain, turning the Royal City Plain into the granary of the Haneabada Kingdom, which could basically meet the grain needs of the kingdom.
Now, there were 120,000 to 30,000 slaves on this plain responsible for the development of the various Royal Manor farms. If they were all incited by the Norton Family to riot, the consequences would be unimaginable. Both Carrick and Viscount Timba were worried.
After resting for another half an hour, everyone continued on their way. By the time the sky was bright, everyone was exhausted.
At this time, the hazy shadow of a manor appeared in front of them. Laurist went to investigate, and when he came back, he said that the manor looked very normal. The slaves were already preparing to harvest the wheat in the fields under the supervision of the overseers.
Viscount Timba and Carrick were overjoyed and hurried to the manor. When they arrived at the manor, the group received very warm and thoughtful service and reception. After all, Viscount Timba was the brother of the most favored concubine, a veritable relative of the Royal Family. Just like the manor manager said, it was an honor for Viscount Timba to come, even though Viscount Timba and his group looked so embarrassed …
Viscount Timba was not in the mood to accept the hospitality of the manager. He hurriedly ordered the carriage to be prepared for him. He was about to leave the manor immediately, for fear that he would be surrounded by the Norton Family cavalry and the rioting slaves if he delayed for too long. It was not until they left that Carrick reminded the hospitable manager to tell him about the Riot Manor, so that he could prepare in advance.
When the carriage left, the manor had already rung an alarm bell, informing the slaves who had gone to work in the wheat fields to return to the manor.
The sky was already bright, and they would reach the Hamidas Kingdom in about an hour. The carriage turned onto the main road, and they did not have to worry about the enemy's pursuit anymore. After traveling for half an hour, the horn sounded in front of them. The coachman stopped the carriage on a mound by the roadside and gave way to the main road.
In front of them, banners fluttered, and a khaki army wriggled like a long snake from a huge castle in the distance. At the front were nearly a hundred knights on horseback …
Carrick raised his arms and cheered, "That's the King's City! That's the Royal Guards of our King! They have set off! Long live the King! Our Royal Guards! Long live the King! Our Majesty the King! "
…
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