Chapter 396: The Path of the Small Soldier
“Swoosh!”
A feather arrow flew past Zhang Yang, but he didn't look back. He just lowered his body as much as possible and steered his horse to gallop.
He was discovered not long after he had been riding his prairie hunter horse, because he had not escaped far from the battlefield at the beginning.
The north-south ditch was less than three hundred meters long, which was why he encountered the Jatu nomad.
The enemy just wanted to make a circle to intercept the fleeing soldiers in front, but ended up running into the unlucky Zhang Yang.
Now, two Jatu attackers abandoned the fleeing soldiers and were gaining ground.
Perhaps the only thing to be thankful for is that three Jatu Lancers were madly chasing the knight's squire named Ron. As for the other one, he should be dead, and then a Jatu Lancer also died. This is the cruelty of a face-to-face lance confrontation.
“Whoosh!”
Another feather arrow shot towards him, only a dozen centimeters away, which meant that the other party was getting closer and closer.
But Zhang Yang was not worried at all, because he could see the city wall of Payne town in front of him and could faintly hear the sound of horns.
He turned his horse to the left and rushed into a lush green wheat field in order to avoid the three Jatu Lancers in front of him. Zhang Yang did not spare the horsepower and galloped madly. His life and death depended on these two minutes.
Sure enough, in less than half a minute, the three Jatu Lancers gave up the pursuit and turned around. These Jatu teams came and went like the wind and were extremely alert. If they saw anything wrong, they would immediately flee far away, so even the regular army had a headache.
Zhang Yang ran out of the wheat field and stopped by the side of the road. He could see dust flying in the direction of the town of Payne and at least dozens of cavalrymen rushing out.
Now, it was his turn to make a choice, to turn around and run away and become a rogue knight. Well, yes, he now had a horse, a man and a sword, and those caravans were willing to hire him. He could earn a few hundred dinars for each trip, and he could live a life of luxury in the town of Payne for a while, if he hadn't died in battle.
The other option was to continue to join Baron Charles' army. The horse and scimitar would still have a great chance of becoming his trophies, and then he would fight for the king, but the chance of dying in battle would be greater because the enemy would be the more brutal Dashar people.
It only took Zhang Yang one second to make the decision. He came here to fight, because only through fighting could he gain experience, grow, and eventually leave here.
I can't possibly marry, have children, and settle down in this world.
“Boom!”
The knight in distinctive armor rushed over, shaking the earth. Zhang Yang got off his horse and hid aside. He thought he would be questioned, but he was not.
Those proud Sarleon Knights, led by two Lion Knights, rushed forward with all their might. Although they were destined not to catch up with the Jatu squad, they should be able to rescue some of the defeated soldiers.
"You're great, my name is Ron, what's your name?"
After swallowing a mouthful of dust, I saw a rider stopped. It was the squire of the Sarion knight who almost died.
It must be mentioned that the Sarleon Knight Squires are already nobles, although they are the lowest level of nobles without even the right of inheritance, but they can be upgraded to Sarleon Knights. As long as they have made military achievements, they can basically obtain the fiefdom of a small village.
If they can continue to make meritorious contributions, they can be selected to join the more glorious Order of the Lion, which is the direct line of King Ulrich.
If you want to go one step further and upgrade to the most powerful Punishment Knight in the entire continent, well, that is basically impossible.
"My Lord, my name is Theo, a new soldier from Hadley Village."
Zhang Yang saluted respectfully, glancing at the opponent's chain mail and the lance that had disappeared. This was enough for him to determine the truth of the matter, that is, the Gatu lancer was killed by Ron in front of him.
After all, only powerful knights could wield a solid lance, while squires like them basically used hollow lances that would break at the slightest touch.
Therefore, this proves from the side that this is a very promising knight squire.
"You killed a Jatu nomad? Well done, very good. I will record your merit, but now, Theo, the new recruit from Hadley Village, I want you to go to Payne Town to rest immediately. You must report to me at the recruit camp before this evening."
After saying that, Ron blinked happily, and the meaning of his words was very clear.
"Yes, sir."
Zhang Yang bowed and said that he could now go to the town of Payne to sell the spoils.
Twenty minutes later, he arrived at the gate of the town of Payne. It was originally a knight's fortress. Baron Charles' grandfather was a Lion Knight. He built the fortress and gradually developed the surrounding area, eventually forming today's town.
The city wall is not high and is built with logs. There are simple arrow towers and lookout posts on it. You can also see a few soldiers with bows and arrows talking and laughing.
The city gate was also made of wood, very primitive. Two soldiers holding spears were standing guard, but they had no intention of checking. Some men and women with dark complexions and tattered clothes kept coming in and out. Some of them were leading two sheep, or a piglet, or driving a few ducks.
They are to be released to eat grass, and there is absolutely no way they can be fed with food.
Zhang Yang walked in, leading the horse. In front of him was a muddy street that emitted a foul odor. Mixed with the aroma of baked bread on the corner, it was very dreamy.
In a house facing the street, the attic window was open. A middle-aged prostitute who had just woken up was gargling her mouth expressionlessly, gurgling, puffing, bringing with her a burst of cursing.
Two idlers wearing round hats were leaning against the wall in a corner where the sun didn't shine directly, like dogs, catching lice and looking around with shifty eyes.
This is the town of Payne.
Walk forward fifty meters and there is a side street. At the end on the left is the barracks, as well as Baron Charles' fortress and a manor. Walk to the right, there are the Roaring Tavern, the Donkey Inn, Old Hod's Blacksmith Shop, Silva's Bread Oven, and Terra's Grocery. These constitute the commercial center of the town of Payne.
Zhang Yang stopped in front of the donkey inn and placed the scimitar, as well as the leather coat and leather boots stripped from the Jatu man, on the open space, meaning that they were for sale.
As for why they are here, it is because the inn is occupied by caravans and they need to buy horses.
Of course, if you are lucky enough, you may meet a rich kid who wants to be a wandering knight.
Facts have proved that Zhang Yang's judgment was correct. He waited for less than half an hour before the grassland hunting horse was spotted by a caravan that was preparing to set off and was bought for 150 dinars to use as a carriage.
The price was not high, but Zhang Yang just wanted to make it quick.
The scimitar was bought by a hired guard whose weapon happened to be broken, and he was only given 50 dinars.
The fur coat and boots only cost 12 dinars.
This amount of money is really a huge sum for Zhang Yang and the idle people in Payne Town at this moment. If he doesn't have some means, he will probably become a corpse before tomorrow morning.
So Zhang Yang turned around and went to Old Hod's blacksmith shop.
Although you will be issued weapons when you join the regular army, you can imagine what they will look like, nothing more than wooden sticks, iron forks and the like.
In order to achieve his ambitious plan, it is necessary to prepare some weapons of his own. Old Hod's blacksmith shop is not famous or outstanding, but it is responsible for forging weapons for Baron Charles' ordinary soldiers.
"Theo, I heard you killed a Jatu this morning?"
As soon as I entered the door, a shirtless young man looked up and smiled. This was Daniel, the apprentice of the blacksmith Old Hod. He was also from Hadley Village. He was a childhood friend of the original owner and had been an apprentice in the blacksmith shop for eight years.
"That's right, so I want to join the Baron's army. Maybe after a while, you will greet me." Zhang Yang smiled slightly.
"Haha, in fact, as long as I can come back alive, it's better than anything else." Daniel sighed, then he looked back and lowered his voice and said, "Now that you've made a fortune, are you planning to buy some good stuff? Don't worry, Old Hod is not at home, I can pick some good ones for you. By the way, how many dinars do you have?"
"Two hundred dinars."
"That's great! It makes me want to go to war. Well, it's impossible to buy chain mail with this little money. This leather vest is good, made of hard cowhide. I'll give you 30 dinars. This leather helmet has iron bars inside. I made it. I'll give you 20 dinars. Do you have leather boots? Go pick out a suitable one yourself. I'll give you 20 dinars."
Daniel kept talking, but his hands were not slow.
"When you are on the battlefield, a shield is indispensable. Do you want a leather-covered wooden shield or an iron-inlaid wooden shield? The wooden shields here in Old Hod are all made of ten-year-old willow wood, but I suggest you choose this round wooden shield, which is lined with ten iron bars and cannot be cut by a sword. How about 40 dinars?"
"Where's this shield?"
Zhang Yang looked at a large round shield in the corner.
"Ha, I don't recommend you to take that one. It's a trophy brought back by Lord Charles. It's said that its owner was a Vanskerry pirate leader. Old Hod later restored it. He used a walnut heart and 20 iron bars on both the inside and outside. It's twice the weight of a regular shield. Most importantly, it costs 100 dinars."
"I want it." Zhang Yang was very persistent. He didn't want to say that he was afraid of death.
Daniel looked at him seriously for a few times and nodded, "Okay, then it's a deal, but this way, you can only get some simple weapons."
"It's alright, just get me an axe with a shorter handle."
As Zhang Yang spoke, he picked up the Vanskerry Guard's round shield. It was indeed very heavy, almost twenty kilograms. On the battlefield, one would not be able to use it without sufficient strength.
However, Zhang Yang's current strength is 15, which is barely enough to use. If he levels up two more levels, it will be almost enough.
After changing into a new set of equipment and leaving 190 dinars, Zhang Yang went to the grocery store and bought a water bag, a bag that he could carry on his back, a piece of linen for bandaging wounds, two pieces of black bread that were hard enough to kill someone, and a small bag of bacon.
At this point, he was left with nothing again, so he did not linger and went straight to report to the barracks.
(End of this chapter)
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