Section 5 Guard

The caravan stayed in Tirol for five days.

These five days can be said to be a festival in this small town on the border of the desert. The caravans bring a variety of goods. Premium iron and beautiful glass products from the east; precious furs that are not afraid of rain wet; smooth silk from the south; fine salt sent from the coastal cities. There are also various fine wines and drinks, beautiful gadgets, daily necessities, etc. Moreover, these things are very cheap, far lower than the selling price of ordinary small vendors.

Most importantly, the caravan brought a large number of gold coins, silver coins and copper. They purchased desert medicinal materials and desert horses, parts from various desert creatures, bought local specialty spirits, and local small handicrafts. The prices were fair and undeniable.

On the evening of the fifth day, when the caravans basically finished their deal, the respectable mayor of the city of Tyro held a small banquet in the largest tavern in the city.

"Dear old friend, let me introduce you to the garrison leader of Ashurufate, Deluo. He will escort you all the way south."

"Dear Mayor, I already have eighty bodyguards, I should be able to..."

"It's always good to have more, old friend. I heard that there was a war there, so the thieves were rampant..."

"Okay, I accept your kindness." The merchant and Ashu Rufat looked at each other. This man was much younger than the mayor, but his double chin and a round belly were made. Because of the excessive fat on his face, his eyes became very small and he showed a sinister and cunning look.

"Did you feel very satisfied during your time in Deluo?" the mayor continued.

"Yes, very satisfied," replied the fat businessman. "I will report the journey to the Chamber of Commerce, and I am sure they will agree to include Tirlo in our Chamber of Commerce's trade route."

The two of them shook their hands tightly and laughed tacitly.

Ashu Rufate did not waste time. After the mayor introduced him to a group of people in the caravan, he greeted the deputy and supervisors of the caravan one by one, drank and chatted with each other to connect with each other. These people also knew that Ashu Rufate would spend a long journey with them and would protect their safety. No one was willing to get along with their own safety, so they treated Ashu Rufate equally enthusiastic. In this case, Ashu Rufate easily found his own goal. A supervisor named Sakari, who was responsible for the logistics operation of the entire caravan.

Ashrufat unexpectedly found that he had a very outstanding alcohol tolerance. He drank three large glasses of ale without feeling anything abnormal. Sakari, who also drank three glasses, even his tongue was knotted.

"Ai...Shurufat... this little thing...is included in me..." Sakari said drunkenly. "...hire more...a few...female workers...completely...within my...reliability...no need to...notify...anyone...hunch..."

"Then please, Lord Sakari." Ashu Rufat spoke carefully, and was also worried that Sakari would remember these promises after drinking tomorrow. He shouldn't have drunk so much, he thought.

After the banquet ended, Ashu Rufate walked towards the residence alone. He knew that he would leave the house soon and knew that he would probably not come back. The peaceful time spent in the quiet town was finally over. He opened the door with some emotion and saw two figures sitting in the room waiting for him without surprise.

"I've done it. Tomorrow morning, you will report to Sakari, the logistics manager of the caravan. I told him that you are the children of a deceased friend of mine and hope to live a life of self-sufficiency..."

"This guy Ashu Rufat actually colluded with the witch!" Outside the window, a shadow cursed a low curse.

After confirming that everything they saw was true, the shadow began to slowly move away from the window. They would leave tomorrow, and there was time. Tonight, whether it was the betrayed captain or the two witches, they would...

"Friend, aren't you rude to leave so quietly?" The voice in his ear interrupted Shadow's thoughts. He was surprised to find that Ashu Rufate had come behind him at some point.

Shadow drew out the short sword in a terrifying manner, but before he took action, a long sword appeared in Ash Rufate's hand. Two figures intertwined in the darkness. Blood foam came out of Shadow's mouth, and the long sword had already penetrated his heart.

The body was quickly stuffed into a broken, uninhabited house nearby. Before the body smelled stinking, it would be a safe hiding place. But with the humidity at the edge of the desert, people had reason to doubt whether the body was decayed.

After dealing with the accident, Ashurufat returned to his residence. He checked all his property, except for some clothes, only twelve silver coins and a saddle. He spent eight silver coins to buy an abandoned broken saddle from the caravan, and then used five silver coins to ask the saddle maker in the city of Delo to repair it. Before dawn tomorrow, he would recall the horse he had resurrected from the wilderness, put on the saddle and leave the small town.

Even if the mayor does not propose this fake escort for personal gain, he will leave.

His past memories are hard to remember, but he knows that he is not a mediocre person. He cannot stay in such a small country town for a long time and be ordered by people like the mayor of Tilro. His heart is full of pursuit of adventure and honor, or just that he wants to find his lost memories. No matter which one, Tilro cannot get these.

At dawn, Ashu Rufate had already led his mercenary troops to the caravan. His subordinates were envious of the tall horse he rode. You should know that even mercenaries who have been in the army for many years would find it difficult to raise money to buy a horse that belongs entirely to their own. No one suspected that this horse was not a living creature in the strict sense.

But these didn't matter. The horse was very good, and he was in tune with his heart, and he was one with one another. The twins also joined the caravan smoothly and worked under the command of Sakari. As expected, the residents of Tyro regard them as the original members of the caravan, and the caravan regards them as newcomers recruited from Tyro. When the entire team left the city in a mighty manner, no one paid extra attention to the sisters.

With the original eighty bodyguards in the caravan, the team now has more than one hundred armed guards. This is already a very amazing armed force, enough to intimidate a small group of bandits and even repel large robber groups with hundreds of people.

With such a powerful escort force, the merchants refused to take a long way to safety. The goal of this trip was Cadia, a large city in the south, which was an important stronghold of the Chamber of Commerce. There, the merchants would count the harvests from this long journey and exchange what they had obtained for gold and silver.

The journey south was very smooth. Several small battles broke out with the bandits during this period ended with the bandits' concessions. Not every bandit team had the strength to attack an armed caravan with hundreds of guards and hundreds of servants. Two months later, the walls of Cadia were already in sight.

"Tonight, we can spend the night in Cadiali." The long journey was exhausting, and the fat merchants worked hard to boost their morale so that they could complete this last journey. They had already embarked on the road, and safety issues were no longer the focus. Unless the city fell in the war, no robbers dared to rob so close to the city. Of course, there were always thieves who stole into the camp at night, but these problems did not require so many armed soldiers.

In the afternoon, after meeting a Cadia patrol force, the fat merchant thought that the escort work of the Tirou garrison could come to an end. Because if they followed the caravan into the city, the caravan would have to provide accommodation and dinner.

"Captain Ash Rufate, thank you for your escort along the way. I sincerely express my gratitude to you." The fat businessman shook hands with Ash Rufate. "However, we have arrived at a safe place and your work has been completed. It has been completed very well. I think this moment should be the opportunity for us to break up."

The two sides shook hands again with regrets of parting. The caravans continued to set off, and now only Ash Rufate and his men were left on the roadside. As mentioned earlier, all of them were mercenaries.

At this moment, Ashu Rufate had fully understood the plot of the mayor of Tyro, which was not as simple as pretending to be public and private. The mercenaries signed a contract with Tyro for a whole year. Before leaving Tyro, they had received seven months of commission (and some subsidies, etc.), and the remaining five months of final payment had to be paid after the contract expired. At this moment, it had been eight months since the contract was signed.

Now, the mercenaries outside Cadia City face two choices. The first is to go back for another two months, wait for the contract to expire, and leave Tyro after getting all the money. Because everyone is sure that the admirable mayor will never renew the contract, everyone must go to other cities. For example, after two months of trek to this Cadia again, the second choice is not to go back to Tyro, but to disband here directly, and everyone goes to the city to look for new opportunities. To put it bluntly, after getting a seven-month salary, he worked for Tyro for eight months (of course, in a sense, the mercenaries spent most of their time doing nothing).

Relatively speaking, the second option seems a little more attractive.

"Everyone," Ashrufate announced loudly. "I believe everyone is discussing what we should do next. I am a fair person, so I suggest voting. Everyone who wants to find opportunities in Cadia sits down. Everyone who thinks he should go back to complete the lease stands still."

The mercenaries discussed with each other, and soon, almost everyone sat down.

"Very good, then I'll announce that our team will be disbanded. Everyone should leave with their own things."

The team dispersed in groups of three or three. Now Ash Rufate is left alone. He finally no longer has to pretend for his unnatural mount. It is really not a simple thing to let this horse that does not eat grass mix among those ordinary horses without attracting attention. Many times, things almost exposed.

However, Cadia is not his target. It can be said that he is still confused about the future because he doesn't know what he is going to do. He does not want to continue to be a mercenary and be hired by a lord or someone. Because in this way, he may inadvertently reveal his secret.
Chapter completed!