Blood tax

Chapter 2 New World

"Soldier."

"Hey, soldier."

"Wake up, you've arrived." When he woke up from the nightmare, Griffith found himself drenched in sweat all over his body, sitting on the wooden deck with his bulging luggage on his back.

A bearded sailor uncle patted him on the shoulder: "Izmir welcomes you, what's wrong with you? You're sweating so much. Well, go ashore for a few days of entertainment. Nothing heals the battlefield like beer and women." It hurts. Go get drunk for two days, and you will forget about the damn Dongfang."

Um... the East.

Griffith picked up his consciousness again, recalling that he had dodged Beamon's attack, hid in a dry pool and fainted.

By the time he woke up the battle was over.

In the days that followed, on the nights reverberating with the groans of wounded soldiers, Griffith would surreptitiously climb out of bed, survey the tall camp walls and patrolling sentries, and then cast his eyes on the stables and mess hall.

The final preparations are being made in the distant fortress, and the double wall of the Legion has firmly surrounded the orc war fortress.

Although the injury recovered quickly, Griffith seemed to have been broken all the bones in his body, and his strength and courage to continue fighting were gone.Every quarter of an hour spent in the barracks was a terrible ordeal.

Fleeing across thousands of miles to return to a distant home may not be practical, but it is only a few days north into the snow-covered mountain domains of the dwarves from here, as long as you can get horses and food...

Before he could make up his mind, a sudden transfer order took him out of the final battle. The Eastern Army Corps, who had taken care of him for two years, quickly packed his bags and sent him to the sailboat to the capital.

Griffith's rear service period begins.

The comfortable sea breeze was blowing on the cheeks, the white seagulls swept the side of the ship low, and there was a reassuring hustle and bustle of laughter from the calm harbour town not far away.

I'm not dead... Griffith touched his chest where he had broken several ribs, picked up the package, and slowly walked down the ship's ladder.

Now he is wearing a leather armor with a layer of chain mail inside.A long sword and two daggers hung from his waist, he wore iron gauntlets and greaves, he held a black iron helmet in his left hand, and he held the luggage on his shoulder in his right hand.

His set of cavalry breastplate, leggings and most of the weapons have been taken back by the legion, and now he is wearing personal equipment that he spends money on on weekdays.

Griffith stamped his feet on solid ground and found a clean spot to sit down.He opened the rucksack to find a blanket, three changes of clothes, towels, soap, a sewing kit, some charcoal pencils, a diary, some books and a few loaves of rye bread neatly stacked inside.Inside the diary was a watercolor of Griffith wearing his newly awarded medal, with Krista and the rest of the squadron putting their hands on his shoulders.

Griffith closed the diary indifferently and touched his pocket expressionlessly.There is a small wallet in the pocket, which contains 1 gold coin and 15 silver coins, as well as some copper coins and a certificate.A medal made of fine iron was buckled on his leather armor, revealing a light blue ribbon, indicating that the owner of this medal was a warrior who had returned from the battlefield, and could not be classified as a mentally ill homeless man for the time being.

The identity card is a small piece of copper with the name, date of birth, blood type, citizenship number, address, and place of origin engraved on the front like most people's ID cards.On the back of the copper sheet, Griffith has an additional message—

"This is to certify that Griffith Blanton is a Sequence 9 recruit on the Lawbreaker Path and a candidate for Extraordinary."

This small print means that Griffith can receive a small monthly government stipend, can use magical items that ordinary people can't activate, and that the kingdom and lords have reasons to cultivate it further.

The apprentice knight remembered something, and dug through the depths of his rucksack to find a volume of carefully stored orders—

"To the second-level squad leader of the 502nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, trainee knight, Griffith Brandon:
"Your Excellency must arrive at Bayeran before July 7 and submit a report to the captain of the Heinz Wilhelm Banner of the Reserve Army Command. Your military status will be transferred to the Count of Larmor on the same day to repair Torral. The identity entered the Homonwarts Military Command Section of the Higher School of Magic on August 10, and there must be no mistake.

"The work related to transfer and admission will be co-organized by the Larmor House, and the work related to Beyonders will be transferred to the relevant local agencies.

"Army Reserve Command
"Second Age June 1443, 6."

Griffith felt that his brain was gradually waking up, and he had gradually got rid of the previous groggy and confused state.

Consciousness begins to become clear as if it were surfacing.Griffith found that he could keenly perceive the crawling of insects in the not far corners and the gaze of pedestrians in the distance.

The apprentice knight opened his diary, briefly looked at the itinerary, and realized that he had just arrived at the port town called Izmir on a regular sailboat returning from the front line.

Today is June 6. After a day or two of rest here, he will go north along the western line of the Eastern Avenue to his destination, the capital of the kingdom, Bayeran.Due to the harassment and escort system of the Orc Marauder fleet, the nearest flight on the route to the capital would not be able to depart until mid-July, and to catch up with the date, it had to be done overland.

It's a long way~ All in all, let's eat something and take a rest.

Griffith wandered around the town for a while, chose a tavern with a decent environment and price, sat in, carefully opened his pocket, and took out the most beautiful gold coin.

The gold coin that danced at the apprentice knight's fingertips was the kingdom's main currency, the gold florin.When the currency of the kingdom is stable, each gold florin is worth 20 silver coins.The silver coin is a currency with the long shield emblem of the royal lion on the front, called Yinlang.Each Yinlang can be exchanged for 20 sous (silver coins mixed with a small amount of silver) or 100 centimes (copper coins).Each sous can buy you a piece of bread at this hotel, a half pound of meat costs 6 sous, and a plate of vegetables and apples or a small bowl of honey costs 3 sous.

"Want something to eat? Mr. Apprentice Knight." A slender and beautiful girl came over. She was wearing a waitress' apron and her high heels made a pleasant sound.With a sweet smile on her face, the girl asked, "Let's have a special lamb chop from our shop!"

"How do you know I'm a knight apprentice?" Griffith asked in surprise.He didn't expect this girl to be able to see her identity at a glance.

"You'll know it if you've seen it a lot!" The girl sat down beside Griffith rudely and sniffed him lightly.The boy who had just left the battlefield immediately flushed red.

"Wearing double armor after leaving the battlefield, the soldiers don't have such good habits and equipment as you. You have a decent manner and an Iron Eagle medal, which should be higher than ordinary non-commissioned officers, but your dress is not as good as officers and nobles. The one in between is the apprentice knight! Isn’t that right?” The girl looked at Griffith with sparkling eyes and said, “When a person lives in one place for a period of time, he will get the smell of it! You are so heavy The smell of blood caught up with the back kitchen!"

Awesome...Are all the people in the city so awesome!Griffith nodded involuntarily.

"Hmm! Let's have a special lamb chop of our shop! I highly recommend it!" The girl rubbed over, almost sticking it to the apprentice knight's face, "Don't think it's too expensive! I'll recommend you one after you finish eating. A job that earns money locally! You can earn a little money!”

The sweet aroma of the girl's body came in along the tip of his nose, and Griffith obediently ordered two large loaves of bread, a pound of meat and a plate of vegetables, and finally added a plate of honey after a moment of hesitation.

That's 20 sous.Griffith eats almost 1/35 of his property for a meal...

"Okay! One set of B!" The waitress turned around lightly and said to the counter, "Give me another adventurer's bounty!"

It's not meal time yet, so there aren't many customers in the tavern.After the waitress brought the food, she sat across from Griffith and watched him eat with a smile on her face.

The black bread is dry and astringent, and it seems that the owner has mixed it with sawdust.Unshaved fur was still attached to the meat, and the vegetables were leaves picked from an unknown tree, radishes and apples that were randomly cut into pieces.However, Griffith often ate this kind of food on the front line, and ate it without any resistance.

What surprised him was that the small dish of honey was golden in color and translucent, and the faint aroma was mouth-watering, and the quality of the other food was not at the same level.

"Can't you eat sweets on the front line? Everyone has the same expression." The waitress watched Griffith spread honey on the bread, and then eagerly stuffed it into her mouth with a satisfied expression.

"Well, that's it~" Griffith's cheeks were full, like a chipmunk preparing for the winter, "The road is not easy to walk, and there are half-orc raiders, supplies often encounter difficulties and cannot be requested. too much."

"It's not easy~" The waitress stretched out a small hand that looked very strong, and gently pushed a document to the apprentice knight.

what is this?While nibbling on the lamb chops, Griffith stuffed vegetable leaves into his mouth, taking a moment to glance at the documents on the table.

"A reward.

"A gang of goblin bandits raided the village of Manisa, took livestock and kidnapped a woman.

"Any adventurer who kills a goblin can get a reward. If you rescue a kidnapped woman, you will get an additional reward."

Such small town taverns generally provide some temporary recruitment and reward task information to passing travelers, allowing them to make a living for a short time.Before Griffith could ask a question, a young swordsman walked over from a corner of the tavern.

"Miss hospitality, my companions and I have decided to take up this task." The young swordsman was about 15 years old, and a sparse beard had just grown on his youthful face.He was wearing leather armor that wasn't very good. Judging from his thin body, he didn't wear a chain armor inside. He had a long saber and a short knife hanging around his waist that didn't quite match his height.

Is this young man here as a freelancer instead of enlisting?Griffith looked at the young boy in front of him, judging from his youthful temperament that he had never been on the battlefield.

In the king's territory, citizens of the right age could not work in the city or inherit land without doing military service.But even so, there are still many young people who hide in the forest and do not want to serve.In order to make a living, many of them became freelance mercenaries or adventurers.There are no thresholds for this type of occupation, and sometimes the income is quite rich.

Dressed in mail and leather armor, Griffith thought for a while and felt that he could take on some missions to earn a little travel expenses, so he kindly said to the young man: "Hello, I am the second-level assault cavalry. Squad Captain Griffith Brandon, passing through town on duty. If you still need people..."

"We don't need manpower!" Before the young swordsman could answer, a girl taller than the swordsman beside him almost jumped up.

She was well-proportioned and good-looking, with a pretty sexy figure for her age.

"Huh?" Griffith found that the girl had iron gauntlets on both hands, and there were also spikes and dagger-like short knives attached to the gauntlets.He turned out to be a boxer.

Bayeran's army is full of female warriors and spellcasters, many of whom have fought alongside Griffith.But the girl's dress made Griffins very unfamiliar.He carefully looked at several young people and found that there was no sign of affiliation on the swordsman and boxer.

"Mere goblins," the young swordsman said disdainfully, "my swordsmanship is the best in the village, and I can kill them in one go! Well, I'm Andy Duka."

"If there are any omissions, there is also me!" Miss Boxer added.

"Who are you? Um~ what do you call them, mercenaries?" The apprentice knight who was sitting and eating asked curiously, "Which army or family do you belong to?"

"We are free adventurers from Izmir Town, and we fight for ourselves," replied the swordsman in the lead, pointing to his comrade by the way, "Ulan is a good physicist."

At this time, two more people came over. They were a tall, bare-chested boy holding a giant axe and a girl dressed as a nun in black.The apprentice nun was as thin as a match. She wore no armor, except for a short staff.She clutched the Holy Light emblem on her chest tightly and watched the strange apprentice knight vigilantly.

The tall boy on the side carried a huge ax on his shoulders, and the word "Badu" was crookedly engraved on the blade of the axe, which should be his name.

The people in the place are really equipped, and it's hard to describe... Griffith saw the eager expressions of the four of them, and couldn't help but stand up and stop: "This is a group of monsters that are going to attack the village. I suggest that it is still with the town. Militia, or call more people together. Concentrating forces together can reduce losses.”

"Pfft~" Wulan, a boxer girl, burst out laughing, "Strength~concentrate~, what a strange way to say it, you just came back from the front line and you're still not used to it!"

"Then at least understand the enemy's strength and composition!" The apprentice knight felt that this group of people was too hasty, "This reward does not provide information on the enemy."

"Strength and composition..." The boys and girls looked at each other, and the smiles in their eyes almost burst out.

"Don't do this," the young swordsman Andy stopped his companions' ridicule, turned around and said, "Mr. apprentice knight, our rules are different from your army."

Rules...you four look like newbies!Griffith was choked by the other party's words and began to think about how to stop them without hurting the other party's self-esteem.

"That's right, we are free adventurers, not an army," said the strongest boy in the four-man squad with a terrifying double-edged battle axe, "Each goblin head can be replaced by a silver man. , too many people are not enough.”

One head and one silver man, not bad!Griffith was moved.

"Alright, alright! Hurry up everyone, wait a little longer and the other adventurers might have taken over the goblin lair!" Wu Lan stamped his feet anxiously, "I'm in a hurry to spend the money!"

Hearing what their companions said, the young swordsman and the great axe nodded to Griffith and walked out together.The apprentice nun only remembered her education and manners after she had walked halfway, turned hastily, bowed slightly to Griffith, and ran out.

(End of this chapter)