Chapter 162, Inquiry, Searching for the Carriage and Heading East

The small businessmen and outsiders who were wandering around looking for suitable deals did not dare to approach the two men riding horses.

Not to mention the long amber metal staff lying across the horse's back in the hands of Priest Batar, but also the weapons on Kil's tall and strong blood-licking grass and the weapons and equipment on Kil's body, which made the pedestrians next to him look frightened. Take the initiative to get out of the way when you are two or three meters away.

Keir didn't have to ask for help, which was quite convenient.

But the two of them walked around here, and not only did they not see the carriages of Bloodfangster and Kiel in the open space at the city gate, but they also did not see any familiar carriages on the several roads connecting the open space at the city gate.

"What should I do? I don't know where he went."

Kiel looked embarrassed, but Priest Batal felt more at ease: "Don't worry, I heard that apart from commercial scammers, Montoka is relatively safe outside the city. I heard that your companion is an experienced one." Caravan guard, there will definitely be no trouble.”

After thinking about it, Priest Batal said: "Maybe he is looking for a place to relieve himself, but he can't leave the carriage alone, so he looks for help from someone he knows locally?"

When Keir thought about it, this possibility was indeed possible, and it was not small. It is indeed very difficult to deal with abdominal pain when a person is looking after a carriage alone.

You said you should get off the car and find a place for convenience, but what about the carriage?

But what should I do if my stomach hurts when I look at the carriage?

You can't just pull it in the car?

Kil thought of this and smiled sarcastically.

He was riding on the tall blood-licking grass and had a good view. He looked around and his eyes lit up.

In the open space outside the city gate where people spontaneously gather to conduct small-scale transactions, in addition to these small businessmen, there are also small vendors who specialize in the business of these people.

Not far away, a row of pushcart stalls selling local food and cheap drinks caught Kiel's attention.

"Let's go over there and ask. The people setting up stalls must have been here early in the morning. Someone must have seen and noticed where Bloody Fangster and the carriage went."

As soon as Kil said this, Batal also understood and thought it was a good idea, so he slowly hit the horse to let the prairie horse slowly come closer.

-

As soon as Kiel's tall horse approached, many outsiders who wanted to eat and drink to relieve their hunger at noon subconsciously stopped.

Several vendors who were still setting up their stalls looked up, and then their expressions turned ugly.

But he quickly put on a uniform smiling face, and couldn't help but say hello to Kil, who was wearing iron armor, while rubbing his hands.

"It's okay everyone, I just want to inquire about something. You guys came here early in the morning, right?"

Keir's words relieved the vendors a little, but the older vendors were still cautious. They had long known how easy it was for these 'big men' to turn against others.

If you are polite at first, you might beat someone up in the name of offense later.

The foreign customers who were still eating and drinking at the vendors quickly put the food and drink into their mouths. Then they skimmed off the money and hurriedly walked away with their heads down without asking for change.

The vendors all responded that they did come in the morning, but only after the farmers left the city.

Because farmers have empty pockets and like to take advantage of crowded situations to steal food from them. Therefore, over time, vendors wait for the farmers who have gone to the fields to leave before quickly leaving the city or driving from surrounding villages and towns. Come over and set up stalls in the open spaces outside the gates of Montoka City.

"Well, did you notice this morning that there was a two-horse carriage parked here in the open space outside the city gate or on the street?"

As soon as Keir asked, a vendor immediately bent down and nodded and said that he had seen it, but he did not wait at the city gate all the time, because when more outsiders and small businessmen were doing business here, the vendor would drive the carriage to the north and leave. .

"Oh! Haven't you come back yet?"

Kil had considered the fact that Bloody Fangster had not been waiting where he was, so he asked the following question.

A young and stout female vendor replied: "I noticed that the carriage came back before, but it seemed that a few people came up and said a few words, argued for a while and then left."

Kil narrowed his eyes. Several people quarreled and left.

There is a problem, will something happen?

Keir's tone immediately became stern: "Tell me clearly, who are these people? Small businessmen or outsiders, or, well, you know, those people."

The harsh tone seemed to frighten the female vendor, who hesitated.

At this time, Batal carefully dismounted from his horse. Wearing animal skin shoulder armor and breast goggles, and holding an amber metal staff, he walked to the stall. He nodded politely and said hello, and then said: "Don't worry, my companion is just worried about him." Regarding the safety of our friends, we had agreed to meet outside the city gate at noon, but now that we don’t see each other, we asked you who have been doing business here to ask.”

Kil coughed slightly and added: "Yes, there is a monetary reward after asking. Tell me, who took my friend away after the quarrel?"

At this time, Keir was already suspicious, so he directly used the word "take away".

An old vendor added at this time: "My lord, I didn't take him away, I didn't take him away. No one dared to take him away in front of the soldiers at the city gate. It was the people in the carriage who took him away."

"Did you see it too? What happened?"

Looking at the young smiling Saturn priest in front of her, the female vendor stopped hesitating and gave the answer: "It is that this area outside the city gate is controlled by a gang, whether it is parking the carriage in the open space or like us To set up a stall, you have to get the approval of the gang.”

The other vendors around me all bent down and smiled, there was nothing they could do about it.

Keir understood: "Oh, parking the carriage here will hinder other people's business, right? Priest Batar, Bloody Fangster probably wanted to collect money, and he didn't want to give it, so he drove the carriage away. I guess he will return it after a while. Will be back."

Keir looked up at the height and position of the sun. It was noon at this time, and it had already reached or even passed the agreed time.

"In this way, you and I will walk toward the two forked roads to the north for a while. We should probably encounter St. and the carriage. Regardless of whether we find anyone or not, we will still meet here later."

Batal nodded: "It should be like this. Then let's set off."

Kiel took out a handful of copper coins from the sturdy leather bag on his waist, and sprinkled them towards the vendors who responded to his words: "It's not much, they are all copper coins, thank you."

Then he pulled the reins of the horse and turned around. Kil pointed to a forked road to the north, and then pointed to Batal to another forked road to the west.

Then he shouted and asked the blood-licking grass to start trotting 'slowly'.

While running, Kil noticed that among the onlookers who were watching him ask questions, there were several young guys who were dressed as if they were doing business. He snorted coldly, thinking that if he finds someone, it won't be a problem for you. If he doesn't find someone, you guys will be in trouble.

The vendors quickly caught most of the copper coins that Keir threw in the air. They held the brown copper coins in their hands and looked at each other in confusion: "Are you really going to give me money if you answer me?"

Although the money is not much, it is the total income of a vendor in a day for several people, so it is quite easy to come by.

-

The two of them split up and moved along the road to the north of the open space at the city gate.

Outside the city wall is a special open space for city defense. Then there was a road surrounding the city, with low mud houses built on both sides of the road.

Kiel knew that houses were generally not allowed to be built outside the city walls, for fear that the siege party could demolish those houses to attack the city, or use the houses to avoid long-range attacks on the city walls and get close to the city walls to launch attacks.

But after all, Montoka City is a transportation hub city with a large volume of trade. Even though the city has been built very large and has accommodated a large enough population inside, low-rise houses have still been built outside the city.

The house is built low and has been earned.

Keir noticed that most of the houses on both sides of the road now had a small yard. From time to time, small businessmen came in groups and ran into the houses to complete transactions secretly.

It seems that most of the houses near the city gate are places where small businessmen place their own goods and conduct illegal small-scale transactions without paying taxes.

To be honest, this kind of thing is really not easy to manage. When the person is not trading, the tax officer cannot determine that the goods in the person's house outside the city are used for trading.

Businessmen can say that it is used as a warehouse, and there is nothing wrong with it.

For transactions in the city, only documents can be used to deliver the goods, while the goods are stored outside the city. Once the transaction is established, the empty carriage can go outside the city to pick up the goods with the transaction contract.

Of course, for large-scale transactions in the city, people under the tax official will be asked to supervise on the spot. After confirming the transaction, the taxes that should be paid will be collected.

Keir thought about it. If the tax amount was unsafe and troublesome, he could even record it first. At the end of the month or quarter, the merchant would take the money and go to the tax office to pay it.

After thinking about it, Kil looked up and saw a two-horse carriage coming towards him, and wasn't the driver of the carriage none other than Bloodfangster?

But what does the young man sitting next to Bloody Fangster do?

"Hey!"

Kil shouted, trying to attract the attention of his companions.

In fact, Bloodfangster had already seen Kil, who was fully armed in armor. He proudly said to the young man sitting next to him: "How is it? What did I say? Look, my companion is here! A Knight! Haha."

The young man's expression suddenly turned bad, and then he suddenly jumped out of the front seat of the carriage.

After falling to the ground, he limped and limped into the gap in the wall of the house next to him, and then ran into the field behind.

When a farmer who was guarding the fields saw someone trampling on the crops they rented, he immediately blew the wooden whistle hanging around his neck and summoned his brothers around to catch the young man trampling on the crops.

Kiel saw everything while riding on his horse. Although he didn't know what happened specifically, he was very satisfied with the outcome. Presumably those farmers would not let go of the young man who crossed the fields and trampled a lot of crops.

At least a good beating is inevitable.

-

The carriage slowed down and approached Kiel. After it got closer, Kiel then moved forward in parallel and asked Bloodfangster what was going on: "After Priest Batal and I came out, I didn't see you, so I asked around in the open space. The people setting up the stall said that you came back around noon, but you got into an argument with someone and left again? What happened?"

Bloody Fangster said with a helpless look: "What else could be going on? The open space outside the city is the territory of a small gang, and you have to pay them to park the carriage there. Hey, you still charge based on time."

"You didn't give it, right? It was early in the morning, there was still some time before noon."

"Well, so I drove the carriage to a nearby road with few people and waited for a while. I would go back and wait for you when it was almost noon. But the gang came to the door and asked me to pay first before parking the car and waiting for them. I If I don't do it, they still rely on me. If I weren't worried about them hurting the horse, I would at least give them a few punches in the face."

Keir shrugged, knowing that was it.

"Then what happened just now?"

Bloody Fangster spat to the side: "If I don't want to pay, they will drive me away. The ground is tilted and I can't stand, so I have no choice but to struggle with them first. Anyway, they won't dare to wait until you." Want money. Right?”

Keir nodded and patted the guy on his body. Want money? Want a taste of metal?

"That boy belongs to the other party. I have to keep up with the carriage supervisor and I can't sneak into the open space. Hey, I told him that my companion is a knight, but the boy still doesn't believe it. Haha, don't mention his expression after seeing you just now. How wonderful.”

"Didn't he supervise you not to go near the open space? Why did he come with you?"

As he was about to approach the open space at the city gate, Bloody Fangster was not as cautious as before: "I lied to him and asked him to come over and wait for someone to pay. He wanted to collect the money, but I said I couldn't give him the money. If he wanted to pay, he would have to pay." To his boss, that kid had no choice but to come here in response to me."

Keir smiled.

A carriage and a horse-drawn carriage were parked in the open space, but no one dared to approach.

Bloody Fangster smiled at a few people not far away, pointed at Kil on the strong horse next to him, shrugged and hooked his hands.

But those few people acted as if they hadn't seen it. They shrunk into the crowd and disappeared.

"Ha ha ha ha."

"Hahahahahaha."

The two of them laughed together.

"You are smiling so happily, and the security guards are back, so let's set off!"

Priest Batar riding a horse passed through the crowd, leaned over and said.

Kil shrugged: "I'm not familiar with this place. Priest Batar, please lead the way. We'll follow."

So, the three of them walked around the roads outside the city, heading south first, crossing a stone bridge with a lot of traffic in the south of Montoka City, crossing a river with abundant water, and then continued eastward. .

They kept moving close to the city of Montauca. When the tall city walls finally no longer blocked the view of the eastern part of the city, Keir saw a bright light shining on the horizon in the distance.

"Um, that's the White Stone Wall level you're talking about, right?"

Although Keir was questioning, his tone was affirmative.

The other two people confirmed Kil's judgment: "Yes, we should be able to arrive before dark and pass quickly. Once we pass through the checkpoint, we will find a hotel to spend the night."

"The supplies in the carriage need to be packed up. By the way, Kil, would you like to get some thick canvas to strengthen the shed of the carriage? I'm afraid that someone will cut open the shed and steal our things."

Kil's carriage not only contained his own belongings, but also some of Bloodfangster's luggage. At this moment, Priest Batal's luggage was all together.

"That's right, there are those things for sale in the level, right? The three of us will work together to strengthen the carriage tonight. We don't need other things. We have enough supplies to travel quickly along the way."

After deciding on their next action, the three of them continued to move forward along the wide road leading to the White Stone City Wall pass.

There are large fields all around, and the terrain is slightly undulating, but compared with the mountains stretching north and south in the distance, they are nothing more than waves in a pond.

Beside the field, there were countless farmers sitting under the big trees on the edge of the field to rest in the shade. The farmers who were close to the road waved their hands when they saw Priest Batal riding his horse on the road beside the field. Say hello.

Priest Batal was particularly excited at this time. He repeatedly raised the long amber metal staff in his hand to indicate the same, going back and forth without feeling tired at all.

Keir was not interested in these. He looked at a large white building in the distance where the ground was getting closer and brighter. The mountains to the north and south just dived into the earth like snakes, revealing a mountain pass that was not wide. Let the western provinces have a natural channel with the southern provinces.

However, during the reign of the dwarves, I heard that those foreign races did not divide provinces into provinces like the human kingdom, but divided regions by family tribes with a long history. So what did they use to build such a magnificent building?

Wouldn't it just be a simple construction of a blocking wall fortress at an important transportation location?