Chapter 43 Horse Lovers
"So, Ralph, you are no longer the commander of the city defense army?"
Changhe Town nominally belongs to the so-called "child" in Lady Bella's belly, but in fact it completely belongs to Duke Alma. It is estimated that most of Oden's people will not be able to stay here.
"Yes, sir. I am not a knight of the kingdom... I was only entrusted by the earl to preside over the defense deployment. Now all the rangers serving in Changhe Town have been dismissed by Madam Bella, and the garrison has been replaced by people brought by the Duke of Alma."
Ralph was obviously unwilling, but he had no choice: "Sir, even though we all know that all this was planned by the Duke of Alma, all his actions are legally and morally justifiable. Even if we are dissatisfied, we can't let the Rangers attack our hometown..."
Indeed, it is quite tenable.
Let the Bastard and the Red Brotherhood contact the Jatu people, use the Jatu people to lure the Horn Rangers of Changhe Town to put out the fire everywhere, and then the Jatu army will gather at Brave Shield Castle, forcing Ralph's entire army to leave the station.
Then use a group of so-called "rebels" to take over Changhe Town - if nothing unexpected happens, these rebels are either pirates or the Red Brotherhood.
Finally, the great Grand Duke Alma personally led the army to wipe out the "rebels" in Changhe Town and "saved" Mrs. Bella's life in time.
As a benefactor and close friend, he raised Lady Bella and the so-called "posthumous child" that he got from nowhere...
I don't know how cruel a fifty-year-old woman must be to be able to get pregnant with a half-paralyzed old man...
Anyway, all the bad things were done by the thugs of the Red Brotherhood. Grand Duke Alma quickly put down the rebellion and even gained the gratitude of the people of Changhe Town who were unaware of the truth. If it weren't for Leon's "prediction" in advance, Ralph would probably have been kept in the dark.
But now, no one can do anything to Archduke Alma, and he has almost no leverage over him.
——Except for the few prisoners of the Red Brotherhood.
"Well, Ralph, I suggest you develop your business on the border first... Let's talk about our deal - I have a few prisoners here who might be of some use to Count Oden."
There was actually nothing more to talk about in the transaction, and Ralph readily gave Leon a good price - twenty sets of equipment for the Horn Call Rangers, and enough food to sustain fifty people throughout the winter.
Yes, there was no dinar. After all, Ralph himself was not a rich man and had just lost his job.
Although there are no gold coins, these green hat equipment are very valuable. This camp alone is not worth so much money. Ralph includes the captives in the count.
As Count Oden's most trusted subordinate, he knew the role of these prisoners to Oden in the current situation.
Ralph would build this place into a ranger station - if he wanted, Count Oden could grant him a knighthood at any time and then make this place his knightly territory.
He indeed thought the same as Leon did. He did not like the intrigues among the nobles, but was willing to establish merit on the border.
Afterwards, the ranger Raphael who lent Leon his bow, brought about a hundred people and put on the equipment of the Jatu people.
He was going to take a walk around Lion Lake City according to Leon and Ralph's original plan.
Before, it was just a plan to frame someone, but now it’s a combination of framing and revenge.
I hope Oden can seize the opportunity to be shameless.
The ground was littered with Jatu corpses and horses, and the rangers quickly dressed up as a hundred or so Jatu raiders.
"You should wear this."
Leon handed his bloody helmet to Raphael.
"Ah yes, this is the helmet of the Jatu warlord! My lord, is this considered a gift between us? I hope you like my bow."
Ranger Raphael seemed very happy and didn't dislike the old helmet soaked in blood at all.
"Well, I think I got the upper hand..."
That Hawkshot bow performs quite well and is obviously worth much more than the helmet.
Li Ang felt a little embarrassed now - when he could take advantage, he always wanted to take advantage, but when others really didn't care, he was worried that he would lose face...
"No, sir! This helmet is a testimony to your bravery and wisdom. How many enemies must you have killed to get it dyed like this... I am the one who got the upper hand."
Raphael seemed to truly feel that it was an honor to receive this helmet, and he was even unwilling to wipe the blood off the helmet.
The eyes are clean and pure.
"...As long as you like. By the way, do any of you know how to speak Jatu?"
Le Ang asked the right person this time. Ralph and Raphael both spoke a little Jatu language. Their hometown was at the junction of Changhe Forest and Jatu Grassland, where they often encountered Jatu people.
"Sir, why are you studying the Jatu language?"
"I captured a Jatu warlord."
Raphael's eyes were now looking at the deity itself: "... God... No one has ever captured the top leaders of Jatu! Don't they all fight to the death?"
…
Li Ang was the last person to receive treatment from Anson - the knife wound on his chest was a superficial injury and not serious. His legs and arms were penetrating wounds, so there was no possibility of excessive blood loss as long as the arrow was not removed.
This style has won the collective respect of his men and the Horn of Call Rangers.
But Leon didn’t really want this kind of respect—it was too damn painful.
It's actually very uncomfortable to pretend to be a tough guy...
After a short rest, Raphael said goodbye to Leon and crossed the river to hang out in Lion Lake City, while Ralph stayed in the camp to help Leon interrogate the warlord.
Leon wanted to know how the warlord got his sword - he felt that with the adaptability shown by the Jatu people in the mountains, they would not be able to catch up with or kill Liwa, the bandit who was familiar with the terrain.
If Riva could really trade with the Jatu people, then he wanted to find this woman.
It's not for revenge, it's purely to be a profiteer.
Of course, if possible, you can also take revenge at the same time.
My lord is very petty.
But this warlord, who had remained silent all along, seemed to have no desires and wanted nothing more after all 200 Jatu cavalrymen were killed in the battle, as if he was seeking death.
It seems that there is no point in using torture like this.
Moreover, he had suffered several injuries and was extremely weak.
Ralph had no choice but to try threatening and questioning them, but most of them didn't respond.
It wasn't until Ralph looked at the dozens of remaining Jatu horses outside and said something that the warlord finally opened his eyes.
"You can't do this! That's just a horse!"
"Damn it! So you can speak human language!"
Although he spoke only one word at a time, the meaning was clear - the warlord did not want the horses to be harmed.
Ralph chuckled and said, "Sure enough, every Jatu person loves horses."
“…The Deshar people are the same… horses are their brothers and gods, more important than wives and daughters.” Sarah came closer and whispered.
"Since you can speak human language... I only have one question, where did you get this sword?" Li Ang showed the sword to the warlord, and then added: "Answer my question, I will heal your wounds and save your life."
The warlord turned his head to look at Li Ang and shook his head: "I, die. You, can't, eat horses!"
Well, I didn't expect Ralph to open his mouth by eating horse meat...
As expected, the cultural core of every nation is food. The most reliable way to distinguish between nations and beliefs is to see what can be eaten and what cannot be eaten...
"Okay, I promise to keep them fat and strong. My question shouldn't be too difficult for you, but if you don't answer this kind of question, we'll have to eat horse meat soup. And I promise you'll eat a lot too!"
Leon motioned to the Jatu warlord to look at the deflated cauldron in the middle of the camp.
There were two horse legs leaning diagonally on the edge of the pot. After being cut in half by Klose's sword, half of the horse crushed the iron pot.
