The battle is over. Watching the horse thieves retreating like a tide on their fast horses and some militia reserves chasing them in vain with crossbows, Leo's face was as gloomy as water. Although he was cautious enough, the attack by the bandits was beyond his expectations. If it was a normal bandit attack, with the sentry's warning, the militia could calmly line up before the bandits rushed into the village, and the villagers would have time to hide in the big house. Relying on the lord's house for defense, Leo is confident that he can repel twice the number of enemies. But this time, the people who came were horse thieves, and the speed of their attack was much faster than the speed at which the militia could gather. Until the end of the battle, many villagers were still unable to hide in the big house. In this battle, the bandits left behind eighteen corpses, but also took the lives of a militiaman and seven or eight villagers. These solitary villagers were hacked to death by the horse bandits during their attack. With the help of the horse's inertia, the sharp scimitar swept past, and no matter which part of the body it hit, it would be a fatal injury.
In addition, there were seven or eight militiamen and reserve crossbowmen who were shot in the shootout with the horse bandits and were receiving treatment. Fortunately, the horse thieves' attack was launched from the southwest. The villagers of Hewan are mainly distributed in the north of the village to reclaim wasteland. If horse thieves appear from this side and chase the villagers in the flat farmland, or even cut off their way into the village, it would be a massacre. Looking at the militiamen's excitement and cheers, Leo really couldn't empathize with them. Perhaps in their eyes, this was a big victory. But in Leo's mind, no matter how many enemies are killed, as long as there are losses, it is a huge loss. Killing a hundred horse thieves is useless. The death of one villager means real damage to one's strength! Moreover, this is not a game. The villagers and militiamen are not insignificant consumables. They are also flesh and blood and have their own lives. The dead militiaman was selected by Leo himself from among the young and strong villagers. It seemed as if he was asking him for advice on swordsmanship yesterday. A horse thief who was shot in the chest and not yet dead was dragged to Leo's side by the militia by one of his legs. Seeing him spitting blood, begging, but coughing and unable to speak, Leo, who was annoyed, was too lazy to interrogate him. He just waved his hand and said, "Kill him, strip him of his clothes, drag the body to the canal, and put it on stakes!" He mounted his horse and arranged: "All militiamen who can still move should assemble, bring a day's worth of dry food, and be led by Ivan, following the signs I left behind." "yes!" "Vic, don't repair the dam for now. You take the reserve troops to guard the camp until Ulyaan returns." "yes!" The whole village became restless again, and Leo rode his horse at a trot, chasing in the direction the horse thieves left. A gentleman's revenge should not be delayed overnight! The bandits' attack failed this time, so they will gather more manpower next time. Leo must get there before them and defeat them in one fell swoop!
Moreover, Lawrence just left yesterday, and the horse thieves' attack happened today. Leo didn't believe it at all when he said it had nothing to do with him. To solve the trouble, you must first solve the source of the trouble! The horse thieves are not special forces. It is impossible for them to travel through the wilderness overnight and launch an attack immediately the next day. Traveling on horseback in the wilderness is not very fast, so their camp is most likely not far from the river bend. Leo followed on horseback, dismounting from time to time to look for footprints and climbing up to the treetops to observe, in order to avoid losing track or being discovered by the horse thieves ahead. Once entering the hunting state, the hunter's instinct cultivated by the original owner Leo since childhood and the delicate and cautious nature of his other half of the soul combine perfectly, and no clues will be missed. After tracking for more than twenty miles, Leo saw an abandoned blockhouse in the distance. This blockhouse is not very big. It is a small blockhouse that can accommodate fifty soldiers for garrison and defense. It is very common in the North. Hundreds of years ago, after the Orantis Empire defeated the orcs, the North entered a period of great development. The northern clans on the south bank of the Anzeno River migrated to the north bank in large numbers and established strongholds everywhere. However, with the political reforms and the outbreak of conflicts, countless open spaces and military fortresses gradually became ruins and were finally buried by the wilderness. This small blockhouse in front of us might have been a garrison camp built by the imperial standing army hundreds of years ago to intimidate the nearby wild alien races. Perhaps it was a border watchtower built by Count Freilov in the following centuries to drive out the wild people that were growing everywhere. But now, it is completely abandoned, with crumbling bricks, rotting suspension bridges and overgrown vines. In the sheltered area below the blockhouse, some animal skin tents were built in a disorderly manner, with smoke rising from several bonfires, and iron pots and iron rods placed on top. A few horse thieves stood on the top of the blockhouse, walking around boredly with short bows in their hands. Leo tied the horse under a tree nearby and crept forward, avoiding the sight of the horse thieves on the top of the blockhouse, and finally reached the wall of the blockhouse. "Father! It's time to talk about the reward." The bandit leader's voice came from the other side of the stone wall. His voice was filled with anger and threats: "The village in the river bend is not as simple as you said! The twenty gold coins I gave you before are not enough to compensate my dead brother! If the priest doesn't make a response, I'm afraid I won't be able to suppress the anger of my brothers." "God bless you! A group of bandits actually talk to me about compensation? When did you learn this word? When you were serving as a soldier under Talhanberk? Did you get any compensation?" The words of the bandit leader only attracted endless ridicule. The leader of the horse thieves said grimly: "Father Lawrence, this is not Isenbol, the Holy Light cannot protect you." Lawrence's tone slowed down a bit. "You have cooperated with me more than once or twice. What good would it be for me to deceive you?" "You saw that big house with your own eyes. Is that something that an ordinary lord could build? There must be a lot of treasure inside! A village that can support 300 people, can't it support a few dozen horse thieves like you?" The bandit leader said helplessly: "But there are too many militiamen there, and everyone has a crossbow. I can't defeat them with my limited manpower." "That's your business. If you don't have enough manpower, then find someone else to cooperate with. There are more than one caravan in this area. Harold in the south also has dozens of people. If you are interested, I can introduce you to someone else." The bandit leader mocked, "I didn't expect the priest to have such wide connections." Through the huge cracks in the stone wall, Leo saw the leader of the horse thieves sitting cross-legged on a felt blanket in front of the campfire. Opposite him, the short and fat Friar Lawrence was sitting in a big posture. He was not wearing the holy white robe of the church, but a merchant's clothes, with two armed followers, like a wealthy traveling merchant. Leo watched for a while, then turned back to his horse, sat quietly, ate, and recovered his strength.
After a while, there was a sound from the front and a militia scout appeared. After seeing Leo, he whistled towards the back. Two minutes later, Ivan came with the militia.