Imperial Crown.

Chapter 18: Bandits and Scum

Boom, boom, boom——

The sound of heavy horse hooves echoed throughout Xiongying Town. A group of horse thieves rushed forward, trampling the paved road into flying dust and scattering gravel!

The chief citizen Yorick had heard the noise a long time ago. He moved the only wooden bed in the house to the door and propped it up with his skinny back, his heart pounding.

"Dad, I'm scared..." Six-year-old Yura, his only daughter, was standing in front of him trembling, clutching the corners of her dirty and worn clothes with both hands.

“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid…” Gently holding his daughter in his arms, Yorick listened nervously to the sounds outside the door, cursing in his heart.

Damn horse thief!!

Ever since Baron Donald disbanded his private army on a large scale five years ago, every year, every year!
These demons in human skin will come to Eagle Town, burn down houses, steal food, rape women, and kill the people!
Yorick's eldest son and wife both died at the hands of the bandits.

Yorick's heart had already become numb. He could barely support his daughter and his body was getting weaker and weaker. Perhaps death would be a relief.

But since Raven inherited Eagle Town, Eagle Town has been getting better day by day.

Yorick is already 33 years old this year. He also participated in the selection of private soldiers. Although he was not selected, he also received a reward of five kilograms of coarse wheat flour!
Recently, I heard from Simon who is a soldier that Lord Raven intends to divide the land among them to cultivate themselves. Each man will have three acres of land, and each woman will have two acres of land. They will no longer be issued rations every year, but only need to hand in a quota of food, and the rest can be kept for themselves!
In this way, his family can be allocated five acres of land. As long as they work harder, they can take care of it themselves. Even if they can harvest 70% of the harvest from each acre, he can still have 350 kilograms of wheat a year, or 300 kilograms of coarse wheat flour.

After growing wheat, you can also plant radishes, cassava, and lettuce in the fields. You can keep them for your own consumption and don’t have to hand them in!

By then, life would be much more comfortable. His poor little Yura wouldn't have to cry of hunger during the lean season. Maybe he could even use the extra vegetables to exchange for meat in Shining Gold Town!
But the good days have not really begun yet, and this group of horse thieves who deserve to go to hell are here again!

Lord of Light, don’t you love the world? Why don’t you let us poor people live a better life!!!

The sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer, and Yorick's heart was in his throat. He hugged his daughter tightly with one hand and picked up the pitchfork beside the door with the other hand - if anyone dared to come in, he would fight him to the death!

Gradually, the sound of horse hooves became farther and farther away. Cold sweat broke out on Yorick's head, and he slowly slid to the ground and sat down.

It seems that I can finally escape this time.

But he soon realized something was wrong because the town was too quiet.

There were no screams, no sound of buildings collapsing, and no cruel laughter that could wake people up from nightmares.

Bandits, when did you become so harmless?

He bravely moved to the window, opened it and stuck his head out, only to see that the horse thieves were indeed going away, but looking at the direction they were heading, it was Eagle Fort!
Their target is Lord Raven!?
"Great Lord of Light, may you bless the kind people." He used both hands to draw a non-standard holy emblem on his chest: "May you bless Lord Raven, and I hope he will be safe!"

This is what many people are doing.

While he was praying, the bandits had already arrived in front of the Eagle Fort. At the front of the team were six pitch-black horses, two meters tall at the shoulder, wearing heavy chainmail vests. Under the light of the torches in the riders' hands, they looked as scarlet as blood.

This is the specialty of the Bloody Highlands, a first-level magical beast [Blood-Eyed War Horse]. Its strength, speed, explosiveness, and endurance far exceed those of ordinary war horses. It is also the biggest reliance of the Bloody Highlands bandits who come and go like the wind!

A sturdy man in a full set of plate armor rode on the leading blood-eyed warhorse. On his right waist hung a scimitar and on his left a bloodstained nail-headed warhammer. He had dark skin and a square face. A twisted scar ran from his left cheek to his right chin, dividing his intact face in two, as if a centipede was crawling on it.

"Scarface" Anderson, he is the leader of this group of bandits, a first-level dark warrior, and a rising star in the eastern part of Bloody Highlands!

When the outline of Eagle Castle was reflected in his eyes, a flame called ambition began to burn vigorously.

According to the Slater family, as long as they can drive the baron here out of Eagle Territory, they will not only receive a huge sum of one thousand gold coins, but also gain the support of the Slater family.

The Slater family, the real masters of the Nord Province, the Earl family!

Although the Bloody Highlands is a lawless place, it is not short of opportunities and wealth. Its specialty products, such as [Shadow Crystal], [Yellow Sand Essence], and [Psychedelic Fruit], [Dragon Scale Grass], etc., are not valuable in the Bloody Highlands, but once they flow to the Keynes Empire and the Insa Empire, they can be exchanged for huge wealth.

The well-known major forces in the entire Bloody Highlands, such as "Crazy Sand" Infik, "Blood Eyes" Mongar, and "Spider Queen" Avila, all have the shadows of the two empires and even the Church of Light behind them.

Why couldn't Anderson be the next?

"Chief, there's a situation."

The person who spoke was Anderson's deputy "Mustache" Bailey. He was obviously a bandit, but he had a slicked-back mustache and his eyes seemed to be greased with oil, always dripping.

These words brought Anderson back to his senses. He raised his arms high, and the team behind him stopped amid the chaos of neighings and shoutings of horses.

The scene before him made Anderson raise his brows slightly.

The drawbridge of Eagle Castle fell to the ground, the door of the hall was wide open, and several boxes of silk were scattered on the floor at the entrance. Only a few rooms had lights on. It was completely defenseless!
The bandits also saw this clearly, and began to discuss among themselves:

"It looks like... that Baron named Raven wouldn't run away before we could attack, right?"

"That's impossible. He's a baron after all. Besides, this castle is so big and has a moat. It's not that easy to break into."

"That may not be the case. I heard that the baron just inherited the territory not long ago. He was born a 'gerbil' and his nickname is 'Little Bee'. How brave can he be?"

This remark caused a burst of mocking laughter.

"Gerbil" is a slang term used in the Bloody Highlands to refer to those guys who dare not go out to plunder and only dare to cheat and deceive in the settlements.

Criminals also have a chain of contempt. These thugs who live on the edge of knives and lick blood all day long naturally look down on such cowardly guys.

"Chief, what should we do?" Bailey asked, with a glimmer of greed in his eyes.

He already believed that Raven, who had just inherited Eagle Castle, must have escaped. Otherwise, why would he leave the castle gates wide open?
This is a castle, a noble castle with a long history.

It took them less than half an hour to pass through Eagle Mountain and Eagle Town and reach the castle, so Raven had little chance to transfer his property!
In other words, most of his wealth remained in the castle.

At this moment, Eagle Castle is like a naked beauty, and no one can resist such temptation!

This is also the voice of most bandits at this time.

But Anderson, the leader, slowly shook his head: "Raven was able to make Hyde Slater helpless. He doesn't seem like someone who would easily lose his castle."

"Master Chief, you think too highly of them." Bailey said sarcastically, "One of them is a gerbil, and the other is a delicate flower raised in a greenhouse. What kind of schemes can they have?"

Anderson was somewhat moved by these words, but he still felt something was wrong - Raven's reaction was too quick. How was it possible that Raven had already withdrawn before they arrived?
He scanned the area around the suspension bridge, trying to find signs of a trap, when a flash of light in the bushes caught his attention.

"Rotten Tooth, go and get that thing for me," he ordered.

The bandit known as Rotten Tooth dismounted from his horse, and under Anderson's guidance, he found a golden object in the bushes, held it high and handed it to Anderson.

"Chief, your eyes are so sharp!" Bailey's eyes lit up: "Can we go in now?" Anderson glanced at him dissatisfiedly, but didn't say much. He threw the thing on the ground and waved his hand and shouted: "Enter the city!!"

The thing fell to the ground, was trampled by the following horses' hooves, and rolled back into the grass on both sides of the road - it was a badge, engraved with an eagle fighting a dragon.

This is the emblem of the Griffith family.

Leaving behind such things is enough to show how hastily Raven escaped.

And when Anderson rode into the castle, the scene he saw also illustrated this point.

There were supposed to be training grounds on both sides of the courtyard, but at this moment, those cheap spears were lying on the ground along with the weapon racks, with some dirty footprints left on them, and leather helmets and leather gloves scattered in the corners.

There were some copper and silver coins scattered on both sides of the road, some of which had been trampled deeply into the ground. Several wooden boxes were overturned at the door, and the silk fell out of them. A box of red wine also fell to the ground with it, and the wine fell to the ground and soaked the silk.

In the hall, a large number of tables and chairs were overturned, the carpet on the floor was rolled up, and there were dirty footprints extending all the way inside.

"Haha, I knew that the little bee must have been scared out of its wits!" Bailey smiled and picked up a bottle of red wine that was not broken from the ground. He broke the bottle mouth with the handle of a knife, raised his head and took a sip, exclaiming: "Oh my god, this wine is so delicious!?"

The horse thieves poured into the hall. Some of them looked at the red wine in Bailey's hand with anticipation and desire in their eyes, but they dared not do anything without Anderson's order.

However, their leader's expression did not relax, because the castle was too quiet, too quiet, and all this made him feel that something seemed to be wrong.

At this moment, there was a loud bang in the corner, and Anderson looked over: "Who!?"

Hiding in the corner was none other than Raven's stepbrother, Vesdon.

This was supposed to be his sleeping time, but Raven, damn Raven, deliberately targeted him and used the excuse that the cook was injured, so there was only white bread and broth for dinner, and no big chunks of bacon at all!

He is the noble Master Vesdon. How can he live without meat? He won't grow taller if he does!

But at the dinner table, before he could protest, Raven gave him a sharp look and made him hold his words back.

He had originally decided to endure it for one night, but unfortunately, he was so hot and hungry that he couldn't sleep at all, so he had to go to the kitchen to find food at the risk of being scolded by Raven.

Normally, even at night, there would be at least two private soldiers guarding the warehouse and kitchen, which were key guard areas, but today there was no one!
At first he felt lucky, walked into the kitchen, and ate half a smoked lamb leg with the still hot broth left over from the evening.

But when he wanted to cross the hall and return to the room, he saw a scene that terrified him - a group of ferocious bandits wearing chain armor appeared in the hall!
Although I haven't actually seen it, I have heard of it!
Each of those men was at least 1.75 meters tall, wearing heavy chain mail, and the weapons they carried were even stained with blood that had not yet dried!
He finally understood why the castle was so quiet tonight.

Damn Raven! He must have known that the bandits would arrive tonight, but he ran away with his private soldiers without notifying anyone else!
He wanted to escape quickly while these people were not paying attention, but in panic, he knocked over the vase in the corner!
With a loud bang, Visdon's instincts burst out like never before. He took big steps forward. At this moment, he felt that his speed was almost as fast as a galloping horse!

But before he took two steps, he felt his throat tighten. After a dizzy spell, the ceiling inexplicably appeared in front of him, followed by a looming face with a mustache!
He really couldn't imagine that this man who looked like rat poison had so much strength. He dragged him on the ground by the scruff of the neck as easily as dragging a rabbit.

"Ah——" The broken porcelain pieces pierced through his clothes and sank into his flesh, cutting a bigger gash due to the friction. It was even more painful than when Raven cut off his scalp!

The man with the mustache said coldly: "Shut up, or I will kill you now!"

Weisdon quickly covered his mouth tightly, his eyes rolled back in pain but he dared not utter a sound.

Looking at the fat pig-like Weisdon, Anderson's eyes flashed with disgust: "Are you Raven?"

"No! No, I'm Weisdong!" Weisdong shouted aggrievedly: "Sir, if you have a grudge against Raven, then we are on the same side!"

"Raven is a scumbag, a villain, a bastard, and a pervert!!"

Without even waiting for Anderson to ask, he told him everything he knew about Raven, including the "truth" he knew - Raven had abandoned the castle and ran away with his private soldiers!

"Haha, he is really just a useless little bee." After listening to Weisdon's story, Anderson finally felt relieved. He said with a hint of disdain: "He managed such a good barony into this state. He can't even defend his own castle. What a waste!"

Feeling the eager eyes of his men around him, Anderson gave an order: "Search for me! As usual, women don't matter, but all other wealth, send it to me! The finder can get 30% of the benefits, and the others can share 20%!"

The bandits' eyes shone with a fiery light: "Yes!"

Why was Anderson able to rise to prominence so quickly and command seventeen murderous bandits with only first-level strength?

In addition to his strong personal strength, it is because he knows how to make concessions so that everyone who follows him can get enough benefits!

The bandits dispersed one after another, and soon, screams, curses, and cries began to be heard in the castle!

Visdon's face grew paler, because he could hear many familiar voices mixed in, including that of old Ou Jin who had driven for him before!
Anderson sat in the hall, waiting for his men's report. For some reason, Bailey did not take any action, but instead looked at Weisdon with interest: "Tsk, tsk, tsk, what a rich kid. This delicate skin and tender flesh must be very good to eat with wine."

Weisdong felt his brain freeze. He swallowed and said, "You...what are you doing!?"

"Of course I'll kill you and eat you." Bailey drew out the enchanted longsword from his waist and pointed it at Weisdon's body. "You know, people like you are the most delicious and the most convenient to eat, especially your thighs, which are fat and tender, much better than pork legs and beef legs, and are not inferior to the fattest mutton."

"Don't eat me, don't kill me..." Weisdong was so scared that tears streamed down his face: "I... I'm still young, I'm not delicious! I still have money, I can, I can give you a lot of money!"

"Haha, the whole castle belongs to us now. Do you think we need your money?" Bailey slapped his fat face with the sword: "Cry, cry for a while, then your meat will taste better."

He turned and looked at Anderson: "Is it okay for me to deal with it this way, Chief?"

The latter didn't even raise his head: "You can do with this useless trash, no need to ask me."

This sentence instantly enlightened Weisdong: "It's useful! I'm useful!"

"I know the code words for withdrawing money from Federo Business, and I also know where my mother Denise lives!"

"Your mother?" Bailey's eyes suddenly lit up with fire: "Is she beautiful?"

"Beautiful, extremely beautiful, you have definitely never seen such a beautiful woman!" Weisdong nodded frantically: "And no one has touched her for more than ten years. I am willing, I am willing to give her to you, please let me go!"

"Really?" Bailey licked his lips. "Where is she?"

A few minutes later, Bailey came to Denise's door and kicked it hard, breaking it into pieces!

Bailey dodged a thrown bottle and walked into the door amid screams of horror.

tear-

"Tsk, ma'am, you are wearing too much."

……

(End of this chapter)