I, the prince in distress, send money

Chapter 37 The building is crooked

There will be a slight pain when stepping on the tough cobblestones with straw sandals or bare feet. With the spring breeze blowing in your face, the touch under your feet will seem even more chilling.

Home Alone, dressed in a leather jacket, a straw hat, and riding boots, walked into Pinewood Town at noon, looking a bit out of place.

The town is built on the edge of a mountain, a river and a pine forest, and is triangular in shape.

When Home Alone walked in, thick smoke was floating over the town. Women were waving brooms, sweeping hard in front of doors and on the streets, clearing away dust and dirt.

Men were walking in groups of two or three on the street. Some were sitting on the steps by the roadside, talking and laughing, while others were carrying logs, wielding hammers and axes, and repairing platforms and poles on the open space on the street.

Home Alone didn't know what the use of these things was, but it was obvious that they were preparing for some festival.

"Hey, Singer!"

"Good afternoon, bard..."

"Hey, man, there's a Spring Festival coming up in a few days. Do you want to attend? I really like your voice."

The townspeople on the road greeted Home Alone enthusiastically. This was the result of him singing in the camp for several consecutive nights, and everyone in the town knew him.

In addition to the men, there were also some brave women and girls waving at him, motioning him to come over.

The little kid didn't dare to look, let alone go over. Besides the fact that he was afraid of being beaten to death by the local men, the local women's appearance was hard to describe.

Home Alone's mission in coming to the town was simple: to find a guide who could cross the mountains bordering the Kingdom of Bagnia. This mission was given to him by Chris himself.

Home Alone feels that this task is not easy, but it should not be difficult either.

After walking for a while and circling half of the town, Home Alone still had no idea what to do.

He came to a pub and looked in front of the door. There were many men sitting inside. Home Alone thought about it and walked in.

When the people in the tavern saw him, they also greeted the player warmly, and some even invited him to sing a song for everyone to enjoy.

"No, no, I won't sing anymore. I'll treat everyone to a beer to moisten their throats."

"Wuhu!"

"Ah, this is good."

Although drinking in the middle of the day is not a good idea, it’s free wine, who can say no?

None of the twenty or so men present could refuse, and even a few women in thick homespun dresses slammed the table, asking the tavern owner to quickly bring over the heavy wooden beer mugs.

Home Alone sat at the bar in the pub. He also took a glass of beer and asked the waitress to order a smoked sausage. He started eating while drinking.

After eating and drinking, their stomachs were temporarily filled and everyone in the pub got a beer. Home Alone waved to the boss to come over and settle the bill.

After doing this, Home Alone strolled to the small open space specially reserved in the middle of the tavern and cleared his throat vigorously.

The pub was very noisy, everyone was talking nonsense, but because of a free large beer, someone stood up and repeatedly asked the other men to be quiet.

"Brother, do you want to sing?"

"Hi, hi, applause and welcome!"

"咻咻~~~"

Home Alone quickly raised his hand and made a "pressing down" gesture, signaling everyone to be less enthusiastic.

"I'm not going to sing, I just have something I want to ask. Is there anyone... well, looking for a job?"

When Home Alone reached this point, he suddenly thought of a problem...Looking for a guide who can cross the mountains on the border of Bagnia does not seem to be something that can be made public.

No matter how you look at it, it doesn't seem like a legal thing.

How about giving a subtle hint?
"What kind of work is it? Long-term or short-term?"

A man shouted loudly.

Home Alone thought about it and realized that leading the team across the mountains was obviously not a task that could be accomplished in a short time. Moreover, the team only needed to make one trip, but the guide had to run home twice.

“Long-term.”

"Does this job require killing people?"

Home Alone once again thought about the caravan's two-month journey from Neama to here, and the troublemakers, bandits, and Bohemian troops who robbed people on the road that he had encountered.

The relatively peaceful Bohemia is in such a state. I heard that a civil war has broken out, and the territory of Bagnia, which is in chaos, will definitely not be peaceful.

"We will encounter battles along the way, and I will adapt to the situation..."

“How much is the monthly commission?”

Someone asked impatiently, interrupting Home Alone's next words.

how much is it?
Chris said this, and Home Alone remembered it.

"Five to twenty silver coins a month. The settlement fee is a bag of rice weighing one hundred kilograms, a piece of homespun cloth, and fifty silver coins."

Chris is a modern man, and he took into account that being a guide through the mountains is a very hard job that requires being away from home for at least half a year.

If the applicant is the breadwinner of the family, with a wife, children and elderly relatives to support, then the six months he will be away from home could lead to him dying of poverty or starvation.

Therefore, resettlement allowance should be given.

However, Chris didn't expect the player who accepted the task...

Well, Home Alone is relatively young, his thinking is rather unconventional, he makes some mistakes in his actions, and he makes some mistakes in his words. He did not explain the job content clearly when he held a temporary job fair, nor did he specify the number of people to be recruited.

When they heard about such generous conditions, including resettlement allowance, and the fact that they also needed to kill people, everyone in the tavern understood what kind of job this was.

"So you're looking for mercenaries!"

The hotel owner said it all, and some men in the tavern who had not thought of this suddenly understood.

"Hey, I have to work hard... I can't do that. I have a wife at home."

"I think this is okay. The settlement fee is fifty silver coins, which is enough for me to work hard for."

Hey, no, not a mercenary, but a guide.

Home Alone was a little anxious, and just as he raised his hand, he wanted to loudly resolve the misunderstanding.

A man in his forties wearing leather clothes, with a scar on his face and a visibly strong body put down the beer glass in his hand, stood up, and introduced himself to Home Alone in a low and hoarse voice.

“My name is Carlos, and I used to be a grenadier in the 1st Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Regiment, 3rd Guards Army of the Bohemian Empire.

I can throw a pot bomb fifteen meters away while wearing plate armor, am adept at hand-to-hand combat, and can use both a flintlock and a matchlock. I've also received training in loading and firing field artillery, making me a capable gunner.

Besides, if there's a need for anti-cavalry, I can stand on the front lines wearing plate armor and holding a halberd... and my salary requirement is thirty silver coins a month, and I can also provide a minimum of living allowance."

"kindness?"

Home Alone, who was about to speak, was immediately attracted by the man's words, especially when the word "grenadier" came out, he immediately forgot about "resolving the misunderstanding".

Grenadiers?
Elite!
The term "grenadier" comes from the infantry who could throw grenades during the era of muzzle-loading muskets in Europe.

Since the size and weight of hand grenades at that time were similar to those of small artillery shells, it was necessary to select soldiers with extraordinary arm strength from the infantry in order to be able to throw them.

During the battle, these soldiers need to be in front of their own front line, advance to a distance where they can fight with bayonets under the rain of enemy bullets, and then, without panicking or getting confused, throw small artillery shells at the enemy with all their strength, using the explosion to blow up the enemy formation.

Because of the extremely close distance, the explosion of grenades and the concentrated fire of the enemy can kill grenadiers, resulting in an extremely high casualty rate for this type of troops.

Such a harsh combat environment makes the selection criteria for grenadiers very harsh. A strong body, extraordinary courage, and a high sense of honor are all indispensable.

To the extent that this type of soldier is more valuable than cavalry, equivalent to China's vanguard and cavalry, and is the best among the elite infantry.

"Is this true? Are you a grenadier?"

While Home Alone was delighted, he also did not forget to question that the NPCs in the game could also lie. This was a lesson he learned not long ago.

"He didn't lie."

At this time, the tavern owner spoke, he walked out from behind the bar with his big belly and came to the side of Home Alone.

"Carlos is indeed a Bohemian Grenadier. He retired a year ago... Hey, Carlos, you haven't sold your armor for wine yet, have you?"

"No."

Carlos replied muffledly.

"The armor is at home."

"Go get it quickly, otherwise, it won't be easy to get a job that pays thirty silver coins a month!"

The tavern owner scolded him, and Carlos turned around and walked out obediently.

Home Alone was watching from the side. Even though he was still in the ivory tower of the university, he could see that the relationship between the two was not ordinary. The tone of the tavern owner sounded like an elder in his family talking to a younger one.

After Carlos left, the gray-haired, fat tavern owner turned to Home Alone, explained with a flattering smile, and handed a glass of beer to the latter.

"This is my eldest brother's son. He retired from the army last year. He has a wife and a son at home. My son is unmarried and needs a lot of money to settle down and start a family.

He doesn't have any other skills, he can only be a soldier and kill people."

"Oh."

Carlos left. Some of the other people in the tavern didn't want to risk their lives, but some of them were in urgent need of money.

"Hey, I... I'm also a veteran, a musketeer..."

"I'm a sword and shield man, I want twenty silver coins."

"Get lost! When did you become a veteran? Didn't you work as a caravan guard outside before, and then you were fired a month ago and came back in disgrace?"

The tavern owner shouted angrily, picked out the liar from among the men who recommended themselves, and kicked him away.

The liar didn't dare to refute and turned around and ran away in shame.

Home Alone didn't take this episode seriously. He also put his real mission behind him and happily talked with the applicants.

During this conversation, Home Alone can see the personal attributes of these people.

+Retired Bohemian Reserve Musketeers
Evaluation: Good at using Bohemian 12mm caliber matchlock guns, can arrange them in three rows, can be equipped with a one-handed sword, has certain melee capabilities, and has average morale.
+ Bohemian retired sword and shield veteran
Evaluation: Can be equipped with half-plate armor, one-handed sword and shield, is a reliable side cover for musketeers, can charge alone, high morale +
+Bohemian Recruits
Evaluation: Well, the ability ceiling is very high, but the morale is low. +
This is the player's private army system at work. Chris was lazy when creating the player's personal system and directly applied the module of the Protectorate player, so that now Home Alone accidentally triggered it.

Of course, Home Alone didn't know about this. He was just very excited and surprised that the game planner had hidden such a function and deliberately did not tell the players in the update.

This is really... great!

With this system, Home Alone quickly determined the types and abilities of the five mercenaries. This made him so happy that he completely forgot that he only had fifty silver coins in his pocket.

It’s okay, just because he has no money in the game doesn’t mean he has no money in real life.

At this moment, Carlos also came back. Home Alone looked up and saw a muscular man wearing half-body ribbed plate armor, a pointed helmet, and holding an axe gun walking in with clanging footsteps.

Home Alone hurried over and Carlos' personal interface popped up.

+Captain of the Bohemian Grenadiers--Carlos

Evaluation: Can be equipped with half-body bulletproof plate armor, halberd, axe, flintlock, matchlock, and grenades. High morale, never defeated, close combat hero, anti-cavalry. +
It’s worth watching Home Alone, this NPC... Wow, not only is it an elite grenadier, it also has its own name in the troop interface. This guy is definitely a hero unit!

"Okay, thirty silver coins a month? I'll give you forty silver coins a month, and you'll be my mercenary captain!"

Home Alone was so happy that he immediately announced the news in public, causing others to exclaim in surprise.

"Really? Forty silver coins a month?"

Carlos, the person involved, could hardly believe the news.

Home Alone was unhappy at that time and asked, "How can you doubt my ability?" He immediately took out his wallet and handed it directly to Carlos.

"Here, fifty silver coins for resettlement expenses, rice, and cloth. Come back to the camp with me to get them later."

The silver coins clattered in the purse, and the crisp collision stunned Carlos. After a while, he opened the bag and took out two silver coins.

They are all good coins, with no scratches or cuts on the surface.

"Is this a caravan hire, or are you hiring me?"

"I'll give you money, just follow me and listen to me."

"Understood, boss."

Home Alone looked at Carlos' name and his portrait that appeared on his follower interface with great satisfaction.

"Come, choose your future subordinates. Take a look at these people."

"When do we leave?"

"Let's talk about it after the Spring Festival."

(End of this chapter)