Mount & Blade: Rise from Impoverished Tenant Farmer

Chapter 13 Galon's House

Tonight, there are no clouds, and the sky is filled with twinkling stars.

The villagers carried Luo Xu slowly towards Jialong's house.

Sarah was also on a stretcher, carried by Galon and his son.

The village of Lantas was not peaceful tonight; a faint, intermittent sobbing sound drifted over from somewhere.

Is it the family of the militia member who patrolled this morning, or the family of that red-haired youth?

Luo Xu felt a tightness in his chest and dared not think any further.

"Luo Xu!" Walter appeared beside the stretcher without anyone noticing, grinning from ear to ear. "Good lad, you're even better than I was back then!"

"Captain Walter," Luo Xu turned to look at him, "How is Senior Jeffrey?"

"Don't worry, it's nothing serious."

"What exactly happened at that time?" Luo Xu asked.

After rescuing Sarah and Alina, he was in a hurry to return to the village and didn't have a chance to ask what had happened.

"Those two beasts must have planned this all along," Walter said through gritted teeth, recounting the events to Luo Xu.

The two deserters first ambushed and wounded Jeffrey, then rushed into the hotel.

Seeing that things were not going well, Sarah blew her bone whistle. They stuffed her into a sack and were about to leave when Alina happened to come over.

At the time, Galon and his eldest son were discussing matters in the meeting room, and the two cooks from the hotel did not dare to stop them.

"It was my carelessness," Walter said, rubbing the scars on his face, his voice filled with regret. "At the time, I just thought they were ordinary deserters, and I figured I'd keep to myself. I never expected them to be so bold!"

Luo Xu pondered for a moment, then said, "They must have some shady dealings with the bandits."

He recounted everything that happened after he left the village. Of course, he omitted the detail of holding Sarah in his arms.

"Did you feel any remorse after you killed them?" Walter wasn't looking at Luo Xu. He was looking elsewhere, appearing nonchalant.

"It seems... no." Luo Xu thought for a moment and shook his head. "At the time, one soldier begged for mercy, but I felt that they were evil people and that if I let them go, they would continue to harm others, so I did not show mercy."

"You did the right thing. In Calradia, don't show mercy to the wicked."

Before they knew it, the group had arrived at the door of Galon's house.

"Take good care of yourself and recover well." Walter patted Luo Xu on the shoulder and turned to leave.

"Oh, right." He suddenly paused, "Speedy said he wants to have a speed showdown with you once you've recovered from your injury."

"what?"

After Walter left, the stretcher swayed as it entered the yard.

I had seen Galon’s house from afar a few times before, and I thought it stood out from the crowd of thatched huts next to it.

Now, looking at it up close, it seems even more grand.

The front yard has a gravel path with several neatly trimmed shrubs on either side. The yard wall is made of stone and is much sturdier than a typical fence.

As the stretcher moved forward, a two-story stone building came into view.

The villagers carrying the stretcher stopped in front of the building, and several servants took over from them.

A white-haired butler instructed, "Take the guests to their rooms."

The servants carried the stretcher into the hall, which was even more spacious than Luo Xu's thatched hut.

The floor of the hall was not mud, but polished stone slabs.

Luo Xu stared wide-eyed at what he saw.

Was Galon really that rich?

The servants escorted him to a guest room on the second floor and then left quietly.

Thick linen sheets covered the bed, and Luo Xu couldn't help but close his eyes after lying down.

He's almost forgotten what a bed feels like.

My straw mat was too simple, and I would have back pain every time I got up.

A young maid came in carrying a bucket of clean water and began to wipe Luo Xu's body.

Luo Xu was quite uncomfortable. He was afraid that it would be awkward for both of them, so he hesitated several times but still didn't refuse.

He simply closed his eyes and brought up the Mount & Blade interface.

"【One-handed】3, distance from the next level: 2/42."

[Long pole] 3...

[Running] 9, Distance to next level: 61/121.

Luo Xu did some mental calculations and found that killing a deserter would grant him 100 experience points for each skill.

Even if you train hard for half a day, the running experience you gain will generally not exceed 40.

Wouldn't that mean you can quickly become stronger by killing people?

Hmm, that would work. Well-equipped soldiers would probably provide more experience...

Wait! What am I thinking?

Luo Xu suddenly came to his senses.

The young maid had already left with the bucket, leaving him alone in the guest room.

For a brief moment, Luo Xu had the illusion that he was playing a game: there were no moral constraints, and he could do anything to level up.

This world is not a game; everyone here is a living, breathing human being.

He can be ruthless towards evil people, but he cannot slaughter innocent people in order to level up.

Luo Xu drew a line for himself: if he wanted to level up quickly in the future, he could only do so by killing evil people.

Speaking of villains, he suddenly thought of those twenty-odd robbers.

If he kills them all by himself, he can gain more than 2,000 experience points, which will allow him to level up to level 18.

Luo Xu felt a surge of excitement.

It would be an impossible task for him to deal with more than twenty bandits all by himself; he needed to come up with a better plan.

The village of Lantas is now besieged by bandits, and the villagers are in a very passive situation.

But those bandits are human too; they also need rest.

If you lead a small team to raid their camp at night, you can definitely catch them off guard.

However, it's easier said than done.

The bandits are all keeping an eye on Lantas Village; once you leave the village, they will surely discover you.

They can only move in the dark at night, but others without the system's enhancements can hardly move at night.

Most importantly, they don't even know where the bandits' camp is.

The problem has come full circle and returned to Luo Xu.

He could only scout out the camp's location at night before leading the others there.

I'll discuss it with Captain Walter tomorrow, since I don't have as much practical experience as he does.

Luo Xu made up his mind, closed his eyes, and prepared to go to sleep.

He was already feeling sleepy, but after thirty minutes, he still hadn't fallen asleep.

Luo Xu reached out and placed his hand on his left chest, only to find his heart pounding.

What happened?

Thirty minutes ago, Sarah's image suddenly appeared in his mind, and he couldn't help but meet those deep green eyes.

The images in his mind kept changing, and Luo Xu seemed to return to the moment when he held Sarah in his arms.

He hadn't had time to think about these things before because of the urgency of the situation. Now that he's relaxed, the lingering feeling is spreading through his heart.

Her body softened more and more in his arms, and when their eyes met, she hurriedly looked away...

"Thump, thump, thump—"

The heartbeat was clear as a drumbeat, each one heavier than the last.

calm down!

You've only known each other for a day, you don't know her at all, how could you possibly like her?

Luo Xu took a deep breath, but still couldn't calm his heartbeat.

Moonlight peeked through the cracks in the window and spilled onto the floor.

Meanwhile, Sarah was also awake.

She lay in bed, her cheeks flushed, tossing and turning.

She suddenly seemed to realize something and abruptly grabbed her hair.

"Don't even think about it!"

Her mind cleared for only a few seconds before Luo Xu's smile appeared before her eyes, and she was captivated again.