Witch Troupe and the Undead

Sewage flows into the river through this gate, and through the water gate, one can directly enter the capital's sewers, bypassing the numerous monsters and demons on the ground, and directly reach the treasure troves and libraries that store ancient knowledge and relics. Even without considering these, the cultural relics and gold and silver artifacts in the city are worth a lot of money.

The wheels creaked and groaned as they rolled over the dilapidated road, occasionally hitting small stones with a cracking sound, accompanied by unbearable bumps. The little witch, her arms wrapped around her cane, sat on a large, soft cushion, dozing off. Her wide, pointed hat hung low, obscuring most of her face, making her look like a pointed mushroom that was rhythmically nodding up and down.

After passing through the ancient streets, they arrived at the commercial street where the Sloth Demon resided. Obviously, vehicles couldn't pass through here. Roach patted the black satin pointed hat hard, and the little guy jolted awake, raising his head with a start. His large emerald eyes were filled with a dazed look, as if he hadn't woken up at all.

“Hey, you’re awake,” Roach said involuntarily. The blonde loli in front of him tilted her head, glanced at him, and nodded to indicate that she was awake.

"We're almost there." These devices need to be transported in about three trips, and each time Livia will need to set up a protective shield for everyone. Of course, the Imperial Survey Team and adventurers will also set up similar protective shields, but their protective systems won't last very long.

Exploring the commercial district, with its complex terrain and a large number of Sloth Demons, would undoubtedly take a considerable amount of time. Moreover, their protective spells could only protect themselves and could not dispel the Sloth Demonic energy on items, which meant that they could not determine the value of the loot they acquired.

They could only bring them out one by one, purifying and identifying them using a makeshift magic circle built on the ruins where Roach and his men had previously camped, to figure out what these things were and whether they had been destroyed by time. The first shipment consisted of the base and the magic circle. Black Horse found a suitable defensive position in front of the city gate, placed the base down, and then set up the magic circle and supporting pillars.

The second shipment consisted of the core and the inner and outer rings. These complex magical artifacts were carefully placed on a makeshift platform, with the relay pump arriving last.

These pole-like objects were inserted one by one by Lao Ma into the shallow waters along the riverbank, avoiding the influence of the inertia barrier, and then connected to the devices installed on the main road, eventually forming a complete line.

Meanwhile, Livia had finished adjusting the magic pump, but before starting the formal experiment, there was one more thing to do: add more magic traps.

Roach glanced at Leslie and called her behind a magically summoned earthen wall. "Here, take this!" He placed a Type II Roach Livia heavy crossbow in Leslie's hand, and then Vivi took out a helmet and put it on her head.

"Spread out the tripod and set it up against this wall. Very good." Roach checked the two ammunition belts of the heavy crossbow. One belt provided live ammunition, and the other was a finger-thick rope woven from luminous fibers. It hung down to the ground and was connected to a crystal-like rock spike device. A complex magic circle, nearly two square meters in size, spread outwards from the rock spike.

"Don't trample the array patterns, or the power supply will be cut off." Roach told Leslie to squat on a low platform made of wood, about the height of a small stool. This way, Leslie could just peek out from behind the earthen wall, along with the heavy crossbow that was set up.

"No technical skill required, the only requirement is... well, don't die." That is, dealing with the Envy Demon. If it were a person—the machine gunner is the second most important weapon on the battlefield, well, the first most important weapon is the commander. At the same time, the sniper is the second most important weapon on the battlefield, well, the first most important weapon is still the commander.

"This thing can explode?" Leslie's hair stood on end. Whether Roach's weapon was good or not was one thing, but whether it would explode or not was another. And whether it would blow up their own people when it exploded was yet another matter.

"No, no, it's just that if you use this weapon, it will attract a lot of the enemy's attention. Basically, unless the other party is a demon or something that has no independent consciousness, everyone will prioritize eliminating you."

Although this problem doesn't exist yet, with the spread of the "Rocky Livia" weapon series, sooner or later there will be snipers and squad marksmen in the magical world, and of course, machine gunners will definitely appear as well. The latter will certainly be targeted as well—in fact, it's like the first lesson for a combat sorcerer is learning how to activate combat shield spells as quickly as possible; those who can't learn it or use it well are already dead.

Livia directed Old Ma to install the magical traps she had made at the city gate, and then used her staff to create more temporary ritual sites to activate even more traps. Her "magical traps," according to all her companions, including Old Ma, were best left unused on the battlefield, otherwise… the souls of the enemies might find it difficult to rest in peace.

It's less of a trap and more of a setup. I wonder if she's been influenced by Roach, because she's started playing with magic explosions now. Of course, compared to Roach's simple approach of stacking explosive power and using armor-piercing projectiles, Livia is more of a combination of fire and magic.

"Pfft!" The little witch patted the doll in front of her hard. The exterior was made of rough linen and filled with ordinary hay. If it weren't for the blood-red rune on the exterior, it would look like an ordinary, very crudely made rabbit doll with short limbs and a protruding belly, looking soft and fluffy.

Next to the doll that one person could share was a collection of trap materials of various sizes, all made from what was available on the spot. There was a pumpkin head carved with a human face, a garden dwarf made from carrots grown in the cabin, and some other equally crudely made dolls. These things were piled up in front of Leslie's bunker, making the whole scene look particularly distorted and an eyesore.

Next, she infused these dolls and traps with her magic and soul fragments, giving them the ability to automatically identify and track, just like those murderous dishes.

"Alright, we can start the magic pump now." After setting up the trap, Roach also assembled the magic pump. The outermost seven metal rings floated in mid-air, parallel to the ground, and rotated slowly, while the inner two metal flat rings were intertwined and suspended, with the sculpted core sphere at the center.

On the base, two of the eight regular octahedrons rise upwards, connected to the magic circle on the base by a filament of light.

"Hmm~" Livia stood by the magic pump platform, gripped her staff with both hands and thrust it downwards with force. A spiral of light spread outwards, and every rune on the metal ring emitted a bright light. Then, a huge phantom of a magic circle appeared on the ground.

Rings of light formed by runes spread outwards, and countless concentric circles of runes formed a spindle structure centered on the core. Dark purple magic surged from all directions, and bright sparks of energy flickered between the octahedrons.

The slender filaments of light transformed into pillars of light, eventually converging at the center, where primal magic, almost tangible, dripped from the sphere into the center of the magic circle below.

The magic gradually illuminated the remaining four octahedrons, and the outer ring of the base was also fully lit up after all the octahedron nodes were lit.

With a faint metallic hum, a beam of bright light meandered from the base into the distance, like a babbling brook connecting to the first relay pump. The surface of the black pine wood instantly lit up with countless patterns, and the crystal at the top shot a bright band of magical light towards the second relay pump in the distance.

One by one, the lights were lit, and along the riverbank, a dazzling path of light gradually stretched towards the camp, eventually connecting to the pile of "totem poles".

The highly sensitive pole at the top quickly enters the charging state, and among the multiple energy storage systems, some perform well, some are unsatisfactory, and some do not react at all.

Alessina guarded these "magic pools," watching the runes on the rocks light up little by little from top to bottom, a very slow process.

"It really is a magic pool!" The mage of the investigation team looked at the totem poles in surprise. These things were indeed filled with surging chaotic elemental magic, but they didn't know how to use them. Ordinary magic pools wouldn't use this kind of complex chaotic magic, just like you can't use impure reagents in a chemical experiment—unless you want to see an explosion.

As the magic pump operated, the thorns entangled on the iron fence of the city gate visibly began to wither. As the magic of jealousy surged out like a tide, the monsters generated by the magic of jealousy also rushed out wildly, only to be met with the magical traps set by the little witch.

"Awooo!" The three-headed dog, carved from wood and about half a person tall, wagged its tail and pounced happily at the nearest vine parasite. The cute-looking dog head in the middle spat out raging flames at its prey, while the two heads on the left and right sides spat out lightning and corrosive acid, respectively. However, its battle was not very effective and it was destroyed by the vine parasite.

However, this was just the beginning. Various strange traps were gradually set up, including wooden figures that would suddenly jump out and perform spinning slashes; and rag dolls wearing lifelike pointed magic hats that would wave toy staffs and throw fireballs at their targets.

There are even more blatant examples, clearly modeled after a certain person, where a rag doll with its head sewn crookedly rushes towards its target and then explodes with a bang.

As for the big rabbit, it pulled out two improved Roche Livia light crossbows from somewhere and jumped out, firing wildly at the approaching Jealousy Monster. Without loading "ammunition," it fired energy swords, like magic missiles. They weren't very powerful, but they were numerous and had a certain tracking effect.

However, these traps were quickly trampled by the spreading thorns and jealous monsters. At this time, the magic pump had reached its peak output power, and the central core was no longer visible. Only the cascading stream of light could be seen falling into the magic circle like a waterfall. Even the magic circle itself was no longer visible. The entire device was almost shrouded in a soft, bright light, with only the seven outermost rings still clearly visible.

"Fire!" "Huh?" Leslie looked at Roach, who pointed to the weapon in her hand. She hurriedly lowered her sword, and then... "Whoosh—!" A sharp, whistling sound rang out, and swathes of sharp wind blades swept across the area at the city gate. All the approaching jealous monsters and thorns were shredded to pieces. Many wind blades even struck the city gate and walls, leaving marks at least 5 centimeters wide.

Mixed among the wind blades were a considerable number of live bullets. These simply manufactured metal bullets were only noticed when they occasionally grazed the steel fence and produced a trail of sparks; otherwise, they were drowned out by the whistling of the dense wind blades.

More and more thorns are converging towards the city gate. This is inevitable. Once the accumulated magic begins to be drawn out, the magic in the remaining areas will naturally converge here. Since the contact area or outlet is only so big, this accumulation phenomenon will eventually occur.

The entire city gate and ramparts were covered and entangled with dense thorns, making it almost impossible to see the street behind the gate. Only countless writhing thorns were frantically spreading towards the magic pump.

"Now!" Roach calmly pulled out a firework tube. At this moment, using magical items was no different from throwing a match into a swamp. However, it didn't matter if it was something made of ordinary gunpowder with added metal powder.

A burst of red fireworks shot out from the firework tube, and Alessina stepped on the switch next to the giant projectile crossbow on the other side of the camp.

The energy from the rows of "magic pools" on the left and right caused the crystal chips to light up, and the intersecting octagonal magic circles expanded outward, eventually converging at the center of the rhomboid mithril frame at the very front.

"That was quite a commotion," Alessina thought, glancing at the densely packed, brightly lit runes in the trench beside her, and the amplification structure formed by dozens of concentric magic circles overlapping each other. Then she released her foot.

There was no explosion of gunpowder weapons, only a dim beam of light shot towards the city gate. Upon impact, it unleashed a huge triangular magic circle, followed by a surge of multicolored elemental magic that transformed into fire rain, lightning, and storms. Within this chaotic elemental storm, even more intense reactions continued to occur.

"How do you suppress a raging fire? The answer is to create an even bigger fire right next to it," Roach said proudly. "Now the magic here is completely chaotic, and the elemental magic is suppressing the reaction of the sin magic." This certainly increased the load on the magic pump, but it also prevented too much sin magic from flooding in and drowning them all.

Livia glared angrily at Roach, then closed her eyes and began to extract a portion of elemental magic from the chaotic flow of magic to cast her spells, targeting and killing the thorn monsters on the battlefield who were in disarray from the recent impact.

For the little witch, this battlefield filled with abundant magic and destructive phenomena is the most suitable for her. She manipulates these magic and phenomena at will, creating countless killing storms on the battlefield.

As time went by, the thorns near the city gate became sparse. Roach's attack had already scattered a lot of the jealousy magic, and with the continuous extraction from the magic pump, the area near the city gate had become very thin. The jealousy magic flowing from other places was no longer enough to seal off the area.

The thorns slowly withered and disappeared, and the thorn walls that had blocked the road behind the city gate also withered, revealing the road and dilapidated buildings behind them. The thorn monsters would suddenly disintegrate as they walked, and the human skeletons inside would fall to the dust.

However, this only applies to the area near the city gate. After draining this area, the magic pump returns to normal operating efficiency. Although it continues to draw out jealousy magic, the effect is no longer as immediate.

"It seems the plan has succeeded, but there's a problem: how do we use such a large magic storage?" Roach was referring to the magic pool at the camp. They couldn't just use that super-large magic cannon to fire at the royal city every now and then, could they?

That thing was meant to be used only. The runestones and crystals on it were completely burned, and even the black ironwood casing that served as its base was turned into a bizarre and distorted state by the extremely high flow of elemental magic.

"Hmm..." The little witch counted on her fingers, looking troubled. Even though she had many energy-intensive experimental projects, it seemed like she could never use them all. And waiting for them to decay naturally would be too slow, probably not even as fast as the magic pump could draw them.

How long do you expect it to take to drain completely?

“Drain it? Impossible.” Roach and the Little Witch shook their heads together. “The jealousy magic in the city can't possibly be drained. As long as the ritual is running, it's impossible. In fact, the adventurers and knights of the survey team are still providing it with extra replenishment.”

"We can only reduce its concentration to a normal level, from lethal to dangerous. Completely draining it is unrealistic. At most, we can only drain it to the level of the background magic intensity of the area where we are currently located." Before discovering the magic siphon effect, which they didn't know if it actually existed, the magic pumps they made could only drain the surrounding jealousy magic to the level of the environment, not completely drain it.

Just like releasing water from a reservoir, at most the water level inside and outside can be raised to the same level, but it's impossible to lower the water level inside the reservoir to below the waterline outside, unless a pump is used.

Chapter 130 You dare kill my horse!?

Due to the completely different properties of magic and electricity, if the stored magic is not consumed, it will form a new high-magic zone centered on Roch's magic pool, and give birth to a large number of elemental creatures that are more troublesome than the Sin Demon.

Therefore, Roach thought of many ways to consume this enormous amount of magic power. Water and fire elemental magic power was the simplest. He introduced it into a large magic-powered water heater, so that everyone in the camp could enjoy free hot water and cheap purified water (purified water synthesized from water elemental energy, which is not drinkable and is one of the solvents for magic potions).

The wind and earth elemental forces are problematic. We can't exactly create a large storm and earthquake zone here, can we? In the end, we could only make a windmill-like device, driven by the wind element to rotate, which in turn drives the hardened drills reinforced by the earth element to drill through the equally reinforced stone slabs, thus wasting this part of the elemental magic. However, the relationship between elemental magic and elemental spirits is probably similar to that between penicillin and penicillin.

Elemental magic comes from the power generated when elemental spirits are driven, or it can be considered as the energy released when elemental spirits are drained. When casting related spells, high concentrations of elemental magic recharge elemental spirits, allowing them to exert greater power. Of course, just like the consequences of using antibiotics, elemental spirits will die or weaken in large numbers as a result.

This waste of elemental magic caused a dull and lifeless aura to surround the drill press, and the vegetation on the ground turned an unhealthy dark yellow, indicating that it had been eroded by high concentrations of magic and thus mutated.

Like nuclear radiation on Earth, this mutation is not necessarily benign. In fact, most of the time, the "magic erosion" effect does not produce any qualified magical ores or magical plants. Instead, it produces twisted and mutated withered vegetation and colorful toxic ores.

Humans are no exception. Therefore, mages who deal with the magic gathered by ritual fields all year round will also be corrupted by magic. However, as arcane mages, they can use rituals to selectively filter magic, just like the difference between radiotherapy and direct radiation infusion. Therefore, their symptoms will be much milder, but some mutations will still occur.

Sinful mages often exhibit symptoms similar to those of their major field of study, though these symptoms are milder and more orderly compared to those of completely out-of-control sinful mages. Elemental mages may also experience physical changes such as discoloration of their hair and beard, or pupils that resemble burning bright fireballs. These changes require years of continuous exposure and a high concentration of magic.

This is why high-level arcane mages don't need to constantly show their badges, because most people can tell roughly what level you are just by looking at your appearance. The little witch is no exception in this regard; the strange attraction and charm she exudes is a manifestation of "magical corruption."

Similarly, her light golden hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes, which resemble those of a celestial being, are also manifestations of this phenomenon, though it's hard to say exactly which type or types of magic are at play.

The witch's hut.

"Drink it~" Livia took out a bottle about the size of four fingers from her apron pocket and handed it to Roach and the others. No one asked what it was; they just drank it.

"You changed the formula?" This was the first thing Roach said after finishing the drink. The purple liquid in the bottle had a faint sweet aroma, unlike the deadly potion he had used before.

"Hmm~" The little witch, whose face still had a little soot on it, nodded seriously. After a lot of attempts (gesturing a big circle), she successfully changed the formula of this "magic erosion neutralizing potion" to its current form.

This potion is given to Roach and the others every now and then, mainly because they are already under the influence of extremely high doses of magical erosion while they are around her. Especially before, when they were in the "Living Forest," it was almost like living in the center of a large magical ritual field. If they didn't take a dose of Radonin every now and then, no, I mean the magic erosion neutralizing potion, everyone would be showing signs of mutation by now.

This is why civilized areas and the dark forest wilderness are always clearly separated. In addition to dealing with the dark forest, ancient ruins, and monsters, the environment itself needs to be dealt with when expanding into the wilderness. It takes time to clear the borders little by little in order to expand territory.

Due to the difficulty of this process, the Age of Discovery had long since ended, and various countries were now vying for the lands that had been discovered.

At the same time, this demonic erosion effect is also the root cause of the birth of various demi-human races. They always exhibit alienation similar to their living environment. Even the human forms of different countries are quite different because of this. For example, the Imperials are taller and stronger than the Archipelago people. Even if the Archipelago people live in the core area of ​​the Empire for more than 20 years, they will become just as strong.

"Collective Unconscious Field and the Plasticizing Effect of Mental Magic"—this was the relevant literature Roach found. The author was Livia's teacher. This impressive paper only had a beginning, and neither Livia nor Roach had any intention of continuing the research.

"Did they replace the original hyacinths with silver lilies?" Roach sniffed the empty bottle carefully and realized that the hyacinths were probably replaced with silver lilies, a more expensive enchanted plant.

“There’s also orange vanilla and burnt grass,” Livia said seriously. Both of these are plants from another world. The former smells like oranges and is a common spice; the latter grows in volcanic and lava areas and looks like burnt grass, but is actually a magical herb.

"I can't smell it." Roach only had a rudimentary understanding of potions; he could only distinguish common herbs, and he couldn't detect the deeper principles and details.

"But in that case, the cost of this potion has more than doubled, right?" Vivi was a little confused. She had also studied potion-making and knew that compared to citrus vanilla, charred grass leaves were at least three to four times more expensive due to the harsh harvesting environment.

Silver lilies are a demonized form of lilies. If the little witch hadn't been growing a lot of lilies in her flowerbeds, they would be difficult to buy on the market, not to mention the price of one silver coin per gram. They are not common herbs that can be artificially cultivated or harvested regularly.

Instead, it's a product of ordinary flowers being corrupted by magic. The chances of getting it are purely based on luck. You have to pre-order it from a herbalist, and it's hard to say when it will be available.

"But it tastes good~" Livia didn't seem to have given up her dream of becoming the owner of a magical dessert shop, nor did she give up her idea of ​​building a candy house, so everyone could only stop talking about her.

While waiting for the magic pump to drain the jealousy magic, everyone returned to their idle state. Vilandella was taking inventory of the items in the dragon's tomb. She obediently put back the trophies and other souvenirs, but she didn't hesitate to take the gold coins and treasures that Old Deng had collected to commemorate his first fortune as a dragon. Taking those valuable souvenirs made Vilandella feel like she was being a bit inhuman. Oh, not human anymore? Never mind then.

But those gold and silver treasures were a different story. While taking them, they complained that Old Deng had hoarded so many gold coins in his grave but wouldn't spend money to hire a skilled potion master to heal him. If he'd been healed, he wouldn't have to live in the grave anymore!

However, as mentioned earlier, for a dragon, assets are assets, and treasures are treasures; the latter is part of its life and memories—something it would never take out even until its death.

As for chopping wood, without the help of those cheap new adventurers, Roach has to do it. Do you really want to order Old Horse around?

The sturdy log was placed on the block, and an axe was picked up and chopped vertically, splitting it into two semicircles.

"Pay attention to your breathing when you apply force, aim at the middle part of the wood, yes, that oval growth ring, and chop down along the direction of the long oval."

"Why don't you do it?" Roach looked at Alessina, who was standing to the side with her arms crossed.

“Never mind then, I have something to do. Why don’t you come and help me?” Alessina pointed to the wicker basket in front of her, which was filled with potatoes, and there were already several peeled potatoes in the basket next to it.

"Potatoes again..." "What else do you want to eat? Fresh rye will be available in the fall, wheat is too expensive, and no merchants are delivering it to the camp. We still have some bacon and ham."

Alessina had just taken stock of the food in the ice cellar two days ago. This ice cellar was built by Roach and powered by fire elemental crystals—if it weren't for Old Horse and Tauren Chieftain being able to get Hell materials for free, the cost would probably be sky-high.

"We have plenty of vegetables, but our staple foods are currently only potatoes and a little bit of rye that we had saved up." Rye is different from the rye on Earth; it is a brown grain with a very bitter taste. Compared to other grains, it is easier to cook until soft, so it is the main ingredient in the porridge that the poor and even the common people eat daily.

However, if you add a little bit to bread, it actually gives it a unique caramelized flavor, so Roach and his friends bought some rye before.

"Sigh~" Roach wanted some rice or millet, but these two grains were obviously not grown here. He had asked the caravan in the camp before, and they said they had never heard of such grains. They had heard of beans similar to soybeans, but those beans grew in the Red Sand Kingdom. In other words... if the current continent was Eurasia, Roach and his group would have to travel from a place equivalent to Hainan to a place equivalent to Finland to find such grains.

Meanwhile, Roach finally managed to get his hands on a rough map of the empire's perimeter, provided by Mr. Byrne. Without the help of such established nobles, obtaining strategic resources like maps would be quite difficult.

"So, after we finish our work here, how about we go to the capital?" The empire is located in the southwest of the entire mother continent, or rather, the old continent, and its territory is shaped like the Arabic numeral 5.

The top horizontal line represents the northern provinces, including the territory of three provinces. Then comes the land of the capital and the two provinces directly under its jurisdiction. The middle vertical line occupies the plains of flowers and the Fergus River Valley. To the west are the towering central mountains, where the ruins of an ancient kingdom of giants are said to lie.

Roach and his group belonged to Luster Province, which was the protruding belly. To the south, along Carrion Bay, were Emerald Province and Hot Sand Province, as well as the "New Figon South Province," which was at the very end of the number 5 and theoretically belonged to the Empire but was never actually fully conquered.

Between that horizontal line and the protruding belly lies the salient of the Orcish Horde Alliance, a crucial point in the life-and-death struggle between the Empire and the Orcs, as their north-south connection could be severed at any moment.

If the Empire were to acquire this land, it would completely connect the northern provinces and the Luster province, leaving the Rada Kingdom and the Orc Alliance, which occupy the eastern side of the Luster Plain, facing an impenetrable wall with advantageous terrain and position. This would free up the Empire's resources to conquer and expand its territory on the fertile Luster Plain.

"Why do you want to go to the capital?" Alessina asked calmly. "I don't think there's anything wrong with living in the forest." There's no shortage of food and drink, the climate is pleasant, and there are no monsters (actually, there are quite a few). It's peaceful and simple.

"If we go to the imperial capital, we will inevitably get involved in some political struggles."

“Yes, but the problem is, we’re already involved,” Roach shrugged. “We’ve been involved ever since we accepted Mr. Byrne’s funding.” Roach wiped his brow. “However, you’re right. Hiding here on the Luster Plain, it’s indeed difficult for the Empire to get involved.” After all, it’s a border province, beyond the Empire’s reach.

"So, I'm just asking, don't you get bored if you're always staying in one place?"

“Sorry, I don’t quite understand the mindset of you spellcasters. Actually, I’d love to have some time to rest and have some peace and quiet.” Alessina shook the potato basket and tossed out the potato chips that had fallen in.

"I'm very busy every day," he said, "I have to cook, chop wood, and also spend a lot of time training my physique and swordsmanship."

"Alright, but we don't know what Livia thinks. Maybe she's interested, then we have nothing to talk about."

“That makes sense~” Alessina thought Roach was right. If the little witch really had ideas, then everyone would definitely follow along.

“Compared to the capital, I think she’d rather go to the Hot Sands Province to see the sand.” Roach spread his hands. The little one was very curious; she had never seen a desert before.

"It's even worse over there, there's a war going on there." Alessina had his own sources of information, which were the adventurers who bragged in the taverns. All he had to do was give them a few drinks, and he could get any information out of them.

After acquiring new weapons, the Parliamentarian army seemed to have a new approach, avoiding fighting the Governor's army in open plains and coastal areas, instead using "Loli Crossbows" and magic cannons to engage them in skirmishes in the mountains.

The knights were simply unable to launch a charge in the complex mountainous terrain, and after several squadrons of squire infantry had been wiped out, the knights were unwilling to expend too much of their squire retainers.