Chapter 280: Returning to Kendall — Five Gold Coins and Departure

Mr. Kendo had not been seen for many days; although he looked a bit haggard, his spirits were exceptionally high at this moment. Seeing each other, uncle and nephew were naturally moved to tears, speaking to one another.

Mr. Xiao Simengsi spoke of the abuse he suffered in the bandits' lair and the process of his subsequent rescue, while Jier chimed in with some details.

Mr. Kendo also spoke of the various efforts he and the family members and partners of the chamber of commerce had made after Mr. Xiao Simengsi was kidnapped. Compared to other efforts, Mr. Kendo frankly admitted that hiring the warrior Jier, who had some fame in Kendall, was the most effective.

Mr. Kendo had not expected that Jier would really run into the mountains occupied by the bandits all by himself, risking immense danger to rescue his nephew and a large group of commoners.

Although some people left during the subsequent escape, and they were attacked by the Bandit Leader who had been waiting for them after arriving at Bingxun Pass, they had, in any case, persevered through it, thanks to Jier and the commoners.

Hearing Mr. Xiao Simengsi speak of the origins and encounters of the various commoners, Mr. Kendo, who had not expected the extent of the bandits' rampant behavior, stated that he would contact other large merchant guilds in Bingxun Pass afterward to brainstorm ways to change the current situation of rampant banditry on the Shanglu.

As Jier listened to them talk, thoughts of how to eliminate those bandits turned in his mind.

Relying solely on the militia's clearing operations every winter was, of course, not enough; after all, the bandits were not stupid. They knew the militia would only mobilize during the winter when there was no farm work. In ordinary times, unless the Kendall Baron wanted to wage war, it was impossible to gather enough militia who needed to farm.

Calculating the time, those bandits would always avoid the clearing militia early on, hiding in the mountains or neighboring counties. The Kendall militia rarely pursued bandit groups deep into the territory of neighboring counties—not that they couldn't, but in these few counties on the Kingdom's Xīběi border, the population was sparse, and the Nobles preferred to develop their own territories independently and did not like to interact with each other.

Even if they served in the Province Capital, they would not engage in any friendly exchanges when they met. This was very different from those Nobles who had little territory and lived mainly in large cities.

In the eyes of those Nobles who lived in large cities year-round, such Nobles who possessed vast territories and great strength, while still Nobles and superior to others, still seemed very rustic, possessing neither grace nor good manners and etiquette.

After saying this, Mr. Xiao Simengsi had a shop assistant of the chamber of commerce bring over the head of the Bandit Leader whom Jier had killed, for Mr. Kendo to verify.

The face of this old bandit had appeared when he kidnapped Mr. Xiao Simengsi, and Mr. Kendo still had an impression of this face. With a smile on his face, he lightly patted the cheeks of the bandit's head with his palm and had the Steward in charge of finances bring over a valuable Money Box.

The heavy little Money Box was brought over personally by the Steward in charge of finances in the chamber of commerce. Although this box was not large, it was made entirely of a very hard wood, and the key parts were crafted from steel. There were three locks on the front; Mr. Kendo held two, and the Steward in charge of finances had one.

The two opened the metal locks one after another with their keys, counted, and Mr. Kendo took out five Gold Coins, then closed the Money Box and locked it.

Lining up these somewhat heavy Gold Coins on the table, Mr. Kendo sat up straight and pushed one Gold Coin toward Jier first: "This is the commission for you finding the location of the Luodai Cave bandits' lair; please accept it. With the accurate location of their hideout, this year's militia clearing operation will deal them a heavy blow. Thank you very much."

Jier put this Gold Coin away: "This was all agreed upon. To be honest, I hadn't realized before that the bandits here were so severe. Next to the bandits' lair, there was actually a Shikeng filled with the corpses of poor people who had been captured by the bandits and then died. Sigh, some corpses even moved spontaneously after death; it was truly terrifying and pitiful."

When Jier spoke of this Shikeng, Mr. Xiao Simengsi beside him could not help but tremble all over. Although they were not allowed to look at the time, Mr. Xiao Simengsi had still snuck a peek. Now, whenever he thought of it, it made him shudder.

How could such terrifying things exist in the same world as them?

Mr. Kendo muttered something upon hearing this news. He looked at his nephew trembling beside him, and seeing this usually composed nephew in such a state, he believed that the young Jier was not lying.

Immediately after, Mr. Kendo pushed three Gold Coins across the table to Jier: "This is the reward you deserve for heroically saving my nephew; please accept it. This is the gratitude of our Simons Family and the Simons Chamber of Commerce toward you." After saying this, he patted his nephew beside him.

Mr. Xiao Simengsi took a deep breath, looked at Jier opposite him, and said: "In addition to these monetary rewards, your heroic actions have earned my personal friendship; you will be my friend for life. Jier, although you are young, you are heroic, strong, cautious, and not lacking in kindness. I am proud to know a warrior like you."

Jier was very happy, and he was also glad to have met Mr. Thales Simons through a bold rescue operation. The fact that the other party had bravely rescued other trapped commoners when he was being rescued showed that he was a person of noble character; he himself had hesitated when facing the other trapped commoners at the time.

Jier reached out and shook hands with Mr. Xiao Simengsi across the table, their four hands joining and shaking heavily several times.

Only then did he collect the three Gold Coins in front of him and put them away in the inner pocket of his clothes.

Mr. Kendo pushed the last remaining Gold Coin over. He patted the bandit's head on the table, smiled, and said: "This is proof of your bravery and strength; please accept it. If possible, I will find a way to hand over the bounty for this wanted bandit to you later. However, it might take some time to process it."

Jier smiled: "If possible, please deliver the money to the Fox Tail Chamber of Commerce in Kendall City. Either the old Fox Tail president or Steward Jamula of the Fox Tail Chamber of Commerce will do; they are both people I trust. After all, I have other matters to attend to later and may not be staying in the city."

Mr. Kendo touched his well-maintained, elegant handlebar mustache: "Oh, I didn't expect that you, Jier, actually know that old Fox Tail of the Fox Tail Chamber of Commerce. He is a very capable Merchant."

Jier looked at the hall of the Simons Chamber of Commerce: "Actually, I think the Simons Chamber of Commerce is also quite good; it is large in scale and very united."

Jier's praise made the people of the Simons Chamber of Commerce around them laugh. Mr. Kendo waved his hand: "Sigh, no, it is still far behind the Fox Tail Chamber of Commerce. We are just doing some small business by taking advantage of the conditions at Bingxun Pass; we can't even speak to the high-level officials in the county, so how can it be called a large scale."

Jier thought that was true. Although doing business at Bingxun Pass seemed very profitable, the Simons Chamber of Commerce indeed could not speak much to the people in power here or in the county. When in Kendall City, President Old Fox Tail could chat and laugh with Priests of other churches, and even Steward Jamula was a close friend of similar age to Knight Kela. In terms of relationships with the upper echelons of the county, it was indeed lacking by more than just a little bit.

Thinking carefully, it was even more than that.

The Steward and President of the Fox Tail Chamber of Commerce were both Priests of a secret sect. Although they did not show off in front of outsiders, they were all Priests of a secret sect who had mastered some deity who did not wish to reveal themselves.

And the Simons Chamber of Commerce seemed to have no religious inclination.

Jier felt that if the Simons Chamber of Commerce wanted to grow larger in the future, it would have to lean toward a certain church. Not only could it rely on religion to enhance the internal cohesion of the chamber of commerce, but it could also find a solid backer.

After all, not everything could be settled by spending money. Mr. Kendo was lucky to have met him, Jier; if he hadn't been able to find reliable manpower, either Mr. Xiao Simengsi would have been killed, or the Simons Chamber of Commerce would have yielded to the Thieves of Luodai Cave and become their eyes and ears within the pass.

In short, neither would have been a good outcome.

Of course, Jier would not speak deeply to a shallow acquaintance. Mr. Kendo could control such a large chamber of commerce, so he was naturally a Merchant with rich social experience; he did not need Jier to remind him, as he must have his own considerations.

After giving the last Gold Coin, Mr. Kendo took out eight Silver Coins from the money bag on his person: "I have heard from everyone about what happened yesterday. I won't say any more about your heroism, Jier, but your act of defeating those unruly bandits still deserves a reward. This is a little bit of my personal heart; please accept it."

Jier pushed the eight Silver Coins over with his hand, considered it, and then pushed four Silver Coins to Mr. Xiao Simengsi: "In yesterday's battle, the injured commoners also contributed a lot. I will be leaving here soon, so please use these four Silver Coins, Thales, to purchase some things or provide some help to the injured commoners; consider it a token of my heart. Please trouble yourself to tell them to live in Bingxun Pass for now; revenge is not something to be rushed. Life is still long, and there will surely be many opportunities for revenge in the future. Moreover, I, Jier, will keep this matter in mind. Also, pay attention to your safety."

Mr. Xiao Simengsi said nothing, nodded, and accepted the four Silver Coins. This money was not much, but for some of the injured commoners who had nothing, it was still an important help.

Afterward, Jier bid farewell to the people of the Simons Chamber of Commerce, went to a blacksmith shop in Bingxun Pass to maintain and inspect his weapons and equipment, and returned to the inn, using a large bag to have the Craftsmen at the blacksmith shop heat and forge some scattered metal weapons he had seized into Iron Ingots.

This matter kept him busy until nightfall. Jier had to keep an eye on those seized metal weapons of his, for fear that if he were not careful, the blacksmith apprentices doing the work would skim off some iron material.

Although he had weighed his metal weapons with the Craftsmen before melting the metal, the Craftsmen also said that there would inevitably be some loss when melting metal weapons.

Once Jier heard "loss," he knew he had to keep a close watch on these things, otherwise, any missing iron material would be counted as "loss" by the Craftsmen at any time.

Because the quality of the various seized weapons varied, the forging methods used were also different, and the metal materials used were even more so. The valuable steel weighed less than two kilograms, and this was melted separately; there were also over ten kilograms of ordinary iron material and a few kilograms of other metals.

Among the other metals, some soft metals accounted for a large portion. Because the equipment at the blacksmith shop in Bingxun Pass was not good, it could not well separate these mixed metals one by one. So they had to be melted together, leaving Jier to figure it out himself later.

After paying the fee of two Silver Coins, Jier loaded the Iron Ingots, which had been cooled with Kendall River water, into a large bag and returned to the rented inn.

After resting for the night, Jier left through the north gate of Bingxun Pass the next day and, after more than a day of trekking, returned to Kendall City.

From afar, through the murky yellow light, Zhao Ji saw Kendall City shortly before dusk.

He hurriedly pushed the Handcart in his hand, rushing to return to the gate of Kendall City before dark. Unlike Bingxun Pass, which never had a curfew, here, once it was dark, unless it was the Knights or members of the Kendall Baron family, no one else could call the gate open.

The few Soldiers guarding the gate were still the ones he was familiar with.

Seeing Jier return from outside, everyone patted each other on the shoulders and started talking.

Jier briefly told them about the situation of this trip, and unexpectedly, the Soldiers seemed very interested in Jier killing the bandits at Bingxun Pass.

They asked one after another how much bounty Jier had received from Bingxun Pass after killing the bandits. But when they heard Jier say that he was afraid of trouble and had not collected a single bit of bounty, these Soldiers all looked as if Jier had lost a lot of money.

Jier secretly complained about this: they were Soldiers of Kendall City, with Knight Kela and the Kendall Baron backing them, so naturally, they were not afraid of the Soldiers in Bingxun Pass embezzling the bounty for killing bandits. But he was different; he had no fame in Bingxun Pass, and at the same time, he did not know any people or officials in Bingxun Pass who could back him up.

So, between the bounty and potential trouble, he chose not to cause trouble, ending the matter with the attitude that whoever wanted the bounty could have it.

The composed Squad Leader of the city gate Soldiers, Jies, actually approved of Jier's actions. The other Soldiers had no realization of how terrible those Soldiers who maintained order in Bingxun Pass were.

And Squad Leader Jies, who had been a Soldier for many years, had dealt with those people quite a bit. Every time, he was angered to death by those people, yet he had no way to do anything; after all, those Soldiers were not the Soldiers under his command, and he had no authority to reprimand or train those Soldiers.

Those Soldiers were all paid for and maintained by the Government Office of Bingxun Pass, not spending a penny of Knight Kela's money. Even Knight Kela had no management authority over those Soldiers in Bingxun Pass, although nominally he had the name of the Lord Knight of Bingxun Pass to manage them.

But it was only power in name.

"By the way, is Knight Kela currently at the guard Jiedian by the city gate? I have something I need to find Knight Kela for," Jier asked the guards.

Nodding, the guards all said that Knight Kela was still at the Jiedian at this time, teaching Sword Technique to the resting guards; if there was something to find Knight Kela for, they could lead Jier into the guard Jiedian.

Leaving the Handcart in the city gate archway and asking his guard friends to keep an eye on it, Jier took a tightly sealed bag from the supplies on the Handcart, and carrying the bag, he followed behind the guard Kelike into this guard Jiedian, which was located at the city gate and built from blocks of rock.

This guard Jiedian had clearly taken war factors into consideration, so its gate was very small, and after passing through the gate, one had to walk with their head slightly lowered through a ten-meter passage to truly enter the inside of this Jiedian.

Along the passage on both sides, there were scattered small holes for Long Spear thrusting and observation holes at the top, middle, and bottom; if an enemy wanted to capture this place, they likely wouldn't be able to break in without suffering many casualties in this passage.

The ceiling of the hall inside the Jiedian was a sealed rock dome and was not open to the outside, so all the lighting here had to rely on lamps and fire basins.

The hall was mainly divided into two parts; the front half was a slightly more spacious area, and according to the guard Kelike, this was where they usually gathered people. Right next to this open space were many oak tables, and at this time, many guards were already eating at these tables.

The guard Jiedian provided meals, and Jier took a look; the food was all dry, very filling and substantial.

Kelike led Jier past these guards who were eating, and then through a staircase with a very gentle slope, they walked to the first basement level of this Jiedian.

This was where the guards' weapon and equipment storage and indoor training area were.

Jier was an outsider, so naturally, he would not be taken to visit the sensitive weapon and equipment storage area; the guard Kelike led him directly along the Rock Passage to the spacious indoor training ground.

Although it was called spacious, it was, after all, in an underground place built of rock, so there were many whole stone pillars standing in various places here, supporting the level above.

At this time, Knight Kela was wearing a winter Noble warrior outfit, holding a wooden stick and pointing out the posture of a guard practicing Sword Technique. Knight Kela's perception was very keen; when someone else walked into the training ground, he turned to look, and after discovering it was Jier, he threw away the wooden stick in his hand, gave a word to the few guards training, and then fiddled with the thin deerskin Glove on his hand as he walked over.

"Report to the Grand Captain! Commoner Qiao-Jier has something to find you for, will you meet him?" The guard Kelike had actually guessed that Knight Kela knew Jier just by seeing Knight Kela's actions, and earlier at the city gate, when Jier said he wanted to see Knight Kela, his inquiring manner was also very natural; no matter how one looked at it, it didn't seem like he was here to cause trouble, which was why the guard Kelike had exchanged glances with Squad Leader Jies and brought Jier over.

"It's Jier, you've come at just the right time, come over here with me," Knight Kela looked over Jier's current physique, then noticed the tightly sealed bag Jier was holding, and pointed to the side as he spoke.

Jier nodded to the guard Kelike, thanking him for bringing him to find Knight Kela, and then hurriedly followed behind the Knight, walking to the weapon and equipment storage room next to the training ground.

Knight Kela pushed open the door to the storage room; inside was an office for managing stored items, and a bored guard saw Knight Kela enter and immediately stood up to let Knight Kela take a seat.

This guard curiously glanced at Jier following behind Knight Kela, and before he could open his mouth to ask the Knight, Knight Kela told him to go out first, as he had words to say to this young man, Jier.

Once there was no one in the room and the thick wooden door of the storage room was closed, Jier placed the bag in his hand on the wooden table in front of Knight Kela, opened the tied bag, and displayed the Pure Elemental Crystal Fragment inside, which was emitting a faint earthy-yellow glow, in front of Knight Kela.

Knight Kela took a deep breath and swallowed his saliva.

After blinking his eyes, he used his finger to pick out a three-centimeter-sized Element Crystal and pointed at this object while facing Jier.

Jier hurriedly nodded, confirming that Knight Kela had taken this Element Crystal, and afterward, under Knight Kela's signal, he tied the bag tight and hung it on his belt.

Knight Kela gently placed this Element Crystal against his brow and moved it away after a touch; the brief contact caused an earthy-yellow, tiny energy chain to connect between his brow and the Element Crystal in his hand.

Jier was quite surprised; in his view, Knight Kela had only touched the Element Crystal slightly with his brow, and a thing that looked like a tiny lightning bolt had been established between his brow and the Element Crystal.

The connection between the two did not disappear all at once, but maintained this thing that looked like lightning—but was actually an energy chain—for at least ten seconds.

In Jier's line of sight, Knight Kela's eyes were also emitting a bright earthy-yellow light. He did not look like a Human.

At the same time, Knight Kela's entire body erupted with a layer of heavy light; this layer of light clung tightly to Knight Kela's figure, illuminating the room very brightly.

Soon, this intense reaction disappeared, and the connection between the Element Crystal and Knight Kela's brow was also severed.

Knight Kela laughed instead: "Very good, very good! Haha."

He stood up and patted Jier on the shoulder, then carefully placed this three-centimeter-long Pure Elemental Crystal Fragment into a small metal box he took out from his chest to store it away.

The two walked out of the room, and Knight Kela let the guard waiting outside the room go in to continue working, then let Jier leave with the guard Kelike who had brought him, while he himself went back to continue guiding the guards' Sword Technique skills.

On the way out, the guard Kelike still couldn't help his curiosity and asked Jier what he had found Knight Kela for.

Jier patted the bag on his waist and raised his eyebrows: "That's a secret."

Curiously eyeing the bag hanging on Jier's belt, the guard Kelike smiled and said: "Since it's a secret, then I won't ask."