Chapter 326: Militia Camp — A Conversation with Knight Kela and the Knight's Arrangements

Jier and his group followed a squad of Militia across two mountain ridges, and soon saw the main body of the Militia, who were in the middle of setting up camp.

It was already close to sunset; the mountains were different from the plains, so one had to set up camp early, otherwise, by dusk, the mountain ridges would descend into darkness at an extremely rapid pace.

If one waited until it was dark to set up camp, it would be too late. Without the light of day, the troublesome and complex work of setting up camp would fall into a state of chaos.

It would be fine in the summer, but winter nights were both dark and freezing; if they failed to build enough tents for people to rest and stay warm, many young Militia members without experience in winter wilderness camping would freeze to death or suffer frostbite.

Knight Kela, who had extensive military experience, naturally would not make such a simple mistake. Early on, as the sun was setting and nearing the mountain ridges, he led the main body of the Militia to reach a mountain clearing that had been pre-selected by the scouting Militia to set up camp.

Thus, just as Jier and the others crossed the mountain ridge at dusk, they arrived at the Militia camp, which had basically finished its nighttime setup.

Because Kendall City had a large number of Craftsmen and sufficient supplies within the city, the logistics for the Militia were quite good. Not only was every squad issued food, water, and matching pots and fuel, but these Militia members, who were to undergo live-combat training, did not have to be responsible for carrying these logistical supplies while moving during the day.

These things were handled by some Scribes and assistants that Knight Kela had requested from the Government Office in the city; the Militia only needed to be responsible for clearing out the Bandits.

This was also why the final scope of the Militia's winter training did not exceed the boundaries of Kendall County. Within the county, Kendall Baron could still provide his troops with very good logistical support. Of course, once they left Kendall County, this convenient logistical management would be gone; one couldn't exactly take all the Scribes from the Government Office out of the county to accompany them on a campaign, could they?

Knight Kela would have liked to, but the other two Senior Scribes who managed the Government Office certainly would not have agreed.

At the entrance of the camp, a squad of Melee Militia was patrolling and guarding. Seeing that the outgoing Militia squad had not only captured four Bandits but also brought back some armed personnel who did not look like Bandits, these people approached to question them.

Ao Si, the Squad Leader of the Militia who was walking with Jier, told the questioning Squad Leader the news he had obtained. Clearly, news of a Magic Beast and a Forest occupied by a large number of Bandits still caught this Squad Leader off guard.

This person rubbed his hands and asked uneasily in a low voice, "Is this news reliable?"

Ao Si looked at the honest-looking Jier and his group behind him, then said, "It should be reliable. Besides, these matters are for the Knight to consider, aren't they? Why should we worry? We'll all be disbanded and go home in a few days. To be honest, participating in Militia training is much better than eating at home; I can eat salted meat every day. At home, I can only eat more fried dry Beans to fill my stomach."

"Who's to say otherwise? My old man wishes that all my brothers at home could come to participate in the training every year; it would save a lot of grain. It's a pity that the quotas are reported by the village; each person can now participate at most twice, and after that, it's not allowed," the questioning Militia Squad Leader said regretfully.

Because the patrolling Militia Squad Leader could not judge the news from Jier and his group, he had no choice but to follow Ao Si's squad, guarding Jier and his group from front and back, until they arrived at the center of the Militia camp.

Knight Kela's tent and the Scribes who managed the team's logistics were all centrally arranged in the middle of the camp.

The Knight's tent was arranged here, naturally not to protect the Knight himself; after all, Knight Kela had expressed that he alone could wipe out these hundreds of Militia, and no one in Kendall County could defeat him, so he naturally did not need protection.

His tent was arranged here, in fact, to make it more convenient for the Militia to find him when they had matters, and also to facilitate the Knight's command when the camp encountered unexpected situations.

The other Scribes and their assistants were arranged in the center of the camp purely for safety considerations. With the protection of hundreds of Militia around them, even in the mountain Forest ravaged by beasts and Bandits more vicious than beasts, they did not worry about safety at all.

Some Scribes who had become idle even took out exquisite flutes and, by the campfire next to their tents, blew into them while warming themselves by the fire, the sound mournful and lingering.

People passing by nearby would occasionally sing a line or two, so that the otherwise smooth flute music would not be too lonely.

"Report! Knight, there are Hunters claiming to be under Knight Lanisha who have matters to find you," the patrolling Squad Leader arrived in front of the Knight's tent and announced loudly.

The two sentries sitting on Wooden Boxes at the entrance of the tent tidied up their equipment and stood up to guard the tent entrance.

Before long, the thick cloth curtain of the tent was lifted, and Knight Kela, having removed his heavy armor, walked out carrying a food tray.

He saw Jier and his group under guard at a glance. He did not know the Hunters under Knight Lanisha, but he had seen Jier's armor twice before and immediately recognized Jier, who was still wearing his Helmet.

Casually handing the unfinished food tray to his subordinate sentry to hold, Knight Kela waved his hand, letting the patrolling and guarding Militia squad continue their work.

"Jier, I didn't expect to run into you here." Looking at Jier, Knight Kela said with his hands on his hips.

Jier removed his Helmet, revealing his head and face, and smiled: "Knight, as for how I appeared here, that is quite a story."

Waving his hand, Knight Kela first let Ao Si and the other returning scouting Militia go find the responsible Scribe to register the mission situation, and then hurry to eat and rest.

After Ao Si and his group happily registered the desperate captured Bandits, Knight Kela had a sentry arrange a place for Jier and his group to stay and rest, right next to his own tent.

The young Hunters and the rescued female civilians were distributed some food, water, and fuel, and then immediately began to busy themselves. The female civilians lit a fire and began to prepare dinner with the food and a small bucket of ice and snow brought by the sentries. The young and strong Hunters removed the weapons and equipment they were carrying and began to set up their overnight tents with a huff and a puff.

Jier and the three old Hunters were taken into his tent by Knight Kela to hear what news Knight Lanisha had.

There were no complicated things inside the tent; besides a Wooden Box containing Knight Kela's very heavy armor, there was only a cot, a simple low table with documents and maps, and a small iron stove containing charcoal fire.

Knight Kela had the sentry hand him the food tray, then placed it on the iron stove; the thin silver food tray quickly used the temperature of the charcoal fire underneath to heat up the cold food.

There was nowhere to sit in the tent, but Jier did not mind the dirt and sat directly near the small stove to warm his hands. Jier and the old Hunters told Knight Kela the things Knight Lanisha had entrusted to them.

Knight Kela listened to the experiences told by Jier and the Hunters while eating. Knight Lanisha had previously instructed that when facing Knight Kela, they needed to recount their experiences in detail so that Knight Kela could have a grasp of the entire situation.

"Bandits in the winter Forest? Heh, those Bandits really aren't afraid of the things in the depths of the mountains. But they are truly bold. *Huff*, and a Magic Beast; this time I was a bit careless. Kendall and I didn't expect that the Magic Beast that appeared this time would be such a difficult guy to deal with. It really was hard on Lanisha. Fortunately, that child has always been very serious, and is smart and strong enough." After Knight Kela finished eating, he held the heated food tray directly with his hand, not afraid of the heat, and placed it on the ground next to the small stove.

After nodding and commenting, he looked at Jier again: "I didn't expect you to have joined Lanisha's subordinates. Are you going to go with her to the north to deal with the Wolf Pack?"

Jier scratched his nose, hoping that joining Knight Lanisha's subordinates would not affect the future trade contract with Knight Kela: "Uh, yes. It seems there's nothing left in the south recently, and I'm not the type who can stay idle. When I met Knight Lanisha and her Hunters in the Forest at that time, I just went along with it and agreed. I heard that this winter, they are going to deal with the Wolf Pack ravaging the north of the county once again."

The three old Hunters sitting on the ground nearby also nodded, acknowledging that they indeed had this intention. In fact, they were quite curious; they didn't expect that Jier, this young man, actually knew Knight Kela, and seemed to understand him a bit.

"Ha, I like young people like this; they have a drive, exactly the same as when I was young." After a pause, Knight Kela continued: "I know about the things Lanisha arranged. After wiping out this stubborn Bandit nest, I will lead the Militia to continue moving forward and round up all the Bandit Groups hiding from the Militia. However, this period of time will not be short; at the very least it will take about ten days, and if it's slow, depending on the situation, it will take ten-plus days. Can the logistical supplies at Lanisha's place hold up?"

The few old Hunters were stumped by the question. They discussed it directly and felt that, according to the supplies found in the destroyed Bandit Camp that were not damaged—not counting those they carried out—it should be enough to last for quite a long time.

It was mainly that many of the winter supplies hidden by the Bandits were not stored in the camp, but buried in the surrounding Forest. They had killed all the Bandits in that camp at the first opportunity, so naturally, they couldn't ask about the whereabouts of the hidden supplies.

Knight Kela listened to the old Hunters' discussion and continued: "Since the food is still enough, then you do this. Tomorrow morning, you arrange for people to take the rescued civilians and a messenger to return to Kendall City with one of my subordinates. The news is very important; Kendall Baron himself must be notified so he can prepare and arrange the subsequent preparations."

He continued: "The remaining Hunters will return to Lanisha first to help her guard the Magic Beast's corpse; that thing is very important. It is both Knight Lanisha's personal battle achievement and a great honor for our Kendall County. However, Jier!"

"Present!" Being suddenly called, Jier replied immediately.

Patting Jier's armor, Knight Kela said: "You must stay. Although you said you joined Knight Lanisha's Hunter team, I heard that you had previously snuck into a Bandit nest alone and single-handedly rescued more than a dozen civilians? Your experience and combat power are indispensable for dealing with the nest of this Bandit Group next."

After he finished speaking, he looked at the few old Hunters again: "Jier will stay with the Militia first to help deal with the Bandits; you go back and tell Lanisha. I'll borrow Jier for a little while, haha, some of the civilians he rescued are already in the camp helping the Militia lead the way as Local Guides. However, compared to those civilians, Jier is likely more familiar with the vicinity."

The old Hunters looked at Jier, and Jier shrugged; they could only indicate that they understood.

Facing a Knight, they had no power to refuse. Knight Kela could completely make all of them help deal with the Bandits, and some of the young Hunters in the team would likely be very willing to do such an exciting thing.

After finishing their talk, Jier and the others took their leave of Knight Kela. Knight Kela called the sentry at the door and began to write a letter to arrange for the sentry to return to Kendall City tomorrow.

"Jier, you even know Knight Kela?" an old Hunter asked curiously, stroking his beard.

Jier followed behind the old Hunters and answered casually: "Yes, I met Knight Kela, who came out to handle a Monster, during an incident where I dealt with a Monster near Kendall City previously. Hey, my performance at the time was considered quite good, so I caught the Knight's eye." Naturally, he would not mention the important private trade with Knight Kela; he knew that matter could not be spoken of.

"Anything else?"

"And I have a particularly good relationship with the city gate sentries of Kendall City. Through one thing and another, I naturally became familiar with Knight Kela. Hey, you might not know, but I actually have a bit of a reputation in Kendall City, especially among the people who often go to the tavern to drink."

"Is that so? We Hunters are always running outside, mainly curbing the Wild Wolves developing southward in some places in the north all year round. It's only after the Harvest Festival every autumn that we basically gather in Kendall City," one old Hunter explained their usual work.

Only then did Jier realize that the Hunters were not always gathered together. Usually, they were old leading the new, using the Kendall River Ferry and Umi Lake Village as Jiedians, and along the road between the two, curbing the Wolf Pack probing from the north to the south.

Only in winter would they gather in Kendall City to rest and tentatively deal with the main activity area of the Wolf Pack north of Umi Lake Village with Knight Lanisha.

Of course, the number of Hunters was small, so naturally, it was impossible to blockade a very vast area, which was why Jier had encountered the situation of the Wild Wolf Pack fighting for territory with Monsters like Goblins in the wilderness west of Doraerlin Village.

While Jier and the others were talking with Knight Kela, the young Hunters had already quickly finished setting up the Tents for everyone to camp in. That rapid speed made the nearby Militia look on with envy, not only because the young Hunters had six female civilians beside them starting fires and cooking, but also because these young Hunters were able to set up the overnight Tents in the dark, relying only on the light from the surrounding campfires.

This skill made the Militia, who were thrown into a mess every day by dismantling the camp in the morning and setting it up at night, very envious. They all hoped that they could also have such proficient skills, and that they could have women to cook for them in this kind of wilderness and mountain forest.

It was amidst such envious and jealous gazes from the Militia that Jier and the others finished their meal.

The guards under Knight Kela brought over a lot of Cured meat and hard, dry Bread. Of course, there was also a barrel of drinking water frozen into ice blocks by the cold weather.

The rescued women lit a fire and then took out the small iron pot they were carrying. They first chiseled open the frozen drinking water and put the large and small ice blocks into the iron pot, which was heated until scorching hot by the fire. Then, they used the Dagger they were issued to cut the Cured meat, slicing the salty, fresh, fatty and lean Cured meat into small pieces and pouring them into the gradually boiling water.

Next, they used the handle of the Dagger to smash the frozen, hard, dry Bread, and then used the blade of the Dagger to press and crush the small bread crumbs horizontally, dumping them all into the pot.

The high temperature melted the fat in the Cured meat, wafting into a scent that made stomachs rumble. And with the added bread crumbs, the soup would not be too monotonous.

Jier and the others ate a full, hot dinner.

Afterwards, the women, who had been sitting on horses all day, tiredly crawled into the middle Tent among those that had been set up. Surrounded by young men, no matter what, it was better to be careful.

After eating, Jier took some feed for horses that the Bandits had prepared in the Yingdi from the supplies their group was carrying. Because Jier coveted these three horses, he personally took on the job of feeding them.

These three horses all had docile temperaments, and after a few days of feeding, they already recognized Jier. They no longer resisted Jier feeding them; Jier would hand food to the horses while using his hands to smooth out the knotted hair on their bodies, and at the same time, he would check for parasites on the horses.

It was estimated that because it was winter, the condition of these three horses was quite good, and Jier did not find many parasites hiding in the horses' hair. Moreover, after observing the horses' defecation, he did not find anything in the feces either.

Jier asked clearly who would represent Knight Lanisha to deliver the news back to Kendall City tomorrow; the heavy responsibility of returning fell on an energetic young Hunter.

Jier personally asked the old Hunters and learned that since these horses were the spoils of Knight Lanisha, they would be kept in the stables of Knight Lanisha's villa after arriving at Kendall City. The same went for the rescued women; if they had relatives or friends within Kendall County, people would naturally be arranged to send them there to be reunited and cared for. But if they did not, after obtaining the consent of these rescued women, they would later be sent to Umi Lake Village and arranged to be married to the unmarried young men in the Cunzi.

However, two of the women were already pregnant; according to Knight Lanisha's wishes, the two pregnant women were to live temporarily in her house to prepare for childbirth, and after safely giving birth to the children, they would find a time to move to Umi Lake Village to live.

Of course, it was not easy to arrange women with children for unmarried Villager men; most likely, they would see which Villager's family would need more hands in the future and settle the women with children in that family.

Umi Lake Village, which was often harassed by the Wolf Pack and had suffered slight population losses, would not refuse any newborn child. In fact, many resident families in the entire Kendall County had migrated from the Empire or other places with large populations; many families had constantly combined and split, and then combined again during the long migration process. In order to obtain a piece of reclaimed land of their own, the migrating civilians had suffered too much, and they no longer cared about anything.

As long as they could form a complete or incomplete family, the civilians did not care about anything else at all.