I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 204 Stationed
"You mean, Berry's gang, disguised as bandits, still occasionally appears in the mountains?"

"Is this greedy fellow addicted to robbery?"

Luke rode on his Andalusian horse. After six months of grooming, the horse's appearance had been modified so much that it was difficult to recognize it as the same horse Berry had captured. Hearing George's words, he regretted taking off his heavy chainmail. As they approached the edge of the forest, he stopped to rest for a moment, and with the help of Ryan and Miller, put his twenty-plus pounds of armor back on.

Speaking of pitiful, Luke is now a man with a family and a career, but his core equipment is still this sleeveless chainmail that has been passed down for at least two generations.
"There's no need to worry too much. We have five men, two cavalrymen and three crossbowmen. Only someone who's blind would dare to attack us," George said nonchalantly.

Luke glanced around at everyone and agreed, "That's true. But it's always better to be safe than sorry."

Ryan's horsemanship is almost perfect. Although he can't use a lance, riding a mountain horse and wielding another longsword and a kite shield, he is a formidable opponent for ordinary infantry unless he encounters a seasoned spearman.

As for George and Miller, each of them was equipped with a light crossbow and twenty bolts, which increased their combat power many times over. Hans even carried the most powerful heavy crossbow.

The stag-embroidered robe was very beautiful. Ryan, with eyes full of envy, helped Luc mount his horse, glanced at him, and couldn't help but laugh:
"I'll make you a robe later, but for now, you can wear this black cloak."

Luke had always been very attentive to the organization of the army. After the cloak was completed, he worked through the night to make ten uniform black cloaks out of new linen. Although they were somewhat flashy and impractical, it must be said that the fact that everyone had a set of armor and a cloak immediately made them look more reliable. At least they looked more like a real army than a horde of peasant soldiers.

They set off again, following the same grain transport route back to David's territory. After a while, Luc stopped and squinted at the view.

After more than half a year, a row of sharp fence posts had been erected in front of David's territory, and an eight-foot-tall arrow tower sat on a slightly higher mound, blocking the main road leading north and south.

"Looks like he's been harassed by Berry quite a bit."

It's something an ordinary bandit couldn't do to get a strong knight to build an arrow tower.

The sound of horses' hooves rang out, and with the shouts of the arrow tower guards, chaos erupted throughout the village. As a warning sound came from the castle, Luc ordered Miller to unfurl his yellow banner with a black deer.

……

"Ha, so you're old Baldwin's son-in-law? The contractor for this church renovation?"

Inside the castle, David, with his deep-set eyes and aquiline nose, looked sizing up the smiling Luc.

Dior's butler looked on in astonishment, never expecting that this man was actually a nobleman.

"Yes, I have received the documents from St. Vincent's Church. I would be very happy to help build a church in the territory to spread God's light. However, I can tell you very clearly that apart from you, I can only provide lodging for others. Food will still cost money, and they will have to be far away from my village. This is not because I am being unreasonable, but because your soldiers are a great threat to us."

David had always felt sympathy and pity for the Baldwin family's plight. He had assumed that Baldwin's beautiful daughter had married a dirty old man, but he never expected that this newly appointed knight would be so young and strong.

At this point, David couldn't help but recall the crossbow bolts fired by the other party's entourage outside the door, and a hint of worry flashed in his eyes.

He had witnessed the power of crossbows, but unfortunately, he didn't know how to make them himself.

"A reasonable arrangement," Lu Ke readily agreed.

"Secondly, as you probably already know, I don't have any stone here to build the church, otherwise it wouldn't have been abandoned for so long. If you want stone, you can only go to Baron Berg's quarry in the southwestern country of Auvergne to buy it. Of course, this is just a suggestion."

"the last point."

David composed himself, held up one finger, and said, "I have held these fifteen prisoners for you for several days. You must pay the ransom now. I only sold them to you because of old Baldwin's kindness!"

David's requests were not unreasonable, and Luc agreed to them all.

Seeing that Luke readily agreed, David nodded in satisfaction. He had some vassal relationship with old Baldwin, and after thinking for a moment, he said to Steward Dio, "Give Knight Luke seven tents for his lodging."

Before Luc could express his gratitude, David pointed to Luc's burqa and said, "No need for further words. If you really want to thank me, why don't you make me a burqa like this one sometime? The price is negotiable."

Heraldic cloaks not only enhanced a knight's prestige, but the experienced David also saw other military advantages, such as protecting armor from rain and sun exposure, thus reducing wear and tear.

Looking at David, who was even more decisive than himself, Luc smiled and nodded. He didn't stay for the meal; having settled the matter, Luc instructed Ryan and Hans to gather the slaves, while he went to collect the tents and opened Hugo's map to study it carefully.

Staring at the baron's territory about thirty miles to the southwest of the map, Luc's eyes were unreadable.

David was right. There was indeed no good stone near his territory; it was mostly sandstone. Hugo had specifically reminded him in a letter that a church built of sandstone would require constant repairs over decades, so he hoped that he would use limestone instead.

But at this time, this stone mine happened to be under the control of this person.

Luc gripped the hilt of his sword. If anyone in this world knew his original identity, it would be Baron Berg!
"It seems he won that war."

Luc couldn't help but recall the war he fought for the Baron three years ago, a war that was actually sparked by the struggle for this quarry.

As a valuable stone mine, it could easily generate thousands of pfennigs in revenue, making it well worth launching a military invasion.

After all, Luke had heard that two knights in the Alsace region had even fought over a honeycomb.

"Sir, the prisoners have all been bought!"

Ryan turned back from the side, interrupting Luc's thoughts. Following his arm, one could see Hans leading fifteen naked men, covered only by shorts, standing dejectedly in a line a short distance away.

Luke's gaze swept over them one by one, and he frowned slightly: "Why are they so thin?"

They're practically disaster victims now!
Knowing that David couldn't possibly feed them properly, Luke thought for a moment and then told Ryan to go to David and buy some food.

As a contractor, the food expenses could be reimbursed by the church.

Anyway, the church is rich and powerful.

Having spent 1,500 pfennigs to buy a bunch of hemp stalks, Luc was not discouraged. He set up camp in the southwest of David's territory with his tent, then lit a fire to cook porridge. Luc routinely showed his favor to the fifteen slaves who were now his subjects. He had mastered this method. However, unlike the previous disaster victims, Luc keenly noticed that one or two of the slaves had cold and stern faces.

"Looks like he's seen blood before."

Luke grinned, thinking to himself that these prisoners were originally captured by Berry when he suppressed the rebellion. It was not surprising that a few of them were bold, but it didn't matter. There would be plenty of time to subdue them later.

As night deepened, just as Luke was distributing wheat porridge to the slaves, a group of well-equipped "bandits" were keeping a close eye on the distant campfire in the secluded woods to the east.

"Sir...no, sir, are we sure we want to rob them? The master instructed us to plunder caravans as much as possible, especially the Jewish group that regularly supplies David with grain. There are quite a few of them, and they're not easy to deal with."

"What do you know?"

The leading man wore a ram's horn mask on the upper half of his face and painted colorful stripes on the lower half, making him look like a chieftain of a barbaric tribe. He glared at his subordinate and said in a gruff voice, "Didn't you see they're encamped outside their territory? And there's a pile of grain next to them?"

"If we don't rob them, who will we rob?"

"As for the number of people, ha, a dozen or so unarmed men are lambs to the slaughter. As for the other guards, once we break in, they'll be thrown into disarray by their own men. We'll take as much food as we can, and if we can't take it, we'll burn it!"

"More people aren't necessarily better!"

"Okay, you're the boss, we'll listen to you."

Seeing his subordinate shrink back, the man behind the ram's horn mask turned his head and unconsciously gripped the hilt of his sword.

He didn't say a word—it would be best to take advantage of the chaos to kill the guy who stole his knighthood!

(End of this chapter)