I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 206 Post-War Settlement
"Damn it, is it those damned bastards calling again?!"

With a stern face, Knight David hurriedly put on his armor with the help of several squires and rushed out of the village following the sound of the alarm bells.

His subjects numbered nearly two hundred, but he had only five private soldiers: a squire on horseback, three spearmen, and one archer.

With them at the core, twenty armed soldiers rushed to the village entrance. The outline of a campfire was faintly visible in the distance, but apart from the howling wind, there was no trace of any bandits. Doubting, David went to the camp and happened to see Ryan whipping the prisoner whose leg had been nailed to the ground.

"Where is Knight Luke?"

David reined in the prisoner, his gaze lingering for a moment on the prisoner's wounds. "Who is this?"

The camp had calmed down, but it still bore the obvious marks of a ship ravaged by a storm.

Messy footprints and charred remains were scattered all over the ground. A row of naked corpses, each in a different manner, were laid out outside the military tent. A dozen slaves were huddled in a corner, and George rode his warhorse around to supervise them.

"It's Sir David! My master is in the military tent. As for this damned swine, he's a bandit who attacked us!"

Ryan bowed with his hand on his chest, then raised his riding crop and lashed it across the prisoner's face. A gruesome gash appeared, running from the prisoner's eye to his mouth. Ignoring the prisoner's hysterical screams, he spat and said, "This fellow not only dared to ambush a noble knight, but even falsely accused himself of being one of Baron Berry's men, claiming he sent them out to plunder. This is utter nonsense! My lord ordered me to punish this liar!"

"Bandits? Berry?"

David glanced deeply at the prisoner tied to the tree stump, who kept insisting on his innocence, and squinted, lost in thought.

After a while, he ordered the spearmen to help George maintain order, while he himself led his entourage straight to the military tent.

He lifted the tent flap and bumped into Luc. "Sir David? I was just about to look for you."

The tent was filled with the strong smell of herbs. David sat down on a wooden stool as Luke pointed him out, and looked at Hans and Miller beside him.

Hans leaned against the oak frame, his trousers rolled up, a clean strip of linen tied tightly near the wound, his whole body grimacing. Miller, on the other hand, simply lay on the straw mat, his chest bare, a hideous sword wound spreading from his left shoulder to his right waist with the rise and fall of his chest.

"Lucky fellow," David, a seasoned warrior, muttered as he withdrew his gaze.

Miller's wound looks horrific, but it's not actually deep. With proper treatment, it shouldn't be a big problem, provided it's actually treated.

On the contrary, Hans is very likely to become crippled like Paul.

Luc understood this as well, and once David was seated, he immediately got straight to the point: "You've seen my situation, so I'm going to buy some honey from you."

Hans Miller's wound had just been disinfected with saline solution, and to be on the safe side, Luc was going to apply honey to further prevent infection, and then carefully wrap it with dandelion and boiled linen.

This is a method that Hugo used.

David nodded in agreement; he didn't need the honey.

“Honey is not a problem, but I have a question.”

He bent down slightly, his gaze intense: "Why did you make that guy change his mind and say he wasn't one of Berry's men!"

Nobody is a fool. Not only David, but all the other knights knew that this band of bandits was most likely Berry's men. But if they couldn't catch the bandits, even if they had ten witnesses, Berry wouldn't admit it. He would just take the opportunity to say, "Damn it, why don't we pay some more bandit-suppression tax?"

David didn't think Luc was an idiot; he thought the other man was just afraid of offending Berry.

“If you’re worried about offending the Baron, you might as well hand this guy over to me.”

David suddenly gritted his teeth and said, "This ostracized knight has been extorted far more than Luke!"

However, Luc shook his head. Medieval lords, to put it nicely, were feudal lords; to put it bluntly, they were large-scale bandits who seized mountains, mines, land, and forests.
What good would it do to capture him? Berry would deny it to the death; could David really lead a group to attack him?
"No need, I have other uses for him."

Luke didn't want to talk about this anymore. After thinking for a moment, he said, "This band of bandits left behind seven corpses, so they are no longer a threat. I suggest we cut off their heads and stick them around the camp to deter other bandits."

"Well, that's what I meant."

Seeing that there were no special circumstances, David went back to sleep. In the middle of the night, he sent someone with a jar of honey, paid ten pfennigs, and told Luc that the stake would be finished by noon the day after tomorrow.

He called Ryan over and told him to cut off all the heads and throw the bodies into the forest. It was too hot, and they might start to rot by tomorrow.

After treating Hans and the others' wounds, Luc returned to his tent with the collected spoils of war.

"Three suits of leather armor, seven short swords? And four shields, not bad, but the shields are too rudimentary."

These shields were not even as sturdy as those forged by Luke, so he glanced at them and tossed them aside, focusing instead on the captured weapons.

Weapons like the steel cross sword, which can be described as divine weapons, are extremely rare. Most ordinary short swords can only last for about ten battles, and that is under the premise of careful repair.

For example, Luke's earliest weapon, after repeated polishing, had its blade shortened by a third, and it would probably break in the next battle very soon.

Not to mention that after a series of killings, even brand-new weapons may develop noticeable chips.

This is why, in the Middle Ages, having an iron sword was enough to qualify someone as an armed soldier.

"Fortunately, they were well-equipped; otherwise, Hans would probably be dead here today if he had been carrying wooden forks that had been smoked with excrement."

They put the seven iron swords away, took three leather armors, and gave one to each of George and his two companions.

This battle was won entirely because of their sacrifice; this is a reward for them.

Luke didn't have much money left and still needed to buy stone.

The afterglow of the battle lingered for several days, until wooden stakes, each bearing a rotting head, were driven into the edge of the forest, and Hans's leg was no longer seriously injured.

"Good, at least you didn't become a cripple like Paul."

Hans is a useful soldier and laborer, and Luke still cares about him.

Unfortunately, Miller's wound was too long and the weather was too hot, so the wound on his waist started to fester. All the honey was used up and a pot of dandelion root was boiled and fed to him to reduce the inflammation, which prevented it from getting worse. This also meant that he was temporarily unable to wear a shirt and wandered around among the people digging the foundation all day wrapped in linen bandages.

That's right, Luc is ready to officially build the church!

Hugo's supplies and letters have all been delivered, along with three young apprentice craftsmen. Luc opened the letter and read that his old friend said most experienced stonemasons were gathered in Milan and Rome, and the few who were there were controlled by various powerful lords. Having three apprentices was the result of his best efforts to gather them for Luc.

"Eight hundred pfennigs for three months? The salary is fine, but the letter clearly states that I'm not allowed to take anyone with me. Ha, he really knows me well."

You can leave it behind, but you must learn some of the techniques yourself!
Luc smiled as he closed the letter, then looked up at the thin but capable man in front of him, his smile gradually fading.

That was an uninvited guest who had nothing to do with the construction of the church, yet arrived along with it.

Luke spoke softly:

"Raoul? A Norman?"

(End of this chapter)