I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 261 Turning a Clumsy Act into a Clever Success
This autumn in Burgundy was different from usual, with heavy fog, especially when the white fog enveloped the dense forests, resembling a thick spider web, which was enough to inspire awe just by looking at it from a distance.

In the thick fog, the group struggled to come to a stop.

"Phew~ Damn, why does it smell a bit pungent?"

Beside an elm tree as thick as a man's waist, the fat man pulled out an acorn from somewhere, threw it into his mouth, and muttered as he chewed.

"Perhaps the fog here is different."

Beside the fat man, the tall Byrne adjusted his leather armor and casually responded to his squire.

He wasn't wearing his own chainmail, which was too heavy, but just to be safe, Luke lent him the double-layered leather armor he had captured earlier to ensure basic safety.

After carefully examining Charlie and finding nothing wrong, Byrne looked up at the bearded man at the front.

"Hey buddy, how's it going? Can we still find any trace?" Byrne shouted.

“It’s a bit difficult, but I have a way to deal with it,” a muffled voice replied.

"That's good."

Byrne nodded, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the fat man put another acorn in.

The fat person's gluttony is a habit formed from childhood.

When he was still the second son of the Earl, the fat man was his personal bodyguard. Byrne was very fond of this strong, agile, and somewhat honest and fierce bodyguard. At every banquet, he would always give the fat man the leftover bread crusts or the cups of honey water he had finished drinking. Over time, the fat man developed the habit of feeling uncomfortable if he didn't chew something in his mouth every day.

Even after he was expelled, the fat man's bad habits remained unchanged. Although his living conditions plummeted, he always managed to find something to eat in the wild. He remembered three years ago in Arthas, when the two of them were trapped in a deserted swamp for three whole days. If it weren't for the fat man, they probably would have starved to death long ago.

At these times, Byrne would always thank God, as if everything was guided by divine intervention.

"Ugh."

Recalling the past, Byrne sighed deeply.

Saxony is gone forever.

"master"

Suddenly, the fat man nudged Byrne's arm, interrupting his thoughts.

"My lord, two days have passed since Sir Luke gave his orders. Now a thick fog has rolled in again."

The fat man's voice was low, only the two of them could hear him, but his tone was very worried: "If we can't catch that damned heretic, your fief will be gone."

"Regarding the fief, I trust Sir Luke's promise."

Byrne gazed ahead, a hint of seriousness creeping into his eyes. As a descendant of a great nobleman, his judgment was sharp; at least he realized that there weren't many people under Luke's command who could actually be knighted.

However, this definitely does not include Byrne.

In terms of lineage, he was a member of the noble August family.

In terms of ability, he possesses formidable martial prowess and military skills.

In terms of achievements, he oversaw the tax collection in Tiha village and participated in the assassination of Joseph Jr.

On the surface, this mission to capture heretics seemed to be a test for him, but in reality, Byrne knew that it was actually a way for him to accumulate merits.

“And it was an achievement delivered to our doorstep,” Byrne murmured.

"What do you mean, delivered to my door?" the fat man asked, puzzled.

"We've found the way!"

Just then, Huss's voice suddenly came from ahead: "God, this fog is really thick! Stay close to me, don't get separated!"

Seeing this, Byrne patted the fat man on the shoulder and, while the man still looked confused, resumed his journey.

The visibility in the white fog was less than three yards. The three of them stayed close together the whole way, with Huss leading the way, his rough hands always hovering near the deerskin quiver at his waist.

Byrne keenly sensed this and secretly tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword.

Seeing that Huss kept intentionally or unintentionally touching one of the arrows with a unique fletching, he smiled silently.

That was a triangular armor-piercing arrow that Luke had specially given to Huss before he left.

Triangular arrows were rare even in Saxony. In terms of craftsmanship, the cost of a single triangular arrow was comparable to all the crescent arrows in a Hussite quiver.

The three of them moved forward in a triangular formation, groping their way forward. After walking for a while, Huss suddenly stopped.

"The First Commandment of God!"

"There shall be no other gods besides me!"

Amidst the thick white fog, a sharp and high-pitched male voice faintly drifted from afar.

Huss quickly crouched down, and Bain and his servant also held their breath, staring intently at the source of the sound.

The content of their words left the three of them looking at each other in bewilderment.

"Look, my dear friends! Are those bishops in their magnificent robes closer to God than we are? No! They worship the golden calf—the tithe! Only by following me can we truly worship the one true God and truly receive God's guidance. Don't you believe me? Look! Doesn't it seem as if God has appeared before our eyes?"

The man's voice was sometimes loud and sometimes soft, but the voices of the next few people were extremely loud, some even wailing and crying, repeatedly calling for God's forgiveness. It was very eerie through the thick white fog.

The fat man sniffed hard, suddenly realizing that the pungent smell from before was getting stronger. "Guys! Why are the bishops and lords bullying us? Because we're poor! But God told me in a vision last night that if we scrape together a sum of 'holy gold,' we can buy the mill by the river! Every penny that mill earns is 'God's treasury,' meant to protect us."

“Everyone contributes according to their ability. Jacques, you give ten pfennigs. John, you're a carpenter, give twenty. This isn't for me, it's for all of us! When the mill makes money, everyone will get a share! Of course, managing this ‘sacred property’ requires great wisdom, and I will naturally take on this heavy responsibility.”

The man continued rambling on, but the fat man's gaze gradually turned cold, and he almost snorted, "Heretics who deserve to go to hell!"

Huss drew his crescent arrow, nocked it lightly, and aimed it at the source of the sound.

If the man's earlier words made some sense, his later remarks revealed his true intentions.

Huss and his companions were not fools, and of course they did not believe in any of that damned mill profit-sharing nonsense.

Only Byrne looked surprised, muttering to himself, "What a coincidence!"

The man continued to speak at length, but Huss had already released the bowstring.

Whoosh! The arrow pierced the white mist, followed by a scream!
"Kill it!"

Byrne took the lead, leaping forward with his sword and shield, followed closely by the fat man, who roared and swung his chain hammer.

Huss fired an arrow, then nocked another, but did not fire it again; instead, he quickly followed up.

The group was actually some distance from the man, but they were all seasoned travelers, and almost immediately after the arrow was shot, they burst out of the dense forest and crashed into a narrow clearing.

There were about seven or eight people sitting in the open space. The sudden arrow stunned them for a moment, but then they immediately erupted into a commotion.

"Oh God! Someone's coming! Run!"

"No, it's the devil! The devil is here!"

"Damn it, who are those guys?!"

The chatter was like boiling water, a chaotic mess. Some people got up and ran, while others lay there trembling, and a couple stood up straight, seemingly to defend the man who had just spoken.

Before they could make a move, a whooshing sound swept through the treetops.

The fat man's eyes widened in anger, and he swung his right arm violently, smashing the chain hammer down in the man's face. Thud! The man in linen instantly had his nose flattened and his eyes sunken!

The second person was so terrified by the bloody scene that his legs trembled and he dared not take another step forward.

However, the three of them were not targeting them, but instead all looked toward a pile of firewood not far away.

The firewood had mostly burned out, leaving behind a pile of embers and small pieces of wood that hadn't yet been lit, all conspicuously shrouded in a misty white fog.

However, what was even more noticeable was the sparse bloodstains on the side.

Huss, with his sharp eyes, immediately recognized the man he had shot, but he had already turned and run away.

Through the fog, it seemed to have disappeared without a trace.

Huss sneered, bowed, and immediately stepped forward, shooting a second arrow without hesitation in the direction of the bloodstains!
"Ah!! Damn it!!"

Huss was an excellent archer; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so obsessed with Luke. You see, Luke had suffered several defeats at Huss's hands!

The fact that both blind shots hit their targets impressed Byrne, but that was all. After all, in Byrne's view, archery was far less honorable than lance and swordsmanship.

Byrne and his servant hurried forward, passing through the white mist, and finally found a black-robed man with arrows in his legs and arms.

"Ha! The man in the black robe, that's him! Knight Luke was right, he really is a heretic!"

"I am not a heretic, I am a saint chosen by God himself, you fools."

"You damned bastard, shut your mouth! How dare you impersonate a saint and cause trouble at Riverside Manor? If you spout any more nonsense, I'll cut your tongue out!"

The fat man grinned maliciously and kicked the man hard in the stomach. He was very strong, and the heavy blow made the man curl up in pain, unable to make a sound. However, his face, which was shrouded in black robes, looked somewhat bewildered.

What riverside manor?
The fat man knew the whole story of Riverside Manor very well, so when he heard Luke say a few days ago that the person who destroyed the flax plantation was a heretic, he was a little skeptical. After all, no matter how you looked at it, he was just there to cause trouble.

But now that the man has been caught red-handed, the devout fat man wishes he could kill him on the spot.

After glancing at it a few times, the fat man gradually frowned.

"Wait, sir, isn't this the guy we saw kill York? Nor is he the tall, thin man Bauer described? Then who is this guy?"

"Of course, it's the guy who destroyed Riverside Manor and tried to cast a vicious curse."

Byrne's gaze was firm, but his tone was relaxed as he responded.

Only the fat man remained, deep in thought.

For some unknown reason, Huss, who had been walking slowly, took off the rope from his waist and quickly bound the man in black robes tightly.

Afterwards, Byrne calmly instructed the fat man to cut out the black-robed man's tongue.

"Oh right, weren't there one or two peasant women who were too scared to move? Tie them up and take them back to the manor!"

"it is good!"

The fat man hurried away, and after a while he strung up the several terrified peasant women like prisoners. Then, he came to Bain's side with a handful of strangely shaped fruits in his hand.

"Sir, have a taste, these are juniper berries! We found them on that section of the tree trunk that was still hot enough to burn."

(End of this chapter)