Temple Sword

Chapter 133 The First Mission

1321, 8th day of the Month of the Virgin (August)

Dubica, Slavonia

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In an uncomfortable sweltering night, a young man hides at the base of the Dubica church tower, clinging to the wall.

Roland was trembling all over, but he tried hard to complete the task assigned to him by the captain.This skinny boy has experienced eighteen winters, and he has served Lord Barto's manor for less than half a year.

He was one of the thirty soldiers in the manor, but he was just a recruit in training, not an experienced guard.When he got his first real assignment from Captain Varos, he felt it was his last big test as a soldier.

"As soon as the steward leaves the manor tonight, you follow him, but be careful not to be discovered by him!"

The man whispered to him, "Follow him wherever he goes, see what he is doing from a distance, and report to me immediately when you come back. You can only report to me, not anyone else! Got it ?"

"Understood, Captain!" The boy nodded, eagerly hoping not to disappoint him.

The manor housekeeper, Mikolaj, had left the hotel shortly before midnight, and Roland had been waiting for him near the mill since dinner, when he saw him slip through a small door flanking the west gate while the patrol was not looking. come out.

In his dark velvet robe, Mikolaj disappeared easily into the night, and he knew his way so well that no one noticed him coming and going in and out of the night.

Mikolai didn't seem worried about being followed, Roland kept a distance from him very carefully, but the butler never looked back.

They walked almost in a straight line through Dubica, only going around some buildings when there was no way to go, and it seemed that Mikolaj hadn't noticed the stalker, let alone tried to shake him off.

The shadow under the church tower was thick, and Roland escaped into the darkness, hardly daring to breathe, observing where Mikolaj was going next.

The stewards had not yet reached their destination, and they had traveled almost as far west of town from the church as they had come to it.

Finally, Mikolaj arrived where he was going, a two-story inn, and a burly man was waiting for him at the door.

Even in the dark, Roland could clearly see the stranger's equipment. He seemed to be a person of status, but he also looked like a robber.It was strange, he looked like a squire and a knight, a strange mixture of baseness and nobility.

Only mercenaries can give him this feeling, Roland thought.Yes, this man was a mercenary, and not just an ordinary mercenary, maybe he had a whole army under him.

The two simply nodded and greeted each other, said something, and then disappeared into the depths of the inn, but the young man was too far away from them to hear their conversation clearly.

He squatted at the door of an old house, squatting in the dark, breathing softly and waiting.

Poor Roland waited there for two long, slow hours when his bladder gave up and he was dying.He has to pee, he thought, get out and come back, he can't be in that inn after all...

He stood up, stretched his stiff limbs, and walked as quickly as possible to the outside of the building, where he was finally free, and returned to his old place.

As he walked between the houses, shadows slowly unfolding in the silvery moonlight, Roland had an uneasy feeling, his heart beat faster, and he looked around, but saw no one.

He tried to walk faster, realizing that he was out there alone, that anything could happen in this gloomy night.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps echoing in the house.

His stomach shrunk into a little ball, his palms began to sweat, and fear took hold of him.

He stopped and listened carefully, but then the strange footsteps died away.As he walked on, he heard footsteps again, perhaps louder than before.

It's not true, it can't be true, he thought horrified.

It's my senses playing tricks on me, my fears playing tricks on me!
He tried to stay awake, to be strong, but his limbs were shaking more and more.

He found that his breathing was stopping and his whole body was shaking.

Footsteps were knocking behind and beside him, they were everywhere, and from the corner of the boy's eyes, he could see a shadow slipping away from time to time.

He wandered among strange houses, from alley to alley, hoping to escape the ghostly pursuit, but wherever he went in the deserted sleepy streets of Dubica, he became more and more haunted. Afraid, he was terrified.

Roland gripped his only weapon, the hilt of a double-edged dagger, with sweaty and trembling hands. He pulled out his dagger and asked himself why he didn't come out with more equipment. At least he could wear a light and quiet suit. leather!

He felt that he was completely lost in the city and could never escape.No matter who was following him, he had to turn around and face himself, defending himself.

After he took another ten steps, he turned around and attacked without hesitation.

one two three four……

Holding the dagger in front of him, he tensed his free left hand.He tried to recall the sword skills he had learned, and how to block the opponent's blows with his bare hands.

...five, six, seven...

He realized that, outside of training, he had never faced a live opponent, nor had he plunged the blade of a weapon into flesh.He's never had his life in danger, never fought anyone to the death.

...eight, nine...

The ever-increasing fear sickened him, and he nearly suffocated, but managed to pull himself together.He took a deep breath, tried to suppress his trembling, and focused on the upcoming key battle.

"Ten!" he yelled, turning around, and immediately stabbing with all his strength.

His dagger pierced the air, his voice echoed off the walls, and there was no one in front of him.

Roland suddenly realized how ridiculous his behavior was. The excitement of eager to complete the first mission and the fear of the gloomy night completely deceived him.

He was just tired and starting to think about it, that's all.

He breathed a sigh of relief, couldn't help laughing, and the dagger fell from his still shaking hand.

He bent down to pick it up, and when he straightened up, a person stood in front of him.

He didn't have time to scream, a blade had already pierced his chest, piercing his skin and flesh in an instant until reaching his heart.

The boy looked at the handle of the knife stuck in his chest in disbelief, he had no strength to pull it out.

He raised his eyes and recognized the murderer before he died: the mild-faced Mikolai who always maintained a decent image.

Then someone grabbed him from behind and with another dagger made a wide, deep gash in his neck, nearly decapitating Roland.

Mikolai hurriedly jumped aside to avoid the spray of blood.

"Careful, you idiot!" he snapped at the young man who had cut the throat of the clumsy little spy. "You almost spattered blood on my clothes!"

But the mercenary didn't respond to the reprimand, and he set the convulsed body down and began rummaging through the pouch on his belt and among his clothes.Seeing this, another five people came out from the darkness, for fear that their companions would snatch away all the good things.

Mikolaj watched this scene in disgust, and the burly man he had met outside the inn also walked to his side.

"Tsk tsk, look at them," the mercenary captain smiled proudly, "like hungry wolves who haven't tasted meat for a long time."

"Now they can eat enough." Mikolai turned his head, not wanting to see the dead boy stripped naked.

"We can't wait any longer," the housekeeper smoothed his clothes nervously. "The disappearance of this child will arouse suspicion. We must attack."

"When?" The mercenary captain's eyes lit up.

"The sooner the better, like tomorrow," suggested Mikolaj.

"It takes time to get the team together," the man shook his head. "Give me three days."

"I'll give you two days," said Mikolaj.

The mercenary captain thought for a while, he didn't like the tone of this man's voice, but after all, this was his employer, he couldn't wipe his neck just because of his superior way of speaking.

"Okay, just two days!" he promised, "but I'll see gold then!"

"You will..." Mikolai closed his eyes and nodded, as if tired of answering the same question repeatedly, "They used to be Templars, the old man accumulated a lot of wealth in the Holy Land, his nephew, In other words, the adopted son was treated as a brother by the king.

I've told you these things many times, if we act in time, you can make your own chain mail into gold, but if we are late, we will all die! "

"The only one who will die is you!" The mercenary waved his hand, "They don't know about me."

"I'm just saying that what just happened has changed a lot of things," the butler sighed irritably, "We have to implement our plan in two days, and I can't go back before that, do you understand?"

"I understand, don't make a fuss!" The man patted Mikolai on the back, "We will all be rich in two days."

His men quickly snatched up Roland, leaving not a single piece of sackcloth behind.The slender body lying in the alley glowed in the night, and Mikolaj demanded his dagger back, and if he didn't say so, the men would have taken his dagger too.

The burly mercenary captain crouched down beside the naked body. "Good job," he praised in an emotionless voice, "nice, crisp attack. How old is he?"

"I don't know," Mikolaj shook his head, still not looking at the corpse, "Seventeen, eighteen, maybe...but how can we make it disappear?"

"Don't worry, Steward!" The man pulled out a pair of large tongs from under his cloak. "One part goes here, the other part goes there. I'm not sure you're ready to know the details."

"It's not the first time," laughed one of them, "the sausages in the market are not made of pork!"

Mikolai was really not ready, his stomach turned upside down just thinking about it, and he gagged his mouth to keep himself from throwing up.

"God!" The mercenary captain rolled his eyes, "I thought you were a bit courageous..."

"As you said," Mikolaj said, turning around, "I don't want to know these details."

The mercenary captain fiddled with the increasingly cold and stiff corpse again, then turned it over, lifted the boy's lips with his left hand, and knocked the dead man's teeth with the pliers in his right hand.

"These teeth are really white!" He praised, "Housekeeper, maybe you can help me..."

"What?" Mikolaj asked, turning around, looking at the warrior, but immediately regretting it.

"Do you know where people are paying the most for complete teeth?"

The mercenary captain tore off half of Roland's gums with one movement, and the soft and moist crisp sound made Mikolai spit it out.

This time, he couldn't escape again.

(End of this chapter)