Good People Have Good Luck

The carpenter and building materials he requested from Ralph were almost enough to build a small castle...

But what he planned to use for that scheme was only a tenth of it.

However, given Count Oden's personality, he might calmly accept this extortion.

Because, compared to the military control of Long River Town, Li Ang's small request was completely acceptable.

Long River Town was originally a pioneer base. Anything related to territory development was sold here—including weapons, food, building materials, various tools and supplies, and... people.

As one of the necessary conditions for a Pioneer Lord to pass the review, people were also a commodity here, especially skilled laborers like carpenters or stonemasons.

However, the commissions for these skilled laborers were very expensive, extremely expensive, much more so than those mercenaries who only knew how to fight and kill!

The money Li Ang had was not enough to hire many, so he had to find the right opportunity to fleece the wealthy.

Besides skilled laborers, mercenaries were also a commodity in Long River Town.

After sorting out the supplies, Li Ang planned to find a tavern to recruit personnel.

The one thousand Dinars he 'borrowed' were originally intended for building materials and supplies. But now that the carpenter and building materials were 'sponsored,' this money could be used to recruit troops.

More manpower would give Li Ang a greater sense of security.

Moreover, it was uncertain when those Meitengheim strongmen would arrive. If they didn't arrive in time, Li Ang couldn't possibly go to Fletcher Village to fight alone...

And if Ralph didn't see his men, that sponsorship might fall through...

He found the largest tavern in Long River Town—still called the 'Adventurer' Tavern. Every city had a tavern with this name.

This was also the place where he had agreed to meet his Meitengheim subordinates.

Fortunately, there were no accidents when entering the tavern this time.

"Hey! Are there any young men here looking for a future in war?"

It was usually difficult to directly recruit reliable warriors in taverns in big cities, but it was easier in remote villages...

But Long River Town was different.

The taverns in Long River Town were full of adventurers—most of them were aspiring adventurers or mercenaries. And most were skilled in martial arts and had a certain foundation.

After all, everyone knew that the Long River Forest was full of danger, and no one would come here without some skill.

Li Ang could even set a certain threshold, choosing only the people he wanted.

Of course, his threshold was not high; they only needed to be proficient with bows or crossbows. So, he quickly recruited over twenty mercenaries, each claiming to be a master archer or crossbowman.

Sarah, standing beside him, intended to act as a record keeper, but she was clearly not good at this kind of military logistics work, and her records were a mess.

Li Ang simply told her to go rest quickly, as he could handle it himself—he had the system, so he didn't really need to record anything.

Sarah expressed her gratitude for Li Ang's kindness. She was indeed very tired. They had been traveling non-stop for the past two days, and the two horses were almost dead from exhaustion. Li Ang, being strong and energetic, felt nothing, but Sarah could no longer bear it.

And Li Ang operating alone actually made things simpler.

He just needed to ask the mercenaries if they were willing to join the team—as long as he received an affirmative answer, these mercenaries would directly appear in the team list, and their troop type could be seen at a glance.

Most of the newly recruited people indeed showed up as 'Mercenary Crossbowmen.'

But there were also two slackers who claimed to be crossbowmen but were actually listed as 'Farmers' in the team list.

Twenty-three Mercenary Crossbowmen, two Farmers.

Ansen and Sarah, the two special companions, were different from these soldiers. Their names were listed separately in the list.

Of course, this might be related to Li Ang giving them clear positions—Doctor and External Affairs Officer.

Li Ang planned to kick the two farmers out of the team directly, but suddenly discovered that the team list, which he thought was quite functional, had no 'disband' option...

Never mind, the payment wasn't due for another week, and the interviews didn't cost anything...

Besides, those two farmers might still be useful.

Li Ang carefully calculated the expenses. He needed to control the team size within a certain limit to ensure a certain combat effectiveness and also ensure that the Dinars he had were enough to support them for a period of time.

So, the recruitment quickly stopped.

With nearly nine hundred Dinars in hand, it was enough for an ordinary family to live comfortably for a lifetime.

But for military expenses, it was only enough to pay 40 warriors for one month's salary, and that didn't even include food consumption—those Meitengheim people were all top-tier eaters.

Still poor...

Just as he was anxiously calculating expenses, he heard a familiar voice with a distinct southern accent.

"Sir, you've arrived so quickly!"

Li Ang stood up in surprise: "How did you get here so fast?"

It was Ansen.

Li Ang found it incredible. Except for a day's delay in Lion City, he had been galloping on horseback the entire way, barely stopping except to let the horses rest.

Kloze and the others were walking and carrying a lot of equipment, yet they only arrived half a day later than him.

From the west coast to Long River Town, it was nearly two thousand miles. Walking would take at least ten days to eight days, right?

Were his subordinates all fleet-footed?

Ansen smiled calmly, "My lord, right after you left that day, we encountered a merchant caravan that was heading to Long River Town. We acted as their escort and came directly by carriage, without stopping at all... That caravan even intended to give us a fee for our escort services..."

Li Ang was a little speechless, and a little surprised.

Look at their luck!

Was this the good fortune that Ansen, the kind and upright doctor, had received?

As expected, doing good deeds like a true knight was useful...

See, just when he needed money, the money came.

But then, Ansen continued to say plainly, "However, we didn't encounter any trouble along the way, and we didn't exert ourselves. Instead, we caused them trouble. In such a situation, accepting payment would not align with a knight's code, so I did not accept the caravan's money..."

Li Ang's joy instantly collapsed... He didn't accept the money?

He actually refused payment? Did he read too many knight novels?

This bookworm!

Never mind, as long as he arrived safely, that's what mattered.

"Why are you alone? Where are Kloze and the others?"

Li Ang looked behind Ansen, not seeing that group of big guys.

"They went to help the caravan unload their goods. Since we didn't accept any payment, the caravan boss said he'd treat them to a meal... I'm a noble, after all, I can't do manual labor. And I didn't want to eat their food for free, so I came to the tavern myself to see if you were here--I actually didn't expect you to have arrived already."

Li Ang rolled his eyes. These fools, a meal could trick them into doing manual labor!

Shaking his head, Li Ang suddenly remembered that Ansen's father had become a merchant after losing his territory?

"Ansen, can you do accounts? I need someone to be responsible for logistics... I've recruited over twenty more people."

Ansen, however, looked troubled, "My lord, I can do calculations, but I'm completely clueless about logistics... I've never even traded with anyone before--my father never allowed me to touch these things."

That made sense... If he understood trade, he wouldn't have brought a group of strong men to escort people the whole way without accepting payment...

"Forget it, keep up the promising career as a doctor... Take me to see that caravan. I need to purchase some food."

"Being a doctor is just a side job... I intend to become a Radiant Knight, my lord..."