Knight Warren

"May third, which was yesterday, so we depart tomorrow. Such a high commission isn't a small sum. This Ravenwood Town is truly wealthy," Ronan thought to himself. He then grabbed a mercenary standing nearby and asked:

"My friend, who is this 'Ragged Prince' Krantuman?"

"You don't even know him? The 'Ragged Prince' Krantuman was once the biggest bandit ravaging the eastern plains of the kingdom. Countless merchant teams fell into his hands. Unfortunately, he was too arrogant and intercepted Archbishop Krantuman's merchant convoy. The enraged Archbishop Krantuman dispatched the Holy Knights to annihilate him. However, it's rumored he escaped and unexpectedly fled here, planning to make a comeback."

"I see, thank you!"

Squeezing through the crowd, Ronan went to Daisy to register his team's name and numbers to receive the mission. Ronan reported ten more people than he actually had because he planned to recruit two more squads of soldiers to deal with this battle. Of course, the extra gold was also a factor. Afterward, he walked out of the hall and returned to the tavern. He planned to try on the Guardian Armor and the greatsword, as the scale of this battle would likely exceed a thousand people, and full plate armor would be safer on such a battlefield.

Back in his tavern room, with the help of two Vigier Cavalry, he put on the Guardian Plate Armor. On his head was a domed helmet with a T-shaped opening. Underneath, he wore chainmail that covered his neck and joints, a thick, curved chest plate on his chest, and pauldrons made of three connected iron plates for easy movement. His waist was protected by a waist guard with spiked plates, and his pants were also chainmail covering the back of his knees. Iron plates were strapped to his thighs and calves, with round knee cops, and his feet were encased in iron boots. The entire set of armor probably weighed fifty pounds, and it took Ronan nearly an hour to put it on. Ronan was very unaccustomed to it at first, as he had grown used to light wooden armor. Ronan also secretly resolved to buy a lighter set to wear daily, saving this plate armor only for large-scale battles.

The Slayer Greatsword was a standard two-handed greatsword. The blade was very long and thick, not as sharp as a katana. The guard had two slender, pointed protrusions, and the end of the hilt had a large counterweight ball. The Slayer Greatsword looked very plain overall, with no fancy patterns or inscriptions. The hilt was merely wrapped with coarse cloth.

The mountains were not suitable for mounted combat, but Ronan still planned to ride. Otherwise, walking in such heavy armor would likely exhaust him to death before the fight even began.

Previously, when Ronan registered as a mercenary and accepted the mission to attack the bandit group, the system had issued two corresponding tasks.

"Become the most famous mercenary group in Ravenwood Town Reward: 100 Gold, 10000 Experience, Masked Betrayal Greatsword (Curiosity)"

"Defeat the Windblown Band, kill the 'Ragged Prince' Krantuman Reward: 50 Gold, 5000 Experience, Skill: Rite of Conquest Rite of Conquest: Prepare the ritual according to the ritual content before the battle, gaining +1 to Strength, Stamina, and Agility in the next battle."

Both mission rewards were quite generous. For Ronan, who was currently short on money, the gold reward from the missions was also important. After all, to become the most famous mercenary group in Ravenwood Town, he would definitely need his own base.

The troop types refreshed today were not what Ronan wanted, so he decided to wait until midnight for the refresh before recruiting. If there were still no powerful troop types, he would have to make do with the best of the bad and recruit ten people, as he had claimed to have twenty-one when he registered.

After a while, the soldiers Ronan had sent out to purchase supplies and sell goods returned. The money spent on purchases, after deducting the cost of the goods, surprisingly had a little left over, but it wasn't much. Ronan also found out that a base that could accommodate dozens of people would cost at least a hundred gold coins to buy, but renting it for a year would only cost twenty-five gold coins. Therefore, Ronan planned to rent a courtyard as a base after this battle and then hire some servants and helpers, preferably all female, to cook, clean, and maintain the weapons.

(￣▽￣)

At midnight, the Recruitment System's list refreshed. Perhaps because Ronan had registered as a mercenary, two squads of veteran hired soldiers appeared on the list. Ronan immediately recruited them. These professional mercenaries were battle-hardened and frequented various taverns across Calradia. You could recruit them by paying a small amount of Dinars. In the early stages, when you only had un-upgraded basic troops from various countries, these mercenaries were powerful, ready-to-fight forces that could help you more easily deal with the bandits who wanted to use your skull as a bowl.

These veteran mercenaries wore everything from chainmail and leather armor to scale armor. They wielded various weapons they were accustomed to, but they were very good at group combat and protecting themselves in melees, which was why they were able to survive their long mercenary careers.

After a simple combat plan was formulated, it was roughly that Ronan and the two Vigier Cavalry would be the vanguard, the veteran mercenaries would be deployed nearby, and the Rhodok Spearmen would be responsible for protecting the Nordic Archers.

With the plan finalized, Ronan had the newly recruited mercenaries squeeze into the various rooms to make do for the night, and then he went to bed to rest. His dreams were filled with scenes of him in a grand castle surrounded by beautiful maids.

Just as his dream was reaching a crucial moment, Ronan was woken up by his subordinates. The agreed-upon time was approaching, and Ronan still needed to put on his armor.

Leading his horse, surrounded by his subordinates, he headed to the agreed-upon location. Quite a few mercenaries participating in the mission were already present. When these mercenaries saw Ronan in full plate armor and his armored warhorse, they all showed expressions of surprise and began to discuss among themselves, wondering if a noble knight had arrived, as the cost of such armor was beyond the means of ordinary mercenaries.

Knight Warren, also mounted and standing at the front, showed a look of surprise but didn't ask any questions. Behind Knight Warren were five other mounted knights, and behind them were three hundred soldiers in uniform. These knights wore silver-white surcoats over their plate armor, and on their heads were barrel helmets with a cross-shaped opening. The surcoats on their armor and the shields and horse barding also bore embroidered white cross patterns.

The soldiers behind them also wore chainmail with surcoats and simple nasal helmets. The surcoats and shields also had cross patterns painted on them.

Looking at the sky and feeling that the time was about right, and that most of the mercenaries had arrived, Knight Warren spoke. The noisy mercenaries quieted down to listen to his speech. 'This Knight Warren seems to have quite a bit of authority in this town,' Ronan thought.

"We have five hundred mercenaries, three hundred professional soldiers, and the assistance of five knights from Shadow Village in this operation. We will surely defeat Krantuman. Without further ado, let us depart now. I wish you all good fortune in battle!" After speaking, he turned his horse and led the soldiers behind him towards Gran Mountain. The mercenaries followed closely behind, with Ronan's team trailing at the very end. Ronan and the Vigier Cavalry also mounted their horses.