Chapter 13 Friends
Four months later, when the goat caravan invited Derek to escort again, he readily agreed.
Manager Vincent took the initiative to add a commission of one gold coin, which was already quite a lot. Even Derek's smuggling of some private goods was tacitly approved.
They were acquaintances and the route was familiar, so the journey was smooth.
Bandits were even less visible, perhaps the last defeat had caused this team to break up.
The deep mountains where the nobles could not spread could not support too many people.
Until they arrived at the last mountain stronghold, Derek finally got serious.
According to convention, the caravan would stay here for two days.
Derek was a little looking forward to it, and he hoped that his vision was not wrong.
Manager Vincent also remembered what happened last time, and joked: "You don't have to look forward to it too much. I judge that the mountain man will not show up 80% of the time."
Although he made money from the mountain people, he looked down on these poor and aggressive mountain people.
Derek did not comment. If the other party broke the contract, it would only be a little troublesome.
But he didn't think so, his eyes were still very accurate in judging people.
On the first day, of course, no one came.
On the second day, there was no trace for the whole day.
Derek felt a little disappointed. Manager Vincent shook his head secretly when he saw this, and it was better for the young man to learn a lesson.
Of course, he would not get close to him at this time to be annoying, so he let the young man lick his wounds alone and feel the cruelty of the world.
Derek stood outside the camp, and seemed to know that the caravan was leaving, and there were more mountain people coming and going.
Many of them came from other mountain villages.
Could it be that he really made a mistake?
Derek was a little shaken. The nobles in this world looked down on the mountain people, but he didn't think so.
The other party had a heroic spirit, this was Derek's feeling.
Heroic spirit is a neutral word. Perhaps this kind of people will break the rules, make mistakes, or even do evil, but generally will not easily break the contract.
Just think of it as buying a lesson!
Derek shook his head and didn't have much hope.
Just as he turned to leave, someone suddenly shouted behind him: "Feng, I'm here."
Derrick turned around quickly and saw several figures running over with something on their backs.
The smile on his face was not for the ten wild boar skins, but because the other party came as promised.
After a while, the mountain man Wood ran to Derek.
Derrick noticed that Wood took a step back slightly, and the others also subconsciously stood behind.
All of a sudden, a familiar face stood out.
Derrick remembered very clearly that it was this guy who rushed to the front at that time, and was severely pierced with several holes, but he didn't expect to be alive.
Bang!
A few bundles of wild boar skins were thrown on the ground, making a dull sound.
"Feng, this is owed to you, I Wood never lie."
Derrick didn't even look at the furs on the ground, even if they were worth a lot of money.
"Sure enough, he kept his promise, he is a real man."
Derrick praised loudly, and Wood straightened his chest, no longer begging like last time.
This is like a real man.
The mountain man Lloyd on the opposite side has been observing Derek.
He was very curious about the guy who was willing to buy him medicine on credit, especially since he didn't seem to see the furs on the ground.
This didn't look like a noble knight.
Originally, he just wanted to fulfill his promise, but Lloyd suddenly had another idea.
"Feng, thank you for your trust. Do you dare to follow me? I'll buy you a drink."
This invitation was unexpected.
Wood couldn't help but shout: "Brother!!!"
Although he didn't like the guy outside the mountain, he had some good feelings for Derek, and thought that the elder brother wanted to trick him out for money and life.
After a moment of surprise, Derek also realized that this was an opportunity.
Sometimes it is very simple to gain trust, and sometimes it is very difficult.
If you refuse, you may miss a great opportunity.
The other party doesn't look stupid, and he shouldn't do stupid things.
Of course, the most important thing... Derek touched the sword at his waist and smiled confidently.
"Why not! But please wait."
Derek stretched out his hand to call Simon who was watching from a distance. The knight's attendant was very alert. Seeing a group of people approaching Derek from a distance, he kept paying attention to this place.
"My lord, what do you want me to do?"
Simon stared at Lloyd, his sturdy body exuding a strong deterrent.
Compared to four months ago, he was even stronger.
"Tell someone to take these things away, and bring the things I brought by the way."
Not stopping Simon's hostility was also a deterrent, showing his strength.
Sure enough, seeing Derek's men, everyone's expressions became more cautious, obviously recalling unpleasant memories.
Derrick seemed not to see it, turned around and smiled: "Do you mind if I bring an entourage?"
In this case, what's the difference between one person and two people?
Lloyd nodded. If this person has the courage to go with him, then they can make friends.
Soon Simon asked people to move the furs away, and before Vincent the steward reacted, he took out the smuggled goods.
Simon came over carrying a wooden box.
Ignoring the other party's curious eyes, Derek took the initiative to urge: "Let's go!"
Lloyd nodded silently to his men, and then led the way away.
The caravan was not actually stationed in the mountain stronghold, but in a relatively flat open space outside the gate.
Lloyd's mountain stronghold was not close to here, and they would definitely not return overnight if they hurried here.
They found a place to set up camp nearby.
There were three simple leather tents with a bonfire in the middle.
When Lloyd came back, five or six people appeared here and there.
Derek observed silently that there were ten people in front of this small group.
In the mountains, they were not considered weak.
The mountain people here had hundreds of people in their camps, and some might just be a family living alone.
It was difficult to survive in the mountains. If they couldn't survive, no one would want to stay here for a long time.
So Lloyd was very capable to win over a dozen elite soldiers, and I'm afraid this was not all the manpower.
After all, they were not going out to work, so there was no need to go out in full force.
When they saw Derek, the people who stayed behind didn't seem to recognize him.
But their eyes were not kind, and they obviously regarded him as a fat sheep.
Lloyd didn't say a word, as if he was really ready to trick Derek over and kill him.
For the lawless mountain people, killing him to vent their anger didn't seem to be an impossible thing.
Simon already had one hand on his sword, ready to kill at any time with just one order.
Derek, on the other hand, looked unconcerned, laughing and sitting down on a tree stump.
"Hey... leader, don't play this game, sit down and talk."
Looking at him like that, I thought he was at home.
Lloyd reached out to stop his restless subordinates, and sat down opposite Derek openly.
"Aren't you afraid?"
