Lord of the Oasis - Chapter 287
Chapter 287: Merchants’ Desperate Pleas
After hearing the report from the desert bandits, many merchants in the hall turned their heads to look at Kant.
It was an unfamiliar army with ill intentions.
They would not believe that the troop had nothing to do with the table salt trade. Perhaps some noble was dissatisfied with Kant obtaining the table salt and wanted to come here to show off their might!
This was often the old noble families’ way of intimidating the new noble families.
It was also applicable now.
Think about the noble families who once operated the table salt for the dwarves. Because of the appearance of table salt in the desert, it affected their business. Both sides were basically competitors now, and they did not ease up at all. They were competitors with direct conflicts of profit!
However, Kant’s table salt in the desert was more profitable.
It was closer to the human countries, and it was more convenient to transport. Furthermore, the taste was not bad, and the production was increasing day by day. It was destined to attack the conservative market where the old noble families controlled the table salt for the dwarf.
It would be strange if there was no reaction when their important way to make money that was used to maintain the family was cut off!
Now, these merchants looked at Kant.
At the same time, they were testing him.
They were merchants. The so-called honor and dignity were not as tempting as the profits. Therefore, they could humbly express their obedience to Kant because they did not understand Kant’s true strength.
Now, they might be able to see it.
Someone came to provoke them, flaunting their strength, and used force to intimidate Kant, the baron who was about to rise up.
No matter how Kant responded, they would get the answer they wanted.
But if they were defeated, the final outcome would definitely not be friendly. These merchants would still maintain their obedience, but the next time they came, the trade caravan’s guards would be more and more elite, at that time, these merchants would take back their previous subservience with interest and become even more arrogant than a noble!
But to Kant, his expression was calm, but his eyes flashed with ridicule.
He was not a baron who was about to rise up.
He was the lord of the Nahrin Desert who had already risen up!
Facing the probing gazes of these merchants, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. His disdain and ridicule were obvious. He did not explain too much. He only instructed faintly, “Rolf, you handle it.”
“Understood!”
Rolf immediately nodded behind the door.
“Handle it beautifully.”, Kant continued.
As if he had thought of something, he instructed Rolf, “Don’t kill all of them. We still need to increase the production of our salt mines. We’re very short of salt-digging slaves. Since they’re here, let’s stay and see if they’re qualified for this job.”
“Got it.”, Rolf had a ferocious smile on his face. “They are very qualified for this job.”
Kant nodded and waved his hand lightly. “Go.”
“Everyone, follow me!”
Rolf bowed respectfully and issued an order in a muffled voice.
The 50 Sarrandian horsemen who were originally standing by the wall in the hall immediately rushed out, including the three Swadian royal knights beside Kant, as well as the cavalries that quickly gathered in the tent outside.
The entire central posthouse seemed to have become a military station for the deployment of troops, and this cavalry force was gathering.
120 Sarrandian horsemen.
220 desert bandits.
And the 3 royal knights personally led by Rolf!
The total number of troops was only 350, but their combat strength was considered to be at the elite level, especially the 3 royal knights who possessed extraordinary strength and belonged to the grand knight level. How could they be compared to the ordinary cavalry?
Even the 120 Sarrandian horsemen were qualified to be vassal knights to the ordinary noble!
But those merchants did not know.
They could not imagine how powerful these cavalries were.
After all, there were a total of 600-men unfamiliar troops. If they were to go crazy, it was not impossible to slaughter them all in this desert.
They merchants did have the trade caravan guards.
However, these trade caravan guards could at most disperse some ordinary marauders and bandits.
Fighting against these 600 absolutely ferocious cavalries were definitely courting death!
Hence, the merchants began to discuss animatedly.
They whispered to each other with a hint of anxiety in their tone. Their gazes towards Kant also became more direct. After all, Kant only needed 10 strange-looking knights and 10 ordinary sword-shield footmen to protect him.
They were talking about the Swadian royal knights and theSwadian footmen.
Kant’s face was calm.
The disdainful smile at the corner of his mouth was still there.
Looking at them whispering to each other as if they were discussing something, he slowly picked up the silver cup that was prepared for him on the table and sipped the date palm sugar water in it, he said indifferently, “If you don’t mind, I would like to invite everyone to the roof of the posthouse to enjoy a farce.”
“This… But… those cavalries…”, the merchants looked at each other, but they seemed unwilling and anxious to leave.
“Come with me.”
Kant didn’t give them a chance to choose.
He drank the sugar water in the silver cup in one gulp, stood up and walked towards the stairs of the posthouse.
“Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh –”
The sound of a longsword being unsheathed rang out.
The actions of the 10 Swadian footmen were very rude. Their gazes were fixed on these merchants, and they were extremely unfriendly.
However, the royal knights were much more elegant. Each and every one of them lifted up the full plate armor on their faces. Looking at these merchants and stretching out their hands, they smiled and said in a tone that could not be rejected, “Gentlemen, please.”
“This… this… this…”
The merchants were even more hesitant.
They were all frightened and looked at each other. They saw the hesitation in each other’s eyes.
No one followed Kant’s footsteps.
They were all afraid. If Kant took them hostage to negotiate with the unfamiliar troop , it would be terrible to them.
That 600 cavalries troop that belonged to unknown noble family was a problem. However, according to the internal rules of the Dukedom of Leo, the bandit groups that ran amok had the support of the noble forces behind them. If they were taken hostage, it would really make the familiar troop hesitate.
Although there were fights between the noble families, there were definitely alliances, such as alliances through marriages. Now that the cavalry troop had quickly arrived at this posthouse. If the unfamiliar troop belonged to the enemy noble families and wanted to destroy this trade, they would definitely slaughtered by the troop!
Regardless of whether they went up or not, these merchants felt their hearts tremble.
A sense of despair appeared in everyone’s hearts.
“Gentlemen.”
A royal knight opened his mouth and said with a grave tone, “Please don’t let Baron Kant wait for too long, is that alright?”
The ten Swadian footmen also looked at these merchants with covetous eyes. The spatha swords in their hands flickered with a cold light. Coupled with those slightly unfriendly eyes, it was estimated that the moment they vetoed it, they would rush over to chop these merchants up!
“Yes… yes…”
The merchants nodded their heads in despair and walked towards the stairs.
Soon, they reached the top floor.
Kant was standing at a corner and looking towards the south.
The group of merchants were trembling as they walked over. They were also looking at the wind and sand in the south, as well as the cavalries riding on warhorses that were moving towards them at a constant speed amidst the yellow dust.
They were all wrapped in linen robes, and the warhorses were also covered in linen robes.
These were sun-proof breathable clothes.
However, one could still see the faintly discernible mail armor on the bodies of the riders. The mail armor that appeared along with the galloping of the warhorse, coupled with the longsword in their hands, and the long lance hanging by the side of the warhorse, were clearly elite-looking!
They were definitely at the level of knight attendants!
Their well-trained appearance made these merchants suck in a breath of cold air!
Knight attendants.
They were basically valiant horsemen who had received knight training.
From a young age, they had been trained in horsemanship, spear arts, swordsmanship, and close combat. They also had a part-time job to learn the etiquette of the noble.
Basically, the troops formed by these knight attendants were the basic strength of the knights that formed the Knight Corps. They were also the main force that the noble led the troops to battle. They were also the backbone of the battle sequence of the Dukedom of Leo!
Whether a country was strong or not depended on how many knights there were and how many knight attendants they could gather.
If a knight died in battle, then the knight attendants would be able to replace them.
As for those noble families that had lived for hundreds of years, their strength could also be measured by their knight attendants.
Powerful noble families would always be able to train a large number of excellent and elite knight attendants as their own strength. They would fight for themselves in all directions and achieve outstanding results in the Dukedom of Leo’s battle sequence.
Together with their own knights and grand knights, they would form a complete cavalry unit!
The merchants were very knowledgeable.
Right now, their legs were trembling. They even felt the urge to pee between their legs. They were so scared that they were about to pee!
“This… This is… This is… an army formed by knight attendants!”
“Not good… those are knight attendants… They are the army of high-ranking noble…”
“Your lordship… you have offended… who have you offended…”
The merchants were all speaking with trembling voices.
Their eyes were wide open, and their eyes were filled with despair.
The 600 knights’ attendants were fully armed as they charged towards this posthouse. That terrifying might was about to destroy their confidence. There were even quite a number of merchants from the small noble families who had already felt their entire bodies go limp. They had to support each other in order to stand still.
The despair in their eyes could not be erased. They really felt that they were going to die.
They guessed the conclusion.
This was clearly a high-ranking noble who wanted to destroy Kant’s faction!
How could it be that they had come with ill intentions? Out of the 600 knight attendants, there would definitely be 30 knights. There might even be peak-level knights. As long as they were enlightened by the grand knight, they would be able to comprehend the existence of extraordinary powers.
How could this be an ill intention.
This was like the declaration of a war!
“Silence.”
Kant had a smile on his face as he turned his head slightly to look at the terrified merchants behind him. The mockery on the corner of his mouth became even more intense. “Knight attendants? Oh, could it be that in your opinions, they are the strongest?”
The merchants were unable to answer. They were already breathing rapidly as they watched the troops formed by the knight attendants getting closer and closer.
Their expressions were also becoming more and more desperate.
Kant shook his head.
There was nothing much to say to this group of useless merchants.
Standing at the same spot, looking at Rolf leading the cavalry to welcome them, he took the silver cup handed over by the light footman beside him. He took a sip of the warm sugar water in it and said calmly, “The banquet has begun.”
Beside him, the Swadian royal knight encouraged himself and blew the item that Kant had just handed to him.
A dull, long horn sounded.
“Woo –“
