vstars Chapter 579 Post-War Exchange
Chapter 579 Post-War Exchange
When Griffith gathered all the troops he could, the team that was supposed to have a hundred people now had less than fifty people left. Most of them were injured. Some had their bleeding arms wrapped with cloth strips, some were limping with broken spears, and some mercenaries had half of their faces burned black.
"Are these the only ones left?"
Griffith's voice was hoarse as if it had been rubbed with sandpaper.
He dismounted, his armor still covered in uncleaned gravel and blood scabs. The old wound on his left shoulder had cracked from riding for so long, and dark red bloodstains had seeped through the linen lining.
He looked at the broken team, his Adam's apple rolled, but he couldn't say anything.
"That's already a lot."
Jiedu pulled off his helmet, revealing a hideous wound on his forehead. A blood scab had formed above his eyebrow, like a spider.
He kicked the tilted flagpole at his feet, and the tattered strips of cloth rustled in the wind.
"We are lucky to have survived such a heavy bombardment."
Casca stood silently at the edge of the crowd, her hair stuck to her cheeks with blood, and her once bright eyes were now covered with a layer of gray.
Hearing Griffith's words, she subconsciously clenched the dagger at her waist, her knuckles turning white.
"Wait a moment."
Griffith looked around, his brows knitted into knots.
He keenly noticed that Gorkas's team did not appear among the people returning.
The team of more than 20 people was originally following the fast ferry, but now they are nowhere to be seen.
"Has anyone seen where Gorkas's group went?"
Jiedu scratched his head. There were still bits of grass stuck in the cracks of his armor. He thought for a moment and replied:
"He was very close to my team at first, but then he lost sight of me while dodging the flames on the road."
He pointed to the charred brush in the distance.
"The fire was most intense in that area, and it may have been dispersed by the fire."
“I think I saw it.”
Bibin suddenly spoke. This strong man, nearly two meters tall, was squatting not far away, bandaging the wound on his arm with a cloth.
He raised his head and said:
"While I was searching for Griffith, I saw a large group of Black Watch cavalrymen chasing a group of cavalrymen in the distance. They must be Gorkas."
He paused.
"Although the group wasn't large in number, the figures running behind them looked very much like Gorkas and his men."
Griffith's heart sank when he heard that. He took a deep breath and tried to calm the emotions surging in his chest.
At this moment, there was a commotion not far away.
Several mercenaries came over with a prisoner. It was the Black Watch mercenary who had been knocked unconscious by Bibin before. His shiny armor had been stripped off, leaving him wearing only a blood-stained lining. His hands were tied behind his back, and his mouth was stuffed with coarse cloth, so he could only make muffled "wuwu" sounds.
His eyes widened as he stared at Griffith. There was no fear in his eyes, only anger that was difficult to conceal.
Jiedu took a bundle from his horse and handed it to him:
"I found this on the mercenary's former warhorse."
The bundle exuded a smell mixed with sweat and gunpowder, and there were a few spots of dried blood on the surface.
Griffith took the bundle and untied it. Inside were some scattered cloth bags, medicine bottles, and a few neatly folded papers.
He unfolded the paper, and the first thing that caught his eye was a document of Helderland citizenship with "Grill Stein" written on it in neat handwriting.
"Greer, that's your name."
Griffith continued to look at the identity documents. There was nothing special about them except that this Grill originally lived in Helmingen.
He raised his brows slightly and continued to flip through the pages. The next one was the enlistment document for Blackwatch.
The handwriting on the document was still clear. When Griffith saw that the way to join the army was "internal recommendation", his fingertips paused slightly, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
From what he knew from the Helderland newspapers, internal recommendation was not easy. It usually meant that the recommender's immediate family had made significant contributions, or that the recommended person himself was the child of a martyr. He also had to pass a series of rigorous tests before he could join the army in this special way.
Once enlisted, these soldiers will often be trained as key personnel and eventually be considered the future backbone of the army. This means that whether it is Blackwatch or the army returning to Helderland, they will all start at the centurion level.
"If Gorkas is really captured..."
Griffith closed the document, his eyes becoming firm.
He looked up at the bound prisoner, who was twisting his body desperately, trying to break free, and muffled curses escaped from between the gag strips.
"We'll use him in exchange."
Gorkas woke with a pounding headache, as if a dull axe were hacking back and forth inside his skull.
He subconsciously raised his hand to rub his temple, and his fingertips touched a layer of wet gauze. The sticky touch made him frown.
After focusing his vision, he saw clearly that he was lying on a narrow wooden bed. The bed board was so hard that it hurt his back. The tattered blanket on the bed smelled musty, and there were a few pieces of unkempt gravel in the corner.
"Damn, the Blackwatch mercenaries are so ruthless."
He gritted his teeth and cursed, memories flashing back in his mind like broken lenses. After Griffith ordered a separate breakout, his team was caught up by the Black Watch Cavalry. He retreated to a fork in the canyon with a dozen brothers, with a steep cliff behind him and black cavalry raising clouds of dust in front of him.
He led his men to fight to the very end, and then was struck by a mace from nowhere. He didn't even see the attacker's face, but felt as if the back of his head was pierced by a branding iron, and his eyes instantly exploded with blood...
"Captain Gorkas!"
The familiar voice startled him and made him shudder.
He suddenly propped himself up, and the wooden bed creaked under the heavy weight.
Turning his head, he saw three or four familiar figures crowded in the next cell separated by two iron bars. They were mercenaries in his team, their faces covered in blood and their clothes torn into strips.
"What's going on now?"
Gorkas asked while clinging to the cold iron railing.
"We surrendered after you passed out."
A mercenary smiled bitterly and raised his bandaged hand.
"We were really no match for them. The Black Watch cavalry were like mad dogs, hacking down anyone they saw. We threw away our weapons and were escorted here."
He pointed to the stone wall above his head.
"It took some time for you to be carried here. You were covered in blood. We all thought you..."
"Where are the other brothers?"
He lowered his voice.
"Where are Jiedu, Bibin and the others?"
The mercenaries in the cell exchanged glances, and one of them said:
"I don't know... We were separated and imprisoned after being captured. I heard... I heard that the pursuing cavalry caught a dozen escapees, but I don't know who they were..."
Before he finished speaking, a light "click" sound of metal collision was heard in the distance.
Gorkas looked up and saw the door outside the iron fence slowly open. Dazzling sunlight leaked in from the gap in the door, casting a narrow strip of light on the bluestone floor.
"time to eat."