There is a tall pine tree in the small square in the middle of Green Pine Town.
Under the tree, there were a few people dressed as soldiers, talking together. One of the soldiers was holding a rope hanging from the tree and ringing a bell.
Townspeople came out of their houses one after another and walked to the big tree in the small square. Some people simply climbed up the surrounding roofs and walls, surrounding the few people in front of the big tree.
Xiao Chen and his companions also wore cloaks and blended into the back of the crowd, quietly observing what would happen.
When most of the people in the town had gathered, a man who looked like a butler came out to tell everyone that Baron Cloto had another important announcement today.
Baron Cloto was a middle-aged man wearing armor. His hair and eyebrows were already pale, and he looked to be in his sixties. He stroked his beard and spoke with full energy and a loud voice: "My lord, the Duke of Greenwood City, is about to start a war. You don't need to worry about who to fight, why to fight, and how to fight. You just need to know that this time our town will send out twenty people to serve for thirty days. Each adult must pay a war tax of half a silver spear, and each child must pay a tax of five bronze shields. Families that send people can be exempted from taxes and can also get a reward of two silver coins. However, they must be strong enough and I like them."
Xiao Chen noticed that the faces of the people around him were very ugly. According to this tax standard, a family of three would have to pay a tax of one silver spear and five copper shields. This amount of money was enough for a frugal family to eat for a month. If there were elderly people or several children in the family, it would be even worse.
But although the people below were extremely dissatisfied, they dared not speak out. The baron's triangular eyes swept across everyone's faces. No one dared to look at him, and they all lowered their heads.
Baron Cloto seemed very satisfied with the reactions of these people. He continued, "Mercenaries present here, if you are willing to serve as members of Green Pine Town, you can also get two silver coins from me, and the Duke will also provide an additional hire fee based on your strength. Low-level mercenaries can get an additional hire fee of one golden axe, mid-level mercenaries can get five golden axes, and mages can get additional subsidies."
The Baron did not raise his rank because high-level mercenaries were extremely rare and it was impossible for them to appear in his small town.
He patted a young knight beside him and said, "Sir Tuerk has come from Green Pine City with enough gold coins."
No one signed up at the scene, and the Baron and Sir Turk did not stay for long and left directly. However, Xiao Chen looked at their backs and pondered for a long time.
The next morning, he, Roger and Evelyn came to the Baron's Mansion together.
There is a big gap between barons. Baron Cloto is much weaker than Baron O'Farrell in both strength and influence. His home is just a slightly larger house.
Seeing the baron and his only son, Xiao Chen was confident that he could defeat everyone in the house by himself. This was the intuition of a strong man, and he couldn't help but feel a little emotional. From the beginning, he had no strength in all aspects and could only rely on gambling and risking his life. Finally, he could bully others in some occasions.
"Tree Seed Mercenary Group?" Baron Cloto was slightly stunned when he heard this strange name.
"You can think of this as a habit of dark elves. Any name related to a tree will bring good luck." Today, Xiao Chen has brown hair and purple eyes, thanks to the hair dye and contact lenses in the storage ring. Before leaving school this time, he thought about the day when he would hide his identity.
"Who are you then?" Baron Cloto looked at the young man in front of him.
"I'm the consultant of the mercenary group. As you know, the dark elves don't have much business to do in the elven land, but in our human land, they need someone like me to be in charge of negotiations." Xiao Chen explained.
"I never thought that dark elves would become mercenaries." Sir Turk said on the side.
"Now you see it." Evelyn took off her hood, revealing her face. Her snow-white hair looked dazzling against her gray skin.
Tuerk was stunned for a moment, then said, "Well, I'm not doubting it, I just can't believe it."
"Sir Turk, the reasons for being a mercenary may vary, but the purpose is the same, that is to make money." Xiao Chen shrugged and said, "Dark elves are trustworthy and brave in battle. They are all excellent warriors. You don't have to doubt that. Now I want to know, are you ready to hire us?"
"I think... I'll have to test it."
"certainly."
———————
That afternoon, in the martial arts training ground behind the Baron's Mansion.
Evelyn released her longbow, and an arrow flew past and hit the target in the distance. However, her hands did not stop, and she smoothly drew arrows from her quiver and shot them at the target. Although the distance was more than a hundred meters, each of her arrows landed close to the previous one, neatly hitting an area the size of a palm.
In less than a minute, she had shot all 19 arrows. When she put the last arrow on the string, she stimulated the earth fighting spirit in her body. The gray-brown fighting spirit was divided into two strands and attached to the arrow, circling around the arrow like two snakes, but not released. As she let go, the arrow hit the target with a whistling fighting spirit. The two fighting spirits collided with each other the moment the arrow head touched the target, and the explosion caused the target and the arrows shot before it were all torn to pieces.
"This elf is actually a mid-level warrior! Such mercenaries are rare." Baron Cloto, who was observing from the side, said, "It seems that he is a little stronger than me."
"Yes, I estimate that she is mid-intermediate level. What's more, she is also a good archer. A warrior like her can suppress an entire team of ordinary archers by herself." Sir Turk said excitedly.
"Besides, there is more than one." Xiao Chen said.
After Evelyn, one after another elves came forward to shoot arrows. All dark elves knew some archery skills, even those mages pretending to be magic archers could shoot arrows well. They showed off their skills one after another, which amazed the humans watching around them.
When all 21 elves had finished shooting arrows, Tuerk could no longer suppress the joy on his face. There was one mid-level archer, four low-level archers, and four magic archers. Most of the other archers were warrior apprentices. Such a mercenary group was very rare even in a big city like Suero. Now that he could meet one in Green Forest City, he was really lucky. He said to Xiao Chen, "I am very satisfied. I am willing to hire these elves on behalf of Green Forest City."
"Believe me, they will bring you incredible results." Xiao Chen answered with a professional smile.