xymnovel Chapter 104 Inquiring about the Hanseatic League
Chapter 104 Inquiring about the Hanseatic League
Chapter 104 Inquiring about the Hanseatic League
Unfold the cloth bag under the lantern; inside are a piece of roast pork with a corner cut off and sprinkled with pepper, most of a roast grouse, a snow-white cod fillet wrapped in dough, a large piece of cheese, charcoal-grilled pike sprinkled with chopped almonds, as well as raisin bread and fresh apples.
Having chewed on corned beef hard bread for four or five days, the crowd, with their bell-like eyes wide open, pounced on it and began to snatch it up.
"Don't steal it! Don't steal it!"
"You blind bastard, you stepped on my hand."
"Stop fighting, leave some for Olaf and the others, hey, everyone take one..."
, 7
Roger only heard the girl with the ponytail tell someone to leave some for Olaf and his group, and then she wolfed down her food. "Let them take it, let's go check it out."
After saying that, he led Ma En and the black dog toward two bright and noisy campfires on the rocky island.
Dozens of steps away from the campfire, a stench of alcohol mixed with strong body odor wafted over, making Roger sniffle.
One of the campfires and the three felt tents set up around it were clearly newly lit today, and several familiar figures were sitting around the campfire.
Roger and his men walked into the firelight. A fisherman from Ram Rash recognized Roger and quickly stood up to greet him, "Master, you're back."
Olaf, who was holding a wooden wine cup and gazing at the campfire, immediately turned around upon hearing this and looked at Roger, Marne, and the others. "My lord, why are you back?"
Roger raised his hand and pressed Olaf's shoulder, gesturing for everyone to sit down. He then plopped down in the empty seat next to Olaf, glanced around, then looked at the group of drunkards dancing and singing around another campfire not far away. Turning to Olaf, he asked, "How's the situation?"
Olaf knew what Roger was asking, put down his wine glass, and said seriously, "I already found out. Those guys belong to three groups of pirates. The largest group has nine people, and the leader is called Mad Bull. The smallest group has five people, and the leader is called Stubborn Donkey. And there's another group of six people, and the leader is called... what was his name again?" Olaf looked at the fishermen and sailors beside him.
"I think it was called Lame Dog," the fisherman recalled.
"Mad bull, stubborn donkey, tumor-legged dog," Roger thought, "well, they're just a bunch of livestock."
"Is it dangerous?" Roger pressed.
"As you can see, a bunch of drunken beasts." Olaf was just short of spitting out a mouthful of phlegm.
The sharp-eyed black dog spotted the bald man and Donald mixed in with the drunken animals and exclaimed in surprise, "Aren't those the bald man and Donald?"
Olaf gave a wry smile. "The bald guy's a genius. He spent a shilling to buy two barrels of the worst beer from the old man's warehouse and got a whole bunch of those guys drunk."
"Those drunken bastards will say whatever comes to mind, they're practically telling the bald man how many fleas his female dog has."
"I was afraid the bald guy couldn't handle it alone, so I sent Donald over as well."
Roger looked at the bald man shaking his head and wiggling his hips in the pirate's den, holding a wine glass, and mentally gave him a thousand thumbs up.
"Go and call the bald man back," Roger ordered the black dog.
Black Dog walked over to the campfire with a dark face and pulled the bald man, who was jumping around excitedly, back to his feet.
The bald man floated back, carrying a chipped wooden cup spilled with wine. He squatted down next to Roger, trying his best to stay upright. "Young...Young Master, you asked me to...to find out information, and I found out everything."
"What's the big deal about asking for information? They're all good buddies now. Just ask them whatever you want, they'll never lie to you." The bald man finished speaking, let out a burp, and then vomited.
Black Dog quickly helped the bald man to the side, and the fisherman immediately used a shovel to dig up grass ash to bury the vomit.
"He was sent to gather information, and he even made some friends." Olaf chuckled bitterly a few more times. "Sir, I think you should make the bald brother the Foreign Minister. He's not a good soldier, but he's a diplomatic master."
Roger, already aware of the bald man's nature, asked with a smile, "So, is there anyone worth recruiting?"
Olaf shook his head. "I'm not so optimistic. Those guys come from all walks of life. There are English bandits, Welsh highwaymen, French gay men, Aragonese thieves, even bankrupt Danish fishermen mixed in, and a few Irish bastards."
"You can tell what kind of people those bastards are just by looking at what they're wearing and what they're armed with."
Olaf, being a former pirate himself, naturally has a keen eye for pirates.
Roger's past life experiences made him not entirely averse to these scoundrels. He spent most of his time hanging out with them in his previous life. "We're almost at the EU level, so we can definitely gather a lot of information. We'll ask them for more information after they sober up tomorrow."
Olaf didn't understand the term "EU," but knowing Roger liked to gather information, he nodded in agreement and asked Roger what information he wanted to know, saying he would personally inquire about it first thing the next morning.
Roger had also had a rough few days. After chatting with Maen Olaf and the others by the campfire, he went to rest in the hut on the rocky island that was reserved for distinguished guests.
I slept soundly all night listening to the wind.
The strange wind that had howled all night stopped, and the sky cleared up for once. When Roger woke up on the hard wooden plank bed in the hut, it was already bright daylight; he estimated it must have been after nine o'clock in the morning.
The black dog, carrying a tray, gently pushed open the wooden door with his elbow. Seeing Roger putting on his chainmail, he quickly put down the tray and went to help.
"Has everyone had breakfast?" The three-meal-a-day system has long been common in the military, since it's impossible to let soldiers fight on an empty stomach.
The black dog lifted the hem of his chainmail slightly to loosen the belt above his waist for easier movement, and replied, "I've eaten."
"What did you eat?"
"Freshly baked bread, boiled eggs, and fish soup."
"Where did you get the eggs and fresh fish bread?"
"Sergeant Marx and Engels bought it from the old man."
Roger glanced at the black dog; this taciturn fellow would only utter a fart after being hit with a stick.
He grabbed a piece of freshly baked bread with his left hand and a bowl of fresh fish soup with his right. After taking a big bite of bread and slurping up a mouthful of the rich soup, he lifted the wooden door and walked outside.
On the open ground of the isolated reef island, several soldiers practiced with shields and swords, several fishermen gathered the seafood they had caught early in the morning at the edge of the reef, and a few others huddled around the embers of the campfire, slurping up fresh fish soup from a deep pot.
After spending some time with them, Roger gradually understood the nature of this group. They seemed undisciplined but could instantly transform into wolves in times of danger. Therefore, he did not enforce strict discipline on this trip, since he could not yet hold these people to the same high standards as the military.
Olaf was talking to a sallow-faced, thin middle-aged man by the campfire. The man didn't look like a pure European; he seemed to have Asian ancestry. The sallow-faced man then relayed Olaf's words to the blond man and the man dressed as a Viking beside him.
Roger walked over slowly and vaguely heard Olaf asking questions, the blond man and the Viking man answering, and the thin, yellow-skinned man translating in the middle.
Roger was greatly intrigued to find that even among a group of down-on-their-luck pirates was a translator.
Roger gestured to Olaf that he didn't need to offer him a seat, then hooked his foot onto a large wooden stake and plopped down on it, listening as Olaf asked the others about news of the English fleets in the south and east.
After finishing his questioning, Olaf stopped and turned to Roger, saying, "Sir, these guys are well-informed. I spent some money to buy them drinks and got them a lot of information. You can ask them if you need anything."
Roger nodded and asked the thin, sallow-faced "translator," "Buddy, does anyone here know anything about the Hanseatic League?"