British hegemon

Chapter 17 is full of talented people.

Four miles south of Brodick market town, by the roadside between two neighboring villages, next to a fallen, dead tree.

A rotten-toothed thug in his early twenties, along with two other teenagers around fourteen or fifteen years old, surrounded the bald man on horseback. All four of them were anxiously looking at the road to the south.

Without a doubt, he is Roger's bald brother Neil. From the dusky sky when he left the Moulin Rouge to the sun shining brightly now, it took him two whole hours to walk four miles.

Moreover, his buttocks never left the dwarf horse.

"Baldy, brother, could you dismount and tell the men what's the matter that you've gathered us in such a hurry?" The thug was getting a little irritable from the sun. He should have been sleeping in his own thatched hut, but this bald man had called him over.

"Yes, my dad went to fight in the war. My family is waiting for me to come back and herd sheep and do other work."

"Me too, I only collected a little bit of my cow dung before you dragged me here, and now I'm going to get scolded when I get home."

The bald man, sitting on his saddle, didn't even look at the three men on the ground. "Look at you all, so useless. You're either lazy and herding sheep or picking up cow dung. What great things can you accomplish?"

While lecturing the three men, the bald man shaded his eyes with his hand and looked at the road to the southeast.

"They're here, they've finally arrived!" From the south of the withered tree, two figures hopping and skipping closer and closer; judging by their gait, they were undoubtedly lazy thugs.

As the two approached, several curses rang out, "Green toad, you bastard, why did you have me woken up so early? If there's no good money to be made today, I'll smash your toad eyes."

"Oh, you've even ridden a horse."

"Hey, why did you change your clothes?"

"Green toad, what's wrong with you?"

The bald man didn't answer the thug's question at all. Seeing that the lazy thugs and naughty children had all arrived, he finally jumped off his horse.

He straightened his black wool sweater, patted his black wool pants, pulled the black-sheathed dagger that had been hanging behind him to his front, and strode forward. "I've gathered you guys here today to lead you on something big."

The bald man, mimicking the ponytail, paused deliberately, causing the group of scoundrels to open their eyes and prick up their ears.

Just as the bald man was about to speak, a local thug interrupted, "Are you going to fight again? I heard from the skinny guy who sells wool that young master Roger got into a fight in town yesterday."

"A fight broke out? I heard that young master Roger got into a fight with a customer at the Moulin Rouge over a prostitute, got beaten up, and then, in a fit of rage, killed the customer?"

"No, I heard that young master Roger encountered Chief Garry of Lockranza at the Moulin Rouge, and the two got into a fight."

"Don't you remember? Last month, young master Roger almost killed Gary's daughter. Gary must have gone to get revenge."

"Bah! It was clearly that old bastard Gary who injured young master Roger last month. Young master Roger went to the Moulin Rouge yesterday to seek revenge and killed that old bastard Gary."

"No, no, it was old man Gary who challenged young master Roger to a duel in Brodick, and young master Roger and a few of his men took him down."

"Those guys in the north of the island have always been barbaric. Young Master Roger should have taught them a lesson long ago, otherwise they would think that the people in the south are easy to bully. Last time, I had my front teeth knocked out by those barbarians in Lockranza."

The five scoundrels chattered amongst themselves, their words freezing on the bald man's slightly open mouth.

"Bald guy, tell me, wasn't it young master Roger who took down those barbarians from Lockranza?" The scum stopped arguing and all stared at the speechless bald man.

The bald thief's eyes darted around, then he slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Yes, you guessed right!"

"Yesterday, young master Roger invited me and Ponytail to have some fun at the Brodick Mill, but we ended up running into that old geezer Gary in the market town."

"That old man held a grudge against young master Roger for insulting his daughter, and led two tenant farmers to beat up young master Roger."

"How could that old man be a match for Young Master Roger? He was defeated by Young Master Roger in no time."

"They threatened to go back and gather the village's savages for revenge, and they called us southerners pigs and dogs, saying they would drive us off Arun Island..."

The bald man has already started spitting.

"...Noon today is the decisive moment. Young Master Roger has asked me to gather the islanders from the villages in the south to help us fight."

He said that anyone who went to Brodick to support him would get a free lunch first.

"If anyone doesn't want to be bullied by the barbarians in the north and is willing to take up arms and fight the barbarians with Young Master Roger, each person will be rewarded with an additional silver penny."

As he spoke, the bald man took out a bulging cloth bag from his pocket, grabbed a handful of silver coins, and waved them around in front of the group. "See this? This is the money that Young Master Roger asked me to use to recruit warriors."

"Young Master Roger's family has plenty of money."

After showing off, the bald man put the handful of silver coins back into his bag and then took out a few silver pennies.

"I've summoned you here today so you can make a fortune," the bald man said, tossing each of them a silver penny. The men caught them, their faces beaming with joy.

"If you take the money, you have to do the job. If you do the job well, you can get a reward when you come back." The bald man patted the money bag in his arms hard, making a series of cracking sounds.

"You all set off immediately and spread the word far and wide that young master Roger fought the Loklanza people in Brodick, and that he called for everyone to come and help him, offering free lunches as a reward."

"Oh, and remember to tell those strong, brave, and fearless villagers that as long as they bring weapons to fight the northern barbarians, they will be rewarded with five silver pence if they are chosen by Young Master Roger."

"Let me tell you all, time is of the essence. If we don't get to Brodick before noon, we'll have nothing, no free lunch, and no money."

After saying that, he raised his hand and pointed at the lazy man who had just been clamoring to go back to sleep, "Lazy donkey, you and the shepherd go west and are responsible for notifying the villages and settlements near Mahri and Pienmir."

He then pointed to the last person to arrive, Miss Tooth, and the boy beside him, "Miss Tooth, you two head south and are in charge of several villages along the line from Ramrush to Bewaiting."

"Well, there's no need to go to Milk House Manor; all the strong men there have already gone to Brodick."

Finally, he pointed to the teenager who was still carrying a basket of cow dung, "Their groups are running to several villages along the coast. You go to a few small settlements in the middle of the island to spread the word that Brodick can watch the show and get a free meal today."

"Throw away your manure basket and run."

"Both of you groups, hurry up! Whoever gathers more people will get the bigger reward."

At this moment, the bald man resembled a gang leader of unparalleled genius, commanding his brothers to charge into battle.

The five scoundrels, large and small, immediately scattered and ran wildly in their respective assigned directions.

After arranging several directions, the southern peninsula of Arun Island, where the villages are most concentrated, has been basically fully covered.

Of course, now that he had a mount, "Lord Neil" naturally went to the southernmost villages of Gildonan and Gilmori in person, where there happened to be a few ruthless characters he knew well.

The bald man, full of vigor, turned around, tugged at his black wool coat, leaped onto his horse, pulled the reins, and felt incredibly proud of himself.

"Giddy up!" The bald man kicked the horse's belly hard.

The rickety horse, unable to bear the weight, was suddenly startled, reared up, and threw the bald man off, plunging him headfirst into a basket of cow dung.

......